Poisonous Veins

I: Dark Waters

•Chapter One: Dark Waters•

I glanced to the left after the sound of crushed leaves caught my attention. Speeding up my walking, I continued down the dark pathway. Every whisper of the wind and groan of tree branches made my skin crawl. I am supposed to be strong but the mere sound of an owl's hoot made me jump.

           No wonder you can't get a promotion, I bickered to myself, you piss your pants every time you hear the ruffle of leaves. I was snapped back to reality after I heard footsteps coming my way in rapid speed. My instincts kicked in and I spun around, ready to fight whatever came my way. When I turned around I was met with a shocked face.

"Wait--" he tried to say but I interrupted him, "Who are you?"

"I am Damien Westbrook and you must be Agent Faye." He gave me a quick smile, flashing his pearly whites. My eyes scanned his perfectly sculpted face. From his flawless chestnut brown hair which seems to naturally frame his features, down to his chiseled jawline. I was hypnotized by the stranger's sharp eyebrows and rich chocolate eyes framed with thick black eyelashes. The light glow from the street lamp gave him no justice to highlight his beauty.

He coughed, trying to bring me back to reality while making me blush with embarrassment in the process. While stretching his hand out and handing me my wallet, he revealed, "You left this in the lounge room."

I raised an eyebrow at the odd fact that he knew my route home, which I usually take alone. Seeing the confused look on my face he blurted, "I didn't stalk you or anything. I asked around the office until I found someone that said you come down this way." He let out a nervous chuckle at my facial expression.

"Thank yo--"before I could continue on, an ear piercing scream erupted through the night. The blood-curdling shriek brought shivers up and down my spine.

"Did you hear that?" Damien gasped. He stared at the endless blackness that is engulfing the woods of which the cry for help came. I turned towards the forest where the yell emanated with my back towards Damien. Yet whenever I opened my mouth no words escaped, I stood there like a gaping fishing.

Damien put one of his hands on my shoulder, oddly comforting me. "You can stay here, I'll go and see what happened." My blood began to boil at the thought of being perceived as weak and helpless. So I turned to him shooting him hateful glares and shoved his hand roughly off myself.

"Do you think that just because I'm a girl I can't stand my ground?" I growled back, between grinding my teeth.

I stormed into the dark woods impulsively, leaving him wide-eyed and speechless. I heard him follow me closely but I didn't turn around to acknowledge his presence even though I was slightly relieved he came. I have never met this man before but I didn't want to run in alone.

           And you wonder why you're forever in a cubicle. I mentally rolled my eyes as I kept walking through the damp grass, feeling my way through the dense trees. I wandered slowly from one tree to another, trying to figure the way to the origin of the scream.

"Wait, stop, Faye," whispered Damien, surprisingly closer to me than I had thought initially. His warm breath tickled the back of my neck. My face flushed hot red as I was not comfortable with this level of intimacy from a stranger and I was glad that the night covered my face. My heart sped up by every passing second. No matter how much I tried to convince myself it was from the eerie forest, deep down I knew it was because of Damien. We were huddled tightly together that I could feel the heat radiating off of him.

"What?" I replied harshly.

"It's dark and," he turned his head, looking at the tall trees behind us. He continued, "we don't know what's out there. So let's keep close."

I extended my hand out in front of me, feeling the rough barks of the trees under my course hands. The same hands that have never felt combat, the same hands that stay in a tiny cubicle and files paperwork.

I gulped down my fears like a pill, continuing on the uneven ground due to the uncovered roots of the trees.

           If you do this you can prove to your boss to give you a job in the field rather than being trapped in a box, typing endlessly. I can get my fingers dirty for once and not let the years of training go to waste.

↞ ↜ ↝ ↠

We searched for a way towards the scream for the longest time. Without an exchange of words, we both turned towards each other.

"Since when was the forest this big," I chuckled, trying to lift the heavyweight between us. Damien inspected the area with a stern look before settling his eyes on me.

"You were the one so eager to rush in," he teased with a devilish smirk.

Narrowing my eyes I sneered, "What was I supposed to do? Ignore the scream and mosey on home?" I had to control my temper before I start yelling at him.

"Did you just say 'mosey on'?" A short laughter escaped his lips and bounced from tree to tree.

"Shut up," I mumbled, turning my back to him while blushing once more in embarrassment. The tinkling of water caught my ears before Damien spoke again.

"C'mon who the hell says-" before he could continue to mock me; I shushed him trying to hear the sound again.

"I hear something," I stated before walking slightly towards the sound before pausing midstep. We both stood tentatively, waiting to hear everything more clearly. Just as I started to hear the rushing water from nearby, another scream echoed through the night. This one seemed quieter yet filled with pain.

Damien and I ran through the forest, seeking the victim of this misery. As we got closer to the sound of the water, where we believed the woman laid, we started to see the riverbed. The moon reflected on the stream, making the light dance from one softly crashing wave to another. Across the fairly small and shallow stream, I saw a woman hunched over next to a boulder twice her size. The petite woman's backside was all we can see, with her wild black hair sprawled around her. She was on her knees and her calloused and dirtied feet poked from under her hair. She had on clothes of a peasant- brown rag of a dress and nothing more. One of her hands was clenched in a fist, banging against the rock beside her.

Damien and I shared glances at each other as we see a mad woman across the river. Damien whispered quietly, "Should we see if we can help her? The river doesn't seem that deep."

My tired and frightened voice whispered back, "Let's see if she needs anything before we cross. We don't know what we might get ourselves into."

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Authors Note:

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE

Yes...I did delete chapter one...it just didn't fit into what I wanted :/

Hope you liked it, I know I have not been consistent with updating but I'm trying.

ALSO if you guys want to make some banners for this story I'd gladly dedicate a chapter to you.