Silent Night

Prologue

Blood and sweat dripped down the girl's body as she weaved her way like a ribbon around the thousands of trees that surrounded her. The distant sound of other people running after her made her pace up. The faster she ran, the harder it became for her to dodge the trees.

Scratches appeared on her shoulder as the trees skimmed her skin. The girl winced at the pain, almost distracting herself from seeing her other obstacles.

Leaves crunched under her, making it impossible for her to be unnoticeable. Every twist and turn she took managed to slow them down, but it wasn't enough. They always found their way of getting close to her again.

Her clothes stuck to her skin like it was a size too small. Red splotches were visible through her white tank-top, some were the size of a baseball, others smaller than a golf ball. At times she'd try to pull at her top, trying to keep it not so close to her skin, but it'd come right back like a boomerang.

The sound of running water became more clear as she maintained her track on going straight forward. Soon enough she could see a river, a brown murky color.

Her heart skipped like a rock across the water when realizing she had to jump. There was no other way around it she could see, so she had to take this chance.

The river stretched six, maybe seven feet wide. She readied herself to make the leap. Her heartbeat didn't ring in her ears anymore, all she could focus on was getting across the river.

As she got closer, she sped up, ready to take on her obstacle. It was a four foot drop into the water, just a foot shorter than she was.

Her feet didn't leave the ground till she reached the edge. She made it halfway until her plan foiled and she went crashing into the water.

Without another second wasted, she picked herself up, now drenched making it much more of a challenge to pull herself up the side of the four foot drop. Her clothes now stuck closer to her skin, making her feel like she was wearing a full body spandex suit.

"There she is!" The words echoed through the forest from one of the people trying to get to her, it was like a extreme version of hide-and-seek. Her heart felt as if an ice queen froze it with a simple touch. She pulled herself up and took off.

Deja vu hit her as she seen a tree off in the distance. It wasn't like the others around her, it was thicker, it took all five of her and her friends to wrap their arms around it fully.

The memory of her friends brought a small smile to her face, but slowly withered away when she was hit by reality. And that reality was a tree.

"Fuck.." The words slipped out of her mouth as she picked herself off of the ground, feeling like she just got off of a roller coaster.

She looked down at her hands, they were covered in dirt, masking the dried blood that use to be there. Dirt stuck to her clothes like glitter on a person's skin. She began to walk forward, taking small steps until her vision fully returned.

Either she had lost her hearing from the hard impact of the tree or she was met with silence for the first time since she'd been here. With a quick turn around, she didn't see anyone, not a soul in sight, though she didn't think the people chasing her had a soul at all.

She turned back around, expecting to see someone like in the movies, but still she didn't spot anyone. "Jaden." Someone whispered her named. Four someones. It gave the illusion the trees around her were speaking at once.

"Leave me alone." Jaden attempted to scream, but it came out as a small cry. She covered her ears and shut her eyes tight, shielding them from any noises or images of people chasing her. "Go away, go away, go away." She chanted, hoping they'd do something for her. When she got done chanting, Jaden opened her eyes slowly, not seeing a person in sight. Her hands lifted off of her ears, listening for any noises.

Nothing but silence surrounded her, not a crunch of leaves as someone stepped on them, not the sound of birds flying over, nothing. It was comforting, but terrifying all at the same time. She turned around, looking for any suspicious movement to find nothing.

"Aw, you look more hopeless than an abandoned puppy out in the rain." One of the voices spoke from behind her. When she turned around, no one. From the corner of Jaden's eye, a silhouette emerged from behind one of the trees. Then another. And another. "You didn't think you'd be leaving just yet, did you?" The same voice spoke from behind her. She whipped herself around and was faced with a man that had a menacing smile, insanity twinkled in his green eyes.

She was surrounded, there was no way out, no one spoke a word, all they did was stand around her, watching as she tried to find a way out of this mess she found herself in.

"Four against one? A little unfair don't you think?" Jaden spoke, almost breathless.

"Who said I played fair? I play to win." He winked at her, receiving a disgusted look from Jaden.

"It seems you're too afraid to face me yourself, Daniel."

"That's cute." He chuckled, shaking his head at her.

"You think you're tough shit just because you have your friends to back you up." Jaden paused for a second to look at his helpers then diverted her attention back to him. "I bet if they weren't here, I'd kick your ass." A smirk came across her face like a child up to no good. "Again."

Within seconds, he grabbed a handful of her hair then smashed her face into a tree. His teeth gritted together, veins stuck out of his neck and arms, and his eyes were filled with hatred. "You really need to watch out for those trees today."

Blood spilled down her face, but she had the confidence of someone who won a fight. She didn't show weakness by letting a tear spill from her eyes or even a whimper slip from her lips.

He let go of her hair, letting one of his helpers hold onto her so she couldn't get away, then proceeded to take out a lighter and cigarette from his pocket. She had a disgusted look on her face as she seen him lift the cigarette to his lips. "You better hope that cancer stick kills you before I do."

"You don't know when to shut the fuck up, do you?" Daniel asked her, taking a drag then blowing the smoke in her face. He looked at his friend who held onto Jaden. "Let her go."

His friend did as he said and let her go. She didn't hesitate as she tried to run at Daniel. He balled up his fist and with all his force, he punched her in the gut, making one of her wounds split open. She fell to the ground, kneeling over in pain. Blood gushed from her the wound, staining more of her tanktop. She couldn't find the strength to move her body.

Daniel walked over to Jaden, crouching down to see her hurting and trying to stop the blood from spilling out of her, all he did was smile with pleasure.

"I'd kill you, but you aren't worth my time." He put out his cigarette on her arm, receiving a painful groan from her, then spit on her and proceeded to walk off.

Jaden tried to get up before one of his helpers put their foot on her with pressure, making her stay right where she was at. "What do you want us to do with her, Daniel?" The man who held his foot on Jaden asked Daniel, the leader of all of them.

"Kill her."

Jaden let out of bloodcurdling scream, kicking and fighting as she tried to keep them away from her. Eyes filled with terror as they gained control over her, she knew what was coming next. One of the men came up from behind her. Silence followed the sound of Jaden's neck snapping. They let her body drop to the ground, and let out a sigh of relief. "Finally." The man who snapped her neck spoke up, no remorse in his tone whatsoever.

"Brilliant job Jace." Daniel clapped, praising the man who ended Jaden's life. "I'm just glad you shut her damn mouth." He kicked the side of her body, it moved from his kick, but no sound came from her mouth. "Had to make sure, you never can know these days."

"It was a pleasure." Jace smiled proudly.

"Alright, let's get back before the others start to get worried." Daniel stated, beginning to walk off, lighting up another cigarette. "Can't believe I wasted a good cigarette on her." He mumbled to himself, lighting it up, sucking in the smoke. "Bitch." He breathed out, a puff of smoke exiting his mouth.

"What do we do with her body?" Jace asked, looked down at her lifeless body.

"Leave her. I'll send one of the girls to come get her." Daniel responded then headed back while the others followed close behind.



Author's Note: What'd you think of the prologue? Thanks for reading! Next chapter should be up soon. Also, don't forget to check out the trailer on the side! :)