Aurora is an 18 year old young woman from New York, New York. She visits a store on 37th street and is given a book that sends her spiraling into the darkness. She never reads the book and it just drives her insane. She discovers that she has the ab...
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The forest is cold and dark. It's so quiet, it adds a creepy atmosphere to the forest. There are no bunnies, no birds, and no owls. There is no signs of wildlife. If there are animals in here, their hiding. We haven't even made a dent since coming down the hill. As we walk ahead, an overgrown vine bush blocks our path. Mordecai stops and says, "Well, what do we do now?" Helena stops and looks at the vines. "Well, we go through it. We didn't come this far just to get stomped so quickly. We can use our knives to cut away the vines and form a path. One thing I learned from being a handmaiden, is how to be resourceful."
I look at her and says, "I agree. We should cut away the vines and push our way through." I pull out my daggers and begin slicing at the vines. The vines are thick and they fight back as I cut them. They seem to be alive. They coil around each other locking on each vine. Mordecai and Helena help cut away some of the vines too. We chop and swing to get through. We cause the only noise to be heard throughout the woods. I swing at one of the vines in front of me and I get cut by one of them on my left arm. Drops of rich red blood drops to the ground. A small cut begins to form across the side of my left arm. Helena looks over at me. "Are you alright? How bad is it?" "I'm fine. This is minor compared to everything else I've been though."
We finally cut a clear path through the vines. We head out to a clear space in the middle of the forest. We stand around each other looking around and calculating our next move. I begin to say something in an effort to come up with a plan. I can see two different paths. They are both dark and mysterious. "Well, there's two different paths to take. They look exactly the same. Let's just head down one of them and see where it leads. We're definitely not splitting up. What do you guys think?" Mordecai speaks first. "Well, it's our only way through. We have to take it." Helena then comments. "I agree. Splitting up isn't the best idea. The forest has forced our hand." I reply to both of them. "Alright guys, get your knives out. Whatever or whomever in there could be dangerous."
We cautiously walk forward. The air of the path feels empty. There's no noise around us. We walk so silently that we don't even make noise. As we push forward, the dirt becomes muddy. Our feet begins to mush through it. The mud feels comforting in a weird way. It rises above our ankles and rises and falls. Helena falls over and laughs. Mordecai laughs and falls over too. They walk behind me in line with my steps. I peer back at them and laugh. As we slowly walk and laugh, a sound breaks through the silence. The smiles from our faces turns to grins. Branches begin falling from the canopies above. They crash and smack the ground. The branches rustle and we look up. We can see absolutely nothing. Helena leans to the side to talk to me. "What was that?" I look up and says, "I don't know." Mordecai responds, "Let's just keep moving forward." We walk forward with alertness.
We abruptly stop again. A sound comes from the trees. Howls and weird calls come from up above. Figures trickle down from the trees around us. I can't see what they are. A silence falls over the forest. We all stand looking forward with fright. One figure steps forward, followed by tons of other figures. I say, "What the hell is that." As they approach us, I begin to see that they are monkey's; proboscis monkey's. They're black and their blue lining of their faces give the forest its only form of color. They start shrieking, "ooo ahh ooo ahh ooo ahhh," simultaneously.
We gather around each other in a circle. Mordecai says in a whisper, "What should we do?" I make a rash decision. "We're going to get split up. So when I say run, you run." The monkeys get closer. They open their mouths and show us their long sharp teeth that are like huge incisors. They make an abrupt stop. The monkey to the front, which I presume to be the alpha, creeps forward and screeches. Each and every monkey lunges forward and runs towards us.
I yell, "Run!" We each take off in separate directions. I can barely see where I'm headed. I can hear Helena and Mordecai screaming. I pant loud, but I don't scream. I run into the mist of the tress ahead and purposely falls out of view. I lay on my stomach watching the monkeys come closer. My heart beats fast and frighteningly. I gaze to my left and I see this pool of mud. I slowly reach over and grabs a handful. I cover my face with the mud in an effort to camouflage myself. I continue to keep grabbing handfuls until none of my skin is visible. The monkeys pass by me and I slowly pull my daggers out. I cautiously slide myself forward. I have to find Mordecai and Helena. I hear screaming again. Helena passes by.
A small group of monkeys frantically chase her. I make a bold decision. One of the monkeys hops over me. I reach out and grabs him. He's heavier than I expected. He tries to sink his long teeth into my face. His long serrated teeth chomp in my face. I take my right hand and stabs him. A splash of blood falls off my fingers. He screeches and makes his last chump and falls over. The monkeys converge around me. I stand to my feet. I wasn't going to let them take Mordecai and Helena. They stand around me yelling and screeching. I just killed one of their own. I search for a gap to escape through. I find one between the alpha and a tree. I stare at him with anger and determination. I lunge forward and slides through the gap. I quickly hops to my feet and continues forward.
I run like death was following me. In the distance I can see Helena. "Keep running. They're right behind us." We desperately run forward. Off to the side Mordecai is running away. "Mordecai!" He quickly turns around, stops, and walks behind the monkeys. He grabs something in which I can't see and throws it as a distraction. The monkeys didn't fall for it. Instead, a few fall back and chases us. Somehow he swerves around in a circle and makes it in front of us. We've been running so long, we made it deep into the forest. Any sign of a kingdom, a house, or people, is erased from the landscape. We run, jumping over branches and avoiding thorn bushes.
We run into an area empty of any bushes. It sits in the middle of everything. We run through this space and we suddenly get sept off of our feet. A thick cage encloses around us and traps us. It lifts us high into the air. We lose sight of the monkeys and the ground. We stop just below the canopy of the trees. Helena begins speaking in a confusing and out of breath tone. "What is this? Why is there a cage randomly sitting in the middle of nowhere?" Mordecai replies, "I'm guessing this cage was meant for food and we accidentally stumbled upon it." I look at both of them and attempt to ease their minds. "Let's calm down. Whoever built this has obviously been here a while. With any luck, this is Amoura's trap. If it isn't, then we may be looking at something more dangerous here."
As we look around for a way out, the cage lowers down to ground level. We are still off the ground, but just barely. Someone appears out of the mist. A raggedy looking woman steps forward. Her hair is a light brown and it hasn't been combed for some time. Her eyes are a sky blue and her skin is pale. She's wearing this long black cloak. It has this shaggy material all over it. Her nails are very long and overgrown. She's not ugly. Her strange appearance is actually beautiful. She's an older woman, but she looks like she's keeping young. In her right hand is a brown staff. It's a deep brown and it appears to be sturdy as she's walking on it.
She steps forward clinking her staff on the ground. She raises her hands and pushed her hands inwards and outwards. She circles around the cage studying us. She probably hasn't seen another person in quite some time. She stops in front of me. She looks deep into my eyes with wander. She steps closer to the cage. She begins to say something in a raspy, mild tone. "You interestingly step into these lands. You must have some good reason to be here. No one has stepped into this forest in a while. So I will ask you this. Who are you? Where do you come from? And where do you come from?" She paces in front of all of us, staring into each of us waiting for a reply. Her spirit is old and all knowing. I peer over at Mordecai and Helena with curiosity.
