The forest

Prologue

It was raining quite hard. I could barely hear Dick's voice over the pounding on the windows. The room was once again illuminated by a flash of lightning. The light revealed all the crevices of the room from the tall, dark bookshelves, to the modern filing cabinets behind the wooden executive desk in the centre of the room. More flashes were visible in the distance. The business man was talking and I was nodding but not really listening. Instead I was waiting for the dreaded crack of thunder that accompanied the lightning. God, I hate thunderstorms.

Finally, it boomed and shook the room. I flinched and was brought back to reality. Dick was staring at me as if waiting for a reply. The heel of his boot tapped on the ground impatiently. I sat up straighter in my seat, and twisted my father's golden ring on my finger, attempting to ease the churning in my stomach.

My mother had given me the ring when he had passed away, as she knew we were close. His death was when my anxiety had first manifested, and I was terrified of losing anyone else I cared about. That's part of the reason why I live alone and don't really have any friends.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I nervously asked, my hands slightly shaking. My mind raced and I tried to stay focused on the suited man. However, the storm wasn't the main cause of my anxiousness.

He replied, just a little bit too quick, "Do we have a deal, Miss Chandler?" My eyes flicked around the room and my palms grew sweaty. Lightning flashed in the background. He noticed my hesitance and frowned, wrinkles forming in between his eyebrows. It kind of made him look like a goblin, and I fought the urge to giggle. How could I be laughing in this situation? Get a grip, girl. I twisted my dark, curly hair around my finger.

"You owe me, remember?", he warned. "I helped you and now you will help me." He walked around the large mahogany desk in the middle of the room and picked up a skull paperweight. I had no idea if it was real or not and I did not want to know. I shifted uneasily in my seat as he passed it between his hands, panic working its way into my chest.

"So, are you going to be a good girl and hold up your end of the bargain?" He looked down at me and my heartbeat sped up. I could feel my legs sticking to the chair I was sitting on so I shifted them.

He carefully put down the paperweight and looked back up at me. "You don't want to end up like little Sammy, do you?" he questioned, a smirk forming on his face. My stomach churned as I remembered what happened to him. All the locals know about Sam McConnely. He made a deal with Dick and when he didn't return the favour they hung him. Tied him up in one of the big oak trees in Central Park. The police investigated his case for months but never found any real suspects. But there were rumours. The locals new that it was the Flame Corporation's work but no one had the guts to tell the police in fear of Dick coming for revenge.

I tried to focus on my breathing as I considered my options. Option 1- refuse and most likely have Dick hire a hitman to kill me. Option 2- agree to help Dick and I may possibly die trying to complete the enormous task he has set. Great.

I took one deep breath before I stood up, nearly knocking my chair over. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and my hands turned to fists. I stared straight into his eyes to seem as confident as possible, when really, I had never been more afraid in my life. Even when I was handling lions at the Central Park Zoo I hadn't been this frightened. I could feel a panic attack building in my chest but I refused to break my glare.

"Deal."

Hi whoever's reading this! This story probably will not be updated as regularly as I would like, however I won't give up on it. I'll try my best to update every fortnight :)

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