Forsaken (The Night Children, Volume 1)

Chapter 4

                                                                Chapter 4

                                                                  Astra

“Hello?” I called hesitantly, stepping cautiously into the shadows of the woods. “Jacob?” A twig snapped in the distance and I jumped, clutching my chest. Don’t worry, I told, It’s probably just a squirrel or something. I advanced into the line of trees slowly, trying to write off every sound as a forest animal or the wind. Later, I would realize that they were voices calling to me, warning me to stay away.

I wish that I’d listened.

“Jacob, are you here?” I called again, making my way into a clearing. I knew that since it was so close to the school’s football fields, a lot of the popular kids partied here, but it was surprisingly empty and clean. I’d expected there to be beer bottles littering the ground from the last game.  The trees behind me rustled and I whirled around, fear leaving me as I saw Jacob’s comforting face. “Oh good, it’s you. I was starting to think that you’d stood me up.” He had a strange sort of smile on his face, one that I’d usually consider cold or cruel, if it was on anyone but Jacob’s face. Jacob wasn’t either of those things. No, not my Jacob.

“I’d never do that to you,” he assured me, moving closer. The full moon shone down on us, making him more visible to me. “I did say that I thought that we needed to talk, didn’t I?”

“Yes, that you did,” I replied, holding my breath as he took my hand. A moment later, I realized how cold his hand was. “Jake, are you alright? You… you’re so cold.” He just gave me that unsettling smile again. Deciding that he wasn’t going to tell me anything, I tried to weasel it out of him. “So um… what did you want to talk about?”

“You’re perfect,” he said, nodding to himself. “Just what we need. You’ll do just fine.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded. Once again, he gave me a cold smile. The trees rustled again and a howling sound ripped through the wood. “Jacob, what was that?” I whispered fiercely. “I think that we should get out of here.”

“Oh, don’t worry about them,” he replied dismissively. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”

“Who? Who are you talking about!?” Something wasn’t right. My mind felt as though it had been wandering through a fog that had only just cleared, allowing to finally realize how odd this situation really was. I looked into his eyes and gasped as they went from their pretty natural color to a pitch black. His pupil grew larger and larger until there was nothing but a black emptiness. Suddenly, his body flickered, becoming a mass of darkness, before returning to normal. “What are you?” I screeched, jerking out of his hold. He grinned, and I wanted to puke when I saw that instead of normal, human teeth, he had fangs. Wicked sharp things that looked like they could rip me to shreds.

“You were almost too easy, little one,” he laughed. “I’d been watching you, you know. All of you orphans. The New Law states that we can only sacrifice and play with those who no one will miss, and usually it’s no fun. The poor little things are already so depressed that they don’t have any fight left in them. But you? Oh, I think that we’ll enjoy having you.”

“You… you’re not Jacob.”

Mr. Not Jacob looked annoyed. “What is it you humans say? ‘Well duh!’, or something like that?” I vigorously nodded my head. “Well duh, Astra. Do you really think that he would actually ask you to meet him? What, did you think that we were going to make out? Did you think that Jacob was going to ask you to be girlfriend?”  When I didn’t answer, he simply shrugged. “Might as well get on with it. Boys?” His three friends stepped out of the line of trees behind him. Their appearances had changed from when I’d previously seen them. They’d gone to masses of shadow, their forms flickering from human to darkness constantly. The one farthest from me snapped his fingers, and a roaring bonfire appeared in the middle the clearing. As the four of them circled me, Not Jacob said, “Let’s begin.” 

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TADA! ok guys let me know what you think. I've been writing this all weekend. When I finish my homework, I'll start the next chapter, kay? I love you guys sooo much! :) COMMENT AND VOTE PLEASE!