The Broken Truth

Prologue

Shivering, I wrapped my arms tighter around myself against the biting sting of the rain pounding down around me, plastering my now soaked white dress to me like a second skin. Tiny stones and twigs scratched my bare feet as I walked wondering, not for the first time today, why I was out in this weather with no shoes and wearing a dress?

Branches pulled at my dress and scratched my exposed arms as I carried on through the unfamiliar trees. The wind howled through the forest, whipping my tangled hair around my face and causing the locket around my neck to bounce against my chest in an unsteady rhythm.

Every breath caused the agonizing ache throughout my body to intensify.

Panic clawed it’s way through my body more and more with each step I took, an icy feeling lingering in the air. There was an eeriness enveloping me, and it almost felt like I was being watched…

Crack!

Spinning around for what felt like the hundredth time, I let my eyes scan over the tall, thick trees, my heart beating a mile a minute while that eerie feeling only got worse. I could barely see ten feet in front of me, the only light coming form the partially covered moon. The darkness felt like it was suffocating. Isolating me.

I wasn't alone. That I was sure of. Something or someone was out there and I had never been more terrified.  

I jumped, letting out a muffled scream as another bolt of lighting lit up the night sky before disappearing behind the hills, the crack of thunder not far behind it. Pushing forward on shaky mud-caked legs, the pain residing in every inch of my body threatened to bring me knees yet again. A pain, so excruciating it felt like fire coursing through my veins worked it’s way through me. 

My body began to feel too heavy and walking became harder than it should have been. 

Black dots started to blur my vision. My breath came out in short, sharp gasps as I tried desperately to get enough oxygen into my lungs. My legs gave out under me and I collapsed to the unforgiving floor of the forest, letting out a yelp as the tree connected painfully with my back and head.

Where am I?!

Tears of frustration began to well in my eyes as I realised I might never get an answer to that question or any others for that matter.

This was it. I was going to die, right here, right now and I didn't even know why I was out here in the middle of who-knows-where in the first place.

I didn't know if anyone was looking for me.

I didn't know who I was or what what I looked liked.

And I didn't even know something as simple as what my name was. It was almost laughable really. 

Leaning my head back against the rough bark of the tree, I brought my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, finally letting the tears spill over and trail down my cheeks, getting washed away with the rain. 

I don’t know how long I sat there, sopping wet, chilled to the bone and not to mention scared out of my mind before my eyes started to close on their own accord. 

Just before the very last remnants of any hope I had left completely vanished, a piercing light filtered through my closed lids sending a sharp pain through my head. Wincing, I used all the energy I had to wrench my eyes open. 

It couldn't be… Could it? 

A seed of hope sparked alight in my chest once more as I frantically wiped the rain from my eyes attempting to get a better look, praying that my eyes weren't playing a cruel trick on me.

It was real! Headlights!

A strangled laugh came out of my throat, although it sounded more like a whimper, as I scrambled to my knees, a sudden burst of adrenaline propelling me forward. 

I had to be quick, it would pass soon and I had to be on the road before it did. 

I had to be.

Stumbling forward I pushed the branches out of the way and began moving as fast as I could down the small hill leading to the road, a giddy feeling in my stomach at the thought of being found.

I could see the beam of the headlights approaching, getting brighter by the second. I tried calling for help but nothing more than a hoarse cry came out so I continued through the trees. 

My feet were scraped raw, the pain in my body felt like it was ripping me in two with every movement and I couldn't stop shaking from the frigid cold. But it didn't matter now, I was nearly there. Everything would be okay if I could just make it…

Time seemed to stop. 

There was no rain or wind, no fear or pain, there was just… a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I caught a brief glimpse of the tree root sticking out above the ground, threatening to take away any chance I had of escaping this haunting place.

And then everything was fast forwarded and my foot was colliding with the root, sending an intense pain up my leg and at the same time throwing me forward until there was nothing I could do except wait for the impact…

A scream caught in my throat just before my head hit the tarmac below with a sickening thud and bile rose up in my throat as I lay, head throbbing, vision swimming and a metallic taste in my mouth. A warm sticky substance I didn't even want to think about ebbed out around my head and dripped down my face.

Screeching tires followed by a woman’s scream and frantic voices that sounded so distant were the only things I heard before the pain subsided and the darkness consumed me.