The Wicked of Wicker Woods

Preface

Meet Anna, pictured at the top. And as always, enjoy the new read! 

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The faint trickle of water perked Anna's ear. 

It was methodical and incessant, like the ticking of a clock in the overwhelming silence. Her heavy eyes slowly lifted, blinking away the sleepy fog coating them. Her cold hands gently began to knead the dirt below, grabbing handfuls of mud as her body came to. The crunch of newly fallen leaves reminded her of where she laid, face down in the dirt.

On her stomach, she struggled to lift her head at her surroundings.

The woods were dark, only a fraction of moonlight spilled through the thick trees and onto the muddy ground. The only sound was that of the rain from the heavy storm earlier and a few cracking branches the bent from the weight of the water.

The sandy soil was beginning to penetrate through the material of her clothes as she laid on top of it. Slowly sitting herself up on her hip, her body ached from the collision she had with the hard ground, which was now semi soft from the saturation of rain. Mud covering most her body, Anna stood as she wavered slightly, struggling to plant her feet firmly beneath her. 

Flashes of her running through the brush just minutes ago filtered her mind and the hopelessness she once felt, flooded back into her veins. 

From the silence, came a familiar and captivating whistle. 

He was coming for her. 

What she had witnessed before she ran, was unspeakable. An act so sinister, she held back the urge to scream into the madness that surrounded her. Swallowing it, a bubble filled her throat, threatening to spill tears of anguish. 

Anna shook the flashback from her head as the woods began to spin around her, each tree circling over and over until she felt the contents of her stomach replace to urge to cry. The little food she had consumed earlier, was now on the forest floor, spilling into the imprint her body made in the mud. 

It was a mark that would bind her to the woods forever, just as it did with Molly and perhaps those before her.

Teeth chattering as if it were the dead of winter, Anna's eyes scanned the dense brush surrounding her. 

Waiting, listening, hoping that she was hidden in the darkness.

The cold and crisp air allowed her to clearly smell the fear emitting from her own body as she stood in the eerie silence. The sound of a branch snapping in the distance caused her to twist her head in the direction it came. 

But as the night cloaked her from being seen, it also made it impossible to make out anything more than a few feet beyond the slight sway of the trees. 

A faint whistling filled the air, gliding over the foliage in a charming rhythm.

Sickness spread in the pit of Anna's stomach once again as it taunted her. The sound was a haunting reminder of what would become of her. Closing her eyes and letting tears fall, she waited as the sound grew so close she could feel his breath  on her face with each exhale. 

Opening her eyes, they met the darkened orbs of a killer. The leaves from behind her crackled as she inhaled a deep, ragged breath. 

The wicked of Wicker Woods had finally found her.