Hunted

Chapter One :: Nightmares

** Madison POV **

Present day - 2012

"Madison! It's time to get up, come on you'll be late." My mother shouted from downstairs.

I peeled my eyes open and turned my head to glance at the clock on my bedside table. I pulled the duvet up over my head muttering a response too quiet for her to hear. It was 7am on monday morning, time to get up. I hated mondays, it meant the end of the weekend and the start of a week at college. Something I despised and only endured to appease my mother and to keep up the pretence of normality in my life.

I threw the duvet off of myself in a dramatic fashion, stretching and yawning loudly as I shuffled to the edge of the bed. I was tired after a restless night. The nightmares that had haunted me as a child had returned. For the past four nights I had woken in the middle of the night, sweating and short with breath, tears rolling down my face. Fear and panic engulfed me, leaving me a shaking mess on my bed, in my darkened room. The only light coming from the half moon I could see through the gap in my curtains. My mind attempted to sift through the details of the dream, trying to find any difference to these new...old nightmares. Did I do anything differently, did anything new happen, were my surroundings the same. My mind exhausted itself, as I fell back into a restless sleep.

I was running through a forest. These woods to me were not known, I could not place where I was, and I couldn't make out any familiar landmarks. I did not know how I got here, to this forest, but I was here. A man in black was chasing me, gaining ever closer but then dropping back as I stumbled through the forest. My bare feet sore and wet, trying to make their way blindly through the dark earth, scattered with sharp twigs and stones that dug into the soles of my feet, causing me to wince in pain. But still I ran.  

Daring to look back, I saw the man...the monster was still chasing. Gaining on me but despite his obvious advantage in speed, with his strong powerful legs compared to my small, fragile twelve year old legs, with bare feet, he held back. It was like he wanted to savour the chase. As though he enjoyed the thrill of seeing me squirm. Hearing my sharp, frightened breaths as I fought to carry on running despite the pain searing in my chest, as my lungs struggled to function and the pains in my sides shot through my body, begging me to stop. As if the fear in my eyes excited him, as I peered back to check he was still there. His fast steps quiet and graceful, compared to my heavy and loud footsteps pounding through the earth. We would run like this for what seemed like forever, until something would change. The wind in the forest would cease, the air around me seemed to disappear, leaving me gasping for breath. I could no longer hear the monster behind me. The trees stood still, leaves no longer wrestled in the canopy of the forest. I ran harder and faster than before, fearing the change in atmosphere, knowing something was coming, someone was coming, knowing he was ready to pounce. And then he was there in front of me, leaning against a tree with an air of arrogance that sent chills down my spine, making me sink into myself. He blocked my path. My mind screamed at me to turn and run, but I could not. My body froze with fear. My legs were heavy and tired, the tears that brimmed in my eyes made my vision blurry. Sweat poured from my brow and my black hair stuck to my damp face. But I did not move. I did not brush the hair from my face, or wipe the tears from my eyes. I stood frozen, my nightdress frayed, hanging from my tiny shoulders, brushing my toes as it hung on the wet forest floor, mud freckled the hem. The man...the monster who's intensive stare, froze in his place, against the tree. His eyes, the darkest blue...almost black, bore into mine, hypnotising me into frozen fear. His blood red lips curled at the edges into a smirk as my eyes broke from his and searched his body for a clue to who he was...what he was. He was dressed all in black, black trousers tucked into big black boots, his tee shirt clung to his muscular body, and his long, black coat swamped his body. He was tall, his body muscular and strong. His skin was pale, and the features on his face were soft, handsome. But his eyes, the eyes that bore into mine, that seemed to reach into my soul, frightened me the most. His facial features did not match those deep, dark, evil eyes. He broke from his stance, stepping toward me, as I held my breath waiting for the inevitable, for pain, for death. This calmed me, fear no longer wracking my mind, adrenaline no longer coursed through my veins. I closed my eyes and waited, waited for peace, waited for the light, waited to see him again... to see my father. A cold breeze swept past me, making my hair rise from my shoulders, and goose bumps form on my skin. I could feel his cold breath on my face, feel his hard body push against mine, feel the anger emanating from him. "Open...your eyes." He said, quietly and patiently, the tone in his voice not matching his body language. I could feel the words on my skin, he was that close. I peeled my eyes open slowly, not wanting to anger this monster but not wanting to see him, up close, like this. His beauty made me draw a deep breath. Up close, his skin was the palest I'd ever seen, I'd of assumed he was of albino blood if it weren't for the darkness of his eyes now the darkest black, not the blue I had assumed before. His black hair brushed my fore head as he leant into me. It was unkempt, but short, falling over his face in places, making him appear youthful. I could not gauge his age, he appeared young, no older than later teens, possibly early twenties, but he had an air of age about him, of being wise, older than his years. Something we had in common. He blood red lips parted and beneath them bright white teeth glistened in the darkness of the forest, his face took on a pained expression, almost like guilt, like he didn't want to do this, didn't want to kill me, a small girl of twelve, defenceless against him. I gasped as fangs grew in his mouth. Two sharp, pointed teeth now stood to attention behind his lips, against the smaller, white porcelains, like guards protecting a castle gate. He grabbed my hair with one hand and held my wrists with the other, pulling my head to one side he leant into my neck, ready to bite. I closed my eyes, unable to move, unable to scream, frozen in terror...