The Enchanted

Chapter-1

I was driving down the long twisting path with the music blasting at full speed. a sign up ahead told me that the town of Audersbury was only a few miles away. I felt that I would make it there by the evening.

Finally, after months of chasing this job down, they had accepted me but I had to move to the small town of Audersbury as a special correspondent here. I felt really sad about leaving the city behind- I loved the sights and sounds of the big city and I loved the huge crowds. Small towns had always felt really drab to me. Still, this was a job offer I couldn't refuse.

I was enjoying the ride when something slammed across the windshield of my car, causing me to veer off track. My heart beating fast, I managed to get my car under control and prevented it from slamming into the tree alongside the road.

Unbuckling my seat belt and opening the car door, I got out as fast as I could . A rabbit was lying down in the middle of the road with blood all over it. I felt my stomach churning. I looked at the rabbit again, just out of morbid curiosity. Its throat looked like it had been mauled open by some predator. For a moment, I felt immensely relieved that I was not the one who had killed the rabbit . Then I felt really sickened by the sight of the dead rabit.
I grabbed a sack from the trunk of my car and tried to put the rabbit on the side of the road even though my stomach protested at every moment. Somehow, the rabbit still struck me as a little odd.

Abandoning the little nagging doubt at the back of my head, I got in the car and buckled in my seat belt and started driving again. Then it struck me. The rabbit had sharper teeth than any animal should have -almost like fangs. And if a predator had killed it before, how had it jumped at my windshield?

I backed up and got out of the car to check the rabbit again. However, when I got to the spot where I had left it, there was no trace of the rabbit anywhere.

I drove out of there as fast as I could. I made it in record time . I spotted the sign 'Welcome to Audersbury' . The town had big leafy trees all around and big old houses on the outskirts. However, as I drove deeper into the town, I could sense the modern touches- supermarkets and smaller houses.

I parked my car outside the nearest grocery store. I had to pick up food supplies for myself . Plus I felt hungry enough to eat eight elephants. I walked in the store and got enough supplies to last me for the week. I felt so hungry that as soon as I paid for all the stuff, I opened a bag of Doritos and proceeded to munch my way through the entire packet. I opened another and was devouring it when I heard a deep chuckle behind me.

"Hungry much?"

I turned around and found myself facing a guy . He was about my age with warm brown eyes and dark hair. His lips were curled in a merry smile .
I smiled back.

"Hey. I am Caleb. Nice to meet to you."
He extended his hand and I shook it.
"Hey. I am Adriana."
"Are you new here? I haven't seen you before."
"Yes I just moved here..."

Suddenly a loud bell rang startling us. Caleb took out his phone and frowned.
"Well I got to go. See you around."
With that abrupt goodbye, he promptly left the store.

I stared after him. My eyes fell on the clock on the wall of the store. I was getting really late.

I got into my car and started again. I tried to follow the directions that the GPS provided but I simply couldn't find my apartment. It had got really dark by now and I felt a little apprehensive. My goal had been to reach before the darkness set in.

I picked up my phone to call Phil, the old man who was lending me his apartment, when it shut down. The battery was dead. Great. Now I was stuck without GPS and without any means of communication.

I took out the map from the dashboard, thanking my stars that my dad was so old-fashioned and made me bring along all sorts of unneccessary things including this map.

I was trying to figure out the map, When out of the corner of my eye, I noticed somebody standing at the window of my car. I turned my head and screamed aloud. A very old woman with blackened teeth was leering at me. I felt so scared, I thought my heart would leap out of my chest.

I started my car, and began driving as fast as I could. I glanced at the rearview mirror and saw the woman yelling something. I decided to go to the main square again , when I saw my fuel was nearly finished. Crossing all my fingers at the steering wheel, I hoped to make it out of the silent woods before my fuel ran out .

As I wished this, almost instantly the car shut down. I was really beginning to freak out now . I was lost, stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no fuel, no phone and no way to get out of the middle of these creepy woods. I willed myself to calm down. All I could do now was wait. I sat there for must have been half an hour but seemed like eternity . At last, I saw a car approaching.
I tried to stop it, waving my arms.

"Help!"I called out. The light blue car stopped . A guy rolled down the window. He was about my age with dark hair- but it was his eyes that really captured my attention. They were startlingly blue - like pieces of sapphires with a hint of black in them. I stared at him.

"Yes?"he asked.

"Um" I said . "My car is out of fuel and my phone's battery has died. I was wondering if maybe you could help me."

"Of course!"he replied. He had a lilting accent which was really plessnt to hear. "Get in. I will drop you."

"Oh." I replied, my mind racing. I didn't know this guy so I couldn't go with him . I didn't want to get mugged on my first night here.

"Do you have a phone? We can call the tow truck"

I was worried that I had offended him , but he just laughed and said " I see. You don't trust me. Just as well." He dialed the tow truck and told them to pick me up.

"They are coming to pick you up."he said. "By the way, I am Ethan."
" I am Adriana. Thank you very much for helping me. I am new to this town actually"

"Its not a problem" he replied "So do you...?"

At that very moment, I heard a scream . I whipped around, my heart beating fast.

"Stay here. I will check it out. " he cautioned me. He rapidly walked deeper into the forest ,disappearing from sight.

I waited alone for sometime . The towtruck arrivedsoon. A really tall girl got down and attached my car to the tow truck.

" Let's go." she said. I got into the front seat with her and looked out of the window. Ethan still hadn't returned. I glanced at his blue car standing nearby. my eyes caught a flash of white from the backseat. I stared. I couldn't be sure but I thought I saw a a hand moving in the backseat of Ethan's car.