Infernal Woods

{[Chapter I]}

A second passed. Another. Within the blink of an eye, an entire minute passed, and yet again another.

Rachel stood still, staring into the dark shadows of the forest. Frozen, trying to think of an excuse to not enter, yet a part of her wanted to go in. To 'talk' with Hanzo. To ask him why he came back.

It was like staring into an abyss, the dark shadows were almost looking straight back at, no, into her soul. Ravens in the leaves took off, leaving warning calls of evil nearby. Rachel stepped back and sighed, walking away. Hoping for it all to be imagination. Hoping that she won't see Hanzo at school the next day.

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Her hopes was crushed. Still there, the in-humane boy sat next to her in a class with a small grin and joyfully shining eyes.

"Hello there! Long time no see~"

He prolonged the "see" and rested his elbow on the desk with his chin on his hand. Hanzo shut his eyes closed and his grin grew wider. Shivers clawed down Rachel's spine. She gulped, staring anxiously at Hanzo.

"What's wrong?"

His smile dropped, worriedly staring back at her.

"N-nothing..."

Rachel stuttered, looking down at the desk she sat at. She wanted to just leave already, but then the teacher entered.

Miss Hudson. For a teacher, she was young, as if she was an upperclassman, but everyone knew she was in her early twenties. She wore her blonde hair in a ponytail that was swung towards the front over her right shoulder and kept together by a black ribbon. Lastly, her emerald eyes shone with joy and she smiled sweetly, tightly clasping a couple of files to her chest.

"Hi class~!"

She cheerfully said in an almost sing-song voice. All the class except for Rachel and Hanzo replies in union with a common greeting. Amber Hudson was one of the best teachers in school, though she was the youngest, she graduated high school early and went to college the very next year. Not to mention, she was a sweet girl and always listened to students problems, trying her best to help, be it fighting among friends or even money problems.

Amber carefully put the files down on her desk and got back in front of class.

"Now then children! Would you please take out your books? Then we can get this lesson started!"

She cutely giggled afterwords, noticing that everyone already had their books out.

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Triiiiiiiiingggggg

The school bell rang loudly, and everyone rushed home, ready to enjoy their weekends, some playing video games, some new couples going on dates, normal things for their age.

However, Rachel had much different plans. Mustering up the courage, she once again stood before the Infernal Woods. Steadying her breath, she gulped and took a step in. Then, another, and another. Soon enough reaching her destination, deep within, an area people wouldn't go to due to 'wild animal attacks'.

But in truth, the attackers were far from 'animals'. Hanzo called it the Infernal Woods for a reason, in here you would find things raging from your wildest fantasies, all the way to your worst nightmares.

It's a supernatural forest. Filled with spirits, undead, demons, fairies, you name it. Anything you would think of. It was the area where all dreams manifested.

Rachel stood in a clearing, the sun shining directly down on a pool-side chair. On the chair lied a woman, probably the closest thing in the forest to a human. She had long blonde hair, but it didn't look as smooth as Amber's. Her eyes shown baby blue with knowledge. She got up, the small black bikini showed off the small size of her curves.

"Rachel? Ugh."

Baalberith Lilim could be considered Hanzo's older sister, and caretaker of the forest. She wasn't exactly the 'smiling type', but she was generally polite.

Except when it involves girls...

Baalberith and Hanzo weren't exactly blood related, but they were both adopted. Baalberith was a little girl born during the events of World War One. For a human, how is she still alive you might ask? Baalberith can't exactly be classified as a demon. In her teenage years, Baalberith (originally named Lilith) was exposed to Demon blood in her system and it had halted her aging process.

Back to the girls part, she had a slight crush on Hanzo and gets jealous when he hangs out with other girls, especially Rachel, since as a child, the two of them were close. 

"Nice to see you too..."

Rachel sarcastically replied and rolled her eyes, Baalberith never treated her nicely, at all. Rachel didn't feel the same way as Baalberith of Hanzo, but to Baal, Rachel has always been her greatest competition.

"If you came to see Hanzo, he's out."

She lied back down and took out a book from her bag. Slowly motioning for her to leave, Baalberith kept reading, and Rachel just took off, it was a waste of time coming out here.