Lily was lost and Edna began to panic.
"Alright let's set some ground rules."Colin said trying to calm down."Forests are governed by spirits. Not all of them are good. Some exploit the situation."
"Ok, so what's your point?"Edna asked.
"Not everything may seem as it is. Trust your instincts but under no circumstance will you completely trust what you hear and see. "Colin said seriously.
"Okay!"said Edna.
"Alright, we shall split up."Colin said leaving.
Almost an hour had passed since the search began. Colin's plan to travel faster had gone in vain. He was praying nothing happened to Lil. Afterall he did make a promise to keep her safe. Now, he was completely tensed and sat on a rock with his hand on his head. Right at that moment he heard a voice coming a few meters away from him. A voice of a young girl - it was Lily. He ran towards it and reached the origin of the sound. It was a well. He peeped into it and heard the voice echo from deep under.
Edna hadn't had much luck, she began to wonder when Lily went missing. Lily was present during the fight. Edna had immersed herself in her thoughts. She couldn't bare to lose another member of the family.
Soon she realised how the forest was trying to indicate something. There was something wrong. The trees stood still, there was no breeze and the sound of the insects had died out. Edna took out her machete once again preparing for anything out of the blue when a faint voice was heard. It sounded like Lily, as if she was searching for her mother, the voice was weak.
Edna was relieved that her daughter was alright. She dropped her machete and let out a sigh of relief. That's when Colin's words began ringing in her head."Do not trust everything you see and hear."
The voice continued to call her. It became louder and was coming closer. The voice began to cry and sounded badly injured. Edna was feeling terrible. She knew her daughter was somewhere around, but the voice brought out the worst ideas in her head.
She could here many footsteps behind and whenever she stopped they would stop too. She could here the sound of bones breaking and screams that followed which sounded a lot like her daughter. The air around her began to become uncomfortably cold. She could feel some standing right behind her and staring at her. She looked ahead and in the shadows under a few trees a dark figure stood with its head abnormally tilted and eyes glowing and a green gem at its center. It seemed to have been staring directly at her. Edna's eyes were filled with tears, she knew she shouldn't look back and face the evil spirit nor should she go ahead. She sat on a rock with her palms on her ears so that she wouldn't have to listen to the voice. She was being haunted and did not know what to do.
The sounds grew more and more intense. She was surrounded and she could feel it. A terrible smell filled the air, something...or someone had died.
Instinct kicked in and Edna followed the smell. She picked up her machete and walked towards the fowl smell. The voices grew louder Lily's voice sounded more in pain. Finally she reached the origin of the smell.
She was shocked. It was a carcass of a deer which was brutally killed. "No wild animal hunts this way." She thought to herself. A few meters ahead the same dark figure was kneeling down only this time it's back facing her. There was someone lying down on the forest floor beside the figure. As she walked closer to it she noticed that there were two bodies - Colin and Lily. They were alive but unconscious. Edna crept up to the figure and was stopped by scary demonic voice. She could here whispers increase and her pupils began to dialate she was being possessed, that's when the green gem at the center of the spirit flashed and woke her up. She immediately flung her machete at center of the spirit. The demonic voice yelled in protest but it was too late. The gem cracked and blasted into a million pieces. There were black fumes everywhere. The figure simply vaporised and the voices and the unsettling cold faded.
Colin and Edna woke slowly. They held their heads and readjusted themselves to the surroundings
" Ma!" Lil jumped onto her mother with delight and hugged her.
" Oh darling! You are alright. " Edna hugged her back and kissed her forehead.
"You are our hero Edna!" Colin said to her blushing.
" I know!" Edna said smiling back at him jokingly.
Colin truly admired her now.
*******
At a distance behind the shadows the hooded figure was watching the entire scene and said to himself,"It has begun. It's time they know."
