The Light in the darkness

Chapter 1

              The smell was unmistakable, I was close. A flash of shadow, familiar yet alien. I could not quite focus on the faint silhouette of, the what? A creature? My brain is yelling at me to run away yet it is as if my body is not in control and I am just along for the rid. The closer I get, the more detail I revealed. I can now make out long sharp claw, large misshapen wings, and the dark black piercing eyes. What are you? I ask. Its hot breath, heavy against my face, its stench invading my sense. It whispers, "I am ainmhi'". Then suddenly and without a sound it lunges out as I feel its sharp claws dig deep into my flesh! I bolt upright in my bed, cold sweat pouring down my face and into my nightgown. Out of breath I desperately try to make sense of the nocturnal encounter like I have done nearly each night sine the first time in those woods all those years ago. Sleep would not come easy this night.

            The next day I was sitting in my father's study doing my schoolwork as one of his businessmen barged in.
  
            "What is it Edgar" my father asked.

            "Sir, there is an urgent business matter that I need to speak to you about," He said. My father gave me one look and I knew that my lessons were done for the time being. I rushed out the door and up the stairs to my room. As I was passing my mother's door to her office, she called out to me,

              "Isa please do not go too far into the woods," my mother said.

              "I won't mother," I replied to her. My mother knew why I liked to hunt. It was a sort of freedom for me when I was hunting. I was not Isa White the eldest daughter of William and Esther White, House of the Wolf, nor was I the betrothed to the eldest son of Henry and Elizabeth Cheeseman whose name was Hugo. Hunting was my way to get away from all the social expectations of me. I walked into my room to grab my hunting leathers and boots. My room was simple but perfect for me. The bed was set in the middle of the back wall. The bed was made from dark wood with tan canopy curtains and golden blankets. There was a trunk at the end of the bed made from the same wood which held all of my winter clothing. There was an armoire set against the opposite wall filled with my summer dresses and my hunting leathers. I went over to my armoire and put my leathers on. Then I went over to my vanity to take off my necklace. I ran down the stairs straight to the door. My bow and arrows were leaning by the door waiting for me to go hunting. The manor was not too far from the woods. So, I started walking across the courtyard to the gates. Once I got there, I was greeted by two guards,

             "Where are you going lady Isa," Frederick the head guard asked me with a disappointed look.

             "Must you ask me that useless question every time Frederick," I asked but I continued, " not that it concerns you but I'm going to hunt in the woods, my mother knows."

          "Okay be back before dark, unlike last time" he then turned around and yelled at Ben "open the grates." I did not waste any time passing through I didn't want to take any chances that they would change their minds.

            "Thanks Freddie," I said looking back at him with a knowing smirk. Well aware of the fact that he hated that name. ever since I started calling him that when I as five years old because I couldn't say his full name. As soon as I passed through the gates, I could hear the guards closing them behind me. Once I got to the woods, I went straight to my favorite spot which was perched up in a tree that was not too far into the woods. It seemed like I wait for a good thirty minutes before I decided that I needed to go further in. I hate going home empty-handed I love seeing the cooks faces when I drop off the deer for them to cook. Either they cook it for themselves or the family. As I was walking further, I noticed a "familiar" dark figure out of the corner of my eye huddled in the shadows. My heart races faster. I start to panic. It starts to become difficult to breath my lungs collapsing under the panic attack that is fast building. I turn to run but I only took a few steps when suddenly I tripped over a branch and face planted it into the dirt. Heart still racer faster than a horses gallop during a race, I turn over to face the unknown.

          "What do we have here? Mmm, yummy, a human," the creature said in a low hissing voice.