Infiltration of Bloodmoon Forest

Chapter One

Caroline

3 days before the infiltration of Bloodmoon Forest

      Caroline has always hated when Chelium* left for a hunt. She never knew if he'd come back injured, or worse, never return. With Caroline's dad gone for the foolish king's unnecessary war, Chelium declared himself the man of the house and started leaving for weeks on end to go on hunts for food. Caroline always thought about how foolish Chelium was for his childish charade when she could always just earn enough money from working to supply them with the meat they needed from the market, and Chelium had only just learned how to shoot a crossbow that month. Nonetheless, Caroline had allowed Chelium's ridiculousness to take place as long as he never dared to hunt within the confines of Bloodmoon Forest. The idiot had broken it 5 days prior through a letter to Caroline claiming all forests besides Bloodmoon have been ravaged by hunters. He was due back a day ago, and for many families that meant an injury, not many can return from. Already Caroline has decided that when Chelium came back she was going to give him an ear full, if he comes back.

      Going about your day as if your brother isn't missing and you're not worried sick about him is never easy. Caroline is about to discover this, in fact, she's about to discover it's near impossible to work. She's never minded being a seamstress, she loved it in fact, however, to get everything symmetrical and even, it requires a decent amount of concentration. Concentration that Caroline currently does not have. By lunch, Caroline's ready to drop dead from the exhaustion of all the orders she has gotten that day. After lunch, I have to get Mrs. Vienic, Mr. Lincoln, and Mx. Sanderly's orders done, and then I have 10 new orders due by Thursday. Thank Lanta I get some peace and quiet for lunch.

     "Hey C, ya ready to go get some lunch at that new place on Shirley Avenue. I think it's called Blueberry Jams," A young man only a year older than Caroline announced as Caroline came out from the back to inform her boss that she was leaving for lunch. He was the type of man who had winkles near the side of his eyes left from years of laughing and smiling, even at such a young age. It has always been a wonder to the whole village how his carefree attitude and Caroline's hot-headed personality mixed and allowed them to be friends. Mrs. Yoninns, Caroline's next-door neighbor of 20 years, has always claimed it was because they grew up together.

     Rolling her eyes Caroline acknowledged the young man, "Yeah Marv, let me just go grab my wallet and we'll be on our way."

     "Wait, did the best seamstress in town and quite possibly the whole state forgets about our weekly lunch dates. I'm offended, or did you lose track of time," Marvin teased the hot-headed blonde in front of him.

     "Shut up Marvin," Caroline quipped back as she disappeared in the backroom.

     Chuckling he yelled back after her, "What? Can't come up with something better? You're getting slow."

     Returning back from the backroom and walking towards the car, Caroline retorted, "Better slow than old, dinosaur." Shaking his head Marvin followed after her to his car.

     It was a wonder how Blueberry Jams got as many customers as it got, they're food tasted worse than the burnt rice made in the years-long quarantine hundreds of years ago. Because of the unnecessary war going only so many people could work at one employer at once. When too many ended up working in one place at once, the newest and oldest employees would have to compete to stay or get drafted as soldiers in the war. Many places that hired too many employees ended up broke because the consumers would boycott the place in order to protect all the employees in the future, and send a message to the employer. Once the king finds out about this new restaurant, new soldiers will be sent up to the front lines against their own will. Blueberry Jams won't last long. Caroline, however, will no longer be allowed in this new restaurant for its short life.

     "Okay, I understand that demanding to see a manager and yelling his ear out about employee safety isn't something you're supposed to do, but to get kicked out indefinitely is a bit extreme. I mean, I'm only looking out for the employees," Caroline complained as she got in the car, earlier than she was supposed to.

     Marvin's laughter ricocheted across the parking lot as he replied, "You can't just cause a big commotion like that. Now usually you can control yourself enough to just send an email, so what's up with chewing out that poor dude?"

     "Nothing's wrong why would you think that," Caroline lied as she faced the car window, her voice sounding as fake as someone saying they don't matter.

     "C, I've known you since you were born, I know you're lying, so stop it."

     "You don't know if I'm lying, Marv."

     "Caroline, you are the worst liar that I know, " Marvin countered Caroline.

     Caroline exploded, "You know what, you don't know shit! If you knew shit, you would know that Chelium is missing! You would know that I haven't been able to concentrate all day because Chelium decided to go to fucking Bloodmoon Forest! Of all the forests he decided on Bloodmoon! It's like he's trying to die! I can't lose him! He's all I have left! So sorry if I seem out of it, Marvin but I'm very stressed right now." Her face soon turned strawberry red as she started crying in the middle of the highway in traffic hour.

      Panicking Marvin attempted to console Caroline, "You know Chelium, he probably got distracted by the nearest crossbow or book on his way back."

     "But he wouldn't worry me like that, right," Caroline sniffed.

     "I don't know C, but what I do know is that no matter what happens, you are not alone. You hear me. Take a deep breath, you will get through this," Marvin patted Caroline's shoulder as she continued to cry more intensely than before.

     "Thank thank you, Marvin. You're a great friend," Stammered Caroline, her green eyes puffy from the tears.

     "So, do you think you should really be going back to work today?" Marvin asked, drawing out the so.

    Wiping her tears away Caroline does the nervous laugh, many do after crying in front of someone, and mumbled, "No, it helps distract me from Chelium. Please don't tell anyone Marv."

   Marvin just wagged his finger in Caroline's face and playfully scolded her, "Now we wouldn't want you to take a day of work now would we, C."

    "Shut up Marv, just take me back to work," Caroline grinned, revealing the small gap in her teeth.

     For many people coming home is an enjoyable thing. You get to come to a familiar place and release all the tension and worries of the day. There's a saying in the world that says Home is family. That is a very true saying, as long as you take into account that family is what you choose, it doesn't have to be completely blood family either. Family is who you choose. However, coming home to an empty house, or after a day of worrying about a family member, to a house still considered your home, drains the house of the feeling of home. There are many things a person can worry about when coming home, a big one can be about children or a break-in. Caroline should have been worried about the latter.

     Caroline had stayed late at the shop tonight, not wanting to come home to an empty house at the end of the day. The wind gently shook the tree branches and added a nice breeze calming the air from warm to chilly. Moonlight reflected off Caroline's wavy blonde hair. Pulling on her jacket tighter, Caroline walked up to her house door. It was cracked open and unlocked. Alarms went off in Caroline's head as she started to softly walk to the kitchen to grab protection before she would go around the house checking to see if anyone was still there.

    As Caroline started to near the corner to her bedroom, a crashing came from within it. Grasping the knife tighter in her hand, Caroline slowly turned the doorknob. The heavy breathing from within the room seemed to get quicker, like an injured animal knowing it was caught by a hunter. Caroline opened the door and looked inside. Inside was a man with countless cuts all over his body, and an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. But worse yet was the large gash along his thigh, bleeding heavily, but considering that the man wasn't dead, wasn't the result of a damaged artery. His silver hair was matted with sweat.

     The man smiled and barely managed a hoarse," Hey Sis, you were right, Bloodmoon Forest isn't safe." And the man collapsed as Caroline rushed to catch him in her arms.

     Chelium was back from Bloodmoon Forest.