Prologue
10 years ago.
Pant. Pant. Pant. My mouth was dry and my lungs were on fire. Olivia held on tight to my chest as I ran through the forest floor, ignoring the sting and whips of the green vegetation slicing on my legs and arms. I held onto my child tighter, praying that no scrape scarred her body. She’s only eight years old and we’re running away. This is no childhood. I shook away my thoughts of failure as a mom as we escaped the horde of angry, disgruntled men hellbent on capturing us.
Two days ago, I discovered that the man I loved was a crazy human responsible for the persecution of many for a sick cult. When I found out that Olivia and I were the next targets, I knew that I had to flee. My child and I were not going to go without a fight. After beating the face of the male kidnapper and taking Olivia in a death grip, I ran like a wild goose into the forest. We ran all day, only taking shelter by water fall for the night and leaving at dawn. It was midday when I heard the footsteps and the angry shouts of men, giving away our location.
I quickened my pace, sweat beaded down on my forehead and my legs pushed through the pain. Olivia could only stay silent. Even she knows that if she cries, our location will be found out. Smart girl. I ran over the hills and deeper into the thick, densely packed woods. The trees were taller and the greens were greener. I instinctively knew that this was a territory that people seldom ventured into. After a short while, I no longer heard the men and quietly walked into the unknown forest. Only now could I take in the beauty of the forest, despite my dreadful situation. The sun began to set an orange hue, beaming its marmalade color against the vibrant green of the forest floor. The evening fog began to set in, creating an enchanted look. My breath almost hitched in its beauty when a twig snapped in the distance. I froze in momentarily. The men should be miles away from us. There’s no way they’ve caught up. But fearing the worst, I started to sprint.
Something caught my hand before we could bolt out of there.
I looked down, fearing that I’ve been caught by the crazy men, only to find a woman. Her gaze was dark and her frown etched permanently into my brain.
“You’re trespassing.” She hissed - she twitched her nose as if she had smelt something she didn't find pleasing. I noticed the two men that were behind her, looking at us.
“I’m so sorry,” I begged, knees falling to the floor. “But I am only running away from my village. The men were trying to kill my daughter and I. We barely managed to escape.” I pleaded, praying that they’ll have pity on us. The woman softened her look when she looked at my daughter.
“She’s only eight years old. Please, we need a place to stay. A place to call home. Please have mercy on us.” My voiced trembled.
The woman looked at the other two men as they silently stared at each other.
“Tell us why they want to kill you both.” The woman said as she turned back.
My eyes closed shut in pain, remembering his twisted motives shot through me like an arrow to the heart. “He's part of a cult - my husband. He worships this terrible ideology of kidnapping women and killing them. I don't know why - I had no idea that he was part of this heinous group until I found out two days ago when I looked through his diary. It was such a terrible sight. All those women he was responsible for… Before we could escape, one of his men had tried to kidnap us, but we managed to flee before they took us.” I quickly said.
The trio looked at each other. A silent look was exchanged between them; an awfully long moment passed before the women turned back to me.
“I’ll take you into our village to see what the council will do to you. These men will scare them off. They won’t come for you or your child.” The women said as the two men took off.
I went down on my knees and thanked her to the high heavens. She quickly brought me to my feet and I let Olivia down to walk with us. As we walked away, I heard a pair of two howls in the distance. I didn’t know where we were going, but something inside me deep down assured me that it was safety.
