*{~|/SLAVE|/~}* ||PG||

[Forest]

*{~\|/SLAVE\|/~}*



We fall in line
We live the lie
Give up, give up and feed the machine
It grows inside
Nowhere to hide
Give up, give up and feed the machine
Give up, give up and feed the machine

-Red-Feed the Machine-


Crack! Raelynn whipped around, waving her flashlight around as she tried to illuminate what had made that dreadful noise. After ten seconds of pointing the beam of light at every single thing in sight, she realized it had come from the sky; soon after a glowing claw of lightning ripped a pattern between the stars. Raelynn sighed, and started walking again, a bit relieved but still feeling very nervous. Where was she? Why was she here? There were trees everywhere, and she had even seen a dilapidated old house when she had first come here. And Raelynn's house was placed out and away from the city, and was surrounded by trees, but she didn't recognize this forest.

Being somewhere she didn't know was enough to make Raelynn feel on edge, and now that she was alone in that place, at night, made everything worse. The young blonde-haired woman jumped at every single noise she heard, even if it was her own footsteps. Another thing that made her uneasy was the fact that thunder and lightning kept coming, but there was no rain. And then there was the creepy, deserted house she had seen earlier. Chills ran up and down her spine like mice. The only thing she could be thankful for about this was that she had a flashlight with her. At least she could see. But did she really want to see if something suddenly jumped out at her from behind a tree? 

Just then another flash of lightning raced down from the clouds and electrified a tree, causing it to burst into flames. Raelynn let out a cry of fear and surprise as she jumped away from the flaming tree. These woods were dry, and there was no rain to extinguish the hungry flames, so they spread almost as quickly as the lightning that caused them. Raelynn saw this, and she let out another cry before turning and sprinting away. But these unfamiliar woods were dark and confusing. Vines and wandering tree roots caused the young lady to trip at every turn, yet she refused to fall down. 

Soon she thought she could see the end of the woods far ahead of her. This encouraged her, and she pushed her muscles to go faster and harder, although they were aching horribly. Her lungs and throat stung from the smoky air that rushed back and forth, in and out. Blood welled up in little drops on her face and arms as the cruel branches reached out and scratched her. Her heart pounded like a hammer as it pumped blood to the demanding muscles. Suddenly something smacked Raelynn right in the eye. It immediately twitched closed, and tears began flowing out of it. She was momentarily stunned by the impact, but she soon started running at full speed again. 

She was almost there. Almost out of this hell of a forest. She was going to make it. But the forest had different plans. As soon as Raelynn started to think she was free, a lone tree root seemed to place itself right in front of her foot. Contact was made, first with the root, and then with the cold, unforgiving ground. "No!" she yelled. Raelynn looked behind her. The flames weren't upon her yet. She still had a chance. She got to her feet, and as soon as she was stable again, she took off. Her muscles hurt as if the flames behind her had scorched them. It felt like her legs were about to give out and buckle beneath her, but they held out long enough. 

There she was. Out of the place she would never return to. She was still alive. And she couldn't help feeling exhilarated. After all, she had just escaped death, hadn't she? The next step would be to find help, which didn't occur to her until she spotted a figure about 20 feet in front of her. Maybe he can help me! Raelynn thought hopefully, and began half walking, half limping over to the man. But as she got closer, the hopeful feeling began to disintegrate. Something wasn't right about him, and Raelynn could feel a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach, growing with every step she took.

And with every step, she began to notice things about the figure. He appeared much too tall to be a normal human being, and his arms reached down far beyond his waist, almost touching the ground. He, or it, was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a black tie, with matching pants and shoes. His skin looked very pale, like it had never seen any sunlight. Soon Raelynn was standing only five feet away from the figure. He was immensely tall, but still very thin at the same time. Raelynn examined every feature of this man, but something kept her eyes away from his face. She could tell something about his face was completely unnatural, and it scared her more than her near-death experience in the forest had.

Come on, what's wrong with you? Just ask him for help! Raelynn scolded herself. But that was easier said than done. When she did manage to say something, it sounded harsh and soft at the same time. "He-hello...?" Suddenly an overwhelming wave of nausea and pain hit her stomach, and Raelynn bent over from it. Soon the pain became so great she fell backwards from it, and as she did, her eyes caught a glimpse of the creature's face. Or rather where its face should have been. 

What she saw was just a blank, expressionless patch of white. No hair, no eyes, no nose, no mouth. Just white, everywhere. And as Raelynn went down, she could feel the thing watching her with some sort of invisible eyes. Soon the world seemed to spin around her in sickening, dreadful spirals. It was the worst feeling she had ever felt in her life. It made running out of a burning forest seem like nothing. Her stomach twisted and rolled inside of her like a living animal. It felt like a bullet had been put through her head, and her ears rang with the loudest sound that existed. And all she could see was that horrible blank whiteness of that thing's face. White everywhere, until...

Raelynn sat up in her bed. Aztec the cat, who had been snoozing on top of a bookshelf, opened his eyes and peered down at his owner. Raelynn lifted a hand and put it to her forehead. She was hot and sweaty all over, and her breathing was faster than normal. But here she was, safe in her own bed. Infinity, Raelynn's other cat, who had been peeking in trough a crack between the door and the wall, pushed through and padded eagerly over to the woman in the bed. Raelynn leaned over and grabbed Infinity, bringing her onto the bed. "It was only a dream..." she said, gently rubbing her hand over the snow-white fur of her cat. "Only a dream..."

Aztec saw Infinity, and leaped down from the bookshelf and onto his playmate. The momentum rolled both of them of the bed, and then they jumped high into the air, and ran out of the room together. Raelynn couldn't help but smile at the behavior of her pets. But the cheerful exterior soon vanished as the events of her nightmare rushed back into her head. Everything had felt so real, she began to wonder if what she was experiencing right now was just a continuation of that dream. The fingers that lay across her leg pinched her skin, just in case. Raelynn kept squeezing the skin between her fingers until it felt like she would put a hole in it. Well, she wasn't dreaming anymore. Thank god.

The woman's chest expanded as she took a deep breath. All that was in her mind right now was the dream, reliving itself over and over again. The dark forest...that desolate house...the booming thunderclaps and the flashing lightning...all the flames...running for her life...the pain that ran along with her...escaping...and that man...or whatever the hell it was that she had seen. That was what Raelynn was worried about. She began to wonder if such a horrendous and nightmarish thing could exist. And if it did, was her dream a sign of something? Was it coming to get her?

No! Stop thinking like that! How in the world could that be real, and why would it ever com after you? she mentally reprimanded herself. Raelynn stood up, shaking her head. "I'm just being stupid..." she mumbled. She started walking out of her room, but stopped. She turned around and walked over to the window instead. After pulling the curtains back, she peered out at the forest surrounding her house, searching specifically for the figure she had seen in her dream. "What are you doing?!" Raelynn suddenly said angrily. She roughly pulled the curtains back in their place, then turned around and marched off into the bathroom.

After Raelynn had come out of the bathroom, she walked into the kitchen, and saw her two cats sitting and eagerly waiting for their breakfast. She reached down and ran her hand over each of them, then turned to where she kept their food and bowls. Raelynn grabbed a small cup, and scooped up some of the crunchy bits with it, and poured them into each bowl. Aztec and Infinity ran over to where they knew Raelynn would put their bowls. And as soon as they could reach they food, they turned their heads down and began to eat it up greedily. Aztec literally became a living vacuum, and after licking his bowl as a dog does, he leapt on top of Infinity. The she-cat yowled in surprise as she was pushed away from her precious food. Aztec began inhaling Infinity's food as well, as soon as the white cat was out of the way.

"Hey!" Raelynn shouted in a sharp tone. The brown tabby acted like he was deaf. Raelynn got even more irritated, and walked stiffly over to Aztec, grabbed him by the scruff if his neck, lifted him up, and started stomping over to the back door. Infinity peered into her bowl, and saw two pitiful pieces of food left. She mewed, then stepped forward and are what remained of her breakfast. Aztec, seeming to have regained his senses again, squirmed around in Raelynn's grip, knowing what was awaiting him. But it was too late. The door was already open, and a few seconds later he was flying through the air, then landing on the cold, dewy grass. Behind him, Raelynn was shaking her head and closing the door, locking him outside.

Raelynn then jogged back into the kitchen. She grabbed a box of cereal and a gallon of milk from the fridge, and combined the two in a bowl. She had completely forgotten that she had to work today, and now if she didn't rush she would be late. There already wasn't enough time to take a shower, and Raelynn could only hope that she would have time to put on a bit of makeup. After all, she helped to make people look good, so if she didn't even look good herself, then why would people want to get their hair done by her?

After wolfing down her cereal Aztec-style, Raelynn gently tossed the bowl and spoon into her sink among all the other dishes waiting to be washed, and ran through the house to her bedroom. There she opened her closet and pulled out a black and white striped t-shirt, a black long-sleeved shirt to put over it, and black skinny jeans. She quickly pulled everything on, making sure to apply a little extra perfume. Raelynn reached for her silver necklace and eyeliner and lipstick. Her fingers moved quickly to clip on the necklace and put on just the right amount of makeup. She stepped over to her mirror and gave her long blonde hair a quick fluff before running out of her bedroom and to the front door.

There, she put on her black jacket, and pulled on her matching boots. The woman tried to make a run for the kitchen before one boot was completely on, and she stumbled, luckily having the wall to keep her on her feet. She reached down and fastened the boot properly, then snatched up her keys, and ran out the door, almost forgetting to lock it behind her. Wait, her purse! "Damn it!" she growled as she whipped around and ran back inside. She immediately spotted her black leather purse on the sofa, and wrapped her fingers around the strap. Raelynn then repeated the whole process of getting out the door again, and this time was able to make it inside her sleek ebony Jaguar XK. She quickly backed out of her driveway, then sped off in the direction of Blush.

After running across the parking lot, Raelynn finally made it into the hair salon, and just in time too. The manager, Beth, was standing at the counter, watching Raelynn. When the two made eye contact, the other woman motioned for Raelynn to come over to her. The blonde smiled and waved her hand as she walked over to her friend. "I'm sorry to tell you this Raelynn, but you see, Blair was doing work around her house, and she fell and broke her arm..." Beth explained. "Oh no, that's terrible!" Raelynn exclaimed, feeling immediate concern for her partner. Beth took a deep breath, then continued. "So I'm afraid you'll have to work all day today and tomorrow." 

At this, Raelynn's heart dropped. All day? she thought. "I'm really sorry, I tried to get Amber to come in, but she said she had to go out of town to visit a family member" the plump woman added. Raelynn sighed. "Alright..." First a disturbing nightmare, then just barely getting to work on time, and now this? Just then a customer walked in; an older lady with dirty blonde hair, thick-rimmed glasses and a long coat that almost touched the glossy wooden floor of the salon. "Hello" Raelynn, Beth, and the old lady said all at the same time. This made all three chuckle a bit. "I would like just to get my hair washed, dried, and styled" the polite woman requested. "Alright, I'll take you over here!" Raelynn said, walking over to a washing station as she put on a cheerful demeanor.

After shampooing and washing, Raelynn was grabbing a hair dryer, when suddenly the woman spoke. "You don't have any pets, do you?" she asked. "I do, actually. Two cats" Raelynn replied. Before she could describe them or give their names, the woman spoke again. "I saw in the news that a lot of pets have been mysteriously disappearing, only to be found dead later in these little plastic baggies." Raelynn was too stunned to respond after hearing this. She had just remembered that Aztec was still outside. She had to go back and get him, just in case...She looked at the red clock on the wall. 9:25 It would be her lunch break in three hours. After she finished up with her current customer, she would ask Beth if she could go back home and bring Aztec inside.

Her heart pounded and tingled with nervousness as she began to dry the woman's hair, running a comb gently through it as the warm air dried it. In about twenty minutes, Raelynn was done. She took the old lady's payment, then said goodbye. Raelynn then walked into the room behind the counter, where there were boxes full of hair products that the salon used and sold. There, taking count of what supplies they had, was Beth. "Excuse me, but do you mind if I go home very quickly? I let my cat outside, and I forgot to bring him back in" Raelynn explained. The manager turned and listened. "Oh, absolutely. I can handle this place until you get back" she said in a kind voice. "Oh, thank you so much!" Raelynn said gratefully as she turned and walked out of the room and towards the exit. "No problem, dear" Beth said, watching her leave.

Raelynn ran across the parking lot again, and once she got in her car, she let her worry take over. "Crap! I can't believe I forgot about him! He could be dead by now, and it would be all my fault!" she muttered to herself. She started the car, backed out of the parking space, and sped off towards home. Her heart was racing, and so was her car. Soon she was going 55 miles per hour, 10 mph faster than the speed limit. And luckily for her, there weren't any cop cars around, waiting to chase after a speeder. There weren't many cars on the road in general, and as soon as Raelynn turned onto the country road to get to her house, she realized she was the only car on the road. Her foot pressed the gas pedal down even further, pushing her speed up to 65 mph. A few minutes later, she was braking, and turning into her driveway.

The 22 year old clambered out of her car, shutting the door behind her. Then she was running towards her house, and then around to the other side of it. There was no fence around the house; there was no need for one. Nobody else lived close by, and Infinity and Aztec knew not to go too far into the woods. Hopefully. Raelynn stopped when she was facing away from the back side of her house. Her grey eyes looked around frantically for the brown fur of Aztec. But they didn't catch sight of him. Raelynn's next thought was to go into the woods, but she immediately remembered her dream, and hesitated. And while she stood still, she heard a faint meow come to her ears. She turned around, and saw the figure of a cat standing up on top of the windowsill. There was Aztec, staring at Raelynn, looking as dumb as ever.

With an idiotic but lovable cat smile on his face, he jumped down from his perch and started bouncing over to his owner. Raelynn, mad at both herself and Aztec, bent over and scooped the cat up in her arms. Relief untied the knots of anger as she held her pet close to her breast. After a few seconds of cuddling, Raelynn walked over to the back door, opened it, and walked inside. She only locked her doors at night because well...her house was so far away from the city, why would anyone drive out all this way to come and rob her house? But now, after hearing the news about the dead animals, she would definitely keep all her windows ands doors locked. Why would anyone kill animals like that? And why put the dead bodies in plastic bags? The thought chilled her, and Raelynn didn't want to know the answer. She put Aztec down next to Infinity, who was lounging on the sofa. She gave them each a few strokes, then walked out to the front door. She had to get back to work!

Raelynn left her house, making sure to lock the front door, then got in her car for the third time this morning. She drove all the way back to Blush, only going slightly over the speed limit. When she got back in the salon, she saw Beth over at the washing stations with a customer, and three other customers sitting in chairs, either looking at magazines or their phones while they waited to be taken care of. And, to Raelynn's delight, one of them was a teenager. She loved helping teenagers, as they always seemed to want crazy hairstyles and funky colors put into their hair, and that is the kind of stuff Raelynn enjoyed doing the most. "Raelynn, you can take that young lady right there!" Beth called out, pointing at the teenager Raelynn had been looking at. She nodded, and walked over to the customer. "Alright, what do you want done today?" Raelynn asked in a cheerful voice as she put on a smile.

The girl looked up. "Um, I would like to have my hair washed, dried, and then have lighter brown streaks in my hair" she replied, getting to her feet. Raelynn went through the same process she had done earlier, just adding in streaks. And that is how it went: wash, rinse, repeat. The same thing over and over for two days, 10 hours a day. I wish Blair was here... Raelynn thought. She sure wouldn't have to work as hard if her friend wasn't injured. By the time the end of the second day, Raelynn was exhausted. 

As soon as she got her pajamas on, she flopped into bed. It had been a nice day, so Raelynn had left a few windows open. And it still wasn't too hot or too cold out, and she was feeling much too tired and lazy to get up and close them, so the windows were going to stay open. Infinity padded in silently and jumped onto Raelynn's desk chair and curled up, laying her tail across her eyes. Aztec jumped on the small table beside Raelynn's bed, sat down and watched his owner as she pulled a light blanket over her. "Finally I can sleep in..." the woman said as she reached over and turned off the light. A few minutes after Raelynn closed her eyes, she was fast asleep, and Infinity had fallen asleep as well. The only thing awake in the house was Aztec.

The young cat mewed quietly, and turned his head over to the open window. After laying around and sleeping all day, he was eager to do something fun. And what could be better than running around in the cool night air? Maybe he would even catch a mouse or two. Aztec picked his way between Raelynn's possessions and over to the window. He leapt onto it, and peeked out. Raelynn's room was on the second floor, but luckily she had a nice garden down below that would give Aztec a softer landing. The tabby bunched his muscles, and a second later he was sailing through the fresh air and down into a bush. 

Once he got his footing on the ground, his slender body slithered out from among the leaves. Aztec took a moment to look around. The sky was almost completely dark, and the moon was displayed eerily from behind a thin vapor of clouds. The millions of stars cast their weak light down as an inadequate substitute for the hidden moonlight. The air was satisfyingly cool; a good night to be out. The light of the stars reflected on the tiny droplets of dew on the soft grass, making them appear to be small circles of glass. A breeze blew through Aztec's fur so gently it was as if a group of spirits had passed right through him. The only sounds came from the occasional faintly-heard rustle of shiny green leaves.

Aztec took a quick walk around the familiar territory around the house, sometimes stopping to survey what was going on. Soon however, he became bored with the place he knew so well. His amber eyes, shining with eagerness, directed themselves at the woods that surrounded the house. Without hesitation or a second thought, the young cat was sprinting towards the tall trees, his paws only seeming to float above the grass. It was like he suddenly transformed into an owl, and was skimming the ground, looking for his prey with keen, piercing eyes.

By the time Aztec reached the woods, his paws were wet, and beginning to feel chilled from collecting the dewdrops that had collected on the grass. The trees stood, looming in front of him, their dark trunks and reaching branches looking even more mysterious, even frightening in the dim light. The grass was slightly taller among the trees, which was an advantage for Aztec, as it offered him some cover. The roots of two trees has grown too close to each other, and were fuses together in a twisted bump above the ground. A human couldn't have even seen the roots, but since Aztec was a cat, he could see everything perfectly.

However, as Aztec started padding into the depths of the forest, it became so dark, even his vision was slightly hindered. But this didn't deter the young cat; not even the occasional rustling of a small animal made him stop or turn around. He kept confidently making his way through the forest, not the least bit afraid. A few times he tripped a bit, but never enough to make him fall. Once Aztec even got into a staring contest with a bushy-tailed fox, but the animal decided to find better prey than a scrawny little tabby cat. Aztec felt a flash of pride that he had "scared" off such a ferocious animal like a fox, and started paying more attention to himself than what was going on around him.

The sound of something snapping behind him made the cat stop. It hadn't just been a little twig that broke. It had been the crashing, ear-splitting sound of a huge branch breaking. Aztec cocked his head out of curiosity, but then start waking along again. After a few more minutes, the same sound came again; this time it was in front of Aztec. The cat stopped again, and this time didn't begin walking after thinking about the sound. Instead, the cat uneasily turned around, and started heading back the way he came. Aztec tried to pick his way over all the hidden roots under the grass, but everything suddenly seemed confusing.

The sound of a branch cracking came again, this time very close behind the cat. Whatever was chasing Aztec, was closing in on him now. The sudden noise so close to him made Aztec yowl and jump in the air, and as soon as his feet hit the ground, he dashed away. As he ran, hopefully in the right direction, the sound of branches splitting in half became much more frequent. It seemed to happen about every twenty seconds, and every time it sounded closer than the last, until it was right where Aztec's paws had been a heartbeat before. The cat yowled again, and started preparing to jump away from whatever was right behind him.

But just then something very smooth and snake-like grabbed him. It had originally grabbed him around his stomach, but the slender thing was now weaving its way up around his throat and head. Then the mysterious attacker lifted the cat off the ground. Aztec couldn't see, and this made him even more terrified, and he started thrashing around, revealing his sharp claws. He scratched at whatever was holding him, and felt his claws sink into the smooth flesh-or whatever it was. But this only seemed to annoy the hidden assailant.

It tightened its grip around Aztec, threatening to crush his ribs and suffocate him. But of course, the cat had no idea he had irritated this thing that had a hold of him, and fought harder. But the harder Aztec fought, the tighter the attacker's grip became. And soon enough, Aztec needed more air, but he couldn't get it. He stopped his struggling and breathed deeply what air he could get. But every time he exhaled, the thing wrapped around him tightened.  Every time he inhaled, he got less and less air in his lungs. Aztec, being a cat, didn't realize it at the time, but soon he would suffocate.

That moment came sooner than expected. What seemed to be an eternity later, Aztec was at the point where he could barely get any air in or out. His lungs started to ache, and he writhed around uncomfortably in the creature's grasp. It started to press down specifically on Aztec's head, while keeping the same pressure on his throat. Aztec's lungs were burning now, as if the creature had planted a flame inside his body. The cat's mouth was open wide, but nothing was able to come out or go in. All he could do was wait for a horrible death to slowly arrive and claim him.

Just seconds later, the cat's body went limp. The beating of his heart had come to a stop at the hands of something cruel and mysterious; a masked attacker of some sort. An assassin from the shadows. An unseen enemy. And now Aztec had become one of his countless victims. Nobody would know what had happened except for the one who had taken Aztec's life. Everyone would just assume he had wandered outside and gotten lost in the woods, or maybe someone else has found him and taken him in as their own pet. Just one knows. One mystic, terrifying, shadowy, fatal stalker.

[Thundo Puffs]

Woah man, the detail. This is awesome Fowest! I can't wait for you to write more.

[March]

I suddenly feel evil after reading this. I have no idea why ._.

I really like the story so far, Forest. Please continue :3

[Forest]

Thank you...don't lose control March...xD

And my wonderful mind came up with a beautiful idea that I like more than the original idea...and thankfully I can keep the story as is, just with a title change...

[Forest]

Alright...I typed a lot more xD

I'm really excited to get further into the story, so more will probably be coming in pretty fast! ^^

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