The Woods

Skyla closed her eyes in despair as her head throbbed in pain. She could feel death looming around her when she felt him strengthen his grip.

'"Little rabbit, are you going to give up?"

The dark voice snapped her from her thoughts making her eyes widen in fear.

It was like a charm as Skyla felt something burning inside her, something giving strength to her sore body. She gritted her teeth when she felt his long nails pierce her skin as he held her neck in place.

Looking at Daniel, she realized that he had totally succumbed to the monster within him. His eyes were no longer recognizable. It was blood red indicating the craving he had for her blood.

She didn't need a mirror to know that she was a bloody mess. Her vest was torn and her shirt was sticking to her body. She could feel the blood trickle down her forehead making her knit her brows.

Even though the situation made it seem like it was impossible, she didn't want to die here. She wanted to get through this ordeal and go back to her granny.

Her eyes burned with deep resolve.

'I don't want to give up my life here'

She still had many things to do... she had to look after her granny, find the mystery behind her blood.

She couldn't afford to die here.

A small yet strong fire erupted within her, strengthening her resolve to fight.

Gritting her teeth, her eyes wandered and noticed something behind the monster making her face lighten. She moved away and slowly, let her hands down as she began to search for something.

But her body froze when she felt his breath on her face. Before she could register the situation, a wet sensation attacked her nerves making her stomach churn in disgust. Closing her eyes resolutely, she continued her searching, ignoring the monster licking her blood off her cheek.

Skyla looked into those red eyes and saw the excitement and madness grow inside his eyes as he held her neck harder and began to lick her blood from her wound.

Tears filled her eyes when she noticed how his mouth was inching towards her neck. Panicking a little, she tapped around urgently until her hand made contact with something big, making her sigh in relief.

Skyla knew this was her last chance.

Last chance before her body collapsed. So she hoped desperately for her plan to succeed.

When she saw him let his guard down and open his mouth wide to bite her neck, she used her full strength to hurl the object against his head. Her bag split open by the force as books and papers rained on them.

Startled from the sudden attack, Daniel fell back on his feet while Skyla clasped her throat and hurriedly drew in mouthfuls of air. Coughing furiously, she looked at Daniel who was staring at the ground in shock.

Her eyes widened slightly when she saw the blood trickling down his head. She panicked for a moment before relief settled in as she thought, 'This ought to snap him out of his trance'

Though she hated to hurt others, she had learnt from her near-to-death experiences that she could stop their monstrous behavior by startling them from their trance.

But unfortunately, things didn't go like she wished.

Skyla's eyes widened in horror when she saw him spit blood on the ground before turning his head to glare at her aggressively. His long nails scratched the floor, leaving long deep trails, as he scrambled to get on his feet.

His vicious angry snarl snapped her out of her shock when she noticed him struggling to get up. Without another thought, she immediately ran towards the window as she knew that going for the door was impossible.

Looking at the window glass, her eyebrows knitted worriedly. She was low-key grateful that her classroom wasn't that high up from the ground.

Closing her eyes, she covered her face before she shoved her entire body through the window, breaking the glass into pieces in the process. She felt sharp shards pierce her skin making her gasp in pain. She opened her eyes when she felt her body drop rapidly.

Branches hit her making her grit her teeth hard. Skyla hurriedly tried to grab onto a branch to lessen her fall but her hands slid making her hiss in pain. Her feet came into contact with the ground, sending million tingles of shock up her body.

Grunting in pain, she waited for the effect to disappear. She frowned when she saw she was standing in the middle of broken pieces of glass. She could feel the tingling pain all over her body.

Hearing a frustrated snarl above her head, she whipped her head and saw Daniel glaring at her from above.

'Why wasn't he back to himself?' she wondered before she hurriedly turned around to run.

But soon gloom settled within her, as she looked at the darkness surrounding her as if wanting to swallow her up.

A creepy sensation, equivalent to how she always felt during night, seemed to sink in making her shiver. Her breathing stopped as she clutched her chest in pain.

Her entire body was screaming in pain making her want to sleep somewhere safe.

Yet, she had to pull her wounded body through the darkness she detested. She didn't want to lose her sanity dwelling in the darkness. But knowing that Daniel would come for her, she willed herself to run away from her university… away from danger.

Her eyes soon adjusted to the darkness making her realize that she was heading towards the woods behind the university rather than the main gate making her curse. Before she could change her direction, she felt something within her pull her towards the woods making her knit her brows.

Like a beckoning to the woods...

Frowning slightly, she looked into the woods hesitating to take another step when she heard a far away growl shaking her heart.

Throwing caution to the wind, she dived into the woods without another look, all the while hoping for dawn to arrive quickly.