Chapter 3

The velvety feel of the pure white gown made Lily flinch, her body not comfortable with how it hugged her torso tight. Her hair was pulled into an intricate bun laced with pearls that gave off a feeling of nobility, even if it was just a facade. The bodice was studded with bits of crystals and topped off with a thin mesh. Her skirt was not too puffy with several layers of fabric and it did keep her legs from freezing. It was embroidered with miniature snowflakes and dusted with a touch of silver. Her eyes were further accentuated with an eyeshadow with an orange hue. The once thin eyebrows thickened and arched. Her smooth cheeks painted with cherry blossoms ever so lightly. Covered in a rosy gloss, her lips puckered and then formed a frown as two pairs of hands touched her everywhere.

'What a waste'

Two maids scurried around her figure, checking if something was off and such. Their eyes never met her dampened orbs, they kept avoiding it as if they'd get cursed if they dare to look at her. This trampled the bride-to-be's heart even more and she felt it crack. She never wanted this. They never wanted this either. When the two servants were done with the preparations, they simply bowed and left the room in silence, not even bidding her goodbye or even casting a pitiful glance her way. And when the door closed, Lily just stood there alone in all her glory, a beautiful bride.

"I guess this is the end", her voice sounded strained.

Her father had done everything in his power to delay the ceremony, well that's what the maids told her. "He had successfully acquired his request and ran off somewhere", the maids had said in hushed voices . She looked outside her window and the sky was painted in yellows and oranges. Lily was at her final destination, the route where she doesn't have a choice. No one visited her except for the two maids who were also the ones who dragged her in this house in the morning. She thought of her brother and winced when she remembered his unmoving figure last night. The way Colin didn't mind her pleading eyes almost seng her to the breaking point, she was near.

"I w-wanted to b-be with you.... f-forever", she whimpered.

She turned to look at the bouquet of red roses, flowers that symbolize love. Her eyes narrowed at it, this marriage was far from love.

A knock swept her away from her daze and she focused on the wooden door. The rusty handle turned and her father's layered face came into view. She bit her lips as her orbs shuddered at the sight of the man. Her heart rammed wildly against her ribcage and she breathed out a few sighs to calm it down. Her father, Benedict Woods, stared at her figure. For the first time, the man she called her father was quiet. Lily's panic grew as the man didn't throw some words at her. Her loud father scared her, but a silent father was terrifying as he could be unpredictable.

"Come with me", he calmly said.

His voice made her squirm and the fabrics that wrapped round her rustled.

"P-pardon?"

"I know a way to escape"

When he spoke these, her heart began to go rampant. Was there really a way? Was he just testing her? Was he drunk and probably just playing a prank on her wedding day? Lily stared at her father with wide eyes, the flames were igniting once more. If she could really escape this marriage and leave, she would be free. Finally.

"Put this coat on", he said as he threw her a dirty one.

Now that she looked at him closely, he was wearing a heavy coat but a much cleaner one. He opened the door again and strode outside, leaving her stunned for a while but she composed herself after a few seconds. She turned the knob and followed her father's small figure.

'The gown....'

"Follow me into the forest. I got some boots outside for you"

*****

The forest was heavily coated with blankets of snow. Empty branches reached out to the sky and the sound of snow crunching chased the silence away. Benedict has not spoken to her daughter after leaving the house. He remaine quiet as he navigated through the trees. Lily shivered as the cold bit on her skin and made it flush a lovely color of red. They had been walking through the forest and she guessed they were pretty far away from the town now. She wasn't familiar with this forest and this creeped her out a bit.

"This is the War God's forest, Zhanzheng", he spoke for the first time.

Lily stiffened at this, no one dared to venture deep into the War God's forest, fearing divine punishment. Even she, a devoted worshipper of the god who built the town, never dared to trespass the god's abode.

"Don't worry, we're not in the deeper parts of the forest", he grinned.

Her nerves did backflips and she shook when he gave her that grin and the look in his eyes. There was something in his beady eyes that was unsettling to her and it set her on edge. Nevertheless, she followed him with small steps as she had no other choice. Suddenly, something caught her eye. She stared at it hardly and tries to decipher what it was, completely ignoring the cold. There was a dot on the white snow. The color was a dark red that it almost looked like black. The hairs on her neck stood up and her head started to pound mercilessly.

'It's probably just an injured animal', she comforted herself.

Lily shook her thoughts away and started to catch up with her father. But how wrong she was. As they went deeper, the drops of blood became even more evident and big. There were footprints on the snow ahead of them too. Lily began to panic and stare at her father's calm back. She had a bad feeling about this and her face contorted into fear. The frosty wind blew on her face and she shielded her face with her arms. She shivered for a moment and then noticed that her father was no longer trampling on the poor snow.

"Father?"

The snow fell from the dark sky lightly, its cold embrace covered the world. The sun had already set by the time his father stopped and the blood stains became more evident. A lamp was hung on a tree to his left and it illuminated the gruesome image when his father stepped aside and turned to her with crazed eyes.

A body familiar to her was drenched in dried and cold blood. Some of his fingers were missing and seemed to be hastily cut off. His expensive white suit was in tatters and soaked in his blood. The stomach was stabbed open and some of his guts were sprawled on the snow like worms, the mere sight of them caused her stomach to churn and her eyes to water. His eye sockets were empty and a stream of dried blood flowed down from it. Here they were, on their wedding day. One was alive and one wasn't. Her hands trembled as she met his father's glowing orbs. His smile stretched and held the evil inside him. A scream tore through the forest.