Chapter 1. Mykal Darke.

Crunch! Crunch! Was the only sound of the leaves under his feet, that he could hear besides the roaring thunder in the night sky. The lightning was the only way he could barely see where he was going in the dark woods. Scared and breathing heavily, he reached a wooden board, with something written on it, that read,

'Travelers, beware, do not tread beyond this point,

If you have a wish to die, these woods won't disappoint.

You may find all kinds of pits, swamps, holes,

Where lurk, the darkest among darkest of souls.

You'll see things that define fright,

Things, that may have not, ever, crossed your sight.

Do not underestimate these woods, if you value your life,

Turn around, while you still have time, walk back to the light.'

The man could barely read it in the dim light of the thunder, but still got the gist of what the message was, it's gonna be a one-way trip, he continued walking nevertheless, the woods started getting darker, to a point where even the thunder was of no help, all he could see was darkness wherever he looked. He could feel his breathes getting faster and panic building in him, and suddenly he fell into a pit. The fall shocked him, took him almost a minute to realize what had happened, but before he could get up, he felt a rope like substance, moving around his legs. The same ropelike substances grabbed his hands, pulling him down further to the ground, all he could do was scream with all his might in the raging night, before the ropes tightened around his face and neck, totally burying him in the ground.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Blared the alarm right next to him, breaking his dream. "Urgh! the same dream again, who is this man? why do I keep seeing someone I have never seen in my life?" He woke up from his bed and saw the time 07:02 AM. He let out a long sigh, "How do I manage to oversleep every day?" and walks towards the bathroom brushing his hair. Mykal Darke was a charming young man living his life alone in his Villa just on the outskirts of Dravendale. Mykal always looked drunk thanks to his messy long hair and deep dark eyes, even though he never drinks. To a stranger he may look like an artist, the poetic kind, and he himself wanted to be one but he chose to be a detective to use his observational skills as a profession. He may not be called the most successful detective but he surely has been one of the most exceptional. Being a detective meant that he had a room full of his research material on whatever cases he's working on, even though he had just moved to this town because his friend had called for an assistance in a case he was investigating.

On his suitcases were newspaper cuttings of the cases he'd solved over the years. Murders, missing people, dangerous cults, etc. and obviously doing all of this, he had made a considerable number of enemies. He took out his toothbrush, applied paste on it and closed the cabinet with a mirror on the outside. He looked at his sleepy face and said, "I got to shave" he only barely had any facial hair but wanted to be rid of it because he doesn't like to have a beard or a mustache. The handsome face in the mirror had no emotions, only tired from lack of sleep. Mykal is a tall and an attractively muscular man, that he manages to maintain even without an exercise regime, his torso has scars giving him the nickname 'Unkillable' because he has walked off many wounds that should have killed an average human.

After having his shower, he came to the living room and switched on the TV to get his daily dose of news, while he cooks his breakfast and leaves for work. "It has been 3 months since two of our DDPD officers, disappeared, while investigating a missing person's case in the Mystic Woods of Dravendale. There is no trace of the officers and no one in the area heard or saw anything out of the ordinary that night, and the residents are getting used to people disappearing, it seems that not even the people responsible for keeping us safe, are safe themselves." He just munched on the toast with a grunt, "Well, now I know why I'm here" before sipping his coffee.

Before leaving home, he made sure all the electronics were switched off, a precautionary habit born out of an experience of watching his house, almost totally, burning down to the ground, just because he left the heater on. Though deep down he thinks it was another attempt to kill him. But at this point, he doesn't care if he lives or dies, because he didn't believe he had anything to gain or to lose.

Mykal is a guy who doesn't believe in fate, or God, or the devil. He only believes in nature, that nature is the reason we all exist, and that nature is a force to be reckoned with. Mykal owns a detective agency named- 'Darke Detective Services' with him as the only person in the company. He has been working alone ever since he had an incident with his former partner, Yohan Mason, and whenever someone asks why he works alone he says, "When you're alone you can't hurt anyone and when you don't hurt'em, you don't lose'em."

Today when he reached the office, that had been arranged by the DDPD on his special request, he even had his stuff from his original office transferred to this one, he saw several police cars waiting for him and let out a sigh. He got out of his Black Mustang Boss 429 and walked through the waiting cops, straight towards the office door, pretending as if they weren't there. "We need you to do something for us, Darke" said a cop who looked like he was in his forties, with a popping belly, and an overall stout look. The guy was shorter than Mykal but had a deep voice, which he used as an advantage to intimidate people.

"I know, Bill" said Mykal, "otherwise you wouldn't be here with your friends" waving at them. "I've told you, not to call me Bill, when I'm with my colleagues" said Sheriff William Hardy, "And I've told you, I don't care." "You know? All this time I've wondered why such a handsome guy like you, lives alone, now I know," "And why is that? may I ask?" mocked Mykal, "Because you're a pain in the ass, that's why." He replied with just a "Hmpff!!"

"Okay, let's get serious now, we really need your help," said the sheriff. "I know, I saw the news, what have you got for me?" he asked looking at the newspaper while sitting on his chair behind his desk. His office looked more like a shanty than an actual office, but then again it did look like a detective's shanty, with papers everywhere, a classic table lamp, a magnifying glass on the table fixed on a wall which a hunting rifle hanging on it below the name and logo of his detective agency.

"We found the car right outside the woods, still untouched, no signs of tampering" "Mm hmm..." nodded Mykal. "We did find their tracks going into the woods, but they faded away soon," "That's odd, if I'm not wrong, it was raining that night, wasn't it? So, they would've worn boots instead of standard police shoes, right? So, their footprints should be deeper than usual and hence long lasting, anyways, continue"

"Yeah, that's what we want you to do, to continue where we left." said the sheriff. "So, you're telling me, that all you guys have found out in these months is a car and some footprints, that apparently aren't there anymore? Some investigation huh?" "don't mock us Darke, those were friends I lost, how would you know how I feel, besides, it's not like we didn't try, we searched everywhere we could in the woods, to a point where we started losing radio connectivity, apparently the woods mess with radio signals too."

"Right, I'll see what I can do" said Mykal, but the sheriff just stood there giving him a grim look. "What? Now?" Mykal exclaimed. "Yeah, it's better to look now than in the dark" replied the sheriff with a facial expression that looked like he wanted to say "obviously" "Urgh! Fine!" He grunted and picked up his pistol, checked if the magazine was full and stuffed in his holster, then he fetched his gloves and started to leave when the sheriff said, "You forgot your magnifying glass," "Oh, I don't use that, it's just to make this place look like that of a detective that's all"

"Oh, don't forget to take your umbrella then, it looks like its gonna rain again" suggested the sheriff. "The coat's waterproof, thanks anyway" "Cocky bastard" whispered the sheriff. "What?!" asked Mykal, "What?" "Did you say something? He asked again, "Who, me? No!!" said the sheriff innocently. "Well, then get out of my office before I lock you in"

And they got out of his office and went their ways. While driving he was thinking about what the sheriff had said, he thought if the footprints aren't visible that means someone must have seen them and cleared them away so that no one could follow, but then would have also reached the car, then why didn't they take care of the car or at least look in it that could have clues against them, all of this doesn't add up, there is something more to all of this than meets the eye.

And he was right to think so because he was about to experience things he hasn't experienced ever before, something that could change everything he knows of his existence.