Tic-tac-toe

"Ye-yes?"

"I said get out!!", she gripped the young woman's wrist and dragged her along the marble floor as Akena staggered along the way "W-wait please! what did i do?!". The woman paused at the main door frame just inside the house and turned with a sinister look ,her voice wavering with rage- "What did you do...? girl you've broken the forbidden rule of this house and you think i'll let it pass?!" Akena stood there with tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at the "mother" puzzled about her situation. "You opened THE door!! we are going to have hellish things happening to us because of your silly mistake!!", her loud voice echoed the halls and corners.

She pulled in Akena and pushed her out of the door. Akena fell on her knees with a grunt "ugh"you dare not come home tonight it is only in the morning shall i see your face understood?!" she said, her volume now lowered to a cautioning tone. "I said UNDERSTOOD?!!" she raised her voice and Akena flinched as her eyes widened at the unusually loud and deep voice followed by the slamming sound of the door.

Akena sighed, burying her face in her palms as she muttered "oh..fuck me..". She finally lifted her head taking a look at the place she had been ordered to stay at. The light finally dawned on her realizing the absurdity of the minute chance of her survival.

Their house had been built on the boundaries of the forest almost seeming like an avoidance from the ancient mystic forest. Why was it built in such a manner that the bars that separated their abode and the outside world felt like a protective barrier ? If she were to delay her departure from the house, she was convinced doom would befall her as the old woman would choke her throat with her own hands. Pure hatred she had witnessed in that woman's eyes for a girl she had not met very long ago, strange... very strange.

She got on her feet and brushed off the dirt that stuck to her during her fall. Descending the small stair case that lifted their house from the ground she stepped on the bed of dried leaves, crunching beneath her feet. A cold wind gushed past her. What was up with cold wind passing her every time she stepped on some kind of cursed ground? - she thought to herself. She folded her hands, a vain attempt to find warmth in her thin garments.

She walked cautiously as she made up her mind to look around the place that had been considered the hub of mystic creatures as well as sinister beings. She turned her head looking around the woods and the fog that blinded her sight from reaching any further. She lifted her head following the height of the tall, dark trees. Her nose and cheeks had reddened from the cold temperature that increased profusely as she stepped away and away from the house. Soon she had reached the fence, bordering the house. There was no gate to it, just a fence meant to enclose whatever's inside to stay inside. An opening was present of course, wires cut up to create an opening to let people through and out. Akena made her exit through the fence successfully, a red snag hanging from her sweater had tangled itself with the barbed wire ,snatched as she stepped forward obliviously.

Akena possessed a courageous soul with a tender heart but not a naive one. She was a clever girl who did anything that could prove to be in her favor. The leaves crunched beneath her feet as she dived deeper into the forest. Yes, she had now entered the forest. The moment she had passed the fence, it had meant that the area she had ventured into was no longer safe. She still held the rosary in her hand. Not because of her sense of duty, it had become a habit. A habit to carry the beads in her hands to calm herself from having a panic attack at odd times.

She walked into the forest expecting to witness some hunted or perhaps dead animals and possibly some alive. But strangely the entire forest had not a chirp of a bird. It was empty. No animals roamed the grounds and no birds sung and danced. And the possibility crossed her mind that she could be the sole being currently present in the forest. Impossible to believe. Since there are no animals there has to be something that drove them away right? - she thought to herself before her eyes fell upon a tree growing a strangely shaped fruit. "What's this?" she mumbled to herself as she walked up to the tree. The fruit had been shaped spherically and colored red but it's seed thumped like a heart at the core of it,glowing like a firefly. It almost seemed like the fruit possessed a heart at first. Akena extended her hand, fascinated by the strange and lovely fruit, her eyes glowed along with the fruit's core with curiosity but before she could admire it's beauty a soft tap on her shoulder made her jolt.

Surprised, she turned around and twisted her body quickly, causing her to tumble down and sit on the ground.

"Tic-tac-toe" - the little girl said.