Chapter 4
1016 Words
Elle’s POV
The guard behind me pulled a blindfold over my eyes. Everything went black. My body tensed. My breathing turned fast and shaky.
I didn’t want this.
I wanted to live.
I wanted someone to believe me.
But no one was coming.
“Get ready,” I heard one of them mutter. His voice was cold and careless.
I clenched my teeth. My legs were shaking so hard I almost collapsed.
And then…
A noise.
Crashing.
Snapping branches.
Shouts.
The sound of fighting.
I froze.
“What the—”
The guards yelled. There was growling—loud and deep and angry.
One by one, the shouting turned to screams. I heard snarls. The sickening sound of bones breaking. Flesh tearing.
Something was attacking them.
Something strong.
Then, silence.
A silence that was even more terrifying than the noise.
I stood there, frozen. My heart thudded so hard it felt like it would tear out of my chest.
Then, someone touched me.
I flinched hard.
The blindfold was ripped off.
I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light. And what I saw made me stumble backward in horror.
Blood.
So much blood.
It was everywhere. On the trees. On the ground. On the broken bodies of the guards who had brought me here. Their limbs were twisted, some torn clean off. Their faces were unrecognizable. Their eyes wide open, full of shock and fear.
I gagged.
My stomach twisted.
Then I saw him.
He stood in the middle of the blood and death like he belonged there. Tall. Strong. His shoulders were broad, and he looked like someone who could crush bones with his bare hands. He wore dark clothes—ripped and soaked with blood. His shirt clung to his chest, stained with red. His boots were covered in mud and something darker. Blood.
But what scared me the most… was his hair.
It was white. Not gray. Not silver. But pure white, like fresh snow. Or soft clouds. But now, it was dirty and sticky with blood. Thick streaks of red ran through the white, like paint. The blood made it look scary.
The red stood out so much. It made him look like a monster. Like some ghost or demon that had crawled out of a nightmare.
Blood was everywhere. On his face. His neck. His hands. His fingers dripped with it. His arms were splashed with it like he had bathed in it. His clothes were soaked through. But what shocked me the most was…
He didn’t even look tired.
He wasn’t out of breath. His chest didn’t move fast. He didn’t wipe the blood from his face or look down at the dead bodies all around him.
He just stood there.
Calm. Still. Like this was normal to him.
Like he had done this before.
Many times.
His eyes locked on mine. Dark, sharp eyes. They were cold. Cold like ice, but burning at the same time. Eyes that felt too deep. Too knowing. Like they could read all my secrets. Like they could see the things I tried to hide.
I felt a chill crawl down my spine.
I took a step back without thinking. My foot crunched on a stick, and the sound echoed too loud in the quiet forest.
He didn’t move.
He didn’t blink.
Then he spoke.
His voice was low. Deep. Almost like a growl. But smooth.
“I’ve been looking for you.”
My heart stopped.
It felt like everything froze in that moment. The air. The trees. Even time itself.
I didn’t know him. I had never seen him before in my life.
But every part of me knew… he was dangerous.
So I ran.
I turned and took off into the forest, my heart racing so fast I thought it might explode. My bare feet hit the cold ground hard. I didn’t look back—I couldn’t. My mind was screaming at me to move, to go, to escape.
The forest was thick. Dark. Branches slapped against my face and arms. My skin burned from the cuts. Leaves tangled in my hair. The rope around my wrists made it hard to balance. I could barely swing my arms. My legs were already shaking, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.
I didn’t want to die.
Not like this.
Not by his hands.
But I was tired.
My body was weak. My head still hurt from being knocked out earlier. My vision was blurry, and my legs felt like they were made of jelly.
Then it happened.
I tripped.
My foot caught on a thick root hidden under the fallen leaves.
I let out a scream as I fell forward.
I hit the ground hard. My knees scraped against the rough dirt. My face slammed into the ground. Something sharp jabbed into the side of my head. I heard a crack.
Pain shot through my whole skull like lightning.
I gasped.
My mouth filled with blood.
The world tilted. My vision spun. Everything around me felt wrong and far away.
I tried to lift my head. I couldn’t.
I tried to crawl. I couldn’t.
The trees spun. The stars in the sky above blurred together.
And then… the darkness started coming.
It started from the edges of my eyes. Slowly, like a shadow curling in.
And just before I lost consciousness…
I saw him.
Standing over me.
He was like a nightmare in human form. Covered in blood from head to toe. His face was calm—too calm. His white hair was soaked red, the tips still dripping. His boots stepped closer, careful and silent, like he didn’t want to wake me even though I was already awake.
He crouched down beside me. His face was half in shadow, but I saw his eyes clearly. They weren’t angry. They weren’t cold.
They looked… curious. Focused.
He looked at me like I was something he had searched a long time for. Like I was important. Like I was his.
Or maybe… like I was already dead.
And then—everything went black.
- Writer
