Beast's will
Salient Love
-PROLOGUE-
The night howls and calls upon me.
The beast in me cries and beckons.
Its essence twists and bursts.
I contort and twist,
driven by hunger. No control upon myself.
Claws and fangs unsheathed.
I wait, stalking for a prey.
Silently.
Deadly.
- daehee's POV -
I looked out of my bedroom window.
The moon was full, its luminosity piercing the dark night.
The night sky was lulling yet there was something ominous about it.
Dark venom danced and laced the clouds and the skies.
It was oh so silent. So silent.
The silence rang in my ears.
I the television while lying on my bed, as the silence seemed so loud and was starting to creep me out.
I shuddered.
I picked up the remote, and started flipping channels as i hugged Mr Snuggles, my stuffed bunny, trying to calm my unsettled nerves. Something just didn't sit right tonight.
The news channel caught my eye as different shows flipped past. I frowned as i lowered the control onto my bed, and listened to the news reporter.
" recently, the number of deaths and missing cases have risen sharply. The cause is still unknown, but authorities have described it most probably as a wild animal herd going on a hunt at night. Citizens are reminded to stay indoors at night and to not go near any forested areas- "
I switched it off.
I took a deep breath. That didn't help.
I hugged myself, finding the bews a little scary and unnerving, the way people get eaten and disappeared like that.
I shuddered again.
turning on the television sure did not help settle my nerves. Plus, our house was pretty near the forested areas. The forest was practically our backyard. Great.
I suddenly remembered a junior in my school who went missing at night, and she never came back. The teachers refused to utter anything about her disappearance but the principal told us everything was 'under control' but did not offer any explanation, and that we should not worry, which basically meant it's none of our business and we should keep our mouths shut.
Why am I remembering so many eerie things now?
I sighed and looked at the clock.
It was midnight.
It didn't seem so silent anymore, somehow.
The rustling of leaf blades.
The menacing hoots of owls.
The flapping and shuffling of wings as birds fled from the trees.
A howl laced with malice, as it pierced and rang through the night.
Then
An ear-piercing scream.
I widened my eyes and immediately, I shot out of bed.
My brain linking the screams and the news report together.
Was someone in trouble ?
I heard shuffling outside my room, then finally shouting.
I dashed out of my room.
" Dad ! Minhee !" I screamed
Something was wrong.
I knew it.
I was about to open my sister's door to ask her if she heard the scream too, when the door slammed right open. Missing my face by an inch.
"MIN-"
" ! Your sister is missing ! The back door is open too! " my father shouted, looking dishevelled like he just rolled out of bed. Which he probably did.
The colour left my face.
My father never swore unless it was something very serious. He must have heard the scream.
My brain then started making links again.
Scream.
Sister missing.
Back door open.
Our house's back is practically surrounded by trees.
The back door leads to a forest.
The forest.
It leads to ..
The news report.
Wild animals. Death. Eaten.
I felt everything drain out of me, my stomach knotting in dread.
I felt my legs turn into jelly, and my hands trembled.
" Where did she go at such a time ?! " I screamed as I regained my senses and dashed out of Minhee's room door.
" i don't know ! " my father screamed as he checked under my sister's bed, just to be sure. He looked back up to find me not in minhee's room anymore.
He paled. He knew I was going to run like a mad man right into the forest.
" Daehee get back here! No way am I letting you go into that forest!"
"DAEHEE!"
"DAEHEE GET BACK HERE!" He screeched, thumping down the stairs.
I ignored him and slipped on my jacket and shoes and ran straight into the forest.
I heard his futile shrieks and shouts behind me but his voice seemed far and fading.
That ear piercing scream rang and echoed in my mind instead.
It seemed so pained, so in distress and desperation.
It hurt me just by thinking about it.
I shook my head as my feet pounded the ground.
"No.. Minhee please! That better not be you!" My heart felt like it was going to burst with dread.
I bit my lip and picked up speed, sprinting through the leaves and trunks.
the forest looking like phantasmagoria as images of trees zoomed past me.
I ran and ran, screaming Minhee's name, with a volume that would wake the dead.
and I hoped she wasn't among them.
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