Chapter 3

My feet can't cooperate, so the guards practically drag me to the front gates. I can't see the stage anymore, but I bet that my family is still there, mourning my loss.

The guards let go of me, and I fell face first onto the dusty ground. We are already at the front gates. In the distance, the red sun peeks out from the trees.

One of the guards grabbed a jagged knife from his boot, while the other forced me to get up. The guard with the knife crouched down to where my right ankle is. Then, he pokes the pointy end into my flesh, enough to draw blood. I wince in pain.

He draws a circle with the knife, then draws a vertical line down to the bottom of my foot. He draws an arrow. Finally, he draws a dash inside the circle.

The guard puts the knife in his boot again, not bothering to clean the blood off of it, and takes my arm in his again. The other guard turns a wheel by the gates. Suddenly, the gates swing open, revealing the dark, creepy woods outside our walls. I swear I could hear a feral roar inside the forest.

The guard pushes me outside, and I notice him running towards the safety of Xera's walls, although he tries to hide it. Even they are scared of the woods beyond. The other guard quickly shuts the gates, forever shutting the doors between me and the life I used to have.

I shakily get up to my feet. They probably expect me to come banging on the gates, begging for my life. But, I don't. I have that much pride left.

As I look around, the trees seem to tower over me like skyscrapers. The woods look worse than what the council describes to us as small children.

The forest seemed to be never ending. The trees curl in a weird and creepy way, like gnarled fingers. When their leaves shake, it sounds like an animal growling. In there, it is pitch black, even though the sun hasn't set yet.

I don't want to go in there, but what choice do I have? The Reaper will find me if I stay in a place for too long. So, with a deep breath, I walk into the woods.

It's even scarier inside than the outside. It seems devoid of life. The grass has been leached of its color. The air seemed poisonous and stale. Even the trees seemed lifeless. The only things I can hear are my short breaths and my beating heart, though I doubt that it will be beating for long.

Part of me wants to just lay down, and wait for the Reaper to kill me. But, another part of me wants to live. I still have a lot to live for, and I'm not going to let some monster take it away from me.

Suddenly, I hear something that makes my blood go cold. Footsteps and a low growl was coming from a few feet in front of me. My heart almost stops. The Reaper.

I run, careful not to make any noise. I duck behind a tree. Everything in me shakes. I never saw the Reaper before, and I certainly don't want to. But, that doesn't stop me from peeking out. And, I wish I hadn't.

I only see part of it, but that was enough to give me nightmares for weeks. It looked human. It walked upright, and it was just 8 feet tall. But, its face didn't. It had a bird-like face. It had no eyes. Only blank, black holes with black fluid dripping out of them. Crusted blood was all around its mouth.

It's arms dragged on the floor. Its hands had jagged claws. Its feet had spikes on it, and claws as long as my arm.

It trudged along, crushing the leaves beneath its feet. I stood, petrified. How was THAT thing going to eat me?!!

I quickly looked around, trying to find a way out of this. In the corner of my eye, I spot someone. At first, I feared that it was another Reaper, but it almost looked like a little girl. As she inched closer, my eyes widened. She had a kill mark. She was a sacrifice.

As soon as she saw the Reaper, she ran. "WAIT!!!!" I yelled, forgetting that the Reaper was a few feet away from me.

Its head snapped in the direction of me, its eyes glowing gold. My heart skips a beat. I shouldn't have yelled. Without thinking, I bolted from my hiding spot, and ran farther into the woods. The Reaper screamed, and ran after me.

All I can feel is fear and adrenaline in my veins as I run. I can see the little girl running a few feet ahead of me. Suddenly, the Reaper jumps over me, and pins the little girl to the ground. It roars in her face. Without thinking, I ram into the Reaper, throwing it off the little girl. I help her up.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

She barely nods before I get knocked down. The Reaper is on top of me, now. It opens its mouth. I can see how big its mouth is, and the many many rows of teeth. I slump in defeat. This is the end of the line for me.

Suddenly, the Reaper flies off of me. It lands on the ground screaming. Strong hands pull me up. I can barely see the person's face in the dark.

The little girl runs into the shadows. The person who helped me up tells me to run. My legs finally don't feel numb, and I race after the little girl. I can hear the Reaper's screams in the distance, and I run faster.

Suddenly, I trip on a log, and fall. Then, everything went pitch black.