4 The Middle Of Nowhere

Thana awakens, taking a deep breath as if she had drowned and stopped breathing for some time. Her vision is fuzzy, and she felt the damp soil coming together when she clawed the soft ground.

Currently, her hearing is better than her sight, and as she waits patiently for her vision to clear, she hears the forest's unusual sound. Thana hears the wind singing, the leaves rustling as a response, the crickets and their annoying noise, and the owl interrupting the concert of nature.

The air is fresh; she smells nothing but wood and dirt. The more she claws the ground, the better she grasps the reality that she is indeed in a forest. To confirm that, her vision finally clears and what she sees stunned her.

"Bloody hell-" was all she could utter as she looked about, bewildered.

Past the branches that hovered grimly like monster claws is a clear and peaceful night sky. Stars shine brightly, overpowering the entire illusory sky with its numbers. Thana had never seen such a beautiful and enchanting atmosphere before.

But to think about it, she never laid outdoors late at night to admire the sky. Much more, she would never lay on dirt like she is now.

She lets out a frustrated exhale after pushing herself to sit up from her uncomfortable position. There are tiny stones beneath, poking on her back. She rubs it to rid of any that stuck behind her coat.

The first thing that Thana notices is that she's still wearing the same clothes the morning she set off from her horrible home. She cringes when she lifts her hands and sees the dirt accumulated inside her nails.

Looking around and studying her surroundings, she sees nothing but trees, bushes, and complete utter darkness. Thana is in the middle of unfamiliar woods, vulnerable to any animals that may smell her from a distance.

However, she's not afraid of those man-eating animals. They're called man-eating for a reason. And from experience, animals are fearful of her. The thought of it alone makes her laugh, but not until her memory finally gives her an answer to all the dithering.

"That old geezer!"

The old man had a dirty trick up his sleeve; he must have drugged her. And he decided to leave Thana in the middle of the woods, thinking that she's dead. He did mention her name, which means death which made him sound like a complete lunatic. But she knew from the start, there was something wrong with that man and his bookstore.

She wonders what interested and lured her to that bookstore in the first place.

Now, here she lies in such a difficult situation. Thana thinks whether it will be alright to find her way out of the forest or camp for the night. No matter how she tries to remember any forest near the place she lives, she can't think of any.

Thana lives near the city. There has never been a vast woodland she knows of close by the place she stays. And when she realizes the weather, it is somewhat humid that she had to get out of her coat. The weather alone tells her that she couldn't be in London.

But that conclusion alone is impossible.

Thana could not argue with her mind anymore, that she chooses to stand up and beat the possibility of getting attacked by animals to know where in the world could that old man had taken her. Thana's hearing is sharper than anything, and as she listens closely, she could hear the stream of water nearby.

"I'm going to kill him and burn his stupid bookstore down," she angrily mutters to herself while picturing the many ways she could end the old man's life. She rolls the hair tie that she always has on her wrist to put her almost creamy blonde hair up, stopping it from bothering her face as she glared.

And she freezes, dropping a handful of hair that fell to her shoulders. It's no longer the thick brunette short hair that she remembers. Thana grabs the soft and silky platinum waves that are much longer than the hair she remembers she had. It flowed beautifully down her back, but it wasn't her hair.

She raked through her memories to find out how her hair grew longer in just a day and even dyed itself. Thana even went as far as slapping herself to maybe wake up from the bad dream she's currently having, but nothing is working.

She's in another mysterious nightmare, in the middle of the unfamiliar woods. Something is clearly not right; there's an odd feeling building up inside of her.

The owl hooted again, making Thana hiss in rage and despair. She looked about in her surroundings and continues to tie her hair up to proceed with her exploring. She can deal with the new hairdo problem later when she finds someone who can help her with some knowledge of this trouble she got herself into.

Thana could only hope to find shelter, for she did not want to be out in this eerie forest for long until the sun came up. Typically, she would never wear a watch when she heads out, which is why she always loses track of time.

It's not that she minds losing track of time. She does her best to stay out of that house. But now the tables had turned; for all she knows, she's nowhere near that place she called home.

A watch could have really helped her know what time of the night it is, but she could only tell that the sun is nowhere near rising. It must still be in the middle of the night.

The wind blows the strands of hair that fall from the messy attempt of a bun. Thana takes the first steps forward through the thick bushes that engulfed her. She could only rely on the sound of streaming water in hopes that it could be of help to her situation.

And the sound of splashes.

That's right. Thana heard the sound of splashing, which could only mean that someone is having a bath this late at night. Though the thought never came to her mind, 'why would anyone bathe this late at night?'

She must be out of her mind to keep going, moving aside branches that are getting in her way, and panting as she quickens her pace. The surroundings are becoming more apparent and almost magical that she could not believe her eyes.

It must be the fireflies, but some blue flowers are blooming on the side, and the trees look like they're glowing. Thana cannot complain since it only helped her find her way in the right direction.

Both palms of her hands smack the bark of the tree, and she breathes heavily. Behind the tree and a couple of bushes, she saw a glimpse of the water stream. It was sparkling clear, but she needed another look to confirm whether someone was swimming on it.

She swore she saw movement.

Slowly, Thana moves her head away from the bark to take a peek. She breathes in frustration when the tree branches are hindering her from getting a complete view.

Thana sees the short waterfall and how the water stream runs south. She goes on her tiptoes, scanning the stillness of the water, but she sees no one.

Impossible; the splashing should have come from a person.

She lifts her right leg to go over the roots that are bulging up from the soil, but only to get caught on one of the piled-up twigs. Not only did the twigs make a sound, but her short, aggravated gasp gave her position away.

It's not to her surprise when those minimal sounds captured the attention of the lad whose head popped up from the water. Thana's heart could have dropped the instance she saw him.