Rain Drops

Chapter 12

As I stared at him, he took a step toward me and smiled. Then he extended his left arm, placing his palm upwards. Instinctively, I placed the branch I held in my left hand underneath it. Without even bothering to ask, the strange man placed his right hand on top of mine and squeezed tightly. My wrist immediately began hurting as the pressure increased exponentially. However, I gritted my teeth and endured the pain as I continued squeezing the branch. After a few moments, however, I finally broke free and let go of the branch. Immediately my wrist became numb and I fell to the ground. I was too shocked to say a word or attempt to move. He then bent down and picked up the branch. "You will live." The man suddenly disappeared after having uttered those words. I didn't understand how this stranger had managed to save me, but all I could do was stare at the place where he had stood and wonder why on earth this creature would decide to spare my life. I looked around the area for a moment, wondering what to do next, and then realised that I had fallen into a small hole that was roughly four meters deep. I had no choice but to jump down into the dark hole and pray that whatever was beneath it was safe and sound. The second I landed safely on the bottom floor, I scrambled backwards and slammed the wooden trapdoor shut with the strength of my hands. I had no idea where this trapdoor lead or if anybody even existed down here, yet I was still determined to stay hidden. While I was still struggling to process everything that was happening, I heard footsteps approaching the room from outside. I panicked, and I ran as fast as I could without falling and breaking my neck. Unfortunately, it was too late, as they were already opening the door to the room. I crouched in a corner of the room as best as I could and hoped that nobody would see me. However, whoever walked inside wasn't looking around the room in search of me, instead turning off their torch. They sat on the bed and began to talk loudly to each other. After a short time of listening to their conversation, I realised that they must've noticed something wrong because within ten minutes they were leaving the room without making a single noise. However, I didn't dare to get closer to the trapdoor or risk my chances of being discovered. The next thing I knew, it started raining. I could hear it hitting on the roof of the small house which was located on the top floor of the building. Soon after, it rained harder than ever until the thunder and lightning had caused the rain to become more powerful than it already was. I could barely stand to listen to the sounds coming from the storm which meant that I needed to hurry. I didn't know why the sky seemed to hate me so much, especially since the weather forecast had said that it would clear up later in the day. Nevertheless, I quickly changed into my human form once again, wrapped the cloak which I had gotten from the old lady in front of my chest before dashing down to the forest. It wasn't difficult to track him; he didn't take the usual route to go to the market which was the opposite side of the forest. I was following a different route to follow in order to confuse him if necessary. Therefore, I had spent the first hour travelling through the forest, but at some point in that time, the visibility became significantly lower. Eventually, I lost my sense of direction because my surroundings had blurred together. It was hard to tell where I was, and all I wanted to do now was to lie down somewhere and sleep. Although, I was worried about what my parents might think about me sleeping in the forest for hours. I had gone there without asking them if I could. They never asked me why I chose to spend so much time by myself. They would always leave a meal for me whenever I told them that I wanted to be alone. They didn't want me spending so much time by myself, but I always found a way to distract myself. Even when I was in danger, I always made sure to be safe, because I hated losing control of myself and becoming angry. I knew that I couldn't change who I was, but it was easy for me to pretend that I could change everything. If I tried, I could be a normal teenage girl who liked playing with her friend rather than the crazy person everyone feared. I was a lot better than this version of myself anyways. I just wanted to forget about it all, which I believed was possible when I went home. The more I travelled through the forest, the more I realised that my head was hurting badly. I knew that I had probably hit my head and that it was causing me problems. After about two hours of walking, my stomach decided to betray me. A painful gurgle escaped my mouth, and my stomach clenched uncomfortably, as if it were complaining about its hunger. The smell of food wafted through the air. It was the aroma which my mother's father preferred when he ate at our home. I hadn't tasted any food for several days and I desperately wanted to eat something to calm the nausea which kept coming back every minute. I decided that I could either continue to walk, or I could rest for a bit and wait for the rain to stop. I decided that the former, which was easier for me to accomplish. As I climbed a tree, I saw another human appearing from the opposite direction. The newcomer appeared to be a little boy. He wore a dirty shirt with holes in it and dirty trousers, which also had holes, and was carrying a piece of wood with a nail fixed onto the bottom of it, which seemed quite heavy for such a little boy.