Prologue
Run!!! The only word to form in her mind was run! What or whom she was running from she didn’t know, but she had to get away. There was water as far as the eyes could see, and the dark figure was gaining on her. Her legs were running as fast as they could carry her. She still wasn’t gaining ground. As she looked back to see the distance between her and what or whoever chased her, she tripped over a tree root. Frantically she pulled herself up, and continued to run. It was so dark. She had no way of knowing the direction in which she ran. Upon hearing the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, there was no other option. She ran to the closest cliff and jumped……
Elise awoke covered in sweat as she always did when she had nightmares. They were becoming more and more frequent. She turned on the lamp, and dragged herself to the small bathroom in her cottage. She splashed cool water on her face and looked into the mirror. The bags under eyes would tell anyone that she was barely sleeping. “Snap out of it, Elise” she scolded herself. It was only a dream after all, but she couldn’t shake the feeling. It was a dream that had plagued her for weeks now. It started the day after she turned 20. After finishing in the bathroom, she wondered to the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea. Her stomach rumbled telling her she also needed food. Grabbing leftover biscuits from yesterday, she picked up her cup of tea and went to sit beside her window in the sitting room. The cottage was scarcely decorated, but she didn’t need much. The furniture was passed to Elise from her mother and from her mother’s mother before. It was worn but cozy. The cottage boasted five rooms: a kitchen, a sitting room, a dining room, a bathroom, and a bedroom. It was perfect for her. There were windows in every room, and the cottage sat perfectly arranged on the edge of Fairy Forest. It was said that the forest was enchanted, but Elise had never saw anything out of the ordinary.
Lost in her thoughts she’d lost track of time. Glancing at her watch it was already 7:15 am. “Not again” she thought to herself while jumping up from her window seat. She had to be at work in 45 minutes. She worked as a waitress in the county’s only pub, The Siren’s Shed. They served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Elise opened the pub every day as she had for two years now. Mr. Finnegan, the owner, was approaching 80, and Mrs Finnegan had put her foot down when he had a minor heart attack summer past. As hesitant as he was, he knew just who he had married and knew the fight wasn’t worth it. He entrusted Elise to open and run everything just as smoothly as he had for the last 50 years.
