Chapter 1

Her crimson ombre hair resembling the blazing flames of fire danced in air as she rushed through the middle of a deep, foreboding forest.

It was late afternoon and was getting dark with each passing second. Howls and roars of wild beasts echoed beyond the frightening forest raising several chills down her spine. Her heart was pacing violently in her chest.

She could feel her limbs getting numb with her strength fading slowly. "Damn it! I'm so tired and I haven't eaten anything for almost 18 hours now."

She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands tightly, forcing herself to keep on moving. "I shouldn't have wandered around too much. If they noticed that I'm still not back yet I'd be in a big trouble."

She huffed, followed by a sigh of regret.

"Aaaahhhh!" A sudden ear-splitting voice startled her.

She stopped in her tracks and quickly looked behind. "Wha- what was that?Don't tell me, someone got attacked by a wild beast?"

Her hands and feet grew cold and she gulped hard. "I should- probably go and check it."

She searched around a bit and picked-up a broken tree branch from the ground. She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves, before cautiously moving forward.

After crossing a thick, foggy path of trees, she saw blood stains on the ground, pointing into the deepest part of the forest.

She followed the trace and was shocked upon seeing a whole pack of wolves laying lifelessly on the ground. They were killed brutally. Their limbs were cut apart from their bodies and their eyes had been gouged out.

She trembled with horror. The tree branch she was holding fell down and she quickly covered her nose to block the bloody, nauseating stench.

"This- This is horrible. What on earth happened here? Who killed so many wolves? I- I need to go back and inform the police about it." She turned around to leave but suddenly a loud splash of water was heard from behind her.

Her body froze in that instant. She could feel a bone chilling sensation creeping up her spine. "Is- Is the killer still here?" The thought filled her heart with tremendous fear.

"No! No! I need to get out of here as soon as possible otherwise, It might come back and kill me as well." She bit hard on her lip, trying to pull herself together and start moving again.

She staggered her way out of there and ran as fast as she could. She only dared to stop after crossing a considerable distance.

She heaved a sigh of relief after making sure that she was safe and no one was following her. She leaned against a large tree, closed her eyes and slid down, falling onto the ground, her nerves finally calming down.

She held her legs close to her chest and put her head on her knees. Tears dwelled up in her eyes and in less than a minute she was sobbing and crying. "Why is such a horrible thing happening to me?"

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After what felt like an eternity, she suddenly felt a tingling sensation on her hand, which pulled her back into reality. Something soft, smooth and slippery was curling itself on her index finger.

She lifted her head and a gentle smile made its way onto her soft, pinkish lips. A warmth swept across her heart as soon as her emerald eyes fell on the little beast before her.

White as snow, pure as fire and soft as fur, there was a small rabbit licking her finger. Seeing this cute buddy, looking at her with its big shiny eyes, she couldn't help but giggle. "How cute!"

She moved her hand forward to pet its head but it quickly sprinted away before she could even touch it. For quite some time she just blankly kept staring in the direction where the little guy had disappeared.

After a while, as if suddenly thinking something, she turned her head, looked upwards in the sky and sighed. "Its gone. It was really cute. Well, I should also get up and find my way back, it is getting dark."

Just as she was about to get up, that rabbit came back and pulled her skirt. She looked at it, smiled and gently patted its white, soft fur.

"Hey there! little buddy! You are back." Her eyes were full of warmth as she looked at it.

Seeing that the rabbit kept pulling onto her skirt, she softly asked, "What? Do you want me to follow you?"

Hearing her mention "follow" it immediately started nodding its head. She gently held its ear and rubbed with great care. "You seem to be able to understand me. Ok then! I'll go with you and see what you want to show me."

Saying that she got up and trailed behind it. She followed for some time, when the rabbit finally stopped. She was stunned by the sight in front of her eyes.

It was something she had never seen before. Despite her countless travelling experiences, to various parts of the world, this sight felt like something straight out of a fairy tale.

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Surrounded by a wide border of trees, in the middle of the forest, there was a pond. It was decorated by a hem of flowers, with colorful jade vines entangled around their stems.

Small shrubs could be seen near them. There were roses; red, black, yellow and pink, jasmine, Gibraltar champions, parrot beaks, chocolate cosmos and many other, rare and gorgeous flowers covering the edges of the pond.

Its water was so clear and pure that the visibility of one's reflection was even better than that in a mirror.

"This- This is so beautiful." She stood there silently gazing at the magical view.

She felt the presence of a powerful force that indulged her in the scene before her. "I can't believe there's such a wonderful place in this world."

The last rays of the day had created a rainbow above the pond. Tiny water droplets shining under those dim light

beams, enchanted its beauty even more.

This short lived moment passed by in the blink of an eye. Those sparkling lights disappeared and all that left was darkness, unending darkness, which pulled her out of this trance.

"Huh?" She quickly looked around and upon meeting with the cruel reality, she froze at her spot.

It was dark and she had lost her way back. "What- What should I do? How can I go ba-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she heard some movements in the trees up front. Cold chills passed down her spine. She searched for the little rabbit that led her here, but it was nowhere to be found.

"What is that? Is it the wolf killer? Did he come for me?" Her thoughts were chaotic as she stared at the trees upfront."Is it some other wild beast?"

Her legs became weak and she fell down on the ground. She looked around helplessly, hoping to find a place to hide. "Am I also going to get killed? Is it really the end-"

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