prologue

A Chapter by Mel Jayne

Something is happening.

In the woods on a hot evening in the mid summer, the air fell silent and everything stood still for a few moments. If there had been anyone around, they probably would have noticed that something was wrong. They would have felt it in the air that dropped to a cool temperature, it would have been a relief it it wasn't for the lack of a breeze. They would have heard it in the way that the animals stopped making any noise at all in an instant. They would have known it in the way that they couldn’t hear the soft sounds of moving water anymore. They would have felt energy in the air, they might have even looked up to see if there was a storm cloud where they knew there was not.

It’s probably a good thing that no one had been in the woods that evening. Certainly not someone that had never been in any trouble. Certainly no one, no one that’s hair caught behind them as they were lifted off of the ground by an unseen force and slammed back down to earth seconds later.

Or at least, no one that could remember.

There was, however, a cloaked figure in an abandoned hut of sorts off to the side of the woods, someone that was not the least bit surprised by the whole ordeal. They walked out at a leisurely pace, not at all disturbed by the lack of birdsong or rustle of leaves.

If anyone else were to wander amongst the trees that evening they might have thought that the two people must have either been taking part in a weird pagan cult (and would have been creeped out by the stranger in the long black cloak), or that the pair was involved in a very private version of Live Action Role Play and probably would have laughed more than would have been safe for them.

The lady that stood in her cloak surrounded by the surreal had the smug satisfaction that there would be no interruptions upon the scene that she had composed so carefully, a powerful magic that had only taken a flick of her ringed fingers. The matt black ceramic faces looking frozen in terror over the body before them, a small jewelled recreation of a crow’s face unblinking and horribly beautiful. The more observational people might have noticed the drawings on the trunks of the trees in a pattern that would have been a warning away. The girl that now lay out on the ground had not been observant. The cloaked stranger had been depending on that. She had not been disappointed.

It was a good thing that no one could see a pale hand twist in the air and lift the body from the dirt. No one could see the face that was in the shadows of a hood, marks lain across her face just above eyes so unblinking and so unnatural that there could be no doubt that the creature that moved like a woman could be anything but a monster.

There had been no animals in the woods, they had all stopped along with the breeze and the birds above. There shouldn’t have been a movement among the twig covered floor. Even though thinking that would contradict the fact that it was impossible that the animals could all have just have stopped moving in the first place.

There certainly shouldn't have been a hiss coming from the trees around the suspended body. The hiss was an aggressive sound, unforgiving and sharp, but still, overall, animalistic.

The creature’s eyes remained unblinking and trained on her prey, undisturbed by this new development in her surroundings. It was as if her being had been split into these two monstrous creatures that were untouched by the unseen force that had stopped all of the movement.

You would probably expect someone to scream when a snake slid up their limbs until it looked like a surreal scarf laid casually along their shoulders. It was jarring and worrying when the eyes and the cloak and the lifeless woods paired with the slant of lips that could not be anything but an unsettlingly pleased smile.

It was good that there was no one around to see as the snake wrapped itself around its master’s neck and appeared to sniff the unmoving body laid out before it. The way the evening light scattered by the leaves hit the three beings could almost have been considered beautiful. The black of the scales shimmering as the snake kept on in constant motion, slow and relaxed in its coil. The stillness of the scene was interrupted by a scream, not from the cloaked lady or anyone hidden amongst the trees but the body that was suddenly thrashing in front of the startlingly similar eyes of the pair of creatures.

This did create a reaction from the creature that towered over the pale tangle of limbs that had resembled a youth. It would have been sickening if anyone had been around to hear a second scream added to the first. The creature made the first distinctive sound. She was even more monstrous than she had originally seemed.

next chapter

© 2017 Mel Jayne

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Reviews

bluessadmood

This was nicely written and seems a good plan is put a head ..I think though you should have put some more leads here to tell where this is leading..but probably you want to surprise all Stars you go ahead with the plot..I liked the style and the way this was written..I need to read more though
Lovely write

Posted 6 Years Ago

6 Years Ago

Thank you. I do hope you read more of the chapters because this is very close to me as my writing go.. read more

6 Years Ago

You are so welcome..writing a story is a real big thing it's like you are creating real people ..the.. read more

SweetNutmeg

I really like this beginning. It's creepy and mysterious and very well written. I did have a problem keeping track of the different creatures involved though. There is the caught girl, the hooded figure of a woman, some hissing trees and a snake. This paragraph:

"You would probably expect someone to scream when a snake slid up their limbs until it looked like a surreal scarf lain casually along their shoulders. It was jarring and worrying when the eyes and the cloak and the lifeless woods paired with the slant of lips that could not be anything but an unsettlingly pleased smile."

I am not sure who the snake is getting friendly with... the hypothetical someone or the hooded figure. If the snake is sliding up to the hooded woman's shoulders, it would be easier to understand if you used "her" instead of "their." If the snake is sliding up the hypothetical person that needs to be more clear.

This is one very small problem in an excellent prologue. It has my attention and I look forward to reading more.