CHAPTER 82: INTO THE FORBIDDEN FOREST

The two men gripped their guns tighter and then glanced at each other. They stood directly behind a path, and Theodora watched them closely for any slight movement.

They were too far from her for her to make any sudden movements and she had to be aware of the gun they held.

Questions whirled around her head, though: what do they want with Liam? If they really wanted to kidnap Liam, why did they allow her to see them? Were they looking to take her, too?

Seraphina growled inside Theo, ready whenever she was. Theo thought it would be faster to transform and take them down since Seraphina was faster than a moving bullet, but she couldn’t risk transforming again.

The thought of someone else figuring out her secret scared her.

"I said, drop him!" She yelled again.

They didn’t move. Instead, they took a step backwards, as though avoiding or putting distance between them on purpose.

"Who are you?" She stepped forward, and they stepped back cautiously again. Were they afraid of her, or something? There had to be something wrong.

"What do you want with him?" She asked again, but they said nothing.

Suddenly, they turned to each other as if an order had just been given, nodded, and took off running.

Theodora sprinted with them, hot on their trail only to realise something dreadful that almost made her stop.

Almost.

They were running through the Raven Spire path. The same path that two students had been found dead weeks ago - the path that led directly to the Hallow Forbidden Forest.

She stared up front, wondering if the kidnappers had any idea where this path led to. But it didn’t matter. She had to focus on closing the distance between them and getting Liam back from them.

She exploded with her speed, quickly closing the distance between them. She could feel the wind hitting her skin as she approached them, till she was just a breath from catching up.

At that moment, Theodora crossed the last stone marking the academy’s safe boundary - and it felt like the world had shifted.

The wind that had been hitting her face suddenly stilled, and she then realised...the forest was now alive.

The air tasted ancient, metallic and faintly sweet, and the moment she stepped into the forest, the air tightened as though the forest was trying to inhale her back.

And surprisingly, it wasn’t as dark as it was before anymore.

The light here was very wrong. It was a silver, pale, and dreamlike light, filtering through the thick forest like moonlight trapped in the noonday sun.

Shadows oddly fell sideways and the trees were unnaturally tall - taller than ashwood. Their trunks were bone-pale with barks resembling veins with translucent skin.

The leaves were huge, and shimmered like they were frost-kissed, brittle enough to break...yet there wasn’t a leaf on the ground.

What the hell did she just step into?

Theodora wanted to slow down, but there was no time. The men were still running, so she had to keep chasing them.

But every step she took forward, the lights dimmed around her. The Hallow seemed to be devouring every shimmer of light, till even the colour of her clothes and her skin faded.

She had become Greyscale. Like she’d just stepped into a photograph.

Suddenly, the men in front of her stopped, and she did too.

*Seraphina?* Theodora called her wolf softly and cautiously, her eyes locked with the men still carrying Liam, *What is this place? Why is it like this?*

*Well, at least now we know why it’s forbidden. I feel watched, Theo. And it’s not just from the men. I feel bites and crawls in my skin like there’s a thousand things in the shadows watching us right now,*

Theo sucked in a breath, *I feel it too. Do you think they stopped here on purpose?*

*Or probably baited you here on purpose* Seraphina added, *And they’ve been acting weird. Be careful, Theo. They’re up to something very bad*

Theo almost snarled. Could it be that Liam had been bait and they were originally after her? It explained why they had let her see them so easily and why they didn’t attack.

Then, what was the purpose of luring her in here?

Just as she suspected, they dropped Liam carelessly on the floor like he had served his purpose, and she heard their gun click, and their soft growls.

They were about to attack her.

*We can transform here,* Seraphina said to her, *since no one ever comes in here. You won’t get caught*

*Alright then, take over*

Theodora waited for herself to change. Seconds passed and nothing happened.

*Seraphina?* She murmured.

*I can’t seem to...,* Seraphina groaned with a struggling growl, *It’s not working,*

*What do you mean it’s not working? There’s never a time when I haven’t been able to transform* Theo replied.

*Well, it’s not working now!* Seraphina hissed, *I feel like I’m trapped. I can’t, Theo*

Before Theodora could think of what to do next, one of the men raised their gun and pulled the trigger. It came right at her, and she barely shot out of the way just in time, but the bullet grazed her shoulders.

The bullet’s sting was sharp and hot, tearing through her skin like fire. Theo hissed and stumbled back, but she did not fall.

Another shot rang.

She barely dodged again, her breath ragged as she landed low. She moved fast, even if she couldn’t transform.

Her claws scraped the bark of a pale tree as she launched herself forward, closing the distance with wolf-born adrenaline.

She slammed into the first man with all her weight, knocking him sideways. His gun flew into the grass, disappearing in the silver haze. He snarled, one that was undeniably wolf, then swung at her. She ducked under his arm, and her fist connected with his ribs.

She heard his ribs crackling, and he stumbled back with a painful groan.

The second man fired again, and she flew and hid herself behind a tree.

He shot again, and bark exploded beside her face, the shards slicing her cheek. The scent of the blood from her cheeks made something inside her snap.

She suddenly jumped out from the tree and grabbed the man she’d knocked down before the next bullet could hit her, using his own momentum to throw him into his partner. Both wolves crashed to the ground in a violent heap.

Then, she ran for Liam.

She wanted to reach him. She wanted to reach him and get him out of this forest quickly, because she did not like the vibe it was giving off.

She’s never felt anything like it. And whatever it was doing, it was preventing her wolf from emerging.

She had almost reached him when a hand seized her ankle and yanked her back.

She twisted in response, kicked hard and her heel crunched a jaw.

The man released her with a snarl, rearing back from her.

They advanced again, their guns raised and eyes glinting with something feral.

There was no time to dive behind a tree, and she doubted she would be as lucky as she had been before to dodge another bullet.

Just then, a sound split the forest.

It wasn’t a howl, and it did not sound like a growl either.

It was something worse. Something really eerie.

A wet dragging, like vines being pulled through bone.

Theo froze.

The men heard it too — and they began looking around eyes, panic bleeding through their bravado and their mask.

The forest stilled.

Seconds passed.

The silence was terrifying.

Then something snatched the first man so fast his body blurred. One second he stood before her, and the next, he was gone, dragged into the dark between the trees.

His agonising scream ripped through the forest, sounding nothing less than terrified, before it cut off instantly.

Silence again. Theo gently reached out and grabbed Liam’s feet. She wanted to try and shake him awake, but she was afraid she would make too much noise.

What the hell was out there?

The second man spun, his gun shaking, "What the hell--"

He didn’t finish.

Something coiled around his torso - Pale, like a root or a bone-made tendril, similar to the trees surrounding them, and then it jerked him violently away. His scream cut through the air, his claws hopelessly trying to grip anything to hold himself back while his gun fired wildly until he vanished into the dark.

Silence fell again.

Theo’s pulse thundered in her ears. She heard the wet sound again.

Then something wrapped around her ankle.

It was cold and wet.

She gasped, looking down in horror as a pale tendril curled up her leg and began to pull.

She released Liam as it pulled her toward the depths of the Hallow. Toward whatever took the rest of them.

*Seraphina--*she choked.

*I’m trying!* her wolf cried, voice fading beneath panic, *Theo, RUN--*

She dug her claws into the dirt, but the forest only pulled harder. And just like the rest, her scream was soon drowned out and cut off instantly.

Only the silence remained.

Only the eerie darkness and cold remained.