Prologue

    She woke up in the middle of the night, unable to breathe. It was like some huge weight was pressing upon her chest, stopping her to breathing. Being dizzy, she was looking for the pills on the nightstand, but she couldn't find them. Where had she left them ? She really needed them, otherwise this could be her end. She had never thought before that she could die in such a pathetic way, in her bed. When she thought she couldn't see a way through, she found them, under her bed, as if they were trying to hide. She took two pills and waited for the aftermath

Fate played her again, reminding her that it can end her sufferings in any moment, but her body reacted right away, willing to survive another day. It wasn’t enough that she couldn’t make any kind of relationship, she had to carry this kind of fight by herself. Anyhow, she couldn’t complain, she never did. She had been through more terrible moments, this was a piece of cake. Just some random images, meaningless, yet irritating. The room smelled like something was burnt and she needed to breathe fresh air. She chose well the hiding shelter, a cabin in the woods, without being disturbed by the spying looks of unwanted people. 

She hated them. It wasn’t taking long to smell one to sharpen all her senses. Even though most of them were harmless, and all they knew to do was staring at her, or at least it seemed so, they were still stirring up a tremendous repugnance. All that they were doing was complaining the whole day about their situation, about how wretched they were, only the truth was different. They had anything they wanted, even so, they wanted more and more. Only the simple thought of them made her blood boil. Instead thinking of them she decided she should let it go.

What she needed now was cool air. She dressed herself up with a jacket and a pair of boots and she went outside. It was truly a place were she could avert mind of useless pain and forget everything that makes her uncomfortable. She sucked air into her lungs and looked into the darkness. It wasn’t hard for her at all, being used to it since her childhood. It was her confidant. They were matching perfectly. She couldn’t find any closer friend than Darkness itself. She loved It, It adored her. It was covering her from unwanted peeks and she took Its shape.

However, her footsteps carried her away from the hut, deep into the woods, almost impossible to make her way. Nevertheless, she loved challenges. It was a perfect time for a small training. It wasn’t hard to get to a mountain stream, she knew pretty well the forest. She drank from it swiftly and then she washed her face.

Afterwards, she looked further and realized that the night path couldn’t end so fast. She had an appetite for hunting. She climbed a tree nearby and surveyed the area, a still image of nature. Night was the perfect time for this. In this way, she could use all of her senses. She wished she had a knife with her, still bare handed made the hunting more exciting. The night was the predators’ heaven. The hunter climbed down the tree effortless and started to walk carefully. She learned how to pick up the trails, being able to know the story of every creature that passed by. However, this was only a childish game until she found trails of a fallow-deer. People considered the woodlands dangerous and stopped wandering around, so the animals could move freely. So could the night predators.

After an hour of trailing, she reached to a small lake where animals were coming to drink water. There she found the deer. She moved slowly around him and decided which way she must lure it. Her heart was beating faster of excitement. She had never felt mercy for the prey, only a cold veiling and a feeling of fulfillment.

 Suddenly, the deer realized that there was some kind of danger, but hesitated to take action. He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, or just a cruel, merciless reality. Not even when a stone hit his forehead, he didn’t get what was going on, but his only escape was running away. He jumped back and he started his short road to sacrifice. He hopped over the trees’ roots and through the bushes, but as he was running as quickly as possible, he sensed death closer and closer. He felt a warm stream down on his face, still he kept fleeing. His legs stopped listening and were stumbling, making the way harder to follow. He knew he hadn’t much to live, yet he was struggling till the end. He saw a small creek of dark water and he headed towards that place. It seemed that a silhouette was waiting for him, or it was just his dream? … The deer understood that this was the end of his short life. He wanted to run through the sunny lands, to listen to the birds’ music that was waking him up early in the morning, to be tickled by the bees’ humming, to listen to the warm fresh water, to feel the nature… With his sad, round eyes, he saw the predator. He wasn’t that strong, but the eyes … his eyes were lifeless. The deer sat near him and listened to the last song, an incantation in a strange language, never heard of him before. He acted as he was bewitched by the hunters’ words, willing to give his life as an offering. That man with icy look made him drink from the cool water, laying his hands over his head and spoke two words: “Valaer dauthaz!" … and then everything went dark …