Elize landed in the little garden s.p.a.ce behind her mansion with a thud.

"s.h.i.+t!" She cursed under her breath.

Slowly rising from the ground, she peeped through the large window outside her drawing room. Agatha was sitting on the big leather couch lazily, her blonde ma.s.s of hair hanging loose to the side of her face. Elize smirked when she realized that it was one of the books from Anna's collection of cheesy novels. Her entire attention seemed to be focused on a book in her hand. Thankfully, it didn't appear as if she heard the sound of her landing.

Elize looked up towards the length of knotted sheets hanging from her window. Only a moment ago had she come down her window with the help of this genius method. She patted herself on the back and started walking away from the old victorian mansion, being careful not to pa.s.s through Aileen's yard.

As soon as she entered the forest, she could feel a sense of relief wash over her. She was finally free! The sun was still indented towards the west as it was still early hours of the day. She could hear all sorts of pleasant bird noises as she walked through the place, soaking in the feeling of the forest. Although it was her first time in the forest alone, Elize had a general sense of direction and alertness that helped her stay on track.

The fresh air and the cool wind put her in a happy mood. Smiling widely at every animal that stopped to stare at her, she reveled in the realization that she had successfully escaped from her prison of a mansion. Now her only mission was to find her mate, Elize thought as she ducked a branch that hung low.

"Hmm. Where will you be now?" She wondered aloud.

That's when she remembered that although she had lost her powers as a witch, her bond to Zack would still lead her to him. Although reaching him would be a slower process, given that as a mere human she had to walk all the way to the other end of the Island, at least she'd get to meet him finally. Her lips turned up into a bright smile at the thought.

Stopping underneath a huge willow tree, she closed her eyes, concentrating on their bond. She could feel the strong tug of the bond as soon as she did, like a taut string extending from her to Zack. She sighed in relief and opened her eyes. Feeling confidant, she started moving again once more, this time fully directed by the pull towards her mate.

It was not long until the forest started getting much thicker and the occasional ray of sunlight that pa.s.sed through the canopy could not guide her anymore. Sometime after her entering into the deep forest, she realized that she was lost. For some strange reason, she could not hear the chirps of the birds anymore nor see any animals peeking at her through the bushes. Even the occasional wild cat was visible no more.

As the creepy silence set in, her heart started wavering, along wit a sense of being stared at. Elize looked around but found no one following her. Since she could not hear any other footsteps than her own, she shook her head and kept walking. To keep her mind from wandering to conclusions, she started to hum lowly. But the way that her eyes darted towards the sides every now and then betrayed the fear in her heart.

*CRACK*

The sound of twigs cracking alerted her hyper sensitive mind. She looked towards the direction but once again found nothing.

"I must be going crazy." Elize said, rubbing her eyes.

As soon as she turned around once again, she heard a low guttural sound from the very direction. It was followed by a moan. The voice was clearly that of a man. Or was it an animal? Was she hallucinating?

"h.e.l.lo?" She called out, hoping that no one would answer.

There was no reply.

"Is anybody there?" She asked once more, raising her voice higher.

Her hands were sweating from the tension. Elize stood on tip toes and peeped towards he bushes, refusing to go close.

Once again, there was no reply.

Just as she was about to turn around, she heard a chuckle. An deep throaty animalistic chuckle. There was something familiar about it. Her eyes widened in fear as the scenes from her nightmare flashed before her eyes. She didn't have to wait long, before two red eyes gleamed from inside the darkness of the thick bushes. It's gaze was focused on her as the rest of it's body emerged from the forest. As it straightened itself before her, Elize shuddered.

Standing on its two hind legs, the creature was almost double the size of a normal werewolf. Long canines protruded from its large mouth. With pallid gray skin grotesquely stretching over its entire body, it looked exactly like the one in her dream. A strange smell emanated from it, making her want to puke. Elize's gaze traveled down its body distracted by the movement of its hands shaking. A long log like thing protruded from between its legs, standing rock hard and pointed at her. The creature's clawed hands were stroking it vigorously.

"Kill me now." She cursed under her breath.

Without hesitating for another second she tuned around and took off towards the direction that she hoped was where Zack was. He was her only hope of survival now. Hearing the large thumping sound that followed her, she knew that whatever it was, was following her. And it was closing in on her very fast.

"Gosh I hate being human!" Elize swore as she ducked a low branch of a huge tree.

Pus.h.i.+ng through the forest shrubs which was almost as tall as her, she ran as fast as she could. An earth shaking growl sounded from behind her. It seemed like the beast was p.i.s.sed off at her. It was almost behind her. Elize huffed, picking up her pace. Did the thing want her to go down without a fight?! In it's dreams! She thought grudgingly.

She felt the change in air pressure on her right side just before it happened.

"Aaaaahh!" She screamed in pain, as the creature's claws grazed the side of her shoulder.

The force of the hit was so powerful that she fell, face down on the ground. Her forehead hit a rock as pain shot up from different parts of her body. Blood oozed down the side of her head. Elize rubbed it off hastily, and leaned towards the side to get up. But it was too late. The creature's shadow fell upon where she lay injured. Just as she sensed the creature's claws diving at her once more, she rolled to the side as fast as she could.

"Roooaaaahrggghhh!" the creature roared in frustration.

Elize got up quickly without wasting time and once again started running. She could feel a strange static coming from up ahead. She was confused, but her mind cleared once again as she sensed Zack somewhere nearby.

"Zack! Zack help!" She screamed with all her might.

She ran straight ahead, cras.h.i.+ng into an invisible wall. Her body was thrown off backwards.from the impact of the force. It was a barrier. Someone had set up a barrier and she was not able to go through it. She crawled back towards it and banged at the the invisible s.h.i.+eld again and again, hoping that it would give in. Her head was hurting as her blood pressure spiked. Her breaths were coming too quick. She was feeling exhausted from all the running.

*SWOOSH*

This time, she was quick to react when the attack came from behind her. She ducked to the side just in time as the creature's claws came down on the exact same spot that she was kneeling on a few seconds ago. It screamed in frustration as its claws got stuck in mid air. Elize c.o.c.ked her head to the side in confusion as she witnessed it forcible dragging its claws down, as if trying to rip through something. Her eyes widened in surprise as she heard the crackle of the barrier breaking.

This was her chance. If she missed it, she was not going to get another one like this, Elize thought to herself. She stood up from the ground, narrowing her eyes at the humongous figure in front of her.

"You want me?" She taunted, trying to get the creature's attention.

The beast growled at her in frustration as it struggled to get its claws out.

"Fine. I give in." Elize said, putting her hands up in defeat. "If you can catch me, I'm yours."

She inched closer to the creature, maintaining enough distance between them so that the creature in its present stage could not reach her.

The creature narrowed its eyes at her and yanked at its hand forcibly. More crackling sound came from the direction of the barrier.

Elize rejoiced in her mind at the results of her actions. She moved in closer to it, in order to taunt it further.

The creature screamed in a wild frenzy as its deep red eyes stared at her with desire. Elize tried not to shrink back in reaction. She knelt down on the forest floor, faking submission. Incited by her actions, the creature yanked at its limb with brute force. With a huge crack, the s.h.i.+eld gave away as the creature lunged towards her.

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