Whichever Comes First..

My hands are rigid as my breath evaporates to freezing vapors. Pulling the paper-thin sweater closer to my skin, I slowly look around to get a clear vision.

Where am I? Where is the rest of them?

The blizzard was not predicted by the forecast and it dragged me away from the school and pushed me towards the frozen woods. The fog sunk in and enveloped me in its freezing blanket, penetrating through my bones. My hair has become a tangled dripping wet mess of seaweed and my chapped lips have split open into cuts.

My legs seemed numb from screaming in the cold. And my head was pounding dully like a slow drum of warning. But what was there to hurt me? I was all alone, with a voice too fatigued to even whisper. As if I'll get any help.

Sigh...

I need a break.

Dragging my body up against a dying tree trunk, my legs gave away as I spilled myself onto the cold metal like ground. Curling into a softball, I waited for death to begin its process on me. Or for life if it decided that I need a second chance anyway. Whichever comes first...

Snap!

My head tried jerking up at the sudden sound. Was it a twig? Maybe a small bird prodded the hard floor. This is the woods after all-

Crunch!!

My hands scrambled up to lift my numb body up on its feet. Something's coming. And it's definitely not prodding.

Grabbing the tree trunk behind me, I tried to think. Which was a hard thing to do since my brain felt like mushed up ice cream

Maybe it's a person from the school. Maybe it's one of my friends? Dara? Yeah. Yeah!! Dara. She has heavy footsteps, right? Maybe it's one of the teachers looking for me. Maybe it's a harmless rabbit. Maybe it's another animal-

-hunting for a rabbit...?

I heard the soft thuds behind me. Behind the tree. Then a low whooshing sound, like a wind. No. No that's not a wind. Or a breeze. That's someone's breath. Someone is panting behind me.

Those thuds...

They were footsteps.

My labored breath caught in my throat. My mouth clogged itself shut from fear. But my uncomprehending head decided to turn around and see who my visitor is. I look. There's no one. No footprints. And no one breathing. Did I imagine that?

I looked back to the front and was met by glassy white-blue eyes.

I tried to scream but my heart was halfway lodged up in my throat so I could only do a gurgling sound. The dead eyes stared at me with furrowed hairy eyebrows. And hairy nose. Snout. Curled up dry lips. Yellow teeth. No, Fangs. It didn't drool with saliva. The shiny black fur gleamed in the gloomy moon but not with life. That's not a panting wolf. It was as dead as a doornail

But I then realized. My heart started beating in my throat. Wolves are not tall. They don't have two feet. They don't have their shoulders covered with fur and legs covered in leather. They don't have human hands-

The black fur coat dropped into the ground, revealing his face. Him. His black hair, falling above his eyes, some locks tangled into a bun. His smokey grey eyes staring at me with no remorse. His red scar visible on his thin lips.

My trembling eyes took in his wear. A black traditional coat. Like a samurai. Tight black pants. And knee-length leather boots. Dark as midnight. He had several letters etched on his thin fingers. I couldn't take in his handsome looks. Only his nightmarish features filtered through my eyes.

His expression didn't twitch. I tried to get away from this creature. My feet started scooting backward. Until an icy hand gripped my ankle

This time, I screamed. Almost a whimper choked out instead.

His fingers on my ankle now had a silver blade encircling it. Letting go of me, he twirled it around his hand. As quick as lightning, he pressed it against my throat.

"Let the process begin" he whispered as he slit my throat into a bright red smile...