You get a feeling when you know something is wrong, a race in your chest, a quick signal to the brain.
Either about a person or a situation, you know when something isn't right, it's a sixth sense that comes naturally. Triggering a fight or flight reaction, at times it doesn't always go our way, especially when we don't suspect anything wrong.
In this case, an unsuspecting herb witch didn't know what was ahead of her. No sixth sense was being alerted, and the only thing she was concerned about was wandering the forest for new ingredients.
Regina happily gripped her basket tight to her chest, scanning the area carefully as her nose picked up an unknown sweet scent. "Whoa, I'm not sure what that smell is, but it reminds me of both Lavender and Strawberry." She stated aloud, letting her instincts guide her.
The forest was a peaceful place, one she was grateful for because it dimmed all the noise, all the thoughts that raced through her head during the day. It was truly quiet, and no one expected anything of her here; she was just who she was.
She got to smell the flowers, pick herbs, and prepare for future potions, and sometimes she wishes she could just reside here. Disappear and let everyone forget about the healing witch who lived just outside the village. The criticism would die with her self-made legacy, and she would just become a fad like everything else had.
She smiled.
That would be the dream, wouldn't it? Simply, throwing away everything she had worked years for, just to have a better life, and even though the village didn't care, she did. Even if some people had such an ugly character, she made it a priority to be better, to try to change a world that so badly wanted to put her down.
She licked her teeth as she plucked a crimson flower from a bush, her nails nearly crushing the fragile thing as blood seeped from her deep almond skin. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down as she quickly wiped the liquid onto her dress.
"Deep breaths, Regina", she stated to herself, plucking more flowers and quickly stuffing them in her satchel. Then her nose caught a whiff of something, strong and rotten, her sapphire eyes turning to a small dead animal not too far from her, ripped to shreds.
She swallowed hard, pressing her fingers to her nose as she took a few steps closer to examine the dead creatures, noticing a small trail of blood leading further into the forest.
"What kind of heartless creature would just leave you like this?"
She cracked her knuckles and closed her eyes, "I will make sure you go to a better place, one without pain." She let an azure substance leave her fingertips and fill the entire corpse with the color, letting a snap completely evaporate the rest of the body into the thin air.
"There, that's better", she shook off any lingering pity and glanced back at the trail, "Now, let's see what caused this."
She took herself deeper into the forest, her heels sinking into the mud as she continued, but she didn't mind. The smell of fresh mushrooms and dew brought a sense of calm until a heel sank into something squishy —another body, this time bigger than before.
"What the-", she nearly tossed off her shoe as her whole body gagged, the bones of the animal exposed, along with some pulled-out intestines; it seemed worse than the previous creature.
She shivered, a sense of dread pooling in her skull as dizziness started to take over, a light heat brimming on her forehead as she clawed onto the skin of her neck. It was too much for her; she had seen the dead before, but the smell was always horrendous.
She could barely handle the body she had previously encountered, so what made her think she could handle this one? She bit down on her lip, letting the cherry-colored lipstick stain her teeth as she squatted down yet again.
Teeth marks buried in this animal's fur, big ones, with claw marks to follow, "A wolf, maybe?" She questioned, hovering a hand over yet another victim, her eyes closing yet again as this time she could see and even feel what was done to this poor forest animal.
Her eyes started to twitch, with her skin burning from the pain, making her jolt back, and just as she opened her eyes, she spotted a pair staring back at her.
She blinked back, her heartbeat accelerating as it got closer, "W-what the hell are you?"
It was bigger than she imagined, nearly matching the height of the tree as its jaw propped up a smile, flesh stuck in its teeth as the creature's claws dug into the dirt; it was ready to pounce on her.
But she didn't give it time, leaping up and taking off before it could make another move, yet it was faster. Its claws ripped into her dress, exposing her back, and she tripped over her own foot, giving it time to pin her to the ground.
Still, she wasn't going to give it time to attack, though, for she lit a fire in her hand, swiping at the creature's face, "Get the hell away from me!" She managed to scoot away, giving herself distance, sweat pooling on her body, and her mouth going dry, "D-don't come any closer!"
She felt the fire would be enough to scare it away, but instead it just made the creature more interested, "You aren't like anything I've ever seen, you're not like those filthy village people."
Its voice was deep and raspy, having a sort of echo to it, but still she didn't let the creature fool her, "Excuse me?"
It grew closer to her as she backed into a tree, "Don't come any closer to", "Relax, I was only curious, witch woman, and hungry." It looked her up and down, letting its tongue circle its mouth.
"I can see that, but like I said, I have nothing to do with that." She let her body roll around the bark of the tree as the creature approached yet again, "Maybe, yet you seem rather curious about my snacks, isn't that what led you further into the forest?"
"It would be wrong of me to leave your mess out like that, especially without a proper burial."
"Burial?" The creature laughed, "That's what the vultures are for, sweetheart, you can't stop what nature was designed to do."
At this point, the distance had closed between them, and the creature wasn't backing down. "Now that I'm close enough, will you put out that small fire so that I can show you a more suitable form?"
She narrowed her brows, "I can make this fire much bigger if you decide to get closer."
"I bet you can, but I also know you are curious as to why I didn't finish my meals instead of just eating them whole. Don't you want to hear a little tale, my curious witch?"
"Only if you give me some space, creature."
"Please, now that you've seen me up close, just call me Wolf, after all, that is what I am, aren't I?"
Wolf decided to back up a few paces and sit, giving the witch just enough space to put her at ease.
"Better?"
She nodded, but didn't put out the fire in her hand, and the Wolf tapped its foot, "Good, then listen carefully, because I'm sure you would love to hear every single word."