Chapter 1

Desiree. I sat at the window peeking out at the sea of trees in the dark night that surrounded my grandfather’s cabin. The cabin had been a safe haven for the family for years, hidden in the woods and it was so different from the city life I had known. The horns from the cats that I heard outside my room window back in the city were replaced with the serene silence with only the sounds from the forest animals. There was a rustle of breeze too, surfing through the dark night. But I couldn’t stand up to do anything as I stared at my reflection in the window. My hair was curled around my small face and sad eyes stared back at me. I didn’t remember when last I had smiled and my eyes were filled with joy because now they were empty. I had been a city girl with the naive thought that I was going to be happy forever. But fate, cruel fate, had another plan for me. If only the sudden urge to have Miss Fillipe’s chocolate cake down the street from our apartment maybe, just maybe the drunk driver wouldn’t have hit Grandpa and claimed his life. Usually, we enjoyed our Thursday night date in the sitting room, stuffing our mouths with popcorn while yelling at the movie characters in the horror film Grandpa and I enjoyed together. If we had followed our tradition then he wouldn't be gone. As I traced my fingers across the cool glass window, I felt an emptiness in my heart. It was a void that Grandpa had filled in the absence of my parents. I knew the story so well, the only words that reminded me of her. My mother. She had been pregnant with me without knowing who my father was and immediately after I was born she had abandoned me at Grandpa’s doorstep running away without me. At that time, Grandpa had lost Grandma and we both had a void in our hearts that we filled each other. He had been there from my first crawl, I’ve seen the videos of him cheering me as I crawled across the living room. Soon crawling evolved to walking and then I started to mumble incoherent words. Grandpa had been there when I made my first perfect sentence and when I finally stepped into adulthood. That night of pain that led to womanhood preparing my body for reproduction. My first kiss and my first heartbreak where he threatened to kill Daniel for cheating on me. I remember crying at home that night. As I traced my fingers on the cold glass a sad smile filled my face as the memories of years ago filled my mind. I remember looking through the crowd of people for Grandpa’s familiar white head on the days of my graduation and his loud voice cheering me as I walked down the stage gave away his location. It was Desiree and Grandpa against the world. Now I was all alone. Unable to stay any longer in our house in the city I had relocated to healing my scars in the cabin. I had detached from everyone after the burial banishing myself to the lonely wood house to live out the rest of my years in guilt and misery. It was all my fault, I thought as I buried my head between my knees and let out a silent sob. “It’s all your fault,” I whispered to myself as my heart ached. The pain was overwhelming as I yearned for Grandpa’s laughter, hugs and words of wisdom. A noise startled me and I froze, looking around the house for a sign of anything else living. Then a movement in the woods had me snapping my head to the side, gazing out at the night. It was so dark I could barely make out anything as I saw movement again ruffling the leaves. I sat up and wiped the tears from my eyes before squinting in the direction of the noise. It was probably a squirrel or my imagination playing tricks on me because I was sad and away from human communities. I saw nothing at first then I saw a tail. Intrigued, I rose to my feet rushing to flicker the lights on the balcony as I grabbed my coat and headed outside. Cold air ruffled my hair hitting my cheeks as I shivered and clung harder to my coat. I closed the door behind me as I looked around the dark woods in the direction I had seen the movements. My eyes traveled through the trees, not finding anything in plain sight. There was a sudden silence in the woods and I felt a chill run down my spine as if I was being watched. The sound of animals and insects in the woods had stopped but then a sudden sound of branch breaking filled the air. My heart froze on my chest when I looked to the left to see a pair of bright golden eyes looking at me. My heart felt icy, dropping to my stomach as fear clawed up my spine. I couldn’t make out the animal but my first guess was a coyote, it wasn’t unheard of to see them in the woods and I stepped backward, only to hear another branch breaking. Another pair of eyes emerged from the darkness, pinned on me like I was prey ready to be eaten. Then another and I felt a scream rise up my throat. Three pairs of eyes! Only a small squeal escaped my lips as I watched those eyes glow in my direction. Would they attack? I scrambled my mind for where I had kept my phone so I could run back to get it. But surprisingly, the animals stayed where they were, only watching me eerily. It was like they were staring into my soul, trying to understand the person I was. And if I wasn’t being delusional, a part of me felt a sudden calm, like a voice telling me they weren’t dangerous. An owl flew in the air and I turned my head to the distraction as it hooted above my head before vanishing into the woods. I looked back at the animals but the eyes were gone and the noise of the woods returned. I let out a shaky breath. I looked around, turning to see if I could find those eerie eyes staring back at me but finding nothing. The fear dissolved and I breathed a sigh of relief, my palm resting on top of my chest as if to calm my racing heart. Giving one last look at the woods, I turned and headed back inside the house. Closing the door behind me, a wave of heat filled me and I went to the fireplace, adding more wood to it as the fire ate it up burning brighter. I found myself yawning as I went to my room and prepared myself to sleep. The cabin was built to hold no more than three people. It had three bedrooms and a sitting room. After checking the doors were locked, I headed down the hallway to my room and closed the door behind me. My room was cozy and I felt a familiar sense of comfort. I had a small bookshelf by the left with my bed at the far end of the wall with an overhead window. I had dug out some old pictures of me and Grandpa which now lay discarded on my study table. I took the old knitted blanket from my drawer and turned off the light before climbing into my bed. I turned to the window as the moon illuminated the room, but a wave of fear rushed through me as I closed the curtains leaving the room completely dark. As I closed my eyes to sleep, I couldn’t help but think about the pair of eyes I had seen in the woods. It was like I was being studied and why they hadn’t attacked me, I didn’t know. There was a surreal feeling I got from them and I wondered if my grief was making me crazy. A thousand questions burned at the back of my mind but I ignored them leaving me with only one thought: Why had those eyes felt so human?