Chapter 4 THE SHADOWS WITHIN

Ophelia ran deeper into the forest,her legs were running like they had a mind of their own,her palms were sweaty and she could hear her heart pounding erratically in her chest.

Her legs were starting to feel heavy and weak,but she couldn't bring herself to stop for the tiniest second until she was safe.

She had escaped the eyes in the dark,but she knew she couldn't keep running forever. Her chest felt suffocated and her legs were extremely sore due to the pressure she exerted on them. She peered into the dark again and didn't feel anyone looking back at her this time around.

The trees seemed to close in around her and it spooked her to look at their branches. The branches felt like skeletal fingers reaching out to snatch her.

She looked forward and enhanced her eyesight and she could make out what seemed like a broken cabin. Apologising to her legs once more,she started walking towards the cabin and she was disappointed by the state of the cabin when she got there.

It was an old, dilapidated cabin that had this pungent smell and it was just in the centre of a clearing. It had a musty smell,and the floors were creaking so bad like they could cave in at any moment.

The first thing she noticed was the symbols and strange artefacts in the cabin. And some of the articles looked really familiar and it was strange to her because she had never been here before.

"Were they related to my past?" Ophelia mumbled

She picked up another scent,but she wasn't quite sure of what it was. Her safety was her priority,so she burst through the creaky door and slammed it shut behind her,leaning against the door to catch her breath and wipe the sweat on her forehead away..

She picked up that scent again,but this time around,she knew what the scent meant. He was here,her eyes darted around wildly,scanning for an object to use as a weapon. Ryker was here,in this same space with her.. Ryker,her mate, emerged from the darkness,his eyes cold and calculating.

She could see the pure hatred and evil he had in his eyes for her and she wondered where she ever went wrong to deserve that level of hatred being directed at her from someone she once loved.

Ophelia's instincts screamed at her to be wary,but she tried to avoid it from showing on her face. The last thing she wanted was for him to notice she was different from before,weak and pathetic.

"What are you doing here,Ryker?" She asked,trying to sound calm.

"Ohhh,you finally decided to grace us with your presence" Ryker replied, staring at her.

She knew how tough he loved to act,but she could still see the desire for blood in his eyes and although he tried to mask it,she could feel his hesitation and confusion on how she managed to come back to life.

"I sensed your presence,your energy and I knew you'd come back. Plus, I've been tracking you,Ophelia" he said again,his voice low and menacing. It didn't echo or make her shiver like Kieran's own,it felt...

Wait,why was she thinking about Kieran when she was about to be killed the 2nd time by this scoundrel?

Ophelia's eyes turned into slits and she stared at him intently. "How did you know I was alive,Ryker?"

Ryker smiled,a devilish,sly,knowing smile. His lips curled and she wondered how he managed to smile with his thin lips in a straight line. "Let's just say I have my ways. And Astrid here has been helping me keep an eye on you" he

replied.

The uncomfortable feeling was back and if she wasn't extremely scared before,she was now. How was she going to defeat the two people who murdered her when she was stronger than now?

She searched around for any sharp object or a weapon. Anything to use as a defence tool.

She heard her voice before she came out and her stomach dropped. Astrid,her supposed best friend emerged from the shadows,her eyes gleaming with an otherworldly intensity.

"We've been waiting for you, my dearest Ophelia.. We knew you'd come back, and we're not about to let you ruin everything we worked hard for." Astrid replied in her stupid sing-song voice.

Ophelia's legs twitched, urging her to flee,but her body betrayed her,too weak to move,her legs just stayed rooted to the spot. Ryker and Astrid moved closer,with a sinister and deadly smile,their eyes gleaming with an eerie intensity.

They stared at her like they were taunting her to make a move,almost like her scent gave out how weak she was..

"You see, Ophelia," Ryker began,his voice laced with malice,"we've been searching for you for a long time. We can't let you ruin our plans of everything we've created"

Astrid nodded, her silver hair shimmering in the dim light. She nodded like she was just a weak puppet, but Ophelia knew how evil ran through her veins. She was the mastermind of her murder.

Meanwhile,her mind races with questions as she tries to understand what they were talking about. What plans? Why did everyone keep on harping about this power of hers?

She debated if she could try outsmarting them or putting a misunderstanding between them. This was a dangerous game she was about to play,but she was ready to risk it all.

In the corner of her eyes,she saw it. She didn't actually see it. It called her. Buried under a pile of wood,she saw a sword. She was weak already and her powers were not the same as before,but there was no harm in trying.

It would be worse if she did nothing,and just sat back and watched herself get killed again by these two idiots.

She was only sure of one thing, and that was, Ryker and Astrid had killed her, and now they were back to finish what they started..