Chapter 1 Stay Away From the Darkwood Forest

She was almost about to hit her head on the glass wall of her cubicle when a tap on it jolted her awake. Her eyes blinked rapidly giving way to sleepy green eyes laced with boredom.

"You really are jobless eh?" It was Ellie, her colleague at the Newday Newspaper company.

"What?" Carla rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn not ready to banter words with Ellie.

"Vanessa Carter wants you in her office." Ellie eyed her with contempt before leaving.

"I'd be there in 2 minutes." She called after Ellie only to see her pause and turn to look at her like she had lost her mind.

"Madam Vanessa Carter wants you in her office this instant." Ellie stated with a tone of finality and Carla felt the eyes of a few people stare at her from their different cubicles.

"Coming!" She called back, mumbling a few curses beneath her breath and hurriedly gathering her note and pen.

Anna, her 7 year old daughter, had been a pain in the ass last night, forcing her to read out a bedtime story over and again till she found herself dozing repeatedly while Anna just stared at her with her non sleepy, repeatedly blinking eyes.

Peeking her head through the half open door of the Editor-in-chief, she almost recoiled when she met the stern gaze of Madame Vanessa Carter's green eyes behind her glasses.

"Come in." Vanessa's eyes followed her movement till she felt herself about to trip on her own foot.

"There have been strange disappearances close to the Darkwood Forest..." Vanessa started, looking down on the open book before her like she was reading from it.

"In the Darkwood Forest." Carla found herself correcting, her palms were beginning to get sweaty.

Vennessa looked up at her for a second, her glasses resting perfectly on her straight nose which looked just as strict as the owner.

"It's a good thing you follow the recent events." She gave a small smile that hardly qualified for a smile.

"As a jobless reporter, I am officially assigning you to take up the investigation of these disappearances starting with the most recent, report back to office as soon as possible." Carla stood still, her eyes only focusing on Vanessa's moving lips, the words coming out slowly to hit her ear with a force that made her heart tumble down to her stomach.

"Leave." Vanessa's stern and forceful voice jolted her and drove her out of the office in an instant.

Punching the air in frustration, Carla tugged at her hair and almost broke down in tears.

Who doesn't know about the frightening and mysterious Darkwood Forest?

Now, she was assigned to make an investigation on strange disappearances alone! Without a partner!

Back at her cubicle, with her hair now scattered like she had a bird nestle on it, she punched on the buttons of the telephone with anger, her jaws ticking and her eyes frosty.

"Hello?" The male voice rang into her ear on picking the call.

"Is this the Portlag Police Station?" She asked tiredly.

"Yes, any report?"

"This is the Newday Newspaper company and I am Reporter Carla Bennett, officially assigned to investigate the missing cases in the – in the Darkwood Forest." She stated, unsure of what to say next or what to expect.

It had never been this hard, she had never been told to take on an extremely serious case before and suddenly, it's the mysterious and fearsome Darkwood Forest!

There was a bit of silence over the other side, then a shuffle before a grunt voice of a man came on the line.

"Hello?" He sounded like an old man who had done a lot of smoking.

"Hello?" She tried to compose herself and not let her anxiety show.

"This is the Deputy Chief and I would advise you, for your good and the good of your company. Stay away from the Darkwood Forest and anything that has to do with it." He went straight to the point and the phone went dead.

"Hello? Wait...I...hello?" She stared at the jutted part of the telephone and shut her eyes tightly with her lips pressed into a thin line.

Standing up with a new determination, she walked back to Madam Vennessa's office to give the report of what the police had said.

"And how are we supposed to cover the cases if we don't take risks?" Vanessa had asked her instead with a chilling gaze that cooled Carla's blood.

"Take up the case and let's have something to feed the masses with or submit your resignation letter, it's up to you." Vennessa said casually and Carla was left standing in a daze till she found herself back to her cubicle, sagging against her backrest and wanting to cry her frustration out.

Taking her phone from her clustered bag, she sent a text to her best friend, Beatrice.

You: Holla! Caught up with work again. Could you help take Anna from school again today?

Beatrice: Sure!

You: Thanks.

With that, Carla gathered up her things and made an exit from the Editorial department, taking an elevator to the last floor.

On getting to the last floor, she checked her watch to find out it was three minutes to three, she needed to hurry if she was to get to the forest so she could round up on time.

Nodding her greetings to the receptionist and not looking, she took off in a near sprint only to bump into an iron like surface and felt soft yet firm hands stopping her from falling.

"Ouch!" She rubbed her forehead before frowning.

"Watch where you are..." The words died off mid way as she looked up to the person she bumped into only to see the familiar face of the man from eight years ago.

Her eyes widened, her breath hastened and when he frowned, she felt the immediate urge to punch his face.

"Are you alright?" He asked cocking his head to the side, he didn't look concerned at all.

Realizing she was still in his grasp, she struggled out of his hold and ran out of the building, with her heart thumping in her chest.

"What is Damien Graves doing at The Newday Newspaper?" She asked herself when she paused outside the company to look back at the entrance of the building.

"He didn't seem to recognize me." She muttered in a shaky voice, the realization hitting her hard and creating a film of tears on her eyes that she angrily wiped away before halting a taxi.