The Reincarnated Queen

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.

The taxi driver had looked at her like she had lost her mind when she told him to stop right beside the forest. After she alighted, he had sped off like his life depended on it barely taking his fees.

"Damn Damien Graves! You can do this Carla." She inhaled with her eyes closed before turning to look at the scattered yet thick stemmed trees sprouted in different parts.

Where was she to start from? There was no person she could ask or investigate, nobody lived around the forest.

"You can do this Carla." Her lips stretched nervously and she patted her cheek before taking a step in.

Her heart was drumming in her ears, she could feel her throat go dry the further she walked into the forest.

She considered humming and she hummed only to feel it echo through the forest, it made her feel there were a thousand other people humming along with her.

"Okay Carla, that was a bad idea." She whispered, her eyes were moving around to capture every little thing with the possibility of moving.

She walked silently with her back bent when it started to get dim.

'I have gone crazy.' She thought to herself. How was she supposed to find a clue in such a vast forest?

Reaching out for her purse, she took out a flashlight and pointed it ahead to watch where she was going only to hear a snap.

Pausing and staying painfully still, she had her eyes widen while her pupils moved about furiously, she was beginning to sweat. After pausing without any sound, she slowly looked down to see her leg on a dry branch.

Breathing in relief, her legs almost gave way to have her collapse on the floor but she held still and continued, this time more cautiously.

"Carla." It was a whisper that sounded just like her.

"You must be hallucinating now Carla." She told herself in the same whisper, her back was drenched in sweat, she was trembling and the torch had almost fallen off her shaky hand.

"Carla..." The whisper drawled.

"It's just in your head Carla, it's your fear acting up." She encouraged and moved faster, her breath loud in her ears.

"Carlaaaa..." It drawled again but this time it increased in pitch and it felt nearer to her ear.

This time, she shook and her torchlight fell off her hand, rolling without stopping as if pushed by some kind of force far away from her.

"No... no..." She heaved and went after it only to stop at the sound of running feet.

She got crippled by fear that she fell on her knees, her eyes darted from one side to the other hoping to catch whatever had been running around.

Holding her purse tightly to her chest, she had tears lingering at the corner of her eyes. Was this how she would die? What about her daughter?

"Oh sweet Anna." She cried out but this time, not in a whisper and hearing the melodious "mummy!" In her head, she gathered herself up and started walking briskly without any sense of direction, all she wanted to do was get out.

"No!" It was a male voice, it was deep and rough.

This time, she didn't need an internal motivation to start running and she did. She ran like her life depended on it without looking and without checking where next her foot would touch.

"Get back!" The deep voice called again but it only increased her pace and soon, she found herself tripping over a fallen thick branch, the sound of her cloth being ripped went loud in her ear before she tumbled on the uneven floor of the forest.

"You never listen." The voice was close and this time, she prepared her mind for whatever was coming.

'I love you Anna.' She had repeatedly sang in her head, her eyes shut tightly to avoid anticipating what was coming.

"You shouldn't be here." The voice sounded tired and she frowned before opening one eye to look.

When she met with intense red orbs, she stifled a scream and shut her eyes again.

"I must have been too tired and exhausted from today's activity. It's just a hallucination Carla." She said slowly while still on the floor.

To Rhys, she looked ridiculous.

"Really?" He asked her, running his hand through his already wild jet black hair.

When she opened her eyes to see him still standing above her head and staring down at her, she immediately found herself up and ready to do anything to protect her life.

"You shouldn't have come." He continued with a voice that sounded sad as his fierce red eyes stared into her green determined yet frightened eyes.

"Now, you really have to stay away." He moved towards her and she moved back without looking at where she was stepping into.

"You have to leave." His face became menacing, his eyes narrowed and his jaw locked tightly making his face look even more dangerous.

"You have to RUN!" He growled and moved forward to have her move back with immediate effect only to feel the ground slip from beneath her and find herself falling without stopping into darkness while the red eyed man only stood tall, staring at her with his hand tucked in the pocket of his leather jacket.

"Hey?" There was a solid tap on the table, invading Carla's subconscious.

"Wake up." It sounded like the voice she had always heard repeating in her dreams the first three months of her pregnancy.

"Damien?" She mumbled sleepily, her lashes fluttering only to open to the sudden closeness of his face.

"Heavens!" She yelled and jerked back.

"Carla?" He called her name, before inviting himself to sit on her desk without permission, his brows arched so high up so that she felt it would touch his hairline.

She squinted at him, her head was banging so bad and for a long while, she felt confused. It was dark already and she was still in the office.

She turned to look at the figure in front of her and squinted further. She remembered seeing him on her way out of the office but her headache intensified after that and she went blank.

"Everybody's gone but you're still here." He stated the obvious and she glared at him.

"You know me?" She struggled to look up at his cocky face and when he made the throaty laugh from his chest, she felt aware and ashamed.

"Don't be a fool Carla." The way her name rolled off in his tongue sent tingles to her core, he took his time calling her name and stressing on the 'r' and 'l' sound.

He stood, straightened his black suit and offered her his hand.

"Let's get you home. It's dark and dangerous out here." He told her, his blue eyes observing her movements.

Looking at his outstretched hand before straining her neck to look at his face, she wondered why he was present at her workplace and what his mission was.

"Did you follow me here?" She tried to sound bold, ignoring the growing bang in her head.

When he tipped his head back and laughed again, his shoulder shaking with him, she felt her anger boil and reached its limit.

Standing up suddenly and without warning, Carla felt the cubicle reel around her, she staggered only to be held by the warm hands of Damien.

"Get your filthy hands off me." She blurted and glared hard at him, her red confused eyes flashing with hatred.

"Careful now woman."

"Fuck off." She hissed and he smiled at her instead before licking the corner of his lips and tipping his head to the side, his blue eyes trained on her.

"Tomorrow, you would wish you never said this to me." There was some atom of amusement in his voice.

Without warning, he stepped close, wrapped his hand around her waist to keep her still before sniffing her.

"You smell ..." He paused before wrinkling his nose.

"Strange." He completed, putting his index finger beneath her chin to lift her face to his.

Carla's breath was loud and harboured, her eyes had a film of unshed tears from boxed in anger.

"Who was the guy from earlier?" He whispered in her ear sending tingles down Carla's spine, the warning bells going off in her head instantly.

She paused and thought.

"Guy? What guy?" She asked, her brows brought together in confusion, her eyes blinking more than usual as if trying to remember what he was talking about.

"Don't fool with me Carla. Who is he?" Damien pressed, pushing her against her desk and pressing for answers.

"What he?" She retorted, not understanding what he meant and what was going on about.

She felt his hands squeeze her butt and she straightened. Without thinking, her hand moved on its own and landed loudly on his cheek.

Time seemed to stop for the two of them. Carla's red wide eyes staring at him as if daring him to do something while Damien's blue eyes stared back in shock as if unable to believe she would do something that bad.

"I don't know why you are here in The Newsday Newspaper Company, but don't think you can take me for the fool I was right years ago Damien Graves." She spat shakily at his face before walking out.

Stopping before she could reach the door, she headed back for her purse and without a pause, she walked out of the editorial department into the elevator and out of the building without pausing for one second to think.

"What time is it?" She looked at the dark sky with stars scattering in the sky.

"Oh Anna." She gasped at the thought of her daughter and panicked.

Reaching to her pause for her phone, the blare of a horn a few inches away from her made her jerk and her heart skip.

Looking up towards the sound of the horn to see Damien in the driver's seat, her nose flared and she turned away to continue her search for her phone.

When he would not stop blaring the horn at her, she stomped off with her heart beating painfully against her ribcage.

"Is he here for my daughter?" She questioned and at that, she whipped her head back to see that his car had stopped following her.

Breathing in relief, she made to walk even faster and further away from him when she felt a tap at her right shoulder.

"Holla?" He smirked when she turned back in response to the tap.

Not giving her the time to react to her shock, he bent a little and carried her over his shoulder.

"Put me down Damien!" She yelled, hitting his back with both hands.

"I would be kind if you stay still, Carla." He warned.

"It has been eight years Damien. Eight years and you have no right over me! Not ever!" She yelled, her voice breaking as she struggled to break herself free from his hold.

"You think so?" His voice came to her in distant muffled because of her struggle.

"I know so, now put me down." She ordered, hitting him even harder but he only tightened his hold on her and kept advancing towards his car.

"Stay still Carla." He ordered and smacked her butt making her face redden in embarrassment and in anger.

"Still soft." He groaned and took to rubbing her butt cheek till she found herself dumped in the empty seat besides the driver's seat.

This time, she was too angry to talk. She knew he wouldn't bulge so she let him have his way.

Drawing his face closer to hers, he looked at her finely shaped face before holding a strand of her hair in-between his index and thumb.

"You cut it?" He asked and eyed him in defiance hoping to get to him but he only chuckled before whispering the word, "Mine" in her ears, his extremely deep and throaty voice making her legs clenched subconsciously.