Fangs of Deception

Chapter 1

As the night temperatures only seemed to drop further, Kaelyn rubbed her hands along her arms faster than before to generate some warmth. She had just arrived in a town called Old Gravestone after walking with her bare feet for several days and the cracks on her heels were almost bleeding from the cold.

She had no shelter, no food and no proper clothing to protect her from the cold wind that hit against her skin like icy needles. It was far from being a new experience, for she had lived on the streets for the past three years. For over a year, she had worn the same dress she had found at a dumping site. It was so worn out that the sleeves were almost falling off.

As she stood in the middle of the empty road, which was surrounded by dense forests on both sides, the wind whooshed across her face and she wrapped her arms around herself drawing in a long and loud breath. It was more than she could take, for that particular town had the lowest temperature among all she had been to. Unfortunately for her, it was too late to return to where she had come from.

With no one else in sight along the dark road and nothing ahead of it, she took shelter in the forest but the temperature was only worse there. She still decided to stop for the night and climbed up a tree, her flexibility working to her advantage.

As her feet dangled, she looked around as though she could see all around her, but it was all too dark in the dense forest.

Not knowing what next for her, she brought her feet on the branch and knees close to her chest, slouching as she grew tired of her endless suffering and no one seemed to care. She had come to accept that for the rest of her life, she might be treated that way, even in Old Gravestone.

When the frigid gusts cut through her clothes, chilling her to the bone, she flinched, almost falling out of the tree but held onto the bark with a scream.

Just to feel the slightest bit of warmth, she once again rubbed her hands along her arms with eyes shut, but unlike other times, it barely did anything for her.

Realizing it was a mistake to step foot in Old Gravestone and she might freeze to death in that dense forest, she burst into tears as she thought about how she could live in such harsh conditions for the rest of her life.

She then dropped her head to the side and it ended up near her armpit. The moment she sniffled while still in tears, she instantly threw her head to the other side with an expression of disgust.

It had been so long that she had no memory of the last time she took a bath. The only time she had ever experienced the feeling of water on her skin was every time it rained, which had not happened for the past few months.

Her armpit odor was so unpleasant that she could no longer cry so she wiped her tears and ran her thumb lightly along her arm to comfort herself, her skin rough and darkened from the dirt build up. Her chapped lips also got worse every time she licked them and that particular weather only made it worse.

When she remembered how easy her life was when she still had her family, she wished she could go back in time. If only she could return, it would have all been all alright, but there was nothing left for her in her hometown so she had no choice but to survive on her own.

When another gust of cold wind hit her skin, she shivered uncontrollably as she rubbed her arms again. She soon realized it wasn't the best idea to enter the forest to feel warmer.

Not wanting to freeze to death upon her arrival in Old Gravestone, she held onto the bark of the tree as she made her way down but slipped and grazed her knee, the pain only making her groan slightly as it wasn't the first time she had such an experience.

With her bare feet now on the ground, she limped on the first few steps because of her grazed knee but soon shook it off as her goal was to go further in hopes of finding even an abandoned building in its worst state. She felt she would still be grateful to have some shelter for the night.