Skin prickling, a shiver ran down my spine. My thin pink nightdress clung to me, damp in the thick, cold, moist air. The sweet, sickly odour of rotting wood and leaves mixed with wet earth filled my nostrils, turning my stomach. A soft, wet carpet of mud and moss oozed between my toes.

  All around me, trees, their trunks, corrupt, and gnarled, twisting into grotesque shapes, towering oppressively, reaching up over my head, up towards the black darkness above. Branches tangling and intertwining to form an impenetrable canopy.

  Pulse racing, eyes darting around nervously as the scene seemed to twist and change in front of me. Trees shifted, changed shape. One minute bent and deformed, the next tall and straight but always threatening, always watching.

  My hand tightened around Astrid, pulling her into my chest for comfort. Her yellow woollen hair, soft and familiar against the underside of my chin. Astrid. My childhood doll, I hadn’t seen her in years but of course she was here, Astrid went everywhere with me.

  Astrid’s pink, round face looked up to me, her bright painted smile raising a flicker of warmth in my chest. The vibrant green of her dress, a striking contrast to the grey, colourless surroundings. Knitted for me on the day I had been born, a gift from Grandmother. I clutched her close, a faint smell of lavender bringing back memories of my grandparents, a fragile comfort against the chilling, supernatural gloom of the forest.

  A rustle! A snapping twig! My ears strained, eyes darted wildly, left and right, scanning the dense undergrowth for any sign of movement.

  He was out there, he was coming, I could feel him.

  Unseen eyes burned holes in my flesh, my bare feet shifted nervously on the loose, soggy ground.

  Run! Run! The voice inside my head shouted at me. But run to where? He was everywhere, he was all around me.

  My breath, a ragged panting, misting the air in front of me was the only sound in that otherwise deafening silence. No wind or bird song, nothing but silence existed in that unearthly place.

  My breath held in my throat, a crack barely audible behind me. My ears strained. Again, I heard it, unmistakable this time.

  He was coming!

  The icy hand of fear gripped my heart, my muscles tensing, springing me forward, forward towards that thick, foreboding wall of trees. Feet squelching as I charged through the slick mud.

  Sharp pain stung me, the tangle of bush and bramble thorn bit at me, ripped into my skin, snagging, tearing the fabric of my nightdress. The pain of the thorns I could cope with, that pain was infinitely more tolerable than the pain that I’d have to endure if he caught me.

  Eyes frantic, left, right, desperately seeking somewhere to hide, somewhere that would be safe from him. Anywhere.

  A flicker of white, a movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Spinning around, my breath catching. An apparition, white, pale and luminous glided serenely towards me. A woman. Her form translucent, shimmering with an otherworldly light drifted past me serenely. She looked silently at me as she did so. Her face would once have been something of beauty but now was etched with the deep lines of pain and sorrow. A single tear ran down her cheek as our eyes met, an almost imperceptible quivering of her lower lip. Floating on past me, with an ethereal grace she dissolved into the smothering shadows of the forest.

  I watched her form fade from view. For a moment I was mesmerised by her ghostly grace but the sound of his approach snapped me back to the present. He was still out there, still coming for me. The thought spurring me forward, plunging me into the trees and away from the sounds of his advance.

  The dense thicket gave way, opening out into a clearing, the canopy above opening to the sky. A sky of shifting, swirling colours. An unnatural glow, not the beautiful dance of the Aurora but a twisted spectacle. Ribbons of blood red, tangling and twisting around tendrils of sickly green. Slithering, writhing like serpents across the night sky in a nauseating display. The celestial lights, casting long shadows into the clearing before me.

  My stomach fluttered in excitement as I glanced out into that clearing. In its centre lay a giant oak tree, green with moss and speckled with fungi and lichen.

  A hiding place.

  Bare feet sliding on the slippery ground, I ran towards that fallen tree, a new hope rose inside me. Beneath its great mass I could see a dark hollow beckoning me in, a safe haven.

  Mud, slick and wet on my skin, soaking, fouled my nightdress as I pulled myself down, wriggling, slithering beneath the remains of that hulking tree. Astrid, I tucked safely under me. My eyes squeezed shut. Don’t find me. Please don’t’ find me.

  A sound, a distinctive sound. He was close. He was coming. Dead leaves rustling underfoot, it was unmistakable now. Breath holding in my lungs, muscles frozen solid. Every part of me still, every part of me silent. I knew only too well that any sound now would give me away. He’d find me.

  Eyes opening just a crack, I dared to peek out from under that tree. He was there, I could see him now.

  The Shadow Beast.

  A dark, misty figure. Eyes bright red, two glowing coals set in that featureless face of black shadow.

  Sharp and acrid, the smell of him filled my senses. A smell all too familiar, threatening to overwhelm me.

  I barely dared to watch him from my fragile sanctuary beneath that tree.

  His glowing red gaze scanning, searching for me, sweeping that clearing, left, right. The steady, monotonous sound of him moving, pacing.

  “Heidi… come Heidi”, a slow, rasping whisper rising from the bottomless void of his misty form.

  Around and around the clearing I watched him. Slowly swaying back and forth as he shambled, circling. Softly repeating my name.

  He knew I was there, he could smell me.

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  The scene constantly changing, shifting before my eyes. In one moment I was surrounded by a thick, dense forest. In the next the trees would fade to reveal a darkened room, grey and featureless before swirling and again, transporting me back, surrounded once again by those dark, twisted trees.

  The Shadow Beast never changed, he was always there. His chilling presence constantly shuffling, stumbling, round and round. “Heidi, come to me”, his voice like a viper’s hiss.

  Oozing, squelching around me, I pressed myself down further into that rancid mud, squeezed myself tighter beneath that tree, trying to conceal myself further.

  “Come Heidi, be a good girl” the dry, rustling whisper continuing to beckon me, trying to lure me out to where I knew he would strike, strike as he had done so many times before.

  The cold chill seeping through the thin fabric of my nightdress, soaking me. Thick, claggy mud stuck to my legs, arms and face. It matted my hair, clinging to me, plastering my scalp.

  “Please don’t find me, please don’t see me”, a small voice, a child’s voice whispered over and over in my head.

  Breath holding in my throat, burning in my lungs for as long as I could bear it. My chest ready to explode, I gradually exhaled, slowly, silently. Fear clenched every part of my being. Silence. Any sound, the softest murmur and I knew he’d find me.

  The great fallen oak above me, like some magical tree creature, an ancient guardian, leaning over me protectively. Branches, green with moss and hung with vines. Giant arms surrounding, shielding, cradling me, concealing me from the evil that stalked just meters away.

  A soft hiss seemed to escape the bark of that tree, “shhhhhh” it seemed to whisper, “sssssafe”.

  The shuffling rustle of the Shadow Beast’s movement began to fade. I saw him, as I dared peek out from underneath that fallen trunk, watched as his black, wispy form moved away, melting into the dim gloom of the forest around me. Into those surreal trees, twisting, changing before my eyes.

  Gone for now.

  Cool, sweet air filled my lungs. Sucking my breath in deeply I allowed myself to start breathing, a luxury I’d been denying myself, fearing any sound, any sound that could give me away.

  Quivering and shaking, I lay there, in the mud and leaves, in the protective embrace of the tree. Long minutes passed, how many I couldn’t tell you, until I was sure that the Beast had gone, sure that I was safe. Safe for now at least.

  I slithered out from under that tree, mud coating me. My arms, legs were caked in that black filth, my nightdress, stained and torn, dragged through the dirt. Twigs and leaves tangled and pulled in my hair.

  I groped in the hollow, desperate to find Astrid. Finger tips brushing the soft wool of the doll, I snatched at her, grabbed and pulling her out, pulling her close to me for comfort.

  My eyes, wide, scanning the trees, alert to any sign of movement. Ears straining, aching in the unearthly silence which enveloped this place, straining for any sound. Anything that could indicate his return.

  Just silence and stillness. He had left to find another prey.

  Turning I found the fallen trunk gone. Only moments before, where a rotting tree had lain now stood a strong oak tree, branches reaching out above me.

  All around were the constantly shifting shapes. The birch and aspen, twisted, bent and deformed. Tall pine trees, withered, their needles brown, their branches drooping. From deep within those corrupt branches where eyes, hundreds of eyes, flicking red, watching me. Always watching.

  Yet, surrounded by all that darkness and despair stood a strong, noble oak. The pattern of the bark seemed to form the features of a face. Eyes closed peacefully, Mouth carving a wide, welcoming smile.

  The vison of that tree caused something to stir, a flicker of a recollection just out of reach. There was something familiar about that oak tree, I had seen it before, I was sure of it.

  It wasn’t until a number of years later, when I was going through some of my old sketch books that I realised why it had seemed so familiar. There, in that book I found an old pencil drawing of a mighty treeman standing protectively over a frightened fairy.

  With a jolt something grabbed my ankle, an icy hand gripped me, fingers chilling me to the bone.

  I spun around shaking my head, trees shifting, spinning before me. I was no longer in the forest but stood at the edge of a large lake, ankle deep in its water. Overhead the sky, still that myriad of snaking, seething colours, contorting in their ethereal performance. The water shimmered silver, no reflection of the skies above. A grey mist hanging low over its surface like a ghostly blanket swirling around me.

  Beyond the banks of the lake, the land lay dark, a blackness deeper than the darkest night. Trees lined the banks and from within those trees, peered out the same eyes, red, flickering. Not the eyes of the shadow beast but of another malignant force, always watching me, always judging me.

  I crouched down, gasping in the icy water as I began to scrub myself. The mud and leaves clung to me, my teeth chattering with the chill of each splash of water. I washed, rubbed at my legs, my arms, my face and hair. Cleansing myself of the forest’s filth.

  Finally, looking down in the water, a face stared back up at me, a clean face, a child’s face. Her blonde hair tied back into a plat, her blue eyes red and bloodshot, there was something about those eyes, something haunted, disconnected behind them. It wasn’t the face of an eighteen year old woman, but it WAS my face.

  I gazed up, looking out on to the lake, out at the seemingly calm water, shimmering with an eerie silver light. A light that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. The clam was deceptive. Under the surface, swirling and writhing were currents. Strong, powerful currents. Even in the shallow water where I stood, I could feel them. Tugging on me, pulling on my ankles. It was if a watery hand grabbing me, trying to drag me down into the endless, silver depths.

  Toes tingling, numbed by the piercing cold waters of the lake, I stepped backwards fighting the pull of the water’s grasp.

  Backwards, feet slipping out from under me on the slick, green algae covered wood. Arms flailing, I scrambled to regain my balance.

  One moment cold water swirled around my ankles, the next slimy planks beneath my soles. I stood on a jetty reaching out into the lake.

  I knew this place.

  Behind me, nestled up against the shore, stood the boathouse. How many countless hours had I spent in that little boathouse gazing out onto that lake? Grandfather’s boathouse. It was a small, squat building, walls of pine boarding glimmered a dim red in the surreal light. The double doors dominating the front of the boathouse loomed wide, gaping jaws into the blackness within. The roof steeply pitched and covered in green turf.

  Behind the boat house rose that forest of corrupted, ever shifting trees, rising dark and foreboding. My skin prickled and the hairs on my arms stood on end at the constant presence of those millions of eyes watching me from the dark depths of the trees.

  My ears pricked up, my eyes darting from tree to tree. He’s still out there, he’s still hunting. The chilling thought echoed relentlessly in my mind.

  On tip toe, gripping Astrid tightly I began to edge towards the gaping doors of the boathouse and the black void within.

  Once inside, the darkness consumed me. The walls shifting, changing. The scene swirled, rooms, places that seemed distantly familiar coming and going too quickly to discern any detail.

  In the corner a small figure huddled, buried in a blue blanket pulled tightly around himself as if shielding from something terrible. Even in the dim gloom the features of his face stood out perfectly. A young boy, around eight years old, terror etched on that innocent face. His head looked up as I entered, his blue, piercing eyes fixed on me. Eyes that were filled with tears, tears which on seeing me overflowed, streamed down his cheeks.

  “Heidi…” Lars’ voice was a broken sob.

  A lump tightened in my throat, a tide of emotion washed over me. A warm sense of compassion and love. I rushed to his side, kneeling beside him. Wrapping my arms around him, I pulled him in close to me. My twin brother buried his head into my shoulder, his small body trembling as he sobbed uncontrollably.

  A soft whimper escaped my lips, the horror, the fear, I couldn’t keep it bottled up any longer. My shoulders begin quivering, my breath shuddering with every sob, my face suddenly awash with tears. I clutched Lars tighter as we knelt there together. Crying together. Myself, Lars and Astrid, together against the fear and horror, together against the darkness which that night was stalking us.

  Lars’ small voice quivered in the dark sanctuary of the boathouse, trembling with every word, “We’ll look after each other won’t we, Heidi? We’ll protect each other?”.

  “Always! Nothing can hurt us while we’ve got each other”, I heard my voice saying.

  We both clung to each other, pulling ourselves into an even tighter ball as an ear splitting scream shattered the unearthly silence.

  The Shadow Beast had claimed a victim.