A/N: takes a deep breath Please don't kill me.

Chapter IV: Monster

Warmth. It was the first sense Eve came to from the blackness; the warmth of fire.

I'm dead. Heaven is warm.

But as she opened her eyes, heaven felt much more tangible than she would have imagined. Yes, she was still in the forest. But a thriving fire crackled steadily a few feet from her fetal position.

"Look who decided to grace us with her presence."

Eve's body immediately shot straight at the rough voice. But its owner was nowhere within the clearing in which she had awoken. She felt a sudden pain in her wrist and looked to find it bandaged neatly and supported by a twig splint. Her heart pounded with an earthshaking rhythm as she desperately squinted beyond the darkness.

"Out playing again were we?"

Eve reflexively jolted as the voice came from behind. She scrambled to face it, but once again found nothing but the midnight fog. Her voice came no louder than the pop of the flames.

"Who—where are you?" she spoke timidly to the empty clearing.

The silence that followed pummeled her ears and rattled her bones. The air was thinning. She pushed to her feet with her good hand and an immediate weakness overcame her left ankle. Balance proved easier to find than her courage.

Snatching a branch from the pile, she brandished the flame before her and advanced shakily toward the voice. A crack nearby spun her in its direction. The soft glow revealed a black silhouette amongst the trees.

No more games. Eve was going to unveil him. How dare he toy with her thoughts when she was in such a state? She strode two paces into the darkness, but the silhouette only retreated just as much back. She maintained her ground when her attempts failed and gaped wearily into the black.

However, after a few moments, the dark figure shifted and the crack of footsteps drew near.

The first thing seen in the light of the torch was the menacing gleam of the eyes. They locked onto her face and would not let go. But one could hardly remain fixed on eyes when something less human surrounded.

Was it a man? Surely no human mother could birth this horror into the world. Skin of gray shone molted and garish in the light of fire and a clouded moon. A strong jaw and arched brow sat upon the face of tragedy. Hair of no particular color hung shaggily to great, hulking shoulders.

The torchlight exposed every inch of this towering menace and Eve's grip on it loosened, finally dropping it to the earth below. It burned for a few moments before snuffing into a pile of smoldering ash.

Eve felt herself backing, limping away until she was once again in the clearing. He...it appeared shortly after carrying a long stick. She braced herself for the worst but exhaled when the rod was dropped unceremoniously at her feet. She cringed as his heavy footsteps passed her.

A loud crack of thunder and a sharp flash gave way to cold droplets. Eve looked to the retreating back and almost spoke before it stopped and turned. She dared to look upon the horrible façade which, like hers, was steadily becoming soaked through.

It was the most tragic sight Eve had ever beheld. It seemed impossible, even unnatural, for such a creature to exist. But as the wet bullets pelted her crown, she could not help but escape back home, to her warm little cottage by the woods...

But she could never go back. Even this wretched wood held more promise for her survival. And now, her only hope of avoiding fatal illness brought on by the elements, was standing infront of her. Her rescuer had come in the form of the most detestable creature imagined...now, her only hope.

She must have been a pitiful sight, arms hanging helplessly at her sides, for he considered her and brusquely gestured with a clawed hand.

"Well, don't just stand there…"

The stick at her feet promised support for her weakened leg. She fetched it and secured it snuggly under her arm.

A/N: I need YOU to review. Yes, you...just...be nice.