Chapter 1

Blood Snow

The wind howled in Sarah's ear, soft snow flakes falling endlessly around her. She frantically looked over her shoulder as she ran, trying to find a dark figure. Would he catch her this time? Fear widening her eyes, she turned her head back in its regular place, and picked up her pace.

The chilling wind roared, and threw more snowflakes onto her face, some catching the ends of her eye lashes. Again, Sarah looked over her shoulder; her breathing ragged, and yet again did not see the menacing figure that had perused her.

This caused her to slow, but she did not stop completely as she turned into a large forest, with tall evergreens whose branches were weighed down by heavy snow. Her boots crunched the white powder, the sound almost deafening as her breath. Seeing a thick tree, Sarah dove behind it, a hand on her chest as if to slow her heartbeat.

With the other hand, the exposed fingers numb, she covered her mouth to disguise her heavy breathing. At that moment, she regretted not joining her friends at the gym, which could run for hours without being out of breath.

Snap!

Sarah froze, wanting to close her eyes, but somehow found that she couldn't do so. She heard the heavy footsteps in the snow become louder, and almost began to run again, when she heard a shriek. It was a loud, rage filled shriek of something not human, something extremely angry. But, in the undertones, she could hear agony in this animal's cry.

The footsteps stopped, as did the heavy breathing from the other person. Please, please leave! Sarah pleaded silently, biting her lips that had turned a slightly blue hue. After moments of agonizing silence, the footsteps started up again, but grew fainter, until she could no longer hear anything, except the frantic beating of her heart.

The wind stood still, but the snow continued to fall in large clumps that made her shiver whenever they hit bare skin. Though she did not know how long she stood there, waiting for the footsteps to start up again, she did know something inside stirred. What was that shriek that had caused the other person to leave? Who, or what, had caused it? Suddenly, the shriek rang out again, echoing off the slumbering trees.

This seemed to break the spell which caused her to remain still, and Sarah began to move, looking for the origin of the shriek. It rang out again, filled with pain, rage almost no longer present. This haunting sound caused something to freeze in the young woman's heart, but she continued to travel through the forest, trying to find whatever it was.

She pushed several snow powdered branches out of her way, her pace quickening as she tried to find it. She wanted to, no- she had to find whatever this thing was. Again the shriek rang out, but it was softer this time, the pain filled sound making her run. This time, she ran towards something, not away. Time seemed to be as thick as molasses in these woods, for she seemed to run forever, looking up and down for this thing that cried out in pain.

As she was just about to scream in frustration, the shriek of pain rang out, so loud that it made Sarah jump. In a burst of energy, she ran even faster towards the sound, then stopped when she saw what it was. The place seemed to be absent of any trees or rocks of any kind, simply flat land covered in blinding white snow. Or, what used to be white snow, as it was stained with fresh crimson blood.

A barn owl lay in the snow, one wing flapping with frustration and fear, the other badly mangled. It seemed to be attached to the owl's body by a single strand of feathered flesh, blood pouring out of it like water. It turned its white and light brown head towards Sarah, its eyes piercing. This gaze brought her out of her shock, and she raced towards the bird.

Her better judgment told her to leave it alone, as injured animals are extremely dangerous; something made her race towards it though. It tried to fly away from her, but with its one wing, it wasn't going anywhere. Realizing this, the owl opened its sharp beak, and extended a clawed foot out, as if to show Sarah how dangerous it was. She sucked in a breath, and slowly walked towards the flapping bird, that seemed to hiss at her.

"It's ok," she whispered tenderly, putting her hands up to show the owl she meant no harm, "I'm not going to hurt you." The owl obviously didn't seem to hear her, and hissed again, snapping at her. Despite this, Sarah inched closer, somewhere in her mind someone seemed to be screaming, You moron! What the hell are you doing?

Surprisingly, the owl seemed to calm down a bit as she came closer, but watched her with an enraged gaze. It opened its beak once again to show her how sharp it was, but did nothing else as she moved closer. Very slowly and gently, Sarah placed her fingertips on the bird's soft white feathers, then tensed up in case it made a swipe at her. But it made no move, even though it tensed up as well. This provided her more confidence, and she placed both of her hands on the owl's body, even tenser.

The muscles in her neck began to hurt from the tension put on them, but she ignored the pain. Still, the owl watched her with an eerie calmness, but Sarah guessed that must have been because of the amount of blood lost. Very slowly, she picked it up, cradling it in such a way that its wing wasn't touching her. Its already wide eyes seemed to grow, causing Sarah to see their mismatched irises.

One was a piercing blue, like ice, deep and still as the ocean at night. The other was a dark hazel, like the bark on the trees surrounding them, full of warmth and emotion. How was it possible that one was blank, icy, and emotionless while the other was warm, caring, and full of expression?

Clearing those thoughts out of her mind, Sarah made her way out of the forest, her eyes darting side to side in fear, just in case the man decided to come back. But all she could hear was the sound of her frantic heart beat, the crunching of snow beneath her boots, and the escaping breath from the dying owl.

*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*!*

Sarah leaned up against the wall, placing her numb hands over the heater that stood beside her. Opening and closing her hands to get feeling back into them, thoughts tumbled around her mind like heavy stones. The person chasing her had been her boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend, who had become enraged when she had wanted to end the relationship.

It just wasn't working out, but he didn't seem to think that. To put it simply, he had become violent, causing Sarah to flee into the snow covered streets. How she ended up in the forest, was beyond her.

"Sarah?" a voice asked behind her. Sarah jumped and spun around, a relieved smile breaking out on her face when she realized who it was. Melody grinned, her cherry red lips spread across her face.

Melody was Sarah's complete opposite in almost every way, but they had remained friends through high school, college, even when they both got their own careers. Her black hair was always in disarray, no matter what anyone ever did to it. The only time Sarah remembered it being tamed was on Melody's wedding day. Her large coal black eyes were always full of understanding and love, no matter what anyone did. She was also extremely short, only coming up to Sarah's chest.

"I think he'll be fine," Melody said, interrupting Sarah as the memory of Melody's wedding distracted her, "We had to operate a lot on his wing, and give him a lot of liquids, but he's fine."

Sarah let go of the breath she realized that she had been holding, and smiled. "That's great," she answered with a grin, "When do you think he can be released back into the wild?"

Melody's smile faltered, and she sighed. "Not for a long, long time," she replied, "His wing was nearly ripped from his body. There'll be a lot of physical therapy involved."

Sarah sighed as well, but shrugged. At least the owl was still alive, that was all she was concerned with. Of course, she'd have to pay for the veterinarian costs, but other than that, she could leave the owl behind. She had more pressing matters to deal with. Sarah's smile came back, and she leaned down to hug Melody, giving her a tight squeeze.

"I missed you, Mel," Sarah said as she pulled back, "How's Jeremy?" The question caused a splinter in her heart, but she kept the pained expression off of her face. Melody grinned, unconsciously touching her wedding ring as she thought of her husband.

"He's good," she said with a nod, "His book is almost done!" Sarah chuckled, and hugged her friend again. Jeremy was an author who would sometimes remain in his office for days, writing these very imaginative fantasy novels.

"I've got to go," Sarah said sorrowfully, "Call me sometime, 'k?" Melody nodded fiercely, flashing the brunette a thumbs up. Sarah laughed slightly as she turned away, walking down the hallways, but her smile slipped from her face as she turned away from her friend.

Chris, her ex, had chased her through the streets and into the woods, so what had been his intentions? Did he mean to harm her? Sarah shook her head, and pushed open the glass door to outside. The cold wind engulfed her body as she jogged away from the building, wishing that she had her car with her.

But no, she had run here, so she would have to run to her home as well. Slowing down, she realized that the snow had lightened up, the snowflakes not as endless, not as large. She stuck out her tongue to catch one, and did so a few seconds later. A genuine laugh sprang out her throat for no reason, but she didn't care; at least she was laughing.

After ridding the unusually cheerful expression from her face, Sarah began to walk again, as she had stopped earlier. As she turned to examine a shop through a window, she noticed in the reflection that a strange man stood beside her, staring at her intently.

His hair was styled in an odd way, possibly a mullet a light color of blonde that Sarah envied, his long angular face solemn. She ignored him, trying to concentrate on the display before her, but finally, when she wasn't able to take the staring anymore, she turned towards the man, her brown eyes blazing with annoyance. But, her mouth hung open as her eyes scanned over empty air.

No man. No figure. Nothing. "What the-?" she muttered, scanning her surroundings. For a moment, she thought she heard a chuckle, but quickly dismissed it as she scurried away.