Episode 3: Cold

“Mom!!” Ven screams in a panic.

He bends down towards her and cradles her head in his arms. Blood is pouring out of her mouth and she is covered in scratches and blood that is so dark that it resembles crude oil.

“V....Ven,” she struggles to whisper.

Ven’s hands tightened at the sound of her voice. “I’m here! I’m here,” he shrieks, tears streaming down his flushed face. “Who did this to you?!”

“I- I don’t have much time,” she strains. “Listen to me.” She coughs up blood. “I need you to run. Go to the forest. He will come for you there.”

“The forest? He?! Mom! What are you saying? We need to get you to the hospital!” Ven screams. He attempts to lift her body but she places her hand on his shoulder, ushering for him to stop.

Auroa reaches for her neck with bloodied fingers, and pulls on her skin.

"Shafta!" She shouts.

Suddenly, a diamond shaped necklace with a red glowing gem inside it appears in her hand. She takes Ven’s hand and places the necklace in it.

She then suddenly shifts.

Her hair turns completely gray and she becomes very frail and she looks as if she has aged fifty years. Wrinkles appear on her face and hands, no longer looking as the beautiful middle-aged looking woman that Ven was so used to seeing, but more of an elder that has aged gracefully over time.

Ven stares at her in awe.

“Go,” she says. “I love you. My son.”

Her body then vanishes into thin air. Ven stares at the spot that his mother once was and finds nothing but the blood she spilled. He quickly snaps out of shock when he feels a cold breeze brushing past him. He looks behind him and finds nothing there. He then looks up and finds a black shadow-like creature staring back at him. It smiles a sinister smile and then makes an ear- piercing, screeching sound, showing jagged bloodied teeth. It leaps towards Ven, but Ven rolls out of the way in time, dodging the creature's lethal attack. He quickly gets to his feet and sprints out of the house. He puts the necklace his mother gave him around his neck and bolts to the forest replaying his mother's last words to him over and over in his head. He dashes through the streets in his bloodied clothes, catching the eyes of concerned citizens, and makes it to the park that leads into the forest, and hops the fence.

*Where am I supposed to go from here?!*

He says to himself as he glances back and sees that there isn't only one creature after him, but five, and they all are eager to rip him into shreds! And they are right on his tail! Ven attempts to run even faster to try and lose the creatures but, his hope of outrunning them comes crashing down when he suddenly trips over a rock and tumbles to the ground, hard. He rolls onto his back in pain and sees the creatures lunging towards him, making that terrifying ear-piercing sound, showing their rugged teeth, eager to tear into his flesh. 

Accepting his fate, Ven screams and closes his eyes.