"No, don't hurt me please!"

Claws scrape against my body. I scream in pain. "Stop! Stop! Let me go!"

It's jaw opens. Rows of teeth shine down on me. I scream in fear. It's jaw start to envelope my head. I struggle against the creature. It's boney fingers pierce the skin of my arm.

Then like a flash everything goes dark.

~•~

"Rin, Rin wake up! Erin please wake up!"

My eyes immediately open. Bright light bares down on me. My eyes find it hard to focus. Strong hands hold onto my shoulders."Rin, thank God your awake."

I look to the source of the voice.

"Asher is that you?" My voice was rough and scratchy. He takes ahold of my hand.

My eyes begin to clear, making out a small bright room. It was cozy. Warm sunlight pours through a small dusty window to the right of me, making the tiny room light up. A cool gust of air blows into the room, making the pure white curtains attached to the old window dance in the breeze. To the left of me Asher sits on a small wooden stool, still holding onto my hand. The room was pretty much bare except for the small bed I was currently laying in, an antique dresser, the stool Asher was currently sitting on, and a dirty mirror hanging on the wall across from me.

Where I'm I? This isn't my room......This isn't even my house!

I turn to Asher and take my hand out of his hold. I rub my forehead in confusion. "Asher where are we?"

He hesitates. "Well, right know we are staying in a little inn somewhere in Scotland."

I quickly sit up. I turn to face Asher. "Scotland! What do you mean we're in Scotland!"

He rubs the back of his neck and sighs. "That's a bit complicated at the moment."

I stare at him in frustration. "Asher Logan Iver you better tell me why and how we're here in Scotland right now!"

He stands up from the stool and places his hands on my shoulders again. He lightly pushes me down onto the small bed. "First calm down. I don't need you passing out."

I take in a deep breath, "Okay I'm calm, can you tell me now?"

He settles back on the stool, giving me a strange look. "Rin, I can't give you all the details at the moment but, I will give you what I can."

He takes in a large breath, contemplating on what to say next.

"Rin, do you remember the events of last night?"

Last night?

My mind quickly clouds with the horrors of the night before. The darkness. The terror. The fear. Everything immediately comes back to me. It was all too much for me to handle. My head was screaming. My heart was racing and my head was spinning. I look over to my brother in fear. I tightly grab onto his arm.

"A-Asher, yesterday I heard that frightening screech. I went to find you, but you weren't in the house. I looked all over. When I couldn't find you I thought you had gone into the forest. I went to search for you. I soon realized you weren't there. It was to late. There was something there......A creature."

I sat up to look into his eyes. Fear runs through my body, causing me to shake. Tears welled up in my eyes, causing them to fall down my face heavily.

"I-I was so scared Asher. The monster was so gruesome. It was like I was looking into the eyes of death. It chased me through the forest. I thought it was going to kill me. I've never been so afraid. I thought that I would never return home. Never be able to live...... That I would never be able to see you."

"I-I thought my life was over."

I let go of his arm and cover my face with my hands. I was so ashamed of myself. I'm such a coward. This is the first time I've cried in front of my brother. He has always been there for me. He has sacrificed his life to take care of me. When ever I've been depressed or sad I've dealt with it myself. Whether it being confused on why my parents left me or how I can ever repay Asher, it has been my problem and mine alone. Getting Asher involved would just worry him. Now here I am crying because I can't be brave. I'm such a coward.

Warm arms envelope me, pulling me into a tight embrace. Asher soothingly strokes my hair with his hand. His heart beat runs through my head, causing my breathing to slowly relax. The tears stop, and my body settles against his.

After a while Asher notices that I had become calm once more. He brings he head to mine and whisper. "Rin, I'll never let you go."

I look up into his eyes, they were so warm and sincere.

"Rin, I know you don't like to get me involved in your troubles, but I am here for you. No matter where we are or what happens to us, I will always be there for you,"

He slowly brings his mouth to my forehead and kisses it. "You are my family."

I pull away from Asher and give him a heartfelt smile. "Thank you Asher,"

I lay against the bed post. We sit in silence, taking in the drifting summer breeze. Slowly the room begins to dim and soon only a small candle brightens the room.

After a while I notice something escaping from my mind. What am I forgetting? Then it hits me. The reason this entire mess started. The medallion.

I begin to pat down my body. My clothes had been changed into a pair of large men pajamas and oddly no wounds were on my body.

How long had I been asleep? And where was that medallion? Asher must have taken it!

I glare at Asher. "Where is it?"

He gives me a puzzled look. "Where is what?"

He is so going to get it! "Asher you know exactly what I'm talking about!"

He stares at me with a dumb expression on his face.

I quickly give in to his idiotic act. "The medallion! The damn meda-"

His hand covers my mouth. I try to yell through his hand, but fail. His hand soon leaves my mouth. He place a finger over his lips to quiets me.

"Erin, we must be quite, if we are heard then they will find us. I told you earlier I couldn't give you all the details." He says in a hushed voice.

"Once we get to a safe area I'll tell you everything."

What's going on? Who's they? Is it the same creature from last night?

I lean forward on the bed. "But Asher I-"

Screams erupted from the silent night. Strange screeches entangle with the constant screaming. A bright glow shines through the window along with black, bitter smoke.

Suddenly Asher grabs my hand and bolts to the door. I stumbled out of bed and clumsily regain my balance. He pulls me to the door and whips it open. As soon as he opens it, piles of smoke envelope the room. I begin to violently cough.

He ignores this and continues running until we reach a narrow dirt road. The village was in a state of chaos.

Fire spread across the small town. Boutiques, merchandise stands, everything was burning. Erie dark figures riding horses ravaged through the town. Striking at every villager that passed by with large raged swords. People were screaming in terror. Running in every direction. Some were crying in horror and others stood paralyzed in fear. This wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was the bodies. Scattered across the streets, walls, and buildings. Their last expression frozen on their terrified faces. Blood, tears, dirt, and burns covered them. Dark Blood stained the ground. The smell of burning flesh traveled the air, mixing with the smell of blood and smoke.

A wave of nausea swept through me. I covered my mouth to halt me from vomiting. I turned to my brother and mumbled through my finger.
"Asher?"

He stiffened at the sound of my voice, as if he had forgotten I was here. He pulls me into a dark alley, away from all the chaos and fire. He slowly looks towards me. His face was stony, but his eyes showed pain. As if he had repeatedly been through the same experience as these townsfolk. He looked away from me and faced towards the direction of a large forest at the end of the town. He grabbed my hand and started pulling in the same direction. "We need to leave."

I stop in my tracks. "We can't go we have to help these people Asher!"

I can't believe him!

He steps towards me and leans down so we were at eye level. He had such a serious expression on his face.

"Erin, these people are already gone. There is no way for us to help them. The only thing we can do now is to leave."

Leave? Where could we even go?

"But I-"

He tightens his hold on my wrist.

"No, Erin we're leaving now. I'm not going to have you die over people we don't know."

I stared at him in disbelief. Was this really my brother? How can my sweet, caring brother be so heartless? What is he hiding from me? I adverted my gaze away from him and instead on the bloody ground.

He lifts my chin up with his spare hand and stares at me. "Erin I'm doing this to protect you. I made a promise and I won't ever break it. Even if that means you hate me. Okay?"

I hesitate for a moment, contemplating my options. Sadly there were none. I obediently nod my head.

He takes his hand away from my chin. "Good."

He pulls me to the end of the ally and peeks out. "Looks like they're gone for now. We still have to be careful. We'll make a run towards the forest, they'll never go there."

He waits a moment and then with a burst of energy he pulls us out of the ally and we begin sprinting to the forest. Burning house blur past. More bodies we're scattered across the area.

Who would ever do this?

The forest was becoming clearer as we quickly approached it. I was beginning to think we'd make it out alive but, was soon proven wrong.

The sound of pounding hooves echoed through the night. The ground began vibrating lightly. Asher griped my wrist tighter and fastened our already speeding paste. I peered over my shoulder, but soon regretted it.

In the distance dark horses rapidly approached us. Upon them were the same erie figures from the village. Their long swords swung in their hands as they yelled through the night.

I looked back to the approaching forest. Fear and adrenaline ran through my body, powering me to the point of exhaustion.

My heart almost skipped a beat as we reached the entrance of the forest. Asher quickly pulled us into a small ditch guarded by trees and crouched low to the soft ground. I copied his actions. Suddenly Asher grabbed me by the shoulders and stared directly into my eyes.

"Rin, you need to escape into the forest. Leave me behind while I distract them.

I stare at him dumbfounded. His words echo in my mind, but not being able to process them. "What?"

The sound of hooves grew louder.

He took his hands away from my shoulder and reached in into his pocket. Grabbing onto one of my hands he sets a small object my palm. I looked down only to see the medallion resting in my hand.

"Rin, this medallion will lead you to a safe place." His gaze never left mine.

"Asher what are you talking about? We're leaving together!"

He sighs. Shifting in the dirt he grabs the medallion from my hand and brings it around my neck. I soon felt the weight and cool metal of my mother's medallion. He takes hold of my hands once again.

"Rin, I need you to head into the forest and never look back. Fallow the moss that lines the trees, it points north to were you'll be safe. I also need you to keep that medallion on you and never take it off. This will prove who you are." He stops and takes a shaky breath. He leans to the back of the ditch, spreading his across my as an act of protection.

The sound of hooves are so close that they are pounding. When it seems it couldn't get any louder it stopped. The sound of heavy boots pounded the ground. Strange sounds were coming from raspy voices, most likely the erie killers. The language they spoke sound completely foreign.

I look to Asher. Fear ran through me. I searched for answers while looking at Asher but got nothing.

He the grabs and pulls me into a bone crushing hug. For a second I am shocked, but then quickly rap my arms around him. He leans in to my ear and whispers.

"Rin, on the count of ten run into the forest. I'll stay behind and distract them. I'll come and find you."

"One..."

My eyes widen. I look at him and panic. "What? Asher you can't leave me, you are all I have left!"

"Two."

"No, no Asher I need you please! Please stay with me!" The sound of boots approaching us vibrate the ground.

"Three."

I pull back and grab his shoulders tightly.

"Four."

"Asher we'll escape to together. We can both be safe!"

"Five."

Tears fall down my face.

"Six."

I lean my head against his chest and cry. The yells of angry creatures echo.

"Seven."

"Please..."

"Eight."

I look at his face heartbroken. The Creatures stop directly above the ditch.

"Nine."

"I love you Asher."

"Ten."

Asher jumps up and leaps over the edge. I quickly run away into the forest away from my only family. The yells of Asher and horrible beast ring through my ears. I dare to look back at my brother.

Five creatures are fighting him at once. Somehow he is able to barley fight them off. A glimmer of hope spreads through me that he might escape. But then he looks back at me. His face reads defeat. He looks into my eyes and yells I love you.

My heart shatters.

One of the creatures hits him on the head with the knob of their sword and he collapses. They grab him and place him on a horse. Three of the creatures move onto their horses and leave with my brother.

Relief and worry run through me.

Relief that they didn't kill Asher and worry because they were taking him away.

The two other creatures ride on their horse into the forest. Towards me.

I run even faster. I try my best to fallow the moss against the trees, but it's so dark that I can't see.

I run blindly through the forest. My medallion beats against my chest, making the beat of my heart and the hard metal intertwine.

The sound of hooves grow louder by the second. I try my best to keep running, but my body becomes heavy and stiff. I begin to slow down with ever step I took.

Soon I felt a large hand grab my long hair. I yell in pain as I fall to the ground. The creatures begin to yell at me in their strange language. Threatening me with their filthy swords.

"Let me go!" I yell when more tears stream down my face.

One of the creatures yell at me again and quickly slashes my face with their swords. Sticky blood runs down my face. I scream again.

The creature closes to me lifts me up by my hair so we're face to face.

The same horrid face that almost killed me in the forest back home grins evilly back at me. I shake in fear. The creature just looks at me and laughs.

"We have your brother and now  you. His plan is almost complete. You're  weak." It spits at me with disgust.

My eyes widen. Not in fear, but with rage.

They killed all those people. They tried to kill me. They took my brother!

All the fear and anger boils in me and something just snaps.

"Let. Me. GO!"

I'm suddenly thrown back. Slamming against a hard tree. The wind is knocked out of me and I struggle to breath. I look up and gasp in surprise. Before me are piles of ash. No creatures. No horses. Just me.

My eyes travel down to my medallion. A strange glow comes from it. A source of power runs through me, but is soon replaced with exhaustion. My breathing becomes harsh and uneven.

A scream runs through the forest. Most likely from one of the creatures. I slowly stand and stumble forward. I go through the trees, the only source of light being the slowly dimming light of my medallion and the full moon.

My vision becomes blurry and I'm barely able to walk.

I stop and start to sway back and forth. The last thing I see before completely passing out was the bright moon above.

My brothers voice echoes through my mind as I close my eyes.

I love you.