Chapter 2

**Acacia Dawn Winters Point of view**

Fear.

While some say fear can put limitations to oneself, fear can also destroy the light in a person.

My mind clogged me from comprehension, even the basic simple ones. I could taste the gaudy spice of death one minute and in another, there suddenly appeared a drop of elixir of life.

A hallucination or real, I don't know.

But it was the whisper of my name that jolted me back to life, enough to show that I'm not dead yet. Close, but not dead yet.

"Acaciaaaaa!"

Along the swish of wind and patter of rain, I heard it. A small yet loud enough to reach my ears, a whisper knocked some breathe into me.

My shivering body, still quivering at mercy of what brought me here, leaned forward to look around. It was hard moving my body considering I'm having a hardest day of my whole life.

Every possible thing on universe is hell bent of killing me for no good reason. Once, an accident; Twice, bad luck but this one day had me in the hell's cauldron for the third time.

Surely, there must be something wrong with me alive.

How I wish I have just enough strength to scoff at myself.

Using all the strength that current life support I have in me, I blinked my eyes to open them enough and look around. The trees, the rain, the muddied ground, everything was just the same as I remember before visiting the hell on a vacation few minutes ago.

"Acaciaaaaa!" Another spark of life was restored inside me when I heard it again. It was like the voice of winds that was calling out to me. A male-ish but filled with the roar of typhoon winds was how it sounded.

Like the storm, the wind has a voice of its own.

My heart raced miles per second with every whisper I hear. I was trying to think that all this was a dream. Hearing those whispers was a mere illusion. No, how can air call out for me?

This is absurd! Ridiculous!

Unless the strong sense of wanting to follow it wrapped around me. As if a spell was cast on me, like magic that was pulling me to it, my heart probed me, compelled me to follow it.

To gather all the strength I have and walk, run or even crawl to where the voice was coming from.

But my brain, it has always been the sanest of my entirety. It told me not to do so, as if dying in the rain was better and would do greater good to me than follow some freakish hallucination I'm having.

Telling me that I'm just hallucinating because of the entire wrecking ship incident.

"Yes. I'm just h- h-hallucinating. It's not real. Take a deep b-breath Acacia, it'll help you relax and think sane." I told myself with shuttering teeth and shivering body.

My body temperature is went down to Arctic once and rose back a little with few sparks of creepy whispers but was now going down again at high speed and anytime soon I'll be attacked by absolute decree of death for sure.

Having warning me enough, my brain started to succumb to my near end. It is not functioning much anymore. I feel dizzy and faint. Light like a feather; while the cold did not feel that aching to me anymore.

"Acaciaaa!" I breathed out loud having being resurrected out of my death trance again and this time, I could suddenly feel a little energy that came from adrenaline rush from waking up suddenly.

It was scary. I'm now beyond terrified.

"ARGH! ARGHHHHH" I cried out loudly hearing a close whisper of my name. It sounded close, almost near my ear. The hoarse male whisper brought a shiver through my spine.

"Who is it? Who is there?" Forgetting the chatter of my teeth, I gathered myself and attempted to stand up.

It's almost a supernatural task for me. I pressed my finger against the trunk of the tree, digging my nail into its cracks. Supporting my heavily wet body, I tried to stand up on my legs.

And I fell. The mud and rain water splatter all over me, some even into my nose and mouth, providing me with unnecessary hydration in the wrong time.

Trying again, my legs failed me again for second, third and for the seventh time. A couple more attempts later, I did stood up, with some support.

The constant whispers that did not cease were the only reason I found the energy to get up. The feeling of being in greater danger than the storm posed on me came back with thunders and lightening.

I have always been a thinker. I think and think a lot. I act after only after over thinking myself but one thing that I'm robbed off from the moment I was washed over here was the time and ability to think over things.

Every single thing, natural or otherwise posed a great difficulty to my rational side.

I act unlike me already and it has only been half a day on this land of eerie terrain. And so I went with the new change and flowed with the current of it.

I inhaled, gathered little energy and started to run. Away or to whatever it is, doesn't matter anymore.

Stick in its ass, whatever it is, I decided not wanting to be a part of possible hallucinations caused by near death trauma or the supposed ghost lot that are conquering the land I'm standing on.

I ran, first on to the shore where the waves crashed violently, chasing me back into the hub of forest.

I took the hint and so I ran towards the opposite side. Into the forest that I haven't ventured into completely!

My steps faltered over obstacles that small rocks, large tree roots that spread across and slippery ground. I struggled, crawled up again to my feet, sometimes even crawled my way through the irregular wild line of trees.

Breathing heavily, my pace slowed down as I started to walk given all the splinters and bruises all over my skin that is exposed.

"Acacia" And there it is again.

"I know, I heard it. I heard my name. Who are you? A ghost?" I shouted out; foolish I know to expect an answer.

"Are you a ghost? For your safety, I hope you are one because if you turned out to be one with blood and flesh then so God help me I will drain out your blood and flesh you out in parts in all the butcher shops across the country." I grumbled angrily but in a smaller voice. I'm equally scared, to be honest.

All though robbed off with the ability to think better, I'm not a fool to enrage a possible ghost to make things worse.

"Acaciaaaa!" This time I heard it from the my right as if it is leading me somewhere.

Is the voice really leading me somewhere? I don't know but the urge to follow it is increasing every moment inside me.

Is it safe to follow it?

What if I walk into something where I'm lured to be a sacrifice of some sort? I mean horror movies I watched so far has been great help with my current thought process.

I didn't move for a while. I allowed rain to drench me further and send an army of chills down my whole body but I was scared to move.

Terrified that whatever it is that just pulled me back from my death is something more dangerous that it would inflict me with death every living moment.

My heart is no better; it pounded fast inside my chest telling me, showing me how horrified I am.

The feeling to follow amplified when another whisper ran in my ears and this time, it sounded a little too closer than before.

Despite my better judgment, this time I followed it. Not completely out of my will but the need to follow it has taken over the better parts of my senses.

The fright I was feeling towards the whisper was taken advantage of the sheer force that was calling me in the first place as it turned my fear into following it for better something I did not understand.

And so I was entranced to follow it. I walked through the thick parts of the forest not failing to see the trails of possible inhabitation that was now unused for seemingly a very long time.

At the foot of a hill, the trails of past habitation showed clearly and this time without any ghostly whispers to lead me, I know what to follow.

The hill was a rocky elevation helping me with several tripping and falling downs. It was not easy to climb a hill and with little to no energy, I almost surprised myself when I toughed it up almost to the top of it.

Of course, it includes skidding down three times and having to climb again and again but what felt like hours of incessant walking, I was now standing before the definition of my fear.

A castle.

**~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello Sweeties,

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