It was an excruciating pain. James kept screaming out loud. His screams can be heard from a far distance.

The warlocks burst into laughter at the sound of James’ screams. “Die werewolf!” they said. “Die!”

Xius stared at James Walker with no sign of pity. He was enjoying what is happening to James and so are the rest of the warlocks.

“Stop this, I want him alive!” a voice escaped from behind the gallow.

Xius swirled with his gaze drawn towards the gallow where the voice came from. It was a female’s voice. He sneered on seeing a hooded lady walk out from behind the gallow. “Remove your hood,” Xius ordered.

“I don’t take orders from warlocks.”

“Then get ready to die!” Xius unsheathed his sword. Raising it, he ordered the two warlocks next to him to seize the mysterious lady and bring her to her knees before him.

Before the creatures could carry Xius’ order, the mysterious lady moved one and half times faster than the theoretical maximum for a human speed. She moved faster than the eyes can see. She flings the two creatures.

Staring down at Xius, she removed her hood. “You wanted to see my face.” She smirked to herself displaying her canine teeth that are extra pointy and extra sharp. “Put out the fire. I won’t say it again.”

“I don’t take orders from you.” Xius snarled.

“Very well then,” said the mysterious lady as she moved faster than the eyes could see. She knocked down one of the warlocks from the horse and held him firmly under her grip. She sank her pointy fangs into the warlocks’ chest aiming for the aorta which is the largest blood vessel of all.

Enraged with the mysterious lady’s action, the warlocks have her surrounded with their swords all drawn out.

“I can do this all night,” she said wiping her lips off the blood of the first warlock she just killed. “Who is next?” she grinned.

“Kill her!” Xius roared.

Xius haven’t witnessed anyone as ruthless as the lady standing over the corpses of his comrades. Before they could carry out his order to kill her, she moved faster than the eyes could see ripping out their hearts one after another.

With fear in his eyes of being the next kill of the mysterious lady, Xius flung the flaming torch away and turned toward James whose feet had been completely charred by the flames. James Walker was still writhing in pain with tears streaming down his anguished face as Xius with his sword slashed the air cutting James loose from the stake.

Though James escaped death, his feet had been completely charred in flames.

Xius jumped into one of the horses and fled from the scene. He didn’t want to be a victim of the mysterious lady’s pointy fangs.

The mysterious lady walked up to James and tossed a bottle of red liquid at him. “Drink this; it will heal your wounds.”

James didn’t bother to know the content. He immediately removed the wooden stopper and gently poured the contents of the bottle down his throat. The red liquid tasted like blood. “Is this blood?” he finally asked to satisfy his curiosity.

“Does it really matter to you?”

“Yes, it does.” James wound has healed completely without any sign of burnt. It just happened within a few seconds after he drank the contents of the bottle.

“Saying thanks would have been polite.” She glared at James.

“I’m sorry. Where are my manners?” James rose to his feet. He’s no longer feeling weak. It’s as if the contents of the bottle didn’t just help him heal his charred feet, it also helped him to stop feeling weak as if it cleared the substance injected into him. “Thanks for your help,” James said expressing gratitude.

“We need to go, it’s not safe here.”

James has a lot of questions going on in his mind. After he got bitten by the beastly creature that attacked him, he started experiencing accelerated healing each time he got injured. He’s worried about whether he has lost his ability to heal just as he’s worried about where he is.

Had it not been for the mysterious lady who offered him a red liquid content that tasted like blood, he wouldn’t have healed. The substance injected into him couldn’t let him heal. “I think we should call the cops rather than ignore the crime against me,” said James.

Casting a searing gaze at James, she didn’t know what the term ‘cops’ means. She has never heard such a word in her entire life. “No one could help you but me. Follow my cue and you get to live.”

“We should get the cops involved. They could…”

“I don’t know what that means.” The mysterious lady pushed James’ words back to his dry throat. She continued in her refined voice. “There’s no time, we should go now!”

James was lost in deep thought of his. Things are getting weirder in this unknown place. ‘Who in this 21st century does not know what ‘cops’ mean?’ If the mysterious lady said they need to leave or more of the warlocks comes back fully armed, then he had no option but to leave with her. Lost in his thoughts, he still has no idea where he is.

***

“Into the woods,” the mysterious lady said pointing toward the direction of the woods,

“Oh hell no!” James cried out. “I hate nature and nature hates me!”

James Walker isn’t a dude who loves staying around nature. He isn’t a camping type either. Anything that has to do with staying around the woods, he’s not a guy for that kind of stuff. Had it not been his car that broke down in the wooded area, he wouldn’t have been attacked by a beastly creature.

The mysterious lady snickered under her breath. “We have no choice.” She held James by his pants and started dragging him to the horse. “I don’t want you to die… not on my watch.”

“It’s only one horse,” said James with a wide-eyed gaze wondering who could walk on foot. He has never ridden a horse before and didn’t know how to ride one. He has seen movies of a horse throwing their owners off their backs. That could happen to him, especially now he’s a stranger to the horse.