"Ria!" her mam called from upstairs, the girl, covered in the stains of blood and viscera could only hold a hand to her mouth as her father put a finger to his lips telling her to be quiet lest the woman find her here covered in strange things.

The door above them opened and a flurry of footsteps descended into the drying room. Ria hid behind a sack of potatoes they bargained for and old wine aged just enough to be delicious but not enough to be valuable,

"It is evening now, I've called for Ansel but he has not come." the woman's voice said in a panicked tone. Ria's eyes widened from where she hid listening to her mother and father.

She knew it, had known that the boy was nowhere in the town, and now from her mother's own mouth she knew him to be missing.

Her heart beat loudly in her ears, her mind raced thinking of when this could have happened

Why oh why did they not listen to her? He was missing. The forest had possibly taken him and now, he was beyond their reach. Ria heard her father speaking and stopped her panic to listen to him.

"He is probably off with his friends, Freddy Baker, Solomon Carpenter, and the like. It's usual for a boy to play long games until the early twilight, to miss their dinners. Rest my dear I will go out and find him." Mr. Smith said.

"Lukas, if you are out there please search for Ria too. I worry about that girl, there's a strangeness about her." she said.

"Clara, there is no strangeness about our daughter, she is a healthy happy child. The towns folk speak nonsense about her, let her home be refuge from that. The last thing she needs to hear is their words from her own mother." Lukas said.

The woman recoiled at the reproach, not expecting it to come from her own husband.

"I should have listened to her when she said we needed to find Ansel. I brushed her off and went on about her skirts, heaven forgive me."

"If God punished small mistakes hell would be overflowing. Now come, we mustn't dally. I will bring Ansel home." Lukas said.

Clara nodded, and Ria listened for her footsteps going up the steps before she allowed herself to come out of her hiding spot.

"Father, do you really think Ansel could be playing in the woods?" Ria asked.

"Your brother has always had that wanderlust my darling, mayhaps he just wandered too far from home today. I shall find him and bring him back." Lukas said resting a hand on his daughter's shoulder.

Ria nodded, counting on her father to bring back his son and punish him if need be for giving them such a fright.

"I will go and wash up before mam comes to see me like this." Ria said.

"You best do that, I could use a swim in the lake meself." Lukas laughed.

It was not long before Lukas returned empty handed, he could not find his son.

Stolen novel; please report.

Her heart sank so deeply that Ria felt it in her stomach, now what was she going to do? The children who disappeared into the woods never came back, there were never even any bodies after what happened.

Ansel would become like those children unless she could do something about it. Ria's hands held her chest tightly as she thought about all the places her brother could be. If someone hurt him, she was prepared to do whatever it would take to hunt them down.

But she knew it was the forest. And you cannot fight the woods.

The town of Lovella Falls bordered a thick old forest whose trees dwarfed the settlement and all the buildings within it. The forest was old, older than anything the town elders had ever seen and even the first settlers could not tame the woods with a mind of its own.

Some said they could hear whispers coming from amongst the trees. This was no ordinary wood, and at certain times of the day, the forest would come alive to speak about the lives of the townspeople. All stories, the adult thought, at first that is.

It was three years ago when the first child went missing, a girl no older than Ansel was now. Long blonde hair and a toothy smile. They found neither hide nor hair of the poor thing.

She had disappeared at the edge of the woods. The town drunk had seen her.

"Hands the size of a giant! I seen it with me own eyes." he said with a crazed look in his bloodshot eyes. No one paid him any mind and the situation was dismissed as just an unfortunate accident with a young girl that got too close.

A few weeks later, another child went missing.

And so it went that every so often, children would go out and never return. That the forest had taken them, spirited them away to the land of the strange where only the ghosts of the settlement's past could follow.

Her parents didn't believe and now Ria sat in shock listening to the faded sounds of her mother's sobs. The woman sat in the small chamber of their equally small home holding on to Ansel's shirt.

"My baby, my baby!" she sobbed hysterically, her hoarse voice called out for him, strained from the yelling and screaming she had done hours prior.

Ria's father had not returned from the search.

Outside the sky darkened with evening clouds circling over head. Through the window the sinking sun seemed to light a path into the forest telling her to go in.

Ria faced her hands, looking down at the small fingers fixing her torn skirt. A dew drop of blood budded where she had pricked her finger with the sharp needle point. In the background her mother's sobs lessened to dull sniffles, the woman hugged her son's shirt rocking back and forth in deep sadness.

Ria said nothing, wiping her finger tips with gentleness.

Why would the forest take Ansel? He was a good child, a sweet boy who would never hurt anyone. The heavy feeling in her chest turned to a dull ache and very soon a sharp pain in her throat forced itself out as a cry.

Ria felt her own tears fall, try as she might to contain them so she could be strong for her mother. Her poor Ansel, where was Ansel?

The rusty door creaked open, revealing her father once more, a lit torch in his hands and a shake of his head let them know he had no luck finding her brotherl.

Ria's head fell into her hands, she pleaded with all that was good in the world that her brother would return to her, but the one above would not answer her prayers. She needed something earthly, something tangible.

***

Her mother's cries rocked the house as they tried to sleep. She could only imagine what her father was going through sleeping beside his distraught wife.

The girl laid on her own bed, gazing out the window at the moon and stars to avoid looking at her brother's empty bed, eventually her eyes fell upon the bare space with a heavy heart.

Ria stared at her brother's empty bed, the covers askew from the last time he refused to make his bed.

She was going to do it for him, but she had to go to the market that morning. Now Ria was glad she hadn't scrubbed away the last remnants of him from their room.

Ria turned to face the other side once again taking her eyes off the bed.