Nicholas had paid a lot of money for the inn and the innkeeper was happily letting Sophie stay in the inn. In the first two days, she took the time to calm herself down and waited for Nicholas patiently.
However, after one week, she started feeling worried and wanted to go look for him. However, a snowstorm came and she couldn't leave the inn.
She knew he must be able to take care of himself because he was a strong man. He had saved her several times from animals in the forest. He was also a lycan with greater strength than humans. And they also had her hut at the edge of Blackwood Forest if he needed a place to stay.
Sophie kept looking at the snow falling from the sky through the inn window. She took a sip of the wine prepared by the innkeeper and sighed.
"Your husband is still not back yet?" The chubby middle-aged woman asked her. "He must be delayed by the storm."
Nicholas told the innkeeper he needed to visit another city real quick for a business and asked her to take Sophie in the inn until he returned.
The lady didn't know Nicholas wanted to go to the haunted forest. That's why she thought perhaps his trip from the other city was delayed by the snow.
"Yeah..." Sophie forced a smile, so she wouldn't look arrogant. "I am worried something happened to him."
"What do you want to do now?" The lady asked Sophie.
"I..." Sophie didn't really know what to do. She wanted to go back to her hut in Blackwoods, but what if Nicholas was right that the place was dangerous?
And if she went there and Nicholas came back to this inn, wouldn't they be missing each other out?
"Well... just wait until the weather is clear. Then you can make a decision," said the lady reassuringly. "I am sure it will be nice again in a few days."
"Yeah... I will do that," Sophie said weakly.
Unfortunately, the weather only got worse and she could only hope and pray in her heart for Nicholas' safety.
After two weeks, the birds started chirping and the world was beautiful again. Sophie couldn't wait to go and find Nicholas. She gave the innkeeper a letter for Nicholas, in case her husband came to the inn while she was out to look for him.
"It's been two weeks," Sophie cursed herself and stood up. She grabbed everything that she thought might be able to help her. "Why did I even wait this long? I know he said he could take care of himself, but I need to find him."
Without losing another moment, Sophie decided that she had waited far too long for Nicholas to return and it was up to her to go look for him.
At this point, she no longer cared about her safety. If there were really werewolves roaming in Blackwoods, she would face them. She needed to find her husband.
After Sophie was done preparing a small bag to pack some items, she set off into the forest.
When she returned to her house in the Blackwoods Forest, Sophie found it abandoned but filled with countless new memories that she had shared with Nick.
Tears welled up in her eyes as a sinking feeling started to form in her stomach. She didn't find any trace of her husband.
"I'm sure he's fine," Sophie chided herself from worrying.
Even if her parents had died, it didn't mean that the same thing would happen to Nicholas. However, her heart started pounding.
Sophie reached out for an axe that her father, Jack Hansley, once used to cut down trees. It was a relatively easy weapon to use that even if Sophie wasn't as strong as Nicholas. She knew that she could defend herself.
"I'm going to be okay and Nick's going to be okay. He must have gotten lost." Sophie swallowed uncertainly and restocked on the salve. If Nicholas was accidentally injured then she would use it for him.
Nicholas once navigated the Blackwoods Forest with ease due to his great senses as a lycan. What about now that he was cured though? The chances of him becoming missing now seemed like the best answer as to why he hadn't been able to return.
***
Sophie entered deeper into the forest. She found her heart pounding hard as she entered the forest. It was so dark even when it was still morning because the sun's rays failed to penetrate through the thick leaves. There was an eerie feeling to the woods that she never noticed before.
"Was it ever this scary before?" Sophie whispered to herself underneath her breath.
Nicholas was her companion before and it made her unafraid of entering Blackwoods because she was with him. When she was younger, Sophie was reckless and she braved whatever may have come her way because she was confident of her safety.
Jack Hansley, her father, was the greatest hunter in Hauntingen and Blackwoods Forest, nothing could touch him and his family.
Now, Sophie was afraid and only fighting against it because she wanted to find her husband. She wished to become strong enough and be the person who would save Nicholas if he was in any sort of danger.
However, there were things that Sophie would not account for. Among them was the harsh blizzard of winter that overtook Blackwood Forest. When Nicholas and Sophie were first married, the two of them did it on the first day of winter where snowflakes crystals greeted them.
Right now, Sophie shuddered against her cloak and traveled deeper into the woods, and hoped for the best. She knew that she shouldn't be shouting Nicholas's name and alerting the creatures in the forest but she was desperate.
Sophie had been walking in the woods for hours and it was already getting intensely darker. When she tried to eat her food earlier, there were some raccoons and small creatures that stole some of her food and threatened to bite her.
The winds were frigid and harsh and she hadn't seen Nicholas in any of the places where they have used to travel before. It was as if there were no signs of him being here at all and that scared her more than anything.
Was he alive?
Did Nicholas leave her?
Nicholas was safe, wasn't he?
Dark and terrible thoughts swirled across her head and she tried her best to silence them to no avail.
It was so difficult to stop Sophie's heart from panicking and she was starting to lose confidence from when she first came here.
"Nic!" Sophie cried out. "Where are you, Nic?! Nic... please... answer me..!"
Each step that she took forward, the sinking feeling that was in her stomach grew and twisted. Memories pricked and probed at her mind, making comparisons that haunted her.
"Nick, please come out!" Sophie's eyes welled up with tears and she shouted hoarsely into the wind. "It's not fun anymore. If you're hiding, please show yourself! I need you, Nick."
On the day that Sophie lost her parents, it was very similar to this one.
When Sophie was young, she liked heading to Hauntingen to make friends with the village children and play with them.
It was boring staying in the woods and always helping out her parents with chores.
However, when Sophie returned back to her hut, both of her parents were nowhere to be found.
.
_________________
From Missrealitybites:
There was a glitch on the system and I apparently cannot add new Privilege tiers... Sobs. I will try to fix this so I can publish the 38 chapters I have written and stockpiled for the Privilege. We will see tomorrow if it can be done.
If not, I will publish the chapters I have as mass releases for you if we can achieve the Golden Ticket ranking target. Vote all your golden tickets to this book.
If "The King's Wife" managed to get to the Top 10 Golden ranking, I will publish a mass release of 10 chapters on Sunday.
Remember, send this book to the Top 10 Golden ranking, and I will publish 10 chapters mass release on Sunday. We will set a weekly goal for weekly mass releases for December. xx
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