I touched his face gently and blood seeped onto my hand, ruby red and shimmering in the moonlight. I pull the spear out of his chest and throw it aside. Sobbing over his lifeless body, I scoop him up and tremble under his weight. My mind has gone blank with what to do with him. All I really want to do is hold him in my arms and for him to hold me back. Thoughts race through my mind and all they lead to is the overhanging feeling of loneliness. I am all alone now. My eyes swell red and I cannot take the pitying stares and the blood continually being absorbed by my brother's shirt. I slowly put him on the floor and the only thing I can think about doing is taking flight. So I do.

Taupe dust flies up behind me as I run as fast as I possibly can back to the only place I can really trust. Everywhere I go I feel like I'm stepping one step closer to death, one step closer to a knife in my chest. The town is full of people who are blind to what everyone is going through. They say optimism is the path to a happy life, but with optimism comes ignorance and with ignorance comes fools. And our planet is full of them. I am only pessimistic because that gives me the ability to see through the lies that surround Zena Zla.

Rushing towards my house and I push through the door and clatter upstairs. It all seems so empty, and I know it will never be lively again. Even if I find myself a husband and have kids one day, it will never be the same as it was with my father and Ilik. For this home was our memories, happy and sad, and now its just a shack with some furniture in it. I surge into my brother's bedroom and pull open the pine drawers. Flinging out all his clothes and books, I hold them close to my chest and try to breathe in the scent of him, to try and stop the memories slip through my fingers. I pull out more and more of his ragged clothes, smothering myself in them. My vision flies everywhere, but then focuses on a stuffed bear staring at me from across the room. It is a deep purplish-grey, but is caked in dirt, so is more brown. A small red ribbon is tied around its neck and doesn't seem to be as original as the rest of the bear. I somehow recognise it, but I can't place it. With trembling fingers and tears in my eyes, I gently pick it up. Its tiny glass eyes gleam in the dying candle light and are full of sadness. A tag is tied to its neck and I turn it over. Scrawled in bright green pen are the words, "Dear the best sister in the world, I found your bear, thought you might want it back. Happy birthday, Ilik". Of course, my bear. I lost it when I was little in the garden and cried for weeks on end because I loved it so much. Ilik must have found it. I hear mournful cries from outside and I cautiously look outside the cracked window. Crowds of people holding out money in their hands started to gather out in the street and I know I can't stay here any longer. But if I go they'll smother me in pity. And I don't want their pity, or their money, or anything of theirs. I will have none of their tainted goods. They believe that pity will heal everything, but band-aids don't fix bullet holes. The only thing of value to me is the sight of Zena Zla name on a shattered grave. Wiping away my tears, I grab a crimson leather coat from my brother's peg and put the bear in its pocket. I leave my house and take a deep breath. No one to lean on, no one to turn to, just me against the world. I look left and see the crowds of people, and I turn right and see something I wouldn't usually see as somewhere I would feel so attracted to. The Forest of Savages.

The stories I was told by my father were terrifying. But now, as I stand staring into the emerald green pine trees surrounding this mysterious secret, I actually feel welcomed by it. Maybe that's what everyone finds so terrifying about it, how it pulls you in and slowly breaks you mentally. But that wasn't how my father described it, he said the forest grew arms and stole the people from their families.

Seconds passed quickly but felt like years. For this decision may mean life or death for me. I continue to stare blankly at the mystifying wood, but a hand touches my back. My first reflex is to run, I just didn't know which way. A split-second thought rushes through my head and I just act on it. Reluctantly, I run towards the forest and underneath the spiky branches of the pine trees. Into the Savage Forest I go. I am probably going to die, but at least I will see my family's smiling faces again and live in freedom, not in fear.