Songs to listen to while reading:
The Cure by Lady Gaga
New Rules by Dua Lipa

SSSCCCRRREEEEEECCCHHH.

I gasped, opening my eyes and shooting straight up in shock. My ears were ringing from the hideous noise and my hands were clammy with sweat. I knew what that sound meant ... and it wasn't good. It wasn't good at all.

I glanced around, not surprised to see the light blanket of snow that'd fallen during the night. I untied the rope that was wrapped around my waist and shook some wayward snow off of my blanket before scrambling down the tree.

I cowered down behind the thick trunk, my eyes fixated on the sky.

The book cover was lifted open and the face of our Author came into view. His cruel, twisted features were grim with determination and snark. He knew what he was going to write about. The only problem? He couldn't write it. Not without me in Precipitous. 

"I'm not going back, I'm not going back," I whispered to myself over and over, as if trying to regain my confidence and reassurance.

The Author furrowed his thick brows in thought as he pressed his ink pen against the paper. He scribbled a few lines effortlessly, but then, something happened. He tried to write my name. But he couldn't. His pen was stuck to the paper and he couldn't move it, no matter how hard he tried. An inhumane rage filled his eyes as he realised what'd happened. He cursed loudly and threw his coffee cup off of the table.

SMASH.

Please, please don't hurt anyone, please ... I silently begged the Author. But I knew, deep down, that he most definitely would.

I shuddered and closed my eyes. He was the one person I was truly afraid of. The one person I hated more than anyone else. He needed to be destroyed. He needed to die.

"Fran!" the Author yelled furiously. "Fran! Get in here! NOW!"

The door flew open and a shabbily dressed servant hurried in. "Master?"

"Go fetch Lord Mattingham, and hurry!" the Author barked.

The servant nodded vigorously, whirled around on his heel and left the room.

The Author sat back in his chair, his hands pressed against his forehead and his eyes screwed tightly closed.

The plod-plod of hurried footsteps sounded throughout the room. The door burst open for the second time in the space of five minutes, admitting Lord Mattingham.

"I can't even stay here for one night without something going on!" he exclaimed, clearly annoyed. "What's going on THIS time? Haven't you finished the story yet?"

The Author opened his eyes and glared at him. "I only had three chapters left, Mattingham, three chapters! And now - now she's gone and pulled this trick on me!"

"W-what? Who?" Lord Mattingham sounded confused as he cocked his head towards the Author. "What have you done now? Our publishers are running out of patience! Pull your act together, man, and finish the story! The deadline's in two days!"

"That's the thing ... I can't finish it," the Author explained. "I need to find a new protagonist first."

"Well, what happened to the old one?"

"She's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?"

"I dunno. Either she's left Precipitous altogether and fallen off the grid or she's been killed by the invaders. Either way, she's gone and I need a new protagonist ... now."

Lord Mattingham rolled his eyes. "Oh, for the love of ..." he stopped himself before continuing with a dead-calm, "Then find one and stop complaining."

"Yes, but if the others get any ideas, I could lose over half of the characters! What will happen to the story then? You don't understand how serious this is!" the Author yelled out in frustration.

"What's shouting at me supposed to do? Fix it? Get back to work and don't stop until it's done!" Lord Mattingham shook his head in disgust as he walked away.

The Author's annoyed expression was quickly replaced by one of fanatic anger. Seizing his pen, he began to write once more. As the words transformed into sentences and the sentences into paragraphs, I could instantly tell that what was happening back in Precipitous was anything but good ... and it was all my fault.

Swallowing hard, I battled the tears that threatened to come to my eyes as I thought of Auntie Steph. Without a doubt now, she would be dead, as would many others. Wesley was the next closest in line and after that, Teyla. Soon, it'd be Daniel, my Daniel.

Gathering up my belongings, I shouldered my bag and set off ... deep into the valley.

To my joy, I cleared the valley by noon with no sighting of any invaders, who were, undoubtedly, on a vicious, high-tailed search for me. I did glimpse the wolf again, but it was only twice. I felt sort've relieved that he was staying away. Maybe he'd gotten the point: I had no more food spare to give him.

I soon reached the base of Eagle's Crest after a short trek through a field full of blooming daises.

As I stood there, contemplating the easiest way to get up the high peak, I heard the unmistakable sound of an unwelcome intruder coming from the direction of the forest.

CLOMP. CLOMP. CLOMP.

My eyes widened in horror and my gaze darted all over the place as I searched for somewhere to hide.

There were no trees, no bushes and no under growth to scuttle behind ... only rocks.

"Well ... that's better than nothing," I murmured, hastily diving behind the largest, nearest one I could find.

As I pressed myself flat against the cold, stone wall, I heard the mumbling of voices drawing nearer and nearer.

I closed my eyes and held my breath as the footsteps stopped ... right in front of the rock I was crouching behind!

"Oh damn," a high-pitched woman's voice groaned. "I've lost the directions!"

"The ones the Author gave you?" a deep, masculine tone asked her.

"Uh ... yeah. Who else?" the woman grunted. "Oh well. We're just gonna have to wing it. I mean, what else can we do, right?"

I heaved a shaky breath. They were invaders.

The sudden tearing of what sounded like paper made me jump. Oh crap. I pressed both of my hands to my mouth to stifle a gasp.

"You know you're not supposed to be drinking that stuff when we're on duty!" the man hissed.

"Since when did I give a damn?" the woman scoffed. "Oh god, I hate that bitch. If we didn't have to find her, I would be enjoying my weekend like everyone else."

"Sorry, but we've got a job to do," the man told her. "Now, let's go. If we don't find her in 24 hours, we're done for and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," the woman bickered in response. "It'll be easy. She couldn't have gotten far."

A whoosh of air sounded and I had to stop myself from letting out a startled scream. The woman had tossed her near-empty packet of beer behind her as she was talking. It had landed RIGHT ON MY HEAD before rolling off it and hitting the ground with a small THUD.

"What was that?" the woman inquired.

"What was what?"

"That noise?"

"I didn't hear anything."

"Hang on, is someone over there?"

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

The crunch-crunch of gravel reached my ears. The woman was walking around the rock ... straight towards me! It'd only be a few more moments and then I'd be discovered.

I had to get outta there!

Abruptly, so abruptly in fact that both the man and woman jumped, I leaped to my feet and took off running.

"There!" the woman screamed after me. "There! I see her! Quick! C'mon, alert the others! Go on! Go! I'll take care of her!"

I didn't bother looking behind me, I just pushed my legs faster and faster. The sounds of rattling cobblestones escaped from beneath my feet as I dashed madly down the path winding it's way along the mountain base.

My eyes darted around as I desperately looked about for a quick getaway. Maybe I could lose this one invader before the others caught up with her. But there was nothing between me and the forest ... which was at least two acres away. It was more than likely that the other invaders were already lurking nearby. I couldn't risk returning to the forest. I had to press on ... full speed ahead.

"Snivelling little bitch!" I heard the invader shriek out from behind me, but I didn't stop, not once.

I rounded a curve in the road and came face-to-face with a huge clump of rocks that were blocking my path.

I skidded to a halt and heaved a deep, terrified breath. I heard the evil cackles of the invader as she began to gain on me.

What am I supposed to do now?

Suddenly, I spotted a small crack running up the side of the huge rock. With a cry of triumph, I leaped forward. Wedging my right foot into the crack, I scrambled around for a firm grip with my left hand. I lifted my left foot to a foot-hold just above my other leg and began hauling myself up with my right hand. Higher and higher I climbed, ignoring the invader's inhumane shrieks of rage and anger coming from below.

I sighed with relief as I scrambled up onto the rock-face. I chanced a quick glance over my shoulder towards the ground where the invader was standing and then my breath caught in my throat. She'd disappeared!

I snapped my head around and carefully scanned my surroundings.

Where the hell did she go?

I took a step forward and froze. A puff of warm breath fanned the side of my face and a dark shadow fell across my path.

With a gasp of surprise, I stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, discarded my bag and fumbling around for my knife. The invader towered above me, a gloating grin sprawled across her face.

In one quick movement, she slammed her foot down on my wrist. I heard a snapping sound and I cried out at the flood of pain it produced.

"Not so fast, little one," the invader smirked, leaning down and ripping the knife from my grasp. "Did you really think I'd be scared ... of this?" She chuckled wickedly as she twirled the weapon around her chapped, peeling fingers.

"Give ... that ... back!" I groaned as I tried to sit up.

The invader punched me in the stomach so hard I felt like I was going to throw-up. I fell back against the ground, gasping with agony. I felt blood pool in the back of my mouth and the urge to cough rose up in my throat.

The invader smiled in satisfaction, revealing her blackened, broken teeth. She bent down, grazing her sharpened claws across my face.

"Let's finish this, shall we?" she growled as she drew back the knife.

"No .... no ...." I squirmed. "Please .... nooo!!!"

The invader, however, did not listen to my cries for even a moment. With a shriek of delight, she plunged the knife down, straight in the direction of my heart.

An agonised scream rent through the air and echoed throughout the mountains.

Gif: Hayley hears the invaders coming from the forest.

A/N: Nearly 800 reads? I feel so excited about this!!! It's soo close to 1k, I'm screaming with delight!!! Tysm for that!!!! I love each and every one of my readers! Thank you for ur continual support, I really appreciate it. So do any of u's like how the mystery is developing? I added an action scene for everyone so I hope u all enjoyed it!!! What did u think of Hayley's encounter with the Invader? Do u think Auntie Steph's dead? Will Hayley be killed before her mission is accomplished?
oooo, we have an official ship name for Daniel & Hayley by @Serenity_Zodiac : Dayley!!!! Thanks for that, girl!!! Whatcha all think?? Do anyone even ship these 2?? Hope u enjoyed & pls don't forgot to comment & vote if u did! Love ya's all & hope u enjoy the rest of your week!!! 😁❤️

Word Count: 2,037