Accursed Forest

By Chriselda Barretto

Ioan has decided to move back to his homeland Romania, together with his wife Ana and their son Vasile. 

But going back home unveils a very dark and sordid history which impacts all of them.

The family don't seem to be alone.

To make matters worse, there is a very dominant evil force lurking in the shadows, creating havoc amidst everything.

As their life unfolds things seem to get more mysterious.

Can they manage to piece together all the parts of this scary puzzle? 

Could they be forgetting the most important & basic essence of life?

Ж

Living life to the fullest

means accepting it in its entirety,

so must death be accepted in its whole!

Chriselda Barretto

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chriselda Barretto
• Release date: Oct 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386169727

Chriselda Barretto

Chriselda was born in Bombay, India bringing in the New Year, on 2nd January. She moved to Belgium in 1996 where she currently resides with her family. She has mixed roots, namely Anglo-Indian and Goan-Portuguese influenced. Having travelled the world extensively, as an Inflight Safety Training Instructor, she has worked in the Aviation industry for over two decades. Always with a touch of artistic creativity along with being a professional modern jazz dancer, she also loves music and is passionate about writing! She loves writing poetry, stories and quotes. Her aim is to bring poetry back to its glory and has published her first narrative poetry story series 'The Creep', in a thriller genre! Other fiction genres she is currently working on are romance, fantasy and she promises to surprise with a few more. So stay tuned! She is presently writing more poems and a follow up to The Creep series, and has some more titles that she has already begun work on.  

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Moraru Family

C ome on now! said Ioan, to his little son, Vasile. They were on their last leg of their morning jog around the block. His wife Ana didn't join them today as she was busy packing. The Moraru's were Romanian but were living in the States since Vasile' s birth. Though they loved it here, home called. Ioan's mother was ailing, and he wanted to spend more time with her. Both he and Ana agreed that Vasile should grow up knowing the love of his grandmother.

So here they were spending their last few days in their adopted home in Seattle. The anticipation of this massive move and change of lifestyle was taking its toll on all of them. Ana was seeing a therapist for PMS, and she was getting better. But now this added stress was making her moody and angry.

Ioan thought this move back home would make her calmer, that it would relax her more and get her to enjoy Vasile more. Vasile was born with infantile paralysis also called polio. It caused the muscles in his legs to weaken, which left him unable to walk. So they had a special wheelchair made for him, colored with his favorite shade of blue and purple.

Vasile's handicap did not alter his character at all. He was one of the most jovial boys around. He had many friends around him, a popular and generous boy. He always had a smile on his face. His smile and giving nature was the only thing that kept Ana, his mother happy.

Now laughing with his dad Ioan, while he tried to jog and push Vasile's wheelchair, they seemed to forget the little worries of life. Ioan also realized that he was getting tired and wanted to reach home already. He decided to walk the rest of the distance back home.

Vasile teased him that he was already getting old. They laughed and went on with their general banter.

Following them, in the shadows of the trees and daylight, were many lost souls. Beings half in and out of this world. They were protecting what was theirs. Their future king, their Redeemer, who would release them from their locked misery. Lost souls they longed for their freedom. The myth spoke of one redeemer. Being spirits, they had a rule over the third dimension, giving them the knowledge of time, past, present and future!

So when he was born, they already knew beforehand that he was the one. Marked with the blood of the after-world, he would set them free. He descended into the earthly realm to fulfil his purpose of establishing his army and letting them free.

His faithful followers, they were all around him. He did not know of them yet, but soon they knew Vasile's life would change drastically.

They whispered to each other, nodding in agreement that the first transition would be now, in a few minutes. Happiness was slowly spreading amongst their kind, their forms going through a metabolic transformation as well!

Ioan kept walking; he could feel his legs tire. But he had to reach home. He felt it again, this pulling sensation at his heart. He always felt this sort of numb pain before a vision. He knew that when he slept later, he would have a vision when in his dream state. Most of the time he didn't recall anything after. But sometimes they could be so traumatizing that he couldn't quickly forget it. It would play on his mind, but he had learned to control these thoughts. He would lock them away in the back of his mind. He had to, to maintain his sanity!

Something was shining up ahead on the path. Vasile pointed at it and asked Ioan to go towards it. Now drawing his attention, Ioan noticed it too. He started pushing the wheelchair toward it. This shinning grew stronger, Ioan stopped a few feet away from it and locked the brakes on the wheelchair. He went towards it and then bent to pick it up. At first touch it seemed hot, burning his fingertips. His typical reaction was to move his hand away, rubbing his fingers to rid the pain. It looked like gold or some kind of yellowish metal coin.

Vasile called out to him, asking him to bring the object to him. Ioan took out his handkerchief and picked it up, using the tissue as a glove. He now looked at the coin up close. Nothing, it had no dents, engraving, not even a mark on it! He started walking towards Vasile, puzzled at what this object was.

Vasile asked his dad to show it to him. Ioan handed it to him carefully wrapped in the cloth, warning him to be careful as it was hot. Vasile took the wrapped coin in his hand. Staring at it, he felt an odd sensation run through him. He heard them, strange whispering voices in his head. They were telling him to touch it, but his father had just warned him against it. Vasile was torn with the contradicting thoughts, and he didn't know what to do. The urge was taking over; he touched it. Vapors were flying out, Ioan was too late in trying to stop him. Vasile was in awe; the metal was cold to his touch, but, now indents were forming on it. Right in front of his eyes, he could see strange letters form. It was searing into the metal.

Ancient markings, from centuries ago lit up on the surface of the coin. It's light reflecting onto Vasile's eyes. He understood now; this was his first step towards his goal, his initiation. Ioan watched in dismay; he couldn't believe this was happening. Behind him, he heard a vibrant rushing of air, a heavy rustling of leaves, a strong wind blowing around the two of them. The wheelchair started vibrating; he tried to hold it down, with all his strength. This force was too strong!

He called out to Vasile to hold on, but Vasile seemed frozen. He yelled his name again, and went in front of Vasile, and saw his head hanging down lifeless. He was worried, his hands now shaking he put his palm under Vasile's chin and lifted his face. It wasn't Vasile, it was an old man, skin grey and shriveled, eyes closed. Ioan called out Vasile's name and this old man opened his eyes, but there weren't any eyes there, only black holes of darkness.

Ioan's breath caught halfway. His breathing stopped from this horrific image. Sweating profusely, he sat up. Confused he looked around; it was dark, he was in his bedroom, on his bed. Ana slept peacefully by his side. Was he dreaming?

Ж

Chapter 2

Ana

Ana was at home all alone. Ever since Vasile's birth, she felt different. Ana was a very closed person and didn't have many friends. But now she was depressed and preferred seclusion. She loved being by herself and just her thoughts to keep her company.

Her life changed the day she gave birth to Vasile. She felt a massive sense of protection towards him. His handicap didn't make him needy, but it made her even more watchful over him. She wished he could be a normal healthy boy, running and playing, like all children his age. But that would probably not happen.

At home now, she found a box full of old pictures. She started casually flipping through them. These brought back so many memories. There were so many pictures of him as a baby. He always was happy and smiling. A real charmer too!

While going through