Silent Woods

By Ofelia Gränd

Do you believe in myths and ancient creatures?

Daniel has never understood the need to leave the city, so when his husband suggests a camping trip for their holiday, he agrees with reluctance. Even before they step out of the car, trepidation crawls over Daniel. Something is wrong. There is something about the forest that turns his stomach into knots.

He wants nothing more than to return to the safety of their home, and when their five-year-old son goes missing his fears turn into full-blown panic. What awaits them in the depths of the forest is far more sinister than anything Daniel ever could have imagined. With a missing child, it’s a race against time. Will they be able to find their son before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Jun 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646568147

Ofelia Gränd

Ofelia Gränd is Swedish, which often shines through in her stories. She likes to write about everyday people ending up in not-so-everyday situations, and hopefully also getting out of them. She writes contemporary, paranormal, romance, horror, Sci-Fi and whatever else catches her fancy.Her books are written for readers who want to take a break from their everyday life for an hour or two.When Ofelia manages to tear herself from the screen and sneak away from husband and children, she likes to take walks in the woods...if she’s lucky she finds her way back home again.Subscribe to Ofelia's Mailing List!https://subscribepage.io/68FxpG

Book preview

Silent Woods

By Ofelia Gränd

Published by JMS Books LLC at Smashwords

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2021 Ofelia Gränd

ISBN 9781646568147

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Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

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One summer I went camping with my sister, my then four-and-a-half-year-old, and my then two-and-a-half-year-old. While in the forest I feared that one of them would get lost—well, maybe not my sister, she can take care of herself in the woods. But what would you do if your child disappeared? I decided to write a story.

As I did, I ran into a few bumps. If it hadn’t been for Jonathan Penn and Bealevon Nolan this story would have ended up in the bin—several times over. Therefore, I’d like to say a special thank you to those two amazing authors. Thank you!

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Silent Woods

By Ofelia Gränd

Chapter 1

I couldn’t sleep. Anders would laugh at me, I knew he would, but I couldn’t help it. The thought of spending the night anywhere other than under a solid roof had me tossing and turning. I had never wanted to sleep under an open sky—or in a tent for that matter.

Until Anders persuaded me to buy this house, I’d lived my entire life in a flat. But our three rooms and bath made him feel closed in, so he had pleaded, begged, for us to move. I never could say no when he begged, and I loved this house—our home—but camping? I’d always thought that the love I had for my husband was unconditional, but this was stretching it.

When we’d first moved here, even our own garden was a little scary, it seemed like wilderness to me, and we were surrounded by houses. It wasn’t like there were any wild animals in our little part of the suburbs, though the Spanish slugs that invaded made me cringe. Anders knew this; still, he wanted us to go off into the hinterlands. In the morning we would pack the car, take the kids, and head out for the forest. He had made it sound like such a good idea—live in a tent for a couple of days, like real adventurers. Let the kids experience the nature.

Naturally, I’d hesitated, but I didn’t want the children to grow up and become like me—nature freaked me out. The creepy animals out there gave me nightmares, not to mention the absence of people. If I were to meet someone in the forest, I’d be certain he or she was a criminal—why else would they hide in the forest? But I didn’t want the kids to be like me, so in the end, I’d said yes. The kids—little traitors—were over the moon. Seemed like sleeping in a tent was far more exciting than sleeping in a hotel. No wonder I’m the boring father, and he’s the fun one.

I’d wanted us to go to another country, to Denmark and visit Legoland, or go by train to Berlin. But Anders thought that they were too young, at least Maja who’d just turned three. She’d be bored even before we’d reached the motorway, and she wouldn’t remember anything from her first trip abroad. No, Anders had wanted us to do something in our own country. We could find something here in Sweden that the kids would get a thrill out of and still keep it simple. I had grumbled my agreement, even though I knew it meant I could kiss my hotel room goodbye.

Anders had always been close to nature, hiking, fishing, even orienteering, before he met me. He wanted to teach the kids what he knew about plants, and animals, and other woodsy stuff. Hell, Axel already recognised more trees than I did, and he was five! Even Maja could point out a birch tree without making any mistakes. And I thought that was great, I did; I just didn’t want to be a part of it. A stroll in the park was enough wildlife for me. But Anders had looked at me with puppy eyes, and I’d thought what the heck; at least I’d be with him in the wilderness. How bad could it be?

The closer we came to departure, the more convinced I became that it would be really, really bad. And now, a mere six hours before we were to leave this safe haven behind us, I was sure that the following two days would be the worst in my entire