Kira did not scream. No, screaming wasn't going to help her. A shiver of dread skirted down her spine. But she mustered courage and followed the girl, giving nothing away. As the girl led her a few feet, she decided it was time to save herself. She didn't speak. She didn't warn. She simply leaned down, opened her mouth, and sank her teeth hard into the flesh of the girl's hand.
The maid let out a horrific, high-pitched howl—a sound that was far too deep and metallic to be human. Her grip loosened instantly. Kira wrenched her arm free, tasting blood on her tongue. As the girl began to stagger and shift, her bones cracking and her flesh melting into a mass of black shadows, Kira didn't stay to watch the transformation.
She turned and bolted into the pitch-black woods, the darkness of the trees closing in around her like a shroud.
