The Forest

It is late autumn; the wind blows lightly making the colourful leaves rustle together, high up in the trees. The sky is a bright, perfect blue, it’s chilly though, and a warm jacket or thick hoodie is a must. There is only about an hour left until sunset, when the sky turns a gentle orange with salmon pink, purple and blue strokes through it. I walk down the wide gravel path that crunches underfoot and gaze up at the trees. So tall, so beautiful, but in a couple of weeks’ time they will be bare, ugly and brown.
I look to my right and see the cycling track and the football field, to my left the golf course and I know that ahead lays the castle. Most people come here to use those facilities, never really caring to venture on, but I do. The forest feels so wild, so vast but, of course, it’s all manmade. Everything in the city usually is. Almost everyone loves being right in the centre, where all the attractions are, where you can shop, go clubbing, watch films, eat out and all the rest. I prefer to be out in the forest. There’s so much to see, to learn, to discover.
The path starts curving towards the left and the castle comes into view. My dad knows the people who own it. They bought it when it was crumbling and in desperate need of renovation, now it’s repaired with a massive courtyard, a big enough garden and plenty of room for hosting nights inside (2 bar areas and a hall. Come to think of it, the courtyard is used a lot too.). My dad is a DJ in his spare time; he used to use the castle for his nights. He’s not one of those minter DJ’s you get at parties that tries to be ‘down with the kids’, he’s a House DJ. A proper, makes his own remixes and tracks and stuff DJ. No-one believes me when I tell them and it’s probably because that his job sounds so cool, too cool. I’m a nerd, I love books, I love English, I love writing and I’m good at (even though I absolutely loathe it,) maths. ‘Cool’ isn’t really the best word to describe me, but I don’t care about what the ‘popular’, ‘in’ crowd think of me.
Once I’ve reached the castle I turn right. The path becomes thinner there. It is only mud, no more gravel. It must have rained in the night; the mud is horrible and squelchy, it’s starting to seep through my Converse. I take a turn left after about 12 steps and skip down a flight of stairs moulded out of the now pine-needle covered mud.
When I reach the bottom I stop and back up a couple of steps. I hop off the stairs and land at the bottom of the slope that had been on my left. The burn now lies in front of me. It’s only about an inch deep and a meter and a half wide, so you can see all the small stones and pebbles that sit at the bottom. Every now and again there is a bigger rock that you can use as a stepping stone, these will come in handy when I can’t walk along the bank further upstream. Branches of trees bend over and are at a perfect height for grabbing and using to balance yourself. I go back the way I came but on the other side of the steps. As I continue along the bank, treading carefully, I watch the slope I walked down rise up again. I continue this way for as long as I can but eventually I have to use the stones.
Some of the bigger rocks on either side of me have moss growing on them and nettles poking out of their sides. I avoid them like the plague. Last time I was here I fell and grabbed onto one of the nettles on my way down. My hand swelled up with stings and so did my forearm. Everything here is so green, so fresh. The air is clean and smells of pine and plants.
I can hear the waterfall up ahead, the wonderful, calming sound of a slow running river. It’s not really, strictly speaking, a waterfall. Basically, it’s a lump of rock that’s covered in moss and leaves which the water has cut itself a path out of. It’s a beautiful sight but it’s nothing compared to Niagara Falls. You can sit right in the middle of it with the water running around you, if you can climb up it without slipping. It’s easier in summer when the leaves aren’t all over the place. It that’s not for you there’s a group of rocks off to the side that are big enough to perch yourself on. I always prefer the waterfall. That’s where I’m meeting him.

At first I didn’t see him, but eventually could I spot him sitting on the rocks to the side. I had to tell him now, I couldn’t go back.
I have known that we are going to be moving to Edinburgh for a few years now, but I hadn’t really given it much thought. It had always seemed like ages away, not anymore. Now I’ve only a month left and I have to tell him.
In truth we’ve only been going out a couple of months but I’ve fancied him for ages. Naturally, I’m now reluctant to leave. It’s surprising but he seems to genuinely like me too, don’t ask me why. He’s a great guy, attractive and into all the same things as me (except all the obvious stuff. It would be quite weird if he was as ‘Team Peeta’ as I was.). He can be a bit possessive though… I don’t know how he’s going to take it.
Before I say anything to him he’s standing up and he has put his hand over my mouth, not in a threatening way, just so he can speak first.
‘I already know,’ He says. His gorgeous green eyes stare into mine sadly, ‘Ali told me. Why didn’t you tell me before?’ Ali, the snidey cow! I should’ve known! I was friends with her when I first found out about Edinburgh and I told her about it. She’s been weird with me since I started going out with him.
‘I was going to tell you now. I didn’t want to ruin things. I’m sorry.’
‘It’s okay. I mean I know you must be sad that your family are leaving but you’ll still have me.’
‘Wait, what? I’m leaving Dundee, as in not living here anymore. I’m not going to go to the Morgan, hang out here or at Baxter’s anymore. I’ll be in Edinburgh,’ I see his face grow angry and cold, I decide to backpedal a bit ‘B-but I’ll still visit, every weekend. We could still go out, just not see as m-much of each other. I get it if you don’t want to go out with me anymore, though…’
‘Don’t you want to go out with me?’ he asks, seemingly outraged ‘Is there somebody else in Edinburgh, a better guy for you? Does he love Ed Sheeran’s music, like you? I knew that would be the death of us! The only thing we disagreed on! You’ve been cheating haven’t you, you slut!’
‘A-Alex, no! I just… My parents-’ He slaps me and I stagger back and almost lose my balance.
‘You’re a cheat and you’re lying to me! Don’t lie to me!’ he is in an uncontrollable rage, shouting deafeningly, screaming in my face. I’ve never seem this side of him, my instincts are screaming at me to run. A vein in his forehead is pulsing, his eyes, his beautiful green eyes, are bulging. As I turn to go he grabs the neck of my cream knit jumper and pulls my face just centimetres from his, it’s now that I smell the alcohol on his breath. ‘Right, this is your last chance. I thought you were the one, I could see us together forever. But no, you were tricking me, weren’t you, wrapping me ‘round your little finger, filling my head with thoughts of you. Even now, even though I know you have been unfaithful, my heart still beats for you. But I can see a way out of this. Either you stay here with me by choice, or I keep you here by force.’
‘Please, Alex! Let go. I love you but we’ll be going to Uni soon anyway. Let me go…’
‘NO!’ he screams and throws me backwards. This time I slip on the pebbles beneath my feet. Stones stick deep in my back and I whack my head off a greyish rock behind me. There is a horrible cracking noise. My vision goes blurry and I struggle to keep my balance. I stumble around holding the back of my head. My hand comes away warm, red and sticky. My knees go weak and I feel vomit rising in my throat. ‘B-blood… oh no’. I puke and my clothes get covered in the foul-smelling stuff. I’ve always been weird with blood, more often than not I faint at the sight of it. Either that or I puke. I slip again and land on my bum.
‘Ow.’ I mutter
‘Oh, my God!’ Alex whispers ‘I’m so sorry. I-I …-’
‘I hate you! Look at what you have done! Why? I’ve never even cheated on you!’
‘I don’t care! You were going to leave me! You’d eventually get a new boyfriend, move on. But if I can’t have you nobody can!’ He walks towards me and puts his head beside my ear. ‘I won’t let you leave me…’ he whispers. He digs in his pocket and brings out a penknife. It’s the one we used to cut braches from trees to make a shelter in the summer when it started raining. We were already soaked by the time it was finished but, as childish as it sounds, it had been fun.
‘Never…’ he mutters as he sticks the knife in my abdomen.


Night comes but I feel no cold. I don’t feel anything. I’m lulled to sleep by the sound of the water around me. Alex’s hasty footfalls have left long ago, not pausing once to change his mind. He left me, left me in fear that I would leave him. No matter, I am close to Death now. I can hear it beckoning me, gently and quietly, speaking of everlasting youth, walking without tiring across the world, getting revenge if that suits me. Up until now I had been clinging on to life, hoping that someone would find me before the night takes me. It’s too late now and revenge suits me fine. I give in and let Death scoop me from the forest floor. Consoling and healing me I feel my stamina return. It whispers softly to me
‘Do as you wish now, child. You are free from your mortal bounds. ‘, then it is gone. I look around, I am atop the waterfall. My lifeless mortal body is lying in the middle of the burn a meter and a half or so away. All of the water around it is red. The rock to its left is red. The knife sticking out of its abdomen is red. Its skull is partially caved in. I break down crying, my life has gone. I am no longer her. Everything I have ever known has been snatched away, by him.
I stay still, perched on my rock, waiting for him to return. I will wait here until he does. Then I’ll kill him. I’ll break his skull and stab his stomach. I’ll kill him for what he did to me.
Now I’m not Niamh the geeky girl who dreamed of being a writer, actress, MP or photographer. The girl who loved books, life, her friends and nature. Who wanted to have bigger eyes and to get better with make-up, whose musical tastes ranged from metal to folk. The girl who loved Alex, who died for loving Alex.