Blaze pinched her finger and thumb so tightly across the bridge of her nose that the back of her eyelids erupted with stars. While not helping ease her headache, it did provide a welcome distraction from the arguing relatives behind her. Blaze’s full name was Blazely Theodora Kennington, which she refused to answer to and was one more item in a long list of the reasons she disliked her family so.

It was Christmas Eve and Blaze, having caught up on all her current case paperwork, was contemplating any means of escaping the house which seemed to have shrunk with the influx of family members. She was shaken out of her reverie by the harsh tone of her cell phone. She snatched it up so greedily she nearly sliced her ear off.

The voice on the other end was one that never failed to work up her curiosity. With a Private Investigator this could be a dangerous thing, but in the 3 years since the first phone call Blaze had never been able to determine the identity of her unknown benefactor. The voice phoned, gave her the details of a case, and offered her a fee based on the difficulty he perceived. The next day the money was placed in her account (traveling through so many banks in so many countries that it was impossible to track) and was hers to keep regardless of whether she solved the offered case. Although, to be fair, she did solve more cases than not.

Today the voice informed her that 5 year-old Alisha Farrington had been kidnapped from her home that morning by an especially vicious predator named Vilius Mann. Mann had broken through a roadblock, cut across country, and disappeared with girl into the Théoden Woods.

Blaze felt her blood quicken and her flesh turn cold at the mention of the Théoden Woods. She would have taken the case for free just for the chance to investigate the area responsible for hundreds of folklore tales and legends. Her conscience, unaffected by this thrill, betrayed her by forcing her to ask why she was needed if this much information was available. Less than enlightened by the voice’s rejoinder that she was the only person who could enter the woods and retrieve the girl safely, Blaze nevertheless began preparing for the journey.

Less than an hour later she found herself a few miles away from where the voice had told her she must enter. She had always followed his instructions explicitly in the past, and as they had never led her astray or caused harm she saw no reason to stop now. She parked a hundred yards out, scaled the fence, and entered the tree line at the northernmost edge of the woods. Dressed completely in black as she was, Blaze’s figure was lost to sight within a few steps of entry. Dusk was fast approaching and Blaze, however curious she was about the area, had no intention of being here after dark.

Blaze tracked through the forest, nerves taut, senses hyper-aware, gun drawn as taught at the academy. She tracked for 30 minutes before she found the first signs of her quarry. It appeared from the tracks that Mann was forcing Alisha to walk in front of him at a very quick pace, as evidenced by the numerous areas where the little girl had lost her footing and fallen. Blaze’s lips tightened in anger, she was quite aware of what baser humans were capable of doing to innocent children, having been an investigator of child cases for over eight years.

With a sense of urgency now, Blaze started through the clearing before her. Her steps faltered, and then stopped, as she became aware of the complete silence enveloping her. Not a bird song or insect noise could be heard and Blaze found the vacuum of noise unnerving. As she approached the center of the clearing she realized the trees at the other end were blurring and becoming indistinct. Blaze cursed as she realized she must have lost track of time and dark was drawing near.

Suddenly the sound of a slap pierced the silence, followed by a wail of pain that echoed through the air around her. Blaze’s rage boiled up, threatening to overwhelm her. She closed her eyes and took slow, deep breaths trying to regain her composure. Acting without thinking would be of no help to herself or Alisha. A breeze touched her face and she could hear the leaves rustling around her. When she opened her eyes she found her vision was blurry and distorted. Incoherent thoughts raced through her mind and with horror she recognized the start of another episode. Her last thoughts before losing consciousness were of saving Alisha, this little girl she had never met yet still knew well.

Images pierced the darkness of her mind, strange because the perspective was from so high. Tree-tops passed by and birds took flight in fright as she ventured further through the forest. A faint weeping reached her ears and anger boiled to the surface again as she hurried towards the sound. Rounding a corner she caught her first sight of her prey, and stopped to take in the circumstances.

Mann, a short, pudgy, balding man with an average face housing ice-blue eyes, was in the process of shedding his clothes. Crumpled at the base of a tree was Alisha, a small slender form with tear tracks rushing down the red hand print emblazoned on her cheek. Blaze crept closer as Mann continued to undress, muttering constantly to himself as Alisha continued to weep. Oblivious to her presence, Blaze was able to come directly behind the man without his notice. Mann suddenly sensed something and Blaze froze in place as he whirled around. His eyes passed over her several times without recognition as he surveyed his surroundings. Mann, seeming to believe everything was as it should be, turned and started towards the terrified girl.

Blaze’s rage took control and she reached down (down?) and plucked up the now-terrified man, whose last coherent thought was bewilderment over how he had so seriously lost control over this situation, and carried him away from Alisha. The tranquil night was split with the predator’s screams of horror, and then pain, as he found himself battered against tree trunks like a rag doll. His screams were finally silenced when his body could stand the abuse no longer and limbs were severed from the body. The harsh breathing and guttural sounds of rage finally diminished as Blaze once again sought to control her anger.

As Blaze slowly regained consciousness she pressed her hand against her back, which was quite sore and felt as if someone were poking her in the middle of her spine with a bat. As her eyes focused, and awareness of her surroundings set in, she realized the bat was a knot in the tree trunk she was leaning against. A loud sniffle by her ear caused her to shoot straight to her feet, a move she regretted instantly as every joint in her body screamed protest. Alisha looked up at her with a trace of hero-worship and complete trust. Blaze spun around in a circle (eliciting yet more groans from her battered body) trying to look everywhere at once, but Mann was nowhere in evidence.

Blaze picked up the frail little girl and carried her towards where she thought the forest might end, watching warily for any sign of the whereabouts of the predator. Her natural good humor resurfaced as she realized Mann had not had time to physically ruin the girl, and although she would probably have nightmares for years to come, a full healing was possible. Alisha wrapped her arms around Blaze’s neck and placed her cheek with the rapidly fading hand mark against her shoulder and promptly went to sleep. Within a few hundred yards Blaze found the edge of the forest, and stepped out into the moonlit night to find her car directly in front of her.

Blaze lay the sleeping form of Alisha on the back seat and called the authorities to inform them of their location. This task done, Blaze stared towards the trees and tried to fathom what had just occurred. A warm and peaceful feeling enveloped her as she stepped back towards the forest. With a final look back at the slumbering girl who would now be safe, Blaze re-entered the woods. After all, holidays should be spent with family.

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