**Author's Note: This is a 2 part story. This is Part 1. Part 2 will be posted right after Mark of the Incubus Ch. 08.
*****
Miranda Love stumbled through the mist in her glittering green silk dress, wilted wild flowers caught in her dark locks, her heart pounding so hard she thought it would explode out of her chest. The adrenaline from her terror was all that was keeping her from collapsing.
She knew that if she stopped then it would catch her... She heard it's purring growl and thought she smelled it's foul breath of rotten eggs and burning hair. Miranda could see up ahead the edge of the mist. She could see an asphalt road. She dared not look back. She thought if she did then she would be truly lost.
Miranda felt the beast's hot breath on her heels. She made one last lunge before the creature could sink it's teeth into her. She fell hands and knees first out of the mist and into the road. Miranda crawled further away from the mist getting clear of it's smoky grasp.
Finally she turned over and saw that the beast was gone. The echo of it's growls dissolving into the mist. Her blood sang with adrenaline. Her head rang with incoherent whispers. After she settled down, the adrenaline receded and the pain suddenly washed over her like a crashing wave.
She looked down at the state of herself. A long glittering green silk dress that almost covered her nipples and cunt; fabric that was once pristine now smudged win dirt and moss. Her long black hair was damp from morning dew and sweat with wilted wild flowers caught in the tangles.
Her white skin soiled by earth and sticky with blood. Her feet were bare and cut up from the run through the woods. Then she saw her skimmed knees and elbows blackened and red. She felt a searing pain on her right forearm. Miranda looked over to see it was a glowing symbol. A horned circle.
Miranda hissed in pain from the mark that burned in her flesh. She sat on the asphalt as she heard dark whispers roar in her ears like radio static. She covered her ears to block it out but no use. Miranda looked up to see a pair of red eyes glowing malevolently in the mist. Panic rose in her chest. Terror came gasping up her throat, in cold, panting fear.
Despite the pain Miranda managed to get to her feet then as fast as she was able made her way down the road. She had no idea where she was going but the further she was from the evil mist the better.
***
Miranda was 23 years old. American. She had a thin waist she was proud of and full C-Cup breasts that she loved to show off with Victoria Secret bras. Her forest green eyes were always contemplative and calm. Always curious about the world around her especially the hidden world.
The last thing she remembered was camping with her friends... yesterday? Wait... what day was it?
Miranda walked along the road. The whispers becoming smaller turning into an irritating ringing in her ears. She had brushed some of the moss that covered her body. The sun was at high noon, drying her skin as she trudged along.
Every step was like walking on glass, pain surged through her legs to her skimmed knee caps into her weary thighs. The ringing was still making her thoughts fuzzy though the further she got from the forest and into the open country side the clearer things became.
She tried to remember where she had been. Where were her friends?
Miranda started to remember: she was camping with her two college friends who were also into paranormal things. They all believed in ghosts and UFOs. Rick swore he saw Bigfoot on a camping trip when he was 7.
Hayley had a ghost friend until she was 5 that she would play with in her room. Her parents grew concerned that their daughter was having an unhealthy obsession with the unreal but Hayley never grew out of her obsession with the unseen.
Miranda? Sounds silly but Miranda believed in fairies. Her grandmother would tell her stories about them. She always said a human must never trust a fairy. They would take her away to serve them in their world where she would forget about everyone she loved.
Fairies were world class deceivers her grandmother said. Iron would protect her. Miranda saw fairies in her grandmother's gardens. It was all coming back to her now...
Just 3 American college students on a monster hunt. There had been some strange happenings going on in Cornwall, England for the pagan festival of the summer solstice; Litha or Midsummer.
One night Miranda heard some strange noises coming from the forest. She saw lights and a mist. She heard strange voices similar to the ones she was hearing now.
Then Miranda saw a silhouette that looked like a grown man walking into the mist. She didn't know what possessed her to follow him but before she knew it Miranda was half way into the mist following the man and the lights.
Next thing was a blur then Miranda was stumbling through the fog and made it to the road. In the run her body was numb with fear but now that she had her time in the sun, her mind began to clear on some detail but nothing concrete about her time in the forest.
Why was she wearing this dress? It was too revealing for her taste. She saw flashes. Flashes of bodies coming together creating intense sparks of lust and longing. Her body trembled with desire or alarm Miranda wasn't sure. Shaking Miranda from her lost reverie was a red rusted 1950's model pick up truck that drove up next to her.
A man peered out the window and called to her, "Oiy, miss, what are you doin' out ere?" Miranda turned to see a graying wrinkled man with a cap on his head. His eyes widened at her sheer clothing.
His sheep dog was in the passenger seat waking him from his gawking. It barked at Miranda as if she were a dangerous creature.
"Shut it, Saxon," the man ordered. The dog quieted down beginning to whine. "You'd think he'd seen a ghost. Ya lost, miss?"
The man was perhaps in his late 50s with stunning blue eyes, still had all his hair, from what Miranda could tell since he had a brown golf cap on. He had swarthy skin, worn and beaten into leather from years of working in the sun.
He had a kind smile. He got out of the truck, taking off his jacket then wrapping it around her shoulders to cover her. Miranda was thankful for this.
"I think I am...," Miranda spoke in a daze and her vision blurred as she hugged the denim jacket around her. She checked and saw that she was crying. Crying from what? After her nipples and cunt were modestly covered it was then the man noticed Miranda's bloody knees, elbows, and feet.
"Looks like you need some 'elp, Love," the old man said. "Climb in I'll get ya to the station. See if they can 'elp ya."
***
The local police gave Miranda some sweat pants and a hoodie along with a blanket to wrap herself in and some tea. She didn't want it but it was nice to have. She found that she wasn't hungry either even though they left her a ham and cheese sandwich. She felt tired though.
They had a doctor patch her up. Now Miranda was on a cot in a jail cell of an English police station in Cornwall. As soon as she sat down she felt ice cold when she saw the date on the calendar hanging on the white washed wall said it was June 15th... 2017! That couldn't be right. Miranda was sure that the date was June 28, 2010... Right?
The memory of the forest and the mist was a blur. The only thing fresh in Miranda's mind was the fear. Cold terror gripped her in its icy embrace at the memory of running from that thing. That beast.
She was sure it was a beast meant to catch her and bring her back somewhere. Somewhere she was trying to escape. That was the only thing she was sure of. Again Miranda saw flashes of erotic memories. She flushed.
Miranda heard low murmurs. Everything was heightened as if she had spent years underground without light or sound that now flooded her senses. Even in the peace of the jail cell Miranda could hear them all. She heard the police talking. Some about Midsummer's Eve, the bonfires, petty crimes, suspects chafing at their cuffs.
