The Alpha Prince's Purchased Maid
Chapter 361: Hunted Ghost

Chapter 361: Hunted Ghost

Everything felt so unreal including the speed at which I was traveling. Somehow I managed to run quite fast even though I was moving along an unfamiliar path. All I knew was that I had to catch up to my parents and I had to find out what exactly happened that night in the forest. If what I was seeing was a part of my lost memories, then it meant that this had happened before some time in the past when I was just a young girl.

This must be one of the memories that I have lost from the time before I joined the orphanage. It was evident that my family was fleeing from something that night and that was how we ended up in the deep dark forest. As to what or who exactly we were fleeing from I had absolutely no clue.

“Wait for me! Please! Please wait!” I cried out at the top of my lungs as I continued running forward.

After what felt like an eternity of running I finally caught sight of my parents. I knew that I needed to close the distance between myself and them. Suddenly, I heard the sound of something moving from behind me. Something or someone was quickly catching up to me as if I was being hunted as prey. I could feel bloodlust like never before and the cold fear that overcame me and shook my body felt so raw and real.

Everything changed all of a sudden and I found myself running for my life rather than running to follow my family.The sounds of my pursuer’s footsteps echo unrealistically loud from behind me. I could feel them closing the distance between us and I was sure that they would catch up to me in no time at all. I wanted so desperately to turn and look over my shoulder to see who it was that was pursuing me but I feared that I would end up falling if I did that.

Although I knew that I was in the world of dreams and that it wasn’t reality, I wasn’t sure what would happen to me if my pursuers caught up with me. What if I somehow find myself in danger?

I immediately regret leaving the prince’s side, and I wish that he would be here with me. Yet even though I hated myself for always being a burden to him and always relying on him, I couldn’t help but wish that Prince Leonard would be by my side right at that moment. My heart and my thoughts went out to him as I desperately prayed that everything would turn out fine.

My parents and the younger version of myself began moving faster. And I could tell that they knew that they were being pursued. A cold feeling erupted in my chest when I realized that perhaps the pursuers weren’t actually pursuing me but that they were after my family. If this was something that happened in the past as part of my missing memories, then was it true that my family was being pursued in this dark forest back then as well?

Endless questions flooded my mind. And I couldn’t understand what was going on. What did we ever do to deserve something like this? Why were we being pursued?

A loud and chilling howling sound of a wolf in the distance caused me to look over my shoulder. Something in the back of my mind told me that my pursuers weren’t human. Even though I thought that and had heard that howling sound, I was still extremely surprised and shocked when I saw a pack of wolves chasing after me.

There were so many of them that I couldn’t count just how many there actually were. Being chased like this brought back a very vivid memory of that time in the forest, where I went looking for a non-existent flower based on the order of the duchess. Back then I thought that I would lose my life and that my end and that I would meet my unfortunate end all alone at the mercy of the wolves in the deep dark forest. I could see Prince Leonard’s smiling face in my mind and the scene when he talked to those wolves on that night that he saved me. Looking back, that felt like that was the real start of everything between us.

He’s not here to save me now...

I focused on running forward as fast as I could while dodging branches and tree roots here and there. It’s about too much for me to take and I ended up stumbling on something on the ground and falling forward. The wolves were so close behind me that I knew that there was no way that I could outrun them in the condition that I was in. I flipped over and laid on my back as I held my hands up in front of me protectively. I squeezed my eyes closed as I prayed desperately that I would survive this even though I knew that the odds were very slim.

I heard the sound of them approaching, and I knew that I would soon find out the fate that was awaiting me. After a moment, it felt extremely strange when nothing touched my body.

What?

When I opened my eyes there was a wolf running straight towards me. I held up my hands defensively in front of my body as if I could stop it from running right into me. To my utter surprise, the wolf ran straight through my body as if I was made of thin air and did not quite exist in the world.

What just happened?

After that first wolf ran straight through my body, countless of them followed just the same way. I slowly stood up and got to my feet and then a few more wolves ran right through my body and proceeded on their hunt. It was as if they couldn’t see, hear, or even sense me. It was like I didn’t exist in their eyes and that I had no material substance in their world.

–To be continued...