When Ambrosia Emerald Hatton was a small child, she and her parents used to march through the forest in the light of the summer day, singing at the top of her lungs with her sparkly yellow wellies on her feet even though she herself was perched on her father's shoulders. And Ambrosia had been perfectly content then, among the trees as the sunlight filtered down through the green canopy high above in the treetops, the birds singing along with every word they produced.

Shortly later, her phobia for the woods had sparked. Her fear had manifested the day that her parent's bodies were found among the trees in the darkness and ever since that day, Ambrosia had hated the forest, whether she entered it by daylight or otherwise. Perhaps her hatred for the innocent swaying trees and ferns was irrational but as Ambrosia stumbled along on that night through the woods- her panic came back in full force.

Ambrosia wore nothing on her feet but socks and the rain seemed to hammer down heavier with each and every step, dragging her into the thickly soaking mud that threatened to drown her. And that was all before you even addressed the aching terror in her chest and the knife that still positioned itself in her abdomen, the silver kitchen knife- a peculiar weapon choice for an all-powerful, immortal vampire, threatened to kill her slowly and Ambrosia found herself wanting it to do so quicker, just to cut off the searing agony she felt with every passing moment.

Somewhere, in the forest that she painfully stumbled throughout- were allies and enemies. The trees seemed to be a labyrinth that day as they stood in the way of the suffering and the saviours. Somewhere, beyond the twisted shadows and thick tree trunks, were her family. Somewhere out there, Ambrosia hoped, Bree still fought on for herself. Edward would be there and the others as well. But similarly, the forest was filled with foes; Victoria, Riley, other unknown vampires. Continuing to venture forwards brought as much hope as it did terror and to call out for help- may be the thing that delivered her to death.

Time seemed irrelevant to Ambrosia, it could have been minutes or hours that passed as she stumbled along. She could have walked metres or miles but she knew with certainty that she had to put as much distance as physically possible between herself and the little white house. Ambrosia's legs felt like stilts as she did her best to coordinate them into a walk, her knees straining with the desire to buckle and pummel her into the sharp branches that lined the earth.

Her feet screamed in protest, uncomfortable in mud and wetness and similarly pinched and stabbed by each and every small stone and twig she stepped upon- to Ambrosia, it was like walking on shards of glass though she couldn't say for certain if the comparison was an accurate one. Her skin was chilled and she knew that she was shivering, even though she felt painfully detached from her own body. The rain was like a sheet upon her and her hands were numb as they continued to clutch achingly to her abdomen- the wound of which still dribbled warm blood that threatened to kill her. The threat of dying from infection was the least of her worries as she stuttered in her walk.

Ambrosia could not see the trees ahead of her until they were less than two feet from her face and it did not help her navigate the dense foliage. The moonlight did nothing to help her sight and as she weakened from her wound, Ambrosia's vision seemed to sway nauseatingly though she wasn't entirely convinced that the swaying she saw was her vision and not herself rocking from side to side as she waddled along as an ice-frozen statue.

All the sweet human girl could hear was her own pulse hammering in her ears and the fearful, unnamed noises that breathed through the forest in the nighttime. Ambrosia herself stuttered out a harsh breath as she moved slowly, to run would be a genuine impossibility to her now though she sobbed achingly, in pain and in terror as she gripped her own body for protection.

All of a sudden, a protruding tree branch that her eyes could not previously see snared her ankle like a greedy hand dragging her downwards and she screeched beside herself as she clattered onto the earth. Turning her shoulder to the solid ground so as to not shove the knife further inside her body, Ambrosia was deaf to her own shocked, pained scream as the earth smacked her in a violent kiss.

Her head ricocheted in a sickening, cracking sensation as she hit the ground, her forehead clipping what she could only imagine was a rock of some variety and not even a millisecond later, her tanned forehead gushed with warm, thick blood that splattered down around her rounded cheeks as she screeched slightly. Despite the focused wound, her entire skull seemed to reverberate with a splintering headache.

The second the weightlessness of falling had succumbed her- Ambrosia knew that she wouldn't have the strength to drag herself back up again though she tried weakly, in a futile attempt at self-preservation. Groaning in resignation, Ambrosia flopped like an unelegant fish onto the earth and the second her curls tangled with the thick mud and curled crumpled leaves. She knew that she wouldn't be able to save herself now.

Ambrosia felt oddly patient as she rolled downwards onto her back, slowly dimming green eyes scanning across the star-lit sky. She didn't shiver anymore as her gaze finally took in the beauty of the glowing milky white moonlight and her paling, blood-stained hands flopped downwards, no longer having the strength to put pressure on her wound. Ambrosia's tears tried up as she took in the beauty of the trees in the darkness and as her life faded away slowly- she no longer feared the dark forest... It welcomed her.