Katie began to get dressed and smiled to herself. She was ready to spend the rest of her vacation enjoying herself and relaxing. She had never been the type of person to spend much time relaxing. Instead, she focused on being productive and getting things done. She always had a project going and was always learning something new. This was the first time in years that she did not have a schedule planned and did not know what she was going to do with her time and that felt good.
Katie wanted to wander around the hotel after she ate breakfast and slipped on a maxi dress and a simple pair of flip flops. She was not willing to go too far from the hotel without a guide and her only goal for the day was to actually get out of the hotel.
She quickly made her way down the stairs and into the lobby where breakfast was waiting for her. Katie grabbed a few muffins and headed out the front door. Outside of the hotel was an area that was covered with tables which allowed visitors to enjoy the outdoors while eating or simply hanging out together. There were large plants and flowers everywhere and a small path that led through them into a large garden area on the side of the hotel.
Katie followed the path and found herself in the middle of the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. She picked at her muffin as she looked around. Katie scanned the area when something in the distance caught her eye. It looked like a sign, it was in the shape of an arrow and it was covered in ceramic glass pieces.
Katie walked toward the sign and found that it was pointing to a hiking trail. The trail looked very clear and Katie decided that she would walk a little ways down it. She knew that she could not go far because of her clothing and shoes and wished that she had dressed more appropriately for a hike.
Hiking was something that Katie loved to do, but had not been able to do in a very long time. It had become very difficult for her to keep up with her job, her hobbies and spend the time with her ex that he had expected her to spend with him. Some of the things that she loved had fallen by the wayside and hiking had been one of them.
There was so much that Katie wanted to see on the island and she knew that this trail would be added to her list. The sign had warned not to enter without a proper escort but Katie decided that since she was not going to go deep into the woods it did not matter. She also knew that she had watched plenty of people walking in and out of the woods from her hotel room window over the past few days and it seemed safe enough to her.
Katie began walking into the woods, listening to the birds in the trees above her and simply enjoying the view. She felt completely at peace in the woods and it was not long before she realized that she had traveled much further than she had wanted, but she was not ready to go back to the hotel yet.
The woods were peaceful and she felt more relaxed than she had in a very long time. So she sat on a thick patch of moss and looked up at the sky. She watched the beams of the sun dance through the leaves as they moved in the air and enjoyed the feeling of the warm breeze on her face.
Katie heard a few branches pop in the woods around her and although it startled her at first she did not allow it to frighten her. Something inside of her told her that she was safe, but she also knew that she was getting hungry and decided it was time to head back to the hotel. Katie stood and looked around suddenly she was unsure of which direction she had come from.
As she looked at the paths around her, she decided to follow one, she was confident that it was the path she had been on but as she walked she felt as if she were getting deeper and deeper into the woods. It seemed to be getting much darker than she remembered it being and the top of the trees were much thicker than before. She could no longer see the sun beams and her eyes struggled to focus.
Katie stopped and looked around her when out of the corner of her eye she saw something move. This time she did not feel safe and instead terror began to take over her body. Katie began running but did not make it very far. She instantly regretted wearing flip flops to walk in the woods in as she tripped over a branch and was sent rolling down a hill.
Everything was a blur, happening so fast that she knew she could not stop it, but somehow it felt as if it were happening in slow motion as well. That was Katie’s last thought before her head hit a rock and everything went black.
“Are you okay,” Katie heard a man’s voice asking her. She tried to open her eyes, but the pain in her head was more than she could bare.
She felt hands wrap around her shoulders and lift her up, her head fell to the side and landed on what she knew to be a man’s chest. Katie fought to open her eyes as she felt his hand wipe across her face, pain shot through her head, but she knew she had to get her eyes open.