They said that if you wanted to read a book that had not yet been written, you should write it. I kept thinking about the one I wanted to read, but I could not find it anywhere. Of course, it had never been written before because I had never shared my story.

Growing up, I shared a hut with my aunt Rachael and grandmother Priscilla deep in the forest. We were hunters and had the wild animals at our disposal, feasting on anything we could find. I knew nothing about civilization and had spent nearly a millennium behind. My people and I practiced witchcraft. It was what sustained and kept us young. We never grew older as time passed. It was a gift bestowed by the forest spirits in exchange for our protection. They were our friends, so we kept mortals away from them. Being immortal was an irresistible gift, and we were delighted to serve the forest spirits in return. They provided us with everything we needed to survive. But I knew we could not avoid death any longer than we had. All we had to do was obey the spirits' commands and worship them while we were young. Keeping them hidden was one of the numerous bids. No one could see them or the place they lived unless they had the assistance of the dead. The outside world contained treacherous and selfish beings—unkind humans who desired the most valuable things for themselves. Grandma despised them and forbade us from living in their midst. But I could swear Aunt Rachael had a good sense of their world, watching her sneak out in the middle of the night every day and closely following her.

"What are you doing here?" She had caught me on one of those special nights.

"Erm... erm." My words seemed to be stuck. I was stunned to learn that I had been seen, and I could not come up with a better explanation.

"Speak!" She commanded me to speak. Her thunderous voice made me tremble, and I could not say anything.

I dreaded obeying her command, scolding myself while also regretting my decision to follow her. I was this close to knowing what the outside world looked like, despite being fully aware of the veil that prevented me from passing.

"You haven't said anything to grandma, have you?" She moved closer to me and asked, "Have you?" She lowered her voice, and I shook my head, remaining silent. "Good. "Now follow me," she said, surprising me, and yelled, "Hurry up, will you?" She had an angry expression on her face, indicating her displeasure with my sluggishness. Taking my hand, she led me to what appeared to be a tree. At first glance, it appeared to be a red mahogany tree, but up close, it wasn't. It had no description and was devoid of shape.

"An illusion," Aunt Rachael's voice enveloped my thoughts.

"An illusion?" I watched as she extended her hand toward the shapeless, most perplexing thing I had ever seen, and a bright light appeared, illuminating our faces.

"We're here," Aunt Rachael said to me. "The outside world, Hilda," she said in the most straightforward tone. "Welcome."

It looked stunning and even better than I had imagined. I admired the view, and seeing so many people walk past us as if we weren't there captivated me. "Can they...?"

Aunt Rachael responded quickly before I could finish asking my question. "No." She knew exactly what I was thinking. "Promise not to say anything to grandma," she had me promise her before we left.

I knew how badly Grandma would react if she found out we had gone to the outside world, so I promised not to tell her anything, gaining Aunt Rachael's trust.

"Good," She smiled broadly in appreciation of my assurance. Aunt Rachael rubbed my cheek and requested that I wait for her. "I will be back," she hurried off before I could ask her any more questions.

"You seem a little unsettled," a voice said to me by the corner, making me shriek. "Do not worry, I won't tell," the caller said, surprising me.

"Tell who exactly what?" I turned to face him, having no idea what he was on about. He could see me so well that I gasped. "Wait. You can see me?" I inquired, wondering how it was possible.

"I mean, yeah," he shrugged and laughed, holding out his hand to me.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked inquisitively, unsure what to do next.

"Oh, you shake it," he smiled, before introducing himself as "Lucas."

"Lucas?" I returned the smile and shook his hand.

"See. Easy," he said, his excitement palpable. "What's your name?"

I didn't know whether I should tell him or not say anything.

"It's okay,"

"Hilda," I finally told him my name.

"Hilda?" He gave a comforting smile. "That's a beautiful name," he added. The way he spoke made me blush, but I tried to act tough, not wanting his charm to affect me. "You're unlike any human I've ever seen," he said, as if he sensed something odd. "Your secret is safe with me. Trust me."

I held my breath, curious if he knew who I was. And how did he manage to see me?

"What secret?" I acted dumb. "I mean, I have no secret," I attempted to persuade him.

"Well, if you say so," he replied, moving his shoulders in amusing ways.

Aunt Rachael had still not returned, so I was stuck with the strange human. He appeared to be in a good mood and was very friendly. He was tall, blonde, and had true sapphire eyes that burned whenever he spoke.

"You have really cute eyes," I complimented him, not thinking clearly. We had found a quiet place and were already seated.

"Oh, thank you," he replied shyly, complimenting me. "Yours are cute, too," he said with an accent. He brought out a part of me that I had long suppressed—a part that made me feel things I shouldn't, and I seemed to enjoy it. "I want to know more things about you." 

My joyous expression turned into a frown.

"I-I mean, if that's okay with you," he stammered, fearing he had crossed the line.

I arched my brows at him and tucked a strand of hair that had fallen behind my left ear. "Well, you know my name," I knew my response was lame.

"But that's not enough," he said, as if pleading for me to be open with him.

"Well, you would still get to know me," I said, forcing a smile and avoiding his gaze.

"Say what," Lucas rose to his feet and extended his hand.

"What?" I asked.

"Why don't you come with me? "That is, to my home," he explained.

"A-are you sure?" I paused for a moment, unsure whether going with him was the best idea. "I mean, I barely even know you," I said, unimpressed by his offer. Aunt Rachael was still nowhere in sight. "I don't really know..."

He halted me and pulled me up until I was fully on my feet. "Please," he begged me, unwilling to give up until I agreed.

"Well, if you insist," I sighed, still not entirely comfortable with the idea. "But promise me we won't stay long," I made him promise before I fully agreed.

"I promise." He nodded and pulled me along with him.

"Are you always this nice to strangers?"

He whistled as we walked along.

"Well, are you?" I thought he hadn't heard me the first time, so I had to ask again. "Lucas!" I tried to get him to stop whistling and pay attention.

He whistled incessantly without saying anything, and his unexpected behavior made me uncomfortable. "Can you hear me, Lucas?" I tried calling him again, and this time he stopped and turned to face me. "You must be a fool to think I would be so kind to you," his sapphire eyes widened into bulging, fiery red eyes.

"Lucas—" but the sweet, gentle boy I had met was no more. Only a beast! "What in the world...?" I stared at the massive five-headed creature in front of me. It let out a thunderous laugh and snorted like the beast it was. "Seriously?" I had no idea when I let out a loud laugh. It actually thought it could scare me. "Like, really?" I couldn't stop laughing about how ridiculous it looked.

"Hmm. Acting tough, I see," one of its heads said, moving towards me and looking directly into my eyes.

"Not at all," I said confidently, unshaken. "The fact that you think your ridiculous form is frightening to me makes me laugh even more." A mere mortal caught my attention, and her presence briefly distracted me. She was completely unaware of what was going on in the unseen realm, humming happily as she walked past us. "So, let me guess, you are a shape shifter?" I stopped staring at her and focused on the hideous creature.

"Yes," it replied, transforming back into the boy I knew.

"Dang."

He asked, "What?"

I gave my shoulder a slight shrug and shook my head in disgust. "And here I was falling blindly for you," I said, no longer mesmerized by his appearance.

"Wait. Wait. Rewind," I told the shape shifter, but he would not let me say what I was thinking.

"How in the world were you not frightened by that?" He referred to the hideous creature he had transformed into.

"You mean the ridiculous cerbea you were trying to scare me with?" I laughed so hard. I had seen enough for the day and concluded that the outside world was not as interesting as I had imagined. "I'm going..."

"Wait. To where? Why...?"

"Nowhere that concerns you," I said before he asked more questions and made me angrier than I already was. I managed to find my way back to where Aunt Rachael and I had appeared. Aunt Rachael was already there, standing akimbo with bulging eyes. "Where have you been?" She asked where I had gone, rolling her eyes at me. "I bring you into the outside world, and this is how you thank me?"

I gave a sigh and tried to calm her down. "I'm fine, aunt. "Let's just go," I said tiredly, bringing her to a stop.

"Are you alright?"

I responded briefly. "Yes."

"Well, let us go," she said, taking my hand again and stretching hers as she had before.

"Finally," I was relieved to know we were returning home. I promised myself I was never going to leave the forest again.

"Remember, not a word," Aunt Rachael told me once we returned to the forest. "Not even..." she motioned with her fingers to her lips, indicating that I should remain silent.

We arrived at our hut and found Grandmama still sleeping. She had no idea we had been gone for what seemed like hours. It came as a relief. I told Aunt Rachael goodnight and went to bed. Although I was relieved to have seen the outside world, I was still disappointed that my meeting with a strange boy had turned out to be quite the opposite of what I had hoped for—an encounter I never mentioned to anyone.