prologue

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One hundred feet and she fell, twisting her ankle in a hole.

She heard a sharp pop and it dropped her. Her body collapsing on soggy dirt and leaves and at that moment, she knew she would die. Alone.

She attempted to drag herself through the humid rain to some sort of shelter in the godforsaken forest, but she was only able to scrape by on her elbows and knees—each movement sending a shock of pain up her leg, and it reverberated throughout every bone in her body.

It was all her fault. She made the wrong decision. She should have stayed with her friends. No, she corrected herself—she should have stayed in the comforts of her home in the city. When she left no more than five hours ago, she'd felt a sweet sense of defiance against her grandmother. Now she just felt numb, wet . . . and stupid. Was freedom really worth her own life?

Tess had her doubts as the forest's soil crept through her soaked clothing. It took a moment for her to realize there was only a thin piece of wet fabric between her fragile skin and the ground that wished to consume it, one single layer between the wild and deadly animals that wished to rip her flesh apart with their teeth and have her for a meal.

"Oh, God," she whispered into the ground, unsure if there was such a being. She rolled on her back in defeat.

She glanced at the underside of the red wood trees above her and the massive plants groaned under the weight of the sky's burdens, sagging to the ground packed with rain.

She stayed in her position for what felt like hours, waiting for her death. Out of all the ways she imagined to die, this had never factored into one: In the forest, on her back with a broken ankle and rain pounding against her sensitive flesh. The longer she lay there the more she accepted it, even as every cell in her body cried from the pain she couldn't escape. She waited for the numbness, but found only a sharp awareness, a responsive feeling of her aching joints and cut skin.

Her last conscious thought was of her grandmother and friends.

It was a wish.

The rain slowly began to lighten.

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Tess was trying to sort reality from fantasy, dream from nightmare before she realized that her eyes were open.

It was real. She, at first thought it to be a bear, but a bear didn't stay walking upright for that long.

It was human, a man. He stood on top of the hill, glancing down at the landscape. He was far enough away that she doubted he saw her small form on the ground and her heart skipped a beat when he began to turn, as if he was done looking.

He was going to leave . . .

At that moment, Tess was so overwhelmed with a feeling of loneliness that in a desperate attempt for some sort of comfort, her body flailed, using her remaining energy to get his attention. She croaked out something. Not words, just a noise.

The man paused, and slowly turned.

He began to stalk toward her form with deliberate and precise steps that were powered by a dominance that had her breath hitching. The soft crunch of leaves and branches echoed through her ears, the birds in the trees and the animals in the forest silencing as though his very presence left them in awe. He moved to stand above her, blocking the sun that peaked out from behind the steamy gray clouds and she blinked, trying to adjust her eyes. Her retinas dilated enough for her to see the man staring down at her—his emerald eyes glowing against the reflecting greens of the trees.

And she gasped in disbelief when she realized . . . he was no man.

He was a chimpanzee.

She watched in lethargic curiosity as he leant down and slowly looked over her form, his intense orbs keeping her in her place. The chimp was much larger then she expected one to be, his dark fur and face lightly painted in red and white tribal designs. His chin tipped back, eyes meeting her own and leaving Tess astonished at how bright they were.

Her fingers hesitantly reached for him, brushing against his forearm before they dropped in exhaustion. "Please," she whispered, "Please, help me . . ."

He continued to stare, eyes flickering to her swollen ankle that had become a dark, bruising purple.

He nudged it.

She cried out.

And the world blackened.