Chapter Thirty
Kassie
Ascratching sound pulled me from sleep. It came in bursts of tiny claws or feet skittering across something rough and uneven, like an animal moving across tree bark.
I summoned what little strength I had and rolled onto my side. Instead of the hard branch I expected, I felt something springy beneath me. A silky blanket cocooned my body, and as my heavy eyelids finally lifted, I discovered a canopy of tree limbs stretching across the sky above me.
That’s new.
The scratching came again. I turned my head and spotted the culprit—a small squirrel perched at the edge of my strange bed, its tiny paws testing the thick white webbing that held the leaf bed together.
The squirrel cocked its head from one side to the other, examining me and the strange suspended nest I occupied among the branches. I shared its confusion with this death trap; it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.
What was this?
The squirrel tested the strange material with one tentative paw, then another.
I rolled my eyes. "If it can support a human, it can definitely hold a tiny thing like you," I thought.
Apparently convinced, the little creature finally hopped onto the webbed surface and began darting around the perimeter, always staying just beyond my grasp.
Unlike the adventurous squirrel, I hesitated to move.
When I finally gathered my courage to sit up, I realized someone had dressed me while I slept.
Gone was my nakedness, replaced by a fitted white nightgown that clung to my body in all the right places and somehow managed to support my chest without feeling restrictive.
Did he?
I lifted the white blanket, which was also made of silk and yup, he made me a pair of panties, but there was an easy access hole for himself.
What a perv.
I love it!
I gently moved around on the trampoline, just in case anything came loose. I don’t know how he got silk to attach it to a tree and stick a bunch of leaves together to make this. Silk is supposed to be the strongest fabric when woven together, but I wasn’t taking any chances. What if it wasn’t silk?
I crawled across the silky surface toward the sound of rushing water. The suspended bed stretched so wide that it took a full minute of careful movement before I reached the edge, where I could see the stream below.
When I stopped at the far edge, I clutched a branch to steady myself and realized what I'd been hearing wasn't merely a stream. About twenty feet away stood a waterfall, not towering or majestic, but somehow commanding attention, as if it held secrets older than the forest itself.
Something about the falls made my breath catch.
They seemed older than the forest itself, as if they'd witnessed the passing of centuries while everything else crumbled and changed around them.
On the far bank, the rocks were nearly black, while those nearest me gleamed pale and luminous, catching fragments of light that filtered through the canopy above.
This side of the falls was alive with emerald grass, velvet moss, and leaves that trembled on the branches above.
Beautiful, yes, but not the enchanted woodland from storybooks—something darker lingered in the shadows between trees.
Even in its lushness, this forest felt watchful, unsettling in ways I couldn't name.
But compared to what waited across the water, this side might as well have been paradise.
The other side of the stream was a nightmare realm.
Skeletal tree limbs reached like gnarled fingers into a perpetual twilight.
Thorny brambles choked the ground, and what I first thought were pale stones along the water's edge revealed themselves as actual bones…
femurs, ribs, even a few unmistakable skulls.
All my hours of gaming through digital horror couldn't prepare me for the primal fear that crawled up my spine at seeing actual death scattered so casually before me.
Why was there such a difference?
And where was Atlas?
Movement below caught my eye. Atlas knelt by the water's edge, methodically running his hands over his arms, face, and neck in a careful ritual.
I watched, fascinated, as he repeated the motions with such focus that I suddenly understood.
He was grooming himself, unable to bathe in the stream like I would.
He can’t get in the water…
“Hey, Atlas?” I whispered, trying not to startle him. He was still startled because he let out a squeal and fell over onto the grass.
I snorted and shook my head as he stood back up and dusted himself off. Still no jeans or the infamous plaid shirt, just in all his Mothman glory.
“Good morn— I mean good afternoon, my soul.” Atlas flapped his wings several times until he rose into the air.
I scooted back from the edge as Atlas descended, his wings folding elegantly as he perched on the rim of my silk suspension nest where it connected to the branches.
“Did I wake you?” He tilted his head and rubbed his hands together nervously.
I crawled toward him on all fours, my fingers gripping the silky material with each movement.
Something about being suspended this high made my stomach flip, like my body knew one wrong step would send me plummeting through the webbing to the forest floor below.
Logic told me it could hold my weight just fine, but my sweaty palms and racing heart weren't listening.
I reached out and gently tugged at the wing he'd started wrapping around himself like a protective cloak. "That shy act might have worked yesterday, but after what happened between us last night?" I gave him a knowing smile, watching his eyes flicker with embarrassment as he let out a low groan.
His wings drooped as he covered his face with both hands.
"I am mortified by my behavior," he whispered, his eyes glowing crimson through his fingers.
When he finally sank down beside me, I gently guided his head to rest against my shoulder, then let him nestle against my chest as he sought comfort.
His voice vibrated against my skin as he murmured, "Is there any chance of your forgiveness?"
I traced my fingers through his fur, watching his eyes flutter closed at my touch. "Why would I forgive something I'm hoping you'll repeat... frequently?"
Atlas whined. “You are surely a strange female.”
My fingers worked through Atlas' fur, each stroke seeming to melt away his tension until he finally surrendered, stretching out with his head nestled in my lap.
Something about this moment—just us in the forest with no phones buzzing, no deadlines looming—felt dangerously perfect.
I could have stayed like this for hours, but the questions swirling in my mind wouldn't quiet themselves.
“Atlas?” He hummed and rubbed his cheek over my leg. “Can I ask you a couple questions?”
Atlas bolted upright, his head lifting suddenly from my lap. His luminous eyes widened as they fixed on mine. "There's much I haven't explained to you," he said softly. His claw-tipped hand reached out, gently brushing my cheek. "Would you allow me to tell you everything from the very beginning?"
I smiled and nodded. I had a feeling this was going to be way more extensive than my video game tutorial.
Atlas backed away and scratched his head with his claw.
"Arcana Falls wasn't named by accident," he said, gesturing toward the waterfall.
"These waters are why our town exists. They're what allow creatures like me to be more human than monster.
" His luminous eyes flickered toward the rushing water.
"The effect varies among us. Some retain more.
.. animal qualities than others. It depends on how much you consume, whether you bathe in it regularly, or perhaps something deeper about your true nature.
" As he spoke, Atlas absently rubbed the fur on his chest, his claws gently combing through the dark tufts.
I gazed at him, my eyes soft. "To me, you're just Atlas.
The wings, the fur—they're part of who you are.
And yes, you might get a little... enthusiastic sometimes, but you're always gentle with me.
" I lifted his hand to my lips, pressed a kiss against his palm, then guided it to rest against my cheek.
Atlas shook his head, his antennae quivering slightly. "You don't understand what those waters truly do, Kassie." He turned to glance at the cascade behind them… barely taller than he was, a humble trickle compared to the majestic waterfalls humans celebrated in nature documentaries.
Yet, there was no denying the mysteriousness of it.
“Shifters have always been part human, part animal, but they still drink of it so they can control their animals when they turn into one. So they don’t forget who they are.
The mayor, the Slenderman?” Atlas shivered.
“I find him terrifying now at times. He has to come to the falls every day to drink the waters because his inner monster is so strong.
His evil is deep and dark. He is old, and he must repress it daily. "
I sat up straight and turned to the falls myself. “The more monstrous you are, the more water you need? And… monsters are drawn to it?”
Atlas nodded. “I need a drink once a year. I don’t believe Mothmen are that terrible. We don’t hunger for meat.” His eyes grew bright red.
“Except when you bite me?” I gently pushed his shoulder.
He chuckled nervously. “Um, yeah.”
“And these monsters just came in droves and stayed close? Made the town?”
Atlas nodded again. “We became more humanized? Civilized? Those are the words, I suppose? We have a home in town, and homes in the forest. We realized, though, we were missing something. Like our bodies were not complete. We had enough knowledge from drinking the water to realize we were empty.”
My brows furrowed.