Chapter 1 #2
There’s another laugh, this time from deeper within the trees. “Haven’t you been looking for me?”
I glance back at the house. It’d be safer to run inside and pretend I never left, but I came out here for a reason.
“Yes, I saw you outside my window. There could be men strolling through the woods, and you might get yourself in trouble, wandering as you are now.” I stumble over the last few words, my cheeks warming at the thought of her curving body.
Sliding my shawl from my shoulders, I hold it out. “Here, make yourself decent.”
She doesn’t say anything, but a few moments later, she reaches her hand out to take it from me, her long, slim fingers grazing mine slowly. “But you’re not so decent yourself.”
I look down at my thin white gown. She’s right. “It doesn’t matter. I’m heading back inside for the night. Take care.”
“You’re leaving already?” My wool shawl is dangling from the hand she has cupped beneath mine. She hasn’t pulled back yet. I’m stunned that we’re still touching.
“Yes,” I declare hoarsely. “Good night.”
Her thumb brushes over my wrist. “But what if I want to show you something?”
No. The answer is right on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t make myself say it. I don’t want to break contact just yet. “I—”
Her warmth disappears, and I’m left with my hand outstretched, seeking her touch as I listen to her retreating footsteps crunching over the carpet of the forest. “Follow me.”
I obey, as if I’m under an enchantment, holding my candle out before me.
Light flickers on segments of her body—the dirty soles of her feet, the waves of golden hair cascading down to the small of her back, and the slope of her upturned nose when she glances over her shoulder.
I catch her in glimpses, never seeing her completely.
She hops over a stump and slips between a cluster of holly bushes.
The prickly leaves snag on my skirt and sleeves, but I make my way through and find myself in a circular clearing.
A small cottage stands at the opposite end, black gaps striping the face of the pitched roof where several of its wooden planks have fallen.
“This is the Abbotts’ old hunting cabin,” I remark.
The family abandoned it when they built a new one closer to the stream.
My friends and I would come here after we did our chores for the day to discuss the forbidden topics of womanhood that our mothers forbade us from talking about.
It was the perfect secret hiding place, but now it’s a desolate thing, its porch collapsed and rotting into the soil.
“I know,” the woman says, but her voice is coming from inside the cabin. “This will be our secret.”
A sudden breeze kills my candle’s flame, but I’m too intrigued by the prospect of secrecy to let my fear get to me. I want to know what lies within these walls. Ducking beneath a wood beam slanted over the doorless opening, I step inside.
“It’s dark as pitch in here,” I say. It takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust and find the moonlit backdrop of the forest through the dust-covered window.
The woman’s figure moves in front of it, branches hanging low and positioned behind her silhouette so that it appears as if antlers are protruding from her head.
“Yes, but I can help with that.” She snaps her fingers, and a burst of orange light follows a hiss of air. Lit candles appear, painting the cabin with their fiery haze.
Thick votives fill each shelf nailed into the walls, and wax dribbles down long pillars, dripping into pewter pans.
“How did you—” My words die off when I see the woman’s face up close for the first time.
My goodness, she is so lovely.
A curtain of golden hair falls to her waist, framing a wide forehead that curves down to a perfectly pointed chin. I’m drawn to the soft pout of her rosy lips above it.
I’m certain now that we’ve never met. There’s no way I’d ever forget a precious face like that.
“How did you do that?” I demand, irritated by my own hesitation.
She twirls around, her narrow hips swinging as she gestures to the glass jars on the countertops. They’re filled with tinted liquids, some with strange objects floating in their contents. “Magic.”
Blood drains from my face. “Never say that to anyone again if you value your life.”
She tilts her head. “Why not?”
“Do you even have to ask?” I wave my hands around, convinced there is still some explanation for all of this.
It won’t matter what it is if she’s caught here, with strange symbols marking the walls and floor.
The folks around here will take one look at this place and call her a witch. “Whatever you’re doing here—stop it.”
I’m standing close enough to see the amber hues in her dark brown eyes. They turn molten in the candlelight, a wicked grin spreading across her face as she says, “I don’t want to stop.”
There’s a dimple on her right cheek. The strangest urge to press my thumb into the indent comes over me, but I shake the thought away, turning on my heel. If this is some enchantment, I must break it.
“I only came out here to warn you of potential consequences, but if you insist on behaving like this, you must face them on your own.” This woman is a stranger—a naked stranger with an apparent thirst for trouble.
I don’t owe her anything, don’t need her to drag me down into the dirt with her.
“I’ll take my leave now that I’ve done my good deed. ”
“But we both know you didn’t follow me as an act of charity,” she says, a light hand on my shoulder stopping me as I toe the threshold.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask, breathless as her fingers walk up my neck, coaxing me to look at her, but I can’t. Not yet.
“You wanted to meet someone who has felt the pain of her body tearing at the seams, trying to accommodate a soul that’s far too heavy.
I know your wild soul aches to be free from the strict expectations of your society.
I have sensed you in the darkness; I have heard your silent pleas,” she says. “Deep down, you know you summoned me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I argue, the words sounding hollow as they roll off my tongue. The truth of my heart may be buried deep, but I’m aware of the nights I’ve spent lying awake, wishing for impossible things.
“Yes, you do,” she says, brushing my obvious lie aside. “That feeling you get in the middle of the night has a name. What is it?”
“Desire,” I admit, tears of shame prickling behind my eyes. “Is that what you are? Some demon of lust sent to torment me for my wicked ways?”
“Desire is more complex than heat building between your legs.” She chuckles low, her breath ghosting over my ear.
“It’s seeing your friends have their spirits broken by men and watching your future unfold before you, each pathway blocked off by an unclimbable wall while always suspecting something’s waiting on the other side.
If only you could—” Her hand trails closer to my neck.
“Just.” A finger traces over my pulse point.
“Break.” My heart is in my throat, jumping to meet the fingertip that settles in the hollow between my collarbones. “Through.”
She pinches the ribbon tying the neck of my nightgown together, and I make a sound in the back of my throat as she continues, “I can show you how if you want me to, for I do not think it is wicked to want more, and I would never dream of tormenting you.”
“Why are you doing this?” I spin around, our faces nearly touching.
That’s how close we’re standing. She’s only an inch or two taller than me, her cheekbones carved beneath those dark eyes that sparkle preternaturally.
Tossing her hair, her golden waves part enough to let her pink nipples peak through.
I fold my arms over my full breasts self-consciously.
Hers is a sharp sort of beauty that makes me grateful for the layer of clothing separating us. I am all soft curves, my long hair a dull shade that’s neither blonde nor brown, but somewhere in between.
“Because I was a woman like you once, before someone showed me how to be free.” She walks in a circle around me.
“Because I took her advice and she abandoned me, and I have spent centuries alone, searching for someone to keep me company. I’ve been watching you for years now. You are the one for me.”
“What if this is a trick?” I’m terrified of being so close to something I want so badly and having it snatched from me.
It’s more frightening than anything. I close my eyes, and when I open them, she’s completed her circle and is standing in front of me again.
“What if you’re only here to corrupt me and leave me lonely? ”
“Darling, if you choose me tonight, I will never leave.” She lifts my chin, meeting my skeptical gaze. “I’ve been waiting so long. You’ll have to trust me.”
“Tonight?” I croak. I want to believe her, but I need time to figure out if this is real or not, because it all feels like a dream.
“Tonight,” she says simply. “A hunt has begun, and men are searching for me. I can handle myself, but it wouldn’t be fair to put you in danger when you don’t possess the gift of immortality.”
My mouth opens around a question I’m unable to speak.
“Yes, if you take my offer, then you will live forever like me,” she explains. “We can explore a new place whenever the locals get suspicious. We can go on as many adventures as we please. Maybe we can find others like us, who only wish to run and be free. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
“It does,” I admit, my tongue clicking off the roof of my mouth. “But—”
“But you’re afraid of the uncertainty,” she finishes, her mouth moving closer to mine. “I understand that. Would it help you if I showed you how nice forever can be?”
I nudge my face forward to dissolve the space between us, our noses touching as I murmur against her lips. “Yes, yes. I want this. But I don’t even know what your name is.”