Chapter 5 #2
She stopped to take a breath, choking on another cough. When she continued, her voice was hoarse.
“It’s why your parents were so adamant about you never going to Scotland.
They were scared you’d be carried away in the mist, just like Rowan.
I tried to change their minds, to get them to tell you what had happened, but they refused.
It’s why I always read you those stories about fairies and elves…
” She trailed off and started coughing in earnest, trying to catch her breath.
“I hate leaving it like this and want to reassure you further,” she gasped, “but I must go. I will call you again tonight.”
My mind was still whirling, and I could barely form a reply, barely say goodbye.
I was a changeling.
What did that even mean? I couldn’t understand how my parents could keep this a secret. All these years. All the times they’d told me that I must never lie. And they had been lying to me all along. A surge of anger and betrayal clouded my mind. How could they do this to me?
I turned and started running down the path, tears blinding my eyes. A million thoughts raced through my mind.
Who was I?
What was my true identity?
Did I have another family?
I fell to the ground when my boot caught on a rock, scraping my hands in the dirt. What else had they kept from me? What other secrets were they hiding? My entire world felt like it was crashing down around me, like the rain that pelted from the sky.
A sudden realisation struck me. Was this why I’d always felt different?
Why my mother had stared at me sometimes with fear in her eyes?
Doubt and suspicion filled my head. Clawing at me until I was conflicted and torn.
Creeping up on me – just like the mist I’d failed to notice as it swirled around my legs.
I was truly, utterly lost. Everywhere I looked, every direction I turned, all I could see were trees.
A never-ending expanse of spruce. Fir. Evergreen.
The hard-packed trail had disappeared under a crunch of needles and every step forward brought forth the sweet scent of pine.
Bracken and golden ferns fought for supremacy, hindering my steps, directing me where to go.
I hesitantly followed a trail etched out by some creature long ago.
The cooling air seeped beneath the sleeves of my shirt, and I looked up, watching as the last rays of sun disappeared beyond the canopy.
The shadows lengthened, creeping closer, growing thicker.
Things moved in that darkness. Shapes twisted and turned, merging into one.
I pulled out my phone, desperate for light, and when I flicked on the torch, moths bigger than my hand took flight.
Their wings brushed against my face, covering me in dust. In glass.
A hundred thousand pins prickled my cheeks.
Gritting my teeth at the feeling, I peered up at the canopy, watching as the mist swirled in the high branches.
They danced in the moonlight, like ghostly apparitions twirling with the leaves, their ethereal forms weaving patterns in the air.
My eyes traced the intricate designs woven by those delicate forms, mesmerised by their graceful movements.
Rain began to fall in earnest. Each drop pattered on the leaves above in a symphony of sound. They fell to the earth, dampening the forest floor, the pungent scent filling my lungs. The shimmering lace of moisture transformed the woodlands into a glistening, leafy paradise.
A roar sounded in the distance. A low thudding sound, echoing through the trees. A chill skittered down my spine. That ghastly feeling you get when someone walks upon your grave. And then I remembered.
Samhain. The night the veil thinned. The night the monsters ran free.
Holding my phone high, I checked my GPS, wanting to go home. No Signal flashed across the screen. I looked around in confusion, raising it higher, hoping to catch a bar or two. Nothing. I’d had full service not a moment ago, when speaking to Sarah. How long had I been walking? It felt like hours.
The rain grew heavier, and the soft mist turned to fog, making it impossible to see anything beyond a few feet. I thought back, trying to retrace my steps in my mind. But I had been too preoccupied with the conversation with Sarah and hadn’t been watching where I was walking.
I exhaled deeply, my breath clouding the air in front of me.
Cold. I rubbed the back of my neck as another shudder swept my spine.
When had the woods become so quiet? When had the whisper of the wind stilled?
The heavy splat of raindrops was suddenly deafening.
The silence resounding in its emptiness.
Run! a deep voice yelled inside my head.
Something was coming.
Crashing through the underbrush.
Careening straight towards me.
I turned, frantically trying to pinpoint the direction.
RUN! the voice cried again. More urgent this time.
My adrenaline surged. My heart raced. I did not stop to think. I ran.
I ran blindly. Not knowing which direction.
I just ran. Away from the crashing sounds coming at me from behind.
My lungs felt as if they would explode as I flew over tree roots and slid over leaf litter.
The thumping behind grew louder. A foul breath heaved.
In. Out. In. Out. It growled closer. Closer.
FASTER! that internal voice yelled, and a thread of familiarity trickled across my brow.
Listening, I ran faster, the ground beneath me crumbling away.
Down. Down. Down. Leaves slipped under my feet.
Mud, spongy then slick, caught at my boots.
My legs burned. My thighs on fire. My heart was trying to burst through my chest. My fear so heady it sharpened my senses.
So thick it punched me in the gut with every reverberating beat.
I ran faster still.
The sound of my feet hammering against the ground filled my ears. The fierce rhythm matched that of my heart. My ragged breath blotted the night air, each gasp leaving a stain on the stillness. Glancing over my shoulder, I tried to catch sight of what chased me, what foul beast was gaining on me—
I stumbled.
A root caught at my boot. Pulled at my ankle.
I tried desperately to regain my balance, my arms flailing, my phone flying.
The light tumbled over and over and over again before blinking out.
And with a cry of alarm, I followed. Falling.
Rocks shredded my skin. Branches scraped at my clothes.
Thorns tried to stop me. All reaching out to slow my descent.
I cried out when a tree leapt into my path, determined to help. Pain exploded on the side of my head, and I lay stunned, struggling to reel in the breath that whooshed from my lungs. My thoughts turned cloudy as warm liquid dripped from my brow. Stars winked behind my eyelids. Blinked. Blinked.
Just as I surrendered to the darkness, my name roared through the air, the thunderous bellow of a beast following soon after.