Chapter 1 #2
Leah's body froze at the question, and it was as if the room had stopped as well, like everyone was startled that he had even suggested such an idea. After a moment, Leah cleared her throat and said, "There's not really any place to rent. I could ask around, though."
Archer shook his head, giving her a sad smile. "No, that's fine. I'll figure it out. Thanks."
He scurried outside and then took a seat by his bags. He put his face in his hands and wondered what the hell he was going to do. How did he navigate this? What kind of plan could he formulate?
Running had been the only option he saw fit, and now he was stuck in a predicament that didn't seem to have any answers. He could go sleep at the train station maybe, but would he get arrested for that? And he knew no one in town, so it wasn't like he could ask to crash on someone's couch.
As he sat there contemplating what to do next, he heard a wind chime in the breeze.
He raised his head because the melody was so moving.
It felt like the sound itself was stroking over his skin, down his spine and wrapping around him.
He was mesmerized, transfixed. His gaze settled across the street in the thicket of trees, and it was as if they were waving at him, drawing him in and calling him closer.
"What the fuck is in the air in this town?" he mumbled to himself.
The door opened beside him and out came Leah with a to-go bag of his food. She handed it over and then shuffled her feet. "I'm sorry about the whole renting-a-place thing. The town is kind of protective, and everyone's really closed off." She rambled as if trying to cover up for people.
Archer shook his head and smiled at her. "It's no big deal. I might just make it into a fun little camping trip or something, you know?" He motioned to his bags. "I've got plenty of stuff. I'll be fine."
Leah bit her lip, her gaze going from him to the forest and back. "Be careful, okay? There are animals out here and I don't want to see you get hurt."
Archer gulped at the idea of running into something wild.
He wasn't particularly strong. In fact, most people would call him frail.
He had enough meat on his bones to survive, but nothing extra.
So if he came in contact with an animal who wanted to eat him, he would be more like a toothpick than an actual entrée.
"I'll keep that in mind," he told her.
She walked back inside and Archer settled in for his meal.
He ate slowly, nodding and waving to the people as they came and left the diner.
Everyone stopped and stared at him, curious as to who he was and why he was seated outside with bags, but they didn't stop and talk.
He wasn't invisible, not like he had been the rest of his life.
He was just different. And different was okay.
Archer could accept that. Different didn't hurt him.
Different didn't make him feel worthless.
When he finished, he threw his trash away, picked up his bags, and started toward the tree line across the road.
There hadn't been many cars that had passed, so he knew this wasn't a busy area.
And with the diner having normal business hours — it wasn't one of those twenty-four-hour spots — he knew it wouldn't be too noisy either.
As he stepped past the tree line and into the woods, it was as if everything adjusted around him, like he'd moved into an alternate universe.
The trees were thick and it was hard to see.
Beams of sunlight came through, illuminating his steps like they were guiding him.
When he reached a clearing, he set his bags down and spun in a circle.
"This will have to do," he said to himself.
Archer pulled out the blanket he'd packed and laid it on the forest floor.
He positioned his bags in a way to surround him while also creating a bit of a pillow.
Once in a comfortable position, he laid there and looked up into the trees, wondering if this was what his life would look like.
Would he become some recluse in the woods?
Was he going to live off the land? Would he ever find a place where he truly belonged?
As sleep claimed him, he could have sworn he heard a voice on the wind.
"Welcome home, darling."
It was a woman's voice in a tone he'd never heard before, and yet it gave him the biggest sense of rightness. Like he had truly found himself.
Sleep claimed him and it was glorious. It was wonderful.
The peace that came, and the dreams of him running through the forest happily with others.
Their faces were blurred and he couldn't understand what they said, but it was like he had become one of them.
He was laughing and smiling, and it was everything he'd ever dreamed of for his life.
He was startled from said dream by a growl. His eyes popped open and he sat up, only to find a wolf crouched at the edge of the clearing he'd lain in.
"Fuck!" he muttered, scrambling to get free of the blanket he had somehow tangled himself in. "Great going, Archer. You'll die because your blanket is holding you hostage."
He needed to run. Needed to move. It was his only chance.
He wouldn't win a fight. The wolf wasn't huge, but its canines sure were. When he managed to free himself, he took off. It was only as he sprinted away that he realized his mistake, because predators love to chase and he’d just waved a red flag in front of the wolf.
He barely made it past the clearing before he felt the first snap. Archer turned to look over his should just in time to see jagged teeth sink into skin. He could hear bones cracking and the pain was instant. His body lit with it as if he were being torn from the inside out.
There was more biting and clawing and Archer screamed through every bit of it. It drained him quickly. Exhaustion overtook him and he realized his life was fading away.
He laid there still until the wolf released him and ran away. He didn't know if the beast thought he was dead, or if the chase was simply no longer fun once he didn't fight back. It didn't really matter. Archer was wounded. He wouldn't be able to walk away from this. There was no running.
As he laid there with the moon glowing in the sky and the stars shining bright above him, he accepted his fate.