Chapter 8
O ver the next week, I went to the woods five times.
A few times before work for half an hour and a few times on my way home just before dawn.
On my day off, I’d gotten to stay longer, but each time my creature appeared soon after I arrived.
We sat in silence, and on the short visits we just watched each other.
On longer visits, I read while the creature hovered nearby. Before I left each time, its goodbye was a hand on my cheek. I wished it were more, but maybe in time it would be.
I jumped at the sound of a horn honking at me as I walked out of the grocery store. It was nearly dusk and I wanted to get my errands finished so I could get to the woods. I wanted to move things along a bit.
Deep in my thoughts, I loaded my purchases into the trunk of my car and got into the driver’s seat. As soon as I sat down, my phone rang. Jenna’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hey, Jen, what’s up?” I asked as I pulled onto the street from the parking lot.
“Where are you? We were supposed to meet fifteen minutes ago.” Her words were terse.
Shit. What had I forgotten? I racked my brain but came up with nothing.
‘Um, I’m not sure I know what you mean. I’m on my way home for a night with my painting.”
“Jade! Fucking seriously? You said you would be able to see that new movie with me tonight since you’re off.”
I definitely didn’t remember agreeing to that. “Jen, I don’t remember saying that.”
What I could only describe as a growl flooded the line. “Yes, you did. Four days ago, in fact. You texted ‘sure’ when I asked.”
Ah hell. I remembered now. Jenna had texted when I was in the middle of rushing to work after a visit to the woods. I’d stayed longer than I planned taking in my creature. Being in its presence was calming and comforting. In my rush, I’d just agreed to whatever Jenna said without paying attention.
“Jen, fuck, I’m so sorry. I must have forgotten. This week has kicked my ass and I’m exhausted.”
“I have no idea what’s gotten into you lately, but you blow me off constantly and we’ve hardly talked the past few weeks.” Her voice grew strained as if she were about to cry. “You clearly don’t have time for me anymore so, bye.”
Beep.
“Fucking passive aggressive much?” I said to the empty vehicle.
Jenna's need for extra attention during this particular relationship tiff was grating on me. Usually, I was happy to spend more time with her since I was almost always single and never had much else to do. But this time, other things held my focus, and since I wasn’t there to devote all my attention to Jenna, she wasn’t happy.
I loved her, but she would get over it when things got better with Alex or if she found someone else to set her sights on.
After I got everything settled at home and changed into comfy sweats, I gathered my e-reader and headed to the graveyard.
In the woods, I sat on a rock while I waited for it to come.
Finally after thirty minutes, I felt the air grow colder and I glanced to my right to see it floating across the crunchy leaves.
“Hi.”
Wow, could I get any more awkward?
My creature stopped a few feet away, and my shoulders slumped as the air grew heavy. “Sorry, I…I had a run in with my best friend tonight,” I said, dropping my eyes to the ground. What the hell? Spewing the first thing that came to mind hadn’t been on the agenda.
I sank my head down in my hands. “I didn’t mean to say that. I don’t know why I said that.”
Heat flooded my eyes, and my face burned. With the creature there, everything I’d shoved off earlier in the night came rushing back. As I looked at the ground, it all threatened to spill onto my cheeks.
Cold seeped into my bones at the touch of a hand on my face. It slowly guided me up to look into the black expanse of the dark hood. Its other hand came up to wipe my tears away.
“Speak.”
One word. The voice I’d wanted to hear again for weeks slithered down my spine. I stared, mouth agape as my mind replayed the slow, drawn-out whisper.
“Speak,” it said again.
I snapped out of the trance as realization dawned and my words came out in a rush. I told the creature about everything with Jenna, even diving farther into the past in addition to what happened earlier. Once I started it wasn’t easy to stop.
“I feel so used by her sometimes. I love her, but I seem to always be the fall-back friend. She wants to hang with me when there’s no love interest to train her sights on. Yet when I have someone I’m interested in, I’m the bad person and I feel so guilty for blowing her off?—.”
My jaw snapped shut like a string connecting my jaws was pulled taut. Oh, fuck. Did I seriously just fucking say that? Surely I imagined it, right?
I snapped my head to the side where the creature had hovered the entire time I talked about Jenna. The hood was tilted to the side and its posture was more rigid. Maybe it didn’t understand what I meant.
“Oh shit, I didn’t mean—.” The words tumbled from my lips in a panic and settled heavy between us like the stones nearby. I was making it much worse.
The creature began to float backward. “No, no, wait. Please!” I screeched, and luckily, the creature halted. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. I didn’t mean interest as in interest like I want to jump your bones,” I rambled. Did it have bones? “I just meant?—”
Before I knew what was happening, my back was slammed into the tree behind me by imperceptible forces, the bark biting into my flesh.
“Fuck!” I yelled as something pinned me in place. I couldn’t move. My heart skipped and my breaths became ragged as I strained against the invisible restraints. I glanced up and my eyes landed on the creature floating toward me. So it did control the air somehow.
It didn’t stop a few feet away. It kept coming and when it reached me, its body pressed against mine, sandwiching me between it and the tree. It felt like a normal body, but it was like a frozen glacier. The darkened hood was inches from my face and its hand slid around my throat.
“Interested in someone, are we?”
The voice was like a bucket of water dumped over my head. I stopped struggling and leaned into the coldness of the creature, the hand around my neck tightening deliciously.
“Your skin is like flames under my hand,” it said in awe. “That’s what I’ll call you. Answer me when I speak, little flame. Someone catch your eye?”
My mouth dropped open at its words. I was transfixed by the voice—deeper than when I’d heard it other times.
Seduction dripped from it like honey, except it wasn’t warm and comforting.
It was chilling and possessive like I was about to be its next meal.
The tightening grip of the hand constricting my airway, almost to the point I couldn’t breathe, snapped me out of the daze I’d slipped into.
“Y–yes,” I whispered.
The hood dropped so close to my face I could feed the creature's breath on my cheeks. “And who might have caught your attention?”
If I said it out loud, there would be no denying it anymore—my obsession with this thing in front of me.
It would all become much more serious, despite the surrealness surrounding the whole situation.
But as I was pinned against the tree by whatever forces this creature commanded, I found that I didn’t care.
I straightened my spine and looked directly where I thought the creature's eyes might be. “You.” That time, I didn’t stutter or falter.