A Story of Blood and Thorns

Chapter 5

I step backward as Seven begins to laugh. A stick snaps beneath me, and the silhouettes of five people face my direction.

"Who's there?" the woman named Maria calls out. "Hello?"

I don't wait for them to find me. Who knows what they'll do to strangers eavesdropping on their performance? And after what Seven did, what's to say he can't do more? Like burning a person into ash. There's no hesitation for me.

I flee.

Back through the woods, back through the night. I run until I fall, the skin on my hands tearing against the jagged rocks on the ground. My sobs break the silence of the night. All around me, the forest life seems to shiver with anticipation.

Several sticks cover the ground in front of me, and I remember the hut that Isadora stays in in the north. I begin to tie them together, creating a rough replica of the shelter. It's nowhere near as good as Isadora's, but it'll do.

After the spectacle with Seven, I don't risk a fire. Fire alerts anyone and anything where you are. If I fall asleep, what's to say someone won't come and kill me? Or something?

My limbs drag on the ground as I prepare to enter and get some much-needed rest. Before I can, the clouds clear from the sky and bright moonlight lights up the area around me.

I look up, squinting in the sudden light. The moon appears, smiling down at me in a crescent shape. Stars speckle the sky around it, like freckles.

A branch snaps, and I turn around, slipping on the wet ground.

Animals of all different kinds creep around me to form a circle with me in the center. A deer takes a tentative step forward while a bunny springs into my lap. Birds fly across the sky, chirping. I laugh through my tears.

"I suppose you're here to bring me comfort," I say. The bunny vibrates as I stroke its back. "Well, thank you."

A flash of blue catches my eye. An owl flies into the clearing, holding up a blue cape. Two squirrels follow it, holding a blue hat between them.

They set the clothing down in front of me and I pick it up. The fabric slips out of my hands. It feels like how water would be in the form of fabric. Silky smooth to the touch. Before I can pick it up again, the owl has taken it and flown to the edge of the clearing, where I'd come from.

"What?" I ask it. "I made a shelter. I'm fine."

The owl hoots at me, indignant. I laugh to myself. We're having a conversation. It hoots again, this time flying into the trees.

I look around me, at the animals that are beginning to follow the owl. "So you're all going?"

The bunny hops out of my lap and rejoins it's family, looking back at me.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," I mutter as I stand. The deer nudges me from behind and I jump. "I'm going, I'm going."

The animals lead me back towards the troupe, where the fire has been reignited. Drums pound from the space.

I enter the clearing, and the drums stop. The animals disperse, leaving me at the mercy of Mr. Big's Traveling Parade.

The owl drops the cape on the ground next to a man, and he holds it up. Golden threads are woven through it sparkle in the firelight. With a wary glance at me, he tosses it to Seven. Seven takes it and shoves it deep into his pocket.

"Um," I begin. My hands twist behind my back. "I was passing through, and I heard music. May I ask what it is?"

The two women slink around me, eyeing me up and down. Their eyes shine black from the fire. I wait while they inspect me, itching to cover my face. The longer they wait to declare me an outsider, the more I take in. One of the women has a burn that covers half her face. The other is missing her left arm.