Witch of the Wild Woods

Chapter 10 - Humming Bird

Chapter 10 - Humming Bird

Alice sat cross-legged in the center of the grey weathered deck that connected the Councilor Cabins together. Her eyes locked onto Lane's. At first, he didn't recognize her, but then it all clicked at once. She'd been by his side for almost the first half of the night game and he hadn't even noticed. Granted, her appearance was dramatically different than when they'd first met. For one, she was wearing clothes.

At the start of the night game, it had been Alice in that navy cotton prairie dress that swept down past her knees. Her long silver hair had been contained into two long braids that reached halfway down her back, wrapped in black satin ribbons. Now, seated only a few meters from where Lane stood, what appeared to be a large grey faux fur blanket was draped off her shoulders concealing the rest of her body.

For a moment, Lane simply stood outside the bathhouse, still as the grave.

Alice kept staring back. Maybe it was Lane's imagination, but her stunning sapphire eyes appeared to flicker in the dark. "How was it?" She asked in a smoky voice.

Lane studied the girl, narrowed his eyes; "Not my scene."

"Not surprising," She scoffed, "How's your cheek?"

"I'll live," He waited for a beat, and listened to the breeze snake through the tall pines swaying above them, "Are you still marked?"

Alice offered a bitter grin, nodding, "Yup." She paused, clicked her tongue, "You still not gonna help me with that, are you?"

This version of Alice was significantly more cognizant than when they'd first met. She wasn't an exaggerated mix of manic and melancholy, but a tempered spark of wit mixed with a reserved sorrow. It was rather alluring to Lane, but between his exhaustion and skin-crawling discomfort from the bathhouse orgy, he kept his cards close to the vest.

"I'm always happy to help someone in need, under a few reasonable conditions," Lane admitted.

Alice raised an eyebrow, "You really have no idea how little time we really have, do you?" Slowly rising to her feet, Lane was relieved to see the cotton dress still underneath the faux fur blanket. But, he was still just awake enough to have caught Alice's dire warning.

"You know, I'm usually in the mood for a good riddle," Lane scoffed.

"Oh yeah?" Alice's face lit up in mock surprise.

"Yeah. Not tonight though. So how about a straight answer; what do you need help with? How are you marked?" Lane shot back, direct, a little on edge as his voice shook from a sudden chilling breeze stabbing through his t-shirt.

Alice wrapped the blanket tighter around her chest, "No riddles?"

"That'd be nice, yeah," Lane nodded.

"Something more direct?" Alice suggested.

"A straight answer, direct, yes," Lane agreed, his patience about to snap.

Alice took an authoritative step forward letting the fur blanket fall, "Do you wanna fuck? Right here, right now?" Another stiff breeze raced through the trees and the two councilors stood alone, facing one another on the old wooden deck.

Lane's mind tumbled over the implications, the consequences, the reality of what it would mean to lie with a girl he'd just met; someone he wasn't sure he truly loved.

"Is that a, 'No,' then? Don't know if I can get any more direct than that," Alice snorted. "It's not a trick question either, Lane. It was Lane, right?" She paused, stretching her back, her arms, and finally cracking her neck, "Yesterday morning feels a lot further away than it should be."