Troubles of Faux

CHAPTER 1.1 || THE FAUX GIRL

Thunder grumbled lowly in the sky, reluctant to release its fury just yet. The sound made Jenrette's head snap up from the rocks she gripped in her fingers and gazed up at the sky. If it was daytime or sometime brighter than twilight, she would've easily deciphered if the weather was souring up or not. But she was crouched down to earth, surrounded by tall green bushes, stalks and trees that had lost their color in the night's shade of black. There was no way of telling if this was just a weather error, the beginning of a thunderstorm or rainstorm. The moon was out, meaning she was safe to hang around in the forest she was now beginning to settle in. But while that was an advantage, the thunder had proved that she wasn't so lucky. If it was to rain, the fertile soil and the leaf blades all around would soak up and make it impossible to stay. Worse still, she wouldn't be able to start this fire.

Jenrette looked down again, brought her fingers together and struck the rocks once, twice, thrice. She paused, looked at the wood that lay gobbled up on the forest floor beneath her hand, and then brought the rocks together again, striking it so hard a few orange sparks jumped out of the rocks. That was all it took for the oil-soaked wood logs to ignite into flames. The flame arose with a force that sent a sudden strong heat rushing at Jenrette's lowered face, instinct pushing her away and backwards.

Jenrette breathed a sigh. She touched her forehead with a palm, the other palm flattened against the dry soil to keep her balance. Her forehead had grown warm. It had to be the sudden fire. The forest atmosphere was cold. For this reason, she'd tugged on a thick, furry black jacket. The hood was resting on her back, leaving her thick black hair open to dance freely to movements.

Another thunder gurgled again, this one louder than the previous. Her head remained still, warming herself from the burning wood, but her eyes did not fail to watch the sky.

Jenrette heard something in the distance, something similar to the sound of a splash. She stayed still, tuned her ears to ignore the cracking wood and listen to the depths of the forest.

Once her ears picked the sound and confirmed it, she closed her eyes and through gritted teeth, she cursed, "Damn it!"

She lifted herself off the floor and dusted her sandy palms. Then she raised the hood and arranged it over her head, tucking the hair in completely safe from the incoming rain which, if her hearing was right, was fast approaching from behind. Bowing a bit, she increased her walking pace and began to jog through the forest, trampling on short bushes and fresh branches and dodging higher ones.

The rain caught up with her and beat upon her shoulders with heavy strokes. Each stroke struck the forest floor with such harshness it splattered the soil about. Slowly the rain began to pick up its pace, falling thunderously upon the forest grounds and the area beyond.

Jenrette increased her pace as well, evolving from job to a gentle sprint. And soon, she was out of the forest and in the clearing that led to the hamlets. She paused and let her eyes hover around the little houses that stretched in lines cornered and surrounded with modest-tall trees. Sparse residence, but organized. Twilight was already setting in, and the yellow lights were already peeking out of the different houses, brightening up the grounds and surrounding trees and plants and all that's green. One of the houses had a rather odd, old looking wood-sign hanging off the wall just above the door post. From the yellow light illuminating from the bulb that was sunken just above it, she could observe that the wood sign had some kind of inscriptions etched into it. It was the only house she could see that possessed that worthless decoration.

Jenrette did not stay long. The downpour was so heavy she was already feeling the weight burdening her shoulders. Her hands, covered in gloves, tucked into the side pockets of the fur coat. Her eyes narrowed and set on one particular house, and then her feet lifted off the floor and she began another gentle sprint.