The Woods

Chapter Twenty-Four

We walked upstairs together, after I quickly put the closed sign up, and made our way to his room. My heart was pounding until my chest hurt, but the woman's presence gave me a sense of comfort.

"How rude of me," I suddenly said, pressing a hand to my forehead. "I never even asked your name."

She smiled at that and said, "My name is Merida."

"A little late for me to say this, but it's a pleasure meeting you. My name is Fida."

"That is a very old name," she mused. "Who gave you it?"

"My mother," I murmured.

We had reached Father's room and I hesitated a moment, grateful when Merida squeezed my hand. Upon pushing the door open, I braced myself, as if something were to happen. But nothing did.

I silently scolded myself. Of course, nothing was going to happen. It was just a room.

"Was it a specific painting?" I asked.

"Yes, it was of them both standing together. It's alright if it isn't that specific one though."

I made my way over to the cupboard, where I knew Father kept things he valued. He had always been clear that I was not to touch anything, so it somehow felt wrong to look through them now.

"If you don't mind me saying, you look very young," I said.

"What do you mean?" I could almost feel her frown.

"Well, you were married when you moved away, suggesting you were of age then," I replied, pulling out one of the boxes to look through. "And you said that when you returned, she had passed. That means you're nearly forty. You look hardly twenty."

I turned to see her staring at me, a small smile on her face. It unnerved me.

"Well, you're much sharper than I thought you'd be, I'll give you that." Her tone was cold and I almost shivered. Slowly, she approached me, and I rose.

"You didn't know my parents, did you?" I asked quietly.

"On the contrary, I knew them quite well. I warned your mother not to leave, but that ungrateful brat thought she was too good for us."

"What are you talking about?" I snapped. She was starting to frighten me more than I wanted to admit.

"Of course, they never told you." Her grin was like a wolf's as she gripped my chin and looked down at me. It felt like the temperature of the room was dropping and I paled. Only one thing would cause that.

"What House?" I asked, grateful that my voice was steady.

Her smile somehow widened as she pulled off her shawl. Sticking out of her raven hair was a pair of black ears. The Wolf House.

"Why are you here? I'm assuming you don't want the painting."

"To see if the rumours of my sister were true," she replied. "And now that I see that they're true, I'm afraid I need to kill you."

Before I could process her words, she had already lunged for me, a snarl erupting from her throat. I jumped to the side, fleeing from the room. Despite her full skirts, she was very fast, and tackled me as I reached the stairs.

With a shriek, I found myself tumbling down the stairs, our limbs tangled. My vision was blurry and my head screamed in pain, but I somehow managed to get to my feet and stumble to the kitchen. She was barely a step behind me, and grabbed my arm. Her nails slashed at my neck and I gasped as they tore through my skin.

My hand strained to reach the drawer behind me, where the knives were kept. I brought my knee up to hit her in the stomach, making her gasp, though I knew her corset took the worst of the blow.

But it was enough for her to loosen her grip on me, and I soon had a knife in my hand. It certainly wasn't the best weapon, given that it was blunt, but it was better than nothing.

"It's in your blood," Merida snarled. "I dare you."

What was she talking about? I opened my mouth to ask, but she had already lunged at me, a rolling pin from the bench in her hand. I let out a scream as I felt it hit the side of my head, a sickening thud echoing through my skull.

I saw specks across my vision and I had to grip the counter to stop myself from falling to the ground. Something slick dripped down the side of my head. Blood. How was I even conscious?

A quiet chuckle made me freeze for a moment. She thought I couldn't continue. Well, I thought that as well, but I wouldn't give up this chance. Her guard was down.

It only took half a thought for me to whirl around and bury the knife in her throat. I screamed as blood splattered me.

I stumbled away, covering my mouth in horror. I had killed someone. Merida sank to the floor, a horrible gurgling sound coming from her. It took only a few minutes before it stopped altogether.

When I figured out how to breathe, I took in a gasping breath, gagging as the scent of metal hit my nose. What was I going to do?

If anyone walked in and saw her, they would report me and my life would be demanded in payment. Even if Merida was Fae and had tried to kill her, the Head Representative would use it against me.

My hands were trembling. What could I do?

I glanced around, trying to find something, anything, that would help me. Nothing useful.

I felt something brush against my cheek and glanced down, pausing at what I saw. Rose petals, as red as blood, gently fluttered to the floor. No, it wasn't just the colour of blood, it was blood. The blood that covered me slowly shed away into petals.

Turning, I saw Merida's body was nothing more than a pile of petals. I didn't know whether to feel horrified or relieved.

It wasn't until I looked into a mirror that I was convinced that blood no longer covered me, and even then, it seemed unbelievable. I was quick to dispose of the petals, my hands trembling as I scooped them into a waste basket. I was probably breaking countless Fae traditions by doing so.

A few hours later, I found myself upstairs, sitting before the fire as I dabbed alcohol on my head where Merida had hit me earlier. It burned like fire, but I was grateful for it. It helped to clear my mind.

I thought over Merida's words, trying to make sense of them. She claimed that she came to check if the rumours of her sister were true. But who was her sister? And what did she have to do with me? Before being sent into the Woods, I knew nothing of the Fae.

It left me confused and upset, or perhaps that was because of my pounding head.

It was against my will that I fell asleep, though I knew my body needed it. Every part of me hurt, and I was grateful for the numbness sleep brought me, however temporary it would be.

It was the silence that woke me. A silence I hadn't heard for over a month.

Slowly, I rose, my eyes still heavy. It felt as if the town was holding its breath. I shivered as I made my way over to a window and gazed out, too afraid to open it. The Woods seemed to stare at me.

Within seconds, I found myself leaning against the window frame for support, gasping at the sudden pain in my chest. Outside, I heard a shriek of terror, and I barely managed to see someone being dragged into the dark Woods. They were being dragged from a vine.

It was clear what that meant. Casper and Cain had made it clear that the Woods rejected me. But now, it seemed, the Woods wanted compensation. It had chosen another girl to replace me. Why it had chosen her now, I didn't know.

Although I had once loved her, some cruel, prideful part of me hoped it was Delilah.