Experiment Scarecrow

Chapter 15

A gentle breeze brushed through the branches of the willow, causing its drooping, yellowing leaves to sway across the water; a bird chirped in a tree across the river before flitting off through the branches--a true place of serenity.

Brooke had finished reading the book a while ago, leaving them in silence to watch the water pass below, and listen to the natural sounds of the woods.

"So... fictional means fake?" Scarecrow asked her again, pulling off his hat to set on his lap.

She nodded. "Yep. It's a story someone makes up, often not based on fact," she replied, glancing up to him.

"Ya could've just said 'yes...'" he mumbled, glancing up to the branch above him as the crow hopped along it.

She followed his eyes up to the crow and frowned. "Could you stop sending your crows to scare us please? It really scared Thunder today."

He lifted an eyebrow, looking down to her. "I don't control them. They do what they want, when they want."

She folded her arms. "I have a hard time believing that, especially when one is staring directly in the window at me," she sneered.

"Oh, that one. I did send him, yes. But I didn't send the other one you mentioned, although you never had to call him stupid."

"Ah ha!" she shouted, causing him to flinch as well as the crow. "I knew it! So what? You're spying on me now?"

Scarecrow nodded, seeming to have zero hesitation. "Yep."

Brooke's jaw dropped. "I-Why? Why are you spying on me?"

He shrugged. "I was curious to see what you were doing. And I had to ensure you weren't going to tell your mother." He readjusted on the branch, collecting his hat to place back on his head. "Besides, the crows have taken an interest in you. They tell me everything you do."

She shook her head, her gold-flecked casting down to the river momentarily. "Sure... the crows have..." she muttered, soon watching as he began to stand once the sun's light began to fade to scarlet. "I-Wait, Scarecrow?"

He looked down at her and tilted his head, waiting for her to ask her question.

"How is the wound on your back?" she asked softly, soon rising next to him.

He lifted his shoulders in another shrug. "I dunno. It doesn't hurt anymore."

She sighed. "Well, could you sit down for a moment and let me look at it?"

He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Why?" he questioned her.

"Because, if it's not healing, you're going to have to go to the hospital or-" Before she could finish her sentence, he backed away, bumping into the trunk of the tree.

"NO! NO HOSPITALS!"

Brooke lifted her hands, taking a step back from him. "Ok, ok! Just let me at least look then."

Scarecrow scowled, carefully stepping across the branch closer to her. She motioned for him to sit back down, before following once he did. Her hands drifted down to the bottom of his jacket, and his shirt underneath, before carefully pulling the layers up to reveal his pale skin.

She frowned once she managed to push the layers far enough to expose his wound; it appeared exactly the same as it did when she sewed it. An inflamed red around the edges, spots of bruising scattered throughout it. "I-Scarecrow... it looks exactly the same as it did before."

He nodded. "Mhm. Ever since-" He stopped himself. "I just heal really slowly... but it'll heal eventually."

She sighed, part of her not believing him as her eyes wandered across the rest of his back; a series of stitched scars littered his back, the majority minor, but a few still major. Her eyes especially fixated on one crossing from the bottom of his neck before drifting down to his right shoulder blade.