Queen of the Wood ✅

29 - How It Happened

Content Warning: Attempted assault

I've heard people talk about out-of-body experiences. Some describe them as floating around while you watch doctors and nurses attempting to bring you back from the brink of death. I've always wondered if people felt fear in those moments or if their emotions were utterly removed. If they floated in a cloud of warmth and lightness with no pain.

Right now, I've decided that if this is an out-of-body experience, there's nothing soft, warm, or pleasant about them.

It's not so much that my mind was floating above us in the branches, watching as Kyle dragged me back further into the woods. More so that something in my brain detached. I knew that I needed to fight back and scream out. Or do something. Instead, all I could do was watch as the lake got farther away while Kyle huffed while dragging me over tree roots and forest debris.

I may not be fighting him off, but I'm certainly not helping him either.

"God, I can't believe ya came back," Kyle said, spinning me around and shoving me up against a tree.

A massive sense of deja vu overwhelmed me as I looked at his eyes. He was out of breath, but the look on his face was all too familiar. I had seen it before but thought it was only in my nightmares.

Fuck, this couldn't be happening.

Kyle's dark eyes scanned down my body before returning to my eyes, his grin widening.

"Please," I finally whispered, the only word I could get out.

"Please, what? Use yer words, Aisling," he replied. "Always wondered if it was true what they said about the quiet ones..."

"Don't."

"Ah, but there's no one to interrupt us this time," he replied. He glanced around the woods. "Unless ya believe in ghosts."

I began shaking as my heart thudded hard in my chest. Was that a confession? Did he know Maeve was dead because he killed her? Or was he just jumping to the same conclusion that everyone else had?

I shook my head. No matter what, I needed to pull myself together. Both so I could get out of this and because I wanted to know. I had to find out if Kyle was responsible for Maeve's disappearance.

"Had a feelin' ya were up to no good out here with my brother," Kyle continued, his voice calm as though he wasn't expecting his brother to find us at any second.

Brett.

He had to have followed me when I ran off from the clearing. I glanced around, praying that he would find us. Just how far had I run? How did I even manage to lose him? He was right there in the clearing with me. There was no way he had gotten lost, was there?

"Imagine my surprise when I found ya with Leo, Steph, and Maggie," Kyle said. "Ya'll really think ya could find out what happened?" He chuckled. "Steph may be a bitch, but she ain't got it in her to get her hands dirty."

"And you do?" I asked, wincing as my voice shook.

"Darlin', there are a lot of things I'm capable of," Kyle said, leaning forward. The heavy stench of whiskey poured over my face, causing me to wrinkle my nose. I fought off the urge to vomit, though wondered if it might be effective in getting out of this situation. "And I suppose yer about to find out."

At that moment, fight finally decided to show up to the party.

I shoved at Kyle's chest, trying to move him away. Instead of budging, he chuckled as he grabbed my wrists and held them together tightly over my head. I squirmed around, trying to loosen his grip as I felt the bark biting into my skin.