Darkness Drops Again

Part Two

Audrey shielded her eyes and gradually, they adjusted to the bright light. Her heart pounded in her ears. From beyond the door drifted a soft floral smell. A lump gathered in her throat and she let her arm drop a fraction. Green. No roof tops set against a blue sky – just tall trees and hundreds of bright purple flowers. She glanced back at the near empty attic. This couldn't be.

A breeze whipped through the small door, lifting the stray hairs off her damp neck. She inched forward and jut a hand through the door. A patchwork of shadows fell across her skin from the canopy.

"This is insane," she whispered, running her fingers over the tips of the dew-covered grass. It had to be real. It felt real. Taking one last look at the attic, Audrey crawled forward through the doorway. The temperature dropped and the breeze sent a sudden chill through her.

It was crisp, beautiful. Birds sung in unison with the swaying trees. Audrey stood, brushed herself off, and turned a gaze around her.

The small door leaned against the base of a large oak, unattached to anything. Through it she still saw the attic: gloomy and full of floating dust motes. She crouched, shut the door with a click, and after a moment cracked it open again. The attic of her childhood home still lingered on the other side.

"So weird," she muttered. Straightening, she decided it wouldn't hurt to have a look. For some reason there was a door that led somewhere else in her attic. She didn't want to think how or why right then. The door remained in her peripheral as she wandered further into the forest. Other than the birds and the breeze, there weren't any sound. She was used to at least some sounds of civilization and the utter lack of it unnerved her. Where was she?

The flowers, bright violet, looked unlike any she'd seen. The scent was unfamiliar as well. She was far from home – that was all she knew.

Ahead of her, a person crashed through the brush. Audrey startled and the woman crashed into her. They both stumbled to the ground. "Oh jeez!" The woman breathed, pinning her down a moment with a wide olive-eyed stare before scrambling up and pulling Audrey with her. "Gotta get outta here!"

"What?" Audrey tripped over her own feet in an effort to keep up with the hand that gripped hers.

As they neared it, Audrey tried to indicate the open doorway, but the woman charged them right pass it. Throwing them down behind a bush, the woman swung her hands up over them and noxious smelling brambles jerked up from the dirt, weaving with the bush and encasing them.

"Wha-"

The woman slapped her hand over Audrey's mouth and shook her head. The smell made Audrey's eyes water, so she nodded and tugged at the hand. The unknown woman gave her a squinty look, but let her hand fall away.

A howl snapped their attention back to the clearing. Through a thin gap in the foliage, she saw a mahogany colored dog snuffing at the ground. Spikes jut out along its spine and its tail, thin and blade like, flicked around behind it. It whined and a moment later a woman stepped into view. The trees seemed to twist away from her and she moved with such silence as if floating. Her dress trailed behind her, a patchwork of skins, and a hood shrouded her face. Something about the presence of both of them sent Audrey's nerve on edge, her breath hissing in and out of her lips.

"What is this?" The woman's voice was dark and lush, a hint of humor flicking the edges. Shrugging the bow at her shoulder off, she knocked an arrow into it. "Doesn't belong here."

Audrey sucked in a strangled breath as the woman let loose the arrow. She flinched, expecting the whistling arrow to penetrate their hiding spot and embed in her torso, but it instead landed with a thud into the tree. Or more specifically, the door. Audrey stared in shock as the little door she'd crawled through toppled over, a large crack trailing down from where the arrow went straight through it.

"It's late, Dee. We'll continue this hunt tomorrow." The warning on her voice was clear and she slid the bow back over her shoulder. Turning, she strolled out of sight and the dog trotted along after her – fur umber where the shadows of the trees stretched across it.