Silver Bound Girl

Chapter 5

               Willow finished the last page of the first chapter of The Catcher in the Rye and jammed her bookmark in before tossing it onto her bedside table. She leaned back against the wall of pillows that covered the head of her bed and stared up at her ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars she’d stuck up there as a kid were still holding strong, harder to see with the sunlight that was still streaming in through the windows that marched along two of her green walls.

            Even with the light, open feeling her room had, Willow still felt like the walls were slowly closing in on her, as if the room was shrinking. She sighed and slid off her bed. She knew if she didn’t spend at least a bit of time outside, she’d be stir-crazy by the time dinner was done. Already she could feel sweat beginning to bead up on her skin and like she wasn’t getting enough oxygen when she inhaled.

            Walking out of the house, Willow felt the tension drain from her shoulders. Sure, the gravel road that led to their property might be hard to learn to drive on and icy in winter, and this far out, their internet was wicked slow, but being surrounded by trees and nature was so calming as to be worth it.

            Willow turned away from the path that led to the family’s central semi-circle of houses. She wanted to be alone, and there was always someone running around the houses, or playing in the meeting hall, or just sitting outside and chatting. It made her glad that her house was on the outskirts of the property, where it joined with the national park that extended for kilometres in every direction.

            She took the path that looped around the whole of their property, not wanting to go too far out and end up missing dinner. The sun had gone golden as it neared the horizon, shafts of it appearing through the trees, creating brilliant spots of light amid the shade cast by the trees and underbrush.

            While Willow was well aware that her love and need of the outdoors was simply another aspect of being a full-blooded Byron, she couldn’t help how nice it felt to be surrounded by trees and birdsong. But even more than that, she felt better being alone. Her family was nice and supportive, but it was them always being there. Almost all of them lived on the same chunk of property, in the same town, going to the same schools. Not a day went by when she didn’t see several of her relatives, even when she was in town.

            “Two more years and I’m free,” she said, stretching her arms over her head. “I can finally live on my own, where everyone doesn’t know me. And if everything goes according to plan, I’ll be able to join Aunt Mackenzie and the Disprovers.”

            She grinned to herself, knowing full well what most people would think of her talking to herself. Not that there was anyone except family around. And it didn’t matter if any of them heard, since she’d made her intentions clear from the time she was old enough to realize escape was possible. Aunt Mackenzie had done it, and she still lived in Vancouver. Of course, her place was next to a giant park, but she was still out of their hometown. It was possible.

            The narrow path curved, and she followed it, falling into an almost meditative state as she just let herself exist. Out here, there was no school, no rumours, no curse to worry about. It was just her and the natural world, at peace with one another.

            But as Willow walked along the continued curve of the dirt track, she could hear leaves rustling to her right. She stopped, frowning, as the sound got closer. It sounded almost like some kind of animal was barrelling through the underbrush. But she couldn’t imagine how that could be happening. Every animal in the forest avoided their property. Heck, they couldn’t even keep pets.

            Even as her mind was telling her that it wasn’t possible, the shaking, slithering sound of leaves being pushed past got louder and louder. Willow faced the sound’s direction, her nostrils flaring as she inhaled deeply. She didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary, but as she was at the moment…

            “Hello?” she called, hoping it was Everett, Parker, or Eloise. They were always trying to sneak up on her. If they knew that she knew that they were there, they’d likely scatter. And if it was an animal, her voice ought to scare it off.

            The rustling sound was closer, now combined with the snapping of twigs and some kind of odd cry. A kind of whining growl that had Willow’s hand dropping to her belt, but there was nothing there. She cursed leaving her hunting knife at home. She hadn’t thought she’d need to mark anything this close to home, and she certainly hadn’t thought anything would come this close.

            She reached for the clasp of her necklace, glaring at the bushes. If things were about to get hairy, then it was time to get serious. But it was already too late.

            Exploding out of the bushes in front of her was a creature that came up to her hips. Its body was covered in shaggy brown fur that was everywhere but its face, its narrowed brown eyes were locked on her. Willow took a step back, but it was already launching itself towards her, mouth open wide.