Unfamiliar Territory [Book One]

Chapter Thirty-Three | Don't Fall

I was almost thrown backwards by the sudden, howling, gale of wind and torrential downpour of rain. With a great deal of effort, I managed to pull the door closed behind me. I decided not to give Kat or Mr. Copper one last look.

Turning back to the dark and windy world, I could see The Sorrow was mostly gone save for a light mist which settled near the damp ground. I could see little else save for the large, dark shapes that were surrounding me. Relying mostly on memory, I knew them to be the trees that stood on the outskirts of the Quincy cabin.

The largest of them all stood before me. It was a tree I did not remember ever being there before. It was far too large to be any of the pines that made up the forest on the mountain. Through the storm and the shadows, I could see it's hundreds of twisting branches stretched out into the rain-soaked sky.

As my eyes adjusted to the sunless sky and the blanket of rain, they took notice of something big tangled up in the branches and, when I stepped closer to get a better look, a sudden flash of lightning showed me everything.

Dr. Quincy hanging in the air, tree limbs twisted around his arms and legs, and something, covered in blood, stuck through his chest. The mansion on the mountain beyond him and the tree was nothing but a ruined mess of tangled vines and flora.

The light faded away, leaving me alone again in the drenched darkness.

"Quinn!" I shouted, running up to the massive tree. "Quinn, hang on! I'm coming!"

The left ankle was still sore, but becoming more bearable. The real issue was my left hand--I still couldn't move it, let alone use it to help me climb. I flipped the knife around and took a few steps back. Running back towards the tree, I jumped at the last second and hit the trunk.

I tried to drive the knife into its bark, but I had hit the tree too soon and simply fell back down into the mud.

"Goddamnit!"

I tried again, and this time managed to stick the blade in with a satisfying crack of bark. My entire arm ignited again in pain, mostly in my shoulder, and I scrambled to get my feet planted somewhere. But I hadn't thought it through enough--there was nowhere for my feet to go.

Before I could fall again, something grabbed my wrist. For a moment, I thought it might have been Quinn, but when I looked up I only saw the horrible, impossible sight of a dark, twisted, and leafless tree branch wrapping itself down my arm.

I didn't have the time to yell out before it swung me into the air. The rain and wind stung my face as I was propelled through the sky. The branch released itself and was I left floating, for a moment, before gravity pulled me back down. As I fell, I looked down as another flash of lightning clearly revealed to me the numerous jagged branches rising up to meet me. Ready to pierce right through me.

Darkness quickly returned and I blindly swung my clawed hand in front of me. The branches met me as I fell. A few were somehow torn aside when they met with my swinging hand, but one managed to cut across my side. I had only a moment to cry out before I fell into the tangled mass of branches.

It was like a thousand small hands trying to tear away at me. I could hardly see anything through them and the darkened sky, so I clawed, I bit, and thrashed blindly against the prodding forces. Pokes, scratches, and cuts littered my body as I smashed through the possessed limbs. It was like being attacked by Gust and his siblings with their weapon of choice, but hundreds of times worse.

However, it couldn't have taken more than a few, intense, moments of struggling before the attacks stopped. I chanced another moment to catch my breath. When I realized I had been fighting on top of a thick branch of the tree, and then nearly fell from it, I gripped it tightly. I could not see how far it was to the ground. Part of me didn't want to know.