Shifted

Chapter 6

When I came to, I found myself being carried by Jackson through the woods. I heard voices all around, and there were flashing blue and red lights.  In that moment, held close to Jackson's strong chest, feeling the heat radiating off of his skin and listening to the beat of his heart, I felt safe. All the feelings of fear I'd had just moments before melted into a feeling of security. I burrowed into his chest, and shut my eyes. It felt like only seconds beforehand we were out of the woods, and Jackson placed me in the back seat of a cop car.

I looked up at him though the window as he talked with an officer. After they exchanged a few words, Jackson opened the door and slid in next to me. The officer went to the driver's seat, and started the car. Jackson wrapped me up in his arms, and noticed that I was shivering. He took his jacket off and put it around me. I leaned into him, wanting to feel secure again.

The officer drove to my house, and Jackson brought me in and put me in bed. My mom looked terrified, but Jackson spoke to her and got her to calm down. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyelids began to feel heavy. Before long, darkness swept over me and I found myself drifting. 

The next thing I knew, I was standing in a dark, foggy expanse.  It was eerily quiet.  Suddenly, there was a noise behind me, and I swung around to look.  There was nothing there.  Another noise came from my right, and I again turned to look.  There was nothing there.  That's when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise.  I turned slowly around and found myself face to face with a dark black wolf.  It's eyes were glowing yellow, and it's teeth were sharp as it growled at me.  Unsure what to do, I got down on my knees as slow as possible, not breaking eye contact with the vicious beast.  After a long, tense moment, I bowed my head to the ground.  I heard the beast go quiet, and then suddenly I felt it's breath on my ear.  It's face was only inches from mine as he sniffed me.  After what felt like a very long time, I felt him nudge me with his muzzle, and I looked up to find the once terrifying beast had transformed into a small black dog with happy eyes and a smile on its face as it sat panting beside me. 

The dog looked at me and wagged its tail before it scampered off into the foggy darkness.  I went to follow it, but out of nowhere a pack of ravens flew at me from all directions.  I brought my hands up to my face in an attempt to protect myself, but I felt their claws and beaks cut into my skin.  I ran, trying to escape the birds, when suddenly I tripped over something.  I looked down to see that I'd tripped over a large root protruding from the ground below me.  I stood up, noticing the birds had vanished, and found myself standing in a field of white flowers.  Next to me was a large, sloping bolder that stood at least eight feet tall.  Woven into the Rock was a system of thick roots that ended in a tree stump parallel with the highest part of the bolder. 

I found myself drawn to the tree.  It felt like a magnetic pull was drawing me closer and closer.  I began to climb up the rock.  Part of it sloped down and tapered into the hillside, so I was able to easily walk up the bolder.  When I reached the top, I found myself standing in front of a large flat tree stump.  I imagine the tree that had been cut down here must have been massive.  The stump was at least seven feet in diameter, and as I gazed at it, I found myself mesmerized by the rings on the trunk.  I looked around me at the hillside.  All around the bolder and the tree grew thousands of tiny white orchids.  I was in awe of the beauty of the scene around me.  I sat down on the stump, and I felt for a moment a complete and total sense of peace. 

That's when I began to hear the voices.  At first I thought I was imagining it, but they began to grow louder.  It sounded like hundreds of people, all chanting in some ancient language.  I looked around, trying to find the source of the voices, when I suddenly noticed a trickle of dark red coming from center of the tree stump.  I watched as the trickle ran off of the trunk and down the bolder.  Somehow I knew it was blood.  Before long more blood started dripping out of the tree, running now in tiny rivers down the rock and over the roots towards the ground below.  A feeling of dread crept over me as the blood reached the flowers, and I gasped as the entire field of white orchids began to change color.  Each of the once pearly white petals became speckled with blood red dots as if by magic.  As this happened, I looked up and watched as the moon too changed, now casting blood red light over the field around me.  The chanting grew louder and louder, so loud that I had to cover my ears.