Blythemus

Chapter 10

The gate creaked, even though the girl had tried to open it as noiselessly as possible. It was three in the night and there was a lot of hooting around. She had managed to leave her camp without waking up anyone, which had been her biggest worry because if someone were to know where she was going, he or she would definitely stop her.

Entering the Inner forest, she looked around with curiosity. “This place does not look any different from the rest of the forest.” She muttered to herself.

“Oh but it is.” The girl gasped and her eyes followed the direction of the voice. It was a female, no doubt, but she could not see her face because the darkness didn’t permit her to. She could only make out the outline of her body.

“Are you the person I was supposed to meet”? The girl tried to keep herself calm, but the way her voice quivered made it clear that she was afraid.

“Depends. Are you here just for a midnight stroll, or are you looking for some answers?”

“Um. I think you know very well the purpose of my visit.”

The lady smirked, impressed with the girl. “Follow me, then, child.” She turned around and started descending into the forest, and as the girl had little time to think, she followed the mysterious woman into the forest.

To the girl, the forest seemed to get narrower with each step she took, and as for the lady, she just kept walking, making no effort to keep up any kind of conversation. The girl was still considering turning back and running, but she had come all this way for a purpose, so she decided to just keep walking and go where her destiny took her.

“Were you waiting for me here all this while?” the girl asked, curiously.

“A little bird told me you were a curious one. But you have to wait, child.”

“We seem to be going deeper into the forest, and I don’t think there is nothing else here. So why don’t we get on with this?”

“If you look ahead, you will see that we have reached our destination.”

The girl overtook the lady and stood in front of her, taking in her surroundings. It was a huge clearing, and in the centre of the clearing was a big, ancient looking stone podium. The girl gasped and turned around, obviously recognising the podium to be the same one Austin had been describing.

“Is this some kind of a sick joke?” she asked the lady, ready to take off if circumstances demanded it.

The lady started laughing, and slowly emerged from the darkness. The clearing was well lit by the silvery moonlight, and as soon as the woman entered the clearing, her face was well seen.

“You?! It was you I was following all this while?” The girl asked, completely shocked at her foolishness.

“Of-course it was me. What did you expect? You came to me with questions, and I’m here to answer them. Could we just proceed? I have other places to be.”

“I don’t understand the point of coming this far if you could have answered me many months ago, when we had first met.”

“Well, everything has a place and time. Especially delicate matters like this one”

The lady started moving forward, every step bringing her closer to the girl. The girl was very scared now and was making no attempt to hide it, started taking backward steps. This dance of theirs continued for a couple of minutes, the lady walking forward and the girl backwards. But suddenly the girl’s steps were blocked by something and she turned around to see that she had reached the stone podium. She turned to face the lady again; unsure of what was going to happen next. The lady pushed her hard and she landed right in the centre of the cold stone.

“This is your destiny, child. This is what it all comes down to.” It was as if these words of the lady were some kind of a conclusion, and the whole forest seemed to fall silent.

The next morning, back at the camp, there was a lot of commotion. Austin had woken up early because he had an urgent need to take a leak. But, when he stepped out of the tent, his eyes narrowed. He turned his head to peep into the tent again, and he realised that someone was missing. He hurried into the tent again, this time making no effort to be quiet.

“Dean. Wake up, Dean.” Austin shook Dean violently, aware of the face that Dean was a light sleeper.

“Whaat? What is it? Animals? Well, you can go shoo them away yourself.” Dean said, sleepily.

“No Dean. It’s Chanel. She isn’t in the tent. Her sleeping bag is empty.”

This got Dean’s attention immediately. He sat up and looked in the direction where Chanel’s sleeping bag lay. They both then woke up Lynette and all three of then started searching for the girl around the creek. It was only after some time that Lynette came up with a theory.

“You don’t think this has something to do with the Inner Forest? She asked the boys, who were now running out of places to search.

“Of-course!” Dean shouted, startling the other two. “The Inner Forest! Shit. We have to find that podium guys. Austin lead us to the Inner forest please. You were looking at the map so you must know the way.”

Austin led the way, following the map very well. Lynette and Dean noticed how the forest seemed to be shrinking with each step they took. Finally they were at the mouth of the clearing.

“There she is! I see her. On the podium!”

Dean broke into a sprint and ran towards her, with Austin and Lean just behind him. As soon as they reached the stone, Dean was going to shout at Lena, but the sight in front of him baffled him. He could not understand what he was seeing. It took Lena’s scream and Austin’s stunned silence for Dean to slowly understanding what his eyes were showing him. The three of them were now staring at the lifeless body of Chanel Briody.