Neglect (COMPLETED)

Neglect

           "I'm going on a walk." Evie yelled to her mom as she opened the pasture gate leading to the woods.
           "Evie all you do is sit in the woods, isn't there anything better for you to do like clean stalls?" Her mom snapped.
             "Mom I already cleaned stalls. I told you that." She snapped back. Her mom was always trying to find work for her to do and she hated it. Maybe that's why she loved the woods so much. It was quiet and peaceful. There was no nagging, no work, and best of all, no people. Evie had great people skills but she didn't like it. She didn't like having to answer the same questions, "How's school? How do you like driving? Do you have a boyfriend yet?" Her answers were always the same, "It's okay, I like it and no." She lived on a farm and had for eighteen years. She loved it more then anything in the world but she didn't like the work that came with it at times. It wasn't that she didn't like work, cleaning stalls had a calming effect just like grooming her favorite horse but when it came to work sometimes her mom picked the worst jobs on purpose like hoeing the backyard or picking grass for their pet tortoise. Evie hated that. It was pointless but her mom always made her do it because she was "lazy and inconsiderate". Evie knew her mom was just mad that she had to work and Evie didn't. "Make my life miserable just because yours is." Evie whispered under her breath.
         Her parents owned a flower shop and it was always packed with customers, the phones were always ringing off the hook and people always needed help pulling their carts or carrying their flowers to their cars. 7:00 o'clock became Evie's favorite time of day because that was closing time. Time for her walk.
         She called to her dog who always went with her on hikes and walked slowly up the dirt path through the wide, heavily flowered pasture, her ear buds in, calm music playing quietly. She climbed the small hill to the dark entrance of the woods. She switched her music off. It was time to enjoy the sounds of nature that she'd missed since yesterday evening at the same time. Birds chirped, frogs croaked, bugs buzzed and a small chipmunk squeaked as Possum, Evie's dog, chased it into its tiny den. She felt like she was in a wonderland. How can every time be so magical? She asked herself. As many times as she'd been in these same woods, they still always held a magical feeling. The woods were cool and the soft moss muffled her footsteps. She called Possum away from the chipmunks den and followed the worn path to where the bones of an old cow laid in a small clearing. "The woods are lovely..." She recited, "dark and deep." This was a poem that held so many truths for Evie, "but I have promises to keep..." She said as she knelt down, letting her fingertips softly graze over the bleached bones. "And miles to go before I sleep..." She flinched as the barbed wire that had intertwined the cows bones pricked her skin. "And miles to go before I sleep." She watched as a small drop of blood fell, rolling slowly down the whiteness of the bones, dropping from the highest bone, to the one below it.
             She heard a crash behind her and broke out of her trance, jerking around quickly to find the culprit of the noise. Her senses prickled like they always did when she came out here. Her cat came trotting from the brush, a bluebird caught between his teeth. Evie fought the urge to take it from the cat but it was nature and not her job to influence death. Death was a peaceful thing in the woods. Almost beautiful. She frowned as the cat dropped the bird. He batted it around a moment before licking it and walking back into the bushes. Evie walked closer and saw that the bluebird was on its back, gasping for air, it's tiny yellow beak open wide. It had a white feather in the center of its tail that stuck out among all the blue. It suddenly sprung onto its feet, looking for the cat before flitting into the woods in the direction the cat had gone as if nothing had happened. Evie wondered why it would go right back in the direction of the cat that had just tried to take its life.
           She started walking again after a few moments, through the tangled shrubbery and vines. The scent of honeysuckle was overwhelming but Evie smelled something else over it. The musky scent of leather and flowers. A sweet yet masculine scent. Possum smelled it too and she watched him as he sniffed around a small cave entrance. Suddenly he stiffened, every muscle in his body twitching as lifted his paw. Evie smiled a little at his attentiveness but frowned when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head making her cry out. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. She grabbed her head as her ears rang with those words. But I have promises to keep. Her nose started to drip blood, she looked at her hands in horror. And miles to go before I sleep... And miles to go before I sleep... And miles to go before I sleep... The words tumbled out of her mind like a song. She started to pant for air, the ground started nearing. And miles to go before I sleep.
         She was on her hands and knees, the sound of Possum barking mingled with the ringing in her ears. Her vision was too blurry to know who or what creeped then from the foliage in front of the partially hidden cave to wrap his or her arm around Evie's waist, lifting her off the ground almost effortlessly. She was too disoriented to struggle. She caught a blurry outline of the person. They were dressed in black, with shoulder length black hair and dark eye shadow. The person held her against their chest, her head rolled back against their shoulder as they placed their hand gently over Evie's eyes and everything went dark.
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So this is just a fan fic that I decided to write because I've been thinking about it a lot so don't judge if it's stupid lol. Comments and suggestions are always welcome and thanks for reading!