My breaths came ragged but the air was fresh and crisp. I hardly noticed the large fir trees around me, and heard nothing but my breathing and my feet pounding at the soil beneath them. Sweat and tears flew from my face and my mind was reeling. Somehow the door at the back of the linen closet led to the outside? A cramp in my ribs drew me to a halt and I bent over clutching my side. I surveyed my surroundings slowly and drew in a shaky breath, holding it to listen. I could hear neither footsteps nor jingling of keys. My eyebrows drew together. It was too quiet. I realized I’d never been this far into the woods behind the Children’s home. I knew the surrounding area though and I was sure I’d have hit highway 20 by now. Shouldn’t I at least be hearing it? I furrowed my brow in thought and drew my arms around myself, freezing in my soaked t shirt and yoga type pants.
An odd looking plant caught my attention at the base of a nearby tree and I started towards it. There were little purple flowers that looked like nothing I had ever seen before. The leaves weren’t leaves at all; they were long speckled tubes that could have passed for stained glass in a museum. I frowned. What the hell kind of flower was that? The tree itself had leaves the size of lawn umbrella and were uncannily round. I could suddenly feel the cold metal of the key around my neck and I grabbed for it fearfully. Something wasn’t right. The poisonous little root of fear began growing in my abdomen and I began walking quickly in the same direction. I should reach highway 20 any minute. I had no idea which direction I would go once I hit the highway. Maybe I’d go back to the children’s home. The woods were steadily growing denser and soon I was fighting my way through thick patches of underbrush. Bushes and branches scraped and poked at my clammy skin. I paused in a clearing and noticed I still couldn’t hear anything that sounded remotely like highway 20. Come to think of it I couldn’t hear anything at all except some peculiar sounding frogs. I should be able to hear something shouldn’t I? I mean, I live in a small town but it’s a town and there’s usually an occasional aid car or siren, maybe a car alarm or squealing tires. I began to absentmindedly chew on the inside of my cheek, terrified. I was lost. It didn’t make sense; how could I have run so far and not come through the woods? Suddenly I could hear all sorts of creepy forest noises. A twig broke behind me and I spun around to hear something scamper away off to my left. I cursed under my breath. Who knew who or what could be out here?
Goosebumps ran up from my toes to my ears and the feeling of someone watching me struck me like a lightning bolt. I swallowed my growing fear and turned in a slow circle, my left hand constantly on the ancient key around my neck. Absentmindedly I turned it clockwise until the chain was tight against my throat and then slowly turned it back the other way. Something crunched in the thick woods ahead of me and then I heard a pair of almost silent wings whooshing above my head. I looked up just in time to see a giant owl fly over me and land out of sight. The snap of a twig closer than before brought my attention back to earth and I began to slowly back away from the seemingly approaching noises. I pressed myself into the cover of a huge leafy bush and struggled to look through the bushes under light of the moon. More branches broke and I could hear leaves and stalks being pushed aside. Just ahead of me I saw a branch move and a man struggled through the brush to appear in the small clearing. I gasped, instantly giving myself away and bit my cheek hard as I stood up and tried my best to act natural.
“H-hi there! I was just um, looking for some firewood. My friends and I are camping out here and didn’t want to get cold…” I trailed off, gazing at the strange man before me. He appeared to be in his Forties or Fifties, and was dressed like some sort of park ranger. Brown rough out leather boots stuck out from underneath thick woven pants and a giant leather parka. Small baggies and pouches hung from his neck and waist and he wore what appeared to be some sort of tooth necklace. Underneath all of the stuff on this forest weirdo was a chubby round face covered in facial hair and surrounded by thick brown curly hair. A look of confusion flickered across his face just briefly, and then a confident smile broke out.
“You sure you’re not lost, girl? Don’t look like you got proper clothes on for a cold night like this.” He stated with a friendly smile.
I hesitated, “ um… well…” Shit. My mind raced. What the hell was I supposed to tell this guy? He probably knew I’d run away from the Children’s Home. Chances are he knew exactly who I was and was planning on taking me right back. “I was gathering firewood and I guess I sort of just lost them…” I trailed off.
“Ahh, no big deal! I know these woods pretty good! Maybe I can help you get back to em, eh? His voice was sort of gruff but his smile seemed pretty genuine. He stuck his hand out firmly towards mine, holding my eye contact. “Name’s Bartok!”
“Lena” I said, shaking his hand quickly. “I’m pretty sure our campsite was just south of Highway 20”
That look of confusion flashed across his face again, this time with a note of panic. “Oh… err…. Yeah I uh… well let’s just head thataway, shouldn’t be more’n an hour’s walk.” He started down the edge of the clearing and I followed him closely, a little more at ease now I wasn’t alone in these woods. Something was weird though. An hour to get to the highway? Really? I mean, I was running blindly for quite a while, but I couldn’t have been running in circles the whole time could I? Doubt gnawed at the back of my mind and I chewed my lip nervously as I followed this peculiar stranger through an even more peculiar moonlit wood.
I stayed quiet for what seemed like hours but I really wanted to know what was up with this guy. Why was he out in the middle of the woods at night dressed like that? His sweat dampened face and hurried stride kept me from asking any questions. Or maybe it was that feeling of being watched that seemed to be growing as I walked along.
“So, does this trail lead to the highway?” I finally asked.
“Oh, uh, uhm… yeah we can’t be too far at all” he stuttered over the first part, still trudging along.
I drew my eyebrows together suspiciously. Something was definitely weird with this guy. My breath caught in my throat as my gut suddenly dropped. He wasn’t taking me to the highway at all! He was probably leading me further and further into the middle of the woods! God, why was I so stupid not to see it earlier? The idea popped into my head that I should run for it while I still have a chance but even though I don’t remember halting, my feet were glued to the forest floor. He noticed that I had stopped walking and he turned around with a worried expression.
“Sumpin the matter?” he grunted.
“Oh sorry, I got a rock stuck in my shoe here. Let me just get it out…” I had bent over and pulled one shoe off, shaking it to get rid of the ‘rock’ when something heavy slammed into me, knocking me over. I screamed as the something heavy grabbed both of my wrists behind my back and pinned me down with its big fat knee.
“Ow! What the hell?” I screamed at him as he tied my hands together, my face shoved up against the dirt.
“Sorry girlie. Cyrus’ orders.” He grunted.
Panic rising in my throat I screamed at him “Who the hell is Cyrus? Get off me!”
Beneath the moonlight I could see him freeze and his eyebrows shoot up with excitement.
“You don’t know who Cyrus is? Oh ho I got me a good one,” He chuckled to himself “How’d you get in here anyway? Aww, nevermatter. Won’t do no good talking to ya none bout it now. He’ll just find out, then be angry. Noooo sir, if I be good I maybe could get a fat favor from im.” He rambled on excitedly with a sort of manic laughter creeping in.
Once my hands were bound and my mouth was gagged, Bartok took a hold of my arm and proceeded to drag me through the dense wood. I slid into a somewhat mentally shut down place. This auger had me bound and was taking me to god knows where, I was so lost and out of place I didn’t recognize any of my surroundings. The plants didn’t look right. He asked me how I’d gotten in. Gotten in where? Here? Am I on the property of some weird ass cult or something? Someone was still following us. It was all just too much for me to handle. Hungry, cold, and tired, I hardly noticed when Bartok set me down at the base of a tree and tied the ropes from my wrist to another rope and tied those high up in the tree. I curled up into a ball and tried to keep blocking out everything that was happening. I tried to think of something happy so I could maybe fall asleep. But the truth knocked and clawed at my conscious. It’s tendrils of fear and panic seeping into my mind.
YOU ARE READING
Becoming Ambellina
Fantasia'If you could listen closely, at this very moment, you could almost hear my life twisting and turning on its axis, spiraling me into a whole new dimension.' Follow Ambellina as she is thrown into a new world full of unbelievable people and lurking d...
