Broken Ever Afters

Part 2 - Chapter 6

The wind blows against my face, and my breaths are huffed and laboured. Rain water bathes me from head to toe and it has become impossible for me to see where I'm going, my heavy, wet, red and gold locks stick to my face. Water splashes under my trudging feet and my shoes are full of water and it's getting difficult to run, or walk for that matter. All I can think of the persistent growls behind me.

I can't keep running forever. Eventually, I'll run out of forest, fall with exhaustion or pass out from hunger. My options lead to getting caught. I must think of something fast. What can I do? Can wolves pick up my scent? I don't know. What I know is they can't climb trees.

Scaling the nearest tree, I stop only to push myself higher. Branches which hang low help me move higher up. The moss is wet and slippery, making me lose my footing a couple of times. A branch breaks off but I manage to keep going higher until my gaze falls upon a thick, broken branch on which to perch.

As I sit on the branch, back resting against the trunk and curled up, my first thoughts run towards Jacob. Where is he right now? I'm sure he's gained a lot of experience running away from this kind of trouble. He'll undoubtedly arrive at our rendezvous point before me, if I ever mange to find it. The first thing I must do after I shake off the wolves it to determine how to reach the gingerbread house.

The wolves come to a stop by my tree. From here I can see their dishevelled, grey fur as they run around in circles, sniffing. One of them even sniffs the trunk of my tree, making me curl up even more, holding my breath. I let it out slowly as the wolf backs down and trots away with the rest of his pack.

I stay on the tree long after the wolves are gone, just to make sure they won't be coming back any time soon. The rain hasn't shown any signs of desisting and I shudder. Since I'm no longer running and keeping myself warm, the cold crept under my skin. I collect my locks and squeeze out some water from my hair before tying it up in a bun with the longer strands.

A white bird which I don't recognize flutters by. It makes two turns around me before plunging towards the ground. The bird does this over and over until I decide it is telling me to descend from the tree. The bird takes one final dive and lands on the ground by the tree, waiting for me.

When my feet hit the ground, water splashes on the bird and it flies away, keeping itself close by but ahead of me. I follow the bird through the forest, hoping it too wants to find shelter from the incessant rain. Every few steps I look up to make sure to keep it is still in my line of sight, the fear mounting inside whispering evilly I might lose him like I lost Jacob.

The rain stops like a curtain of water at the edge of the forest. A few steps more and I'll be out in the open, exposed but warmer and drier. The bird I follow flies further ahead and I lose sight of it. Here, in the middle of this clearing lies the gingerbread house.

I walk towards the sugary house, noticing the scrumptious candy lying around. Giant white, pink and yellow marshmallows for stubs, multi-coloured jelly beans replace flowerbeds and a path of white peppermints like gravel leads to the house. I have a sweet tooth and I constantly remind myself to keep my hands off the candy because it might be poisoned or toxic.

The door is made of large, milk chocolate finger sticks held together by two lines of melted dark chocolate. The handle is made from a candy cane. Seeing the bountiful amounts of sugar makes me nauseous.

After opening the door, waiting for Jacob outside seems a far better plan than to walk inside alone. I feel safer out there even though not by much. The house is dark and creepy as only a few candles are lit around the place throwing shadows and casting outlines on everything. Everything smells of freshly baked cake.