The Sound of Their Presence

Chapter Fifteen: Moonlight Madness

Shane's POV:

    I wake up beside the hospital bed. I figure that I must have fallen asleep while keeping vigil next to Cheyenne. Except that I am in a forest, golden and of the most varietable greens, with the full moon's gracious light beaming down on my face.

      But then, this not a hospital, and Cheyenne isn't in the bed. And why the h*ll am I in the woods during a full moon, weaponless, with an empty hospital bed beside me? All these thoughts flutter through my mind as I realize Cheyenne and I must have been drugged. We had each sung our feelings for each other- then her breathing problems! Where is Cheyenne?

     Although I do not know who must have gased us, I know we are both in grave danger. I must find her! Before whatever could happen happens . . .

    I run through the forest, remembering each possible landmark  I pass, so that I may find my way back to where I woke up. A pine sappling snapped in half, a patch of dead ferns amidst thriving popple trees. A knarled oak, an ol hornet's nest trampled on the ground. I walk past it all, focused alon on finding Cheyenne. A dead grove of birch trees, flaky bark and all. A- Wait- Trampled hornet'ss nest?!

    I run back to the spot in hopes of other signs of unicorns, humans, or any other living thing that isn't a tree. Scanning the ground, I find a small pool of dark blood, a few yards away. I am thankful at this moment for the moonlight. Although there are so many bad things about a full moon, especially in my line of work, this could be my one way ticket to Cheyenne. Most unicorns, I suppose, must phase during the full moon.

     Even though I am not certain, I have experience with such things. My best night hunts have always been most successful during this kind of night. A little fog, extremely frigid temperatures, and a full moon.

    I find hoof tracks, not unlike a deer's, near the blood. My stomache twists with growing discomfirt, as I see several silvery-white hairs on some of the brush along side the tracks. This can be none other than the trail of a unicorn.

    After sprinting for several hundred yards, I slow to a high speed pace. I can't keep up my original hustling any longer. Countless yards later, I finally hear something. Wether the rustle of bushes was the unicorn, Cheyenne, that I desperatley searched for, or just a violent breeze from the increasing wind, I do not know, until I catch a slight baying from behind another grove of pines. 

    I dash to that spot, to find a unicorn. "Cheyenne! Can you shift?" In the dim light, I see her shake her head slightly, before she winnies again. I remove my leather jacket, in hopes that it will be enough. Setting it over the unicorn's shoulders, gently, I back away to give her more space. As she transforms, she pulls the coat around herself.

    I want to hug her, but it is not Cheyenne that I pull into my tight embrace.