Heathens

Chapter 1

I awoke with a jump, finding myself in the middle of the woods. All around me, trees that seemed like they covered thousands of miles. There was a cold breeze that nipped at my nose and fingers. I brought myself to my feet, and looked down at myself, a black and grey stripped jacket, a black and red shirt with a skull emblazoned on the front, light colored jeans, and black convers. I watched the light colored jeans get spotted, then looked up to see dark grey clouds that rumbled with thunder. Rain started wildly drizzling from them. I checked my wrist, to find my watch was missing. I had no way to tell time. My phone was in moms possession, I already knew. I wondered how I got to the woods. My friends probably dropped me there as a prank to scare me. Maybe play a little slenderman with me or something. I shook my head, then started walking. Maybe I could get back to society. Lightning struck in the distance, and another loud roar of thunder ripped through the sky. The rain started to get harder, and turn into a pour rather than a drizzle.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. The loud crunching of dead twigs and leaves beneath my feet was seemingly louder than the rising thunder or the pouring rain. It was fall, which meant the trees were becoming more bare, so the twigs and leaves were new, but dead all the same. The sounds of the crunching were louder than my own thoughts, and it was driving me a little insane. I started to hum a song I loved listening to, to see if I could calm down. The humming didn't help, I could feel anxiety and insanity flooding my system. Why did my friends leave me here? Why was I stuck walking in woods that seemed endless? Was I ever going to make it home? My thoughts started rushing through my head. I couldn't hear them too clearly but they still started to freak me out, nonetheless.

I got more and more worried as I walked further and further into the woods. The pouring rain started to let up and turn back into a drizzle, but the thunder and lightning still crackled and roared loudly in the sky. The lightning was frightening, speaking that it could easily strike a tree and start a fire. In the midst of thinking all of this, my stomach started to rumble. I haven't eaten since dinner last night, and I had been walking for what seemed like 3 eterneties. I decided it was time to eat, but as I looked around, none of the trees bore fruit and the bushes were dead. I thought for a while, and decided that twigs and bark would be okay, even if it did taste gross. I broke off a twig from a nearby bush, and as I went to eat it, my senses were flooded with the smell of a pork roast. Oh how desperately I wanted that pork roast. I followed the smell, which overpowered the smell of the fresh rain that had finally ceased. I dropped the twig, and started to follow the scent. The clouds started to part, revealing a dark sky with millions of brilliant twinkling lights. I would switch from looking at the sky and looking ahead. The smell seemed to be getting stronger, but it was also starting to fade away. I quickened my pace, attempting to find the source of the pot roast soon. Sadly, it was not to be. The smell finally faded away completely before I could find it. I sighed heavily, and felt a wave of exhaustion pass over me as I slumped onto my butt and leaned on a nearby redwood tree. I wanted to eat, but would rather sleep. I took deep breaths, and felt my eyelids grow heavy. Soon, I was asleep.

I woke up what seemed to be a few seconds later. I heard the cracking of dead twigs and leaves, but I hadn't moved yet. I stood up quickly, looking defensively around myself. I found myself yearning for my home and civilization as I heard my quickened heartbeat in my ears. My blood was pumping with anxiety induced adrenaline. I looked frantically, trying to find the source of the noise. I walked toward it, and found a small stream. Two cloaked figures stooped by it and put a bucket in it. One turned around. She was a blonde girl with pale blue eyes. She looked about sixteen, and she had a black and red checkerboard lipstick pattern on her lips. "Ostara, someone's here!" She quietly exclaimed to the cloaked figure next to her. The figure quickly turned, spilling water out of the bucket as she did so. She was brunette, with hazel eyes that looked golden yellow. She had black lipstick on, and a full red heart on her left cheek, with a black broken heart on her right. "Adira stay back," she said to the blonde girl next to her. She instinctively got in front of the girl, and set the bucket down. She whipped out a brilliant silver dagger. "Who are you? What do you want? How are you here? Who do you work for?" She blasted me with the sudden questions. Flustered, I stuttered as I spoke, blurting out the words as fast as I could to avoid death. "I-I don't know. My name's Scarlet Rubern, I don't know where I am or how I got here, all I want is to go home and I don't work for anyone, I promise." She gave me a skeptical look up and down, and hesitantly withdrew her dagger. She silently stared at me, as if she was making a decision. "Adira, should I trust her?" She never stopped looking at me as she said it, but she moved her head toward her. Adira looked closely at me. After an agonizingly long observation, she finally answered Ostara. "Yes." Ostara looked back at her for a moment, and Adira shook her head yes. She looked back at me again. "Okay, fine. Come with us, you look hungry." My stomach growled loudly just as she said that. They turned without a second thought, and started walking.

The walk, though it probably took about 45 minutes, felt like an eternity. I progressively grew weaker as we continued on. The hunger was really starting to get to me. Eventually, we came to this gorgeous cabin. It was two stories, and it was a log cabin. Near the back, there was a small swing set, strategically-placed in front of a bay window. To the far left of the swing set, there was a fire pit surrounded by chairs and logs. There was a small porch in back, with a glass table. All of the windows, except the bay window, were small hexagons. On the front porch, there was a swing that could seat 3, and to the right of that, past the door, there were two chairs. On one of the logs connected to the door, the word heathen was carved. As we entered, I took a 360 scan around the room.   Everything was lit by candles and lanterns, and the house smelled faintly of rosemary and lavender, but there Was a more powerful smell - food.To the right of the front door, there was the living area. There were 2 mahogany chairs, with a matching coffee table. There was also a large couch, and in the corner there was a playpen. Next to the playpen was the door leading to the master bedroom. Behind the couch, there was a wall full of pictures, and the wall was hiding the hall behind it. The hall contained a small bathroom, the back door, and 3 bedrooms. To the left of the front door, there was the kitchen. It had marble countertops, a large black fridge, a medium sized sink comma and an island with a marble as well. There were four bar stools surrounding the island, they were leather. To the left of the fridge, there were 4 doors. The closest to the kitchen to the dining room, which had enough room to feed 20 people. The other three doors lead to bedrooms. There were a noticeable amount of bedrooms, I wondered just how many people lived here. Near the 4 doors were the stairs. Upstairs, there was another living area, but it was smaller. It had a small green couch and two chairs to match.  There was a bathroom, a balcony, a large closet, and another 2 bedrooms. On the balcony, there was a latter leading to the roof, and another porch swing.

We went into the dining room, which was almost completely full. "Hey, you guys, we have a guest! Her name is Scarlet, and we found her in the woods." Everyone said "Hi," in unison.  The room smelled of pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, hash browns, and warm maple syrup. My stomach growled loudly. A woman with purple hair exclaimed, "Sit down! You look and sound like your starving!" I hesitantly sat down as she made and handed me a plate. I automatically dug in and are everything on my plate in less than two minutes. She seemed shocked. "Thank you," I stuttered out. She took my plate, and made another one and set it down in front of me. "No, no, it's fine!"
"Eat, I can tell you're hungrier than one plate of food. You're not going to burden is by eating a little more." I get a wave of relief. I smiled at her, then I dug in again. After I finished, I thanked her again. "Let's introduce everyone, shall we?" There was Raven, Raiden, Horus, Eucalyptus, Osiris, Penelope, Seratine, Loraine and Logan. Raven and Raiden were brothers, both with black eyes that peered into your soul when you looked into them. Raven had black hair that covered his right eye, whereas Raiden had short, cobalt blue hair. Raiden was the older brother, but Raven was taller. Eucalyptus and Osiris were husband and wife, with the toddler twins, Loraine and Logan. Eucalyptus had purple hair and tired grey eyes. She has faint wrinkles, but she still seemed young. Osiris had brown hair, with brown eyes. His laugh was hearty. The twins had mousy, curly brown hair. Logan had grey eyes, and Loraine had blue. Penelope and Seratine were cousins. They both had firey red hair. Penelope had blue eyes, many freckles, and a faint Irish accent. She was stylish. Her cousin, on the other hand, had green eyes, fewer freckles and no accent. She dressed for comfort. Horus seemed to be the "lone wolf" type. He had dirty blond hair, chocolate brown eyes, and was very tan. He had a smile that could make ones heart melt. I loved it.