The Long Way Home

Chapter Six

Ajalene

Maybe it was the sudden breeze brushing my skin.

Maybe it was the growing sound of life moving in Greenwood forest; the rustling of leaves, the cackling and shifting of branches, all a stark contrast from the silence that filled Greenwood earlier.

Whatever it was, it wakes me up like a bolt of energy rushing through me. One moment I'm sleeping soundly and somehow comfortably on the rough underbrush and the next moment I'm wide awake as if I wasn't just asleep at all.

I don't move. I wait, sensing for that thing again. That sound, that feeling, whatever it was.

It's still night. The moon beams high through the trees, casting dancing shadows as the trees sway from the night breeze. How long had I been asleep? From the looks of it, it must've been a few minutes, no more than an hour. Hades still sleeps, undisturbed, a few feet away from me, his lips parted slightly in his sleep. He looks so at peace and... defenseless, strange for him. It's something I didn't expect he'd seem, even as he slept. The unyielding defensiveness that radiated off of his body earlier seemed like a permanent part of him, as if that trait could as well be his leg or his arm. He sleeps soundly, his shoulders relaxed under the thin fabric of his tunic. He must not have sensed what I sensed to still be asleep this deeply.

And the sudden rise of the wind... He must not have felt that either.

I wrap Hades cloak tighter around my body, protecting myself from the cold wind. I heed for the thing that I sensed a moment ago. I listen to the forest as if will tell me something. I focus on the feel of the wind brushing my face as if it too will tell me something.

I look up at the trees as I listen, watching as the leaves seem to dance. My face feels icy cold. My eyes feel as wide as the ocean. I don't feel scared, though. In fact, I feel nothing, as if all the feelings bottled up inside me also paused to sense that thing again.

I listen.

I watch.

I wait.

I look from the trees to their trunks, and the darkness beyond them.

Nothing.

A shift of movement comes from Hades. I watch as he shifts, still asleep, from one side to the other. And suddenly he bolts upright, sitting all the way up, his eyes as wide as my own. He looks at me, his index finger going to his lips in a silent shushing gesture as if I am not already quiet.

He senses it too.

Slowly he inches toward me, his eyes on the trees. He reaches for my hand, grabbing it tightly. His eyes are wide but it doesn't seem from fear, more like anticipation. He knows something is lurking near.

What the hell could it be? I think to myself.

I tap Hades' shoulder to get his attention. He looks at me and the moment he does, something catches my eyes in the area that he was just looking and that's when I see it. My heart stops.

"Ajalene" Hades whispers fiercely. "What is it-"

Hades' eyes follow my line of sight. His hand grows rigid in my own.

It is the figure of a woman, her head bent over a patch of something growing right under a tree. She moves around what looks like flowers. As if her presence wasn't enough of a surprise, my heart catches in my chest at the sight of the flowers. The flowers most certainly weren't there before. But there they are, the woman moving about them as if searching for the right one, her hair a large Afro on her head. The woman is some distance away, but close enough so that I can see that she can't be any older than me and Hades. Her feet are bare and she's dressed in a thin, white nightgown, the nightgown a vivid kind of white, shining like a beacon under the moonlight. The fabric of the gown blows easily in the wind, billowing around the woman's legs.