Madness {Ouat}

Storm

   Cheshire stood hesitantly behind a tree, watching the house across from her. The road between the woods and the building stayed empty for a while, but the sound of an oncoming car caught her attention. It pulled up and into the driveway, her eyes locked on it the whole way. Cheshire lowered herself when Jefferson stepped out of the driver's side. He seemed different, more at ease than she'd ever seen him. The other car door opened and closed as Grace exited after him. Cheshire couldn't stop herself from smiling. This is all he ever wanted or talked about, and now he had it. She couldn't deny that she was happy for him, but an upset feeling in her chest made her question her emotions. That happiness began to fade and Cheshire shut her eyes as a mildly sickening sense made its way through her body. She opened her eyes and caught sight of Jefferson turning his head casually towards the forest. Cheshire threw herself behind the tree once more, her heart picking up pace as she tried to convince herself that it was just a glance, that he had no idea she was there. She closed her eyes and exhaled, pausing a moment before opening them and seeing a new location, as well as the mist of teleportation settling around her.
   She had taken resistance in a cabin that seemed to be relatively abandoned, as least for the time she needed. It was small, only one room, but it was a roof and a bed and that was all she could ask for. Cheshire landed on the bed and sighed as she lowered her torso on to the mattress, her legs still hanging off of it. She wasn't really tired and it wasn't really late, but she found herself needing a break. A few minutes passed, Cheshire taking the time to process everything she needed to think about. She sat straight up however, when there was a hard knock on the door. She stood slowly, as to not make the old floors create too much noise. Cheshire pulled the closed curtain an inch out of the way and peered out window, there was nothing in view. She stepped over to the door and put her hand on the knob, questioning herself for a moment then opening the door all the way.
   "What the hell Henry," Cheshire let out a semi relieved breath, "You almost gave me a heart attack."
   "Sorry," Henry apologized, lightly shuffling his feet on the ground outside the door.
   "How did you even know I was here?"
   "It's the only cabin in this part of the woods. I thought it made sense." Cheshire took in an almost irritated inhale with her eyes closed.
"What do you want?" She crossed her arms and leaned away from the door.
"I overheard that my mom talked to Jefferson and-"
"I'll stop you right there," Cheshire backed away, beginning to close the door.
"Why don't you want to see him, from what I read it sounds like you were close." Cheshire simply turned and walked to the far side of the room, pushing the door closed but not enough to actually shut it. Henry followed in after her, stopping the door with his hand. "What happened with you two?"
   "There are far more important things going on then my relationships with people."
   "What's going on?" Henry questioned her, leaving the door open behind him and walking slightly closer.
   "Doesn't matter, I'm handling it."
   "If it's important then we should tell my family. That's kinda' their job."
"Look Henry-" Cheshire jumped as a gust of wind slammed the door into the wall without warning. A strong wind continued to blow as the two stood still. Cheshire narrowed her eyes and walked passed Henry to the door frame. She looked out into the forest, holding the walls beside her as she leaned forward. The sky had darkened at an alarming rate, the wind whipping Cheshire hair in spirals.
"I don't think it's supposed to rain today," Henry told her nervously.
"This isn't a storm."
In an instant one of the cabin windows shattered inwards without warning. Henry jumped back and Cheshire let out a quick scream, both instinctively covering their faces from the glass. A giant black crow-like creature clung to the outside of the window frame. It's wings expanded, covering the opening completely while its beak lurched towards them, snapping furiously. Cheshire took another step back, putting her arm out in front of Henry.
"Okay, I'm going to try something," Cheshire raised her other hand at the creature. "I've never really done it on command but... Here's to hoping"
She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the black mass in front of her.
"Come on," She shut her eyes tight while her arm began to shake from strain. Cheshire let out a disgruntled sigh then lowered her hand. She looked over at Henry, who was only able to stare back at her. Her eyes moved to ground through the open door and widened.
"Okay stay here, I've got a really bad idea." Before Henry could say anything Cheshire was already gone in a poof of smoke. As she reappeared outside the strong winds knocked her off balance for a moment. Cheshire regained her steadiness and picked a rock up off of the ground. She gave a heavy swing, chucking the small stone at the bird. It turned its head to Cheshire immediately, leaving the window frame and letting out a screech as it faced her.
"Oh Lord please work," Cheshire muttered to herself. As the beast leaped towards her she raised both her arms out in front of herself. She looked away as a flash of bright light escaped her hands. The bird let out another screech, sounding far less wild than before. As soon as it came it left, flying off until it was no longer in view. Cheshire let out a relived and astonished sigh then looked over at Henry who was watching her from the door frame.
"We should talk to your family..."