Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 14

I jolt awake on my back, my eyes flying open.

What the-? 

I stop and gasp as I stare up at a dark sky that is stretched out above me. There are more stars in the sky than I've ever seen before. I lie there for a long moment and gaze up in awe, the faint, cloudy traceries of the Milky Way laid out like a tapestry. There's a chorus of crickets chirping along with frogs croaking to a volume that nearly drowns everything else out. I can guess that I may be in a marshy area judging by the soft ground under me.

A sudden shout catches me off guard and I roll over on my stomach.

Tall grass and cattails surround me, making it difficult for me to see much of what's past the curtain of foliage. I can scarcely see a flicker of fire as I pick out the glow of individual torches being carried by several people.

"She's out here, I saw her run in this direction," one person, a woman says in a low voice. 

A dog follows her, and as I watch I note that the dog has the flickering skin of a familiar as it trots beside her. Its floppy ears prick forward before it puts its nose to the ground, likely a hound mix of some sort. 

"Did you find her daughters?" a man asks, his familiar being that of an owl, which is perched on his shoulder.

"Nay, I think she may have sent them out in a carriage heading west, we'll find 'em," the woman assures the man.

"Hush now, she'll hear us," says the man leading the trio as the torches flicker out and they disappear from view.

I freeze and breathe lightly as I hear their footsteps treading closer, but I can't see them at all.

Can they hear me? Are they going to find me?

I shudder at the thought and there's a sudden rustling sound beside me among the pond weeds that startles me. Bright green eyes peer out of them from several feet away. They lean forward to reveal a pale face that is illuminated in the light of the half-moon above us. The eyes look right through me, unseeing as they search the darkness, squinting with concentration. 

There's a baying howl as a dog begins to bark, its paws slapping the muddy ground. It springs from the weeds suddenly, its teeth flashing in the dark as I brace. A scream fills my lungs but I don't let it out. Instead, the dog lunges for the person crouched next to me.

The person screams as they're bowled over and the dog latches onto their arm. Snarls rise from the dog as their teeth makes contact and comes away bloodied. I can hear the person struggle as they try to fight the dog off, but to no avail.

I flinch as the person is suddenly bathed in blue light, several lights have been turned on at once as I crouch and retreat into the shadows. The three people from before step forward with balls of blue light glowing in their hands. The woman makes a low whistle and the dog lets go of the struggling person.

Hunched in the center of a patch of grass is a woman of breathtaking beauty who looks strangely familiar to me. Her long, light-colored hair falls down her back in a tangled braid as mud and sticks clot her hair. She's wearing a simple, red and brown dress, the petticoats stained with mud as I notice that the fabric is torn in some places. The woman glares up at the others, a challenge flickering in her eyes as something else works behind the scenes, something calculating in her gaze. 

"Surprised that you can't control my familiar, yeah?" the woman with the dog familiar sneers as she looks down at the woman sitting on the ground.