Sapphire Bones

Pleasantries

Updated: April 22, 2019

L

The soft breeze in the morning mist of the woodlands of Maine whipped through Roddy's fur and my hair pulled into a short ponytail, tied with a thin piece of ripped fabric from my tattering dress. Per Cole, we woke just before sunrise, when the burning sun hovered just inches below the horizon, a bright line of orange and yellow beyond the trees near the beach. Despite our distance from the shoreline or even the tree line for that matter, rays of morning light slipped through the cracks between the gigantic Ash. Not long after we all woke, Cole and Roddy shifted into their wolves. I climbed onto Roddy's back and held onto his fur, pieces clutched between my fingers. He started off slow, a trot. His feet padded against the ground, dirt kicking up behind us. Cole led the way through the dense brush, a small path trodden by travelers before us. The wolves spoke with each other in gentle nips and yelps along the way, leaving me in the dark about what they spoke about. I guess I just figured they'd inform me once they returned to their human forms. It wasn't rare for others to speak of me as if I wasn't present.

A couple of times Roddy sped up, jolting me forward into his neck. I latched on, grasping my hands together underneath his scruff. Once at a consistent pace, he and Cole raced through the trees, jumping over fallen logs and winding through the paths ahead. We had a lot of distance to cover before nightfall, and without a map or any sense of direction in the middle of the forest, we had to rely on our own knowledge to get us through the wilderness. Around me, pollen and tree branches danced together in a sort of waltz of smells that encapsulated my nose. I took deep breaths of the sea air. Unknown flowers introduced themselves to me, with their fresh floral scents that tickled the hairs inside my nostrils. Despite my tight clutch on Roddy, I lifted my head. The thin strip of fabric around my hair slipped, and let go. My hair bounced out of the ponytail and whipped around my head in violent strokes. I released one of my hands and raked my fingers across my scalp to brush the dark locks loose so they were free of the mold I placed them in.

Long after we began the journey, Cole and Roddy slowed to a stop. I hopped off Roddy's back and shook out my hair, still unable to grasp that it no longer reached the middle of my back. Jeffries' grasp on it, and the blade he sliced it with haunted the space around me. I could still feel his breath down my neck; the cold embrace of his hands around my throat. The cool blade that ran across the back of my neck. It elicited goosebumps to rise from my flesh in its wake. I shivered, shoulders jerking as I shook the memory from my mind.

"We're on the edge of the forest. There's a town just up the road." Cole said once he and his partner both shifted back into their human forms. I handed them each their clothes that I held onto while we traveled. Once they were both dressed we started moving on foot. Roddy kept a firm hand on one of my shoulders at all times, probably because he needed to make sure I was still there, that I hadn't wandered off and found myself lost in the middle of the road. I still hadn't told them I could see their figures, bright red signatures or not. They didn't need to know, at least not now. It was the one thing I kept to myself, the one secret I held close and cradled.

"Food first, and then we'll find you something a little more suitable to wear," Roddy squeezed the space between my collarbone and shoulder. I nodded and continued walking. My feet shuffled in the dirt, and I combed a hand through my hair. Knots, just like the ones I grew accustomed to while with Peter, caught my fingers and forced them off my scalp. I sighed and turned my head up. Bright red flashes zoomed by in front of me. Cars, no doubt. We stopped by the side of the road for a moment. Cole and Roddy muttered about something and then we started off down the side of the road.

"Should be a mile or two; I can see the town from here," Cole said.

"Great, I'm starving," Roddy answered with a laugh.