Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 45

"Well, let's get this over with then," Astrid says as she gets off of her and Indigo's horse and dusts at her jeans.

There is a sense of unease that ripples between us as she flashes me a quick glance. Something in her face makes me pause as she furrows her eyebrows. There is a hesitation to move as I am suddenly locked into place astride my horse. It's like we've crested a hill in a territory of wolves. We're in the open, unprotected and unable to see the danger around us.

No one is here, I assure myself.

And yet, I have a strong sense that I am being watched. I can tell from the way Tessa hesitates she could feel it too.

Something is deeply wrong in this area.

I grudgingly get down from my horse, my legs trembling ever so slightly before I take a breath. Tessa shares a look with me as the horses disappear. I'm left feeling even more cold and exposed at the edge of the grassy field.

Every fiber in my being begs to leave.

My heart begins to beat double time, my hands tremoring before I clench them.

"Lead the way," Indigo murmurs.

I look to her for guidance, the pulling sensation in my chest having abruptly faded. I want to ask her for help, only to have something catch my eye from across the graveyard.

I take a step forward, but stop as I grip the wand in my hand more tightly, urging it to guide me. The flash I had seen flickers again, stronger this time. 

"Do you see that?"

"See what?" Tessa asks as she gives me a puzzled look.

"Something's glowing," I tell her as I start across the field.

It's like a flashlight has been turned on and is shining over the headstones as I pick up the pace to a run. The dark headstones whip past as I sprint up the hill, tracking the light down. I pause in front of a large oak tree that is at the top. Gnarled branches sprawl from it in every direction, cloaking us in deep, dark shadows. 

This is a very old tree, untouched it seems, by human hands. The thick boughs of it arch overhead, unkempt and untamed as few leaves cling to it.

Odd.

It should still have leaves and yet every branch is bare. But the tree still felt alive in a way. Power that I can sense still lurking beneath its knotted surface. 

But something...

Something was off.

The light is coming up from the ground and I stoop down beside it and start to dust some of the dirt away.

Though I don't get to see what lies beneath the dirt as the light is suddenly blinding me, pain striking me swift and true within my temples as my vision flashes white.

****

I open my eyes to find that I'm lying on my back beneath a pine tree.

The pine needles hiss and rattle softly above me, whispering in the light breeze. Between the branches and needles, a thick blanket of stars glow coldly over me like the eyes of a deity as I feel small. I sit up to see that I'm still in the graveyard, but it's nighttime and I'm alone.

"Lilith Moriarty," a voice booms over the dark graveyard.

I flinch, instinctively flattening myself to the ground as I roll over onto my stomach.

I squint as I spot the telltale flicker of several balls of light bobbing across the graveyard. There are a few people who are walking in the distance as they speak in hushed voices. I get to my feet to carefully follow them, the tall grass swishing as I silently pad through the graveyard. A small cluster of people are waiting at the base of a hill and I stop well away from them, sticking to the shadows as I crouch. I notice that the oak tree from before is at the top of the hill, the boughs are smaller but still sturdy, leaves flourishing on every limb.