Death's Saviour

Chapter Three: Dusk

Author's Song of the Chapter: Hunter by Adam Jensen

Noah, Sally, and Chris are kind enough to allow me to stay with them as they take care of me while I try to remember who the hell I am. I sit outside and sway in a swinging chair as I look into the forest, I feel an odd deep pull towards it and it makes my skin itch uncomfortably. It's almost like I belong in another skin or form, or something. Either way, I twist my hair around my finger absently as my mind races. Noah has set up an easel in the middles of the lawn, his brush flies over the canvas as he paints the trees. I'm amazed at how well he captures the depths and hidden little crooks of the forest, but he is missing some important colours.

"You're missing some colours that will really bring out the depths of your painting!" I tell him as I move from my seat on the swing, taking his paints I mix up three different shades of green for him to try as I look into the forest.

I return Noah's paints to him, he tries out the shades of green I mixed. I smile as his eyes light up when he adds the greens and creates a new dimension to his painting.

"You are a genius Dusk!" He raves as he continues to paint using new greens I provided him with.

My eyes are again drawn past him and towards the forest.

"I'm drawn to the forest in a weird way as if I belong in it. My skin feels tight and I'm almost starting to believe I'm supposed to be in another skin!" I explain frustrated with my body.

At my words, Noah stops his brush to look over his shoulder at me with one eyebrow raised concern written on his face. Over these past few weeks, I have learned only a little bit about Noah, but I learned more about his girl Hannah. Hannah, it's odd how I feel like I know her even though Noah assures me that there is no possible way I could have, she disappeared and hasn't been found. They don't even know if she is alive or dead, something tells me I could find her if I wanted to. Alive or dead, that analogy makes my blood boil with a weird and consuming rage. I continue to gaze past Noah into the forest, again my skin itches and tingles like I don't belong in it and maybe I don't. I push myself up from where I swayed, carefully I move across the law as I go to the edge of the forest, I want to go into it. I'm about to step across the border and enter the trees when Noah speaks up.

"I really wouldn't go in there if I were you, apparently the Wolves own it all. They would kill you for trespassing!" Noah calls behind me, I can tell he doesn't believe his words but the word wolves seems to trigger me.

I sway, I place my hand against the closest tree as the world swings and in front of me appears a black wolf with my eyes looking out at me. I gasp as it speaks to me in my mind.

"No, this forest belongs to me, I own it." I smile at the wolf saying the words it said to me aloud knowing it's true.

Noah says something behind me but I don't hear him as I reach my hand out to touch the wolf, to see if it's real.

'Come back to me Dusk, this is the real you. You belong here and you have a purpose to fulfill other than this boy!' - The wolf seems to whisper straight into my mind it's words sending a tremor through my body.

I stumble back as suddenly my body bursts into a thousand hot little flames of pain. I cry out and fall to the ground, arms come around me and then release me as my bones break, snap, and reform. Through all of this pain, I feel a sense of rightness, I know now the wolf didn't lie to me, this is who I truly am. This will lead me back to the real me. I tremble until I get my paws under me and voices echo around me but I don't hear them as memories slam into me like my nightmares. Turns out the nightmares are the real memories. I become so confused and overloaded with anger that I let out a deep snarl. When the world refocuses I see that I snarled at Chris who had approached me where I stand in my shredded clothes, as soon as I recognize him I quite myself lowering my lips to cover up the snarl as a wave of regret hits me. I turn my head meeting Noah's eyes as he looks at me with his eyes wide open and full of horror that makes me take a step back whimpering as I go. A sound I recognize from all the farmer's lands that I stayed too close to meets my ears causing me to move so that I look Sally straight in the eyes as she points a shotgun at me and makes her way closer to me.