There's A Wolf At My Door | B X B X B

Part Twenty: Magic and Dreams

Henry

We spent hours driving to this unknown location. We drove out of town and into the woods so the past hour and a half was just dense forests and an ever-stretching road.

Clarke and Rita engaged in conversation when everything felt too silent. Jared remained quiet and had a walled off look about him. He constantly felt his throat and slowly but surely I could see bruises starting to form around his neck.

I chose to stay silent too. I just felt so exhausted but every time I closed my eyes- even for a split second an instant reminder of what I did haunted me. Sometimes I felt sick, and begged them to stop the car so I could expel whatever was left in my stomach and other times I became frighteningly numb. I felt dangerously claustrophobic in the car but I kept my mouth shut and buried my head in between my arms. I already felt like a burden on them, I didn't want to make that worse.

"Almost there. Let's hope Alan got there without any problems." Rita muttered as we took a sharp right. I shuddered at the sudden movement and swallowed whatever threatened to come up again. I screwed my eyes shut and listened to Rita and Clarke carry on their conversation, as if we weren't just attacked and nearly killed by supernatural beings.

Rita was true to her word and we where there in a little under twenty minutes. I didn't hesitate and the minute the car stopped moving I unbuckled myself and leaped outside. The woods around us were called and damp with a small breeze blowing through the leaves. I looked around only to find nothing but empty woods. Where was the safe house?

Jared got out and brushed past me. Rita and Clarke followed him to a clear patch in the trees. They parted just enough to let a few solid beams of sunlight through. I curiously followed them to a path of dense bush that stood at least a couple feet over my head and watched as Clarke and Jared pushed passed the twigs and leaves and were engulfed by the shrubs. "What are they doing?" I asked, my voice coming out raw and weak from all my crying. Rita grabbed my hand and gave me a reassuring smile. "Trust me, okay?"

I nodded, not having much of a choice. I didn't want to stay alone for even a second in these woods.

She took my hand and lead me through the thick bush and did her best to clear the path but I did receive a few scratches from oncoming branches and twigs. I was expecting to come out the other side in a manner of seconds but the bush only swallowed us up further so much so that Rita gave up on smacking away the dense bush and I continuously had a face full of leaves.

No sunlight paired with the leaves meant my field of view was narrowed significantly and I began to panic. I was desperately gripping onto Rita's hand, praying to god she didn't let go and leave me stranded in the shrubbery. I had no idea why it scared me so much but I had that odd feeling that I would be lost forever if she let go.

I tried calling for her to hold on when I felt my fingers slip but a shrub forced it's way into my mouth, silencing me and jerking Rita away from me. Panic gripped hold of me and I froze in place. I tried my best to listen in for her voice but all my senses seemed to have left me. There were no indicators on whether or not I was close to Rita, no clues that I was anywhere near the end. No light, no sound- it was making me hyperventilate.

I attempted to calm myself down and take in deep breaths. I felt my chest heave from the large intakes of air and the leaves around me bristle with a blow of wind. I calmed down a little bit and let the sound of light shuffling leaves settle me into a calm state until I heard a bird tweet, and a voice call my name.

"Henry! Can you hear me!" Rita shouted. Her voice was frighteningly distant and my mind let a bit of fear slip back in. I screwed my eyes shut tighter and let Rita call my name one more time before my neck pulsed. The pulse felt like a weird, tingly feeling blooming from my neck to the rest of my body, pooling in my palms and arms. It was the strangest thing.