Perception

LXXXII

It was so, so dark everywhere that it wasn't just the absence of light, it seemed like the darkness became a monster of its own, trying to seep into her cells, blocking out the light within as well as without. She carefully made her way over the forest paths, sometimes going right through the trees, always making sure she kept Eli up. He couldn't see any more than she could, of course, and he couldn't feel the roots coming like she did, so he kept stumbling. She held his hand tightly in her own; she was basically never, ever, ever letting go of it again, because losing him once in one night was quite enough, thank you very much.
They didn't speak at all, they just tried to be as quiet as possible as they trudged forward through the dense foliage. The pull was getting stronger already, the slight waves of electricity pulling her on, making her steps sure. They must have been going for more than a mile now, and by this point she had no idea how she'd ever find her way back to the tent once the electricity was gone. But there was no space for such worries here, and she stroked her hand past the tree trunk next to her, orienting herself further.
Left. the pull said surely, and her feet found the sandy ground easily.

They must have wandered for close to an hour when suddenly the electric pull vanished without a trace. She blinked in shock for just a moment, but then she heard the sound, and clearly he did too, because he stopped breathing and his fingers tightened around hers. Someone was laughing in the darkness ahead, and it was a loud, harsh, cackling laugh.
She felt around in panic for the voice, for the feathers, but there was nothing there, absolutely nothing, just an empty space inside her where feathers used to be.
Well, shit! What on earth was she going to do now? She was blind, just as blind as he was, without her sense, wasn't she? She stopped for a second beside a huge tree, its bark rough under her fingers, its roots pushing up the forest ground under her feet. Then she took a deep breath and nodded once to herself. She knew that she was forever different now. So she would just have to have faith, she would just have to trust that the voice had a reason to be absent, and more than that; that it was still there, somewhere, protecting her. Her hand went up to the beads around her neck and stroked them quietly. They glowed once in response.
"Let's move forward and see if we can see who was laughing?" she whispered, so softly she could barely hear it herself.
He didn't have to say anything, she could sense his nod. She fastened her grip on his hand again and carefully stepped forward, avoiding some saplings that were up ahead. The ground was becoming grassy, here, mercifully, because she was sure that snapping twigs might have been audible to whomever had laughed so nearby.
They crept closer, inch by inch, until she could feel the trees thinning a little bit. Hang on. Was that.... was that a light, there, in the distance?

Suddenly there was a roar, ridiculously loud in the silence of the forest, and she jumped before she realised it was just a truck, springing to life. She swiftly pulled Eli back and squeezed them both behind some trees.
Fear gripped her hard. Who was in that truck? And would they be hidden enough by the leaves to be safe? She held her breath as the lights came on a little distance away and the truck started driving down a track she hadn't known was there. Her eyes scrunched shut of their own accord, as if she were four years old again and believed that if she couldn't see it, it couldn't see her. Then the beam of light nonchalantly glanced over the trees once and the truck drove away, allowing the quiet to close in on them again.
She waited, one minute, two, and then she started sprinting full pelt towards the clearing that the truck had just left.