Beasts and Maidens

by M.E. Timmons

  Chapter 17

  Selene enjoyed the evening. Mrs. Redwing stayed until it was almost dark, joking and laughing with Jenson. They got along great, which made Selene happy. She loved watching them together, and she was starting to really see a resemblance between them.

  It was late when she finally got to bed. Or rather, it was late when she laid down on the couch. She was tired, but she was also in a pretty good mood. She said goodnight quietly to Jenson, who was curled up in the corner chair.

  The first thing Selene saw after she closed her eyes was Tornado. She knew she was dreaming, but it was a shock nonetheless, especially because he looked so real. He stood at the edge of the forest with a sad look on his face. Then he turned to go into the woods, but he stopped suddenly as if there was something in his way. He put his hands up and reached out, but they didn’t go through the invisible barrier. Suddenly, his tan fur started falling away, and his features changed.

  The boy standing in his place was young and handsome. He had straight, light brown hair and kind green eyes. He looked down at himself, and when he looked back at Selene he didn’t look happy. Selene had always imagined he would be very happy if he ever got to look normal, so she knew something was wrong.

  Tornado tried to say something, but a strong wind came up and drowned out his words, and it blew him backward toward the forest. To Selene’s surprise he fell back between the trees as if the wall had disappeared. The wind was gone as suddenly as it had come, so Tornado was able to get up. He tried to walk back toward Selene, but he stopped as he hit the wall. It hadn’t disappeared at all; he was just on the other side of it.

  Tornado’s mouth moved again, but Selene couldn’t hear him through the wall. He grew anxious and started pacing restlessly, still mouthing something to Selene. She was frustrated because she didn’t know what he was saying. Then his eyes went wide and he looked like he was shouting. He pointed toward Selene.

  She looked down at herself, and what she saw was a shock. She was still wearing her nightgown, but her bare feet were furry and purple. Her hands were covered in purple fur as well, and they only had three fingers each that were tipped with long claws. She could tell that her whole body was covered in fur. She was a beast.

  When she looked back at Tornado, he was still shouting and pointing. That was when Selene heard a chuckle from somewhere behind her, and she realized that Tornado hadn’t been pointing at her after all; there was someone behind her. She turned.

  Wicesla was only five feet behind her. Her statuesque form was draped in silky black fabric, and her black hair that was streaked with white was pulled back into an elegant twist. She was quite beautiful, but there was something wrong with her beauty. It was tainted somehow, as if it wasn’t real.

  The flowers of the meadow were blooming all around them, but the small circle of ground that Wicesla stood on was charred and black and featured no life, almost as if she were sucking it up from the ground. Selene had to wonder if maybe she was. Perhaps that was how she survived for so long.

  There was also a strange smell in the air. To Selene it smelled like death, since it was a combination of smoke and rot. It was faint, but it permeated through the air in a way that it was almost tangible, and it seemed to cling to Selene. It made her feel dirty.

  “What do you want from me?” Selene asked.

  Wicesla grinned. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white, which contrasted well with her dark red lips. “I want you to suffer.”

  “Why? I never did anything to you. I didn’t even think you were actually alive until you showed up. How do you keep getting into my dreams?”

  Wicesla wasn’t about to answer that question. “You did try to get the beasts out of the forest, and I can’t have that. That isn’t why I want you to suffer, though. You see, the men aren’t the only ones who were cursed by your ancestor. The curse she placed on me has caused me to suffer greatly, and it has been the only curse I have never been able to lift. I shall pay you back for her deeds.”

  “But I’m not Varla,” Selene argued.

  Wicesla laughed loudly. “You really think that matters to me, insolent girl? You carry her blood in you. That is close enough.”

  Selene was about to argue more, but the smell of smoke was growing stronger. She turned, and she saw smoke billowing up from the middle of the forest, though it seemed to be spreading quickly. Then she heard screams. Tornado was still standing behind the invisible wall, and he pounded on it fiercely; his newly human hands stained with the blood of his effort.

  More faces began to appear at the edge of the forest. They were all male, and they were all human. They were panicking, and they started pounding on the wall along with Tornado. One even bent down and started digging as if trying to go under the wall.

  Wicesla chuckled again, but when Selene turned back to her she was gone. She looked back at the forest. The smoke was rising higher, and flames were visible over the tops of the blackening trees. The whole forest was burning down, and the people in it were trapped.

  Selene walked toward Tornado, trying not to cough. He stopped pounding and placed his hands flat on the wall. He watched as Selene pointed up. He looked to where she was pointing. She had seen that the smoke was escaping up there, which meant the wall didn’t go all the way up. It was only about twenty feet high, and there were plenty of trees along the edge that went higher than that. Getting down on the other side would be the biggest problem, but Selene thought that maybe they could make a rope by tying some clothes together.

  They never got the chance. The flames were spreading faster than Selene had thought. She could see them only feet away from Tornado. She didn’t want to watch him die again, but she didn’t want to leave him either. She put her hands up to his, though she couldn’t feel them through the barrier. He smiled sadly and looked into her eyes. She didn’t turn away as the flames took him.

  Selene bolted up on the couch, and she could feel tears falling down her face. The dream had seemed so real, and it was frightening. She felt like she had just lost Tornado all over again.

  The smell of smoke had been so strong in the dream. The sensation lingered in her airways. She threw back her blankets quietly and tiptoed to the window. She could see the forest in the distance, and she was glad to see that the sky above it was clear. Still, she couldn’t help but worry. By then Selene had no doubt that Wicesla was actually playing with her dreams.

  Jenson made a small sound in his sleep that was like a sigh, and then he rolled over and curled into a ball. His blanket fell off of him and slid to the ground, but he didn’t wake up. Selene replaced the blanket carefully.

  A quick glance at the clock told Selene that it was still the middle of the night. She felt restless and anxious and depressed all at once, and going back to sleep was the last thing she wanted to do, since she feared Wicesla’s presence in her mind. She grabbed the box from under the couch and headed outside, careful not to wake Jenson. It was warm out, so she didn’t bother putting on a housecoat.

  The box was heavy, but she carried it all the way to the meadow. She was guided there more by instinct and experience than by light, since the moon was little more than a sliver that offered hardly any illumination. Once there, she set the box gently in the tall grass and stepped over to the edge of the forest. When she put a hand out her fingertips brushed against the invisible wall, which confirmed that it did, indeed, exist.

  Now that she had felt it for herself, she went back to the box. She sat down on the ground in front of it and crossed her legs. Then she reached out and opened it.

  The amulet emitted a faint glow in the darkness, which was a good indication of how much power it held. Selene lifted it out of the box and held it in her hands; the stone cool to her touch. Its surface was smooth, aside from the ridges of the violet carving, and it felt like it weighed about as much as a small bowl of water.

  The feeling of loss that the dr
eam had left her with still remained. It was the driving force that led her to take the amulet out to the meadow. She knew she should wait. Her mother had asked her to, and they were going to take down the wall together. Still, Selene knew it wouldn’t be that simple. They needed more help.

  She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The stone in her hands was her best option for accomplishing anything. The longer she waited the more people would forget and lose hope. Now was the best time, when the issue was fresh in their minds.

  Selene peered at the inside of the box. The words carved into the lid were barely visible in the darkness, so she couldn’t read them. She muttered a few words and a small ball of light appeared over her. It was dim because she didn’t want to use up too much of her energy, but it was enough to allow her to read the words.

  Selene was just about to recite them when she heard something. It was a soft rustle; the sound of something moving through grass. She practically threw the stone back into the box and shut the lid; her heart thumping so strongly she could hear it. It was probably an animal, she told herself. Still, her instincts told her it wasn’t.

  The stopped her spell and the light went out, plunging the meadow back into darkness. If there was someone there, they undoubtedly already knew where she was, so she stood up and moved a few steps, then stopped to listen.

  There was silence, and then the sound came again. The noise of footsteps became more distinct, and it seemed like the person, for Selene was sure it was a person by then, was moving hesitantly. They were moving in the direction of where Selene had been a moment before. She looked around, trying to see who it was, and she could just make out the outline of a woman. Her heart clenched in fear for a moment when she realized it could be Wicesla, but then she changed her mind and relaxed. Wicesla wouldn’t move with hesitation. Besides, she was taller.

  “Hello?” a soft voice called out, barely over a whisper, as if to speak loudly in the darkness would be like shouting.

  Selene recognized the voice. She was surprised to hear it, and she wasn’t pleased. “What are you doing out here, Amber?” she asked, her voice cold.

  Amber’s form jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, but it helped her find her way to Selene. When she was closer Selene could make out her features.

  “I followed you from your house,” Amber said, continuing to whisper. “I went over to tell you something and I saw you leave. I tried to follow you, but I kind of lost you when you got to the meadow. I couldn’t see where you were.”

  “Why were you going to see me in the middle of the night?” Selene wondered. While she was still mad at her old friend, she couldn’t help but be curious. She hoped Amber wasn’t looking for her because of some business of her aunt’s.

  “Like I said, I have something to tell you. Really though, it’d be easier to show you. I know you have little reason to trust me after what I did, but if you come with me you won’t be disappointed. I promise I won’t do anything to harm you or anyone else, and my aunt doesn’t know about this at all. She’d probably kill me if she found out.”

  By then Selene’s curiosity was truly peaked. She wanted to be cautious, but she was beyond caring. “Where do you want to take me?”

  “Just to my house. What I want to show you is in the cellar. Everyone else in the house is asleep, so they shouldn’t hear us. Are you going to come?”

  “Yeah, I’ll come. I want to stop by my house on the way, though.”

  Amber hesitated. “Why do you want to go there?” Her voice was filled with suspicion.

  Selene scowled at her friend’s distrust. She held up the box. “I’m not carrying this all the way to your house. I just want to drop it off.”

  Amber laughed nervously. “Oh, okay. Let’s go then.”

  They stayed close together so they wouldn’t lose each other in the shadows of the night. Selene walked slightly ahead, since she was more sure of her direction.

  “Can’t you make that light appear again?” Amber whined after stubbing her toe on a rock.

  “I’d rather not draw attention to us,” Selene told her stiffly as they reached her house. “Wait here.”

  She slipped inside. The door creaked, and she hoped no one heard it. She went quietly down the hall and into the living room, where Jenson was still sound asleep. He was flat on his back with his arms and legs splayed out, and the blanket had fallen to the floor again. The sight made Selene smile. She slid the box under the couch and put the blanket back on Jenson before heading back out.

  “Did anyone see you?” Amber asked as they joined up outside.

  “Not that I know of,” Selene responded.

  They didn’t talk as they walked to Amber’s house. It wasn’t a long trip, but it took longer than usual because they had to move cautiously. Even Selene managed to hit her toes a few times, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

  When they got to the house, Amber directed Selene to the doors to the cellar, which were outside at the back of the house. She bent down and unlocked the padlock that held a chain in place between the handles on the doors. She was careful not to make any noise as she removed the chain. She pulled back the doors, revealing a set of steps that led into the cellar.

  Before Selene followed Amber down, she saw that there was a light on in the cellar. It was faint, so she figured it was just one candle. It told her that someone was down there, and she didn’t know who. The possibilities frightened her.

  “Come on,” Amber beckoned, after looking back and seeing Selene hesitate.

  Selene took a deep breath to steady herself, and then she went down the steps.