Finding My Faith

by Carly Fall

  Guilt washed through him, followed by sheer panic. Was Faith dead as well? What had he done by bringing her here? Had he gotten them all killed?

  “I knew it,” Anna said, both her and Chevey staring at him.

  Yeah, right. His eyes.

  Chevey nodded.

  “I...I can explain,” Rayner said. He had no idea how he was going to explain any of this epic fuck up he had perpetuated, so he was trying to buy some time with the hopes that something came to him. A moment of silence later, his mind still looked like a nice clean chalkboard at the beginning of a school day—just nothing there.

  “Faith,” he said.

  Chevey nodded again. “We told her to run. She took off into the forest. He followed.”

  Rayner looked into the forest surrounding the house. He thought of all the things that could go wrong in a forest: she could trip and hurt herself. Bears. Wolves. Not to mention a Colonist.

  He didn't think he could get anymore panicked, but his system took it up a notch.

  “She's safe there, Rayner,” Anna said. “She grew up in these trees, and they will provide her shelter and safety. She knows her way around in there, she knows how to survive.”

  The proclamation did nothing to soothe his nerves, and the need to start running through the forest to find Faith was almost at the point of overwhelming.

  “Before you go to find her, you must listen to me carefully,” Chevey said. “Do you love my daughter, Rayner?”

  He didn't hesitate in his answer. “Yes,” he said through a constricted throat. “More than my own life. I was trying to protect her by bringing her home.”

  Chevey nodded. “Good. Now listen up. Neither of us have much time.”

  Chevey told a legend of The Woman With Fire for Hair. Every twenty-five years in the Navajo tribe, there was a girl born with flaming red hair. Only one of these girls was special, as she would produce a son with powers to harness the Earth's energy within himself and use that energy to help the Earth heal herself. Where there was drought, he would be able to make rich soil. Where there were floods, he would be able to take the water from the land and send it back up to the clouds. With these abilities, he would be able to help the poor and starving people around the world produce their own food and prosper in their land. The son would make this his life's work, saving hundreds of thousands of people from starvation, sickness, and death.

  However, the red-haired woman would need to mate with a special male. The male would need to be a warrior like nothing the Navajo had seen. The male would have to be wise, and also have the spirit of the night wolf in him.

  Their son would only be born when the Earth needed him most. It could be tomorrow, it could be one hundred years from today. The Woman With Fire for Hair and the Red-Eyed Wolf Warrior would remain young until their son was needed, and only after his birth would they begin to age as humans did.

  "The Red-Eyed Wolf Warrior obviously has red eyes," Chevey said. "I knew you had the make-up of a warrior within you, just as I do. My ancestors were all tribal warriors. But now I see that you also have the spirit of the night wolf within you. The wolf is cunning, smart, and strong. Just as you are. You are the male that Faith needs. You are both the chosen ones of the legend.”

  Rayner started to argue, but Chevey stopped him by holding up his hand. “We need to go now, Rayner. Go find our daughter and make her yours. Take care of her and worship her as the mother of the prodigy she will birth. Fulfill the legend and produce a son that will be a savior to so many.”

  They turned to go.

  “Wait!” Rayner said. “Chevey, I can help you both. I can help you to get back into your bodies and live!”

  Anna looked over her shoulder and shook her head. “Our time on Earth has come to an end, Rayner. We must leave. We waited for you to tell you where Faith had gone. Go get her, Rayner. Go and love her.”

  Rayner watched as they faded away like a fog being chased away by the sun.

  He didn't have time to feel guilty about the responsibility of getting Chevey and Anna killed. He didn't have time to contemplate Chevey's words, the meaning they held, or what it meant for his future.

  He had to find Faith.

  He closed his eyes and took a moment to calm himself. A couple of deep breaths of the cool, crisp air helped clear his brain and get his dominoes lined up in a tidy row instead of the jumbled mess they had been. Time to focus. He felt his heritage of being a Forest Dweller swirl through him, the senses he called upon so many times in his past coming online. He opened his eyes, determination giving him the laser-like focus he needed. He knew one thing—if anyone was going to be able to find Faith and help her, it was him.

  Chapter 43

  Faith pounded through the forest, branches slapping against her face and body and pulling at her hair. She heard the footsteps and curses behind her of the man who had killed her family in front of her.

  If she hadn't been so terrified, so devastated about her parents, she would have loved running through the forest.

  Faith had run through the forest many times. Her cousins and she had spent countless hours exploring, climbing trees, pretending to be bears, and perfecting the art of stealthily stalking deer. That one wasn't easy, but she had taught herself how to move in the forest in absolute silence, allowing her to watch the unabashed beauty of nature without frightening them.

  She had spent many nights camping in these woods, caught countless fish from the lake just ahead, and she knew where she was going, how to get there, and the paths the animals had foraged on the forest floor played in her mind like an atlas map.

  Her only problem was the darkness.

  Faith had been in the kitchen located at the back of the house with her mother having a glass of wine and pouring out her broken heart when the doorbell rang. The small, cozy kitchen smelled of fresh baked apple pie, the old blue Formica countertop in front of her had been scattered with used tissues as she tried to keep her tears under control. Her mother had patted her hand sympathetically and made her way to the front door. Faith had hoped it was Rayner and closed her eyes, listening for his voice.

  It wasn't Rayner's voice she had heard, but a voice she recognized. “Is Faith here?”

  Her mother had asked who the man was, and Faith heard the gunshot. Frozen in fear, she heard her father's boots pounding through the hall. He stopped at the kitchen and met her eyes. “Run, Faith,” he said in a quiet voice. “Go now!” She was heading for the back door in the kitchen when she heard another gunshot and watched a large red stain bloom on the front of her father’s shirt. His eyes were wide, locked on her. “Go!”

  He then turned and lunged at the intruder, buying her a precious minute or two. Faith had jumped off the back balcony and headed for the trees. As she ran, she tripped over various branches and roots, unable to see in the dark. She had fallen a couple of times, and she felt the blood trickle down from her knee into her sock.

  But now her eyes were adjusting, and things were coming into crystal clear focus. The shine of the moon overhead was negated by the passing clouds.

  Her advantage was her intimate knowledge of the area.

  The muscles in her legs and her lungs burned, the cuts and scrapes screamed, but she pressed on. If she could get to the lake up ahead there was a large rock area on the closest side. She had been all over those rocks and knew that there were many crevices she could slip into and hide. She just hoped she could get there in time.

  The man behind her was breathing heavily, making her feel like she was being chased by a wild boar or something. She had seen a T.V. show on Discovery about wild boars, and damn, those things were heavy breathers. Yes, it definitely sounded like a wild boar was after her. She heard a grunt, a curse, and then a thump.

  The pig had fallen.

  She ran faster.

  As she broke through the trees and foliage to the clearing that led to the lake, the hard ground gave way to soft sand, and she found her feet sinking, becoming especially heavy in he
r Reeboks. She began to panic and felt the hot tears mix with the warm blood from the scratches on her face. She didn't know if she had extra time, but she did know if she didn't get the sneakers off her feet, she was a goner. Stopping for a brief moment, she took off one shoe and threw it as far as she could down the sandy beach in the opposite direction of where she was headed. She did the same with the second, and then bolted down the beach toward the large mountain of rocks up ahead. She glanced to the sky and saw that the moon was about to peek around the clouds and say hello. Chances were pretty high that if she didn't get to where she needed to be and the pig made it to the clearing, he would see her. That wasn't going to happen.

  She forced her legs to move faster, her feet flying over the sand now that she had dumped her shoes. The large rock formation loomed in front of her looking like a twenty-four-foot monster in the darkness. A monster that was going to save her.

  She reached the rocks and easily scrambled up to the halfway point. She took a moment to look over her shoulder and saw the man entering the beach clearing from the forests edge. She hoped the dark rocks would camouflage her for just another few seconds. She climbed up the last few boulders and felt around for the crevice. If the hog had seen her, she would be toast, but if he didn't, she had a good chance she would be safe. She found the opening and slid in just as the moon showed itself and cast a bright beam on the lake. She inhaled deeply and tried to control the breath sawing in and out of her lungs. As she forced herself deeper into the rocks, her skin grated against them, and she said a brief prayer that a snake hadn't taken up residence in her safe haven. She grabbed her bear claw necklace, praying for the inner strength it represented, and proceeded to rub it until her fingers hurt.

  Chapter 44

  Rayner heard someone crashing through the forest up ahead, obviously running full throttle. And it sounded like there was also another set of feet following. He took off in that direction, pushing branches out of his way, his feet steady and sure on the uneven ground. His eyes cast a red glow on the trail in front of him.

  As he got closer, he heard a thump, a loud curse in a male voice, then after a few seconds, the footsteps sounded again. He could only hear one set now, so he could safely bet that Faith was ahead of the Colonist and hopefully it would stay that way.

  He crashed through one last bunch of tree branches, and he was in a clearing. To the left of him the moon reflected off the beautiful lake’s dark waters. There was also a huge mountain of boulders that sort of looked like the outline of the Incredible Hulk against the moonlight. Straight in front of him he could see a male running as fast as he could through the sandy beach, and then just beyond that, the beach once again gave way to forest. Rayner took off after the Colonist, but stopped when he reached Faith's shoes.

  Why had she taken off her shoes?

  He bent to pick one up, then watched the Colonist disappear into the tree line. He looked down at the sand and realized that Faith had taken off her shoes because it was easier to run on sand barefoot. If Faith was in the forest without shoes, chances were somewhere between really good and excellent that her feet wouldn't last long. She would step on some stick or a rock might put a nice gash in the bottom of her feet, dramatically slowing her down. That would be the end of her once the Colonist caught up with her.

  His instinct was to run after the Colonist, but something held him back.

  Faith had said she grew up in the forest, so she would know that going barefoot in the dark had “really bad plan” written all over it. Unless she was so panicked she wasn't thinking straight, Rayner guessed she hadn't gone that way.

  He stood and looked around. Had she doubled back to the way she had came? Again, into the forest without shoes equaled bad idea. He closed his eyes and thought about what he would do. He relied on his senses to tell him where safety would lay.

  He opened his eyes a minute later and headed for the huge pile of boulders that reminded him of the Incredible Hulk. Jesus, he had better be right on this one, because if Faith had panicked and ran into the side of the forest that the Colonist was in, she was as good as dead.

  Hold on Faith, Rayner thought. For a second, and only a second, he almost wished she was dead so he could communicate with her so she knew he was here looking for her.

  Chapter 45

  Faith didn't know if the chill she was feeling was from the fear that was almost crippling her or the cold rocks she had lodged herself in between. Her teeth rattled, her whole body shook with a force that surprised her, and her skin prickled with goose bumps. She was about try and dislodge herself from the crevice and take a look around when she heard someone approaching. She stifled a cry and tried to quit shaking as she was certain that the whole mountain of boulders would shift and crush her with the vibrations running through her body.

  Silence filled the air, but she didn't dare move. She knew from the past experience of playing hide and seek that just because you couldn't hear anything didn't mean someone was there. Often times you were much better off just staying put and hoping the seeker would simply miss your hiding spot. After a couple of minutes, her panic reached critical levels, and she had to fight the need to bolt out of the crevice and run.

  Instead, she stayed put. Her head turned sideways, her cheek flush against the rock, her hands trapped up by her shoulders. She had wedged herself so tightly in there, she wasn't certain she could even get out if she tried.

  She heard small pebbles make their way down the large boulders to the left of her. Someone was close. Very close. She tried to wedge her way down even lower into the crevice, but she couldn't. She was as low as she could go. She glanced up and saw that she was down about a foot. She tried to even out her breathing, feeling like she was in a rock sandwich, her ribs being crushed. She looked up again at the mere twelve inches above her and hoped it would be enough.

  ***

  Rayner had looked all around the bottom of the pile of rocks and didn't see anything. On his way over he had run across what looked like fresh footprints leading to the pile of boulders, but who knew. Someone could have been out here a few hours ago and the footprints would look new.

  He decided that if he went up the boulders he would have a better view of the whole area and get a good idea of what was going on around him.

  He made his way up the formation, climbing them easily. He got about three-quarters of the way up and stopped. He imagined the view would be beautiful in the daytime, and if he wasn't so fucking panicked, he would probably enjoy it now as well. The lake was big, the moon casting its light from one end to the other. The beach surrounding the lake was white under the moon’s glow, the trees stood like soldiers guarding the lake beyond the beaches. He briefly wondered how people got in here to enjoy this special piece of nature as he hadn't seen any type of road or parking lot anywhere. Maybe it was on the other side.

  He honestly felt like he couldn't breathe, and frankly he couldn't place a time where he had felt so out of control of a situation, so completely terrified. What if he was wrong and Faith had run into the forest? What if the Colonist had her right at that moment?

  He got on his haunches, ready to scream in frustration and agony. He should stay quiet and not let the Colonist know that he was around, but he didn't know where Faith was, and he needed to let her know he was here. Should he or shouldn't he call her name? He took a deep breath, ready to yell for her...

  ***

  Faith opened her eyes and looked up, seeing the most amazing sight she had ever laid eyes upon. There was a man, crouched down at the boulder above hers. The breeze blew his blond hair back from his face, his eyes glowed a fiery red.

  Her mind crashed back to the dream she had that had inspired her to paint the picture of the wolf with the red eyes.

  It was him.

  It was the wolf of her dreams who had claimed that he would protect her and love her eternally. She had shared the dream with her mother, and her mother had told her the legend, The Woman With Fire for Hair, the red-haire
d woman born to the Navajo tribe who would mate with the red-eyed night wolf warrior. Her mind then flashed back to when Rayner had said she had been over-drugged and imagined he had red eyes when he rescued her. He had lied, because he crouched above her, his eyes shining a vibrant red.

  Relief washed through her. Her wolf warrior was here to save her.

  “Rayner!” she tried to shout through the tears constricting her throat, the deep breaths that were limited by the rocks locking her lungs. The word came out as a whisper.

  ***

  Rayner was just about to yell out to Faith, taking the chance that he would also alert the Colonist. He had crawled all over the pile of boulders, not seeing her anywhere. He needed to let her know that he was here, that he would help her...if she could still be helped. He inhaled to shout to her...

  And then he thought he heard his name. It was a whisper, and he panicked that he was hearing it from the ether—that Faith was already dead or very close to it again.

  “No,” he whispered back. “Please, fucking no.” He looked around desperately, not seeing anything. He felt panic give way to desperate loss, and it would have felt better if he had bent down and cracked his skull into the side of one of these cocksucking rocks. He had been so certain about his instincts. So sure that she hadn't run into the forest.

  “Rayner,” he heard again, but this time the voice was crystal clear and of this Earth. It was a beautiful sound that made his heart light, and tears of hope sprung into his eyes. He looked around again, not seeing her anywhere.

  “Faith?” he whispered.

  “Rayner. I'm right below you!”

  Rayner looked down and couldn't believe his eyes. Faith was truly just below him, her large, brown eyes pleading up at him, her body wedged into an incredibly tight crevice. He never would have known she was there if she hadn't said anything.