The Grove

by J. R. King

  Scarlet took a slip of paper from Dallas. “Does it have to be your full name? I’m not really sure how I feel about that.”

  “We don’t have to see it,” Christian said. “Why, do you have an embarrassing middle name or something?”

  She smirked. “No, and if I did I wouldn’t tell you. I just meant there could be a legitimate person on the other end of this. Someone who is slowly learning all of our names.”

  “Way to make it creepier,” Danny said.

  Dallas interrupted. “It’s best if you put your full name in. And we’ve been playing for years. Trust me, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  Scarlet stuck her name in the box, closing the lid with a snap. Around the circle, the others murmured quietly while they waited for the swap to take place. She cracked the lid, gazing into the container. “How long is this supposed to take?”

  “No idea,” Dallas said. “Sometimes it varies.”

  She waited another minute and then opened the box again. Scarlet’s face drew up in confusion. There was not a slip of paper inside, as she had been expecting. Instead, something shiny sat at the bottom against the mottled wood. Her fingers touched cold steel, and she withdrew an odd, jagged key from within. “…What is this for?”

  Logan smirked. “Maybe it’s the key to your heart.”

  “I think we’ve heard about enough from you,” Danny said.

  “Weird. I’ve never seen an object come out of it before,” Dallas said. “That’s actually a little unsettling.”

  Scarlet handled the key thoughtfully, wondering why her name had provoked such a strange and unusual gift. She passed the box to Aria, pondering what it could mean.

  Ariahna accepted the box readily, rolling the coarse wood between her hands. She liked the way it felt – the biting sting moving electrically along her skin. It was sparking an idea in her mind. “Have you ever tried putting something else inside?”

  “Like what?” Dallas said.

  Christian looked around the group. “What do we have?”

  “Are you kidding? What don’t I have,” Danny said. He rummaged around in his bag. “Somebody shout something out.”

  “How about a phone,” Logan said. “Maybe the spirits will be better able to communicate then.”

  “You can’t put electronics inside,” Dallas said. “That’s just stupid. No one wants to get electrocuted tonight.”

  Aria thought quietly, setting the box in the grass at her feet. “Instead of names, what about pictures?” she asked. “Could we put a drawing inside, maybe?”

  “I’ve got it,” Amber said. She accepted a piece of paper from Dallas, taking up the pen and scribbling something furiously before any of them could see. “It’s the mark for friend in sigil magic.”

  Christian smirked. “And you know this, how?”

  “Hobbies,” she said. “Everybody has them.”

  “True. I just never figured dated sigils were among yours.”

  Aria folded up the drawing and placed it within the box. She sent a tentative glance Dallas’ way. “If this doesn’t work, I’m not to blame.” They closed the box and set it aside, waiting in the slivers of light which had crept around the shadowed trees.

  “Who’s going to open it?” Aria asked.

  Dallas stretched. “I’ll do it.” He cracked his knuckles, swiping the lid open in a fluid gesture. Out came the piece of paper, unfolded carefully in his hands. He squinted at the page for a second, mumbling softly to himself. “It’s a drawing.”

  “Of what?” Logan asked.

  Dallas’ expression grew alarmingly more concerned.

  “I think—” He turned it slightly. “I think it’s of us.”

  Christian snatched the picture out of his hands, frowning at the distorted squiggles. There were shapes, obviously meant to be trees. And eight hunched ovals, seated along the ground. “This is nothing,” he said. “It’s some circles and squares. Not people—and certainly not us.”

  Aria hesitated before asking. “Can I still put my name in?”

  “Of course,” Dallas said. “Go on ahead.”

  She wrote her name carefully in the ink, eyes trailing every curve and the swoop of each letter. Ariahna wondered briefly if there was something to it, a trick to getting a better response. The box closed, and she waited in earnest for her reply.

  “Open it,” Scarlet said.

  Ariahna reached into the box, swallowing around a lump. She could feel the others staring at her; hear the wind rolling past between the bushes and the branches. She read it aloud: “No tongue, no eyes, in sleep, no lies. The gray man comes, to claim his prize.” Aria set the note down in the grass.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Christian said.

  Danny picked up the box, moving it insistently outside of the circle. “I think we’re done playing,” he said.

  Kaleb spoke up then, shifting anxiously from the edge of the group. “Wait,” he said. “You should try one more thing.”

  “What’s that?” Aria said.

  “Why don’t you ask… what their name is?”

  Dallas’ face turned white. “Uh, no. I don’t think so.”

  Kaleb eyed him, bristling. “Why not?”

  “There are rules to the box. The first rule is don’t stir up the spirits. If you’re talking to someone, don’t ask who, or why, or when. And especially not after that.”

  “Why,” Logan said, “afraid it would ruin your hoax?”

  Dallas glared at him. “I didn’t stage any of this.”

  “Right… It’s only your party, and you’re only trying to leave a legacy behind. Why do anything to further those ambitions? Like giving them something to rattle on about for years.”

  Dallas sighed, a smile still stubbornly on his face. “Believe whatever you have to not to hide under your covers at night. At least I was brave enough to put my name in the thing.”

  The music from the beach started to wane, and Aria tuned their conversation out, listening to Rome’s voice flit above the treetops. She left the group, venturing back towards the sand.

  “I made a promise to someone recently,” he said. “A promise I was a little uncertain how I intended to keep…”

  The beach was a zoo. Aria had to work to get through the crowd. When she did, Rome was sitting center stage with nothing but an old acoustic in his lap to keep him company.

  “I can’t think of a better way than this,” he said.

  Ariahna stood frozen among the others, bare feet sinking into sand. She watched him scan the crowd. He smiled when he spotted her, bowing his head gently. Rome began playing then, his fingers working an enchanting melody from the strings. He sung softly, his soulful voice washing over the people scattered along the beach. Aria sighed contentedly, listening to him play. His voice rose like a glowing warmth, and she beamed up at his silhouette on stage. Rome was singing to her, reciting a love note before their peers. And the bliss came in knowing that none of them were in on the secret. They were merely the backdrop for this perfect moment, no more than swaying scenery among the forest and the ocean spray.

  Scarlet came to stand by her side.

  “He’s singing to you, isn’t he?” she said.

  Ariahna closed her eyes, smiling in the flickering light of the bonfire and the torches. “Yes…” Her voice broke softly.

  Couples began dancing near the shore, laughter filling the air in harmony with the music. In that moment all she wanted was to get up on stage and sing with him, kiss him, make him dance to music that only the two of them could hear. They locked eyes as the song ended, applause fading into the background. For her, everything was completely silent. Ariahna watched Rome step off the stage, avoiding people as he disappeared into the forest. She moved to follow.

  The woods were remarkably still as she chased his shadow between the trees. Rome moved swiftly through the dense brush, not slowing or stopping for her to catch up. Aria grinned in her pursuit. She called out to him, “Where are you leading us?”
/>
  His voice carried to her on the wind. “Back to a secret…”

  They moved through the darkest parts of the forest, following a trail cut by time and travelers. Another path appeared after a while, wider and more barren than the rest of the woods. Ariahna walked beneath the arching branches, admiring the rooftop the trees had created and the shining faces of the stars peeking through them. She reached out, touching twigs and leaves as she went, and all the while losing sight of Rome. As she continued walking the path she felt a sense of fear swirling in her chest. She began to run then, finding his forgotten footprints. Mid-step, they had changed to paw prints, clear and distinct in the soft soil. Aria stood beneath the bows of the trees, ferns from the deep wilderness reaching out to brush against her skin. “Rome,” she whispered.

  Despite her doubts, a choice had been made. It was up to her now to decide how to respond. Ariahna closed her eyes, listening to the life permeating the dense dark. He hadn’t gone far. She could hear his ragged breath through the trees. And as unprepared as she was to share her secret, she couldn’t turn away from the bravery it must have taken for him to share his.

  Ariahna knelt on the ground, fingers pressing into the earth. She could sense him coming back around, and she didn’t want him to see her change. She shifted effortlessly, face disappearing in tufts of snowy white fur and green eyes bleeding to a brilliant gold. He stepped through the bushes as she turned to face him, grace and uncertainty all coiled within one powerful being. She was mesmerized by the sight of him, traipsing carelessly through the moonlight. It glistened along his dark fur, embracing him in a soft glow.

  Rome approached her with much the same caution he had used before, tipping his chin in acknowledgment as she tracked his movements. It wasn’t worry her stance was conveying anymore, it was interest. Excitement quickly bubbling over into delight. He moved slowly, easing his head under her chin and against the curve of her neck. They twisted together in a subtle display of affection. He nipped playfully at her then, letting out a whine when she darted away.

  Aria didn’t want to submit. She wanted to run and feel free. She wanted to chase, and be chased. When she looked back, Rome was rushing after her. There was something so dangerous about how his eyes glistened in contrast to his dark fur. They trotted through the trees, making sure to stay close to their hidden oasis. Before long, they were pressing into each other’s sides, wistful hearts racing in the night.

  They walked like that for a time, sharing in the simple joy of each other’s company. It filled the space his loneliness had once inhabited, and he felt the indulgence of his wolf overwhelm him.

  She quickened her pace again, the disappearing sight of her tail through the greenery stirring him to follow. Rome hurried after her as sounds from the party rose and waned, mingling with calls of night fowl and rodents. Beneath the waning light, he gave chase, letting her lead him on a wild run.

  The woods were their haven now, a place of sanctity where greedy eyes could not come to prey. She ran with him like that for a while, into the wilderness and then back towards the weathered stock. The foliage thinned bit by bit, approaching the massive maze of roots. From the outside, it almost didn’t look like they belonged to a single tree, giving the appearance of multiple withered husks resting inside the nest.

  Ariahna breathed gently, preceding him into the safety of its branches. She gazed across the grass, hypnotized by the large trunk at its center as she shifted back. There was something magical to this place; a forgotten joy, dancing in the wind.

  Golden eyes cut through the black. They circled her from beyond the safety of the low, tangled branches. Ariahna held her hand loosely at her side, watching entranced as he came to ghost beneath her fingers. The coarse tickle of his fur against her hand raised hairs on the back of her neck.

  “I think I’d like to stay out here tonight,” she said, watching his ears twitch as he listened. “Do you mind keeping me warm?”

  Rome gazed up at her, conveying approval with his stare. They settled in the grass and he wrapped himself around her, resting his chin upon her clothed hip. The giant branches swayed and groaned in the wind, giving movement to the massive tree. The party carried on well into the night, and only miles from where they rested, hidden like a well-guarded secret.

  Ethereal, he thought. That’s what Aria was. She was the kind of beauty he never thought he’d see in the world. The kind that he knew he could never truly hold on to.

  That only made Rome want her more. In that moment, he wasn’t afraid of anything. All he wanted was to be hers, no matter the cost. He wanted redemption. The kind he only saw when looking into her eyes. He hadn’t understood it then, the pull he’d felt when following her into that darkened rail car. But the constricting feeling around his heart was more than enough to make him understand it now. No one else was ever going to make him feel this unbelievably happy. Not even if he lived for a thousand years.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  We Find an Escape

  The ocean washed along the shore, dampening the sand as seagulls picked through what remained of the night before. Christian was seated on the edge of the stage, watching one of the birds make off with a plastic cup. The sun had all but risen over the tide, and the bonfire had been reduced to kindling. Dallas sat at his side, looking out at the mess they’d left behind.

  “I thought you would have run off with a girl by now.”

  Dallas shrugged. “And leave you alone to mope?”

  “I’m not moping. I was just—”

  “Pining?” Dallas laughed at him.

  “I had different plans for last night, sure,” Christian said. “But we don’t always get what we want. Even I know that.”

  “Is that Danny passed out in the sand?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t typically recognize people from the back end. You, on the other hand, I could spot from any angle.”

  Dallas quirked an eyebrow at him.

  “So I might have had a little crush at one point.” Christian watched Dallas straighten in surprise. “Makes you think twice about not telling me, doesn’t it?”

  Dallas chuckled uncertainly.

  Christian bumped shoulders with him then. “Still, something more than the cliff notes would be nice. And seeing as we have time,” he said, gesturing to the empty beach, “I’m kind of opting for the long story.”

  Dallas stared out at the crashing waves, tinged in hues of coral and orange. The dark rocks slowed their progress towards the shoals, startling birds as the water ravaged their nests.

  “It’s hard, to want to go into detail about it,” he said. “Joseph left years ago. He even looked me in the eye and said ‘Bye,’ before he left.” Dallas shook his head sorely. “There wasn’t ever any sign that he and my mother weren’t happy. It came as a total shock, and I just didn’t know how to handle it. So when I got a letter from him a few years back, I wasn’t really prepared to deal with everything he was about to lay on me.”

  Christian stopped him. “He wrote to you?”

  “Just the one time, and it was all about you. He told me I had a brother, and that he was going to be starting at my school in the fall. He told me your name, and things that you liked—things I can’t even figure out how he would have known. For the longest time, I thought that maybe you actually knew him. That he’d left to be with you and your mother. I was kind of resentful, to be honest. I got close to you to try and get answers. Then I realized that you were just as clueless as I was.” He sighed. “I tried writing to him, but he never wrote back. I even tracked down the return address, but there was nothing there.”

  Christian leaned against his knees, roughing his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what to say.” He looked over at Dallas, frowning at the thought of even bringing it up. “Do you know who my mother is? Did he mention anything about her?”

  Dallas frowned, watching Danny turn over in the sand. “Not really. I may have found out a few things when I went looking for him, though. T
here was an old buddy of his who had some interesting things to say. Apparently, he used to go around with a girl from town. I guess they’d gone to school together, before him and my mother even met. They still carried on occasionally throughout the years. That’s all I really know.”

  “Did you ever get a name?”

  “Yeah,” Dallas said. “It was Donna.”

  Danny frowned, pulling off a precariously held cigarette. He twisted to look at Dallas, sinking his fingers distractedly into the sand. “Donna? Why does that sound… familiar?”

  “Someone your mom went to school with?” Dallas said.

  He shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Anyways, I tried piecing some things together after that. I figured out what hospital you’d been born at, and from a doctor where you went from there. But no one could show me copies of your paperwork. I tried telling them we were related, and was told that those documents had been removed from the facility.”

  “Why?” Christian said.

  “I couldn’t say…”

  Danny took another drag, letting the smoke fill his lungs. “I don’t suppose you two plan on helping me clean this up?”

  “That’s what I pay you for,” Dallas said.

  Danny smirked. “I should have charged you more.”

  “Too late now.”

  Christian hopped off the stage, walking towards the trees. Dallas followed him wordlessly into the clearing. “I’ll see you later.” He watched Dallas blink away, leaving him alone in the woods. For some reason, Christian felt compelled to walk. He traipsed through the forest, over the uneven ground and through foliage and cramped paths. He came upon a small stream and followed it until the water was little more than a trickle between tiny, sparsely scattered stones. The salty air stung his nose, and he paused, inhaling as another scent drifted by. He couldn’t say where the wind had blown it in from, but the aroma was foreign, and at once, familiar. He called out quietly, “Is someone there?”

  Silence held true for a second, the voices of songbirds continuing and carrying into the sunny trees. Christian let out a breath, resuming his hike. He enjoyed the time it took to traverse the woods back to civilization. The tree line broke to a spectacular vision of the school in morning light, and he moved quickly across the lawn towards the towering building.