Soon sleep called to her and she slipped back to a dreamscape that was a spiral haze of Planet of the Apes, Tombstone, and How the West Was Won. Periodically she stirred awaked and wondered if she had been given mushrooms or some sort of hallucinogenic, but the heaviness of the dream pulled her under once again…
✽✽✽
6 days later, June 27th, 2020
Chimneyville County, Mississippi, USA
When she woke up again, she was propped up against a tree. Scared and confused, she looked around and was relieved to see a familiar landmark - a cascade of rocks creating a small waterfall that led to a hidden waterhole perfect for swimming. Hermit had shown them the spot last year and told them about the secret trail that led from the back pasture to the hidden swimming hole.
Shakily she raised a hand to her head. Her temples were throbbing. The woods were eerily silent, and she wondered how she had gotten here. The last thing she remembered was... Well, she was not sure. She guessed the weather had moved through fast, but there was a gap in her memory when she tried to recall it. It was like that whole night had been erased from her mind. Chilled, she looked down at the tattered remains of her clothes. What had happened, and why couldn't she remember?
Picking her way, she found the trail relatively easy and began to walk back towards the farm. Almost immediately she got the unnerving feeling that she was being watched. It sounded like someone was pacing her in the woods to her left. She stopped to listen more closely but whatever the noise was seemed to stop too. The hairs on the back of her neck were starting to stand up and she realized the forest had gone quiet around her. She stood there for a moment and after hearing nothing decided to move on. Yet when she started walking again, the sound of massive footsteps shook the forest floor.
"Stay calm," she told herself but her inner voice taunted her. "Yeah, right, you don't know what happened to your clothes, where you have been or who you have been with, and now the Boogey Man is following you in the fricking woods.” She stopped quickly and tried to turn around and catch whatever it was. But there was nothing except the spine tingling feeling she was not alone. Erika did not know if it was her imagination, but the woods seemed thicker and more dense than normal. She stopped to scan the area, but her eyes seemed to be playing tricks on her. Certain areas of the forest seemed to take on a reflective look. "Like in that movie ‘Predator,'" she muttered, wide eyed and paranoid.
"Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry," she chanted softly, fighting back her tears until it got the better of her and overwhelmed, she finally started to cry.
Erika cried because she did not know who was following but she knew someone was. She cried because she could not remember what happened last night. She cried because the feathers on her outfit were ruined. She cried because she was sick, alone, and lost in the woods. She cried because her nose hurt and mostly, she cried because she missed her boyfriend. If he were here saving her instead of saving the world, she would not be in this predicament.
Yes, Erika was sitting pretty on her pity pot feeling sorry for herself when a rock landed a few feet from her. "Hey!" she screamed indignantly, "You could have hit me!"
Her voice echoed in the woods but was met only with silence. Turning around on the path, she tried to catch a glimpse of someone. "Who is there?" Silence.
She picked up the rock and threw it back the direction it came. A couple of seconds later, another rock landed beside her. "What the hell?" she called out, wiping her tears. "You don't scare me!" Pissed now, she sniffed and dried her tears. Ransom was not here to rescue her and well fuck. She guessed she was just going to have to save herself.
Erika limped on towards Papa Doc's property. The entire way, she talked to whoever was following in the woods. She told them about herself, Ransom, their dogs, her mom's cancer, the car crash that stole her dad's life, her friends, Covid-19, and well, just about everything she could think of. She realized she sounded bat-shit crazy, but she had to settle her nerves. She babbled and cursed until she was comfortable, and then she babbled some more. When she came up to the walkway going up to the house, she called out, "Thank you for the escort forest spirit."
She thought she heard a deeply resonating, "Be safe, Bird girl." She knew it was her imagination, but she felt better. When she got to her truck at Papa Doc's, she did not even go up to the house. She had a spare key under one of the Tahoe's fenders, and without concern for her cell phone, wallet, purse, or friends, she drove home.
Chapter 9
The Next Day, June 28, 2020
"Let me get this straight," Erika asked as she placed a steaming cup of orange spice tea in front of Millie, "The Ash tree got struck by lightning, and it killed Jewel; the shock of which sent Roxi into premature labor who was then airlifted to the neo-natal unit in Fort Rosalie; on the way to the hospital Velvet and Buck were in a bad accident; Becca and Z have gone home to Birmingham; and you have been trying to reach Hermit and me to let us know?”
"Erika, really? How many times do I have to go over this?" Millie complained, reaching out to take the steaming hot mug from her as she sat down. "Yes. Jewel was electrocuted by the lightning and just kind of combusted," she explained for the fourth time. "We are all lucky to be alive," she added, tying her brownish-red hair up in a messy bun. “The Question is WHERE have YOU been?” Millie settled back into the white Italian leather sofa as she ran her fingers through Hansel's fur. The male German shepherd was snuggled up next to the woman, loving the attention.
Erika still could not believe she had been missing for a whole week. When she had returned home, her mom’s caregiver, Ethel, took her to the ER. The doctor found no signs of lasting brain trauma, but she had taken a blow to the head. Too much time had passed for the hospital to run tests for GBH or Rohypnol. Based on what the doctor told her when her test results came back, she most likely had a case of traumatic amnesia and that her memory would come back when it was ready. It could be in a day or maybe six months. It would all just depend on when she felt safe enough to deal with whatever she had witnessed.
Ethel told Erika that she needed to report what happened to the police, but Erika felt until she spoke with her friends she should wait. She knew her mom had been worried sick and was mad at her. The woman believed that Erika had been out partying with her friends this whole time.
While Erika could not explain what happened, she knew she was not to blame. To make matters worse, she had been trying to get in touch with Ransom, but he was not checking his emails. Which meant he was either mad at her or he had not checked his emails in a week, and something was wrong.
Her only comfort were their two dogs, Hansel and Gretel. Ransom had gotten the two as pups and was cross-training to pick up on emotional cues in addition to protection training. Of the two, Hansel was the more sensitive and was better at picking up on anxiety and depression in humans and was a complete love bug. Rubbing the big sable female where she lay with her socked foot, Erika smiled. Gretel was just a badass fur missile. She was tuned into Erika and Ransom but had not shown an interest in people, not her pack.
"It just doesn't make sense," Erika retorted. "I mean, exactly how did I end up in the woods? And what about the others. What happened to the Professor, the Standingfoots, and Jewel's sons?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Millie took a sip of the tea, mulling over the thought. "I don't know. Funeral arrangements, maybe?" she finally said, "I mean, what else could it be?"
Millie had stopped by her mom's house under the guise of bringing Erika her purse, cell phone, and keys. The truth was when she had not run into her at the farm or hospital, she was worried about her and wanted to make sure she was ok. She had since been recounting the events of the night before to help Erika fill in the blanks.
So far, Erika was just more confused. Nothing about this sang true, at least not to her. Giving Millie a smile, Erika reached over and scooped some honey out of the bear container to sweeten her drink. "I guess you are right. I sure don't recall any of that, though."
"I am just relieved you are ok, Erika." Giving her friend a knowing look, Millie asked, "Have you talked to Ransom? He sounded frantic when he called, and I noticed you had 9 missed calls and 18 texts from him when I picked up your stuff at the farmhouse." She peered over her mug's edge and pondered, "Maybe when the lighting struck, you got thrown into the river?"
"Maybe," she agreed. What she really wanted to do was tell Millie about the crazy hallucinations she had about tree trolls, the Papa Doc ghoul, Jewel cutting the baby out of Roxi and leaving her to die, and Velvet drinking Roxi's blood but that was all just too crazy for her to say aloud. "Hell, maybe someone slipped me some acid," she thought to herself. Aloud, she admitted, "I guess -- everything is still foggy. I am glad you came by."
The vision of Roxi's belly being slit rushed back to her, and she had to shake her head. Blinking back the image, she asked, "Have you heard from Wren?"
"No, I am sure she went with Papa Doc and those boys to plan the funeral."
"What about the Standingfoots?"
"Rayne called. She is on her way to stay with Roxi. I think she was pretty shaken up. She thought Roxi was dead."
Erika took another sip out of the mug, "Wasn't Jim working offshore and leaving today?"
"Any word from Hermit?" she asked Millie.
"No, I tried calling and texting, but it is going to voice mail." The customarily guarded Millie's emotions played on her features. Her lip quivered as she confessed, "I am starting to get really worried about him. It is not like him to disappear like this.” Hansel nuzzled her with his big nose, and even Gretel stood up, her head cocked to the side and whining.
"Oh, honey," Erika comforted her as she gave her friend a hug. "You more than anyone know how complicated he is."
Sniffing, Millie nodded. The sound of a bell chiming came from the room down the hall. "That's my mom," Erika explained, "Her nurse stayed over last night, so if you will excuse me, I will be right back."
Opening the door to her mom's room, she lifted her eyebrow as she caught her mom about to ring the bell again. Erika was convinced when her mother finally passed, she would haunt her by ringing bells. "Whatcha got?" she asked.
A frail woman peered out from a stack of covers in a hospital bed. "I want to watch that sexy movie. Will you turn it on for me?” Her mother's obsession with the Fifty Shades of Gray movie franchise both embarrassed and amused Erika. As she got the movie playing for her mom, Erika wondered where her mom's fylgja was. She was a little hummingbird, they called Lucille, and she was a nosy and noisy creature.
"Momma, where is Lucille?" she asked, panicking.
"Right there," her mother waved her hand dismissively at the window. In the yard was a large yellow marmalade cat sitting swishing its tail by the bird feeders, "You know she likes to antagonize the Nester's cat."
Erika could see the cat was staring at the spot where Ethel usually sat but tried as she might, she could not see her. Biting her lip, she excused herself and left the room to rejoin Millie. She crossed the living room to the sideboard that doubled as her altar and searched through her rocks, crystals, and stones. She pulled out some boxes, causing the dogs to bark and jump around. Finally, locating what she was looking for, Erika pulled out a two-tiered jewelry box that had once belonged to her great-grandmother. Opening the table, she withdrew a hag's stone. Family lore said that the stone had come over with her family when they fled Ireland due to the potato famine. It was a natural stone from the Giant's Causeway and said to have high power. Her grandmother had taught her that used by a one with the sight, it could discern evil intent, gain view to the hidden worlds and their people, and heal curses. Erika put it up to her eye and looked through it at Millie, she had a black stain on her aura, and her fylgja was missing.
Erika had a flash of memory of the ceremony and the soul jars, but it was not clear.
"Do me a favor," she said, tossing the rock to Millie, "do you see my fylgja - a raven with a white feather?"
Millie caught the rock, looking at her quizzically, "You know I don’t know how to see them. I can't…"
Erika cut her off mid-sentence, pointing to the stone in her friend's hand, "With the Hag stone anyone can see it, just look through it and tell me what you see."
Millie did as she was asked and looked back to Erika, shaking her head no, “But girly - your aura has a white shield around it.”
Grabbing her by the hand, Erika pulled the girl back to her mom's room. Opening the door, they waved at her mom, "Hey Mom, I just want Millie to see Lucille." She took the stone and looked, spotting the hummingbird, and then showing Millie. Millie gasped, a broad smile on her face as she gazed in wonder at the delicate jewel-like bird, "That's incredible."
Looking at Erika, her grin faded as she realized what Erika meant, she looked first at Erika’s mom and then Erika. Before she could start, Erika cut her off, "Thanks mom, be back after a while, I got an errand to run. Then I got to pick up some supplies for the house. Be back later."
"Bye, Mrs. L," Millie called out as the girls left the house. To Erika, she asked, "What's do you think is going on?”
The black-haired girl got her keys out and whistled for the dogs a determined look in her eyes. The dogs scrambled into the backseat, as the two girls climbed into the SUV. Putting her sunglasses on, Erika gave Millie a grim look. "We are going out to check on something at Papa Doc's. I will tell you all about it on the way."
Chapter 10
Erika told Millie that they needed to find a copy of the ritual. She pulled off from the highway onto a fire lane. Noting Millie's puzzled look, she explained, "This is a back way to the farm. I want to make sure no one is there to try and stop us. Something is wrong, Millie, I just know it. I mean, our spirit animals are missing, you have black on your aura, mine is white, and the only thing I trust right now is the intrinsic wrongness of all of this."
Erika carefully maneuvered the SUV around the downed pines blocking the roadway before coming to a place far off the main road. She turned the SUV around where it was facing the direction they came and parked. Turning off the engine, the black-haired girl reached into the console and pulled out Ransom's frayed and beaten Mossy Oak baseball cap. She pulled out a hairband and quickly tied her dark hair into a messy ponytail before slipping the cap on her head. Getting out of the Tahoe, she went popped the hatch and opened the back end where the dogs waited patiently.
Scratching them both on the head, she pulled out a large backpack. The dogs started to dance and whine in their excitement. Quickly she unzipped the bag and dug around for the dog harnesses and leads. Deftly she put the dogs' harnesses on each of them as she uttered gently to them.
"They are so good-natured," Millie marveled at the fierce-looking beasts' patience as they calmly sat and let Erika strap them into their gear. When she was done, she clicked her tongue twice, and they hopped down, suddenly all business. Millie looked at her, a question in her eyes.
With a smile, Erika explained, "Two clicks means we are working. Ransom trained them using hand signals and small clicks so his position wouldn't be compromised by their barking." When they were pups, the brother and sister pair had flunked out of the U.S. M.W.D. training program because Gretel refused to work for anyone, and Hansel was too soft mouthed to take a bite.
These days Hansel looked like the visual poster pup of what the military wanted in a working dog. He was 120lbs, tall, lanky, and muscular, and while he was soft mouthed, he did not have to bite anyone to scare them into submission. Yep, the big ole, scary German shepherd would only gum people.
Ransom heard about the pair from the dog handler assigned to his special ops with his team and called Erika. At the time he had twelve more months before he would get out, and he wanted to ask her if she would commit to taking care of them while he was finishing up. Of course, she agreed. They had only been seeing each other a few months at the time, but he had gotten a place on the outskirts of town that he was fixing up. His goal was to open a Survivalist train
ing school. He would use the skills he had learned in the Rangers to teach hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts. While she liked to think she was a central part of his decision-making process - the truth was a lot of his unit lived in and around Chimneyville, so he had people here. Besides that, he knew the area could support that sort of business. They had taken a turn for the serious, though. Despite both of their best intentions, well at least hers. She had been apprehensive about getting involved with someone in the military - a girl in every port and all that. Yeah, she knew that was the navy but still, Ransom was a handsome man, and women were drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Half-Korean, half-Scottish, Ransom was 6'4 and bulletproof. She never would have thought he would be attracted to someone like her. He was all about fitness, firearms, and adrenaline. She, on the other hand - well, before she started dating Ransom, her friends jokingly said her idea of roughing it was anything less than a five-star hotel. Which was not necessarily true – she liked being outside she just never had anyone who made it fun for long periods of time. That was until she met him. He was teaching her about firearms, native American wilderness survival, and the basics of living off the land.
Digging around in the pack, she pulled out a gun holster with the 9mm Ransom had given her. "Don't worry," she told her friend as she checked the chamber. Walking back to the driver's side, she got a small case out of the console and removed something from it. Walking back to Millie, she checked the chamber on a .45 pistol before handing it to her. "It's got one in the chamber," she told her friend, ignoring the wide-eyed expression.
Tapestry of Worlds : Part One - The White Raven Awakens Page 7