Pluck (The Woodswalker Novels)

by Emilia S. Morrow

  He pulled off of her, revealing a glittering layer of blood across her breasts. She got up on her elbows, wanting to crawl into the water to wash it off. His arm reached out to grasp her closer to him, preventing her from leaving.

  As his breathing slowed she stayed awake, watching the world go grey around them. Why did they not return to the cabin? Was it not safe? The blood dried, cracking with every heave of her chest.

  ***

  There was a feral sort of smell in the air, all musky skin and tanned furs. She reached over to click on her lantern. He groaned at the intrusion of harsh blue light. The rains were heavy again. The steady drum of the water all around her threatened to bring her back to sleep.

  His fingers traced patterns up and down her stomach. Crops of goosebumps danced across her skin at every movement. She closed her eyes and tried to figure out what the patterns were. If they had any meaning to him, they were something she was not familiar with.

  His chest was more healed than she expected it to be. Perhaps they were not as deep as she thought they were that night. If she was being honest with herself, her mind went elsewhere.

  “Is it safe for you to leave?” she asked as she lightly grazed the widest bite by his shoulder. He was still unwilling to say what had attacked him.

  “Yes,” he said. Briar waited for him to elaborate, but he did not.

  “How can you be so sure?” she asked.

  “If I am in any real danger the forest will save me,” he said.

  “How?” she asked. She envisioned a tree holding a handgun and could not help but giggle.

  The owl did not find it funny. “There are large trees throughout the grove that have caverns beneath them for protection.”

  The alternate mental image did not seem any less ridiculous to her. She kept that opinion to herself. As long as he did not come back with any further wounds she was happy.

  “Everything will be fine,” he repeated for her benefit.

  His rumbling stomach finally decided that it is time to depart. He gently rolled her back onto her side of the bed, momentarily laying on top of her. She blushed deeply. She can see his pulse jump around in his throat. He leaned in closer until she could feel their parts align. Her own stomach rumbled loudly against his.

  “You were going to get food,” she reminded him gently.

  He leaned in further, pressing soft kisses along her face. First cheeks, then nose, and finally mouth. When he pulled away she shivered at the cold he left behind.

  She wanted him to stay, to roll around in the bed with her. He looked down at her with wicked eyes. He can see the same look matched in hers.

  “I’ll be back soon,” he said, giving her one last kiss on her inner thigh. She closed her eyes with a deep breath.

  “You are pure evil,” she said, but when she opened her eyes he was already gone.

  She grabbed the book she had been reading. It was hard to focus on the words. They blended and changed before her. She found herself reading the same lines over and over again. She found herself reading the same lines over and over again.

  Above the steady rhythm of the rain against the wood cabin she could hear another noise. She strained her ears, trying to understand what it was. It was a harsher sound, more erratic.

  Thump... Thump. Thump!

  Briar stood on shaky legs. She tried in vain to pinpoint the source of the sound. Under the harsh drum beat of rain she could not make it out. The noise subsided, leaving her heart pounding. She sat back down to continue her reading, but the thought would not leave her alone. Something had changed.

  The cabin no longer felt like a safe place to be alone. Briar used her crutches to stumble onto the porch. She tried her best to find a spot that was dry. The rain continued to splatter through the old wood above.

  The small white rat clambered up the ridge, small pink paws scrambling for purchase on the slick wood. Pepper shook the water out of her fur as best she could. Her delicate pink paws groomed her annoyed face. Briar smiled.

  She gave up on getting dry, letting out an irritated squeak. Pepper slipped her skin. Her newly dry body quickly became damp again in the frigid rain. She crawled to sit next to Briar in her little patch of almost dry porch.

  Peppers eyes narrowed as she got closer. “You’ve had sex, haven’t you?” she said in a hushed tone.

  “How can you tell?” Briar asked. Pepper looked her up and down with a delicate raised eyebrow.

  “Well, did you?” Pepper insisted.

  Briar nodded, seeing no point in lying about it. She was shocked by the instincts her friend possessed. Pepper laughed briefly at her expression.

  “You have marks on your neck,” she explained.

  Briar rubbed at her neck self consciously. It was a little sore. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been given a hickey.

  “Oh.”

  “You need to be careful,” Pepper said. “Men like him can be possessive of their mates.”

  “I’ll be careful,” Briar said.

  Briar thought back to their time by the fire pit. He had been open about how his species behaved. Then again, he did say this after they had already had sex. The thought made her ill.

  “I feel like you already haven’t been careful,” Pepper said. She flicked the musty material of her cast.

  “That’s not exactly fair,” she replied.

  “True,” Pepper said with a grin.

  “Do you have a mate?” Briar asked.

  “We don’t have mates like he does, or even like you do.” She said. The tops of her ears turned bright pink. “There are a few I enjoy. There is one specific one I really like.” A soft smile played across her lips.

  “Could I meet him one day?” Briar asked.

  “He isn’t a woodswalker. He’s just a rat,” Pepper said. Before she could respond. “I know you probably think that’s crazy.”

  “I think that is wonderful.” Briar smiled.

  Thinking she could love something with one skin made her feel a little better about her own dull eyes. She thought after puberty she would know all of the things she would be self-conscious about. Boy, was she wrong.

  Pepper stood, shaking herself off. “I need to get out of this rain.”

  Briar was disappointed.

  “When we run into each other next you can tell me all about it,” Pepper said with a dramatic wink.

  New Dark

  They were sitting out on the porch the following night. The weather was pleasantly cool, not as chilly as it was before. The rain clouds were off in the distance, bringing the brilliant sky into focus. A soft breeze played with their hair.

  She was reading her book with her head resting on his lap. She could hear it again, from somewhere in the cabin. Without the rain covering up the sound it was almost metallic in nature, like a shutter flapping against the windows of a closed business. It was definitely coming from somewhere nearby.

  Almost as soon as the sound began he moved her over so he could stand.

  “How would you like to go on another date with me?” He asked, holding out a hand.

  She took it, not knowing what else to do. He pulled her up and around, spinning her in his arms until she could not help but laugh. When he stopped the world kept spinning, if only for a moment.

  “Where did you have in mind? The movies? Bowling?” She said with a smile.

  He carried her off of the porch and into the moonlight. If he got her joke, he did not find it funny enough to laugh. There was no planning this time, no packing of blankets and berries.

  “Won’t you be cold?” She asked him. He was only in his sweatpants today, torso bare in the moonlight. He did not respond. He adjusted his grip until she was cradled in his arms.

  He carried her in silence through the forest. The moon was full and bright today, more light reaching through the canopy high above. Here the creek was still enough to see what little stars were not covered by the clouds on the surface of its inky plane. She wanted more than anything i
n that moment to swim amongst the stars.

  They began to follow the creek in the opposite direction than they had followed it before. The sound of the water grew into a roar. The dark grey waters were churned up into a milky foam at the edges. The incline was getting quite steep until it was more like climbing than walking. She was worried he would not be able to carry her the whole way up, but he persisted.

  As they crested another incline they came across the source of the rapids below. A grand waterfall filled a rocky pool with deep dark water. There wasn’t much to say. She gasped openly at the sight. He set her down on a large boulder by the shore.

  It was stunning. She had not heard of a waterfall that did not have a trail leading right alongside it. There must still be secrets in this park after all. She felt a little naive. This life held more than she expected.

  The roar of the water was great. There was power here in this place. Briar could feel the rattle in her bones. He laid down next to her on the boulder. They took in the stars and the mists off the water. They did not need words. They were connecting with parted lips and trailing fingers.

  They went from viewing the nature to viewing each other. Briar reached out a hand to touch his face. Sometimes she still could not believe he was real. Every moment she spent alive she was in awe of her life. He placed his lips to her ear.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Before she could respond he leaned in to kiss her. There was no opportunity to reply, no expectations. Briar was grateful she did not have to. It all seemed so much, so fast. She felt swept up in the current. She didn’t even know he knew those words.

  ***

  As the sun came up she yawned heavily. The soft glow of sunrise danced across the cascading water. The forest here was more alive with sounds than the cabin was. Just above the roar of the waterfall was birdsong and shuffling leaves. Across the waters there was a doe just out of the edge of the trees, staring.

  When he picked her up to depart she expected them to head back down the way they came. Instead he began to carry her towards the waterfall. The mists bouncing off of the waters made it hard to see exactly where they were going.

  Where was he taking her? This close to the roaring water her questions were taken from her before they reached her ears. Her dread grew as the rumble of water on stone grew strong enough to feel.

  As they slipped behind the waterfall a passageway came into view. Briar was mesmerized, she didn’t think they actually existed. He carried her until the weak sunlight could no longer penetrate the thick stoney walls.

  Her heart thumped against his arms. She was definitely awake now. Ever since she first started going on these trips she dreaded going anywhere directly under the mountain. While her uncle and cousins would tour the touristy cave system just outside the park boundaries Briar would hang out in the giftshop above.

  He must know his way through these passages so well, through the dense curtain of darkness. Or, she reasoned, he was lying about his eyesight. She could feel the walls around her part, a larger cavern now apparent. What seemed like a million stars dotted the ceiling of the cave. All of them were in pairs, glowing a soft white. They were eyes, she realized, all dimly glowing and watching in the darkness.

  “Bats,” she whispered. She clung closer to him.

  Each and every pair belonged to a woodswalker. She wondered if they were being rude. She waved awkwardly at the ceiling as they passed underneath the brood. She could not see her hand in front of her face. His arms squeezed tighter around her.

  He rested her down on the rough-hewn floor. There was a heavy presence in front of her. As he shuffled through his pockets for something Briar reached her hands in front of her. What was before her was not the rough surface of the cave, but a smooth rectangle. A door? Her suspicions are confirmed when the jingle of keys sounded to her left.

  A rush of hotter air hit her as he unlocked the door, like the entrance to an old garage. Why did he lock the door? He had a whole cabin full of his belongings without a lock on the door. Or even solid walls to speak of. The thought unnerved her more than she would admit. He lifted her once more to carry her over the threshold. She could hear the door click closed behind her.

  He placed her back on the floor further inside. She watched his glowing eyes go around the room until the cavern was filled with lights. His lantern revealed a space not unlike his cabin. The cavern did not look natural. Large ridges of material were broken away to fit the door in place. The floor was whittled away to make enough room for them to stand fully.

  Here the roar of the waterfall was muffled, but still as vocal as neighbors fighting in the next apartment. They could speak more clearly, although she did not want to. Her mood was crooked, not quite right.

  “Why do you have two houses?” she blurted out.

  He continued to move about the cavern until the gloom swallowed him whole. She wondered if he hadn’t heard her. After a quiet moment he turned to face her, the glow of his eyes far off in the distance.

  “I ran out of room in the cabin,” he said before turning away.

  He shuffled through piles of junk just to get to her. It was believable. She tried to let it go. She didn’t want to bring up the lock. Some doors are best left shut.

  “Why do you collect all of these things anyway?” She asked, drumming her fingers softly on the stone floor below her. The question hung between them for longer than was comfortable.

  Just when she thought he would not answer he let out a breath. “I like them. They are useful,” he said.

  Briar furrowed her brow. Useful? The only time he had used any of the objects he had collected was for her benefit.

  He picked her back up with ease, placing the lantern in her hands. The ceiling got lower as they proceeded past piles of campwear cups, flat creek stones, and old glass bottles. The main room of the cavern abruptly ended. The channel into the earth continued on deeper and deeper, but the roof was too low for them to continue as they were. This deep under the earth it was remarkably cold. Briar tried not to think of the mountain above them.

  In a pile at their feet was a bed not unlike the one he had made at his cabin. He settled her down on a thick pile of dense fur. A shiver traveled down her spine as she melted into the warmth of the bed. She reached over to place the lantern at her side. He grabbed a thick man made blanket off of a small folding chair and draped her in it. It felt weighted, soothing her nerves.

  He turned off the lantern. The cavern was absolutely pitch black without it. This darkness was thick, almost present in front of them. They settle into bed as best they could. The air here smelled like minerals, and on the very edge the smell of human sweat.

  As she laid in the new dark with him, she doubted his intentions for the first time. The noise started and they have a sleepover somewhere else immediately? Worry gnawed at her stomach.

  He fell asleep very quickly, as he always did. She envied the peace he felt. Her own mind buzzed like an agitated hive. She closed her eyes to stop imagining things moving in the cavern with them.

  There was a simple, childish part of her that wanted to let it all go. She had nothing concrete enough to warrant the acid crawling up her throat. All she had was intuition, a locked door, and a distant thump.

  ***

  Her arms stretched out on either side of her. On her left her hand connected with the soft tangle of his hair. He murmured a greeting before turning on his side, not ready to wake up further. On the right instead of smooth stone her hand met rough wood. Her heart raced with the realization. She was no longer deep under the waterfall, but instead back in the cabin.

  She wondered how she didn’t wake up on the hike back. It was a difficult hike the first time, she was jostled around in his arms. Before the last dregs of sleep left her she imagined she was flown back on owl’s wings.

  She looked at the tangle of hair in what little light was left to her. There was an entire layer to him she did not understand. Not understanding the entirety of a lover i
s completely normal. That is, until the peek you get is sinister.

  Her skin felt flush despite the onset of colder weather. She wanted to slip her feeble skin and escape these thoughts. What do red flags look like when your lover isn’t human? What does normal behavior look like when your entire life becomes about another?

  He opened his eyes to illuminate the space between them. One quick look at the slight twist in her lips set his jaw tight. As far as he knew, they went on a romantic date the night before. As far as she knew, there was something she was missing. She didn’t blame him for being confused when she was feeling the same.

  “What is wrong?” he asked her, like he was supposed to.

  “I don’t know.” Briar answered truthfully.

  Bucket of Rot

  “I want to make you happy,” he had said.

  It was a simple enough desire, to make a lover happy. Briar wished it was simple to complete. A stale fog hung over her that could not be reasoned with. All she knew was that him leaving for an undisclosed amount of time was not helping.

  Her hands grasped the radio, cranking the handle to bring the machine to life. She cycled through the various stations, but many were off for the night or static at best. She finally found someone actually playing music. It was jazz.

  She played the music as loud as she could stand, banishing the silence to further into the forest. Lantern in hand she stepped out to the clearing. Out here the air had teeth, nipping her where her flesh was exposed.

  If she closed her eyes she could take herself out of the clearing. Her mind drifted her back to her old apartment, before Aster had moved out. She wanted to be curled up at the foot of her bed, sharing stories they both know they have been told many times before.

  Above the brassy whine of the music another sound made itself apparent. Briar sat up straight, eyes snapping to the spot in the woods. Was whatever had attacked him, back for her? What could have made such deep scratches?

  A pair of glowing eyes arrived at the threshold between wild and lawn. A man stepped into the clearing. A woodswalker, she corrected herself. He was wearing a crisp black suit. Her heart beat faster.