Chapter Seven

Trees. Light. Joy. Exhilaration.

I was running through glowing foliage. My bare feet grasping the ground that was covered in fallen orange, red, and brown leaves. A large setting sun gave me its light between the trees, which were partially glowing as well, lighting up the way home. The slightly chilled wind was blowing in my brown hair.

I was holding hands with a boy that looked to be a few years older than me. I couldn't see his face. I could only see his shaggy black hair and his back. I was slightly behind him as we were running. Naturally, he was faster than I but it seemed like he had slowed down just for me. Any time I started to fall behind too much his hand would tighten around mine, making sure I didn't slip through his fingers and get lost in the woods.

We finally reached a circular clearing in the trees. The branches opened up to what seemed like a small community. For some reason, I couldn't see it clearly. It was blurred and foggy like an old memory. The boy slowed down to a stop and turned to me with a large smile. His greenish-brown hazel eyes were almost golden in the sunlight. His face was the only thing clear to me right now. Everything around him blurred like an edited photo.

I felt my face turn up into a smile back. "Effie!" I exclaimed, my voice high in pitch with that childish ring to it. I pulled my hand away from his and walked over to him with my arms outstretched. The boy knelt down and hugged me tight. Warm. I felt warm and safe. He withdrew from the hug and once more took my hand.

He led us over to a small cabin, two adults sitting outside over a fire seemingly cooking something large. A brown headed woman turned to me and smiled. I couldn't clearly see her facial features. Once more, a blurred effect had taken over my vision. But, I just knew it was my mother. A black haired man stood up and put his hands over the woman's shoulders, squeezing them softly. He held a warm smile on his face as well.

I could hear other children laughing around me. The hustle and bustle of the small community could also be heard; Conversations and small talk and adult laughter as well. I just couldn't see them. Even if I turned my head to look around it wouldn't have mattered. They just would have been blurred too. Regardless, it was a place I had felt safe. All I could feel was happiness and warmth all around me.

The sun had started to dip lower into the horizon. The skies were painted orange and red, setting the fall leaves on fire with its color. The woman now stood, gathering up the large portion of meat from the fire using a pan and bringing it inside. The young Stefan took my hand once more and led me inside of the cabin that we stood in front of.

We had a large supper, chatting away about our adventures of the day, and soon I was tucked into a small cot in the corner of the cabin. With a full tummy and a cozy fire going somewhere in the cabin, my eyes had started to feel heavy. The woman I had assumed was my mother came over to tuck me into bed. Her hand ran through my brown locks of hair gently. She hummed a soft lullaby to me. Before I knew it, sleep had taken me and darkness filled my mind once more.

*~*~*~*~*

My eyes fluttered open to the soft sounds of birds chirping outside of the window. The morning light was streaming in gently, casting a ray of light into the otherwise dark room. Luckily, it wasn't in our faces. The sun considerately put its rays on the middle of the bed. I heard Freya's soft breathing next to me and turned my head to look at her.

Her face was nuzzled into my chest. Her cheek was slightly squashed, her curly locks a slight mess, and her mouth was slightly opened. I felt my heart start to pitter patter in my chest. With the hand that wasn't still wrapped around her I reached over to gently stroke her cheek. My thumb caressed beneath her eyelid, over her brow, her lips. Anything my thumb could reach honestly.

She started to stir a little and her green eyes slowly opened to make eye contact with me. I tried to pull my hand away, but it was too late. She smiled and hummed. "Hmm. Morning, hun," she whispered, her voice slightly hoarse, “Did you sleep well?” She gently nuzzled into my touch, not seeming to mind the gentle caresses.

I gave a half smile. "Mmm, yeah. I had a pleasant dream. I just can't really remember much about it." I shrugged it off before turning onto my side so that I was fully facing her. She simply readjusted her head to be resting on my bicep instead of my chest.

"Nothing at all?" she whispered back, her emerald eyes still glued to my brown ones.

"Just a forest."

A simple nod and silence fell between us again. She stretched her neck in order to kiss my cheek tenderly. Her arms wrapped around me, one over my waist and the other holding onto the arm she was resting on. She lay silent for a few moments before she spoke again.

"I want coffee, but I don't want to get up yet," she pouted.

"Then, let's just lay here for a few more minutes," I said, kissing her temple and relaxing once more. I agreed with her. I could have laid like this until the end of my life and died happy. Not a single regret in the world.

*~*~*~*~*~

Once we finally crawled out of the bed, we made ourselves a cup of coffee and sat up on the bed. I could tell the gears were turning inside of her head, but I made no comment about it. She would speak when she had something to say. I sipped my coffee and started to turn my own gears. As of right now, I didn’t know the next step. I felt like we were at a bit of a dead end on the search.

Freya finally looked up from her coffee cup. “Okay. Let’s run through the data we have.” Her green eyes were lit up with excitement. I could only imagine the thrill she was having, with her being a future journalist and all. I was thankful for her all the same. It gave me a starting point to figure out the next step.

“Well, I think I somewhat know my relationship with the boy in the photo I found at home. This is gonna sound weird, but I think he might be my step brother. I’m not sure though,” I began. I saw her face turn into a frown but didn’t stop long enough for her to interject with a question, “We know that the orphanage burned down shortly after I left, and that Stefan was considered missing. We have no knowledge of where he is, or if he’s even still alive. Just that we were close during our years at the orphanage. We know we came from the same background.” I took a breath, pausing for now so Freya could get a few words in.

She didn’t skip a beat, “Okay. You already know I have to ask where you got the step brother thing.” She crossed her arms and looked at me with a perplexed frown, “Second, we also know that he was skilled in surviving in the woods. Alyssa said so herself.” She raised a brow and leaned in a little like she was waiting for something to click.

It was my turn to have a frown on my face. I didn’t understand where she was going with this. While I was processing that, I went ahead and answered her question, “Well…that dream I had last night.”

I explained what I saw in my dream. By the time I finished relaying it to her, her words clicked in my head. My eyes widened and I knew where we needed to go next. “The forest next to the orphanage! He may not be there now, but maybe we can get some sort of clue of where he may have gone.”

Freya gave me a smirk, “Exactly. I knew you would figure it out. Let’s finish up here and get right to it.”

*~*~*~*~*

I parked in front of the orphanage ruins and stared at the forest from inside my car. I felt a sense of nervousness due to the fact that as of recent events, forests and I haven’t really been on the best of terms. I took a deep breath in to steady my nerves and popped the door open. I stepped out and walked to the treeline. I scanned the edge slowly and noticed a very small opening a little to the right of me. I walked over to it and saw that it was a small trail. This must have been what Stefan and I used when we went out here.

Freya joined me and took my hand. She squeezed it once before letting go and stepping into the forest first. I followed after her, not wanting to let her out of my sight. The moment we were far enough in for the opening to be out of view, it felt like we were in a different area completely. It had gotten much darker, as it does in the woods, and the only sounds were of the wildlife and our footsteps crunching on leaves and sticks.

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what we should be looking for. So, I tried to look for anything and everything. My eyes never sat still as I looked this way and that. I tried to take in as much as I could in one glance so as to not miss anything. I felt a sense of familiarity as I walked through the woods. Of course, I had expected that. Alyssa had said that I had spent a lot of time out here.

What I wasn’t expecting? Soft whispers. Inaudible words in my ears. I chewed on my bottom lip before calling out to Freya, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

That answered my question. “Nothing.” I didn’t want to alarm her, especially since I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I turned my head to the left and stopped in my tracks. There was no trail, but I just knew I had to go that way.

Without saying a word, I took the turn and started to head in that direction. The whispers started to get louder now. Too many voices were talking at once so I still couldn’t understand them. I trudged forward, moving branches out of my way and being careful of where I stepped.

Finally, after what felt like a mile of walking, I reached a large oak tree. I stopped and looked up at it. By now, the whispers sounded like a buzzing in my head. I couldn’t hear anything else. I reached my hand forward to place it gently against the bark. I didn’t understand why I was so drawn to this tree. It must have been important in some way, but how?

I crouched down and found a small burrow. Without thinking, I stuck my hand in and let my fingers feel through the dirt. I hit something and dug my fingers beneath the object to pull it out. It was a small box, only a little bigger than my hand and about six inches tall. I wiped it off and as the dirt fell away, the carvings became visible. The intricate design looked to be vines that shaped a crescent moon.

I stared at it for a long time. A memory was scratching at the back of my brain, desperately trying to come to the front amongst the crowd of whispers. I tried not to think about it too hard, fearing that the longer I thought about it the farther back it would get pushed. I gently turned the box over in my hands and noticed there was no key hole. I used my fingernails to get into the crevice where the lid met the other half and gave a good pull.

Nothing.

I sighed in frustration and closed my eyes. There was no keyhole, yet it was locked. That or so old that it sealed itself over the years. The whispers started to have more clarity to them, so I concentrated on that instead. Maybe I’ll be able to hear what they were trying to tell me.

“Look closely…”

I felt a chill run up my spine as I opened my eyes again to take a closer look at the box. In the center of the crescent moon was a small, circular indentation. No bigger than a nickel. My hand reached up to the necklace I had found back at the orphanage. Surely, it couldn’t be [that] easy?

I unclasped the necklace and stared at the full moon charm before placing it into the depression. It fit just perfectly enough to slip right in. The whispers died down and I could hear a small click before the box sprung open just enough to get my finger beneath it and open it up. I peered inside, curious as to what I would find.

Neatly inside of the box were three items: a beaded feather, a small vial filled with a dark red liquid, and a small scrap of paper that was rolled up tight. When I saw the feather, my chest tightened a little bit with sadness. I picked it up gingerly and held it between my fingers to examine it a little closer. It was a dove’s feather with different colored beads decorating it, the violet one immediately catching my eye. It almost made it seem as though it were pulled straight from a sunset. I set it back down and put it away just as I had found it. Next, I picked up the glass vial. It was roughly two inches tall and more of a sphere shape. Not a perfect sphere though, meaning it was probably hand-made. After putting it back, my attention was drawn to the very small scroll. After struggling for a few moments to unravel it, I managed to get it undone and a series of numbers greeted my eyes.

A felt the corner of my lips downwards. The numbers were hard to see and the paper had yellowed with age. I was half afraid that it would disintegrate in my hand. Even so, I could tell these were definitely coordinates. I put it back in the box and closed it, removed the necklace, and put it back around my neck. I needed to find Freya. I stood up and put the box in the backpack I had brought with me before making my way to the trail again.

Once I had made it back, I immediately started to call out her name. I couldn’t see her close by. She must have kept moving forward on the trail. “Freya!” I moved up the trail. Surely, she would have realized I wasn’t behind her and stopped or turned around to find me. Except, I don’t know how far ahead she would have gotten. Would she be able to hear me?

I kept up the hike, calling out her name in hopes I would hear her shout back for me.As time passed, I felt myself begin to grow more and more worried. I still hadn’t found her. My heart was in my throat as I picked my pace up to a run. “Freya!” I yelled out again, my head whipping around in every direction to try and locate her.

I stopped in the middle of the trail and started to panic. I had let her out of my sight and now she was lost in the middle of woods she was unfamiliar with. I called out one last time, filling my lungs with air, “FREYA!!”

I heard a twig snap some distance off of the trail and didn’t think twice. I ran over to the sound as fast as I could. When I reached the sound I stopped in my tracks. There was a small dropoff. A sudden one, in fact. If you weren’t careful you were bound to be a victim of it and take a tumble. I could hear small whimpers and my heart dropped. I immediately pushed myself forward, sliding down the slope. “Freya! I’m coming!” I reached the bottom and ran over to where I heard the whimpers.

There, I found Freya. She was in a sitting position, cradling her leg and crying. I knelt down next to her and gave her a quick glance over. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

The woman looked up to me with teary eyes and could barely get the words out. “I didn’t see it…I fell down and I-I think I sprained my ankle,” she managed to sniffle out and I saw her bottom lip wobble. I wrapped my arms around her, my heart still pounding in my ears from the adrenaline.

“You’re okay now…I’m here. I’m here,” I cooed to her softly, hoping to calm her down some. “Let me see your ankle.” She didn’t put up much of a fight, and extended her leg out to where I could examine it better. I gently pressed my fingers against her ankle, jumping a little when she hissed in pain. I winced and quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m almost done.” I pressed my fingers against it and sighed in relief a little. It wasn’t broken, but I think she was right about spraining it.

“Come on. Let’s get you to a doctor.” I took off the backpack and put it on her back instead. It wasn’t very heavy. It just had some snacks and bottles of water in it. I squatted down in front of her and turned my head to look at her. “Get on my back. I’ll carry you.”

“But- But what about finding clues?” she asked pitifully, sniffling again.

“I have something. Just come on.”

Without giving any more fuss, she scooted forward to where she could cling onto me. Her arms draped around my neck and her thighs pressed into my waist. I stood up, giving a small grunt before adjusting her up higher so I could still walk. “That’s my good girl. Come on.” I wouldn’t be able to go back up the slope with her on my back, but I felt like I knew how to get out of here without having to retrace my steps.

I walked alongside the slope, readjusting her every now and then to make sure she didn’t fall off of my back. She ended up putting her head against my shoulder, facing my neck, and gave a small huff of disappointment. “I’m so sorry. This is so embarrassing.” She gave a nervous laugh and squeezed her arms just a little in what I assumed to be a hug.

I smirked a little, giving an amused scoff. “Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have left you alone out here.” Guilt was my main emotion right now. I felt like it was my fault that she had gotten hurt. Maybe if I had stayed by her side, I would have been able to tell her there was a slope there.

“It’s not your fault. I’m a grown woman and should have been watching my step,” she sighed, lifting her head to plant a soft kiss to my cheek. “So stop fretting and get us out of here, yeah?”

I could feel the corners of my lips turn upwards in a small smile when she kissed my cheek. “Yeah,” I responded, focusing on the task at hand. We needed to get out of here before nightfall. I didn’t have anything to serve as a weapon if we were to encounter anything and even if I did, it would be a little hard to defend myself and Freya with her in this condition.

It took a long time to get there, considering that I had an extra 120 pounds on my back, but I finally made it to the edge of the forest. I brought the woman to the car, helping her into the passenger side before walking around the front of it. The wind blew and I immediately looked to the forest. There was nothing there, but the same sense of being watched crawled all over my body making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I quickly jumped into the car and started it before hauling ass out of there.

*~*~*~*~*

“So, are you going to tell me what you found? Or are you going to make me wait until I’m old?” Freya quipped, having her leg propped up on a pillow, now in a boot. Thankfully, she hadn’t broken it but the sprain was pretty bad.

I looked up from my laptop, where I was doing more research, and over to her. I gave a soft exaggerated sigh, topping off the performance with an eye roll. “Yeah, I [guess] I can tell you now and not when you’re eighty. Way to ruin my plans.” I set my laptop down and got up to retrieve my backpack. It was nightfall now, but it was pretty late in the night. I was going to wait until the morning so that she could rest but…

I got back on the bed and sat facing her. I dug in my backpack, talking while I did, “So, the reason I broke off from the trail earlier was…” I felt my hand grab the box, and I gave a small smile, “I felt drawn to this spot. I started to hear whispers again and I found myself at this giant oak. Anyways, I dug around and I found this.” I pulled the box out, handing it over to her.

She took it from my hands and started to examine it. She tried pulling it open and frowned. “It’s locked, Mellie.” She raised a brow at me and raised it up in her hand.

“That’s what I thought too. Look closer.” I smiled again at her. I made sure to look at her face so that I didn’t give anything away. I was curious if she could figure it out too.

She sighed, but gave it another look over. “Oh, there’s a hole here.” She put her finger inside but nothing happened. “Okay…that didn’t work.” She looked up to me and I could tell she was too tired to think any harder than that. I chuckled and took my necklace off, handing it to her. She gave me a concerned look but took it, placing the charm inside of the hole now.

But nothing happened. It stayed sealed.

I was shocked at first, half wondering if I dreamed it opening up. “Here, let me see.” I took the box from her and the necklace and tried it myself. Sure enough, there was a small click and the box popped open. I gave a small sigh of relief.

“It only opened for you…how odd,” Freya said, her interest being piqued. She sat up, making herself comfortable as she watched me take everything from the box.

“Now, I don’t know what any of it means, but when I saw the feather, I had a strong connection to it. I felt sad… So I think it belonged to someone in my family,” I explained, setting everything out in front of her. She looked everything over. The only thing she picked up was the scrap paper.

“These are coordinates,” she stated, grabbing her phone and beginning to type them into Apple Maps. She frowned and glanced at the numbers again before double checking them on her phone. “It’s not that far from here at all. Maybe a fifteen minute drive.”

I moved to get closer to her and look at her phone. It was out in the middle of nowhere, but it was pretty close to Oaks Mill. “Holy shit. I didn’t even think about them being coordinates,” I muttered, sighing a little in disappointment to myself.

She laughed, kissing my cheek before saying, “what would you do without me?” She smiled a little and then picked up the feather. “I heard something about this once…It’s a common practice in Native American cultures. I need to do more research on it.”

“I’m one step ahead of you on that, actually. Each colored bead means something different. Even the feather has a meaning. It’s for identifying ranks and whatnot. But, I don’t think this is necessarily Native American. I don’t have native blood.” I gave a small sigh and looked at the feather. “So, I’m still not certain on what the beads or feather means or why it’s important to me. Only hunches.”

She rubbed my arm, trying to make me feel better, before picking up the vial. “What the hell is this? It kind of looks like blood.”

“I have no idea. I couldn’t find anything on it. Only thing I could find was witchcraft and weirdo couples.” I placed my cheek into the palm of my hand, my elbow on my knee. A sigh left my lips as I stared at everything laid out on the bed. I didn’t understand anything. I had way more questions than when I started this whole ordeal and I felt a little in over my head.

Freya saw me starting to drift off into Anxiety Land, so she reached forward to place her hand over the top of mine. “The coordinates. That’s our next move. It’s the only lead we have, but it was so important it was tucked away into a box that only opened for you, Mel.”

“I am my own main character,” I chuckled, looking down to her hand that was over mine. I flipped my hand to where our palms were touching and let my thumb caress the top of her fingers. It was a mindless thing, but when I realized I had done it, my cheeks flared up in a hot flush. I pulled my hand away a little embarrassed and cleared my throat. “We’ll go in the morning. It’s late now.”

She gave a warm smile and nodded, she scooted over in the bed to give me room and held her arms open. “Come on then.”

I crawled into the bed with her, wrapping my arms around her before giving a sigh. The feeling of stress melting away as the breath left my lungs. Tomorrow, I’m going to be one step closer to finding all the answers to my growing pile of questions.