Chapter : Four - Abandonment

5.6K 309 35
                                    

Chapter : Four – Abandonment [Ebony Snow]

I yawned and stretched as I woke, feeling a scratchy surface and the wind blow past me, I remembered that Cass had taken me to the forest. Oh, God, I'd fallen asleep on her. Blinking my eyes open, I stared at the branches of the tree that were extremely close to my face. Uhh...

And that was when I looked to my side and saw that I wasn't on the ground. Holy, Mothering, Cow! I was in a tree. As in, entwined with it's branches! How the bloody hell had I got up here?! I didn't remember climbing a tree!

"Cass!" I called.

Only silence greeted me. It was then that I saw that it was quite dark out, but it was getting lighter. I'd slept in a tree overnight?! Strange how that had also been the best sleep I'd had in... forever.

"CASS!" I yelled this time.

There was a response this time. But it wasn't Cass. A sparrow called out and then was suddenly landing on a branch near my head.

"Ask tree," the sparrow said. Wait. What! The sparrow can talk! God, I felt as though I'd just walked into the real life of Dr. Dolittle.

"What do you mean "ask tree"?" I couldn't believe I was talking to a bird. A bird! And understanding it!

"Ask tree release you," the sparrow said.

Okay, maybe I was dreaming. Yeah, that would have seemed likely if I hadn't been freezing my freakin' ass off! God I was cold. All I had was a jacket, and it wasn't long after Christmas! Saying that, if I'd slept in the tree overnight, I was surprised I hadn't died of hypothermia.

"Do you know where the lady went?" I asked the bird as though I did it everyday.

The bird blinked at me. "No other."

No other? "When did you get here?"

"Sun down. Sleep. Wake, you here."

"Oh."

So Cass had left me. Actually left me hanging. I giggled, she left me hanging, in a tree! Ha, oh, that was funny.

Heaving a sigh to return to reality, I turned to look at the tree that was cradling me like a babe. "Can you let me down?"

It was strange to feel a thinking silence come from the tree. But, then the branches moved. They freakin' moved! They lowered my gently, as though I was one of the most precious gems that could break with too much rough handling. Stepping away from the tree, I thanked it. Good god my life was getting strange.

"Do you know the way out?" I asked the sparrow who flew down to hover next to me.

The sparrow cocked it's head as it's wings beat to hover.

"House near mountain. They know."

"Which way?"

The sparrow flew towards the edge of the trees. He wanted me to follow him? Or was it her? Hell, I hadn't paid that much attention to the gender when he'd been close... not that I knew what to look for on a bird. And I couldn't tell by his voice. His/Her voice was... ungendered. Ungendered? Was that even a word?

Shaking my head at my thoughts, I followed the sparrow as he lead me through the forest. Damn, just how big was this forest? I'd never really paid that much attention. Cass had never let me wonder too far from the car. And looking at it from bird view on google earth didn't really show how big the forest was.

"See road?" the sparrow asked as it perched on a branch that was just above my head.

Looking in the direction of where we'd been heading, I did indeed see a road. "I see it."

"Follow road," then the sparrow flew off.

I blinked in surprise at being abandoned for the second time in less than twenty-four hours. "Wait!" But the sparrow was gone. Great.

Walking for the road, I stopped when I reached it. "Which way? Which way are the mountains?" Because I couldn't see them over the trees. I gasped and jumped in surprise when I felt something poke my back. Spinning, I saw a branch, and once I had it's attention, it pointed right. Blinking, I realised that the tree was answering my question. "Thank you." Then the branch returned to it's previous state.

As I headed in the direction of where the tree had pointed, I stared at the trees in wonder and awe. They were alive. Literally. And... damn did my feet hurt! How long had I been walking! And when was the last time I'd had food and something to drink?! Glancing at the sky showed that the sun was nearing the middle of the sky, which meant that it was nearly midday. Damn.

The sun had gone past the halfway mark by the time I arrived at a fork. But then the trees moved, blocking the left route off. Thanking them again, I went down the right route, as I did, I realised the trees were watching me, ready to help me if I needed it.

Heaving a yawn, I stopped in awe and gratefulness as I saw a house in a clearing, built into the side of the mountain. It was... wow! You could see several floors with wall windows, and the area's without windows were a light grey. It was massive, and, as it was build into the side of the mountain, I could only wonder how far back it went. But for as big as it was, I hadn't seen it until the last possible second. The forest hid it really well.

I wasn't sure what had me looking back at the road I'd just walked along, only to see that it was no longer there... and that there was a large white wolf standing in it's place. Well, crap!

  

Vote? Comment? Thanks!

Alpha's Tease, ᴀ ғᴀɪᴙʏ-ᴙᴇ-тᴀᴌᴇ ɴɵᴠᴇᴌ, №2 »ᴄɵᴍᴘᴌᴇтᴇ«Where stories live. Discover now