In Love With A Good Man

Chapter 6: Green Eyes

Casey stopped by his house to change out of his shirt and tie. He had just come back from his job interview at the bank, the one that June had set him up for. He was pretty sure that it had gone well, but there was no way to really tell.

Since the rest of his day was free, he changed out of his interview clothes and into something casual. He opened up the middle drawer of his dresser where he kept his camera equipment. He lifted up the camera, still in its case, and wrapped the strap around his neck.

He drove over to the park in the center of Gotham's east side. With his camera in hand and melancholy music playing in his earbuds, he aimlessly meandered through the park. Whenever something caught his eye, he would stop and snap a picture of it:

A tree with an odd shape. An airplane flying off in the distance behind a horizon of skyscrapers. A ladybug on a flower.

Bored with these basic things, Casey started to make his way towards a nearby forest of trees within the park. As he started to walk inside, he held his camera to his face and started looking up towards the thickening canopy of green leaves and interwoven branches.

He completely missed the 'No Trespassing' sign right by him.

A flicker of light caught his eye. He saw a big spider web linked between two trees, with its weaver staying very still close to the middle. Right away, Casey took a step towards it and got down one knee, looking for an interesting angle to snap a picture of the spider.

As he was engrossed in getting the right shot, a single vine silently crept towards him. It wrapped around his right ankle carefully. As Casey started to feel something slithering on his foot, he turned back to look at what it was. But before he could see it, it tightened its grip and started to pull him.

All at once, he was yanked and dragged across the floor. He shouted out in shock and fear, trying to cling to anything he could. His fingers would sink into the soft dirt only to be pulled right back out by whatever force was pulling him deeper into the forest.

Finally, the vine let go of his ankle. Casey turned onto his back only to be greeted face to face by a roaring plant monster. He screamed in fear and turned around, scrambling up to his feet. As he got up, he nearly ran right into another one, forcing him to back up.

Casey looked all around him and realized he was surrounded by these fearsome things. They all croaked and growled hungrily as they leaned towards him. Casey looked all around him, looking for some gap where he could make a desperate escape attempt.

"Stop!" A voice shouted. All at once, the plant monsters immediately ceased what they were doing and backed away from Casey. He removed his earbuds and looked for the source of the voice.

He watched as a woman in green clothing with long red hair was lowered down slowly from vines extending out from the ground. Casey took a cautious step back as her feet touched the ground.

"What have I told you about feeding on trespassers? Greedy little things. Are you trying to get us caught?" She chastised the plant monsters. They all whined in regret. Casey's eyebrows furrowed as he realized that this woman was somehow controlling these things.

"What are you?" Casey asked. Her intense green eyes fixed their gaze on him.

"You don't know me? Have you been living under a rock?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'm...new." Casey answered slowly, not wanting to upset her. She could always change her mind about calling off those plant monsters.

"Clearly," She said with a roll of her eyes. Her expression then changed as she started to look at his face a little closer. "Wait a second...don't I know you from somewhere?" She asked.