What Happened On Lavender Ridge

Road To Westbrooke

Abel, Art, and Ari continued through the forest riding Hyde's back at a rapid pace. The sun broke through the trees making everything easier to see as they dashed through. Abel sat comfortably between the elongated spines sticking out of Hyde's deformed back, gripping the one in front of him tightly. Ari sat behind him with her arms wrapped securely around his waist, and her head against the center of his back. Art sat further toward the rear gripping Hyde relentlessly as he was bounced around. Hyde continued to run in a zig-zag pattern avoiding trees as if they weren't there at all.

"How much further til we exit the forest?" Art yelled, clenching his eyes tightly.

"There's a clearing up ahead, that leads to a cliff, and that's where we begin our descent," Abel replied, confidently.

"Descent?" Ari asked, softly, lifting her head from his back.

"We have to climb down the side of a cliff," he said, clicking his heel into Hyde's side once more.

"How do we do that without gear?" She asked, nervous about the response.

"That's what he's for," he replied, lightly patting Hyde on the back and chuckling. She gulped slightly, tightening her grip around Abel's waist and digging her head back into his shoulder blades.

"Relax, I won't let anything happen to you," Abel said, placing his hand atop hers. The feeling of a fluttering stomach put her on edge. She could feel her face, it was warm, and red like a tomato. She couldn't explain it, but she felt shy like she was back in middle school. She caught herself in deep thought and shook herself out of it before it could go too far.

"While we have a second, what really happened to your face?" she asked, tightening her grip around his torso.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not that dumb. Plus, you took way too long to think of a cougar," She said, chuckling.

"We got into a fight with a bear. It wasn't...normal it was huge and had this odd glowing blue line wrapping its body, like Hyde, and it was...dead," He replied, trying not to sound insane.

"What do you mean dead?"

"I mean dead, I could see its skull and its ribcage. Its intestines were dragging along the ground, but it didn't seem to notice. I saw inside of it. It didn't want to kill me to survive, it wanted to kill me for the satisfaction of killing me," He said, shakily.

"Ho...how is that possible?" She asked, with a scared tone in her voice, as her grip squeezed tighter.

"Look around, how is any of this shit possible? We're riding a giant dog in a forest that should be filled with radiation, instead, it's flourishing with life," He replied, looking at the foliage surrounding them. Ari fell deep in thought, she thought about what Abel said and he was right. This forest that should be decaying and dead is instead flourishing with all sorts of vibrant colors and flowers. She stayed silent and loosened her grip around his waist. She slowly removed one hand and extended it as far out as she could.

She ran her fingers through the plants and flowers that she could reach attempting to grab onto them, when she brought her hand back she had a fist full of lavender. The most vibrant and beautiful of all the flowers so bright it was almost glowing. She brought the bunch to her nose and sniffed deeply. The most beautiful of scents filled her nostrils with each whiff. It set fireworks off in her brain, it had felt as if she was listening to the most beautiful symphony anyone had ever heard.

A large toothy smile spread across her face as she extended her hand once more and released the flowers to the wind, sending them behind, as they dashed further through the woods.