Finding Elora

Chapter 10

Occasionally there'll be a crossroad, but there have been signs at each corner. I've been careful to stick to the one pointing to Janta.

I'll be damned if I make a wrong turn and set myself even further behind.

I walk until the sun has completely vanished and the moon shines bright, and only once my feet and legs feel swollen do I finally begin to search for a place to sleep. I can't exactly pull up to a random faerie's house and ask to borrow a bed for the night, but I figure nobody will mind if I crash in a barn.

I've seen a few along the way, so I continue forward until I find a house. I'm far enough from the city that they're far and few between, but thankfully, it only takes me a few minutes to stumble upon one.

The house itself is tucked between several trees a considerable distance from the road, and it's nearly impossible to make out the details in the dark. I have a flashlight in my backpack, but I don't want to use it and draw any unwanted attention to myself.

I doubt the owner of the house will be pleased to discover some human woman slinking around their property, so this is a stealth mission.

It's a good thing I'm so stealthy.

I'm careful to keep a reasonable distance from the house as I make my way around the side, and I hope there are no magic alarms alerting the owners of intruders on the land. If they do, there's no way I'll be able to sense them, and knowing my luck, I'll set them off.

I take it as a good sign when I reach the trees surrounding the house, and I peer around the back for a barn. It's hard to see now that I've stepped away from the street lights, but I can just barely make out a large structure in the distance.

Perfect.

I keep as close to the trees as possible before hurrying across the surrounding open field. If there's any time for me to be caught, it's now.

Thankfully, there's no sign of movement in or around the house, and there are no fences or equipment I need to dodge in my mad dash to the barn. There's a large overhead door in the front of the barn, but I ignore it and walk around until I find a smaller, normal one on the side.

No magic alarms blare out when I grab the knob, and I squeeze my eyes shut and hope for the best before twisting and pushing. The door opens with a quiet squeak, and I peek inside before dropping my bag onto the ground and pulling out my flashlight. It's pitch black inside, and I'll be damned if I walk into this building blind.

There could be dangerous animals or sharp equipment in here.

The items in my bag clink around as I pull out my flashlight, and I cringe and glance back at the house before sticking my arm inside the barn and turning on the light.

My body is tense, primed to be attacked or run as the inside of the building is illuminated. I let out a sigh of relief when I notice it's basically empty. There's a tractor along the far right wall and several empty stalls directly across from the door, but that's about it.

I tentatively step inside before hurrying to spin and shut the door I just came in through. I'm unsure if my flashlight can be seen from the house, and I don't want to take the risk.

Things really get spooky when I trap myself inside the barn.

This feels eerily similar to the start of a low-budget horror film, and I continually remind myself that I'm probably not going to die tonight as I move my flashlight around and explore more of the barn.

There are dozens of small farming utensils, or whatever you call hoes and rakes, leaning against the wall next to the tractor, and to the left, next to the empty stalls, is a giant mound of hay.

Whoever owns this place must have animals, even if there aren't any inside. Maybe they're kept out when the weather is nice. I step closer to investigate, mildly afraid I'm about to encounter several people chained up.

To my complete relief, the stalls are entirely empty.

I even spot a pile of shit in the corner, and I'm happy to note it's too large to belong to a faerie or human. It's always a comfort to find proof that you're not currently hiding inside a creepy serial killer's barn. I'm unsure what I would've done if I found people chained up here.

I'd have to help them, but I have no idea how I'd manage that. I can't exactly knock on the serial killer's door and ask if I can use his phone to call the police.

My palms feel like they should be sweating, but the gloves Samuel bought me somehow wick it away. I'm continually impressed by these gloves, and I tighten my grip on my flashlight handle with a quiet hum. It feels like I'm holding it with my bare hand. I can feel the cool bite of the metal, like there's nothing separating me from the tiny ridges.

I hope it isn't magic that makes them feel so good. I'm looking forward to keeping these as a souvenir of my time here, and it would suck to get home and have them start feeling like regular gloves.

Sighing, I turn toward the hay.

Didn't people used to sleep on hay beds back in the day? It looks uncomfortable, but it's better than the hard, dingy floor.

I dig my sweatshirt out of my bag and tug it on so my exposed arms and back don't rub against the hay. I also take this moment to change out my underwear. I brought five pairs with me, and I hope to find some sort of freshwater source so I can clean them before they're all dirty.

I've worn my current pair for over two days now, and they're beyond rank.

My swamp ass has them smelling like biohazard material, and I cringe as I shove them into an empty ziplock bag and bury them deep into the bottom of my bag.

It's disgusting, and I don't feel much cleaner as I slip my fresh pair on. It's better than nothing, but what's really going to feel good is a shower. Preferably a cold one with a brand new loofah and gobs upon gobs of body wash.

By the time I finally get that shower, I'm willing to bet my skin will be nastier than it was when I had an arm cast in fifth grade. My arm looked like a wrinkly mess, and there were more crumbs than I'd care to admit stuck to my skin. There was also half a broken pencil stuck in there from my attempt to scratch an itch deep in the cast, but I don't like to think about that.

The doctor found it hilarious, but my mom wasn't pleased.

I press my palms into the hay, testing it, before tentatively turning and sitting down. It's denser than I thought it would be, and not all that comfortable, but it's better than nothing. Thankfully, the sweatshirt prevents my skin from being stabbed by the sharp ends, and I lay back and get comfortable before turning off the flashlight and tucking it into the waistband of my leggings.

I don't want to lose it, and I need it nearby in case something weird happens in the middle of the night.

My blood rushes through my ears as I stare into the black, and I will my racing heart to calm as I close my eyes and hope for sleep to come.

____

She finally gets to Janta in the next chap!!!

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