Pruning Roses

Chapter 1 - The Hunter in the Trees

Her family wasn't waiting for her when she got home from work. No texts from Ben, or Jeff, no notes from Eyeless or Laughing Jack. Never a good sign. Briar changed out of her work clothes into her normal attire, glancing out the window every few minutes to see if they were waiting. There was nothing.

Jeff told her to never enter the Forest alone. The animals were the least of her worries. The Tall Man's proxies were smarter than any animal, and far more inclined to cruelty. She was the youngest Horror, still coming into her power, easy pickings for the more aggressive of them. What they might do to her, Jeff never said, but the look in his eyes suggested he'd found out personally.

Still, as night fell and no one reached out, she worried. Did something happen? Had they been captured? Did a killing run go wrong? There was nothing on the news about it. Capturing such famous Horrors would be repeated everywhere, on national and local news. Something wasn't right.

Briar took her bat and entered the Forest.

The Forest glowed at night, soft illumination coming from moss on the trees and midnight flowers. Stars like she'd never seen peaked through the interlocking canopy, and moonlight fought its way through. Part of her wondered if she should've brought a flashlight, but that would've definitely attracted unwanted attention. The last thing she needed was to catch the eye of a predator.

But luck had never been on her side.

He stood in the darkness, she almost missed him. Briar stopped, heart picking up, and pressed against a tree. It wasn't the Thin Man, no, it was one of his army. The clothes gave him away, even though she couldn't see the dark mask under the hood. She swallowed. That was the leader of the proxies, wasn't it? They called him Hoodie.

She teethed the inside of her lip. Had he heard her tramping through the Forest? She hadn't been quiet about it. Jeff thought it was more important for her to learn how to sneak through houses than the outdoors. What was he even doing out here, alone at night? Were the other Proxies around? The idea of meeting them churned her stomach. She'd heard stories about them all from the others. Masky's bad temper. Beastie's relentlessness. Kate scratching out eyes with her claws. Toby's... everything. The only one that wasn't feared was Skully, but even he killed without mercy or regret. And they'd said Hoodie was the strongest of them all.

The man wasn't doing anything. He lingered by the tree, running a hand over its moonlit-paled bark. Briar tensed, preparing. She was a Horror, he wasn't. If she had to, she could outrun him. That was how half of the encounters went, one side choosing to run instead of fight. She was going to be okay, she told herself. She could survive this.

Wood snapped not far away. Briar jerked towards the sound. Saw nothing, the Forest quieting again. She looked back to Hoodie, and he stared right back.

Briar ran.

Trees rushed by, plants and dead leaves crushing under her feet as she ran. She didn't look back, she kept her eyes forward, her mind focused. Nothing mattered more than escape. The Forest was quiet, her panting as loud as her footsteps to her ears. She couldn't hear anyone following.

She thought, he must've decided to leave me alone. He must've had more important things to worry about. But she still didn't stop. It was only when she reached a small clearing that she slowed down, the deer on the edges scattering at the sight of her.

Running through the undergrowth was a lot different than on concrete. Briar liked to think she was healthy, kept up good habits, exercised often, but she still fell forward, one hand grasping her knees, panting, panting. Was it really just exhaustion causing her to run low on air? Or was it the fear crawling up the back of her neck that made her ache so?