Out Of The Woods by Taylor Swift
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CHAPTER 22 : T H E G I R L
"Are we out of the woods yet? Are we in the clear yet?
- Taylor Swift, Out of the Woods
Katherine
How do we get that clue? I don't want to put my hand in there. Hell no. Hell to the NO. With a capital N-O. I don't wanna bleed to death. Ugh. How in the fucking world do I do this?
I sighed then groaned then ran a hand through my hair. I looked at the fox and for a second there, I saw its eyes change color. Like, from black to a dark color of red then back to black. Though, I shrugged it off. It was just the lighting. They couldn't have changed colors, right? Right.
I looked at the bush. Looks like I'll prick my finger if I even go nearer. I took out the first clue. Maybe I'll find something written here or something. I looked at it closely and turned it around. Nothing. None. Empty. Blank. Goddamn it.
I literally touched and felt every inch of the piece of paper. I put it in front of the sunlight and saw something faintly written on the small paper.
Things aren't always as it seems.
Huh? Say what now? What does that mean? I feel as if that has a double meaning. I look at the thorns, contemplating on my decision.
To do or not to do?
...YOLO!
I leaned forward and, before I chicken out, I reached forward and dove my hand into the bush of thorns and roses. Surprisingly, I didn't get hurt. I opened my eyes, which had closed right before I put my hand in, and looked at the thorns. They were like leather and bent easily. They were fake. Damn it! I just wasted time.
I rolled my eyes and bent down even more to reach the paper. I brought my hand out and looked at the fox. She glanced at the paper and her eyes flashed red. Or maybe it was my imagination. I don't really know. I looked at the paper and read it.
•~•~• Last Clue •~•~•
I know, not many clues
But go straight
A sleeping beauty
Of hollow vibes
Tears drop from its eyes
Inside
There you will find
Okay. Sure. We're supposed to look for sleeping beauty. Amazing. Just... great. Note the sarcasm.
"3 minutes left, fighters. The prize or the names? Or both? If you give up, come back. Move faster. Look around. That is all for now." Damiano's voice called out through the hidden speakers. Shit. I'm going for the prize. I don't even fucking care anymore.
I ran forward with the footsteps of the fox following behind me.
Straight. Straight. Straight. God, I'm going straight. Where the he-
My thoughts were cut off when, all of a sudden, I slipped and fell into a pond with a squeal. Goddamn it. I swam up and breathed in. I looked at the water and saw green stuff in it. Ew, what is this green shit?!
When I looked around, I realized we were in a swamp. The fox was up in a tree somehow, I don't even want to know how. There were moss and lily pads and even more moss. Deciding to go out off the water, I swam near a weeping willow tree and leaned my back on it. I am so unfit. I am panting heavily, you'd probably think I ran in a marathon. A droplet of water fell on the tip of my nose from up above. I looked up and saw water dripping from the branches, slowly, running down the trunk into these two markings that look like a person's closed eyes.
I chuckled and said, "Hey, fox! Look at this! At an angle, this actually looks like it's crying!" I gave the tree a look as I saw that it has a hole in the middle.
Ha! Looks like a fucking mouth!
I got up and dusted off my jeans. I tilted my head left. Then, right. Then left, again. I looked inside the mouth, a.k.a. hole, of the tree and saw a box of some sort. I grabbed it and sat down on the ground again.
The prize?
I was eager to find out what the prize was. But, I found a envelope taped on top of the box.
To the fighter who found this, it said.
Oh my God! Don't tell me I can't fucking open it! I spent.... a couple minutes finding it!!! Goddamn it! I opened the envelope and took out the piece of paper inside.
Please wait until I, Damiano, tell you to open it. Now that you have found this, you may go back to the start. If you do not know how to, there is a map inside the envelope. Now quick! GO!
I rolled my eyes. Perhaps my mate forgot that we were werewolves so he put a map in there. I tore the paper up, just because. I started walking, yes you heard me, walking. Taking my time, I didn't notice the fox following me until I heard a twig snap. I looked back and saw the fox's eyes turn red for a couple seconds before going back to normal.
What the actual fuck was that? Why is her eyes flashing?
"I have no clue.", Ella says, surprising me with her presence.
'Oh! You're back!', I said, shrugging off the fox's eyes and kept walking, taking my time.
She snorts and says, "I never left." before going at the deepest darkest corner of my mind. Again.
Jeez, nice talking. Bitchy much? Fucking meanie. Cue pout.
I kept walking until I heard the speakers again, "60 seconds. Everyone start heading back now." Damiano's voice booms throughout the woods with authority laced in his tone. I started running, scared that I might not get there in time. I hate being too late. I always want to be early or on time. But, to be honest, I wouldn't mind being late to school. School sucks. Well, sometimes it doesn't, actually. Whatever. I saw the clearing where we started but before I could continue, I smelled the awful metallic stench of dried blood that made me want to throw up right here, right now. I stopped running and took a good, long sniff in the air. I looked back at the clearing and saw that Damiano had his head tilted up a little and, seeing that, I knew that he smelt what I had.
There were rouges in the area. In the woods. In his territory. And he is mad. No, wait. He is fuming.
The other fighters were there also. And they also smelt it by the way they are growling at the woods, even though we can't see it. Apparently, I was guessing that I was only one left in the woods. Since all of them were there, my theory was right. My eyes locked with Damiano's furious ones.
"Get out of there." He said, his voice laced with authority once again. I took a step back, going further into the woods. We heard a blood-curling, ear-piercing, high-pitched scream coming from deep into the woods, making all of us wince at the sound. I want to find out who let out that scream and what caused her to. I need to. I can't just stand here and do nothing while someone- a girl, get hurt by those vile, cold-hearted creatures.
"Katherine, get out now!" Damiano boomed with his alpha voice. Unfortunately, since I'm his mate, that won't work on me. I'm his equal, so I won't be affected. I quickly turned around and made a run for it, running towards the direction of the scream a while ago. I heard several pair of feet chasing me but I could care less. I won't let rouges hurt someone, especially a girl. Girls stick together, right? And if I find out that the rouge is a guy, I swear to the Moon Goddess, I will beat him into a pulp. Another scream was let out, similar to the first one, except this one was louder. I winced, once again. Damn, this girl's got some lungs.
"KATHERINE!!!" I heard Damiano's angry voice call out, laced with worry and concern. I almost forgot they were following me. I jumped over an upcoming branch, I looked behind me and saw at least 2 people trip over it. Stupid. Well, that was until a pointy fucking branch scraped my arm, which caused it to bleed.
Well, isn't luck on my side right now? Being chased, bleeding, not being able to fucking open a prize? I'm so motherfucking lucky! Note the fucking sarcasm, people. The goddamn sarcasm!!!
I hissed in pain but, nevertheless, continued running. Another scream was heard and, I swear to God, my ears started bleeding. I shut my eyes tightly for a split second then opened them once more and pushed my legs to run faster. We were close to them, I just knew it.
Finally, I saw a dark, dirty russet brown wolf biting a girl's side, deeply. I instantly growled and lunged for the rouge, tackling him to the ground in the process. The others helped the girl and three people carried her and took off, probably heading back to the pack house to get the girl to the pack doctor. The wolf bared his canines at me, trying to scare me, but I ain't fucking scared. I held him down by pinning him on the ground. He snapped at me and I was about to fight him when suddenly-
"KATHERINE, GET OFF THE ROUGE!" I heard Damiano's voice. My head snapped up so fast, I'm surprised I didn't get whiplash. Taking my distraction to its advantage, the wolf kicked me with all his strength. I went flying through the air and when my back hit a tree, I felt pain shoot up my spine. I landed on the ground with a thud and an 'oomph'. I bit my lip in pain while all of the fighters charged for the rouge. The back of my head hurt badly. I brought my hand up to touch it but, when I did, it hurt even more and I felt some weird-ass, warm liquid on my fingers. Black spots started taking over as brought my fingers up for me to see.
Red. Warm and red. Blood.
I panicked and faintly heard the wolf's howls of agony in the background. I saw a blurry figure come near me and carry me bridal style. Judging from the sparks, I knew it was my mate. He was saying something but I couldn't understand him. All I could hear was the beeping in my ear.
Do I have a telephone in my ear? Or am I just hearing shit?
I felt the wind zooming past us, quickly. I felt sleep trying to take over. Slowly, I embrace the darkness and welcomed it with opened arms, gladly accepting fate.
"Stay awake, baby. Please."