Free Black Wood (A Witch Rising) by Jayde Scott

was quiet. No light seeped through the canopy of leaves
high above her head. She took a tentative step forward when she
heard a growl in the nearby bushes. Her heart racing in her chest,
she spun around, ready to run for her life.
    Two glowing, red eyes peered
from behind a tree trunk. Emily drew in her breath sharply, unable
to walk, as the creature stepped forward. She starred in horror at
the cowered shape hidden beneath a black cloak.
    With knobbly fingers and long
dirty nails, the creature removed its cape, and Emily gasped. Its
skin covered with fur, the fangs visible in its open mouth, it
looked neither human, nor like an animal.
    Trickles of sweat ran down the
back of her nape. “Oh, no! Don’t eat me!”
    The creature crooned, shooting
forward like a wolf ready to pounce. Whimpering, Emily cowered on
the ground and lifted an arm to protect her face, but the creature
didn’t attack. It put one paw-like hand on her shoulder and
regarded her through sad eyes.
    Maybe it wasn’t bad. No animal
this miserable and sad could possibly hurt her. She rose in one
wary motion and wiped her face with the back of her sleeve. The
creature whimpered. Emily cocked her head. “What do you want? I
don’t understand.”
    The creature darted a few
strides down the dirty trail, then stopped, its grotesque head
beckoning.
    “You want me to follow?” Emily
frowned. Should she do that? Could she trust it?
    Howling, it moved again a few
feet. It seemed more sad than frightening.
    “All right. I’m coming.”
    She followed the creature down
the narrowing path and through the dense thicket until they reached
a wall soaring high against the canvass of the night.
    “What’s this?”
    The creature scratched with its
nails against the naked wall and looked up toward the sky. Emily
lifted her head as she peeked up. There, tiny and quite
inconspicuous, overlooking the forest, was a window.
    “How are we supposed to get up
there?” Emily asked. The creature snarled. “Okay, I get it. We’re
not climbing up. But what is it you want to tell me then?”
    The moonlight flickered brighter
as the clouds retreated, revealing thousands of sparkling stars.
Behind the window appeared the face of a woman, so pale and
extraordinarily beautiful, Emily couldn’t mistake it for
another.
    Muriel.
    The creature snarled again.
    “You don’t like her. Neither do
I. She’s mean. But I still don’t understand what you’re
saying.”
    The creature roared, the sound
carrying through the night, and the woods shook. Emily gasped as
the approaching echo of hundreds of heavy footsteps and growls
reverberated through the trees. When she turned, she saw countless
cowered shapes gathering around them.
    As she spun to inspect one face
after another, the sadness in their quite child-like eyes brought
her near tears. And then she remembered the face in the window and
gasped. “Muriel did this to you, didn’t she?”
    The creatures whimpered, some
lowering their heads, others staring straight ahead, and Emily
could swear she got a nod from a few.
    “I’m so sorry,” was all she
could say. The forest disintegrated slowly and she fell back into
deep slumber.
     
    ***
     
    The next morning, she woke up to
Solace’s meowing. Forgetting all about her strange dream, Emily
suppressed a yawn. “What’s the matter? Are you hungry?”
    Solace snuggled closer. “Okay,
let’s find something nice for you, shall we?”
    In the kitchen, Sam already sat
at the table, sipping a huge glass of orange juice. Emily heated up
a bowl of milk for Solace and plopped down next to her brother.
“What happened last night? I heard you shout.” He just grunted.
Emily snapped her fingers under his face. “Hey, I’m talking to
you.”
    Sam looked up and Emily
flinched. Dark shadows framed his bloodshot eyes. His lips had
turned a sickening blue. She could only stare, her brain devoid of
any thought.
    “What happened to you?” Emily
whispered when her voice returned.
    Her brother