Picking a random direction, I hobbled forward in my heels, sliding around a little on the wet leaves. I tripped on a stick and went down. The mud I landed in sent the chill on my skin down into my bones. The shivers started coming faster. I struggled up and kept moving, smearing mud down my fancy dress when I tried to clean my hands. Not leaving a trail for the killer to follow in this muck would be impossible.

At least I had an idea why I was here. Not here as in this spot, but here as in this situation. Mom had said strange things would start happening when I turned sixteen, but she hadn’t mentioned me going all werewolf and showing up out in the middle of some forest with no memory of the last few hours. Okay, nix the werewolf. I still had my clothes on. Plus, I already knew what I was.

The popping noise was back. I twisted to look behind me, nearly toppling over in my heels. The tree root that had come out of the ground to prop me up was gone. Totally gone. “It’s okay,” I whispered to myself. “Probably normal. It’s okay, weird stuff is supposed to start happening,” then shuffled away faster, looking over my shoulder.

After about ten steps, something tapped me on the shoulder. I whirled around, but no one was there. “Hello?” I squeaked out. No answer. The tap happened again. It was a branch. Like, just a normal tree branch. Or not normal, whatever. Once it knew it had my attention, it pointed back in the direction I’d come from.

I looked.

“You want me to go that way?”

The branch just swayed in the wind, like any regular old branch sticking out abnormally far from its trunk. That was probably a yes. But the real question was, what were the tree’s intentions?

“Ah, no thanks,” I said, staying on my original route. “It isn’t safe back there. I’m trying to get away from someone.” It tapped me on the shoulder again. I swatted it away. “What’s with you? I don’t want to go that way. Are you even real? Maybe I’m unconscious.”

The tree branch wilted at my harsh tone. I almost felt bad. Almost. I stalked away faster, but only made it a few steps before something grabbed me around the waist. I yelped and struggled, but the grip just got stronger. My feet left the ground and I went limp, making and discarding increasingly crazy plans in a split second. And then I was turned around and set back on my feet, the branch unwinding from around my body.

I rubbed my arms to hide the freaked out shivering. “Fine, have it your way,” I muttered, and resumed my stalking, this time in the direction the tree had suggested. I nearly fell over three times because I was staring over my shoulder to make sure it didn’t come at me again. The sky was getting darker, fast.

Apparently the tree was satisfied by my decision because it left me alone.

Mom had mentioned that nature loved the fae, but she hadn’t ever brought this up. It was supposed to mean big gardens and stuff, not Narnia and living trees.

Suddenly a vine grabbed me, stopping a scream trying to rip from my mouth by covering it tightly. I struggled, but it just tightened until I couldn’t move. The tears I’d been holding back flowed freely. What do you want?

No answer, of course.

A second later, a shadow moved by. A person. A big person. My body went instantly limp, supported only by the vine. I stroked the vine a little, and it loosened. The thing had probably just saved my life. I was afraid to blink, afraid to lose sight of whoever it was, moving past me back toward where I’d woken up.

No one with good intentions would be out here on a night like tonight.

Slowly, like it was afraid I’d crumple to the ground, the vine loosened around me, letting me go. I patted it lightly in thanks, not wanting to say anything out loud that the shadow could hear.

I took a deep breath, almost afraid to blink. Had that thing been human? Which was better, yes, or no?

The heels had to go. If I needed to run, I wouldn’t be able to. I pulled them off and gripped them tightly in one hand.

The farther I could get from this place the better, before that guy found out my body was gone. How long had it been since he’d shot me? At least an hour, judging from the darkness.

Stupid rain. It was getting worse. I wiped the excess water off my face for the fiftieth time. At least the rain would hide the tear tracks.

A rumbling sound pulled me from my thoughts. What was that? My heart clenched in my chest and I cowered into the closest tree. A rivulet of water flowed down the hill ahead. The only way I could tell the difference between it and the rain was the fact that it was a yucky brown. Gross water splashed on the already soaked hem of my dress.

The rumbling started again, this time even stronger, shaking the ground beneath my feet a little. No human could be causing that. It had better not be something crazy, like a dragon or whatever. I definitely wasn’t equipped to handle that.

A small wave of muckiness crested the hill and rained down into my face. I spewed water out of my mouth and gagged, the gross mix trickling into my lungs. I got the coughing fit under control right before the rumbling started again, this time almost deafening in intensity. Oh crap. An enormous wall of water surged over the hill, washing me from my feet. I slammed into a tree and bit back a scream as I felt a rib crack.

The water washed me off the tree and sent me head over heels down the embankment, shrieking like a banshee. I tumbled down the hill, my body crying in agony before going into a free fall off the last hill and plunging into a large mass of water.

Waking up after something like that is not pleasant.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s better than not waking up at all. I just wish that whatever part of me decides it needs to wake up before I’m finished healing would keep its opinion to itself.

At least my dress is getting clean. The thought floated through the fog in my brain. I shook my head, trying to get my bearings. Tough, considering I was underwater somewhere.

I clenched my fists and closed my eyes for a second.

Maybe this was a nightmare. Maybe it would all go away. I cracked open an eyelid.

Nope.

Don’t breathe. It’s okay. You’re fine. Sure I was fine.

Sure. I was just under water, that’s all. I shoved the thought away and tried to blow out some bubbles. Nothing happened. No air in my lungs. I thrashed around for a second, looking for the surface, freaked out. The water was too clouded. I couldn’t tell which way was up.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Blinking seemed to help with the fogginess and I came around enough to dodge some debris flowing downstream faster than I was. Who needed Disney World? Just jump in a creek and dodge some logs here. Add in some injuries just for fun. I gave an experimental kick toward where I hoped the surface was, but gasped in pain.

Apparently a broken leg wasn’t finished healing.

I closed my eyes to wait, the current tugging on my clothes, sending my long hair tangling around my face. If the water wasn’t flowing so quickly, this would almost be calming. Which would be really nice, because no matter how many times I kept telling myself not to freak out, I was almost past the point of trying not to.

No. Right now, I just needed to get out of here. ASAP. I hadn’t been very quiet while getting flung into the river. The shadow guy might have heard me. Ten seconds and the pain had faded to a manageable level. That would have to do. I needed out of here. Like, now. The bones could finish on my way up. I butterfly kicked my way to the surface. It took forever with no oxygen in my lungs to help buoy me upward. I popped up and pulled in a gulp of air. Big mistake. I hacked for a moment, spewing out all kinds of fluid, sunk under the surface, popped back up, and then took in that breath. Ahh, better. I spit the last of the foul tasting water out of my mouth. Note to self, next time try to get water out of lungs before filling them with air.

Treading water against the current should have made me tired, but it didn’t. I was almost back to normal. Though not completely normal. A normal person would be dying of exhaustion right now. I squeezed my eyes shut in relief.

Another blessing of being fae, along with the whole healing thing. Supposedly not all of us get the same gifts, but I didn’t know for sure since I didn’t have another of my kind to ask.

The rain had finally slowed to a drizzle. I squinted toward the bank of the river, the moon’s reflection on the water giving me a little help in the light department. There had to be some civilization around here somewhere. I started kicking in the direction of the riverbank, the pain totally gone. Which bones had I broken this time? Hard to say.

I dodged random debris floating in the mess of a river, the stupid dress weighing me down. I’d lost my shoes somewhere in the fall.

Finally, I made it to the bank, hauling myself onto the edge. Looking up was not encouraging. Steep. Really steep. I dropped my head in my hands. I would not cry. I was not a crier. Crying was not something I did. The sniffles were just from the water in my nose, that was it. I looked up the sheer mud wall again. The commercials about wild fires and yada, yada were all over this year. Guess they were right if the river was supposed to be that high. Just my luck.

I took an experimental breath through my nose and didn’t choke. At least that was getting better. Come on, Trisha. You can do this. Just pretend you’re training with Mom. Sure. Like this was anything the same.

Trying to climb the mud bank was like trying to scale a cliff covered in ice. It wasn’t long before I had just as much mud on me as before I went through the rinse cycle on nature’s washing machine. Further up, the base of the bank had eroded away, leaving an overhang up top. I turned left and crept along in the dark for a few feet before stopping. The lip only got worse in that direction. The right proved the same.

It was okay. I could do this. What good were my gifts if I couldn’t climb some stupid little hill? Digging my hands into the freezing, sticky mire, I started up what had to be four feet of mud-covered dirt. The top layer was slick, but I could get a hold of the more solid layer under it. Maybe I wouldn’t be doing this if I had to worry about six weeks in a cast, but since that wasn’t a problem, all I could think of was how tired I was of being out here in the rain. And the fact that there might be someone following me trying to kill me. But I didn’t want to think about that part at the moment.

Smooth sailing until I reached the top. Here the lip was even more pronounced, hanging out over the bank. I was going to have to practically dangle to get over this. I latched on to a rock sticking out of the dirt tightly with my left hand, then reached over onto the ground with my right, flailing around as I tried to find something to grab onto. A pop and a groan sounded from above. I tried to jerk my hand back, but something rough was in the way. A tree root? Was it following me? Was that possible?

But I needed the help so I couldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, or whatever. I grabbed the new found hand-hold and heaved myself up over the embankment. Sure enough, a dirt- covered root stuck out of the ground, the dirt looking fresh.

“Thanks,” I squeaked out, just in case the tree expected it. The root ignored me and burrowed back into the ground. I took off.

The slight drizzle faded and the stars peeked out from dark clouds. Of course, right when I needed the rain to help get some of this ick off. At least it was hiding the blood all over my dress. I really should be concerned about that. I rubbed my hands in the damp grass, trying to scrape some of the mud off. Not much luck, but it would have to do.

A short walk and I literally stumbled onto a road. Now we were getting somewhere. A glance in both directions didn’t give any revelations about which way I should try. Where were those friendly branch tour guides when you needed them? “Hey, trees. Got any opinions on which direction I should go now?” I whispered, then waited a moment.

Everything stayed quiet. What made the last one help me? I held up a hand and concentrated, squeezing my eyes closed. After a moment, I opened an eye a slit. Nothing happened. “Thanks a lot, stupid trees.”

Without any help to figure out where I should go, I slouched right and started walking.

Would this night ever end?

Walking along in the dark is great for thinking. Once you find somewhere to walk where you don’t have to worry about tripping every five seconds. Without shoes, I stayed on the very edge of the road, close enough to jump into the trees if I needed to hide, but off the bare ground full of sticks and rocks. The road rubbed at my feet, but they healed as I went. Thankfully it didn’t hurt much.

Thinking was something my subconscious was telling me not to do. I didn’t listen. I ran every conversation with my mom I could remember through my mind, trying to come up with an explanation for me being out here, for someone wanting to kill me. Nada.

Maybe it was random, but the odds of that didn’t seem good.

After an unknown period of time trudging through the dark, something glowed in the distance. A light. Small, yes, but at least it was a light. I picked up my pace.

What was a light doing way out here, anyway? Campers?

Traffic? I squinted, trying to see if there was anything else ahead. Nope, just more trees. Nowhere near home with this many trees. “We’re not in the D.C. suburbs anymore, Toto.”

Water dripped off the branches above and onto my face. I scowled up. “Watch it, I’m wet enough.” Apparently these trees weren’t the thinking kind, or they didn’t like being told what to do because an even larger pattering of water splashed down my nose and dribbled into my left eye. I wiped my face on my arm, but it didn’t help. I was soaked all the way through.

The light down the road burned brighter now that I was getting closer. I slowed to ask myself something that should have come up when I first saw the light. What was I getting myself into going there? Stopping in on people I didn’t know, not wise, by all accounts. But I didn’t have much of a choice. Even if I wanted to walk home, I didn’t know how to get there. And what were the chances of these people wanting to kill me too, whoever they were? If the shadow man hadn’t had a flashlight out when he was looking for me, he probably wouldn’t have something that bright now, so it was a good bet it wasn’t him.

Dan and Nina were going to be sooooo mad. My fosters were better than most, but they were still going to freak. I could call Wade. Maybe he could get me home and I could sneak in without them noticing. That’s one of a boyfriend’s duties, after all. But something about that felt wrong. Too bad I hadn’t gotten the courage up to ask Amy for her number at the party last night. She’d have picked me up. Probably.

Wait, party, on Thursday. Halloween! That’s why I was in the dress.

Now, if I could remember where I was, maybe I’d remember how to get back. But it didn’t seem like that was going to happen, so I upped the pace. At least I had started to remember other stuff. It’d be nice to get out of these wet clothes. My skin had finally warmed up to an acceptable level, but the clothes were chaffing. Plus, I needed to eat.

Bad. Preferably not something lawn based.

When I got closer to the glow, I could make out lights flashing near a dump that was set back from the road. Maybe an old gas station. Definitely not a house like I’d expected. Compared to the stations Nina always went to in the suburbs, this place was below dump on the junk scale. I squared my shoulders. Back to that not much of a choice thing. Better a dumpy gas station than getting offed in the woods. Again.

Well, hopefully better. If some serial killer found out how hard I was to kill…

I took a deep breath. Here went nothing.