Wysteria, page 2
part #1 of Wysteria Series
“Go?” Stella questioned, looking over the cliff face and to the ocean below. “Go where?”
“To Wysteria,” her mother urged, and there was a frantic tone to her voice now.
“But mama, I-”
“Go now! Don’t let them catch you!”
Stella looked back to the shadows where her mother had stood, only to see that they were painfully empty. She had never really been there, not in the way she’d wanted, but somehow being without her now hurt more than it ever had.
“Stella!”
They screamed for her again, and when she looked over her shoulder, she could see the pinpricks of torches moving through the forest. Coming closer, coming for her.
“Stella go! He’s waiting for you!”
Her mother’s voice was a close whisper, from somewhere just over her shoulder. Without another second of hesitation, she turned.
She threw herself forward, over the cliff face and towards the churning water beneath. The rocks tore open her stockings, biting into her flesh to bring blood to smear across the soles of her feet. She felt nothing but the wind beneath her, and the freedom she had always yearned for.
She slammed into the sea, icy water surrounded her. The chill of the ocean water sent a shock through her. Her chest tightening, she gasped for breath before she could stop herself. The water flooded into her mouth and down her throat, choking her.
She fought it, breaking the surface and reaching towards the sky overhead. The skirt of her dress became impossibly heavy, like a weight hanging from her hips. She fought to keep her head above water. She gulped a single shaking breath before the ocean waves enveloped her. Though she fought, the current drug her down until all she knew was darkness.
2
Chapter 2
She awoke to the crackling of flames. She heard it before she had even opened her eyes. Her vision blurred, eyes refusing to focus as they fluttered open. It was dark, and something nearby smelled damp beneath the scent of burning timber. She could feel the heat from the fire before her eyes had even adjusted to the light. She sat up with a gasp, a hand coming up to press against her forehead, willing the pounding in her skull to subside. It did not, and it was a few minutes before she could see her surroundings through the pain. Her vision blurred around her, and she fought to blink it away.
She was in a cave. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, hanging over her head like menacing fangs. A fire to her left, and around it…. What she saw there made her blood run cold and her eyes blow wide with surprise. Her own tattered white dress, dirty and dripping water onto the rock it had been spread across.
She looked down at herself to find nothing but a thick fur wrapped around her. The silver key she wore on a chain around her neck in place of where her clothes should be. Lifting the fur, she could see that she was naked beneath it. She glanced around, blue eyes wide, framed in thick, dark lashes in a deathly pale face.
Over the crackling and popping of the fire, she could hear another sound, a steady pattering. It was a musical sound, and one she recognized. It took her a moment, but soon she recognized it as the drumming of rain outside of the cave. She sat still for a moment, allowing the heat of the fire to wash over her and warm her chilled flesh. Even though fear sat heavy in her heart, she enjoyed the warmth. It calmed her, allowing her a moment to breathe. It wrapped around her like a warm blanket. She thought back to what happened, trying to remember how she could have gotten here. She remembered her mother’s voice, the words she spoke, and throwing herself over the cliff.
The last thing she remembered was plunging into the ocean and slipping beneath the surface. The memories of getting free from the clutches from the ocean and into this cave were lost to her. Surely she had not gotten here on her own. Even if she had, she couldn’t remember undressing and laying her clothes out to dry in the heat of the fire. Sighing, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and turned, looking instead towards the fire.
To her right, in a place where the light did not pierce the darkness, she could see a mass of shadow. Finally, she plucked the shape from the darkness. A pair of green eyes, glowing in the light of the fire, bore down on her with a sickening weight. She saw them now and wondered how she had missed them before. Realization smacked her in the head like a hammer, and her eyes widened with her shock.
She wanted to scream, to get up and run until she was as far away from this place and this being as she could get. Her fear held her down and took any breath she had, despite the warning lights flashing in the back of her mind. She couldn’t move or speak. Looking over at the form moving towards the fire, she found she could barely breathe. She pulled the fur wrapped around her up to her chin, quaking in her fear. A smell reached her nostrils, something akin to lavender and amber.
He sat behind the fire, watching her from the shadows. Squinting against the light of the fire, she fought to make out his features. Coal-black hair stood out in ropy strands across a wide forehead, joined in the middle by a widow’s peak. His hair was wet, dripping water down the planes of his cheeks. A strong jaw curved up to intense green eyes on either side of a straight, narrow nose. He was handsome, she noticed that almost immediately.
Her eyes fell to a pendant around his neck, a shining red stone carved with symbols she didn’t recognize. He wore a pair of black pants, but from the waist up he was shirtless. The light from the fire glinted off of the smooth planes and curved valleys of his chest and abdomen. His flesh was tan, a deep contrast to her own fair complexion.
Seemingly happy that Stella was alive and awake, he moved his eyes away, staring instead into the fire. He reached to his right, pulling a large stick out of the shadows. He used it to poke the logs in the makeshift fire pit, stoking the fire. It flared, and within moments Stella could feel a bite to its warmth.
“Thank you.”
Her voice was a dull croak in her throat, and he turned towards the sound. He regarded her with a hard to read expression, yet said nothing. He cocked his head, as if confused, stealing occasional quick glances in her direction. Worried that she had somehow offended him, Stella fell quiet. Outside, the sound of the rain falling and the wind howling was the only sound between them. There was an uneasiness stirring inside of her.
While he didn’t seem to want to harm her, he was uncomfortably quiet, and it sent a chill up her spine. The way he would flick his eyes in her direction, studying her carefully before turning back to the fire. The way he seemed tense, on edge, poised like a viper beneath the clumsy, stumbling boots of humans.
Stella forced herself to look towards the cave entrance, anywhere but at him. In the darkness she could barely make out the rain outside, but nothing beyond. It was still dark. Seeing this, she wondered how long she had been asleep. The last thing she could remember was the panic in her heart as she threw herself over the edge of the cliff.
She remembered nothing beyond that. Eyebrows furrowed in her confusion, she looked over at him once again. She found him watching her, only this time, he didn’t look away. His expression had softened, and he looked more curious than concerned.
“How did I get here?” she asked, her voice low.
Though he didn’t answer her, he seemed to hear her. Slowly, almost as if unsure, he pulled his legs beneath him and stood. He moved to the back of the cave without a word, and Stella watched him go, curiosity getting the better of her.
When he returned, he held a flask in his hands. He moved to crouch in front of her. He glanced up to be sure she was watching and unscrewed the cap on the flask. Bringing it to his lips, he took a quick drink before holding it out to her.
Hesitantly, she took it, her fingers brushing against his. She shivered when his flesh touched hers, and forced herself to look away as her cheeks flushed scarlet. She brought the flask to her lips and threw her head back. The contents were sweet, refreshing, like summer honey and freshly pressed apples. She gulped it hungrily, like a man in the desert desperate for water. She drank until she felt the last drop slip from the flask and down her throat. When it finally ran dry, she pulled it from her lips and took a deep, shivering breath. Glancing up, she noticed the boy watching her, an amused smile on his lips.
“What?” she asked, unsure of what to make of his expression.
His smile widened as she handed him the empty flask. He screwed the cap back on and tossed it over his shoulder, where it hit the stone floor with a clang of metal like a gong. The sound made her jump, blinking as she flinched. The stranger watched her reaction with a curious tilt of his head. He folded his long legs beneath him in front of her, studying her. His mannerisms were strangely foreign, primal and animalistic. Even the curious tilt of his head was akin to the dogs that roamed Arcadia.
Stella pressed herself away until she could feel the rough cave wall digging into her back. She almost missed the moments when he had all but ignored her. It was at least less awkward than being studied like a science experiment.
She turned back to him, intending to speak when she noticed his hand disappearing into his pocket. Mouth closing with a snap, Stella watched curiously as he searched for something. She had been about to speak when his hand reappeared, clutching something that fit perfectly into his palm.
He looked up at her, grinning wildly, and something about his expression chilled her. Bringing his hand between them, he showed her what he had found, and her blood nearly ran cold in her veins. With a flick of his fingers, he revealed the shining silver blade of a small hunting knife between his fingers, its carved wooden handle, etched with intricate runes and inlaid with shimmering jewels.
The sight of the firelight gleaming off the sharpened edge of the blade woke her from her trance and she screamed, the sound tearing from her throat and echoing in the cave around her. The reality of the world around her came crashing down. She was in danger. This person could do anything he wanted to her, and no one would hear her scream. Clutching the furs to her chest, she moved away, desperate to put as much distance between them as she could. She hadn’t quite made it to her feet when a hand shot out, wrapping around her wrist and holding her back. Whipping her head around, she looked back to him, eyes wide. He had dropped the knife, one hand holding her still, the other held in the air between them as a show of surrender.
Panting for breath, she stopped, watching him carefully. Curiosity had blossomed in her fear, and she watched to see what happened next, though it was with bated breath. Slowly, he released her wrist, his free hand falling to scoop the knife from the floor. She watched as he brought the knife up, his motions slow and deliberate as if showing her he meant no harm.
He pressed the blade into his palm, pushing until it broke the skin. He winced, just a bit, and drew the edge down his flesh until it opened a gash like a sneering grin in his hand. Stella cringed, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she watched him.
He glanced up at her, giving her a nod as he pulled the blade away, wiping it on his pants before pushing it back into a small leather sheath at his side, one that she hadn’t even noticed until now. Blood ran from his sliced palm, and he brought his other hand up to dip into the pool of crimson puddling against his skin.
He brought his fingers to the floor between them, and using the blood he had gathered on two fingers, began to write. The symbols he painted began to take shape, and after a moment Stella recognized them as similar to the ones carved into the stone that dangled around his neck.
Glancing up, his green eyes bored into hers as he brought his fingers to his bloodied palm once more. This time, instead of dropping his hand to the ground, he brought it up to his throat, dragging his fingers across it until he left a red line across his windpipe. Stella watched him with muscles tensed and ready to flee at a moment’s notice.
Again, he brought his hand to his palm, smearing blood across his fingertips. This time, he hesitated, looking up at Stella with a look that she couldn’t quite place. She could see it in the way he blinked slowly, eyes flicking from the blood in his palm and up to Stella’s gaze. Finally, he seemed to gather his nerve and moved forward. Before she could speak a word to stop him or protest, his fingers came out to press against her throat much as he had done to himself.
She flinched, jumping back so hard her head rapped against the stone behind her. She fell back onto her elbows with a grunt, her palms holding the fur against her bare chest. She moved back, pulling herself away from him. She’d just managed to get to her feet when she heard him call out behind her.
“Wait! Don’t go!”
The sound of his voice broke the stillness and lit a flame of curiosity alight inside of her that stopped her in her tracks. Turning on the spot, she saw him there, still kneeling, green eyes wide and staring up at her. The hand unharmed by the knife had disappeared back into one of the pockets of his pants, pulling out a strip of tattered black cloth. Pressing it against his wound, he worked to quench the flow of blood, still watching her.
“What is happening?” Stella spat the words like a foul taste in her mouth, blinking back tears. Her emotions ran rampant inside her heart, threatening to overwhelm her and drown her just as the sea outside of these cavern walls.
He held his hands out between them as if fending off an attack. Stella noticed, just briefly, that he looked as afraid as she felt. She remembered just then what she had forgotten all along. She was as alien in this land as he was to her. Just as much of a threat, and he must feel much the same as she did. She was a trespasser on his land, and instead of killing her on sight, he had chosen instead to help her.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He raised his hands between them as if fending off a wild animal.
“Who are you, and why am I here?” She could hear the tears in her own voice, threatening to break through and spill from her eyes.
“You can hear me now?”
Gulping thickly, she nodded, her blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders. Happy with her answer, he nodded, dropping his eyes back to his palm, squeezing his fingers around the cloth wrapped around his knuckles.
“What’s going on?” she asked, pleading.
He heard her, she could tell by the way his eyes flicked up to meet hers, but he ignored the question, countering instead with one of his own.
“Why did you come here?”
“The last thing I remember is jumping off the cliff. I don’t know how I got here.” Her voice was low, and she was surprised at her own lack of emotions in the words she spoke.
“You can’t swim.” It was a statement, a testament of knowledge rather than a question. He looked up, catching her eyes with his. The intense, deep pools of his gaze held her hostage.
“No,” she shook her head, confirming his declaration. “I can’t.”
“You could have died.” There was a new tone in his word’s now, something like curiosity and awe.
She snorted a huff of laughter, a hand coming up to push a strand of damp hair behind her ear.
“I would have died if I had stayed. I’ll take ‘could’ over ‘would’ any day.”
He tilted his head to one side, confusion standing out on his face. For a moment, they studied each other, before he finally broke the silence.
“Why?”
There was an innocence to his tone that took her by surprise, and she was silent for a moment. She was unsure of both what to say as well as how to say it. What left her lips instead was a single word, and the only one to come to mind at that moment.
“What?”
“Are you in trouble?”
The weight of his words crashed down on her and she had to blink away the tears that stung her eyes. She thought back to her mother’s memory on the cliff and the words she had spoken to her.
“You have a family where you come from. They miss you.” Again, his words were a statement rather than a question. He was speaking truth rather than asking for it.
“I don’t have a family anymore,” she said, shaking her head. It hurt to say it, even now, but it was a reality she would have to get used to.
He inched closer to her, studying her eyes. His gaze bored holes into her psyche, and she shivered. His gaze was like an electric shock, and it held her hostage. Grabbed her in a stranglehold that she was unable to free herself from. Be it fear or curiosity, she couldn’t pull her eyes away. He held her down with a simple look, and it had her questioning everything she knew.
“You have no family at home?” There was disbelief in his words as if he questioned the truth behind them.
“I’m an orphan,” she lied, spitting the first words that came to mind.
She opened her mouth to explain, but before she could, his hand shot out, clapping across her mouth to quiet her. Eyes wide, he brought a finger to his lips, quieting her without a single word. She nodded in understanding and he pulled away, jumping to his feet. With cat-like grace, he moved towards the cave entrance and was out of sight before she could ask for reasons why.
3
Chapter 3
Seconds stretched on until they became minutes. Stella sat carefully against the wall, her breathing hushed. Ears strained for any sound, she waited fearfully for his return. When after a while she heard nothing else, she allowed herself to relax. Too afraid to leave the cave, she moved towards the fire to warm herself. A cold chill had settled in the air, and she shivered, pulling the furs closer to her flesh in an effort to warm herself. Grabbing her dress from beside the fire, she was shocked to find that her underclothes were laid alongside it.
Snatching them up, her cheeks glowed with her embarrassment. If he had been the one to lay out her clothes to dry, surely he had been the one to remove them in the first place. A sudden, sickening thought crossed her mind and she shook her head to force it away. If she had slept through her undressing, who knew what else she had slept through.
She moved a hand between her legs, inspecting her flesh. Everything seemed to be in place, and nothing seemed to have been disturbed. Sighing in contentment, she grabbed her clothes again. After glancing around the cave, making sure that she was truly alone, she tossed the fur off. Shivering in the cold, she yanked on her underclothes, warm from being close to the fire.
