Page 26

Hawthorne

W e’d been moving with the trees for two days total now and we were still no closer to finding Oz and the others. The only reason I knew they were alive was due to the visions. Juniper couldn’t be dead because her fate wouldn’t allow it. Not yet, at least, and hopefully not for a very long time, but at least for now she was safe.

Or as safe as one could get in the middle of a deadly trial surrounded by an array of previously mythological beings that, from our own experiences, were largely unpleasant.

Enid and I had stumbled across Daemons, Fae, Shifters and Angels, though the only ones that were even remotely kind were surprisingly the Daemons. The last three had been either rude, aggressive, or a combination of both so we’d kept to ourselves and stayed away from any groups that formed.

We hadn’t found any other Humans, which was concerning in more ways than one. There had been a few that had survived being kidnapped by the trees, but even since they had been infected with that mysterious black cloud we hadn’t seen hide nor hair of them. As far as Enid and I knew, we were the only ones left…

Enid was snacking on some nuts while I munched on some sweet berries that were like some sort of raspberry crossed with an apple and orange. It was an interesting favour and I wasn’t the most keen on them, but they were edible, juicy, and weren’t like some of the other fruits we’d tried.

My taste buds would never recover from the vile, bitter, vomit-like flavour of what we had assumed were peaches but were, in fact, the devil’s fruit. Enid still chuckled over it, too, since she had seen my reaction and avoided them herself. I was hiding one to get her back eventually. I wasn’t going to be the only one to suffer.

‘Do you think they’re okay?’ she asked around a mouthful of nuts, and not for the first time.

‘I know they are.’ My answer was the same every time, but I didn’t begrudge her need to hear it. I was reassured myself every time I confirmed it out loud.

‘What trial do you think they’re facing, because we’ve just been wondering around for a few days while letting the trees fatten us up.’

I snorted, though her comment was only half made with humour. The trees could have very well been fattening us up before they devoured us, but I didn’t think so. Either, way, Enid and I were no Hansel and Grettel. We weren’t easy prey.

‘From what I’ve seen in my visions, they’re having a blast.’

I’d had a few more visions since the one with Juniper and the Fae. Another occurred with an Angel that I’d purposely shoved to the deepest recesses of my mind, but Oz had starred in the others. They were also basically porn like Juniper’s were, though he was with a scarlet skinned Daemon that looked like sex on a stick and drizzled with trouble, yet there was something about her that turned me off and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it was because I’d been forced to watch her fuck my best friend and we didn’t share women. I didn’t get the sense she was an enemy, it was more like a lack of attraction despite her near perfect body and expertly irresistible come-fuck-me eyes.

She just didn’t do it for me.

I kept stealing glances at Enid, though. While I had been struggling to get it up for anyone but Juniper lately, I knew exactly how stunning Enid was. I knew how she felt as I slid inside her wet heat. I knew how to make her walls flutter and clench around me. I knew how to draw sounds out of her that no man had ever managed.

And most importantly, I knew how much she loved me, even if she did try to hide it.

She was everything I should ever want in a woman, and yet why couldn’t I feel the same way? The answer was simple, yet so, so complicated. I had feelings for Enid, I enjoyed fucking her, dominating her, and sending her over the edge. We were friends and had been close for a very long time. On paper, we were the perfect couple, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something missing. Something only Juniper could give me.

To this day, I still hadn’t figured out what it was, just that it was there.

But was it really that important? Enid could be mine if I simply took that leap of faith. I could be content with her. We could have an amazing life together, and a part of me wanted that. I wanted to let go of my feelings for the woman that would never love me back and move on with the woman who did. I wanted to let my feelings develop beyond friendship, beyond the sexual, and settle comfortably into the romantic.

But that word was what stopped me every time. Settle. Enid deserved better than someone settling for second best. She deserved to be someone’s first choice and top priority. She deserved that all-encompassing love I was so stuck on finding with the wrong woman.

If I chose her, I needed to let the rest of it go.

‘What’s got you thinking so hard over there?’ she asked, jolting me out of my thoughts. I blushed, not wanting to explain to her the trail my mind had taken me, but I gave her a fond smile that she returned.

‘What?’ she asked, cheeks spotted with pink.

‘Nothing,’ I shrugged. I could tell she didn’t believe me, but I still had a lot of thinking to do before I encouraged that conversation. We would have it eventually, but not until I could give her the answers she needed.

The trees stilled then, their roots frozen in place as the sounds of the animals that called them home immediately silenced. Enid and I froze along with them have long since learned to follow their lead. They ran when danger was near and stayed relatively still when the coast was clear. This sudden stillness, however, was new.

I understood their hesitation, however, when I felt the vibrations beneath my feet.

‘Thorne…’ Enid whispered, panic lacing her tone and raising it’s pitch. ‘What’s going on?’

I gripped her hand in mine and pulled her close, quickly pocketing the rest of our fruit and nuts so that we had our hands free for whatever was coming our way.

The vibrations grew until they were full blown shakes, the earth quaking so hard we fell to our knees. When a crack formed in the ground, a circular hole that spiderwebbed out, we scrambled away as quickly as we could. The trees were already on the move, rushing away from the hole in the ground that I realised with a gut-sinking sensation that it was rapidly expanding by the second.

‘Thorne…’ Enid shouted over the roar of the earth, her fear causing her nails to dig into my skin as she gripped onto me like I was her lifeline.

We continued to scrabble back, barely keeping ourselves from falling into whatever abyss that hole led to, and I sincerely hoped it wasn’t something’s gullet. Being swallowed whole was definitely not on my bucket list.

Finally, the expansion slowed until it the only movement were the edges still crumbling. However, when I tentatively peered over the edge, my heart was happy not to have an attack because nothing lunged out at me from inside.

Enid joined me, staring wide-eyed into the dark abyss that had almost gobbled us up like Pacman. ‘What do you think is down there?’ she whispered, cleverly trying not to draw any unwanted attention to us in case there was, in fact, something lurking within its black depths.

‘I don’t know, and I’m not too eager to find out…’ I admitted, a shiver shuddering through me at the thought of going inside to check it out.

There was one odd thing about it that didn’t escape my notice. On the distant side of the hole seemed to be some sort of ramp, like the earth had opened up at the end of a tunnel to spit out any travellers at our feet.

‘We should go,’ I said, rising to stand and nervously swiping at the dirt on my clothes. I’d lost some of the snacks in my pocket and had squashed the remainder of the fruits and berries. My hand came away sticky, but there wasn’t anything to be done for it. With the trees gone, so was the water and any means I had to wash myself clean.

We had only taken a single step when a sound echoed out from the hole, freezing us in our tracks. I held my breath, surely imagining it but straining my ears just to be sure.

‘Was that…?’

And there it was again. It was faint, but I was sure of it now. A yell, distinctly male and very much real. It was proceeded with a faint rattling sound that was very distinctly not a person. In fact, it reminded me of the rumbling noises the T-Rex made in Jurassic Park …

‘Oh, hell no. There’d better not be a fucking dinosaur down there,’ I said, my feet already moving me away from the opening.

‘What? What are you talking about? What dinosaur? Enid asked, her breaths coming in short and fast pants as her panic took over once again.

‘I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t like the sound of it. We need to go. Now.’

But then I heard the one thing that could have possibly made me stay rather than run.

‘ There’s a split up ahead! Juniper, which way?’

Enid and I shared a shocked glance and then rushed back to the still slowly crumbling circumference of the hole.

‘Holy shit, Thorne. Do you think Oz is with her?’

‘I fucking hope so,’ I said, hope fluttering around inside my chest.

‘ Right!’ I heard her familiar voice, though her current tone was a new one. She had always been so bright and bubbly, so hearing her sound so serious and frightened was hard to stomach.

‘ It’s a dead end, Juniper! We can’t go that way!’ someone else called back and my anxiety spiked. Had she accidentally trapped them? Did we need to go in there to save them?

‘ Dig through it! It will make it harder for those things to follow!’ she replied, her voice louder, clearer, closer than before.

Grunts echoed back to us followed by more of that unnerving rattling sound that I now realised was a growl. Yup. Definitely a fucking dinosaur. Fuck my life.

‘Do we help them?’ Enid asked, anxiously biting her lips and picking at her fingernails.

‘I’m not sure there’s anything we can do,’ I admitted, hating the words as they left my mouth. Our helplessness was only working to rachet up our blood pressure even higher than it already was.

A light appeared like a spec in the distance, slowly illuminating the darkness as it grew, the colour a warm orange that looked familiar, but it wasn’t clicking in my head where I’d seen it before.

Until Enid pulled me back with a shout. ‘Fire!’

We stumbled back just in time to avoid the giant fireball that exploded out of the hole, shooting up into the air where it eventually died out.

‘What the…?’

I heard it then, frantic scraping noises nearby where the earth began to cave in. It started off small, just a tiny divot in the dust, but then it pulsed like it had a heartbeat, the diameter slowly expanding like the other hole except at a fraction of the rate. Finally, when it was large enough to fit a car, the centre gave out to reveal grime-covered fingers and a collective gasp for breath. Coughing followed as whomever it was that was crawling out of the ground tried to grasp something to help haul themselves out. When they kept slipping, I snapped out of my frozen state and rushed forward to help.

As soon as my hands grasped theirs they screamed and I hurried to reassure them that I wasn’t some monster trying to eat them.

‘It’s okay! I’m trying to help. Hold on and I’ll pull you out.’

‘Thorne? That you?’ Oz called from somewhere inside the newest hole.

‘Oz! Yeah, it’s me. Enid’s here, too,’ I said which prompted her to join me in heaving them out. Another rattling growl shuddered the earth and we upped our efforts, desperation lending us more strength.

The first one out was a man I recognised from around campus. I thought his name was Gordon or something beginning with G, but we’d never spoken. He used to hang around Juniper for a while before they drifted apart. Next was Kendra, and I let Enid take care of her since we didn’t have time for her to latch onto me and start crying the way she clearly wanted to. She had always been dramatic, but I didn’t have the patience or the time for it now.

The next hand that reached up was bright red and hesitated for a beat before I hauled her out, too. It was the scarlet Daemon I had seen with Oz in my visions. I decided I liked her when instead of running off, she immediately reached down to help me pull the others out.

‘They’re getting closer!’ Juniper warned. ‘Hurry!’

One after one we got their feet on the ground. Humans, Daemons, Shifter, Fae, and Angels. All five supernatural races stuck in the ground, working together to dig themselves out.

Finally, everyone was out. Oz wrapped me and Enid up in a bear hug, a rare show of affection from the man before we all took off running. Juniper was to my right holding hands with the purple Daemon I had met before at the portal, the same one from the vision, and a dark skinned male with glowing yellow eyes sprinted on her other side. When he twisted to scan his new surroundings I swore I saw the sun flash off a patch of onyx scales and my heart dropped into my stomach.

I had pulled the Fae and the Angel from the visions out as well, which meant she had met all four of them men she was going to have to choose between, though it seemed she had already picked some favourites.

My thoughts cut off when the ground shook, almost sending me toppling headfirst into the ground. We picked up speed, and I didn’t dare look back to see what was chasing us, because beneath the dirt and grime the people surrounding me were bruised, broken and bleeding and I didn’t want to come face-to-face with the cause.

Unfortunately, a vicious roar ripped through the air and I slammed my hands over my ears to try to ease the painful onslaught. I stumbled due to the action, but Oz stabilised me and kept close just in case.

‘There’s a portal up ahead!’ Juniper suddenly called out. ‘Look!’

I couldn’t see with so many people in front of me, and I wondered how she could tell when she was even shorter than me. It must have had something to do with her Earth Affinity, but now wasn’t the time to sate my curiosity.

Instead, the thump of large, heavy feet stomping down on the earth could be felt everywhere. Even the air shuddered with fear as I felt like something was literally breathing down my neck.

Without questioning the impulse, I lowered myself to the ground and yelled ‘duck!’

Almost everyone followed my lead. If they hadn’t heard my warning then they at least took action when they saw the people around them throw themselves to the floor. But not everyone did. A fireball crashed into those few who were still standing, their screams cut short as the heat of the flame snuffed out their lives within seconds.

‘Incoming to the left!’ Juniper yelled again and rolled in my direction. In the exact spot she’d just vacated was a long, black, serrated claw attached to a meaty foot covered in a thick layer of grey skin. Without thinking, I reached out and tugged her to me, covering her body with my own as an actual, literal dinosaur reared up and released that familiar chilling, rattling growl.

More of its friends joined in before surrounding us from all angles, pinning us in. My breaths sawed in and out of my lungs as terror consumed me, but all thoughts stilled and narrowed in on Juniper’s safety. In that moment, protecting her was all that mattered.

Cold, lifeless black eyes glared down at us as a heavy snout lowered to snap up the closest person, their screams of terror and agony cutting off as a crunch sounded and the beast swallowed them down with a gulp.

Juniper whimpered beneath me, and I smoothed my hand over her hair as one of her hands snaked out to reach for the purple Daemon. He met her halfway, their fingers tangling together and while the shared a looked brimming with an abundance of affection. A look I had always wished she’d send my way.

But if we were going to die, I wasn’t going to go out without telling her how I felt. I tilted my face down so my lips brushed her ear.

‘Juniper…’ I began, my voice a shaky, sorrowful whisper, but I was cut off by a monstrous shriek.

‘Run,’ she said. ‘Now!’

I didn’t hesitate. I jumped to my feet, pulling her with me and took of at a sprint. We darted around the monsters which were being attacked by… people?

No. Their eyes were just as black as the beasts, shadowy veins spreading even further than I remembered to encompass their entire bodies, at least from what available skin I could see. Whatever that black cloud was that had infected them, it had turned them into an entirely new type of monster, but they were causing enough of a distraction for us to slip by and keep running for the portal.

I could see it now, shimmering in a selection of pale rainbow shades, its call like a heartbeat promising safety, if only we could get to the other side.

‘Don’t look back!’ Juniper shouted, though it wasn’t clear who exactly she was talking to, us or herself.

A snarl sounded alongside pounding footsteps and I instinctively knew they didn’t belong to any of us. The infected were giving chase, and they were gaining on us.

‘Move, move, move!’ I screamed, pumping my arms harder and stretching my legs into longer strides.

An Angel shot through the portal, their wings beating so heavily that the gust they created almost knocked us back. I growled, pushing through it and pulling Juniper along with me. Oz had Enid on my other side, and the two purple Daemons were helping the red one not to fall behind.

More people jumped through, some of them diving in headfirst, others skidding though feet first, and others merely kept running as if there was nothing there, disappearing behind the iridescent magic.

Just as we reached it, however, it was like a wall shot up to block me from entering. Juniper was torn from my gasp, her momentum carrying her forward until she skidded to a halt and turned back for me. Her eyes were so wide they took up the majority of her face, and she rushed back to me.

A look over my shoulder told me I didn’t have time for this, so I tired again, only to meet the same resistance.

‘Thorne, come on!’ she shouted, reaching out to me but I just couldn’t get through.

When Oz and Enid reached the portal, Oz shot through barrier like it didn’t exist, his momentum sending him falling into the portal despite his attempts to take back Enid’s hand. She had also met the resistance, and we shared a look filled with resigned fear.

Something seemed to click inside Juniper’s mind, however, and she bounded toward her Daemon friends. She stopped them before they could step through and said something, pointing back to me and Enid. Urgency made her motions jerky, and the one from my visions bent down to press a kiss to the top of her head. She gave him an odd look that morphed into one of betrayal when he shoved her into the portal, her reaching hands the last to disappear.

Then he came for me and what he did only confused me. He grabbed my hand and shook it once, then said a single word. ‘Phenex.’

What was he doing? Didn’t he know we were going to die? Why was he staying behind when he could be with Juniper? He needed to just leave me here to my fate.

He shook my hand again and pointed to himself, panic sharpening his tone when he repeated that word. His name?

Oh. ‘Hawthorne,’ I replied, and he smiled, relieved, then turned to Enid and did the same. When she gave him her name he grabbed us both and yanked, the barrier suddenly gone.

‘Come on, let’s go!’ he shouted, his words suddenly comprehensible. And just as I felt fingers brushing my back, we leaped.

To be continued…