Chatoyant College, Book 1: New Student Orientation

Chapter 43: Into the Woods

Dawn tried not to think about what was ahead as Corrie drove them back to campus and they walked back toward the woods. Corrie and Edie naturally allowed her to lead, and she aimed toward the woods closest to Gilkey; that was where Lorelei had come out, and since Annie had lived in Gilkey (for the short while she had lived on campus) that seemed most likely. Corrie was the one to break their silence as they walked across the grass. "Are you going to ask Rico to come?"

Dawn looked up at the building looming over them. She didn't know which window was Rico's, but it didn't matter anyway. "He'd probably like me to... but I don't think so. It would take too long."

"Are you sure? You did say he knows about magic," Edie said.

Dawn let out a long breath. "He thought it was a witch or something. He lives in the city. There aren't faeries in the city, are there?"

Corrie smiled ironically. "If there are, I never knew anything about them, but then I had no idea there were faeries here, either."

They had reached the edge of the woods. Dawn stopped and stared at the space between two trees that lay before her and the faint hint of a path. It didn't look very scary. It just looked like a forest, like she'd been going through all her life. She glanced back nervously. It would be just their luck to be stopped by a security guard at this moment. But no one seemed to be out of the buildings. She realized suddenly that she was just stalling and laughed a little at herself. She looked back at Corrie and Edie, who were watching her in confusion. "Okay, if I hesitate any more I'll never do it. Let's go." She walked into the woods.

They were quiet and peaceful. She heard birds singing and animals rustling through the leaves. Every little noise made her jump at first, but when she looked around and saw only squirrels and chipmunks, she began to relax. "Do we know where we're going?" Edie asked softly.

Dawn shook her head. "I thought we'd just follow this path for as long as we can. Lorelei thinks I have some kind of magic, so maybe that will help me find them."

They walked on. After several more yards, Dawn suddenly became aware of a subtle change in the atmosphere of the forest. It seemed darker somehow, and more crowded. She glanced back and was surprised to find that she could actually see the place where it had changed. Two feet behind her, the trees were more friendly. Where she was and ahead of her, they screamed "Keep out!"

"Are you all right, Dawn?" Corrie asked. They had stopped when she did, and Edie was looking around too, following Dawn's gaze.

She nodded slowly. "Yes, it's just... isn't it odd how the forest just changed?"

Edie frowned, and Corrie looked around, her brow wrinkling. "I don't see anything different," Edie said. Corrie shook her head in agreement.

Dawn felt her spine prickle. "Maybe... maybe it's my magic." It was creepy, but maybe it was a useful ability. "Okay. Better keep going." Much as every instinct screamed at her to go back, she was sure that feeling meant she was heading the right direction. She turned back the way they had been going and started walking again.

She felt a new sensation, as though someone was watching her, and involuntarily glanced up at a tree to her left. She stopped in her tracks, so suddenly that Corrie and Edie walked into her. "What is it now?" asked Edie, sounding small and frightened.

"I don't know what it is," she said. She pointed up into the tree, at the sight that had stopped her: what looked like a collection of leaves and sticks, but moving in a way that was separate from the tree, and with bright eyes clearly visible in its leafy face. "Don't you see it?"

"All I see up there is the trees," said Corrie.

"It doesn't look like an animal, just leaves," Dawn said. The thing suddenly grinned at her, showing sharp, shiny teeth. "It just smiled! Do you see its teeth?"

She could feel them shaking their heads. "Nothing," said Edie.

The thing jumped from that tree to the next, leaving the branch shaking wildly in its wake. Dawn heard a gasp behind her. "Did you see it?"

"I saw a branch shake," said Corrie, breathing hard. "There was nothing there to make it shake."

"Yes, there was," said Dawn. But she wasn't trying to convince them of what was there. If they couldn't see it, she couldn't do anything about it. And they weren't acting like she was crazy and trying to get her to turn back, either. The thing gestured at her with one sticklike arm, then jumped to another tree. Well, that was an unmistakable enough sign.

"I think I see a branch moving..." Corrie said uncertainly.

Well, that was a small relief, that she could at least see something Dawn saw. "It's waving its arm. It wants us to follow it."

"Is that a good idea?" Edie asked.

Dawn closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. She was scared, but she had to get past it... she was the only one who could help Annie. "I don't know. But it's probably better than walking aimlessly." She started to walk toward it. Corrie grabbed her hand, making her feel a little better, though the other two still had to walk behind her.

The creature led them away from the path, following no signs that Dawn could see, but she was increasingly sure that they were going in the right direction. She began to hear faint music through the trees. The sound increased as they walked, increasing her confidence about the direction, if not her understanding of the situation. Finally the creature jumped to the ground and ran in between two trees. She followed it through.