Dance of Magic - The Books of Beginning [1]

9. A Forest Dark And Deep

Kate had needed to clear her head. While she loved her siblings endlessly, their constant squabbling was getting tiresome, and since Gabriel could look after them for a bit, Kate decided to take a well deserved walk.

The sun was setting, casting beautiful shadows over the woods. It was chilly, but Kate had a thick green jacket on to block out the bitter cold, and the beauty of the bright yellow and orange leaves made up for the frost. Her boots crunched against many of those fallen leaves as she took in a breath of fresh air. It all felt so peaceful, so ok.

But of course, for Kate Wibberly, peace never stayed. In this instance, it was chased away by a sixteen year old brown haired boy rushing up to her, face bright red from the cold.

"Robert?" Kate frowned, "what's wrong?"

Robert caught his breath, then stammered, "I uhh... your siblings..they were arguing... your ghost friends were in the other room... I didn't know what to do."

Kate sighed, "oh, there fine."

"Are you sure? They seemed really frustrated with each other?"

"They do this all the time. It's normal for them. They aren't mad, really," Kate assured him.

"Oh," Robert looked down at his sneakers, slightly embarrassed, "well.. silly me. Sorry about that."

Kate shrugged, "it's fine. They can be a little overwhelming for people who don't know them well."

Robert nodded absentmindedly, "yeah.. uh.. it's pretty out here, isn't it?"

Kate agreed, "Cambridge Falls is a lovely place. If it weren't for the circumstances, I'd be happy to be back here."

"Yeah, from what I've seen it's beautiful. I'd love to see more of it once this is all over," Robert commented.

Kate gritted her teeth. Was he trying to get her to show him around? Hadn't she made it clear she wasn't interested? This boy was so annoying sometimes. But, she had to be polite while stuck in this situation with him. 

"Right. Well, do you need me to show you the way back?" Kate asked, putting a fake smile on her face.

"Actually I was thinking of walking a little further, since it's such a lovely forest and all," Robert said, "besides, I wanted to talk to you about something."

That did it. Kate let out a sharp sigh, "Robert, I was hoping for some time alone. Tell me whatever you need to but then please let me be."

Robert's face fell for a moment before he composed himself, "I, uh.. right, sorry.. I just.. you're really brave and kind, and I know we haven't talked much, but, well.. you're just really... how do I say this.. uh..."

The two teens heard a crunching of leaves, and Kate quickly shushed her acquaintance, the instinct of a girl who was slightly paranoid but with good reason. She turned to the bushes, but saw nothing, then, with one last suspicious glance, turned back to Robert.

He opened his mouth to continue speaking, but it was not words that came out. It was a scream, a high pitched, fearful scream that made Kate jump. She was about to whirl around and see what was causing the scream when s pair of gnarled, bony hands grabbed her by the arms. 

Kate looked down in fear. It was screecher hands they were holding her. Her enemies had found her.

She looked back up, about to command Robert to run for help, but another screecher had climbed from the brush and was holding tight to the boy. He looked up and met Kate's eyes before the screecher conked him on the head.

Kate gasped as he went limp and the screecher slung him over its shoulder. Her heart was beating wildly from the fear. She was trembling as the screecher holding her dug its nails into one arm, and reached up with the other one to strike her on the head.