Light Within the Umbra

Chapter Three: All Cats Are Grey in the Dark

Along with the sharp pains that came with putting pressure on her right foot, the peculiarity went beyond her muddy, purple high-tops.

Scintilla's whole leg, from her black socks to her skirt, was now a light slate-grey hue. She brought her hands in front of her face to examine them and saw that they were the same color. Quickly, she rolled up her sleeves. Grey. She stood up and looked at her other leg. Grey. She even went as far as to untuck her sweater from her skirt so she could view her torso...which was also grey. Why didn't I notice this before? She wondered. Oh right, because it was pitch black outside and I was running from a bear. Examining my body right then would have been a GRAND move.

Her next plan of action was to hastily take her water bottle, pour some water on herself and try to get whatever this was off. Maybe it was some weird kind of dirt that stained her skin? Maybe it happened after she blacked out from the spell; it rained, she got muddy, the rain washed the mud away leaving her clothes damp but somewhat clean, and it stained her skin. What? That doesn't make sense. She didn't know right now. And to her dismay, it wasn't coming off no matter how hard she scrubbed at it. She didn't have the time for this at the rate the sun was setting.

Scintilla put the bottle back in her bag and decided her best plan of action would be to immediately head back in the exact direction she came from.

With each step, her sprained ankle threatened to give out and it took her longer than she anticipated to move where she wanted to go due to the limp she had gained.

After a half an hour of walking, Scintilla began to worry when she realized she wasn't making any progress. The hill was what she was looking for, so surely she would have seen if she had passed it...even if it was getting dark. Scintilla planned to find the hill, then hobble her way back to the cabin from there. Hopefully the bear wasn't near it. If she was, Scintilla would try her best to outrun it again despite her damaged ankle (which, realistically, would be near impossible in hindsight,) and this time she would go in a direction she knew.

Then, something concerning came to Scintilla's attention. She had been gone for a long time. Surely her dad and his wife would have been out searching for her, and maybe even calling a search and rescue team if they couldn't find her after so long. Why hasn't she heard anyone searching for her?

She picked up her pace and headed toward the direction she thought the hill might be. But after walking for so long, Scintilla was convinced she was walking in a straight line, way off from where she wanted to go, or maybe even circles. Everything kind of looked the same, so she couldn't tell. But something did feel different.

The further Scintilla walked, there seemed to be a different kind of liveliness in the air. She began to suspect that she had walked so far, she entered an area of the region where the climate was different than back at the cabin. She couldn't help but notice that the animals seemed to stare at her for a moment too long while she walked past. Though it was a bit weird, it seemed like they stared more out of curiosity rather than threat. Understandable, I guess, she thought. It's not everyday you see a grey girl walking around.

No sooner had she grown tired of walking had the sun completely disappeared below the horizon.

"Looks like I have no choice," Scintilla grumbled to herself aloud before sitting down at the base of a large tree. She concluded that it would be safer and easier to just try to sleep through the night and continue searching for the cabin again tomorrow. Even though she had a flashlight, she surmised that it would be best to make it last for when she would need it the most.

Scintilla sat there for what felt like hours, clutching her bag tightly. It was cold now, and she wondered why she thought it was a good idea to wear a skirt if she was going to be running around in the woods.

Occasionally, she would hear a noise from somewhere around her and once again start fearing for her life. Sleep seemed so far away under these conditions with the reality of everything that has happened. She reached into her bag and ate a granola bar and drank some water, promising herself she would eat and drink sparingly because she didn't know how much longer she was going to be out here.

She just wanted to go home. But she was stuck here in the middle of nowhere. Possibly having a concussion. Muddy, bloody, scratched up and torn. Tired, hungry, mildly dehydrated, and strangest of all, grey. That was one thing she really wanted to figure out.

As Scintilla sat there all the while, her mind raced. She still wondered how she got so far away, why she hadn't been able to find her way back whatsoever, and if she'd ever find her way back.

And why hasn't anyone been searching for her? They would've found her already if they were searching, right?

But most of all, if she was never found at all, never seen again, would her mom even care?

And with that thought, a stream of warm tears rolled down her cheeks, colliding harshly the cold night air swirling around her until she slowly drifted off due to pure exhaustion.