Fire in the Woods

Chapter Five

A/N - Finally updated! Yay!

The first thing Jasmine noticed when the car pulled up to her grandparents' house was the small, winding path that led up to it.

It was made of small, shattered pieces of something that looked like colored glass, with beautiful, spiraling patterns in every color of the rainbow - no, not every color of the rainbow, every color there was. There was a sweeping silver pattern that resembled some kind of bird, and a scarlet pattern edging the path that looked almost like blood dripping across the ground, or possibly a red-hot fire. A blue river swept gracefully down the path, with gold prints that looked like cat paws darting across the shimmering cerulean stones. Near the beginning, a jet-black and dark gray pattern crisscrossed all of the shimmer and sheen, adding a dramatic but tasteful contrast, before fading out into stones the color of blue-tinted snow.

At that moment, she knew that she was in for an experience.

And she wasn't even at the house yet. They had to first walk that path for a half mile before reaching the actual place where Jasmine would be residing for a month.

A door slamming jolted Jasmine out of her thoughts, and her dad grinned as he noticed her surprised expression. "Scared you, eh? If this path stuns you, wait until you see the house." He opened Jasmine's door and helped her get her massive backpack out of the car. "Geez, Jaz, how many bricks do you have in there?" he grunted.

Jasmine smirked. "Yes, I packed my backpack full of the heaviest bricks and stones I could find in preparation for this moment." She gave a mock evil laugh.

"You truly are an evil genius." He sighed and wiped his brow in the warm weather. Jasmine could feel perspiration forming on her forehead as well. States like Louisiana and Texas might be boiling in the summer, but for a Wisconsinite who was used to cold winters, the weeks of hot weather that had followed summer in the autumn this year tired her out quickly. She couldn't wait until that crisp bite of true fall.

Jasmine's mom joined them then, dragging a duffel bag that was packed so tightly it looked ready to burst. "You ready?" she asked.

Jasmine nodded. "Yeah."

Her dad glanced up at the house again, then to Jasmine's mom. "No matter how many times I come here, your parents still manage to surprise me, Cheryl," he admitted.

"Yeah, they seem to enjoy it." Her mom grinned and looked down at Jasmine. "Come on."

Jasmine nodded again, shifting the backpack on her shoulders. "Let's do this."

"Attagirl." They started up the long colored path, Jasmine walking as lightly as she could in fear that she would accidentally disturb - or worse, break - the tiny shards under her feet.

As they strode up and down the rolling hills, Jasmine studied the land on either side of her. To the right was a vast, plentiful meadow, full of chirping birds and buzzing insects and flowers with tall, graceful stems that towered over the smaller weeds at their roots, as if declaring their superiority to the whole plant world.

To the left, a forest loomed, casting long shadows that stood out starkly against the bright sunny background. She strained her eyes but couldn't see past the first row of darkly shaded, brightly leaved trunks. The rest seemed to melt into the darkness beyond, where she imagined small woodland creatures staring out at the silhouetted humans trekking across the hills. The forest, like the meadow, seemed bursting with life, but in a different way. A darker way.

Jasmine shivered slightly - not quite with fear, more of excitement to start exploring the trees. She forced her attention away and stared at the intricate designs lining her feet, tracing her eyes across the swirls and curves that decorated the otherwise plain, grassy hills.

She was so absorbed in the designs of the path that she didn't realize that they had arrived until her dad halted suddenly, causing Jasmine to bump into him.

"We're here," he told her.

In front of them was a massive house. No, not one house - multiple building sprawling across the land, in every shape that a house could be. One, the one that the path led up to, had an old-cottage-y feel to it, while the building behind it dramatically eclipsed the one in front of it, looking like more of a hotel than an actual house. There were smaller buildings to the side, some scattered in the meadow, and a couple near the forest.

Her dad smiled at her. "Yeah. They sure know how to impress."

Jasmine started running down the path now, a vertigo feeling slowly encompassing her as she get nearer and nearer, and finally she slowed down to a walk, panting, the beautiful artwork beneath her feet nearly forgotten.

Nearly. But not completely.

Small black lettering written over a design of a small, beautiful maple tree, leaves autumn-bright, caught her eye. She had stopped to look at that design in particular because the tree was so intricate and graceful, dark branches sweeping, every leaf striking, as if someone had spent excruciating hours making it as perfect as possible.

The words were cleverly nestled in the branches, invisible to all but the sharpest of eyes, and as Jasmine squinted at it, she made out a phrase.

WHEN WE GO OUT, WE'LL GO OUT IN FLAMES

Her breath caught.

Her mom's voice suddenly sounded behind her. "Are you okay?" She followed Jasmine's gaze to the tree. "Oh, that's beautiful. I'll have to ask my parents who did the glass work. Now come on, we don't want to be late."

Jasmine followed her parents numbly, but as she approached the cottage, which looked much more ominous now that it had a minute ago, she realized something that gave her chills.

The gorgeous maple tree didn't have bright autumn leaves.

It was burning.