Page 4 of Whisper Woods
“Ah.” It may be shitty of me, but it makes me feel better to hear the heavy regret in his voice with the single word as he deftly puts himself back together. He takes a step back and I feel the distance, it’s visceral. And then he takes another.
I take a step forward, reaching out to grab him again, but realise the futility almost instantly and let my hand drop from the air. He watches the movement, tracking everything about me, his hands now shoved in his pockets.
Is it dumb to hope that he’s trying to hold himself back too? Probably, but I’ve never been known as the smart one.
She’s far too close. I scan the trees again, trying to catch a glimpse of my sister's bobbing blonde ponytail, but all I can hear is her cursing up a storm between the trees. From the corner of my eye I catch the pink tendrils of dawn seeping into the dark of the sky.
Fuck, it really is late. Or early.
By the time I turn back he has made his way to the treeline he’d magically appeared from. I run to him this time, seizing his elbow just in time to pull him back against me, chest to chest.
“I need to go.”
Is that all he can say? For fuck’s sake. He pulls against my grip on his elbow, but only half heartedly. There isn’t a shred of doubt in me that he could remove himself from my grasp as easily as swatting a bug. Instead, I pull him closer, dropping my forehead to his.
“At least tell me your name. Where can I find you?” My whisper is harsh, but his look is sympathetic. I hate it. With everything I have in me, I hate it when his hand strokes my cheek and he places a soft kiss to my lips and steps back.
“My name…” He looks conflicted, looking off to the trees where I can now see the telltale blonde shining in the light of the rising sun. She’s too close.
He squeezes his hands together and takes another step back, almost completely swallowed by the shadows now.
“Rafe… My name is Rafe. Perhaps I’ll see you again, Seff. Gods and the Woods willing, it will be soon. Goodbye.”
“Wait!” The words tear from me just as Breanna crashes through the last of the ferns. Instinctively I turn to her, snarling with the wolf this time, furious at her intrusion. She couldn’t have waited ten more minutes? Ignoring Breanna’s horrified look, I spin back to where he was, but instead there are only trees. Trees and ferns and darkness giving way to light.
He’s gone.
Rafe.
“Fuck!” My yell is loud enough to elicit an indignant squawk from a nearby nesting phoenix. My face fills my palms, and I push at my eyes, rubbing until the colours burst.
“What is your problem?” Breanna’s indignant and offended, and also kind of hurt, question draws me back from the edge of the tantrum brewing in me.
I inhale sharply through my nose, jamming my hand through my hair, trying to figure out how to explain to my baby sister what just happened. With no answer, I face her, one hand still in my hair—a pale imitation of the way he held me—the other hand on my hip. I try to shrug, but rather than casual, it comes off awkward.
“Nothing Bree, I just…” there is no way to explain this one. “Nothing. Just thought I saw something.” She doesn’t believe me, but she does the sisterly thing and ignores my weirdness. Instead, she pulls the black backpack off her shoulders and throws it to me. I catch it easily, but hold it, making no more moves, my brain not at all caught up with the complete and total redirect.
“Here’s your clothes. Mum said if you want to get a ride back into town, you need to hurry up. She has a bottomless brunch with her friends she doesn’t want to be late for.” She turns to leave me to get dressed in privacy, I guess, but stops suddenly. Turning back to me, her pretty face scrunched in concern. “You good, big bro? Why are you out here anyway?”
This time the shrug is easier. The casual smile too, my mask sliding back into place. I grip the bag tighter, nodding genuinely.
“Yeah, all good. Just needed to run. All that full moon energy and that.”
One eyebrow arches as she looks me over, well to my chest anyway, lips pursed. Thankfully she doesn’t ask any more questions I really don’t wanna answer. Especially about the strange scent in the air or the bruises on my neck.
“Okay. Whatever. Get dressed. It’s time to head on out.” I thank her again and unzip the bag to find my clean clothes and shoes and my navy baseball cap.
I’m dressed too quickly and I find myself standing there, staring at the gap in the trees where he’d disappeared. It’s like it never happened.
Did I dream it?
Gingerly, I touch my fingertips to the tender patch of skin on my neck where he marked me.Rafemarked me. The aching bruise is the only proof, the only reminder, and so I poke and prod the spot while I stare, willing him to return.
But he doesn’t. Instead, it’s Breanna again, poking her head between thetrees.
“You ready to go yet? Mum’s gonna be pissed.”
I look from my sister, to the empty space again, the aching pit in my stomach making my fingers tingle.
