Orion laughed. "Don't you know?" he teased.
Troy lifted his eyes to the dark winter sky. His lips were pursed tightly together as he shook his head. "I can't see this."
"Well, I guess I'll hit the hay," I spoke up. I stepped away from Orion and turned to face both men. "Goodnight."
Troy bowed his head. "Goodnight."
"Have sweet dreams of me," Orion teased.
"I'm not sure I'd call that a dream," I returned.
I waved to them and slipped into my motel room. For my first order of business I made sure all the curtains were shut and the bedroom and bathroom lights were on. Then I grabbed a flashlight from my bag, plopped myself on the bed, and waited a few minutes. After the appropriate time had passed to make them think I had prepared for bed, I shut off first the bathroom light and then the bedroom light.
There was a window at the rear of the bedroom. I pried open the heavy window and peeked my head out. The wall behind the room led to a narrow alley. I eased myself out and clicked on my flashlight. The beam illuminated the snowy ground. I turned to my left and started down the alley.
I didn't think this sleepy little town was quite what it appeared, and I was going to find out why.
5
The short distance to a real road was soon covered. I stopped and looked up and down the street. The streetlights shone brightly on the newly fallen snow that lay at the bases of their posts. The area was quiet.
I glanced up the street at the hill. The discarded sleds sat as silent testament to past fun. I knew I needed to investigate the diner, but a little voice inside me told me to go up there. Try as I might, my sensible, reporter mind couldn't argue against the voice. I walked up the street to the pile of sleds and shone my flashlight on them. Most of them were the old-fashioned runners, the ones with lots of speed but no brakes.
A noise behind me caught my attention. I spun around. My flashlight beam fell on nothing but empty street. I breathed out.
"Easy there, Trixie. Just your imagination. . ." I murmured.
My imagination made another noise. Again it was behind me. I spun on my heels and slipped on the icy road. My feet flew out from under me and I landed with a hard plop onto the ground. The landing jarred my flashlight from my hand. Pain reverberated from my tail bone and up my spine. I winced and carefully stood so I could rub my bruised bottom.
"Great job. . ." I muttered. I looked around for my flashlight. That's when things got weird.
I found where it landed. There was a neat little indent in the snow in the shape of its smooth, cylindrical body. The only problem was there was no flashlight. I turned left and right, though careful this time not to slip. I only saw the footprints left by the dozens of kids and a few cat tracks.
"Damn it. . ." I hissed.
I got on my hands and knees, and scoured the area. The last thing I needed was for some kid to find it, tell their parents, who would tell the cops and then they'd trace the flashlight to an outside, namely me. Then my whole cover about going to bed would be blown, and I'd lose the story. Maybe even my life.
A light caught my attention. It was a small beam that was three feet wide and had the intensity of a full moon. I looked up the hill in the direction of the soft glow. The light crested the top and flowed over me like a warm, intangible spring. I sat up straight and stretched my neck upward. This is going to sound unbelievable, but I swore the light moved with me. It rose higher and retreated up the hill. I stood, and the light disappeared over the top.
My curiosity was piqued. I stumbled up the hill to the top. Before me was a less severe incline. The road passed through the half of the residential blocks that occupied the north side of the main street and stretched into the country.
The light was a thin band that followed the road until the way bent to my right. The paved road went east, but the light created a trail that led along a snow-covered dirt road, and that went into the trees that stretched into the hills and mountains beyond the town.
I should've gone back to my room, or at least gone for my car, but my common sense flew out the window before the bright, mysterious light. All I could focus on was following it to its conclusion. Heck, maybe this was the big break I was looking for, anyway.
I trudged up the road. The light stayed ever at a ten-foot distance in front of me. The houses on either side of me were lit, but their lights held no allure for me. There was only me and the white beam that led me onward.
I don't know how long I walked. Maybe it was a couple of minutes, or maybe a couple of hours. Nobody disturbed my solitary march, and I reached the end of the paved road. Here I hesitated. The dirt road was plowed and led into the tall, dark forest. The road, and the light, entered the forest disappeared around a bend a few miles into the trees.
I glanced over my shoulder. The lights from the town twinkled back. I could just make out the west wall of the motel. I'd probably gone five miles without noticing. It was a long trudge, but a shorter way back downhill. All I had to do was turn around and change my fate.
Fate, however, had other plans.
The light from the beam strengthened. I looked back at it and blinked against the dazzling light. The brilliance lasted only for a moment and then died down, but I was hooked. I stepped onto the dirt road and hurried up the slope. It was the same tune. The light retreated, and I advanced.
I entered the thick trees. The shadows of their long, skeletal arms stretched out as though to grab me, but the light held the darkness at bay. I wrapped my coat closer to me as the chill of the winter night began to sink into my bones. My feet were cold and wet, but still I continued onward like a woman possessed. I wasn't far off on that guess.
The walk through the woods last for two miles before I rounded the bend. The trees broke open to create a large, sloped meadow some fifty yards square. The trees formed pockets that were scattered here and there, and the road wound between them until it ended in a loop at the bottom of a small hill of earth at the rear of the meadow. A path of stones climbed the small, round hill and stopped at the flat top. There also wasn't a speck of snow on the hill. On the top stood a large, magnificent apple tree.
Normally in the winter I wouldn't know an apple from a peach tree, but this one was evidently special. The leaves were not only all there and green as gourds, but the limbs were loaded with red, shiny apples. Their round, full bodies invited man and beast to taste their sweet juice.
The size of the apple tree was also extraordinary. The ancient plant rose up some fifty feet into the sky and its branches on either side shaped itself into a giant mushroom.
The light I followed stretched back into the tree and disappeared into the leaves. All except one spot. A soft glow emanated from one of the apples on a lower branch. The light pulsed with life and surrounded the tempting red fruit. Its smooth, clean skin shimmered in the unnatural glow.
My eyes were stuck on the apple. I stumbled up the slope and stone steps to the top. The apple hung five yards to my left. I stepped over the many thick roots of the tree and stopped below the apple. The fruit hung low on its branch, but when I stood on my tiptoes I couldn't quite brush the tips of my fingers against its pristine bottom. I tried a small hop. The high jump wasn't my specialty, but my fingers touched one corner of the bottom.
The stem of the apple broke from its branch. I caught the apple in my cupped hands and looked down at my prize. Its shiny surface begged me to take a bite, but the skin was blemished. A tiny drop of water fell onto its smooth surface and slipped over the side onto my hands. The water was warm.
I looked up. A tiny drop of water glistened where the apple stem had connected to the apple. The droplet quivered and stretched downward. A sensation of sadness swept over me.
The second drop fell into my hand and forced me to look down again. The apple tempted me. This time no amount of water would lead me away from my purpose in coming to this strange place. I raised it to my lips and opened my mouth.
"Stop!" a voice shouted.
&n
bsp; I whipped my head up and saw Orion rush towards me from a clump of trees on my right. He covered the ground like a rabbit and raced up the hill to where I stood. Orion snatched the apple from me and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me towards the path.
"We have to get you out of here," he insisted.
His strength was great enough that I couldn't stop him from pulling me down the path, but my mouth still worked.
"What the hell are you doing? Left go of me!" I demanded.
"No time! Just run!" he persisted.
We made it five yards down the dirt road when a shadow stepped from a clump of bushes and stepped into our path. The darkness didn't let me get a clear view of him, but it was a large man with glowing dark eyes. He wore a heavy brown fur coat that covered him from his neck to the tops of his thick black shoes. The man held up his palm towards us. Orion skidded to a stop.
The man took a step towards us. "What do you think you're doing, Orion?" the stranger asked my companion.
Orion pulled us back a step and pressed his lips together. "Damn it. . ." I heard him mutter under his breath.
The man stretched out his hand towards me. "You know the rules. Anyone who has tasted an apple must come with me," the man reminded him.
Orion held up the apple. "She hasn't tasted the apple, and she's not from here. That means she can go free."
The man's glowing eyes flickered to me for a moment before they returned to Orion. "No, that means the mayor and Librarian need to be consulted. They're at city hall right now for the meeting."
"Come on, Armel. Just this once let one through," Orion pleaded.
The man dropped his arm and took another step towards us. His eyes narrowed. "Don't make me use force. You know you won't win, and the woman might get hurt."
Orion turned to me and pursed his lips. He let out a great sigh and his shoulders sagged. "We need to go with him," he told me.
I wrenched myself from his distracted grasp and glared at both men. "I'm not going anywhere until somebody tells me what's going on." I half-turned towards the hill and waved my hand at the tree. "What the hell is that thing? How come there's no snow on it? How's its leaves still on in the middle of winter?"
Armel stalked towards me, but Orion stepped in front of him. He looked at the great sentinel and shook his head. "Let me handle this."
Armel pursed his lips, but nodded. "Sure, but hurry. I don't know when the meeting's breaking up."
Orion returned his attention to me. He stretched out his hands and took a step towards me. "I'll explain everything later, but right now you need to trust me."
I snorted. "I don't even know you."
He stopped and smiled. "You know I love dogs and am looking for an assistant."
My eyes narrowed and I took a step away from him. "I don't think I'd be right for the job. Too many trust issues."
Orion sighed and pulled out a vial from inside his coat. The white, mist-like contents were sealed by a cork. "Sorry about this, but I did try to get you to come."
He popped the cork and jumped at me. I twisted around to run away, but his arm wrapped around my waist. He pinned me against his chest and stuffed the mouth of the vial into my nostrils. I squirmed in his arms, but accidentally took a deep breath of the pungent-odored mist.
I was out in a flash.
6
I don't know how long I was out, but the awakening wasn't much fun. My body ached like I'd been through a no-rules schoolyard brawl and I had a headache that threatened to split my skull. I creaked open my eyes and found I lay on my right side a blue leather couch. Spread out in front of me was a large square room. The lights were out, but some windows beyond my sight to my right allowed some natural light into the room. A desk sat to my right and a door was set into the wall at my left. A couple of bookshelves sat against the wall opposite me.
Seated in a wooden chair close beside me was Orion. His legs were crossed and his eyes were on me. I started back and my eyes widened when I noticed his eyes were a bright yellow. Orion closed his eyes, and when he opened them they no longer glowed.
"Good evening, Sleeping Beauty," he teased.
I sat up, but a little too quickly. My aching head swam and I swayed from side-to-side. I clutched onto the side of my head and winced.
"What truck hit me?" I mumbled.
"A small dose of wolf's bane," he told me.
I looked up and furrowed my brow. "Wolf's bane? As in the werewolf stuff?"
"The one and the same," he replied.
That's all I needed to hear. "I gotta get out of here," I insisted as I swung my legs over the side of the couch. I clutched my head with both hands as the room spun in circles.
Orion leaned towards me and grasped my shoulders. "Don't move too quickly."
"So I noticed," I quipped. I looked into his concerned face and searched it for signs of insanity. There were no evident signs, but maybe I was the one going insane. "What the hell's going on here? Where is here?"
Orion released me and leaned back against his chair. His eyes brushed over the room. "Here is the mayor's office in the city hall. To get to the next question you want to know, it's all because of that." He nodded at something to my right.
I followed his gaze to the thick wooden desk. Atop the desk on the corner closest to us was the apple I picked. I don't know how I was sure it was mine, but something inside me told me it definitely belonged to me.
I pursed my lips and my eyes flickered back to Orion. "That doesn't make any sense to-" A noise from the door interrupted me. It sounded like someone opened another door and let out a thousand angry voices.
Orion turned his head towards the entrance and frowned. "They're coming."
I raised an eyebrow. "Who's coming?"
Orion stood a split second before the door opened. Three people walked into the room. The first was a woman of fifty. She was tall and wore a professional blue skirt and white blouse. Her heels clacked against the wood floor and her alert eyes took in the room in a second.
Behind her came two men. The one immediately behind her was of an age so ancient he could only be described as geriatric. The announcement of his birth must've been written using cuneiform. Spectacles graced the lower part of his nose and his wispy white hair was combed back over his skeletal skull. He wore a brown tweed suit as aged as himself with dark patches on the elbows and knees.
The last in the parade was Armel. He shut the door behind their little group.
The men lined up shoulder to shoulder and the woman stepped in front of them. She crossed her arms over her chest and her hard eyes flickered between me and Orion.
"We have to make this quick. The meeting isn't going so well," she commented. She gestured to me. "I presume she's the one."
"Yes, but she doesn't know anything," Orion insisted.
"That's for the Librarian and me to decide," she argued. She half-turned to the old man. "What do the Books say on this one? Should she remain?"
The old man shuffled past her and stopped a foot in front of me. His weary old eyes studied my face until I leaned back and glared at him. I raised my palm towards him to put a barrier between us.
"Stop treating me like I'm some sort of specimen," I snapped.
The man had bushy eyebrows above his eyes that slowly raised. A smile curled onto his wrinkled lips, and he chuckled. "She would make a very wise addition to the community."
"Are you sure?" the woman asked him.
I jumped to my feet and balled my hands into my fists at my sides. "I'm not joining any community until you tell me what's going on."
The old man took a step back and chuckled. "A very wise addition."
"Then she stays. We'll do her initiation at the end of the meeting," the woman commanded as the old man shuffled away from me. She turned to Orion while the men made for the door. "In the meantime, keep her here. I'll have Armel come back for you."
"I'll try," Orion promised.
The woman and her strange entourage turned to leave. I stepped fo
rward and grabbed her sleeve. "Wait a sec! You can't keep me-" The woman spun around and grabbed my wrist. Her strong hold tightened around muscles and veins until I felt the blood cut off. I cried out and clawed at her hand, but my efforts didn't even leave a fingernail scratch on her skin.
Her cold dark eyes looked into mine and I saw a gleam of orange in their depths. "Never touch me again."
The woman shoved me backwards and I stumbled until Orion caught me. I cradled my limp wrist in my other hand as the three people left. Orion stood me on my feet and slipped in front of me.
"Let me look at it," he pleaded. He took my wrist in his gentle hold and pressed a thumb against the muscles, bones, and veins. He sighed. "Nothing's broken."
I wrenched my hand from his hold and glared at him. "What the hell is going on?"
Orion's eyes studied my face for a moment before he averted his gaze and he sighed. "Would you believe me if I told you I'm a werewolf?"
My mouth dropped open and I blinked at him. "You're a. . .a what?"
A small smile slipped onto his lips. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't think this was going to be easy."
I took a step towards him. "Listen, whatever you think you are, you have to help get out of here. I don't know who those people were-"
"The woman is the mayor of the town, the man was the Librarian, and Armel is the Sentinel charged to protect the Tree," he told me.
"And they'll all look great behind bars when the cops find out they're holding me captive," I quipped.
He shook his head. "The cops aren't going to do anything."
I frowned. "So they're in on it, too?"
Orion's tired face cracked a smile and he chuckled. "I'm afraid the whole town is in on the conspiracy."
I narrowed my eyes and studied him. "And you're with them?"
He leaned his shoulder against the wall between me and the door and folded his arms over his chest. "Let's just say I don't like the way things are going, but trying to stop things would be like trying to swim upstream in a flood."
"But you can help me?" I questioned him.
"That would depend on what you're asking," he returned.
I gestured to the windows behind the desk and the door behind him. "Any way you can get me to my car so I can get out of here?"