Fairytale - A Blue Lake Falls Novel

Chapter Nine

Stepping outside into the late afternoon sunshine she went over to the shed. As she was opening the doors, her eyes landed on the trap she had dragged back on her first trip into the forest. She had made sure to bring rope and thick gloves on her first return trip to where she had found the creature, or Roman. Upon her return to the forest she had approached the trap secretly wishing whoever had placed it there, would have also returned to retrieve it but she was out of luck. Now it sat in her shed under ‘camouflage’. Taking the large leafed branches off it that she had placed on top, she looped one end of the rope through the closed semi-circle halves carefully making sure to not touch it even though she was wearing her garden gloves. Mabel pulled the heavy shiny object out of her shed to make some space for the new firewood and to get a better look at it. She had never seen such a trap before and she had seen her fair share when she trailed the forests with her Grandparents. This one had the same type of locking pin she remembered from smaller traps but obviously it was larger. In fact the whole trap was larger with each piece being made of what she assumed was solid silver, apart from the teeth which now that it was in the sun glowed a deep black purple and had lightening lines of silver running through them. They were filed to a point making each triangle a single deadly weapon. Looking upwards she stood and took a large leaf from the tree that resided inside her fence and tested just how sharp. It spilt upon contact, tearing the leaf neatly into two pieces.

“This thing is beyond lethal. How the hell did he survive?” she whispered to the air. Turning away from the trap she walked around her garden picking up any fallen sticks that had come from the trees above and decided to have a frank discussion with herself.

“I have a massive, ginormous, sodding wolf-man-creature-Roman-thing in my bedroom. It is real. This is real. Ok. Right.” Mabel covered her face with her gloved hands, “Keep it together Mabel, just long enough until he leaves. This is happening. It’s real. Grandpa made you ready, you know they were out there, more or less so come on! We have a plan. So yes, Right!”.

After her refreshing self-pepping pep talk she was ready to face him once more, even though she could feel her insides shaking the entire time she was in his presence. She couldn’t fathom just how he had managed to survive long enough to be found. Heaven forbid he was actually found by the person who had planted this device in the first place. Mabel arrived back in front of the shed and shook her head at the trap taking up space on the floor, she decided it was time for Roman to venture out and take a look at it for himself. She grabbed hold of the rope that was still looped through one side and pulled it out further into the garden ready, thus making enough space for all the broken pieces of furniture from her bedroom. At least I will have firewood, she thought with a wry smile, she had to find a silver lining otherwise she knew she would just sit and cry.

Watching from afar Mabel could see Roman attempt to open the bottle of water she had given him. In hindsight she should have given it to him in a large jug or pitcher, she would make a note of doing this next time for him. Her body betraying her inner emotions took over and a light feminine giggle escaped her mouth as she continued to watch him causing not only for Roman to snap his head up to locate its source but also for her to stand there in shock. She had found him funny. Mabel had felt the laughter bubbling inside her, underneath the surface until it decided to push itself free. She just stood there staring into his large wolf eyes with a light smile on her face and a peach blush spreading over her cheeks.

He had seen her blush. Mabel internally shook her head at her teenage ways. “How embarrassing” she muttered to herself as she made her way back up towards the open window of her bedroom with her head down. Her plan was to collect the pieces that he could pass out through the window and throw them over the bannister in front of the shed for firewood. Even though he said he would replace everything he had broken she was still hesitant to accept it.

“I’m ready when you are” called Mabel, when she had approached the window. She truly felt like Little Red Riding Hood looking into Grandma’s house.

“Of course. Be careful, these are very sharp” Roman advised.

They got to work quietly with Roman passing out all the pieces of wood within his reach out through the window. Mabel decided to keep on her gardening gloves to save her hands from gaining any more splinters or calluses. They worked silently together for little over an hour, Roman passing wood out of the window and Mabel throwing it over to the shed. Once Roman had cleared the whole room of all the broken pieces, he sat quietly on top of the mattress which now rested flat on the floor. He wasn’t quite sure on what to do next so decided to wait patiently for Mabel to return to him. He noticed that now the wood was all gone he really did take up almost the entire room if he stretched out to his full size. He also noticed surprisingly that his wounds had stopped bleeding and that they weren’t as painful or constricting as he assumed they would be. Mabel came up to the window calling out to Roman, snapping him back to planet earth, “Roman, if you feel ready of course. I would like to show you something. Here, outside if you up to it?” she asked, pointing to something laying in the garden behind her.

“I do. I’ll be out in a moment” he replied, “Urm, Mabel?”

“Yes?” she answered, feeling his deep voice roll over her.

“Once I’m outside please do not be frightened. My full size is quite...err...daunting but I assure you I mean you no harm” he said sounding like a Victorian i***t. 

“We’ve made it this far, haven’t we?! I’ll do my best to try and keep my girlish screams under control” she said, her voice full of laughter and sass.

Roman wanted her, badly. He enjoyed a woman who he could exchange quips with and who felt she could throw back a good retort or two, shame Mac didn’t. Fool! Roman thought to himself as he pried his sorry ass off the floor mattress carefully, ready to make his way outside.

As Roman made his way through her cabin at an injured snail’s pace, being mindful of all her delicate belongings and the furniture. He kept one eye on the gun as he passed through the hallway. He wanted to inspect it closer, although not right now he decided but soon. He made his way down the hallway passing 2 doors, one shut and one open revealing a large updated bathroom. He paused his movements and gripped the door frame suddenly as his eyes roamed the inside of the room. “The bathroom!” he breathed out in a rush, his eyes landing on the roll top bath with envy. ‘Dear Goddess…’, he silently prayed as he continued carefully down the hallway, through to what was the living and dining area at the front of the cabin, ‘…..please let Mac sleep a while. I need this’. Her living area was simple and homely, he thought. Hand knitted throws in an array of colours adorned the furniture, a heavy wine coloured draped curtain had been pulled back away from the front door letting the light flow through. Scatter cushions seemed to spawn out of thin air wherever his eyes stopped to look, pictures hung on every wall showing off cherished memories along with crystals of all shapes, sizes and colours on every flat surface. He could feel their vibrations softly floating through the air, filling him with a healing warmth. Yes, he decided, I like it here.

He looked to his left at the little rectangular kitchen and saw what he hoped was the back door which led out into the garden. Mabel had left it open only slightly, but enough for him to slide a claw into the space and open it fully. Wolf hands and doorknobs don’t mix.

Taking a careful deep breath, Roman slid his right foot outside into the pale rays of sunshine that broke through the clouded sky. Feeling the warmth on his fur, he ducked his head under the doorframe and stepped outside onto the wooden deck. He stayed hunched over so as to not bang his head on the roof that hung over the back of the cabin, keeping whoever used the outdoor furniture area dry. He stepped cautiously down over the small steps onto the fresh, dewy grass, being careful to not over extend his body until he knew he wouldn’t destroy more of Mabel’s beautiful home. Finally, when he was clear of anything solid he turned towards the sun and lifted his large head to gaze at his surroundings. To say he was stunned would be an understatement. He knew he was in the forests south of the border with Canada but he felt he was much further away. The land he stood on was nestled between that of a forest mountain ridge and a slow flowing tree covered valley, for miles all he could see was deep bottle green tree tops. A light cough sounded somewhere behind him pulling him back to the here and now.

She felt his presence more than saw him when he exited the house. She wasn’t certain how or why she was feeling his movements in her garden but it was as if there were little pins and needles under her skin. She hadn’t noticed it before but she felt it now. Mabel turned slowly and drew in a sharp cold breath burning her windpipe in the process.

‘Christ alive, he is huge!’, was all that ran through her mind as she watched him silently survey his new surroundings, her home. She knew he was large and extremely dominating but she had underestimated the impact he had on her both mentally from fixing him but physically as well. Mabel’s eyes travelled the full length of him as he faced away from her. She took in his fur covered body from his very large feet to his thick tree trunk legs, solid muscle built back and finally up to his ear points. Standing little over 8ft tall she thought, she really couldn’t believe she had been able to drag him back here and that he had of course survived. Whilst she stood there mulling over the recent events, a sad solemn look passed over her face. Mabel realised it was the most action she had encountered in her small town life for a long time. She saw people here and there along with the customers who dropped their motorcycles off at her garage but she didn’t allow herself to linger and converse with them. She knew she kept herself closed off from others, one reason the speed dating event was an outright disaster she knew. She found it hard to trust, to open up and to just generally be herself around those who she saw as brand new people. It wasn’t something she reflected on often as the overwhelming feeling of loneliness tended to set in and quickly like a heavy stone in a slow river. 

This week had brought a warmth to her life, it went right through into her core underneath her heart. He had made her feel, what, she wasn’t completely sure of but she had felt. Something she wasn’t sure she could do or wanted to do, not since ‘him’. Pushing back the remnants of what once was meant to be a beautiful future but was now just ash in the bottom of a blackened fire pit she pulled herself together. That little box of dynamite did not need to open now she decided, with a firm resolution to keep looking away from the shadows. Making a light cough behind Roman to attract his attention, she watched him slowly turn towards her with his head pointed down to the floor. Her eyes traced his profile whilst he seemed distracted and she had finally noticed that he hadn’t yet looked straight at her or turned his head to the right. She knew if he did so, he would reveal the large spider legged scars that ran over his skull and down to the nape of his neck but she of course had already seen these and knew whatever had made them just showed that Roman was not a creature who was taken down easily. But she could clearly see he was still affected by them or perhaps it was the appearance of them that made him try to hide that side of him. This was something Roman had to overcome and conquer by himself, some scars whether they are internal or out there for the world to see can never be truly healed. Mabel knew this, so made sure to show Roman that they didn’t matter, not to her.

‘Surely this would help him actually look at me?’ she thought. Sucking in a breath of courage she moved out of the way of the trap that was positioned behind her so Roman could get a closer look, moving some of the branches out of the way at the same time. Whilst Mabel was busy, Romans eyes finally lifted high enough to land on the trap that was behind Mabel. As soon as he saw it he knew precisely what it was, who made it and the exact amount of s**t he and his kind were in. He flicked his gaze back to up Mabel as she moved the last branch away to the side, giving him more room to approach the thing. He didn’t want to be anywhere near it, let alone have Mabel involved in his business. She had selflessly risked her life for him and even though she didn’t know what she had done by saving him and bringing this death machine back to her beautiful home, Roman could at least do the honour of healing and taking his problems very, very far away.

“When I found you in the forest, this was what you had fallen on. It is a trap but not one I have ever seen before.” Mabel said pointing to it, “I had hoped whoever had left it there would have returned to take it away again but they hadn’t. I didn’t want to leave it out there in case it caught something else so I dragged it back”.

She moved around to stand on Romans left but not too close to make him uncomfortable, as this was the side he usually tried to hide from her. She observed him silently through the fallen strands of hair that had escaped the ponytail. He stood strong, unmoving with a very strong foreboding energy around him. If she hadn’t already seen a softer side to him and hadn’t of course pierced his skin many times without him moving or attacking her then she would have fainted. As it stood, Mabel was surprised to find she wasn’t affected as much as she thought she would be when faced with looking down on her. She could feel his aura pulsing and mixing with her own and she was ashamed to admit, she liked it.

‘Maybe we could actually come out of this as friends?’ said a little tiny voice at the back of her mind. A voice she didn’t shut down.

Roman stood unblinking at what almost took him down, ‘Almost! Son of a b***h almost got me’ he thought with a wry smile, and yet here he was, all thanks to Mabel. He had two ways to play this situation before him. He could either spin some fairy tale about his kind and how he shall remain here another day and then leave with this metal monstrosity or he could be honest, be vulnerable and perhaps take a step towards a friendship and healing over his dark past. With a long breath to silence his own conscience as he didn’t have Mac to bounce this idea off he chose to be selfish. He wanted a friend, one that saw him for himself in this form. One that didn’t scream or faint at the first sight of him, so he chose the latter option. He just hoped he didn’t live to regret it, but upon turning to find Mabel looking up at him smiling gently he knew in his heart it was the right decision. Whether Mac agreed when he decided to return was a problem for another day. Swallowing hard he started walking his own path away from being Mac’s dark side.

“Mabel, what I am about to tell you will change your life. There is another world out there and this” Roman said turning towards the trap, “This is something dark, twisted and not of your world. Is this a path you want to walk down?”

The small breeze flowing around them whipped up the fallen leaves from the trees and blow them over the garden. The fading autumn sun casted a rose gold glow over them as they stood side by side, elongating their shadows making them appear as one. Roman noticed how even though he towered over her, her shadow remained strong and prominent. He knew she could handle it but he needed to hear the words. Mabel knew he was starting to react to her smiles, she had wanted him to. When she was a little girl, her grandparents would tell her bedtime tales of the dark monsters who lurked in the shadows and how the Goddesses and Gods had blessed mortals with magic to change into beasts of the world to protect the humans. Her dreams were filled with great heroes saving people in their spirit animal forms and celebrations in their honour, something she wished she could be a part of but alas she always woke up. As she grew up with her Grandma, she had encouraged her to learn her ways of using the seasons, the occult and how herbal medicines can heal. Her Grandpa on the other hand had taught her how to handle herself through self defense, how to shoot straight and of ‘spirit animals’ when she was in her teens. They weren’t strict lessons but more comments and stories in passing but she was remembering more and more now as she felt herself walk into the light. 

“Tell me Roman. Tell me everything” she said.