Red Lips Always Lie

Warmth

Kneffi held her breath carefully listening to the sounds of the forest. She heard the rustling of the leaves, the groans of the trees and even the little scratches from insects living in the foliage. Some animal nearby was chirping quietly and another answered, then came another crack. The chirping silenced as did the rest of the forest, she could hear her own heart beating in her ears. A deep throbbing sound that seems to drown out other noises, frightening her even more. 

Crack

Kneffi jumped holding back a yelp as the sound pulled her from a dazed state. Following the direction of the noise she silently snuck through the maze of trees watching every step she took. As she neared the area she woke up in she could hear rustling and more small crackling. An orange glow started to blanket the trees around her and she had to hide in the flickering shadows. Creeping closer she peeked around a tree trunk seeing a fire, it was smaller than the ones at home and seemed to give off far less heat, but any warmth was welcome. Making sure to stay hidden, Kneffi got as close to the fire as she could soaking up the golden glow. 

Kneffi’s head snapped to the right as she heard a metallic buzzing sound, she watched as a silver contraption slid down metallic teeth and two men emerged from a red and grey shelter. She pushed herself further into the shadows internally whining as it got cooler in the dark. She listened to them mumble to each other and laugh while moving towards the fire. Jealousy flowed through Kneffi’s veins as they soaked up the warmth of the flames that she craved. 

It felt like hours had passed before the two men went back into their tent and left the now smouldering fire. Kneffi’s legs ached from being crouched for so long and being unable to move in fear of making a sound. It took her a minute to balance as she stood and slowly walked away from the campsite. 

About 50 meters away Kneffi found the spot where she had woken up, kneeling to the ground she quietly sifted through the leaves and moss. Her hand felt something hard and jagged, she quickly grabbed it and celebrated as she pulled her hand towards her face. In her palm sat a purple and red gem with black specks scattered throughout, it was wrapped in silver and gold wire and attached to a golden chain. The clasp was bent out of shape explaining why she had lost it. 

She swore under her breath, trying to bend her clasp back into shape, “Sh*t!” Her finger slipped leaving her frustrated. She placed it in her mouth and bit the metal tongue on the clasp and twisted her hand reshaping the metal. A small surge of happiness coursed through her from the small victory but disappeared when she felt the first drop. 

“Rain, seriously?” She mumbled trying not to yell in frustration. She was already cold, now the world wanted her to be wet? This mission was really testing her patience already, and she had no one to let out her frustration on. 

The rain felt odd, it felt like little pokes on her skin that tickled as it rolled down leaving shiny trails in its wake. Kneffi forgot her annoyance and became fascinated watching the droplets shine in the air and then hearing them hit the leaves and drop to the forest floor. She tipped her head up and opened her mouth tasting the fresh water, it felt clean sliding down her throat. She couldn’t understand why her brothers and sisters complained every time they got sent up top, it was spectacular. 

Her amazement wore off quickly though when that tight feeling on her chest returned, looking down she cupped her breasts and shivered from the cold. Fire, she thought. She needed to get to the fire. Turning around she followed the familiar scent of smoke and quietly snuck up to the fire. Getting close she could already feel warmth, it started on her chest and radiated outwards. She found a pile of wood and put it on the glowing coals watching it fight the rain and slowly catch fire. She was so focussed on the calming sound of crackling flames and warmth that she didn’t hear the zipper opening behind her. 

A man sleepily stepped out of the tent and closed the door, his eyes half closed. He sauntered over to the right and relieved himself beside the tent silently yawning. Turning around he saw a shape huddled in front of the fire and froze. Suddenly he was wide awake and his heart was hammering in his chest. He couldn’t move, his body was frozen in fear and rain dripped from his hair into his eyes. 

The figure in front of him seemed to move and he swore he saw a hand through his blurry vision. Wiping away the rain water from his eyes there was no mistaking it, a hand reached towards the flames and appeared to play with them. He watched in fascination as the flames twisted and swirled into shapes before him, they danced with each other in a hypnotic show of oranges, reds and blues. He rubbed his eyes again, harder this time hoping they were just playing tricks on him. When he opened them again the flames were still dancing, and the figure was still in front of the fire.

“Man, I really need to lay off the weed in the forest,” He mumble to what he thought was just himself. 

The figure jumped and turned around, she was nude and looked terrified as she vanished into the trees. She disappeared into the shadows, but didn’t run far. Her curiosity got the best of her and she sat close to the trunk of a huge tree and watched. The man looked confused and scared, but he also looked curious. 

As Kneffi sat in the shadows she realized that she was still warm, looking down her amulet was glowing against her chest and felt warm to the touch. She felt just as confused as the man by the fire looked, why was the gem glowing? It had been a gift from her father, he had said it would be useful one day. When she asked what he meant he wouldn’t answer her, just waved his hands in dismissal. 

“Thanks a lot father, so helpful,” she mumbled under her breath. 

The man remained by the fire looking around, Kneffi guessed, trying to find her. He slowly approached the flames and stared closely at them only to realize they were back to normal. He began slowly circling the camp coming closer and closer to Kneffi’s hiding spot. The closer he got, the warmer she got until he was right in front of her. 

Kneffi placed her hand over the scalding gem trying to dull the glow, she could smell her flesh starting to burn. Closing her eyes she prayed the man would walk away, her hand was on fire and tears started to well in her eyes. She bit her bottom lip trying to hold in a cry of pain as the gem continued to burn through her hand. 

Suddenly the pain in her hand was gone, but there was a new one on her wrist where the man’s hand grasped her. Kneffi’s nude body scraped over sticks and rocks as she was pulled out of her hiding spot into the open. She gasped and was rolled onto her back, her eyes travelled up the mans long legs, his torso, and then to his face. 

His face was stoic, he gave no indication as to what was going through his mind. His hand continued to grip Kneffi’s wrist as his dark green eyes roamed up and down her body until they settled on her face. She felt his stare pierce into her causing a flutter in her chest right below her still burning necklace. 

He didn’t break eye contact or lessen the grip in her wrist when he asked, “What are you?”