a Witch's Wolf

Episode 7 - Blood

Episode 7 - Blood

Morning in the woods was the best time. The gray fog that lifted off the ground evaporated as small rays of sunlight made their way through the treetops. The night birds were just finishing up as the morning birds were coming out. With hours before school and dozens of places she wanted to dig through before she got there, she smiled and hummed to herself as she turned off the path to dig up some roots nearby. Today was going to be a better day. She had dreamed about the woods and woke up feeling like it was calling her. The sounds, the scents, the soft leaves sliding under her feet. There was no place like it and no place she felt more comfortable. She was putting the wolf in the woods thing behind her. It was a rare circumstance with a bow and an arrow and a deer and she was absolutely never going to repeat such a thing. She would steer clear of that area of the woods for probably ever.

She groaned and rolled her eyes. Even here, in her favorite place, far from everyone and everything she could smell him, Noah Riley. That musky, woodsy smell wouldn’t leave her alone. She stood up, brushed off her hands and turned to head back toward the path when she saw something. Blood. It looked like blood, a splatter, a trail. She thought of the wolf in the woods. Had it followed her the whole way that night? She was certain it had stayed with the deer but maybe it followed her after that, her scent or her footprints. Could wolves see footprints? She wondered and tried not to panic.

Her heart began to race and she debated heading back home or onward to school. Either way, she needed to get back to her path and away from the blood… until she thought it might be an injured animal. She looked around and noticed broken branches, skidded prints in the mud and leaves. Shaking her hands at her sides she couldn’t decide. She was repeating exactly what had happened the other night but it was daylight and so the healer in her won out and she quietly and carefully tip-toed her way along a trail of chaos and blood.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she found. Standing at the top of a hill shaking her head, she wondered if she was imagining this. Was this her brain playing tricks on her? Was Noah Riley really lying there unconscious in her woods? n***d?!

She hurried over to him, knelt down and felt for his pulse. His skin was smooth, hard and ice cold but he had a pulse. She covered him with her sweater as much as she could, mostly his... middle... area. She had read enough books to recognize a boy’s anatomy but it was too much to be so near it… plus he was as big as a man, she didn't want to look too closely.

She dug through her bag, looking for anything that might help. She could rub some eucalyptus ointment under his nose, it's not like she had smelling salts or anything strong to wake him, but it was something, right?

She didn’t want to move him in case he had some kind of head or spinal injury. What was he doing here anyway?! Things were spilling out of her bag and falling all around her on the floor. She was starting to panic. "Get a hold of yourself Willow!" She said and took a deep breath. "Think."

She rubbed a little ointment under his nose and along his lips. The were soft and she stared at them under her finger before she shook her had and put some on a few pressure points, his forehead, behind his ears. She smoothed the hair off his face. He looked so nice, peaceful and almost sweet like this. His face was completely relaxed, his breathing was steady. She could feel his heart beating steady under her hand but why she had her hand on his chest she wouldn’t even ask.

She had to do something. Anything! She jumped up and started kicking around for her cell phone. It had to be here somewhere! There was never reception in the woods but she wanted to mark the time and wondered how long she should wait before she went to get help? She debated splashing some water on him but she didn’t even have any, all she had was a juice box and that would just be embarrassing.

Blood. She'd seen blood, that's how she'd found him. Was there any blood on him? She started looking around the ground around him, then looked him up and down. She kept getting distracted by how beautiful he really was. His skin, his muscles, his jaw, those lips. She shook herself out of that and hopped up. She needed some distance to think.

She paced back and forth, ticking things off on her fingers as she thought out loud. There was no sign anyone else was around, "no clothes, no tracks, there aren't even any footprints!" She couldn't figure out how he'd gotten here. How bad was he hurt? She wondered. She went back and forth from pacing to kneeling beside him, she had to help him but how? Should she go get help? Should she try to wake him? She certainly couldn't move him and she was starting to panic. She was the only other person around for a long way and she had to do something. She took a deep breath and started to check him for blood again. She gently felt around his head, his neck, under his shoulders, careful not to move him or lean on him too hard. She had to take another deep breath when she scanned his stomach, his waist, around his sides but she had to stop herself. She squeezed her eyes tight. "I'm not being inappropriate, I have to make sure he's not bleeding. She rolled her eyes at herself, it was ridiculous, trying to convince herself to do something she knew she had to do. He would do it for me. That thought didn't actually help at all. She skipped down to his feet and decided to work up from there. She made it to his thighs and had to stop. So far there was no blood. "No blood." she just kept repeating to herself as she lifted her sweater and took a peek. She swallowed.

"Okay!" She dropped it. "No blood." God, she was ridiculous. She ruled out any kind of career in medicine where she'd have to look and touch n***d people. Even in an emergency when that person needed you the most. At least there was no blood. Not on the outside anyway, she thought. She was really starting to worry. And then it dawned on her.

"Where did that blood come from then?" She heard herself say out loud. Ice crept up her spine and her heart stopped when she realized she might not be alone. She remembered the wolf and reached around for a rock or stick or anything she might protect him with. Him. She would protect him. She scanned the area, closed her eyes and listened. She heard the wind moving through the leaves, creatures scurrying along the branches and around the edges. Curious, she imagined they were curious about the drama playing out around her. She was certain whatever had been there was long gone and she began gathering up her fallen items and shoveling them back into her bag. She would have to go find help.