Familiar Ties

Chapter 1-1

CHAPTER 1

Don’t look back, keep running. The mantra repeated in Jesse’s mind as her bare feet tore across the stone walkway. Her brilliant white gown billowed around her while the crystal droppers in her honey-coloured hair shone like the morning dew in the sunlight. It was a beautiful day for a wedding, just so long as it wasn’t hers.

She didn’t think she would have had the chance to run. Her father had ensured she was barefoot, and the bone hoops embedded in the three tier petticoat sewn into her dress should have prevented her from escaping through the narrow window. But he had underestimated her resolve.

She half-skipped in pain, the soles of her feet already shredded from the rough, slightly damp stones of the path.

‘How much further?’ A sigh of relief escaped her lips as her bare soles connected with the smooth cobblestones of the elegant driveway, leaving faint prints of blood in her wake. She remembered this path, the way the horse-drawn carriage had vibrated on them as her father had warned her not to embarrass him any further than she already had.

The distant gatehouse beckoned. If she could just clear the driveway, she’d be free. She could lose them in the forest. A desperate breath wheezed in her chest, lungs burning from the effort. She wasn’t used to such exertion, until today she had been all but a prisoner, locked in her room and visited only when her father’s temper reigned.

She was a disappointment to him, a reminder of the woman he married, the woman he had killed with his own bare hands while her four-year-old self had stood and watched. She could never push that memory from her mind. She could still see the hatred in his eyes as he crushed the life from her while she struggled futilely. She’d never had a chance. But Jesse had one now, if she could just reach the forest.

‘No, this way,’ warned the tickle in her mind—her mother’s madness, as her father called it. She looked for the reddish-tan coat of her caracal, Levi. His black tufted ears twitched, listening for any unseen threats. They were both aware that her absence been noticed and of the echoing sound of the heavy footsteps in pursuit. ‘Quickly.’ There was a desperation to the thought, Levi needed her to escape as much as she did. He had been by her side for as long as she could remember, and he knew what she had endured.

Altering her path, she cried out as her slick feet slipped upon the cobblestones. Her hip screamed in agony as she landed hard, but she couldn’t delay. Fighting with her billowing dress, she clawed herself to her feet, hurrying towards Levi. His spirit form was sitting in a large tree now, one whose thick boughs extended beyond the perimeter wall.

Bark embedded itself deep into her raw and bleeding feet as she scrambled up, her arms burning, chest heaving. She tugged at her dress, a slight feeling of satisfaction spurring her on as she heard the silken garment tear as she snatched it from the clutches of a broken branch.

A transparent arm reached down to her from above, extending through the bark of the tree as she struggled, while Levi warned that her pursuers were closing in.

‘Take my hand.’ Grasping for the spirit’s hand, she watched in awe as her hand, along with the long lace sleeve of her gown, became invisible against the bark of the tree, its effect spreading down her limb, but not quickly enough.

“No, you don’t,” growled a deep voice as a thick arm encircled her waist, ripping her from the tree. She clutched on to the dryad’s hand, kicking against the figure who dragged her back as her fingers were snatched away from salvation. Her chest heaved, the dark motes before her gaze growing until she felt her struggle cease as the world around her faded into darkness. Who was she kidding? She would never be free, and he was never coming back.