Chapter 5 – Into the Woods.
637 Words
(The mist was thicker tonight, curling low over the ground like it was hiding secrets. Belle stood across the street from the Moonlight Diner, watching Lucian step into the shadows beyond the last lamppost.)
Marcie (on phone, speaker crackling) “Tell me you’re not about to do something stupid.”
Belle: “Define stupid.”
Marcie: “Following a dangerous, ridiculously hot stranger into a creepy forest at night.”
Belle: “Then… yes.”
Marcie: “Belle”
Belle ended the call before she could start second-guessing herself. The whole point of this was to win. The dare was simply “seduce the mysterious stranger”. Problem was, Lucian Nightshade didn’t exactly come with an instruction manual.
Belle took a deep breath and stepped into the shadows after him.
The forest swallowed the sounds of town almost instantly. No cars, no voices, just the hush of wind through the pines and the crunch of leaves under her boots.
She caught a flicker of movement ahead broad shoulders, that leather jacket.
Belle (calling softly) “You planning to disappear on me again?”
Lucian didn’t answer.
Belle: “You know, most guys would at least buy me a drink before luring me into the woods.”
Still nothing.
Belle rolled her eyes and quickened her pace. “Okay, fine, play the mysterious card. I’ll do the talking for both of us.”
The trail narrowed, roots twisting across the ground like the bones of the earth. Moonlight spilled in broken shards through the branches, painting silver stripes across Lucian’s back as he moved.
Belle: “So… is this where you live? Or is it just your favorite spot for brooding?”
Lucian slowed just enough that she could almost walk beside him.
Lucian: “You should go back.”
Belle: “Not until you tell me why you keep warning me.”
He glanced at her, eyes catching the moonlight that same molten gold.
Lucian: “Because you don’t understand what you’re walking into.”
Belle: “Then explain it.”
Lucian: “No.”
Belle’s brow furrowed. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”
Lucian: “You think this is a game.”
Belle: “And you think I get scared easily.”
His gaze lingered on her for a beat too long, then he turned and kept walking.
Belle muttered under her breath, “One day, Lucian Nightshade, you’re going to have to tell me something that isn’t a warning or a growl.”
They reached a clearing. The mist here was thinner, letting the moon spill across a patch of soft earth. Lucian stopped abruptly, scanning the treeline like he was listening to something she couldn’t hear.
Belle: “What is it?”
Lucian: “Go home, Belle.”
Belle: “Not until”
Lucian: [sharply] “Now.”
His tone was different this time sharper, edged with something that made her skin prickle.
But when she looked again, he was already moving away, melting into the dark like he’d never been there.
Belle (muttering) “And there it is. The disappearing act.”
She sighed and stepped into the clearing. The air was damp, cool against her cheeks. Something about the silence felt… heavier.
That’s when she saw it.
Near the center of the clearing, pressed deep into the soft soil, was a print.
Belle crouched down, frowning. It was huge, easily twice the size of her hand with long, curved indentations where claws had dug in.
Belle: “Well… that’s not a coyote.”
She hovered her palm over it. The soil radiated faint warmth, like whatever made it had been here moments ago.
Her breath caught.
From somewhere in the darkness beyond the clearing, a low sound rumbled not close, but not far enough away to ignore.
To be continued…
- Writer
