The Truth Within The Trees

Chapter Two - The Unexplainable Occurrence

    A man and a young woman stood before her, both looking as though they were somewhere in their twenties. The woman was medium height, maybe a few inches shorter than herself, and had shoulder length blonde hair and a stern expression set in her gray eyes. The man beside her was noticeably taller, with short dark brown hair and his eyes flashed a mixture of green and blue when they looked her way. 

    “No,” the woman said, giving the man a stern look. 

    “This isn’t your decision. He’s hurt, Sara,” the man responded, shooting a look at Marion. “We need your house.” 

    “Excuse me?” was all Marion could muster. 

    “Or at least medical supplies,” he repeated. “Our friend is hurt.”

    Marion eyed the two, wondering if they were up to something malicious, but as a hiker herself she couldn’t turn away the people thinking maybe they had gotten hurt on a hike and wound up lost and at her doorstep. 

    “Okay, where is this ‘friend’,” she asked in a guarded tone. She hoped she sounded a lot more sure of herself than she felt. Her eyes never lifted from the man’s gaze. 

    “He’s a few miles back. Do you have a car,” the man asked in a hurried tone, looking around the empty front yard. 

    Marion gestured to the side of the house where her Jeep was parked. The two followed her and they all climbed in. 

    Let me drive,” the man commanded.

    “No chance, I don’t even know if you guys are telling the truth. I just can’t risk someone being hurt and not helping them,” Marion responded. After a few seconds she added, “Also, I have a gun in arms reach so don’t try anything”.

    “Better not mess with her,” the woman laughed. She gave the man a look  with wide eyes and raised her eyebrows at him. 

    Marion’s ears burned at the woman’s mocking tone, but she decided that helping this other person was more important than her pride. 

    They were about five and a half miles down the gravel road when the man directed her to pull over. She veered the car to the side of the road and parked among the crunching leaves.  

    “Your car won’t fit through the trees to where he fell. We will have to carry him out,” he said.

    Marion made a move to undo her seatbelt and was interrupted before she could reach for the door handle. 

    “We can handle it, you wait here with the motor running,”  the woman added in quickly. 

    With that the pair disappeared into the thick forest. Marion went ahead and turned the car around so she would be ready to book it back to her house. The nearest hospital was over an hour away so she assumed that’s why they would rather treat him as best they could at her place. 

    She drummed her hands on the steering wheel and let out a loud sigh. I hope you know what you're doing, she thought to herself. After what seemed like the longest stretch of time she had ever endured she heard rustling from the woods to her right. She turned and saw the pair carrying a man as best they could. The man had his arms under the other’s and the woman was carrying his legs on either side of her. They lumbered awkwardly towards the car and Marion got out and opened the back of her Jeep. They lifted the man into the back and it was obvious he was unconscious and pretty banged up. She rolled up her emergency blanket and placed it under his head trying to make sure he was as comfortable as possible before she shut the back. 

    On the ride back, common sense started to flood into Marion as she realized the man didn’t appear to be in any mortal danger. She slowly glanced sideways at the man sitting next to her and gripped the steering wheel a little tighter before she jumped into it. 

    “So, do you mind telling me what exactly happened,” she asked the pair.

    The two looked at each other and the woman rolled her eyes. She motioned with a wave of her hand at the man telling him to go ahead. 

    “Your call, remember,” she said. 

    “We were on a hunting trip, and Blaine here decided to take a tumble off of one of the smaller cliffs,” he said. “Lucky for him, we could see the smoke from your fireplace so Sara and I took off full force until we got to your place”. 

    “Hunting, huh?” she said. “What were you hunting for?” 

    “Bears,” he said, too quickly. 

    “Bears.” Marion responded in a flat tone. 

    While this was obviously a little, okay, very unbelievable, Marion decided to drop it as they pulled up to her cottage. She felt that her focus should be on the injured person in front of her. The three worked to get the man inside and onto the sofa inside the living room. Marion saw a large wound on the man’s leg and acted quickly to get a towel under it to shield the sofa and one to wrap around it to stop the bleeding. 

    “Apply pressure,” she told the man. She hurried off into the kitchen and began mixing something together. The pair looked at each other in confusion. Was she cooking at a time like this? 

A short while later she returned with a substance that smelled of sweetness and fresh herbs. She began to lift up the unconscious man’s pant leg when the woman grabbed her hand. The woman locked eyes with her and it was very clear she wanted an explanation. 

“It’s a healing poultice,” Marion responded. “It will draw out the bacteria and help soothe the inflammation.”

    “What’s in it?” the woman asked, scrunching her nose at the sight. “It looks like a concoction a child would make while playing outside.” 

    “You’re not completely wrong,” Marion said with a laugh. “It’s a mixture of herbs and sugar. I’ll make one with charcoal a little later if there’s any inflammation that doesn’t go down.” 

    She continued working Blaine’s pant leg up and applied the salve with a cloth she had brought from the kitchen. She had put on a pair of worn, leather gloves in the kitchen because as much as she wanted to help people, she knew better than to be reckless about it. They weren’t the most protective in this situation but they were what she had on hand. She eyed the deep red lines that carved their way through his leg. The flesh was jagged and puffy from the attack. It radiated an energy that went beyond just the heat of a wound. It seemed to vibrate around the edges as if it wasn't done inflicting it's damage yet.  

    “You said he fell,” Marion said. “This looks like a claw mark from some sort of animal.” 

    “I told you,” he said, “we were hunting. Bears.” 

    “So he got attacked by a bear and made it away with nothing more than a few claw marks,” she questioned.

    “He got lucky,” the man shrugged, “he fell before any more damage could be done.” 

    Marion was not believing a word of this but continued her work on the man before her. She applied the mixture directly to his skin and gently wrapped it with a thin sheet of gauze. Before she could try to pry any further, a large dark haired beast plodded into the room and began to growl at the pair before it. Hackles raised and head bowed he stepped between Marion and the others. Sara quickly reached for something at her ankle and the man pushed himself in front of the girl. 

    “Onyx, calm down boy. They aren’t going to hurt me,” Marion said. The large canine ceased his growling and sat beside her, eyeing the others. She stroked his soft, shaggy fur and watched the pair suspiciously. “This is my dog, Onyx.” 

    “Dog!” the woman half shrieked. “That is not a dog, it’s humongous”. 

    “He’s a wolf hybrid,” Marion responded. She affectionately patted his neck and he lay down to rest by her feet. 

    Blaine stirred on the couch and after a few slow blinks he opened his eyes. He winced as he tried to move his injured leg. He slowly moved his head to look around the room. His gaze started with the man and made their way to Sara. His entire body tensed as he noticed Marion and Onyx sitting on the floor by the end of the couch. She tried to give him a small smile to show that she was no threat, but his eyes immediately darted to the man.

    “Are you kidding me?” Blaine said to the man. “You went to a stranger for help?” 

    “How about a thank you for saving you before you bite my head off, dude,” said the man. 

    “Thank you, Cam,” Blaine said with a sigh. “But you know it’s dangerous to get involved with anyone on the outside.” 

    Sara gave Cam an I told you so kind of look and was met with a seething glare. There was a long silence before anyone spoke up. Marion didn’t want to intrude as the trio did not seem to be in the best mood at the moment. 

    “How much does she know?” Blaine asked. 

    “Just that we were hunting..bears,” Cam said. “We were hunting bears when you were attacked and then fell off of one of the lower cliffs.” 

    “About that,” Marion interrupted, “how is it that you were hunting bears and none of you have any guns or major weapons of any kind?”. 

    The trio shared a mixture of glances with each other and remained silent. 

    “Right,” she said. “I am going to go get some tea going and when I come back maybe you all can be honest with me.” 

    She hurried off to the kitchen to get some tea started for the group. She rummaged through the selection in her pantry trying to make sure she got just the right one for the occasion. Everyone thought she was odd for loving tea so much but they just had so many good qualities and purposes. After settling on a nice relaxing mint tea, she set the kettle to boil and waited. They are obviously hiding something, she thought. There is no way anyone would go bear hunting without the proper equipment, let alone go hunting on clearly posted property.  She was musing about what might really be going on when a familiar whistle brought her back to attention. She loaded up a tray with glasses, the tea and the kettle and made her way back to the living room. Blaine had managed to get himself sitting up, and he and Sara sat on the couch. Cam was looking out of one of the front windows, but when she entered the room he turned and put his back on the wall so that he was facing her.

    “I made some mint tea,” she said. “It’s nice and relaxing. I figured it might be soothing after such an exciting event.” 

    They eyed her suspiciously as she handed them each a cup. 

    “What,’ she asked. “Do you guys not like tea?” 

    “We were always told to be wary of gifts offered by witches,” Sara said, peering down at the murky substance in the class. 

    “Sara,” Cam hissed. 

    Blaine let out a small laugh and Sara smirked. 

    “Very funny. Cottage in the woods, big scary pet, I get it. ,” Marion said. “We all know witches aren’t real.” She took a large gulp of the tea in good faith and motioned for them to do the same.

    There was a heavy silence in the room while Marion waited for any of the three to speak up. They all took their time sipping on their tea and avoided any eye contact. She let out a heavy sigh and decided that no one was going to willingly give her any answers so she would have to ask questions herself. She didn’t want to make them feel defensive but she was sure there couldn’t be a good reason for three strangers to be prowling around her property, and yet here she was having tea with them. Her mother would definitely scold her for this one.

    “So,” said said, setting her emptied tea cup down, “does anyone want to fill me in? Don’t even try the bear story again because I know that this area is posted for at least a majority of the forest.” 

    Silence. 

    “Okay, well I guess I’ll just have to call the cops and then the owners of the surrounding forest, which happen to be my parents,” she said. She reached for the phone in her pocket and it didn’t take long for someone to speak up. 

    “Wait, wait,” said Cam. “We were hunting, just, not for bears.” 

    Blaine and Sara shot him a questioning  look and Marion just nodded her head and looked at him waiting for him to continue. 

    “I can’t exactly tell you what it was we were looking for, but just know that we don’t mean any harm,” he said. 

    “Are you guys in some sort of trouble?” Marion asked. 

    Sara snorted and Blaine put a hand on her arm in an attempt to calm her. She leaned back against the sofa and crossed her arms over her chest and Blaine leaned forward and ran his fingers through his black hair. Cam stepped away from the wall and came to sit in one of the arm chairs to the side of the sofa directly in front of Marion. He placed his arms on his knees and laced his fingers together, leaning forward. He hesitated and it was obvious to her that she had asked a loaded question. She sat there for a few moments wondering how to handle the situation when she glanced at the clock on the wall. Six o’clock. No wonder she was feeling a little shaky, she hadn’t eaten anything since a little after twelve o’clock when she first started chopping wood. She played with the nail beds on her fingernails before she stood and faced the group. They obviously didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave and she had a feeling that they might be in need of more help than she had thought. If they wanted to hurt me they could have done it ten times by now, she thought. 

    “Is anyone hungry?” she asked. Silence, again. 

     “Well, either way, I am,” she said as she walked off into the kitchen but stopped just before she passed through the doorway.

    “Are any of you vegetarians?” she asked.

    When no one answered she figured it was safe to assume that no one would mind a little chicken for dinner and she made her way through the open doorway and set to picking out ingredients. She was in the middle of chopping the vegetables when she heard footsteps behind her. Cam strode into the kitchen and leaned on the counter to the right of her. She continued chopping as he watched and decided she was done being the first one to initiate conversation.  After finishing the vegetables she moved on to slice the chicken into small strips and began coating them with seasonings such as minced garlic and onion. She worked getting the chicken into a small frying pan and could see the man beside her fidgeting. Good, she thought. It was time someone else felt like they were waiting for a response.

    “Why are you being so nice to us?” he finally asked. 

    She kept working on the chicken in the pan before her, adding a hint of lemon juice as it sizzled in the pan. When the chicken looked cooked through but not browned yet she added in the veggies to get a little color on them. Cam was staring a hole through her and so she decided to finally answer. 

    “Why shouldn’t I be?” was her response. 

    “You don’t know us,” he said. “You didn’t even believe the story we gave you. How do you know we aren’t just some local thugs?” 

    “You haven’t done anything to me,” she said. “You’ve had multiple opportunities to and yet here we are, in my kitchen, having a chat.” 

    He seemed to mull this over and relaxed a little, letting out a breath of air as his posture softened. Marion began to set plates on the table and told Cam to go and get everyone for dinner. They all came in together, with Cam and Sara on either side of Blaine as they helped him to the dining room table. Everyone dished out what they wanted from the spread before them. Iced tea was all she had to drink other than water and warm tea. The group ate in silence and it seemed like the trio hadn’t eaten anything all day. And I thought I was hungry, she thought. After the hurried eating had started to slow a little she tried to open up the conversation once again.

    “Do you guys need a place to stay for the night?” she asked. “It’s already eight thirty and I didn’t see a car that you guys were using. I only have one guest room but it can fit two people in the bed and I have an air mattress that the other can use.” 

    She tossed Onyx a few scraps of chicken as the trio thought it over and decided that they would take her up on her offer. She showed them to the guest room and made sure to let them know that if there was any funny business that she had 911 on speed dial and her parents didn’t live too far from the cottage. As she left them to get settled in she decided it best to sleep with her keys, phone and wallet in her bedroom just in case anything happened with her guests. 

    She made her way to her own room and fell backwards onto the plush quilt on top of the queen bed. Onyx curled up in his bed at the corner of the room and she looked over at him. 

    "Think we can trust them?" she asked the dog. 

    He yawned and tucked his head into his side, drifting to sleep.  She laughed to herself and decided to sleep in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt since she had unfamiliar guests over.  She lay awake for a while finding it hard to sleep with everything that had happened that day running through her head. 

The next morning she decided to cook herself and her guests some breakfast as a peace offering. Cam was the first to sleepily walk into the kitchen, having smelled the food cooking. 

    "Morning," he mumbled. 

    So mister upright could look all sleepy and confused too, huh, she thought. 

    "Morning," she responded. "Hope you like bacon and eggs." 

    "Who doesn't?" he said. 

    She finished making breakfast as he made his way to the dining room table and sat down. He placed his face in his hands and had a heavy atmosphere about him. 

    "Something on your mind?" she asked, placing the food on the table. 

    "Just thinking about Blaine," he said. "We have something we need to take care of and he is going to be out for a while with a leg wound like that." 

    She nodded as she listened and attempted to give him a small, comforting smile. 

    "At least you met a nice stranger in the woods, right?" she joked, and nudged his arm with hers. 

    "Yeah," he replied. "At least there's that." 

    For the first time since she had met him yesterday Cam finally seemed to be letting his guard down just a little. She was happy with this small victory and gestured for him to take some of the food before him. He was happy to oblige and she was left wondering if she should have cooked a little more food for everyone. Do all men eat this much, she wondered. She had never paid attention to how much Oliver ate when they were hanging out. She was more concerned with making sure she wasn’t making a fool of herself. She felt a pair of eyes on her and looked over into the mixture of azure and emerald that made up Cam’s eyes.  Having him look at her head on made her feel a little self conscious. 

    “Can I help you?” she asked, teasingly. 

    “You have a little something on your face,” he laughed. 

    Awesome, she thought. She wiped away a bit of egg that was on her lip and tried to not let the incident embarrass her. 

    They  heard a pair of footsteps coming quickly down the hallway. Sara walked into the room with an unreadable look on her face. Before either of them could speak, Blaine walked into the room a few steps behind her. Marion and Cam shared a glance that conveyed what they were both thinking. He shouldn't be able to walk by himself yet. As if reading their minds he pulled up his pant leg to reveal his wound, although it looked nothing like it did the night before.  The jagged red marks from the night before had lost the bright crimson coloring and was now a pale pink instead. The flesh seemed to have done days worth of healing overnight. 

    "What the hell did you put on my leg?" Blaine asked quietly, staring down at his leg. 

    "Just a poultice," she said. "A mixture of herbs and sugar I know about that's good for wounds. This shouldn't be possible, though."  

    She stared at his leg in astonishment. She had never gotten the chance to apply a poultice to a wound as severe as his before, and she had no idea why it had worked so well. As much as their expressions begged for an answer, she had none to give them.