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“Yes. And you are Nayome. I recall from when we met yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Nayome tripped up a bit.
“Ah…yeah, you slept through most of the night, it’s Thursday.”
Nayome suddenly noticed her dirty and rumpled clothes, her tank top was streaked with mud and what must be blood from the cut on her hand. Glancing down, she noticed her hand, which had been sliced open from that vial, was meticulously clean. Someone had neatly stitched the wound up, and it was well on the way to healing. Feeling the top of her head, she found the same—her hair was clean, at least where her head wound had matted it with blood.
“I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Why don’t you start, and I’ll do my best to answer the ones I can.”
“Alright” She didn’t trust anyone, but her voice was gaining strength. These people may be weird, but they didn’t seem to want to hurt her, at least not yet. Maybe she could talk her way out of this somehow. “How did I get here? And where is ‘here’?”
“When you crossed the boundary into our territory, it alerted the sentries—er, our security. They found you unconscious in the clearing. We haven’t had trespassers in many years, so they brought you here, to Gabe, to figure out what to do next.”
“So Gabe…he is your leader or something?” Nayome asked, trying not to wince at the ridiculous question.
“Something like that.”
“So I’ve stumbled into some kind of…secret forest society? And you guys don’t want me here?” Nayome avoided the word cult, thinking that may upset the tentative balance they had going in the conversation.
Balfor sighed. “Sure, let’s go with that. I will not be able to explain this to your satisfaction. Suffice to say, tourists are not welcome.”
“Listen, I don’t care that you people have carved out a bit of woods and shacked up out here away from the prying eyes of civilization. I really,really, don’t care. I want to leave. Now. Yesterday. Tell me what needs to happen so that I can go back to my hotel. Or, better yet, direct to the airport so I can fly myself to New York and forget this ever happened.”
“We need to figure out how you got through our barriers into the clearing, before we can let you leave.” Balfor stated matter-of-fact.
“Barriers? You mean the thick trees—I squeezed through, it was only a few feet from the path, what’s the big deal?” Nayome asked, frustrated but trying to remain calm. This conversation seemed like her best chance at a ticket out of here, if she could keep her cool. Balfor clearly didn’t want her here. Maybe she could convince him to let her go.
“The clearing they found you in was miles beyond the path.”
“No, it wasn’t!”
“I assure you; it was—”
“Then your sentry, or whatever you call them, must have dragged me quite a distance while I was knocked out, because I didn’t move more than twenty steps from the path.” Nayome insisted.
“Listen to me.” Balfor’s voice became tinged with impatience. “If you want to get out of here, and let me tell you, I want you gone as much as you want to leave. We are going to have to figure out how you got there.”
“I’m telling you the truth—”
“Your truth is limited.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Nayome was almost shouting now.
Balfor was quiet for a moment, as if he was considering how much information to share. “You understand nothing of this world we live in, your truth is limited to your own perspective of what is possible.”
Nayome closed her eyes briefly, swallowing a frustrated moan. It should be illegal for someone so handsome to be such a whack job. What a waste of good genes.
“Okay, well, what do you need from me to figure this out so I can go home? Whatever it is, I’ll try to help. I want to leave. Look into my mind or whatever you guys do, I’m telling the truth.”
“I cannae look into your mind, but Gabe has already vouched for your intentions.”
“Great,” Nayome said shortly, trying to keep the sarcasm to a minimum. She was being held against her will, no need to poke the bear. And he was a pretty big bear—Gabe, the blonde one, had dwarfed everyone else in the room, but Balfor must be well over six foot tall as well, and had a thick wall of muscle she could see ripple beneath his black t-shirt when he shifted his weight. She wouldn’t stand a chance in a struggle, so she was going to have to rely on her brain to get her out of this.
Balfor was about to speak when Nayome recalled something—“The string!”
“I beg your pardon?” he asked, eyeing Nayome as if she was the one who was crazy.
“I tied a string to the trees, where I left the path. It was close to the river bank. I didn’t want to get lost, so I marked my way through. I can show you exactly how I got to the clearing. It should still be marked. If I can show you how I got there, and there is no secret trespassing voodoo involved, will you let me go home?”
