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I smelled it then. The wretched stench of death baking. In my peripheral vision, I saw Mallory slam a hand over her nose, knees buckling as they pushed her to the ground. Carli fell back against the wagon’s front, completely out of it at the moment.
The scent grew thicker as it approached us, wrapping us in its cloak. The wind blew harder, but there was no rain to accompany it. Finally, it stopped as the figure finally broke through the far end of the trees and into our view.
But just like that, it was gone. Just a shadowy figure. The horses settled, heads dropping and tails slowing down.
“What was that?” Mallory croaked, breathing out.
I couldn’t answer, and not because I didn’t want to. I didn’t know the answer. Instead, I moved to Carli and fell to my knees in front of her, checking her. She had a cut on her forehead, streaming blood down the side of her face from where she’d been hit by the hoof, but nothing major. She was a little disorientated, but nothing a remedy couldn’t fix up for her and a little rest.
“Is she okay?” Mallory asked softly behind me.
I nodded and looked over my shoulder, but not at her. I stared at the spot the shadowy figure had evaporated in. The dark clouds were now gone, and only the sun's rays peeked through the canopy of leaves overhead. The whipping wind had returned to its gentle breeze with no thunder or lightning. As if none of it had just existed minutes before. But I knew I wasn’t crazy. Both Carli and Mallory had witnessed the same thing.
Well, mostly Mallory, but it was better than me being crazy. This wasn’t the first time it had happened; now, I wasn’t alone who saw it. I had somebody to back me up, and my father couldn’t look at me like I was losing my mind. That was, if I ever saw him again.
I swatted out the torrent of thoughts and drew myself together as I pulled Carli to her feet. Mallory stepped up to her side and helped me get her into the back of the wagon. I hopped up and watched as Mallory took the reins. I applied the same salve and words the two of them had done to me minutes ago to Carli’s cut and watched it disappear. The wagon jostled beneath us on the rough terrain, and I sat back. Carli was unconscious, her eyes closed, rolling side to side as the wagon bumped over random tree roots now and again.
I listened to the clomping of the horses' hooves, unable to shake the uneasy feeling of the shadowy figure. It had actually been in the shape of a person. I couldn’t tell who it was or even what gender, but it had been a person. It’d never done that before. It was getting bold, and I knew that wasn’t good.
Dragging my fingers through my hair, I tilted my head back and let what shots of sun rays fell through the intertwined leaves touch my face. Carli had always told me that a plant could only grow in the right place. Some needed sun and water. Some just required sun. Others needed darkness and water or, sometimes, just night to thrive.
I could feel it inside me, ready to brew and explode at any given moment though it had yet to do so. I was made of flesh and bone, just like the rest of everybody around me. For that, I needed the sun as a blending method. To make sure that I fit in. But it was the darkness I craved. As much as I didn’t want it, I knew it was inside of me, and I could feel it rampant in the dead of night when light didn’t exist. Maybe the moon and that was all right, but nothing else.
It frightened me. I didn’t think my father or Jasper could ever understand that. I didn’t know they’d ever be able to accept that. Timothy would probably never look me in the eye again. A Witch of Darkness was a taboo, banned from all communities. They were supposed to live away from society in the swamps or deserts.
A Witch of Darkness was a parasite to the community. It was law to turn over one found out. My father and Jasper would’ve never been able to hide that. Carli was the only one who knew and understood.
But still, what did any of it mean? The shadowy figure had been a whole human figure that had never happened before, and I wasn’t the only one who’d seen it. Which had to mean it didn’t come from the darkness inside, right?
ChapterSixteen
The wagon jostled over bumps of twigs, roots, and many other things scattered about the forest's rough terrain. I had to steer; it was what was keeping my mind off everything. Though, us sitting in silence didn’t help matters. In fact, it made things worse. My mind was buzzing with questions. I had a gnawing feeling I would never have answers to.
“Hey!” Mallory exclaimed, climbing up the back of the wagon and dropping between me and Carli, holding out three navy blue square boxes. They weren’t exactly big, but they weren’t too small either. “We forgot about these from my mom.”
I pulled at the reins, tugging the horses to a stop. They huffed and stomped their hooves, irritated at having been in the zone. I ignored them and turned to face Mallory, taking my box after Carli took hers. Mallory hoisted herself up onto the back of the front seat and threw her legs over it, hanging them there as she pulled at the gold bow wrapped around hers. I followed suit and popped open the box. Black tissue paper covered the item, and I peeled it off, revealing what lay beneath.
“Wow,” Carli breathed, reaching into hers to pull out the necklace. “These are beautiful.”
“Necklaces?” Mallory asked, genuine confusion in her words as she pulled hers out, letting the hourglass dangle from her fingers. “Just necklaces?”
“What did you expect your mother to give us?” I rolled my eyes heavily, swallowing a laugh that threatened to explode.
She was being ridiculous. What did she honestly think her mother had given us, a million gold coins for survival? As if that were even possible.
“I don’t know,” Mallory answered truthfully and dropped the hourglass into her free hand, pulling it up to look at better. “But – what do these even mean?”
I looked down at my own hourglass, taking in the simple design. The lid of it was silver, with plastic covering the sand timer within. The sand itself lay at the bottom, scattered along the side with the way it lay down. Black-colored sand. I looked up and saw Mallory’s, taking in the black sand inside hers, and knew that I didn’t even have to look at Carli’s to know hers would be the same.
“I think they mean something,” I shrugged and pulled mine out of the box, slipping the chain over my head and letting the hourglass drop, bouncing for a moment before settling.
The girls followed my lead, and we sat in stunned silence for a moment as they glowed white. When it went away, the sand within had turned gold. Reaching out, I took hold of Mallory’s to look closer, but sure enough – the sand was gold and not black.
“What does it mean?” Carli whispered, as if talking any louder would disturb someone or something lurking about.
I wasn’t exactly against that idea, as I had seen what could come out of the darkness’s depth, but I didn’t think we really needed to be whispering for the moment.
“I don’t know, but probably something special.” I shrugged and picked up the hourglass, turning it over between my fingers.
