Bury Me in Sun
"Are you sure you're good getting home?" Noah asks, as the day nears the end.
Nadia smiles, "Yes, and I will see you tomorrow." and she starts to cough.
He places a hand on her back, "Are you okay?"
She clears her throat, "Yes." before she smiles at him. "I am fine."
"You really should take tomorrow off."
Nadia frowns, "It's just the pesticide, Noah. I will be fine."
"I'm guessing you're the one that made the call?"
Noah turns to the entrance, "Princess Audrey."
"Did you call King Ben earlier?" she asks again.
"About the Enchanted Forest," he recalls. "Yeah. I did."
"Goodie," she walks towards him. "Ben's busy, so I get to help you."
"Okay," he frowns.
"I'm going to need you to come to the station with me." She notices the brown-haired girl and points, "Is she your source?"
"She can't come," Noah stresses. "She's sick."
She holds onto his arm, "But Noah. I am fine."
Noah takes her hand and gestures to the red on her sleeve, "You're coughing blood."
"That? It is nothing," she insists before taking her hand from his.
"Wait?" Audrey holds up a hand, "She's coughing blood?"
"I am a dryad," Nadia discloses, "from the Enchanted Forest."
"Someone found out and poisoned her home," he explains. "If it's who I think it is, that makes it a hate crime."
"It would help to have someone from there." Audrey looks at her, "You should come with us."
"Yes," Nadia eagerly accepts.
"No," Noah dismisses, before he faces the princess. "She's undocumented. It's not safe for her to come with."
Audrey eyes between them, "Alright." and she pauses. "Then you can stay or go home, whichever," she tells Nadia before facing Noah. "But you need to come with me."
"Okay," he agrees, and then they leave.
When they make it to the forest, Audrey tries to open the door; however, she's forgotten it isn't designed to. She watches the police open their doors, "Hey. Can you get my door?"
"Sorry, Princess," the muscular man answers, "but you're staying here."
"What?" Audrey disbelieves.
"It's for your own good, Princess," the other officer calmly comments.
The doors shut, and she shouts, "You will never survive without me." She watches one of them wave a hand, and her mouth gapes. "How unbelievable." She mutters, "Poor, little Princess Audrey could never survive in the woods." as she takes off her diamond bracelet. "No. It's fine. We'll just keep her locked in the back of a police car so that we can be killed and not ever release her." She circles the cross over the window. "Idiots." The window shavings fall as she presses the diamond against it, and after a few minutes she hears the screams. "Lord." She grunts, "Help me." as she hits the glass. On the third try, the glass circle breaks off, and Audrey reaches her arm through to get to the door handle. Her fingers slip, and she seethes as she pushes her arm further, pushes the latch up, and opens the door.
After she sees the officers, Audrey reaches for her purse and takes out the perfume. She sprays it, the sprites scatter, and the officers face her. She widens her eyes at the patches of eaten skin and sternly asks, "Are you ready to listen to me now?"
They stare at her in awe, before the first says, "Yes, Princess Audrey." and the second bows his head.
"Okay, then."
She walks ahead of them, and the bald one questions, "How did you get rid of those things? We couldn't even run away from them. They were everywhere."
Audrey twirls back to them, "You forget, my mother grew up here."
"Forgive us, Princess."
She eyes between them, "FYI, if you see a huge bed of moss, don't just step on it. Make sure you feed the tree first."
"Feed the tree?" one asks in confusion.
She shakes her head, "Just follow my lead."
When they reach a section of chopped trees, Audrey frowns, and then the police yell, "Set the axe down and raise your arms." Audrey turns and sees the black-haired guy narrowing his blue eyes at them. "Put down the axe," the officer repeats.
"They can't hide here forever," he shouts. "These monsters will face the light."
She frowns, as she eyes over him. He can't be past his twenties. "Final warning," the officer creeps forward. He could have easily been someone she knew. "Put down the axe."
"They're going to kill us all!"
Audrey intrudes, "How could they kill you when they're all the way out here?"
"You don't know what they're capable of," he shouts. "All of these things, they're dangerous. More dangerous than you can imagine."
"You don't know what you're talking about," she sternly remarks.
"You're one of them, aren't you?" he accuses.
"Princess Audrey," the officer whispers. "Directive."
"What are you?" he yells.
She stares, "Taze him." and after he's shocked, he falls to the ground and Audrey walks towards him. "No one plays God."
The officers handcuff him, "Let's get him back to the station."
Audrey notices the tree chopped around its center and steps towards it. The other officer asks, "Princess. Are you alright?"
She touches the tree, "It's just sad."
"It's still standing," he informs. "It will survive."
She turns to him, "No. When a circle of bark is taken from a tree, it dies." before she looks back at it. "It's not going to last long."
The officer takes a moment, "Princess Audrey. The suspect."
Audrey faces him and eyes down at the fearful criminal, "You're going to pay for this."
When Audrey enters the store, Noah frowns, "Did you find him?"
She nods, "He's probably going to get five years for disrupting a preserved site." before she glances down. "I know it's not a lot." She meets his brown eyes, "That guy did a lot more damage than that. There's no way to know just how much."
"At least he can't hurt anyone anymore," Noah tries to smile, before he turns to the girl. "Right, Nadia?" He notices her hunched over, leaning on the top-stock cart, "Nadia?"
She slowly turns, staring forward, as she whispers, "I'm dead."
"What?" Noah asks, before she collapses to the floor and he rushes to her. "Nadia!"
He moves her brown, frizzy hair from her face, and she reaches for his cheek, "Bury me in sun."
Her arm falls, her forefinger slipping down the side of his chin, and he whispers, "Nadia?" He lowers his head and cries, "Nadia. No."
Audrey watches him hold her in his arms, and after a minute she questions, "What did she mean?"
"What?" he gulps back his tears.
"She said something." Audrey thinks, "Bury me…"
"Bury me in sun," Noah remembers, before he sniffles. "What time is it?"
Audrey checks her phone, "Twelve thirty. Why?"
He picks her up in his arms and turns around, "We don't have a lot of time." and Audrey eyes over them. "We need to take her home."