Nemoricultrix
/kä(l)m/
adjective
1. She who dwells in the woods.
Silence gnawed at my insides. Silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. The silence was like a gaping void, needing to be filled with sounds, words, anything. The silence was poisonous in it's nothingness, cruelly underscoring how vapid their conversation had become.
I chewed my lip and glanced at Leah out of the corner of my eye. She was staring straight ahead, smiling slightly, like she was enjoying simply being in my presence. While blissfully ignored the awkwardness that had been bothering me ever since I had finished the story.
It had been about a fox and a dog, who tried to be friends but society's boundaries eventually pushed them apart cruelly. She had casually informed me it was a Disney movie called fox and the hound. I asked her what Disney was, she had casually explained and then we'd broken off into an awkward silence that was entirely one-sided.
I fiddled with Reds pot as we drove, only stopping when the gently hum of the car broken off, leaving us at our destination.
The houses bricks were laid one at a time, perhaps on a fine spring day. I let my eyes wander the roughness and how each is so very straight. This house was made with love, that's for sure. I smiled, it looked homey.
"Sorry." she said with a wince. "This is as close as we can get to the house, Sam has too much shit in his driveway for us to park."
We weren't that far from the house. But the distance seemed daunting with my ever-throbbing leg.
"I thought you were taking me to the shop?" I asked Leah quietly.
Her hands tighten around the wheel and I can't help but follow the movement with my eyes. She was in very good shape. She wasn't bulky. She was actually very lean, and tall. but she was obviously strong. Not that I'm gay or anything, cant a girl just appreciate another girls muscles?
I glance back up into her eyes and find her smirking at me, having noticed my appreciative gaze.
I quickly set myself forward with a furious blush, mortified at being caught.
Facepalm, thy name is Calypso.
She rubbed the back of her neck for a second, sheepish. "Quil's gonna take care of your car at the shop but it's gonna take a while, no point in making you wait at that dump. This is Emily's and Sam's house. Emily will have some stuff for your legs." She said quickly.
I hummed and nodded my head before climbing out if the car. In the blink of an eye, Leah was in front of me again, offering her arm. I didn't hesitate before latching onto her this time.
I looked at the distant treeline wistfully. In the forest I am with my tribe of wood and leaf, among the giants who's roots hug the earth. It is a place of ancient souls, of the creatures who dwell with the sweet sounds of moving water and bird song. Somehow it is more home than home, perhaps one day I'll learn why.
I had the overwhelming urge to just throw myself at the treeline like a lunatic. But I refrained.
We walked slowly, at a pace that felt deliberate on my companions part. I felt at home in our newfound silence but was startled as she leant over to me, I felt nervous like spark plugs in my gut but all worry vanished as she spoke.
"So, what's a pretty thing like you doin' round here?"
I had known this woman for a short time but I felt like I'd known her for years. As if this was a bit we had been playing for longer than time itself, it was...refreshing.
And embarrassing, definitely embarrassing.
I snorted and shook my head. "I should be asking you that." I said.
"What's a pretty thing like me doin' round here?" she asked and I sputtered. "Well for starters, I live here-"
"No! I meant what am I doing here because you brought me her so why- and-" I cut myself off to save myself from too much embarrassment just as she began to laugh.
"Don't be too embarrassed, " she says, nudging me with her shoulder lightly. "Its cute."
I gulp and blush from my ears to the tops of my breasts. "Please stop flirting with me," I mumble. "I'm too awkward. I can't take it."
She opens her mouth to say something sly but I cut her off before she gets the chance. "And wait," I said. "You live here? I thought you said this was Emily and Sam's house?"
She scrunched up her nose momentarily before responding. "Yeah, its...temporary. Emily's my cousin so she lets me stay with them while I figure stuff out." She said, rubbing her neck with her unoccupied arm. "Not that I can't support myself or anything." She said quickly and I watched her out of the corner of my eye. "Or someone else, for that matter. I'm ready to work hard to support myself and my spouse, not that I have one! I am totally and completely single!" She rambled on.
I felt like I was interviewing her for an episode of Lesbian Bachelor.
I wanted to say something along the lines of: don't worry, I'm homeless too! But technically she's not homeless and unfortunate living arrangements doesn't seem like something I should try to bond over.
"Cool." was all I said instead, which was somehow almost worse.
Mercifully, she only laughed again and we're left in a much more comfortable silence as we walked peacefully.
We got halfway to the house before Bella ran up to my left, having been left in the dust by Quil's superior car. She said nothing as we walked to the house, seeming uncomfortable in our easy environment.
Leah faced forward again, scrunching up her nose in thought. It was cute.
While she was distracted I took a moment to focus on her eyes, which were darting back and fourth, shining in the sunlight. They were a deep, earthy brown - the color of the earth after torrential rains. But there was something else in them, something glistening. They held secrets, the same way a pot holds layers of deep soil- cradling- because it is essential to keep the plant safe. The roots are held in place the same way hee dark, liquidy eyes held so tightly onto her secrets.
She seemed to notice me staring and smiled down at me. I made myself face forward again. It made it all the more degrading that I was hanging off her arm like some sort of child.
Through some small mercy, we made it to the house without any further incident. Leah gently pushed open a bug screen door and entered the house with me and Bella following behind.
The first thing I noticed about the house was the smell, it smelled heavenly in there. The scent of fresh brownies wafting in the air made my mouth water. It didn't trigger any specific memories, but a blanket of comfort settled over me as I breathed in deeply.
Leah chuckled as she noticed my expression and led me over to a hallway.
The house had a cute, cozy feel to it. The walls were all painted warm colors that made me feel all fuzzy and warm. There were various stains in strange places such as: beneath the table, the small TV and, by some freak of nature; the ceiling. I tilted my head back to stare at the purple stain and Leah visibly flinched.
"Those damn children." she muttered, hurrying me past the room.
"You didn't say Emily had kids." I said, curious.
Leah sighed heavily. "She doesn't," she paused for a moment. "Well on second thought, yes, yes she does. Six, to be exact."
I stared at her questioning, but ultimately decided not to question it.
Leah gently pushed one of the swinging doors open to reveal a kitchen in varying states of disarray. A woman was bustling alone, doing approximately six jobs all by herself in a whirlwind of moment. We watched her for a second, marveling at her efficiency before Leah cleared her throat loudly.
The woman jumped and turned to us, revealing what had previously been hidden. Long scratches trailed down the right side of her face. The way her bangs had been skillfully layered to hide the scars spoke volumes about how she felt about them. I was sure that without the scars, she would be a beyond beautiful woman. Remembering that I would have to introduce myself, I mentally kicked myself for staring longer than necessary and smiled sweetly.
"Emily, this is Bella and Calypso, my...friends."
Her eyes darted back and forth between me, Bella, and Leah for a moment before lighting up with recognition.
She hastily wiped her hands on her apron and dashed over to us. Grabbing my hand and shaking it violently. "Oh it's great to meet you!" she said. "I'm Emily, I do all the cooking for Sam's little gang." she quickly offered her hand to Bella with less enthusiasm.
"Speaking of cooking…" Leah said, trailing off as I looked around.
Emily rolled her eyes. "The brownies are on the table. Don't eat all of them!" she yelled as I was dragged out of the kitchen by an overeager Leah.
I was forcibly sat down in a wooden chair, Bella soon following.
"Let me go get the first aid kit." Leah said seriously.
Me and Bella looked at each other and shrugged as Leah wandered off, before helping ourselves to the brownies.
The inside of the brownies was warm and gooey. Me and Bella shared a look as soon as we took a bite, silent understanding of pure bliss.
Bella seemed to relax finally, and I wished I could join her. But I could feel the fear in my chest waiting to take over. Perhaps it only wants to protect me but there really isn't any danger. It sits there like an angry ball propelling me towards an anxiety I just don't need.
The air is sweet, the weather is fine, there are birds in the sky and I can hear water not far away. But the anxiety sat in my stomach, foreboding. I'm not sure what for - but I force my body to begin to relax.
A noise from outside nearly causes me to jump out of my skin. It sounded like glass breaking, before being followed up by heavy cursing.
Curiously, I stood up and made my way out the back door, only to nearly faint at the sight. A bunch of ripped shirtless men were wandering around the backyard. Two of which were currently arm wrestling while others circled around them and cheered them on.
I felt Bella behind me and I leaned back slightly to whisper to her. "oh," I said as I counted out four men who looked a lot like Quil. "That's what she meant by kids."
Bella just grunted in response.
My eyes trailed down to one of which who was currently mourning over a broken flower pot, but it wasn't until I noticed a small plant lying in the remains of the pot that I sprung into action.
"Hey!" I barked at the man as he attempted to grab it by its roots, inevitably making it worse. All of the men jumped slightly at my voice and turned to me, dumbstruck.
I looked like a complete fright, I was sure. Blood running down my legs, pieces of glass still embedded in my calves, bright red hair sticking out at all angles. I probably looked like a missing Weasley after the battle of Hogwarts.
'What's a Hogwarts?' I asked my subconscious, to no reply.
I ignored all of their gazes as I stormed over to the one with the flower pot and promptly shoved him over.
He sputtered incoherently as I knelt down where he'd previously been. The pots had the curves of a river sculpted rock, one made by the patience of water, that with no concept of time. The blooms within give that same feeling, of petals shaped and coloured as they co-evolved with other life, each with their own story of how they came to be a part of our creator's world.
One had obviously been knocked over by the idipt next to me, I carefully babied the small plant away from the shards. I stood up and wandered over to a small garden and gently began digging in an empty space, praying that there wasn't seedlings there.
I put the small plant inside and patted the dirt around it carefully. After I finished, I stood up and wiped my hand on my shirt, unconcerned about getting dirty.
It wasn't until I turned around that I realised I had an audience.
All of the shirtless men were currently gaping at me, including the one I had shoved over who was currently still on the floor.
"Are you...Calypso?" one of them asked finally. I looked at him carefully before slowly nodding my head.
"Oh man! Go Leah!" another one yelled, high fiving the first one.
"What?" I asked, to no reply. I was getting used to being ignored.
One of the taller ones suddenly scrunched up his nose in disgust. "What's that smell?" He said. He turned suddenly and spotted Bella hanging around the side of the house and groaned. "What's the leach lover doing here."
The environment instantly somberd as the other men noticed Bella. She wrapped her arms around her torso defensively and it instantly put me on edge.
I sidled closer to Bella, not liking the way he was looking at her. I gently grabbed her elbow in what I hoped was comforting friendly contact and not 'what the fuck do they mean.' contact.
Bella curled her hands into fists but didn't respond. Her eyes were downcast and I decided I had seen enough.
"Maybe we should go." I said gently to her. I tried tugging gently on her arm, but she didn't budge.
The one who had spoken bared his teeth. It was an ugly look, cruel. I instantly knew what would be said before he even opened his mouth. "What? Nothing to say? Did you finally realise what you were worth to them when they took off? Sam warned you this would happen, but you didn't listen. And now you came running back."
They? Did he mean Edward, her Ex? Bella had been sobbing in a Cafe with me only a week before, and this guy had the nerve to make fun of her for something like that? What kind of horrible person would do that?
"C'mon Paul," One of the others said, grabbing his arm. "Let it go."
"Yeah," I yelled, putting myself between them. "C'mon Paul."
Bella looked away, tears in her eyes. I took a couple steps forward in warning, but no one was paying any attention to me.
There was a moment of silence as no one spoke. Paul was watching Bella with a scrutinizing gaze. Paul suddenly snorted in disbelief. "If you had just listened-"
Suddenly, Bella reared up like a cobra ready to strike. I stared in horror as Bella dashed around me and slapped him across the face.
The slap was as loud as a clap and stung my face just watching it. It had been an open-handed smack and it had left a red welt behind. Just below Paul's eye was a small cut where Bella's ring had caught him. Paul staggered backwards more out of surprise then anything, clutching his face.
"You don't know anything!" Bella screamed directly at him, the height difference making the whole scenario even more bizarre.
I watched in fascinated horror as the cut on his cheek began to heal before my very eyes. The skin closing around the wound slowly, leaving no mark or sign it had ever been there at all. His head turned to stare at Bella and I saw something horrible in his eyes.
The rest of the men launched themselves forward, but not at Bella. At Paul.
Two grabbed his arms and began dragging him backwards, while one attempted to get himself between Bella and him. They began talking to him in hushed whispers while dragging him backwards. Away from Bella and I while Paul began to shake, practically vibrating in place.
I opened my eyes wide.
In a moment of horror, he exploded.
Where Paul once was, was now a wolf. Snarling as he launched himself at Bella.
In that instance, time seemed to slow down. I watched in morbid fascination as he seemed to freeze in mid air, no one moved. The way the wolf's muscles rippled, the way it bared its teeth.
I launched myself in front of Bella in hopes of offering some protection
Fear is a funny thing. It can motivate us to do things unknown by mankind. Stories of mothers being able to lift cars when loved ones are stuck beneath it, people being able to run at impossible speed when being chased, pain response shutting off completely in moment of adrenaline. I had thought that fear was a force of nature, that we had no control over how or when we felt it. Yet somehow I didn't feel fear as I looked at the wolf. I felt excitement.
"Paul!" a voice screamed from behind me as the silver wolf leapt. I didn't focus on the voice, I didn't focus on the wolf. I focused on my trembling hands, I focused on my beating heart. I focused on the slithery voice telling me in the back of my mind that I could kill should I want to.
Asking me if I wanted to.
the sound of feet hitting the earth drew my attention. My head snapped over to Leah just as she exploded into a wolf.
My wolf.
Sleek brown fur that shone in the sun. Its eyes were yellow, intelligent. Not the same intelligence I had originally assumed belonged to apex predator, but human. It was a wolf's body with a human brain. A time bomb.
Even as the wolf propelled itself towards me, I couldn't bring myself to raise a finger in harm towards it. I watched as it barreled towards me and all I could think was: 'I've been in this position before.'
But to my great surprise, Leah launched herself past me and instead, tackled the silver wolf, Paul. They both went down in a tangle of limbs.
Like yin and yang they twisted and moved so fast I couldn't even tell which wolf was which. Snarls rang it my ears like the chime of a bell.
I pressed a palm to my head as the static in my mind increased. Confusion and panic flew through my veins like water. The noise was loud.
That wolf, that brown wolf. That was Leah.
The wolf I had told all my secrets to, who I shared all my insecurities with had been laughing at me this whole time. She'd made a fool of me.
They struggled for a second before Paul managed to throw Leah away from himself, leaving skid marks in her wake. The silver wolf turned back to me and launched himself.
Yellow teeth and eyes. Silver fur. He was attacking me, did he think I was just going to stand there? If so, he was poorly mistaken.
It was when I looked Paul in the eyes that I snapped.
It set off something primal in me, something dark and slimy. Something better left in the dark corners of my mind where it belonged, but now it was dragged out by that thing. He's challenging. He's challenging me. Trying to denouncing me. Not knowing when enough is enough, like a disobedient dog nipping at his master's heels.
Needing to be reminded of his place at the foot of the world.
I feel frenzied. I feel like I'm about to burst at the seams, too massive for my own skin. The brightness is irritating. I wanted to put out the sun with my bare hands, I wanted to break the earth in half and see what was left in the middle. I wanted to skin this dog alive.
My hands curled into fists, my nails digging into my hands. Blood flew freely from my hand but I relished in the pain, it only added to my excitement.
It started off small. Rocks flew from every direction and began to stack on top of eachother.
A wall of stone built up in front of me from the ground up, pieces flying from all over the area to add itself to my defence like a pieces of a puzzle falling together.
My vision was cut off but I smiled viscously as a loud slam sounded out when Paul's meaty form hit my wall. Dust flew out, but that was as close as Paul got to touching me. I was untouchable.
I instinctively unclenched my hand and the solid form fell to the ground.
The blood from my palms hit the dirt beneath me in hollow arcs.
And then I'd realised what I'd done.
People can't do that, is the first thing my mind able to process. I grabbed my head In the grip of silent panic.
The logical part of my brain was engaged in a grappling match with the primal, violent part. They were fighting for control. The logical part of my brain didn't know what was happening or why. The primal part didn't care.
I whirled around to look at Bella and she simply stood there, mouth agape. Unmoving. She looked me in the eye and I saw fear, directed at me. The men all stood around, shock evident on their features as they stared at me. All eyes on the loose cannon.
A twig snapped and my head shot up, I saw the brown Wolf, Leah. Slowly walking towards me.
I backed away from her. I didn't want anyone to touch me, to talk to me. I don't want to be asked questions because I don't know.
Why were they staring at me? Why were they looking at me like they were waiting for me to implode? Why did I feel like this had happened before?
It seemed so serene, so familiar. When had this happened before?
Flashes of memories shot through my mind. And somehow, I knew these memories were mine and mine alone.
I saw corpses, I saw laughter, I saw people with red eyes and cold skin.
I stared at my hands. I took one hand and leant against an ancient oak, my fingertips gripping into the crevices that ran through the bark. My eyes came to rest on the pattern, chaotic like the cracks in parched summer earth. Under my shoes the golden leaves were as noisy as the static in my head. Nothing was making sense anymore, not even trees. Why was it all still here? I willed the world to dissolve around me, just to melt away.
My hands began to shake, as did the earth beneath my feet.
The rocks at my feet began to jump as the tectonic plates moved. The horrible rumble of the earth made it sound as if she were in pain.
I clasped my hands over my ears in a desperate attempt to stop the noise. The blood on my hand transfering to my face. My eyes were wild, pupils dilated, heart racing, brain on fire, mind synapses firing like a hyped up internal aurora borealis, like a cluster bomb exploding in my brain.
I heard yelling, I saw the boys grabbing each other and stumbling away from me. I saw Bella backing away, ever so careful. Couldn't they see I wasn't doing it on purpose?
The ground began to split, separating me and Bella from the men. The deep rumble of the earth sent shivers down my spine. I was like a fox released in a henhouse. Everyone but me fell back instinctively, moving away from the man made cavern.
I turned on my heel and booked it into the ever yearning forest stretched out before me, with one thought floating through my mind.
Just what exactly had I forgotten in that forest?
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Leah POV
"We were naive to assume that Vampires and werewolves were the only creatures out there, but how could we have expected this?" Sam said, his head in his hands.
The room was solemn. A long silence string across the pack as they sat in varying degrees of realization across Emily's dining room. They had seen the Calypso I knew; sitting in a field, picking flowers and telling stories. But they had met a side of her that terrified them, and now they didn't know what to do. I didn't have to phase to know what they were thinking; it's a werewolves job to protect everyone from threats. We had chosen to consider the vampires as that threat, but what if there's more to it? Is Calypso potentially a threat?
Based off of the way they were looking at me, yes, yes they considered her as one. But they also knew I would sooner kill Sam then let them hurt her. Which made me a threat.
So all in all, this is going swimmingly.
"Did you know about this, Bella." I asked her. Bella was looking down at her hands in confusion. She shook her head before snorting.
"No, but I probably should have expected it. First Vampires, then Werewolves, now I find out my best friends some sort of sorcerer?" she hugged her arms closer to her body. I knelt down next to her chair. Bella is important to my imprint, and therefore, she's important to me. I can't do anything to calm my imprint right now, but I can help Bella. Maybe that will be enough to calm the panic in my stomach.
"Typical." she snorts.
"She looked scared Bella," I said gently to her. Even though I knew my pack could hear me. "I don't think she knew what she was doing, she did it to protect you."
I sent a withering glare at Paul as I said that. He flinched slightly under my gaze, he knew how badly he fucked up.
"Look, Bella." Sam chimed in. "It's clear that Calypso cares about you, that much has been proven today. It's clear that we're going to need your help finding her."
Bella's head shot up and she glared at Sam.
"Find her? You want me to lead you to her so you can, what, blackmail her? Kill her? No way, I may not trust her right now, but I'd never betray her. She means too much to me."
I physically flinched at 'kill her'
I tried to close my eyes and take a deep breath. But the second my eyelids halted my line of sight all I could see was Calypso's green eyes going gold. Flashing dangerous and primal, a look I'd only ever seen in the eyes of my pack.
I could feel the tingle on my skin from the power she had given off. It had felt like standing too close to the sun, like I had grabbed onto a live wire. Everything had been so alive. Like the very air had been electric.
If I was being entirely honest? I don't think they could kill her if they tried. And the wolf inside me loved that. The human? Not so much.
"We don't have any intentions of hurting her, we just need to find her. It's not safe for her to be by herself. She's clearly confused and afraid, mixing that with powerful? then she becomes dangerous." Sam said defiantly, his Alpha aura kicking in as Bella questioned his authority. I smiled grimly as I saw something flash in Bella's eyes. Sam has no authority over her.
Bella stood up so quickly I almost missed it. "Dangerous? Dangerous?!" she practically spat in Sam's face. "You wanna know what's dangerous?! That-" she yelled, jabbing a finger at Paul. "-Ass turning into a goddamn Werewolf because I slapped him! And he provoked me! I don't see you policing him in the streets. Calypso had every right to do what she did, and now you want to guilt me into helping you find her?!"
She stomped to the door, Jacob made a move to stop her but Sam shot him a look that made him freeze. Stopping Bella now would only make things infinitely worse.
She wrenched the door open. "Fuck you." she spat. "Fuck you and your goddamn superiority complex, Calypso was fine until now." She began to step out before stopping. She tilted her head back. "-And I'll be stopping by to pick up her van at 10 tomorrow, I trust you can do that much?"
And with that, she slammed the door behind her.
We all sat in silence for a moment, out minds desperately trying to process what we had learned today. We all met each others eyes and I buried my face in my hands with a sigh.
I think Seth's soul left his body a little bit when the door opened again.
"Damn she looked pissed!" Quil exclaimed, kicking the door shut with his foot. He looked around the room and noticed the somber undertone. He set down the paper bag of groceries with a frown.
"What I miss?"