That was when she heard a snap.
She held her breath.
She wasn't alone.
She looked up from her sketchbook and watched wide-eyed as the strange obstruction of light moved, something's head snapped down to look at a broken branch beneath its….feet.
It's invisible….transparent…feet….?!
Don't freak out, don't you freak out. don't you fucking freak out? Dontyoufuckingfreakthefuckoutdontyoufreakthe—- She screamed inside her head a million times.
She was definitely freaking the fuck out.
It's a fucking ghost! She screamed internally.
It was like the Xbox Kinect scene from Paranormal Activity where the green stick man in the living room appears out of nowhere and starts breakdancing.
Its 'head' snapped back up to look at her.
And boy did it have a huge melon on its shoulders
Oh, Jesus
She could begin to see a full form of an outline, —or apparition— of a huge humanoid figure.
Is this why it was banned to go off-trail?
Did something die out here?
That's when it clicked. She was at the top of a cliff, by a huge waterfall.
Maybe it was a murder-suicide?
Why was he so damn huge though?
He? She paused. Yes, 'he' —it looked male, and for an invisible dude, he was huge— it had very apparent muscle mass on its arms and legs. It was barely visible but she could still see him. She wished she didn't. Maybe if she couldn't he'd go away.
Usually in horror-ghost movies if you ignored the ghost it would go away.
Wait no—that's a lie, in Paranormal Activity 3 the ghost got mad and became violent.
But that was just a movie, wasn't it? It wasn't real. Maybe this wasn't real either. Dehydrated and tired, maybe she fell asleep without knowing.
She wouldn't dare pinch herself in his presence to check.
She tried to look past him,
Maybe if I didn't move, he would move on and walk away.
What if he decides to haunt me? Is that possible?
She blinked and watched him from her peripheral vision. He stood completely still and he was staring directly and completely at her. Her mind raced. What should she do? What could she do?
It began to emanate a sound and she flinched.
Clicking…and growling?
Was it trying to talk? Was it trying to talk to her?
She didn't look at him but she could see in her peripheral it lean forward and turn its head slowly to the side, as it did thick strands of nothing came falling off its shoulders.
Hair— she observed— He has hair, and quite long too.
Who was this thing?
There was something else now. The light of nothing flickering across the apparition quite frantically until abruptly it began to faze out into something else, she watched as its body was becoming slowly more opaque, the invisible light that made him transparent shifting around his body like a lava lamp.
His feet and legs became visible and she could see scales and armor then up towards his thighs—which were massive, and muscular— and…green?!
His whole body was different shades of greens, tans, and an encasing of dark brown or black flesh patterned across his skin
Like a leopard but…not exactly. The lighter colors were more toward the insides of its body, like an animal.
Not just any animal; He looked like a beast,
A Predator
Damn, was he Fergie's witness?
The light seemed to weaken over his chest and it became visible. A platinum silver color disrupts her eyes from focusing on the scaley skin underneath. It was intricate, it looked both old and new— like something you'd see out of the renaissance, paired with something entirely out of this world. The artist in her couldn't ignore the soft adoration for how the silver color reflected off the metal chest piece against its tough skin. What it was and what it was there for, she didn't know. It didn't matter. She was transfixed in equal parts awe and fear
What was that called again,…. Rembrandt lighting?
No— that's not it.
She remembered studying Rembrandt lighting back at the start of the semester. Rembrandt lighting was when was teaching about contrast. Rembrandt lighting was when an amount hit a specific amount of the body— most particularly the face and casting light across shadows.
At least that's how she thought of describing it, it's not like she could check her phone now.
But she remembered the project where he had students take a picture in a dark room in front of the window—the light source— and take a picture of themselves with the light being cast on them. One thing in common would be the triangle of light on everyone's cheek from the side farthest from the window, the light pooling over from the window side.
This wasn't that, but the green of the inside of his pale tan belly had the silver gleam bouncing off its armor majestically.
Armor—? Was he wearing armor? She was looking at him now, fully entranced, watching for where the invisible light would suddenly glitch and reveal another piece of its body.
She wished desperately to know what that specific effect was called. If she ever made it back down, she'd have to ask Professor Trysander, despite it being a photography term—she thinks— Art and Photography went hand and hand being one in the same coin of artistic expression.
Dammit, what was that called? She focused intently, trying to pull the word or phrase up to the forefront of her brain so she could find it and understand.
Another growl.
She snaps her head back up at the creature, she didn't even realize she had stopped looking at it to search her brain for answers. But then she had gotten struck with the piercing glow of amber. The invisible light had lessened and a chunk of its face was in full clear view
It's eyes. Her mouth gaped open when she s them, she fought the urge to lean forward for a closer look.
Piercing Amber fought her psyche as she tried not to stare directly into them. They were so violently opaque, bright, and wonderful. But the yellowish orange was not all that decorated his irises. Specks of brown from all over seemed speckles in like gold flakes, pulling into the eyes and drawing out more specs of different colors. It was like staring into the heart of Autumn.
It was like staring at an ancient god. A diety of earth and flame. They flickered back and forth, at her
'At me,' she blinked in astonishment, heart rate accelerating. The fear had seemed to come back with a rush of anxiety. Her body shook under his piercing stare of the tall ancient beast, it didn't feel ancient, whatever it was have been around for a long time, but its eyes looked young in a way. Like her own. The mixed emotions controlled her body, the shakes subsided as awe set back in strong waves. It almost hurt, the constant switch between fear and wonder until it combined back into a gentle mix of both.
There was another sound—somewhere in the distance. Its head snapped in the direction of the sound and the mesmerized Cassandra snapped her head in the same direction, a chain reaction. Something freed her from his powerful stare. She stared out into the forest beside them. The sounds of nature and the waterfall was diminished, replaced by silence after the sound rang out.
It was unrecognizable. Another sound, this time closer, right in front of her.
She gasped and snapped her head back to look at the creature, man, beast, or god.
But it was gone. He too had been replaced with the sound of silence.
Its eyes burned themselves into her own retinas. They stayed in her mind for the next few minutes. Letting her heart rate return to normal, and the involuntary shake of her shoulders subside until one this was left, growing in intensity.
Wonder.
—-
A/N
a novella of the upcoming events in chapter nine; Bind.
this was originally going to be a rewrite for chapter 4 but it felt a bit too far behind. I wanted their interactions and their perspectives to be closer together so you can see just what the two characters are thinking and feeling without having to go back four chapters to reread it. Chapter 4 will be given an updated snippet though so the readers can still be freshly teased about their meeting and soon-to-be budding relationship.
hopelessly romantic,
author chan~
xoxo
