Page 48 of Solivagant

What happened?

Did he do this? No. Cared for. He protected.

He is Jem.

24

JOSIAH

I opened my eyes to a busted ceiling, with wood cracked and overtaken by vines.

I was in the house again. Only this time, instead of waking up standing, I was lying on my back on the busted bed frame. I’d been in this room earlier, I’d seen the state of the bed. All the fabric had completely decomposed, leaving nothing but rusted metal springs behind. But it was different now. Soft. I sat up slowly, turning to examine the pile of grass, hay, and chamomile flowers where the mattress had once been.

What happened?

The fabric of my shirt was completely shredded, the piglet missing. The beast. Had it eaten her? Why hadn’t it eaten me?

I raised my hand up to the back of my head. I knew I’d hit it hard enough to knock myself out, and expected to find some kind of bump or cut as evidence. But there was nothing. No wound, no soreness.

Had I dreamed the whole thing?

No.

The bed frame creaked as I stood.

I listened for any sign of the creature that had attacked me, or anything else. I heard nothing.

All was still and quiet. I opened the door slowly, expecting to see something waiting for me outside. Nothing.

My knife was thankfully still in its sheath. I pulled it out, clasped it firmly, and rushed through the overgrown field. My senses were all on high alert, expecting whatever it was that stopped me last time to find me again. I just had to get over the wall. If I could do that, I was fairly confident that whatever lived here wouldn’t be able to able to follow me.

Stay.

No.

I pushed through branches and jumped over fallen trees until the wall came into view.

That same familiar weight settled over me again. The eyes of a predator.

It had found me.

I shoved the knife between my teeth as I launched for the wall.

That growl rippled through the air in warning, but I kept climbing.

Ice ran down my spine as a very large hand wrapped around my ankle. Then it pulled. I lost my grip on the stone, slid down to the ground again, and barely managed to remain on my feet.

Okay, fucker.

No more fucking games.

I grabbed the knife and spun around to face the beast.

I’d known before seeing it that it had to be something I’d never encountered before. I was right. I had no idea what I was looking at. But I hadn’t expected the sheer size of it.

Bigger than any bear I’d ever seen, all black with thick fur covering most of its body, besides its face, hands, and feet. Its eyes were pure red, with no pupils. Tall, dark horns curved back from the top of its head. And long, damaged ears drooped on either side of its head. Its mouth was full of sharp gray teeth, with two tusks protruding from its bottom jaw as it huffed warm air that only made my skin feel colder.

Red lines streaked down black cheeks like bloodied tears, and similar markings from its lips down its chin, until they disappeared into the thick fur at its neck. In the center of its forehead was a symbol like a vertical eye with a golden dot in the center.