Page 49 of Nightshade

I didn’t dare look over my shoulder, for fear of the distance it’d already gained on me.

A sharp, needling pain swiped at my calves.

A hoarse scream flew past my lips.

Thickets of brush wrapped around my ankles, and I face-planted the prickly sponge of branches.

Something black swooped past me, and my stomach lurched with terror. A horrible screech echoed from behind. Too many sights and sounds coming at me from all directions, I didn’t know which one posed the greater threat.

Scrambling free from my ligneous binds, I forced one more burst of speed from my legs and stumbled out onto a dirt road, into the path of a black horse that reared up over me. Startled myself, I teetered backward, falling onto the base of my spine, which sent a jolt of pain across my back.

Shielding my face was all I could do before chunky hooves slammed into the gravel at either side of me.

I scooted backward to avoid a horrible trampling, only to find a carriage at the beast’s rear. The startled expression of an older woman stared down at me, her graying hair tucked beneath a multi-colored scarf.

“Whatever are you doing out here, child! You nearly got trampled!”

Body still trembling, I glanced around me, searching for the red eyes.

“S-s-something … is chasing me,” My whisper arrived as a broken rasp. Didn’t sound at all like my voice, as if I had marbles stuffed in my cheeks. “An animal.”

“Hmmm. An animal, you say.”

A cold drop of water hit my arm, and I tipped my head back toward the mist of rain that’d begun to fall around me.

“Well, I can’t let you stay out here in the cold and rain. Where is your home?”

Home.

Another glance up toward the dark sky, and remnants of memory flickered through my head. Falling. Heavy. So heavy.

“I don’t …. I can’t remember.”

“You’re not from around here, then?”

“No. I, um … I think I’m lost.”

“Oh, you poor thing. Come. At least get out of the rain.” She flicked her fingers, reaching out for me, and I took her hand, climbing up onto the carriage, where the overhang kept the rain off my skin. Once aboard, she lifted a folded blanket from the bench beside her, and the moment she wrapped it around my shoulders, the warmth of it settled into my bones. I closed my eyes, breathing through my nose to settle the shivers still wracking me.

“What’s your name, dear?” The woman gave one sharp flick of the reins and set the horse into motion again. Its hooves clicked along the dirt as we put a small bit of distance between me and the woods.

My name. What was my name? Surely, I could remember it.

Yes, of course I remembered.

“Farryn. Farryn Ravenshaw.”

“Farryn? What a pretty name. Mine’s Anya.” Lifting her nose into the air, she paused, nostrils flaring, as if she smelled something. She leaned toward me, sniffing, the sight of which sent a new chill through me. “My, you have an unusual scent. I can’t place what it might be.” Sniffing again, she frowned. “Sort of hits the back of the throat.”

“Bad?” My jaw was so cold and stiff, I could hardly push out the words.

“No, no. Just … unusual, is all. Oddly comforting. Of course, I’ve always fancied the smell of skunks, as well.”

Teeth chattering, I exhaled a shuddering breath. “Where … am I … exactly?”

“This is the historical Stygian Falls. We just left the Misty Hollow Forest.”

Everything sounded like something out of a fairytale. One I swore I’d read before.