AshesAndBlood

  Ashes & Blood

  Katie Zaber

  Published by Katie Zaber at Smashwords

  Ashes & Blood

  By

  Katie Zaber

  Copyright © 2020 Katie Zaber

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner.

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  For Aris

  Chapter One - Megan

  How the hell did that tree get here?

  Everyone stands slack-jawed, staring at the anomaly. The four of us practically walked into the damn tree because we were too busy chatting. We would never expect a surprise tree on a well-traveled trail on the way to our normal picnic spot. We were anticipating a calm fall afternoon by the lake in the woods behind Dana’s tiny house until out of nowhere an abnormal tree blocks the path.

  The surrounding community has used these trails for years. Tons of people jog or walk their dogs, and kids play in the park. The township paves or gravels most of the trails encompassing the neighborhood. So how did this humongous, discolored tree grow here, and no one noticed?

  “Shit. That… it doesn’t belong here.” Dana’s sea-green eyes bulge out of her head. “Where did it come from?”

  No shit, Sherlock. It’s a beautiful and bizarre combination of a tall ponderosa pine and a mangrove that doesn’t belong here or anywhere. Its long limbs stretch from the trunk, with crimson pine needles as long as my forearm. Gigantic roots, similar to those of a mangrove tree, twist from the base of the tree, which is level with my head, spiraling and burrowing deep into the soil, as if it has been there for decades, even centuries. Jade-green bark, not the color but the stone, covers the wood in a tie-dye fashion. Shades of green swirl, ranging from cream to black. Too big to wrap my arms around, though perhaps six people could. Translucent, mossy spiderwebs cling to the jade surface from its roots and climb up, until they vanish into the crimson red canopy.

  Wearing quizzical expressions, we approach the oddity.

  “So weird. How’d it get here?” I ask. We had gone for a hike three weeks ago and there wasn’t a massive tree here. This makes zero sense. Trees don’t appear overnight.

  “Screw this. I’m heading back to Dana’s. I’m going to order a pizza and watch a movie. Let someone else deal with this weird tree.” Ciara turns around, tight fiery curls bouncing against her back.

  “Wait!” Sarah shouts. “How did this tree get here?” Mumbling, with her hands and knees on the ground, she inspects the translucent moss. Sarah’s fair complexion against the spiderweb moss makes her short onyx hair darker, lips deeper red, skin paler, even ghostly. She’s a modern-day Snow White, though if someone called her that, she’d punch them square in the face.

  “Where the hell did it come from?” She circles the tree, walks to the other side, and gasps. “Damn… Megan, Dana, Ciara, you guys, you need to see this.”

  Sarah never sounds uncertain. It gives me chills to hear the distinct change in her voice. I can’t classify the tone. Not fear, more like panic. Doubtful, as if she can’t trust her eyes.

  Neither can I.

  After two steps around the tree, I find an explosion of foreign foliage. Different shades of dark-green branches and roots zigzag across the landscape. Roots intertwine, snaking across the forest floor. They’re impenetrable unless you climb through the labyrinth; they make a trek through the Amazon appear easy. The average root is ten to twenty feet long and as round as me, if not bigger. Brown vines dangling off limbs give the forest a more jungle aesthetic. Odd-colored, tall, slender palm trees stick out among the giants competing for the sun. Plum-purple, blue, and orange leaves crown their tops. They resemble palm trees, but I can’t see if fruit or coconuts grow at top. I need binoculars.

  “What the hell?” Dana utters as she and Ciara join us. They stand frozen in shock by the forest’s transformation into something exotic. “This isn’t right. We need to bring a scientist or a ranger here. Where did they come from?” Dana rubs her hand on the jade bark and then pulls back. “Hope it’s not poisonous.”

  Ciara cracks her knuckles. She’s ten seconds away from a complete meltdown. “I’m going back. I’m not messing with anything potentially poisonous today. I’ll be on the couch watching TV.” She marches back toward Dana’s tiny home without waiting for a reply. I’m surprised she turned around at all.

  I’m curious, but I agree with Ciara. I would rather relax than deal with this. “Wait! We’re coming. Come on, Sarah. Let’s go. We’ll bring experts here; it could be dangerous.”

  “Ciara, wait up!” Dana shouts after her.

  Sarah begrudgingly gets up after I yank on her arm. We follow Dana around the tree to catch up with Ciara, but she’s nowhere in sight. The trail doesn’t bend, it’s an overall straight walk, but things are different. The trees aren’t green like the jade jungle, but the foliage is odd. Shrubs and flowers replace the paved trail we just walked. Not alien, but unlike the normal vegetation in this environment, more tropical. Orange pitcher plants hang overhead from lime-green vines. Corpse flowers grow among bushes and ferns. Or they’re similar to corpse flowers except smaller and neon purple. Once, I saw a corpse flower bloom on display. It smelled horrible, like rotting meat. These don’t have a pungent smell. It’s fruitier, but I’m unsure what to compare it to.

  Bugs buzz from flower to flower, attracted by the aromas. I can’t call them bees. Shaped similar to dragonflies, they flap iridescent wings, creating a blur of color on either side of their tawny bodies.

  In seconds, the forest rearranges itself before our eyes into a vibrant jungle.

  “Ciara!”

  My stomach lurches as realization sets in. Anxious, we scream her name. We race in the direction she went, hoping to hear or find her. We left the damn tree a minute after her, two, tops. By running, we should have caught up. We need to follow a footprint, or some sort of trail, but there is nothing. There’s too much brush covering the ground. We can only hope she made it safely back to the house. If she didn’t, she’s in serious trouble. I can’t help but worry more, remembering she has no food or water. We have both packs.

  “She has her phone. I’ll call her.” Sarah’s milk chocolate eyes double in size as she attempts to dial. “No bars, no signal, nothing. What about you?”

  Dana checks. “Nothing. No signal.”

  I shrug. I left mine at Dana’s house, figuring that as long as someone else brought a phone, we’d be fine. We never needed to call for help before, we usually use our phones by the lake for selfies and music. I honestly hate cell phones. I’d rather go back to beepers and pay phones and disconnect from everyone.

  “The trees don’t look normal. They look different. We came from this direction. My house should be there.” Dana points to a clump of trees that should be her backyard, but they’re all covered with dark blue bark topped with orange palm leaves. Not her home. “I know the woods by my house, and this isn’t them. There should be a trail here. There… there�
��s nothing. Nothing but weird alien trees. What’s happening? Where are we?” she asks, glaring at the trees and pacing back and forth, twirling a stray strand of blonde hair around her finger. It is how she reacts when anxious, which doesn’t happen often.

  Letting out a heavy sigh, my brain races while struggling to think straight. So many questions without answers. So many worries, multiple fears. We are surrounded by a forest that continues to morph in front of our eyes. It makes me think we are tripping on something we inhaled while walking. Nagging me is the fact we wouldn’t have the same hallucinations. None of us sound incoherent or slur our words. No one’s laughing, so if this is a trip, it’s a bad one. The trees should be normal. Instead, they changed to look otherworldly. Nothing should have changed. I swear that every time I blink, there’s more transformation, more alien trees littering the horizon in place of pine trees.

  Stunning, yet terrifying.

  “How the hell is it getting dark? We left your house around one, and we’ve been out for a half hour. We should be in your parents’ development, if not your backyard. Where are the houses?” Sarah asks.

  Shaking my head, I say, “We have to find Ciara. If we can’t find our way back, I doubt she did. She doesn’t have food or water. We need to regroup, make a plan. Keep checking your phones, we have to get a signal somewhere. We haven’t left Pennsylvania. There’s always a signal.”

  Panic takes over us as we scream Ciara’s name louder and louder.

  Seconds later, we hear a shriek.

  Dana yells, “There!” She charges in the general direction of Ciara’s cry.

  Sarah and I chase after her. It’s beyond difficult. For some unknown reason, it’s getting dark, and the dense forest filters any light from reaching the ground. We’re trying to get to Ciara as fast as possible, but I’m worried one of us will twist or break an ankle on a gnarly root sticking out of the ground. The smaller roots weave in and out of the dirt; they hide in between rocks and leaves like slithering snakes waiting in ambush to trip their victims.

  At least these aren’t as big as the other roots. These roots are more navigable, the jade jungle resembling a never-ending maze. A couple of larger roots in our way force us to climb up and over, coating our hands in the sticky-spiderweb substance covering the trees. I hope it’s spiderwebs or moss, nothing poisonous. It’s an obstacle course testing each of our endurances, a race to where Ciara cries for help. How’d she make it there so fast? The forest must have changed after she walked through. It’s the only explanation for why she got so far ahead. She’s the least athletic of us.

  My personal verdict is that I need to work out more. It’s bad to be out of breath and panting while Sarah flies past me with ease. She works out and does parkour when not studying law or working. She is as nimble as an acrobat. It makes me feel better that Dana is struggling like me. None of us slow down. We’re determined to reach Ciara in time to save her. Even if it kills us.

  “Help! Someone! Please!” Her screams are growing closer, becoming more frantic.

  It’s probably a bear. They stay away and avoid humans so it’s unlikely, but I can’t think of anything else that would make her scream, besides getting attacked by someone. Shit. I almost trip over a dead tree branch. I’m not paying close attention to where my feet land. My mind is racing, distracting me. However, the branch could be useful to hit whatever or whoever is attacking her. It’s as thick as my forearm. Grabbing it, I hurry to catch up with Dana, running until we enter a small clearing.

  Ciara stands with her back against a purple-leafed palm tree. Beads of sweat pour down her round face, her body trembles, and she’s cracking her knuckles. She stops twisting her fingers and slowly points to the right of us. Cautiously, I turn my head to where she points, growing more fearful by the second. What could possibly have her this horrified, causing her to shake in pure terror?

  Only thirty feet away from us is an elephant-sized black panther with no eyes. It stalks, hidden in the shadow of a tree, staring directly at us. I can sense its gaze, but it has no visible eyes or they don’t reflect, possibly camouflaged by its coat. My skin covers in goose bumps, the kind you get when someone stares, wanting something from you. Pacing below a tree, not daring to close the gap between us, it threatens us with massive teeth, snapping its jaws. I think it’s because the last bit of daylight streams into the glade, past the dense forest canopy. Maybe it has tiny, sensitive eyes and light hurts. It’s worth a try because it’s a huge monster and we’re virtually defenseless.

  Voice shaky, barely a whisper, Ciara squeaks, “They’re everywhere. We’re going to die.”

  Her body quivers, tears trickle past her cheeks. Her red curly hair is a tangled mess as if she was chased, forced to run through everything in her path. Scratches cover her freckled face and arms from rushing through the jungle. It had to be branches or roots that clawed her, if a monster did, she wouldn’t be standing.

  Looking around now, I can recognize the shape of the elephant-sized black panthers. They blend into the shadows, backs arched, waiting to pounce.

  They are the nightmarish monsters that haunt little kids’ dreams. The thing that hides under your bed and inside your closet. Mutated, eye-less panther-elephants with T-Rex teeth is the only way to describe the beasts surrounding our helpless group. Their coats become one with the shadows and it’s impossible to tell how many surround us, or their size. It’s impossible when all you see is blackness hidden among shadows, with sporadic flashes of big white teeth.

  “I think they hate light,” I whisper. “Move into the clearing, stand back to back. Turn on the flashlight on your phones, and aim for their heads. Be loud. Make them think we are bigger.” That’s the best idea I’ve got, but I think Ciara’s right: We’re going to die. The sun is setting, and daylight is fading.

  Nobody comes up with another plan or argues, so in seconds we’re standing back to back in a circle. We wait for what feels like an eternity—most likely only a couple moments—for something to happen. A nervous tremor goes through our group at the thought of being eaten alive. Not the way I pictured my death, not even close. I only hope they hate light or bite my head off clean.

  A couple seconds gives you so much time to think. So many thoughts rush in and out. I will die. No one will know what happened. They will think we went missing. No one will believe what happened, nobody will know. What is happening? Is this real? Is this a dream? My mother will die without me. My sister is all she has left. Chelsea won’t check in on Mom or help. I will never see them again. No one will see me again. If God exists, this is a sick joke. How can God’s almighty plan include me being eaten alive by something that doesn’t exist?

  Images bombard me, thoughts flood my mind, making me shiver and cry. Thinking of my childhood family, not the fractured remains. Before Aunt Karen and my cousin Emily moved away, brokenhearted over my older cousin Kevin’s disappearance. Before Mom became an alcoholic, before my sister Chelsea turned into a cold and heartless bitch. Back to the time when Dad was still alive. Birthday parties, picnics, beach days, camping trips, long days spent in the sun as a family. Every happy moment right up to my dad’s funeral. It’s true: Moments before you die, your life flashes before your eyes—at least the good parts.

  “They’re coming.” Sarah gestures to a monster, ripping me from my thoughts back to reality.

  Maybe.

  Hissing, it takes one step at a time, creeping into the glade. But it doesn’t sound like a snake. It’s unlike any animal I have ever heard. It sounds more like a gurgle than a hiss, but a threatening gurgle, intense and loud.

  Bright blue birds with long, icy-blue ribbons sprouting from their heads explode from the surrounding treetops. They know something is for dinner. They aren’t sticking around to find out what. Icy blue ribbons sway in the breeze as the exotic birds fly away in retreat.

  Its next step makes the beast shriek. It flips over, flailing, onto its back, its mouth twisting in pain from the flashlight on Dana’s phone. I
t hates the light. The other beasts gurgle until the noise becomes overwhelming. It sounds like a train tearing through the forest. They attempt to get closer, but as soon as they step near the light, it causes the same reaction.

  The light works but there’s too many, and it’s dusk, prompting more beasts to venture from the shadows. The one time my life depends on a phone. Figures. A beast staggers toward me, noticing my lack of light. I’m the weakest of the four, defenseless without a flashlight. I need my stick to impale the monster, angle it to inflict the most damage. I realize there’s little chance my dead branch will break its skin before being snapped into pieces, but it’s my only chance.

  The beast bares sharp, jagged teeth. Its throat must be right under the jaw. All animals have vital veins running through their neck, my target. I aim and wait for it to pounce. The predator charges, staring at me from its hidden eyes. It knows it can kill me—well, we both do. I stand, braced by rage, mentally crossing my fingers that my ferocity will be enough to get out of this situation and live another day.

  My stick hits my target, making the beast shrill. The impact knocks me backward into Sarah. She doesn’t falter, her feet are firmly planted. Blood and saliva foam at the monster’s mouth. Even though no eyes are visible, I can feel the ferociousness emanating from its glare. The strike wasn’t a death blow by any means. I think the stick went into the jaw. I aimed too high. The hunter didn’t expect to get hurt, but now it knows there’s a weapon in my hands and it’s pissed. At least my stick didn’t break.

  We scream at the top of our lungs, trying to sound louder to intimidate them. Our anger and frustrations echo off the trees. Fury replaces fear as we fight to stay alive.

  The one I hit circles around into a better position to strike. Mouth snarling, its white fangs drip dark with blood. If it gets me, there will be a side open to attack and then they will kill us. Ciara was right.