Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109099 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Looking around to be sure no one else was in the parking lot, I slipped out of the minivan, locked it, and pocketed the keys. The fresh air gusting up from the forest below me did help to cool the burning. I heaved a sigh of relief and took a deep breath of night air.
And that was when I smelled it—a whiff of the most heavenly, delicious scent I had ever smelled. It was like fresh strawberries and vanilla custard and warm cinnamon all mixed together. It made my mouth water but it did something else too—it gave me the strangest feeling of déjà vu.
They say that scent is strongly linked to memory but I had no memory of dancing lights in the trees…or did I? I stared at the blinking, twinkling sparks that were still visible, winking in and out between the dark shadows of the forest. What was going on down there? I had to find out.
This is a bad idea, Lily, I told myself, even as I left the parking area and walked down the sloping field that led to the forest. You shouldn’t go into the woods at night! There could be bears or snakes or something even worse. What if it’s some kind of serial killer, trying to lure prey down into the forest? Or what if it’s some kind of Satanic ritual or cult activity?
But no warning I gave myself could compete with that tantalizing aroma. It seemed to pull me onward, teasing me with memories I could almost catch. It reminded me of being a little girl and wading in the creek behind our house. There were tiny, bright silver fish that lived in the chilly water that I always tried to catch—only they always slipped through my fingers. That was what the memories were like—bright flashes I could almost but not quite catch and remember.
I barely noticed it when I crossed from the field into the forest. The lights were getting brighter—closer—though I couldn’t see what was making them. And the scent was getting stronger.
Not only that, but I could hear music now—beautiful, otherworldly melodies played in a minor key that teased my ears and brought tears to my eyes along with an intense sense of longing. I needed to be where that music was being played.
I didn’t know what musical instrument was making those enchanted sounds—I thought it was some kind of flute. But it was accompanied by the low, steady beat of drums. I found that without even trying, my feet had fallen into the same rhythm, stepping in time to the beat almost as though I was dancing. And all the time, my birthmark kept tingling and the scent kept drawing me onward.
At last the lights got closer and I saw that they were fireflies of some kind. They were flying all around a large clearing—a clearing filled with people. But not just any ordinary people—this wasn’t a bunch of hunters sitting around a camp fire or a cult practicing rituals. In fact, they weren’t even human—at least, I didn’t think they were.
Most of them had skin tones that ranged from pale silver to dark platinum, though there were a few variations in color. One big guy in particular seemed to have a sage green tint to his platinum skin—it was easy to see since his muscular arms were bare.
These people had hair that was pure white, (though the guy with greenish skin had black hair,) and their ears were long and pointed at the tips. Their eyes…I shook my head and rubbed my own eyes as I stared at them.
Their eyes were glowing just like the fireflies zipping around. I saw all different colors, from neon blue to pale green to gold to silver—all of them glowing softly in their dark faces like miniature moons.
And speaking of their faces, they almost all had sharp, delicate features that were too beautiful to be human. From their long, pointed ears to their wide, glowing eyes, they were the most gorgeous people I had ever seen. Seriously, the plainest of them would make even the prettiest Instagram model look like a troll.
When I managed to tear my gaze from their faces, I noticed their clothes. Long, flowing robes for the men and gauzy, nearly see-through dresses for the women seemed to be the order of the day—although the guy with sage green skin tones was wearing a metal breast plate with carvings on it. He looked bigger and stronger than the others—and since they were all extremely tall, that was saying something.
I stared at them in wonder. They looked a little like two people I had met once, back in college, before Christopher and I had gotten together. It had been in Harry’s Bar—a place a lot of college students hung out. The man had grayish- silver skin, I remembered, and the woman was pale with long, blue hair. The two of them had saved me from some guys who drugged my drink and tried to drag me off to do unspeakable things.