Chapter 117

I closed the door and turned back to my mom. She was leaning against the door frame with a look on her face that I couldn’t read. We went back to the bathroom, and she leaned in. “How am I supposed to stay here for four years and deal with that man after finding everything out?”

“I don’t know. But at least you have a good reason. You can hold this against him for a while.”

She nodded and then shut the water off. “I have to go downstairs and clean up.”

I grabbed her arm. “That can wait until tomorrow. Today has been a very long day.” I looked out the window, and the sun was starting to come up. “A very long day.” She nodded, and I noticed the bags under her eyes. “Let’s catch some sleep on my brand new bed, and we can try to figure everything out later today.” We crawled into the new bed, and I am thankful it was delivered and we made it up with fresh sheets last night before the whole pizza fiasco.

Within minutes, we were both out cold.

I was running through a forest I didn’t recognize. The trees were dark and stunning. A slightly familiar feeling fell over me as I ran around these giant trees. The trees were bigger than any I have seen before.

I searched for something, someone that could tell me where I was, but my feet were getting sucked into the damp mud.

“Where the fuck am I?”

“You know where you are, silly girl.” I turned and faced my dad’s grandmother.

“Grandma?”

“Yes, pup.” She wrapped her arm around my middle, and together we stepped over the soggy ground. Every step brought us deeper into the dark forest.

“Why are we in a forest?”

“This isn’t just any forest… this is the place where my family is from. The birth of our line is here, and there is something you need to see, I think.”

“Why?”

“It will help you understand where your power came from, and why the goddess of wolves would work with our power.” She pulled me deeper. The trees hung with vines, and the sweltering heat had sweat dripping down my back. “Come. See the birth of our line.”

We walked for a few minutes and I heard a scream. One of anguish and desolation.

“No. Bring him back.” The woman’s words were filled with sobs. “Bring him back.”

“What is going on?” I whispered to my grandmother.

“It is not for us to interfere, just witness.” She pulled me faster, and then we were running over the slippery ground. I stumbled over a root and landed on my hands and knees. My grandmother knelt next to me. “Watch.”

A young man was covered in bites, wolf bites from the looks of it, and the woman with flaming red hair bowed over his still body. The blood was dark and slow, giving the scene a deep sadness. “Bring him back,” she called out, and once again, there was no answer. “I have worshipped you for my entire life.” Her voice was filled with pain. "When the others turned from you, I stayed faithful.” She pushed her hands into the blood on the ground. She painted his blood on her face, down her arms. “I call on you, the three-faced goddess, save my son. I call on you old gods to save my line. We have been faithful, we have been dutiful, we have been strong in the face of the new gods.” She raised her hands in defiance. “Mother, save my son.”

The wind whipped around her and the moonlight fell onto the circle. The rocks that surrounded this place were staggered like steps. I turned to my grandmother with my mouth open and she put her finger to her lips.

“Maiden, I call on you to save my son. He is still so young, barely even old enough to be called a man.” Her voice grew louder. She painted his skin with runes that I had seen in my book.

“Mother, I call on you to save my son. He has been dutiful in his worship of you and will carry on our line.” She painted his lips with his own blood and a wolf crept in from the sides.

“Crone, I call on you to save my son. He will ensure our line worships you for centuries to come.” The woman, with tears coming down her face, called up to the moon. “Three-faced goddess, save my son.” The wind whipped, and she continued to bellow out. She raised her arms, and we watched as her son’s blood dripped down her arms. “Three-faced goddess, please save my son. Maiden, I call on thee. Mother, I call on thee. Crone I call on thee.” The lightning struck, and two women stepped out of the darkness. One with a face that shifted from young, motherly, and an old crone, and another followed by wolves.