Crescent Pine

Rory Martin was wondering why ever since she started her path into Crescent Pine Woods. She was shivering in her black cloak looking up into the night sky, the stars misguiding her on her way to the little cabin that sat near the edge of the forest. As many times as she had visited her grandmother, following the same path, she was now completely lost.

Two years ago when Rory was eighteen she got a letter from a town ten miles from the forest, it had the nearest post stop after all. Rory's grandmother had passed away from old age peacefully in her sleep. A few townies started to worry when ole Ruth didn't come by to deliver her incredible homemade pies for a couple of weeks. She was an elderly woman who'd walk to the bus stop every Friday to share her excess of baked goods.

Ruth was kind and charitable, but never lonely despite being alone. She loved to give and she had her entire life, so it wasn't a surprise to Rory when a lawyer contacted her about her grandmother's will. Rory was her only grandchild, her daughter (Rory's mother) passed after giving birth to her and her son-in-law went around the time Rory turned twelve, from an unknown illness.

After her father's passing Rory was raised by her aunt (her dad's sister) who turned out to be awful, she only pretended to like Rory during her brother's life, but she actually despised her and her mother. Ruth fought in court to become the permanent guardian after hearing from Rory of her mistreatment during her visits.

Eventually the evil aunt won and with her win she gained a check. She would spend a quarter of it on Rory to make it seem as if she cared, especially around others. It wasn't a horrible experience overall, she wasn't beaten or ever yelled at. Rory basically did everything for herself, cooking, cleaning her room which her aunt was thankful for (because she definitely wasn't going to it).

She ate adequate meals, wore decent clothes, had a great education, and all the freedom that a girl could ask for. But inside Rory harbored a small speck of hate for her aunt for being so lax, not encouraging her or trying to teach any morals, leaving her alone for weeks on end so she could party with her friends in Vegas.

When the will came everything changed including Rory's aunt. Rory was given all of her grandmother's monetary assets and the only piece of land that she had left, her cabin in Crescent Pine. It brought back warm memories of running out into the sun and playing hide and seek behind the cabin, watching the wind blow the pine in the air coating it in the needles' scent, watching the sunset from inside as Ruth baked snickerdoodles and shared stories about creatures coming from the woods at night.

Of course the stories weren't actually all fiction, this was something Rory personally looked into when she went home once after visiting her grandmother. She was nine and went to the library and internet for information on the supernatural. Sometimes Rory felt a chill at night even with all the windows closed, other times she'd hear whooshing noises that couldn't possibly be any of the woodland critters that roamed Crescent Pine.

One night around midnight Rory can remember waking up, because she had a nightmare. When she got up she was about to head to her grandmother's room, only to discover her at the front door. She hid in the hallway and poked her head out to see her grandmother opening the door and waving her hand violently shouting "Stay away, stay, tomorrow." Rory remembered Ruth saying tomorrow in a quick pace and recognized the worry in her voice.

For a minute Ruth stood there, during that time Rory peeked again to get a better view, but only caught the glimpse of large yellow eyes that vanished as soon as she saw them. When she saw her grandmother closing the door she crept down the hall back into her room wondering what she had seen.

Rory had never seen any supernatural creatures in that forest, but she believed that they were there and for some reason her grandmother had a connection to them. There was a small note at the end of the will for Rory to go to the cabin whenever she felt ready and there she'd receive her final gift.

And Rory was curious, but instead of jumping toward the cabin she mulled over what she wanted to do now that she had money to take care of her, college, what she wanted her future to be. It took her two years to figure out that everything(: jobs, friends, guys, money, and school) would have to wait until she opened this gift.

Rory packed for the trip and bought any other essentials for the stay such as groceries from the nearby town. She arrived around the time the sun was setting. The people there greeted her warmly and told her that she'd have to wait until morning before setting off into the woods, recently there had been people disappearing, two to three times a week. They were trying to get the state police involved, but they were being jerked around.

Weighing her options Rory chose to go warning or not, because when curiosity tugged at her heart strings, she would often let herself be pulled by it. Yes, it was scary thinking that someone or something could be kidnapping people or worse: killing them. But for some reason Rory felt something pushing her to the cabin towards whatever Ruth left her.

She carried two bags in her hand, one was black felt holding the groceries, the other was everything she needed to stay from two weeks to a month. Now all she had to do was remember where the path was, it was a short cut to the cabin and took only twenty minutes to walk to.

But the path she took led her astray and now she was looking up at the stars, watching them glare her with uncertainty as she tried to think on which way to go. It was very dark, but the moon's light shone on parts of the forest illuminating certain spots.

Rory leaned against the tree and felt the bark, there were markings on one of the trees somewhere. The tree with the markings would lead her straight to her destination and that gave her a little relief. She pulled the hood of the cloak down further, whatever lived there could be dangerous, and she wanted to stay in the background of it all.

So she began to walk again stopping at a few trees that she could see, feeling the hide. Then the feeling came again, the coolness that she felt when she was a child, it pricked her skin as the wind started to howl against the tree tops.

Then the sound of whistling came and Rory's breath was slowly fading, she felt as if she were suffocating, her skin crawled with angst as the whistling became louder and closer. On instinct Rory dropped her bags and ran right behind a large pine tree to catch her breath feeling her heart pounding, it was the only sound that was louder than whistling.

Rory exhaled deeply before waiting for the sound the pass, it came closer and closer, creeping upon her and then it ceased altogether. But Rory did not feel relief, she'd seen horror movies, scary movies, and she knew she had been caught. With nowhere to run she froze for a few minutes and slowly emerged from her hiding spot. The forest clearing was vacant and chill gone in an instant.

At least that was until she felt her shoulder ice over, she turned to see a pale face, paler than hers. "Boo."

The man was tall, with hair that blended into the night sky, and crimson eyes that would not leave her. His body was tall and lean in a jet black outfit that Rory had no intention in making out.

Rory cleared her throat, trying to excuse her fear "Um, would you happen to know which way the little wood cabin is?"

The man's mouth spread into a thin smile "Yes, I can show you where." He held out his hand and in the light she could see it was closed in an ivory glove.

Rory shook her head and backed away one step "That's alright."

"I insist, a girl shouldn't be wandering the woods at this time of night. Wouldn't you rather take my hand and follow me?"

His eyes stayed planted on hers, and for a second Rory felt herself slipping into his grasp, she slowly started to reach out. Was he controlling her with his eyes? How? And how could she escape? Why did she want to? Why didn't she take his hand and leave the forest? She wouldn't be lost afterwards.

Rory felt her heart steady, the nerves were all gone and the mystery man seemed so nice and welcoming, maybe he wasn't dangerous...But that was a stupid thought. Rory's own mind thought that, she wasn't in the forest to meet a tall, pale, handsome stranger. No, the gift. The gift was why she had entered, the gift...

All her fear came rushing back on her own whim, she shouldn't be getting close or comfortable with this man, she should be running, lying, tricking him to escape his grasp, a million red flags should be popping into mind. Her heart should be ready to burst, her breath should be nearly gone, her hands should be shaking.

This is what she willed. And what Rory willed surfaced, for a second she could see the reflection of a skull in those scarlet eyes, death. That was the chill, death, the cold clammy feeling that lingered in the air. But she wasn't ready to die or to play games, so right after the spell was broken Rory took off towards the path nearest to the right of the woods hoping that this man was not what she thought he was and that it was possible to get away.

No such luck, the man reappeared in front of her without moving an inch and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. His eyes darkened as he leered viciously at her "How did you break my compulsion?"

Rory tried pulling away from him, but his fingers pressed against her skin harder to keep her in place, he exuded an energy that paralyzed her legs. "Answer me."

"I don't know, now let me go!" Rory shouted, her struggling didn't help and her captor seemed intrigued by her.

"A human breaking my compulsion is impossible. Unheard of." The man sputtered. He was looking at her and speaking to himself, thinking about this impossibility, for the love of god he couldn't compel her again. He tried and tried, but the girl still fought against him. For a moment he let his grasp weaken, and that gave Rory the opportunity to break free again. She sprinted to the left trail this time, not caring if the hood of her cloak was blown back in the process.

"No." The man appeared in front of her again, this time he pinned her against a tree licking his lips ravenously "No matter, I can't let my dinner escape. I haven't fed in so long..."

"Please-

"I'm sorry, but I can't stop. So lovely." The man used his right index finger to trace down the side of her neck, feeling her veins, hearing them pulsate. He inhaled deeply, this prey was O positive with the faint scent of honey and lavender, it aroused him further. "Beautiful, I feel bad that I might stain such pretty hair."

He noticed it was her hair instantly in the night: dark cherry red, it was natural, long, wavy, and strange to him. But hair color was just that and what he wanted was in her veins not what resided on top of her head.

Rory shook and tried her best to run once more, but she knew she couldn't. He was too strong and there was no way she could push him away. He opened his mouth and drew two fangs and started to lean in towards her neck all while holding her down.

Before he got any closer he whispered "You'll make a beautiful corpse."

That's when Rory felt the sharp pain that entered her neck that caused her to jump. A vampire was drinking her blood and she felt completely powerless against him as he took what he wanted. She felt herself grow weaker, her eyes started to close and open. Her thoughts started to cloud with her vision. She just kept thinking: Stop. Someone help me...But who would out that late in a forest probably full of monsters?

The vampire pressed his fangs deeper into the girl's neck feeling her warm blood enter his mouth sweetly and drip off his chin. He could feel her body start to tremble, feeling it lose it's heat. Soon he'd be full and she'd be dead, that was the way life was.

"You!" Someone shouted and then Rory heard a loud Krrrrsh! The vampire went flying into a pine tree twelve feet away. Rory was half way holding onto the tree for support, another man came into view. He approached her, holding her up.

"I'll help you, just hang on." His eyes were a gentle shade of emerald, his hair was chestnut and spiky. He was in a dark colored jacket and jeans, like her and vampire he was trying to hide in the night. But was he good or bad?

"Stay out of it." The vampire charged at the man who pushed against him, they almost seemed matched in strength "You insignificant little wolf, you have no business interfering."

"Wolf..?" Rory repeated still leaning against the tree, a vampire and a werewolf all in one night. This really was something out of Supernatural.

"It's you who shouldn't interfere, you know who she is and you'd blatantly attack her?!" The man snarled pushing the vampire back. "I should kill you." For a second his eyes flashed yellow and the vampire started to wobble against him.

He fell back onto his onto the ground a little startled "You can't save all my meals Ian, guardian of the forest of not. You're nothing more than a whipped dog."

Ian ignored the vampire and walked towards Rory who was still disoriented "I'm going to take you to the cabin."

Rory was hesitant, but he did just save her life. She'd have to trust him or bleed out. So in response she nodded at Ian who smiled. "I'm glad to see you're able to move. Here." Ian unzipped his jacket and ripped a part of his shirt off and tied it carefully around Rory's neck to apply pressure to the wound.

"Thank you..." Rory breathed, she looked at the vampire who was dusting himself off now.

"Gale, you know what would have happened if you had killed her, don't you?" Ian turned his yellow glare upon the vamp once more huffing.

Gale looked at the girl then at Ian "I was just drinking my fill, but if she did die...it couldn't be helped." He shrugged turning his back to them "She has eyes like Ruth...lilac eyes, I just wanted to see if was true."

"You bastard y-

"Save it, I won't attack her again. This turned out to be a waste.." Gale grumbled before he zoomed out of view.

Shaking his head Ian gathered the bags Rory dropped "Lean on me, we're close by okay?"

"Okay." And together they walked into the darkness to the right through and prickly pine, neither saying a word.

It took ten minutes for them to arrived at the cabin. It was a log cabin big enough for two to three people, there was no garden or deck, just a cabin with a dark brown door and a chimney. Rory took out her key, fumbling the door open she and her savior entered. She flicked on the lights and took a seat on the tan couch in the living room. There was only one couch, a coffee table, a rug underneath that, and a fireplace in front of it. Everything else was in the spectrum of beige, brown, and tan, with three bedrooms in total. Ian, the werewolf put the groceries away and placed her bag beside her until she was ready to speak.

He didn't know how long she'd be in shock or if she'd ever speak, so he explored the cabin and found a first aid kit and treated the bite mark. Rory sat there, breathing, not wanting to talk, just wanting to sleep, but eventually she gave in. Ian was sitting next to her waiting.

"Um, thanks again." Rory said rubbing her neck.

"No problem, if it's too much for you I can go-

"No, it's fine. I just...I'm very confused."

"Well I'm a werewolf-

"I got that part, that's not a huge shocker!" Rory snapped. Ian scooted away.

"My bad, I just thought you were in shock."

"Well, I'm not. I figured as much out already." Rory rolled her eyes at him.

"Sorry." Ian turned away. She was clearly projecting her feelings and he didn't feel like getting in an argument, especially at night when the moon was out. After fifteen more minutes of awkward silence passed Rory turned to him.

"Who are you and how do you know me? And how does a vampire know my grandmother?" The five w's plus the how, it was to be expected. She had been fed on by a vampire without her permission (though the one's who do give it are a bit weird themselves).

"Ian Rivers, I'm a werewolf. I know you, because I knew your grandmother and she was nice to me when I was a kid. She spoke about you often and you have similar scents."

"And the vampire?"

"Gale, he's complicated...he knew your grandmother too. My pack and his clan have had run ins in the past. I got really lucky tonight, the moon's no longer new."

"What?" Rory tilted her head to the side and thought about the moon cycle, tonight the moon was in the waxing crescent phase.

In her research (some of which she got from tv shows) revealed that werewolves did gain more strength at night during the moon phases, but during a full moon they'd swell in power. The only time they didn't have their usual strength was during the new moon where the moon was nowhere to be seen in the sky.

"Okay, but you beat him."

"I didn't beat him, I got lucky. He hasn't been feeding lately, so he had lost some strength. But in a normal fight he'd probably kill me easily. Gale is over three hundred years old."

"Jesus..." Rory rubbed her forehead "Is he going to come back?"

"For you? Not likely, if he loses interest in someone he doesn't come near them again. He usually abstains from forcefully feeding on humans."

"Then what the hell was that earlier?"

Ian looked down at the floor, he wasn't sure. Gale stopped feeding around the time Ruth had passed, he was even a distant friend to her. He couldn't piece the puzzle together yet, but something was up.

Ian turned to Rory who smoothed out her long red locks, her lilac eyes were stern staring at him as if he needed to spill all right that instant.

"Gale knew your grandmother. He's actually a guardian of this forest."

"What the hell is a guardian and what does it have to do with this mess? I'm sick of this, Ian, you're holding back."

"And so are you." Ian said in a surprisingly tone. Rory shot him a quizzical look, because he did not know her, he did not know what she about or what she'd been through. "You just don't realize."

"Just explain it to me the best way you can."

"Fine angry girl-

"My name is Rory, okay? Can we cut to the chase? Please?" Rory pleaded gripping her cloak.

"Crescent Pine is a forest that attracts paranormals, humans, and mystical beings. Both everyone who resides here is paranormal, it's somewhat of a safe haven for us. We have protection here, camouflage, an invisible shield from humans and those who don't live here."

"Your ancestor found this land and wanted to make a home here in the secluded wooden area. But the energy of the land was corrupt, creatures would wander in, lure in strangers for selfish and volatile purposes. Usually for food. So they healed the land."

"It was as if a burden was lifted off this forest, it was lighter, and the creatures felt the change take over. They were drawn in to your ancestor to this very spot before the cabin was built. She greeted them as if they were normal every day people even those who growled and flashed their eyes menacingly."

"She told them that she intended on living there, maybe raising a family. One bold and wily vamp was outraged. He thought she was taking over the forest, domesticating them. Because who was she to tell them?"

"He tried to attack her, but was repelled. And over time she built this cabin, every day up until a year passed someone tried to kill her. She forgave them all and soon enough they began to respect her, like her, even aid her. They often found her praying alone in the woods for a prosperous life, holding onto her pendant. It was given by a family friend as a honing stone."

"For what?" Rory asked.

"Let me finish first, please."