Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Goddess-Child ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Goddess-Child

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Chapter 1

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© 2009 Ohne Sie

 

 

It was a sight unlike any James had ever seen before. He glanced back at his brother; despite being a good ten feet behind him, he'd seen it, too. Wordlessly, they ran toward the tree under which a young girl lay, surrounded by various animals. Upon their approach, a few squirrels scattered into the tree, chittering angrily at them. The rabbits trembled, the deer eyed them warily, and the one wolf who lay next to the girl stared at him threateningly, as if he was protecting the girl.

Upon a closer inspection, James realized that the animals were the only things covering the girl. She was completely naked. Brushing that thought aside, he reached out to touch the girl's hand. She didn't move. The wolf growled. “Calm down. I'm not going to hurt her,” he said. The growl continued. “Or you,” he added, frowning. “Josh, what do you thin k?” James asked his brother, who was standing beside them.

“Well, she's alive,” Josh said, kneeling beside his brother. “I think she's unconscious, though.”

“I think we should try to bring her back to the house,” James said. Joshua eyed the wolves warily, before turning an uncertain eye to his brother.

“I'm not sure that's a good idea. Sure, we can get her out of here, one way or another, but once she's at the house…” He let that thought trail off. He knew that James knew exactly what he meant.

James sighed. “I see your point. We should probably feed first.” The wolf's growl grew louder, as if he knew what the brothers' words meant. “Not you,” he added. “I promised, didn't I?” He stood, grabbing his brother's arm. “Let's go. We'll come back for her soon,” he said, both to his brother and to the animals.

As they left, the squirrels jumped back down from the trees and the wolf rested his head on the girl's arm. James and Josh walked into the forest for a moment and both stopped suddenly after a while.

“The stream is that way,” Josh mumbled. James nodded. They ran toward the stream, finding more animals than they had expected. A family of foxes was there, as well as deer, rabbits, and more wolves.

“Which one?” James asked. Josh shook his head.

“It will have to be the wolf, won't it? I don't feel comfortable breaking up a family.”

“The wolf it is, then,” James agreed. He looked at Josh. They nodded at each other, and took off.

Upon their approach, the animals darted in various directions. But the wolf was the one they wanted. And the wolf, by chance, was the only one who stayed to fight. He growled, a different growl than the other one had given. This one knew that the brothers were a threat. He prepared to lunge, but Josh attacked first. His bared his fangs as the wolf had, and lunged, baring his teeth into the wolf's skin. The wolf fought for a few seconds, but he became still shortly. James also bit into the wolf as his brother had, drinking his share of the blood. After a moment, they were done. The wolf was a lifeless corpse, completely drained of blood. James felt the slightest pang of remorse, but he shook it off. “Let's go,” he said. Josh nodded, and they raced back through the forest to the tree where they had found the girl.

The animals were still there. This time, they all scattered at their approach. The only one that remained was the wolf, who sniffed the air around them, growling as their dinner had. “We had no choice, Wolf,” James said. “Surely you can understand that.”

The growling subsided, but there was an obvious glare in the wolf's eyes. Gingerly, James placed his jacket around the girl. Then he picked her up, handing her to Josh. “You've got her?” he asked, after the girl was situated in Josh's arms.

“Of course,” he said, looking at the wolf, who was once again growling.

“We'll take care of her,” James promised. “We won't hurt her. You needn't worry.”

Once again, the wolf seemed to understand. He sat on his haunches, watching them leave, but not interfering. As they walked away, they heard him howl.

It took half an hour to get back to their house. It had never taken so long before, but this time they could not run as they normally would. It was very dark when they got back. James opened the front door for Josh, who carried the girl inside. Then he opened the door to his own room. “We can share a room for a night.”

Nodding, Josh lay the girl on James's bed. They looked at her for a moment before Josh finally said, “She'll need more cover than your jacket.”

James smiled. “Right,” he said, reaching into his dresser and producing a shirt and pants. “The pants will be a little big, but they're better than any you would have.” He glanced at his brother. “I feel weird…invading her privacy like this, though.”

Josh shrugged. “Nothing we can do about that. If it makes you feel better, I can do it,” he said.

“No, it's okay…” James handed the pants to his brother and carefully lifted the girl up so that he could put the shirt on her. He noticed when he was done that Josh had already finished with the pants and had removed the jacket, as well. James carefully poured some water in the girl's mouth, making sure that she wouldn't choke on it.

When that was done, Josh brought two chairs in from the kitchen, which the brothers sat in, looking at the girl.

“What do you think happened?” James asked. Josh shrugged.

“I don't know,” he said. “Exhaustion, maybe? She might have been hungry.”

“Maybe we should call the doctor,” James said, but one look at his brother's face eliminated that choice.

“That's probably the worst idea you could come up with,” Josh said, reinforcing what James already knew. “It's bad enough that we brought a stranger here, as it is.”

James frowned. “She's…strange, though, isn't she?”

“You mean the animals? Yeah, I'd call that a little strange.”

“Who is she, I wonder? I mean, I've never seen her in the town before. Not that we go into town often, but you'd think we would have seen her.”

Josh said nothing as he stared into space. James knew that look. He sighed, knowing that his brother would be in his own world for a while, still. James pulled his chair closer to the bed, watching the girl intently.

Her breathing was normal, and he could hear her heart beating regularly, if a bit slowly. She seemed to be doing better than she was when they brought her inside. He smiled to himself. Obviously, he thought, we've done something right.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her heart rate increasing. James pushed his chair back a bit, glancing at Josh. He didn't appear to have noticed. James focused his attention on the girl again, gasping when her eyes fluttered open.

The girl had a very similar reaction. Her heart stopped for a brief second, before racing again. “Who…where…?” Her eyes darted around the room and she sat up quickly, looking warily at the brothers. “Don't touch me,” she said.

“We're not going to,” Josh said from behind James. Apparently he had been jarred from his thoughts.

“We found you in the woods, unconscious. We brought you here,” James added.

The girl's expression softened a bit, but she still eyed them cautiously. “Where is `here?'” she asked.

“Our house,” James said, “At the edge of the village.”

“The village?” The girl frowned. “Why would you bring me here? I should be out there, with my friends.”

“The animals?” Josh asked. The girl nodded hesitantly.

“Yes…why? How did you know?”

“When we found you, they were all around you. It was…bizarre,” James said.

The girl frowned, looking down at the clothes she wore. She pinched the fabric with her fingers. “And these…are yours?” she asked.

“Yes,” James said, “They're mine.”

Suddenly she stood up, looking alarmed. “What time is it?”

“You should sit down. You need rest,” James said, but the girl shook her head.

“No, you don't understand. At night…they need me. I have to go.”

“Calm down,” James said. “Who needs you?”

“My friends! Night is when…they come.”

“Who?”

“The bloodstealers,” she said.

James looked at Josh with alarm. “You mean…vampires?” James asked.

“I don't know that word,” she said, “But if those are the ones who drain the wolves and foxes of their blood, then yes.”

“If that's the case, then you should lie back down,” Josh said, standing. The girl looked at him, puzzled. “They have already come tonight,” he added.

“What? But how do you know?”

“Because,” James said softly, “We are them.”