by Blair Aaron
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The day's events spurred Elsa to take a walk around town, the energy of meeting the blond man once again, the leaps of joy bounding through her heart upon witnessing his vitality and health giving her a spurt of energy that refused sleep. On her walk, Elsa passed another familiar cottage, separated on the exact opposite side of town, the area some might describe as slovenly, perhaps even dangerous, though there was only one real place that posed real danger, the Forbidden Forest.
Even though the community in which Elsa was raised taught her the importance of brotherly love and the dangers of being judgmental, most of Elsa's friends could never help terrorizing the local elderly woman, named Freja Stein, on the other side of town during the autumn months. The children labeled her a witch, building up myths around her back story that involved the leaders of the community, its priests, parishioners, cooks, counselors, and teachers somehow overlooking the fact that Freja Stein had come from the forest. The leaders wanted to forget about the witch in her lonely cottage, the children told themselves, because Freja might cast a spell on them. One particular story most of them believed was this: Freja Stein was feeding her slew of owls one day, while a teenage girl laughed at her for being crazy. Then Freja simply looked up to the girl who mocked her and clicked her eyelids just once. The girl continued walking home from school, chuckling to herself, but soon found owls flying on various perches throughout her walk. They became more numerous the closer the girl got to her home, and soon enough, thousands of owls swarmed the poor girl from all sides. She tried making a run for the house, the owls pecked her eyes out before she made it inside.
Elsa grew out of those silly little superstitions faster than her peers did, but even she was not immune to the petty torments most children are prone to. On the dark days in October, Elsa played with Priscilla and the others, throwing rocks through the poor woman's window, breaking the glass, and sending dirty drafts through her house. Freja never retaliated to the girls, and looking back, Elsa's heart broke for the damage she helped inflict on the woman's home. A few days later, she hobbled out of her home early in the morning to tape some cloth over the holes the rocks made. Beyond that, the children never saw much of Freja, and the adults gave her the space she obviously wanted. She never made it to church, or weddings of young couples, or the birth of children. Although, at an elderly man's funeral, she did make an appearance, several years ago, her hair disheveled and her face ragged in the way people stricken with sudden grief often look. The girls speculated that Freja wanted to make sure the man was dead as a doornail, so that she could know her black magic worked its course.
Elsa herself had an altogether different theory, that the man, who was married at the time of his death, secretly fell in love with Freja and pursued a relationship with her, meeting her sugar cookies in her cottage at night, when no one was watching. It was possible that Elsa's romantic personality concocted this fantasy from no actual evidence in real life, but even the possibility it was true made Elsa feel somewhat better about how she had treated Freja as a child. That Freja might have had a true friend, let alone a romantic partner, lifted her spirits in response to Freja's otherwise lonely existence. But since that funeral several years ago, not a single person heard from Freja Stein. She crawled back into her sad, broken down cottage, ready to pass into another plane existence, where she might be wanted.
Elsa's thoughts circled back to the blond man again, and how she would approach him. She wondered about his reasons for staying away from the other members of the community for so long. Did he not want to get to know the townspeople? She feared he would reject her, but ultimately decided she couldn't wait any longer for him to make his way out into the wide world. It was time she took her fate into her own hands and resolved to knock his door the next morning.
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When she stepped on his porch, she was wearing the same dress as the day before and the night Chloe and Sarah revealed their vicious little present to her. Elsa looked down at the red stain on her dress, the moment after she knocked on his door, anxious that his eyes would go straight to the area. She became severely self-conscious in that moment.
“Hello,” a voice said, Elsa still looking down at her shameful red stain. Her face blushed as she realized the man had already opened the door and was standing there, waiting for her response. She braced herself before looking up. She bravely locked eyes with him, falling deeply into his blue orbs. He smiled at her, knowing she would arrive sooner or later, it seemed. “My name is Theo,” he said, extending a paw in salutation.
“Hi, Theo,” she said, placing her small dainty hand in his. He shook her hand gently, and Elsa's knees seemed to weaken. Theo had grown a ruddy mane around his neck in the time since the accident, and for all his sculpted beauty, he struck Elsa with a dose of masculinity hidden underneath that angelic prettiness.
“Please, come in. You just happen to be the second visitor to pay me a visit today,” he said, turning back into his house. As Elsa followed him in, her face flushed hot with the possibility that someone had gotten to Theo before she did. She resolve to determine just who exactly it was. “The place is much cleaner than when I found it,” Theo said, a wry smile forming on his lips. Elsa was again struck by the beauty of his smile as well, perfectly aligned teeth, which gave a cat-like impression to anyone watching close enough. She looked around the open area of his cottage, which only one small wall dividing the living area from the kitchen area, and a large window on the back wall of the place, revealing a scenic view of the cliff's edge and the ocean beyond that. Elsa's soul floated out that window into the infinity of the sea, along with Theo. She looked over to him, the connection between him and her sedating her, intoxicating her. Her world faded into black, and she woke up later on his bed, vaguely recalling him gently picking her up from the floor and carrying her into his bedroom, his bed covered with soft downy sheets and cloud-like pillows. Theo was a stranger, yes, but for some reason, Elsa knew him. He sat next to her, his arm propping him up on the side, smiling over her. She breathed in a big waft of his scent, a pleasant mix of freshly cleaned skin, along with faint but heavy dirt and grass. Her ran his thumb across her forehead, caressing the side of her cheek, and her heart shuddered with the gesture. Despite her ever-knowing certainty when it came to their connection, she was still human, with doubts and second guesses about her hunches.
Theo saw she was awake. “You took quite the fall there. I assumed there was something wrong.”
“No, just nerves,” she said.
“I have some work to do outside, if you would like to join me,” he said, getting up and moving toward the door. She got up and followed him outside, where he sat down on the ground, digging a hole with a wooden spade. Elsa sat down with him, and they worked together for a while in silence, in the way a couple might work when they have said everything there is to say between each other. But then Theo said something which suggested Elsa's feelings might not be returned.
“There's a dance tomorrow, Father O'Grady told me. For me and Lili, commemorating her return and the things I did to help her.”
“Are you going?” Elsa asked.
“I think it's necessary. She would be very upset if I didn't, I would think.” He continued digging a hole in the ground, planting red seeds, using a wooden bucket to water the area. Elsa watched his blue eyes to determine if her presence held his interest. He looked at her hands digging along with him, and stopped, seeing the red stain on her dress for the first time.
“Oh no,” he said. “Did these seeds do this?”
“Not at all,” she said, anxious to please him, or at the very least unwilling to say anything that might upset him. She walked on a thin sheet of ice with him, terrified of falling through and losing the opportunity. And despite her attempt at hiding that, he could tell.
“What happened here? There's only one kind of ivy that leaves a red stain like this,” he said. “Where did you find it?” She could tell he was curious about whether she h
ad been into the Forbidden Forest.
“Well,” she said, “it kind of found me.”
“What do you mean?”
“A couple girls gave it to me. They found it around her your head when you were lying unconscious on the edge of town.”
“I see.” Elsa could not figure out what he thought of the ivy stain. Mentioning Chloe and Sarah brought up the idea in her mind that one of them had visited Theo before Elsa did. That possibility posed a far more optimistic problem for Elsa to solve than the alternative one--namely, that the first visitor was Lili. She wondered if Theo truly desired her, as Lili definitely gave the impression that she desired Theo. While Elsa knew Lili had been through a lot in the past few days, Elsa did not want to give up her connection with Theo. He sat there, continuing his work in the garden, planting the same red seeds into the ground.
Elsa decided to bite the bullet. “Tell me Theo. Just who was your first visitor today?” Her stomach turned in anticipation of his answer, hoping perhaps that the person was someone she didn't have to compete with, such as Father O'Grady or maybe Priscilla.
“Lili paid me a visit today,” he said, sending Elsa into an abyss of jealousy. She knew it was wrong, as Father O'Grady taught her from her childhood where those emotions led. But she couldn't help feeling that way about Theo, and it was clear then that the evil inside her was winning its war for her soul. She despaired at the knowledge.
“What did she want?” Elsa asked. Theo looked up at her with his blue eyes fiercely looking into her soul. She wondered if her question angered him, because she was prying into his private life, his secret relationship with Lili that he didn't want Elsa knowing about. Elsa imagined the most horrific things about Theo in that moment, that maybe he had just finished making love when she knocked on the door, on the same bed he had put her on when she'd fainted. Red hot anger flushed through her cheeks, and the embarrassment that came from Theo witnessing her change in complexion made it that much worse. But he didn't say anything to her. She was burning with fire on the inside, her heart aflame, and he couldn't give her at least a sign her worst fears were unfounded. But then he grabbed her hand in his, looking down at her red stain.
“I'm sorry those ivies stained your dress. I guess it means we're connected somehow, huh?” he said, as Elsa breathed a huge sigh of relief. “You're going to be at the dance tomorrow, I hope.” Elsa nodded her head, as Theo got up, wiping the dirt off his pants. She followed him back inside his house, as he dug through a cloth bag, his giant thighs draped over the kitchen table. He was such a hulking man, she thought, and she longed to know him physically. Watching him sent her into an emotional tailspin, mixing the good and forbidden qualities into one new experience. When Theo pulled out a damp cloth from the bag, he handed it to her, and said, “This should work. Dump the powder on your dress tonight when you take it off before bed. Toss a little water on it and let it soak overnight. Should do the trick.”
“OK,” she said, breathless.
“I'll show you out,” he said, smiling at her as he opened the front door. Elsa found herself so confused when she left. If he liked her, why did he make a point of seeing her out of his place? She also wanted to know why he didn't let her know she had nothing to worry about in the garden when she asked who had visited him first. Elsa didn't want to a pawn in a man's game, manipulated for the joy of it, and she wondered if Theo's origins in the Forbidden Forest had anything to do with his mischief.
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Father O'Grady and his clerks transformed the town hall into an altogether different place, in order to honor Theo for his heroic deeds.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Please do your best to crowd on the other side of the room, as Theo and Lili enter from this end,” one clerk said, gesturing the crowd onto the other side of the tent. The crowd mostly consisted of young couples, though some adventurous old ones made it out that night. Elsa couldn't remember the last time her village put on a dance, as Father O'Grady and the others made it clear parties put you on a dangerous path. But this was a special time, and the town jumped at the opportunity for ceremonial engagements, given their rarity.
As half the town poured into the tent from one end, Elsa looked around the familiar faces for signs of Theo. But he was nowhere to be found.
“Elsa, girl! Get over here!” Chloe said from across the room, Sarah right behind her. Priscilla trailed behind them as a third wheel, her eyes perpetually rolled back in her head. Elsa looked away, wishing she could be left alone. She loved the girls, but this was not the time to play their silly games. Elsa's mind was preoccupied.
Chloe grabbed her arm and shoved it around her own neck, as the music in the background started. A small six-member concerto, with two violins, one cello, a single flute, and two harps, played a hymn for the people to dance to. As the band started up the entire congregation stood around, giving indication they didn't know how to dance. Chloe put her hands on Elsa's hips, laughing at they began swaying back and forth to the music.
“You never thought I would be your dancer partner, did you?” Chloe asked, as Elsa tried to ignore her, continuing to scan the room for any sign of Theo. She was sure all her intuitions about Theo yesterday were mistaken, and the growing vileness in her heart clouded her judgment. But, then again, she was sure Theo had feelings for her. Just when Elsa was about to give up on Theo and go home to crawl into bed, a man's hand touched her on the shoulder. From Chloe's expression, Elsa could sense it was Theo. Her heart leapt with joy and she turned to him, his beautiful smile there to greet her.
“May I have this dance?” he asked her. Elsa nodded in agreement, putting her hands on his shoulder. Her fingers felt electrified as she ran them over the ridge of his muscular frame, trying not to give her attraction to him away. Elsa locked her gaze on the back of the tent, near the banister where two chairs sat. She knew Father O'Grady put them there for Theo and Lili, thinking for some reason that O'Grady wanted the two together romantically.
“Why won't you look at me?” Theo asked her, trying to lock eyes with her, but she kept shifting away, angry.
“Why are you here?” she finally asked him.
This time he looked away, as if Elsa could see right through him. But the truth was that she couldn't. Elsa didn't know what Theo wanted. She couldn't figure out whether he wanted Lili, whether he was using Elsa, playing her for some cheap trick. Or maybe Theo had an even more evil motive, perhaps to infiltrate the village with his friends from the Forest. She just didn't know. And before Theo could answer Elsa, Father O'Grady interrupted them.
“My dear Theo!” O'Grady said, pushing Elsa away from them, as Theo held onto her hand longer than she expected him to. “Theo, it's time for your commemoration,” and with that, O'Grady guided Theo, who had several inches in height on the rotund minister, through the maze of people to the stage area. Once there, Theo stood behind Father O'Grady like a marble statue, immobile and resolute. “My beautiful congregation. Standing next to me is the man who saved our dear Lili, the man who wishes to stay with us in our community. Don't you think it's the least we can do for him, given what he's given us?” The crowd erupted in cheers. Father O'Grady rushed to the side of the stage, grabbing some unknown person from outside. Anticipating that it was Lili, Elsa reached into her pocket, gripping the red ivy, subconsciously hoping it would have some effect on strengthening the connection between her and Theo, despite O'Grady's attempts to get them together. The sat in two chairs on the stage, as the band continued to play in the background. Hot and angry, Elsa stepped out of the tent to get a breath of fresh air. The air was cool, giving Elsa indication that autumn was on its way. Elsa lacked experience in romance, it was true, but she was no dummy. Even though Father O'Grady made it clear that the town should welcome Theo with open arms, Elsa could see before her a robed figure on the edge of the town, atop a wooden pedestal, watching over the area between the town and the forest, should any of Theo's friends decide to make a visit. They had been through the drills before, when she
was little, so Elsa knew O'Grady's double-sided nature. Should the figure guarding the town see anything suspicious, he or she would ring an alarm bell, sounding the townspeople to hide and take wherever they could. Elsa knew the town's leaders didn't completely trust Theo, although at the same time they did wish him no harm. Rubbing her own bare arms in the cold, she sat down at a wooden table, as two little boys scuffled next to her. She could hear laughing and general raucousness from inside the tent, but her sour mood prevented her from enjoying the party. She couldn't figure out why Theo let the town push him and Lili together. They were not meant for each other. She, Elsa, was meant for him! Elsa also wondered what motivations Lili had for going along with the rouse. Perhaps she thought Theo would protect her from the devil in the woods, Elsa thought. In a way, Elsa did feel sorry for Lili, as the trauma of the last few days put her mind in a hyper-stressed state, and maybe she hallucinated the whole experience of the black wolf. Elsa looked back into the woods, using her imagination to conjure up an image of the black wolf, green eyes and white bared teeth, staring back at her. For a moment, she thought she could see a wolf-like figure in the darkness. Elsa blinked a few times to get it out of her head, breathing a soft vapor into the cold air.
