Bite: A Shifters of Theria Novel (37 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

FEVER DREAMS

The spider venom spread through my veins like cement, aching and throbbing with blunt pain. It seeped into my gut and my nausea worsened.

The cement venom crawled up my spine and crept towards my brain. It pushed against the back of my eyes. It was torture.

Maddy sat over me, constantly insisting I drink more water, but I couldn’t.

“Just drink it,” she said, putting the bottle to my lips.

The water just poured down the sides of my face. My lips were swollen, and the swelling was moving towards my throat. I saw Maddy’s eyes widen for the first time.

My body was burning and my head was freezing. I began shivering, trembling, convulsing. I couldn’t speak. I could just look into Maddy’s eyes and hope that she learned about this in Girl Scouts.

“Try not to move,” she said. Her voice was fading. “Just stay still and…” I strained to hear the words passing through her lips. Her lips moved, but I was deaf. She mouthed my name. Chloe? Chloe?

She left the tent. I would have followed but I was paralysed. Every muscle in my body was tense, aching with dull pain. I could hear nothing but the throbbing of my brain against my skull—like a soldier pounding a war drum.

Everything became black.

And then I saw his face, the man from upstairs, smiling.

“Hold on,” he said.

His hand stroked the side of my face, his fingers moved through my hair. I tried to speak, but even in my dream, I was a mute. I didn’t want him to leave, even though I knew he wasn’t real.

The temperature dropped. My uncontrollable shivering returned. Everything became black again.

My vision briefly returned. I could see the fabric ceiling as it swayed in the wind. I was still breathing, barely. My heart raced—a church bell, tolling against my ribcage. I was alone.

Then, a short glimpse of his smile: Don’t worry, his lips said, but I couldn’t hear his voice as he faded away, back into the void.

I felt a low rumble—a growl. Two yellow eyes stared down at me. They belonged to a long, black figure, a silhouette. Its mouth opened and I felt another low growl. The creature’s sharp teeth glistened. Crippling nausea overwhelmed my urge to scream. I had no energy—not even enough energy to keep my eyes open. Everything went black once again.

“You’re going to be okay.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

ALIVE

When my eyes opened again, I felt normal. My headache and nausea were gone. Was it all a dream? My alarm would go off any second and it would be time to get ready for work.

My eyes began to distinguish details in the brightness: the sun was blasting through the thin fabric of the small tent. I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag, alone, but I could hear the crackling of campfire, and I could smell smoke—and food—delicious food.

Maddy sat on a log next to a fire. The sleeves of her oversized cargo jacket hung over her small hands as she set a long skewer over the hot flame.

On that skewer was what I can only describe as a dirty, platinum blonde wig. The thing looked atrocious, but it smelled incredible—like fresh clams and garlic fried in butter.

“Hey,” she said without looking up at me. “You’re alive.”

“What are you cooking?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my slowly adjusting eyes.

“A mushroom.”

“That’s a mushroom? It looks like a Tribble.”

“What’s a Tribble?” Maddy asked.

“You know—from Star Trek.”

“No. I don’t know,” she said.

“Captain Kirk buys the Tribbles from a salesman and they end up multiplying on the Enterprise. It’s on Netflix…”

“I don’t know what any of those words mean. How are you feeling?”

“I feel okay.”

“Good. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.” Again, she spoke in a terrifyingly calm tone.

She removed the mushroom from the fire. “Try it,” she said, swinging it towards my face. Despite its delicious aroma, I couldn’t help but wince away from the monstrosity—like someone dangling a big spider with thousands of legs in front of my face. “Try it—it’s good for you,” she insisted.

“How?” I asked.

She demonstrated by breaking off a handful of its long, noodle-like hairs. “Go ahead,” she said.

I followed her example. The mushroom was delicious—and tasted precisely like fresh clams roasted with garlic in butter.

“Oh my God, that’s fantastic,” I said, chewing a mouthful of the hideous mushroom strands. “Where did you get it?” I asked.

“In the valley,” Maddy said, “last night, when you were dying in the tent.”

I stared at her for a moment. “You went to get mushrooms while I was sick?”

“No, I went to find Feverfew. It only grows in dark, damp places. I just happened to find the Lionsmane while I was looking for the Feverfew.”

“Lionsmane?”

“The mushroom.”

“What’s Feverfew?”

“The plant that saved your life.” She broke off another handful of straggly mushroom strands and put them in her mouth. “You would definitely be dead if I didn’t find any,” she said casually with her mouthful of mushrooms. She handed me the mushroom skewer. “Eat up. It’s a long walk back to town. I’ll pack up the tent.”

“I’m not going back to town,” I said.

She stopped and stared at me. “What?”

“I’m not going back to town,” I said again.

“Yes, you are.” She turned away from me and started breaking down my tent.

“Look—I’m grateful for your help, but I don’t want to go back to Ilium.”

“Well, too bad. That’s where I’m taking you.”

“I’m going to keep heading towards the mountains.”

“You’re being a child,” Maddy said. “You have to go home and rest and not kill yourself out in the wilderness.”

“I’m not asking you to come with me.”

“If you go north, I’m not coming with you.”

“Fine,” I said.

“Fine,” she said. “You’ll be on your own—no help from me. If you eat a poisonous mushroom and die, I won’t be there to help you.”

She collapsed the tent and crammed it into my hiking bag. She looked over at me. “If you see another mushroom that looks like that, don’t eat it,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Because there’s a mushroom that looks exactly like it, that will kill you in less than eight seconds.”

“Okay—noted,” I said.

“As a matter of fact, don’t eat any mushrooms at all. Most of them will just kill you. There’s a very common one out here that will make you poop out all of your blood.”

“All of it?”

“It isn’t pretty. Just leave the mushrooms alone.”

“I’ll stick to my rice,” I said. I grabbed my bag and turned towards the mountains.

“If you see a bear, play dead,” she said. “Unless its a black bear. Do you know the difference?”

“It’s black?” I asked. She didn’t appreciate my smile.

Maddy stared at me. “You’re going to die. You know you’re going to die, right?”

“Good luck to you, too. It was nice meeting you, Maddy. I owe you my life. Maybe one day I’ll save your life!” I said.

“I really doubt it,” she said.

I smiled and then began my journey, walking towards the swaying tree line to the north. Maddy stood still and watched me go.

“Do you even know what poison ivy looks like?” Maddy called out.

“No,” I called back.

“Do you know what nightshade looks like?”

“No.”

A moment later, Maddy ran up next to me. “They’re little blackberries—they look like blueberries. They have five little leaves around them—like a blueberry inside of a green star. Don’t eat them.”

“Okay—I won’t,” I said.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked.

“I told you—I can’t explain—”

“—Yeah, yeah, yeah—it’s an existential crisis. I get it. Just promise me that this isn’t some stupid way of offing yourself.”

“I’m not trying to kill myself.” As the words slipped out from my mouth, I tripped over a rock. She caught me before I fell flat onto my face.

“See that bush you almost fell in?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s what poison ivy looks like. Let me take you back to town.”

“No.”

She grumbled under her breath. “If you see little white berries that look like eyeballs, don’t eat them.”

“That doesn’t sound like something I would eat,” I said.

Maddy continued to follow me, describing all of the various plants that could end my life. When she finished, she continued to follow me in silence.

“Do you remember anything I said?” she eventually said.

“I remember some of it, sure.”

“You’re so stubborn.”

“Thanks.”

“That was supposed to be an insult.”

We stopped and she stared at me in silence. I could see her biting down on her tongue, as if she had more to say, but she didn’t know how to say it.

“Are you leaving, then?” I asked.

“I guess so. Back to town—back to real life.”

“If you see me on any missing persons poster, just tell them I moved to another town.”

“They’ll think I murdered you.”

“Hm—Then maybe don’t tell them anything. Bye, Maddy.”

“Bye, Chloe.”

I continued my hike towards the mountains. Thirty seconds later, Maddy was back by my side. She said nothing. She didn’t have to say anything.