Melissa Frechette

10/20/04

Writing Workshop

Found Again

Chapter 1:

A young woman barreled through the woods without a care for the branches whipping in her face or the bright red thorns tearing through her dress and into her skin. She ran from the past, from her memories. "ANDRA! What are you wearing? Girls don't wear pants!", "ANDRA! Get inside right now! It's not proper for little girls to play in the mud!", "Andra! Come play with the other girls. I don't want you hanging around those boys!", "ANDRA GET DOWN FROM THAT TREE THIS INSTANT!", "Andra, you ripped your dress again!?", "Listen girl, your sixteenth birthday is next week. I want you to behave properly understand?"

Her parents would never let her be who she wanted to be. She didn't want to be a proper little lady. She wanted to play in the woods, splash in the puddles, have adventures! But to her parents she was just a decorative object, not a real person. They could not understand her. She had thought that understanding would come with time… but her sixteenth birthday had showed her differently.

"Listen girl, your sixteenth birthday is next week. I want you to behave properly understand?"

Andra groaned, "But Mother I-"

Andra's mother glared down at her rebellious child. "NO BUTS!" She turned her back on her sulking daughter and picked up n ornate gown that had been draped over the bed. "Your sixteenth birthday is very important. It's the day you become a woman, the day you become eligible for marriage. You need to make a good impression." She turned to show Andra the gown in a last-ditch attempt to interest her. "This is what you will be wearing, isn't it gorgeous? You'll look like a right proper young woman."

Andra tried once more to get her mother to understand. "Mother, it is a beautiful gown, but I don't want to wear it. I don't want to be a proper young lady! It just ISN'T ME! I don't want all that!"

Throughout Andra's speech, her mother's face had become steadily more infuriated. They had had this argument many times before, and this was what always happened. Then her mother would remind herself aloud that Andra was just an ignorant child, and gently try to bring her daughter around to her way of thinking. This time, what followed was different. "Andra! Has it ever occurred to you that what you want doesn't matter? You are getting far too old for this nonsense. I will not tolerate it any longer. You will do as I tell you.

Andra gasped in shock at her mother's cruel words. It was then that she truly understood that they would never be able to come to any kind of an understanding.

Afterward, Andra had fallen silent on the whole matter. Her mother had become quite self-satisfied, thinking that she had at last won the argument. It wasn't until the day of Andra's birthday that she realized that the girl had been merely biding her time.

The time came for her to be presented to the village, glittering in her gown and jewelry. She left the house as planned. Then, instead of proceeding as planned to the village square, she began to run. She ran straight into the woods and kept going, heedless of the cries that pursued her. She had not stopped when the voices faded into the distance, had not stopped when her legs began to ache, had not stopped until her fatigued body fell and would not rise again, not matter how hard she pushed. Then, completely drained, she fell into a deep, but troubled sleep. A sleep from which she would not wake for some days.

Carden stretched as the glow of the setting sun faded away below the horizon and night fell on the forest. His eyes caught the last remnants of light and reflected them out into the surrounding darkness. Gracefully, he leapt down from the tree in which he had spent the day. Night was the time when demons roamed most freely.

He looked around him and prepared to move on. He had spent a week sleeping in this spot, and he did not like to live in the same place for too long. It wasn't that he feared to do so; it just wasn't his way, or the way of any of his kind. Carden gave a start of surprise as he noticed that something had changed while he slept. A human girl lay unconscious on the forest floor. She was very dirty, and her hair was matted with debris. She bled from numerous scratches and gashes, some of which were inflamed. He snorted at her in derision. What a fool, everyone knew that this forest was full of demons such as him. Though, he was rather indifferent towards humans as long as they stayed out of his way, most demons did not share his sentiments. He was about to walk by, and leave the girl to her fate, but something changed his mind. She looked so helpless just laying there… He lifted her over to a soft bed off moss and bandaged her wounds. He had nothing else to do; he might as well help the girl. Actually, life had been rather boring lately. Maybe this human girl would provide him with some entertainment.

Andra was woken by a damp cloth being placed upon her brow. She stirred and opened her eyes. She found herself lying on her back, cushioned by a patch of moss in a forest glade. A strange boy was crouched beside her.

Something about his face struck Andra as wrong, but her sleep-fogged mind couldn't quite place what it was. She scanned his features, trying to identify what so disturbed her. He was tan skinned, so he obviously spent a lot of time out-of-doors. He wore his hair short, which, though unusual, was not what had attracted her attention. Then she saw it. His eyes were golden cat-like slits that reflected the light from the moon. They almost seemed to glow.

A demon! She gasped in shock and frantically tried to slide backwards. The boy halted her retreat, pinning her neck to the ground with his hand.

He snorted derisively. "Calm yourself human. If I had wished to harm you I would have done so while you were unconscious." As he spoke, he looked her straight in the eyes, capturing her panicked gaze, forcing her to listen. Once he saw that she understood what he had said, he released her throat.

Still trembling slightly, Andra summoned the courage to speak. "Wh-what do you want with me?" Her voice emerged as a timid squeak.

The boy smirked in amusement. "Nothing. I found you on the ground, unconscious and badly fevered from the poison of these thorns." He picked a crimson needle out of her hair, holding it out for her to see. "I had nothing else to do so…" He indicated the cloth on her forehead and some previously bandages wrapped around what seemed to be shallow wounds. Both the cloth and the bandages, she noted, seemed to have been torn from the hem of her own dress.

"Thank you." Andra whispered, now ashamed of her initial reaction. "How long have I been out?"

"About three days."

"What?" Andra gasped in shock. "But I don't remember-"

"Of course not, you were unconscious."

Andra reddened slightly in embarrassment. "Well, um, I guess I'd better go now."

The boy sneered at her. "Go ahead, if you can. Personally I don't think you even have the strength to stand."

Andra glared at him. "You underestimate me." With some effort, she successfully struggled to her feet.

The boy raised an eyebrow in surprise. Andra managed to walk about three steps toward the edge of the clearing before collapsing to the ground in a heap.

The demon boy chuckled. Andra's indignant expression only served to increase his amusement. "Actually, I'm rather impressed. I didn't think you could even get up, never mind take even one step. In my experience, human girls are generally pathetic, weak, and largely useless. They are only good as show pieces."

Though faintly insulted, Andra had to admit that much of what he said was true. That was why she had run away after all, to escape being a mere ornament. "Well I'm not most girls."

The boy looked at her slyly. "No, I suppose you are not. Most human girls would not be out in the middle of a demon-filled forest all alone. He glanced at her clothing. "In a fancy dress. Even most human girls have more sense than that."

Andra, forgetting the possible danger of angering a demon, glared at him. "This ensemble wasn't exactly my first choice. As to the rest of it, it's a long story, and you have no right to judge me with out knowing it!" Even from her position on the ground, Andra was the very picture of stubborn defiance. Her posture seemed to dare the demon to say something more.

The demon's eyes took on a slight, dangerous glint. "You are foolish, human. Trying to tell me what to do. An unwise move in the best of circumstances, and plain idiotic when one is in as vulnerable a position as you are. I helped you only out of boredom you know. There is nothing stopping me from taking your life right here and now."

Andra's challenging air disappeared, to be replaced by one of fear. Gulping, she tried to reason with the boy. "But you won't right? I mean, it would defeat the purpose of helping me in the first place."

The boy advanced a step. "Like I said before, I helped you only out of a lack of anything better to do. I may have saved your life, human but I would feel no qualms about taking that gift back."

Andra began to panic. She squeezed her eyes shut and averted her face from the demon.

The tense silence was shattered by the sound of mocking laughter. "But for now, I think I'll let you keep it." The boy smiled smugly at Andra's cowering form. "You amuse me."

Andra looked up nervously. "Wh-what?"

The boy looked at her in a manner that, while still taunting, was decidedly more friendly. "Here." He extended a hand to her. "Let me help you."

Andra was beginning to get a headache from the boy's mood swings. Nevertheless, she grasped his hand and allowed him to lead her back to the bed of moss she had been lying in.

She lay down nervously, and never took her eyes of the boy.

After a few minutes, a much-subdued Andra decided to break the uncomfortable silence. "So… my name's Andra."

The boy didn't even turn to look at her. "So?"

Andra fidgeted uncomfortably. "I thought you might want to know… so that you can call me something other than human."

The boy shrugged indifferently. "You thought wrong, human."

Andra felt discomfited. "Oh. Well, could you tell me your name? I've got to call you something."

The boy looked at her sideways. "Why?"

"Never mind." Andra could not think of any other response that would not sound rude.

The boy snorted derisively. "My name is Carden."

Andra allowed herself a slight smile. "Carden. That's a nice name. I like it."

Carden gave her what could almost be perceived as a smile of his own before turning away. When he faced he again he was holding a bowl that seemed to contain some sort of soup. He held it out to her. "Here."

Andra took the bowl and sniffed at the contents suspiciously. She then realized how foolish she was being. Why would he bother to poison her? He could have killed her before with no more effort.

Still, she hesitated.

"If you're not going to eat that, then give it back." Carden looked at her irritably.

"Sorry." Andra murmured. She brought the bowl to her lip and took a cautious sip.

It was disgusting. It was probably the vilest thing Andra had ever tasted. She quickly spat out the vile substance, to Carden's obvious amusement.

"Something wrong?" He queried, suppressing his laughter.

Andra's face burned with anger and embarrassment. "Yes there is something wrong! This stuff is positively repulsive! Are you sure it's even edible?" Her voice rose in both pitch and volume as she spoke. The last words emerged as a sort of shriek. Carden winced and covered his ears.

Andra gasped in horror, remembering too late the sensitive ears that demons possessed. She closed her eyes and braced herself for another show of temper by the boy. She fear this time the outcome would not be in her favor. When nothing happened she risked opening her eyes.

Carden was glaring at her, but didn't look ready to kill. Andra allowed herself to relax slightly.

"What do you think you're doing human?" Carden snapped.

"I'm, sorry." Andra said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to hurt your ears. It was an accident."

Carden scoffed. "Obviously. Even a fool such as yourself would know better than to such a thing intentionally."