Chapter Eleven
The Woman in the Woods
I knew that silhouette.
I just didn't know from where.
The flashlight trembled in my hand as I stared between the trees.
The figure didn't move.
Neither did I.
For several seconds, the forest seemed to hold its breath.
Then the figure stepped forward.
Moonlight slipped through the branches and touched her face.
A woman.
She looked nothing like the people I'd seen at the mansion.
She wasn't dressed like a maid.
She wasn't dressed like someone who had wandered into the woods by accident either.
There was something deliberate about the way she stood.
Like she belonged here.
Like the forest belonged to her.
Her eyes met mine.
And something inside me reacted.
A strange pressure settled beneath my ribs.
Recognition.
I frowned.
I had never seen her before.
At least...
I didn't remember seeing her.
She took another step.
I tightened my grip around the flashlight.
"Stay where you are."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
I didn't move.
"Who are you?"
She studied me.
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then—
"Bella."
My stomach dropped.
I immediately stepped back.
"How do you know my name?"
Her expression changed.
Barely.
But I caught it.
She hadn't expected me to ask that.
Good.
I kept my distance.
She looked at me for several seconds before answering.
"I've known your name for a very long time."
My fingers tightened around the flashlight.
That answer told me absolutely nothing.
"That's not an answer."
"No."
She looked past me.
Toward the tree.
Toward the carving.
My eyes followed hers.
The symbol.
Bella was here.
He brought you back.
The words were still there.
They hadn't changed.
I looked back at the woman.
"You know what that is."
It wasn't a question.
Her gaze returned to mine.
"Yes."
My pulse quickened.
Finally.
Something.
I took a cautious step toward her.
She immediately lifted a hand.
"Don't."
I stopped.
Her eyes flicked toward the tree.
"Leave it alone."
"I already touched it."
Her expression tightened.
"I know."
That made me still.
"How?"
She didn't answer.
Of course.
I glanced at the trees around us.
There was no one else.
At least, no one I could see.
I lowered the flashlight slightly.
"Are you following me?"
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Then why are you here?"
"This is where I live."
I looked around.
The forest.
The darkness.
The endless trees.
"You live here?"
"Yes."
I stared at her.
She stared back.
I decided not to comment.
There were apparently people who lived in forests now.
Fine.
I'd had stranger experiences this week.
"What is this place?"
Her expression hardened.
"A boundary."
"A boundary between what?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at the tree again.
"You crossed it."
I glanced down at the ground beneath my feet.
"I was looking for a way out."
"You found something else."
My eyes narrowed.
"Which is?"
She looked at me.
"You."
A chill moved down my spine.
I didn't like the way she said it.
"What does that mean?"
Before she could answer, a sound came from deeper in the forest.
A branch snapping.
The woman's head turned.
Her whole body sharpened, listening.
I listened too.
Nothing.
Then another sound.
This time, farther away.
Something moving through the trees.
I instinctively stepped backward.
The woman looked at me.
"How did you get here?"
I hesitated.
I wasn't about to tell a stranger everything I'd been doing.
"I walked."
"From where?"
"Somewhere else."
Her eyes narrowed.
I almost smiled.
If she wanted answers, she was going to have to work for them.
She looked like she was about to say something.
Then—
a low sound rolled through the forest.
It was deeper than a growl, like the trees themselves had vibrated.
The woman's face went still.
She turned toward the darkness.
"That's not good."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she stepped toward me.
I immediately stepped back.
"Don't."
She stopped.
Her eyes moved over my face.
"You really don't remember."
The words slipped out quietly.
I felt something in my chest tighten.
"Remember what?"
She looked away.
"Nothing."
I almost laughed.
"You people really need to stop saying that."
Her eyes returned to mine.
"You people?"
"Anyone who knows something about me and refuses to explain it."
Something almost like amusement touched her mouth.
"You're still stubborn."
I froze.
Still.
The word settled between us.
"You've met me before."
She didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"Where?"
Her gaze lowered.
"Long ago."
"How long?"
"Long enough."
I stared at her.
I hated answers like that.
I took another step backward.
"What's your name?"
She hesitated.
"Seraphine."
The name felt strangely heavy.
I repeated it silently.
Seraphine.
Nothing.
No memory.
No face.
Nothing came.
I almost felt relieved.
Almost.
Then Seraphine looked at me again.
Her expression had changed.
She wasn't studying my face anymore.
She was looking at my neck.
I followed her gaze.
My hand immediately went to the pendant.
Her eyes hardened.
"Where did you get that?"
I closed my fingers around it.
"Why?"
"Answer me."
I took a step back.
"I asked first."
Her jaw tightened.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then she said quietly,
"You shouldn't be wearing it."
My fingers tightened around the pendant.
"It's mine."
Something flashed across her face.
Pain.
Recognition.
Anger.
I couldn't tell which.
"You don't know what it is."
"Neither do you, apparently."
She looked at me sharply.
I held her gaze.
She looked away first.
Interesting.
Another sound came from the trees.
Closer this time.
Seraphine turned.
"How far did you walk?"
I frowned.
"Why?"
"How far?"
"I don't know."
"Did you follow a path?"
"Yes."
"Stone?"
"At first."
"How many turns?"
I thought about it.
Three left turns.
One fallen tree.
A stream.
Then the ground had changed.
"I wasn't counting for fun."
Her eyes narrowed.
"I didn't ask if you were."
I almost rolled my eyes.
"Three left turns."
Something in her expression shifted.
"Anything else?"
"A stream."
She went silent.
"What?"
She looked toward the darkness.
"You shouldn't have been able to reach this place."
I frowned.
"Why?"
Instead of answering, Seraphine stepped closer.
I moved back again.
She stopped.
"You need to leave."
I stared at her.
"Gladly."
I turned.
"Not that way."
I stopped.
Slowly, I looked over my shoulder.
She pointed in the opposite direction.
"The way you came."
I looked behind me.
Then back at her.
"You just said I shouldn't have been able to get here."
"I did."
"Then how exactly am I supposed to get back?"
She didn't answer.
That was when I noticed something.
Her hands were shaking.
Only slightly.
But they were.
My suspicion sharpened.
"You know what's out there."
Seraphine's gaze remained fixed on the trees.
"Yes."
"What?"
"Something that should not know you're here."
A cold feeling settled in my stomach.
"Should not?"
She looked at me.
"Not yet."
Before I could ask what that meant, the forest went completely silent.
Not quiet.
Silent.
The insects stopped.
The leaves stopped moving.
Even the distant sounds I'd been hearing disappeared.
Every instinct in my body screamed at me to pay attention.
Seraphine lifted one hand.
I watched.
The air seemed to tighten around us.
Then—
nothing.
No wind.
No rustling.
No sound from the forest.
I stared at her hand.
Then at her.
"What did you just do?"
She lowered it.
"Nothing you need to worry about."
My mouth fell open slightly.
"That was not nothing."
Her expression remained calm.
"You noticed."
"How could I not?"
She looked at me for a long moment.
Then something moved behind her.
I stepped back.
Seraphine spun around.
A shadow crossed between two trees.
Fast.
Too fast.
She raised her hand again.
This time, I saw the strain.
Her fingers trembled.
A thin line appeared between her brows.
She held her hand there for several seconds before slowly lowering it.
The silence broke.
A bird cried somewhere in the distance.
Leaves rustled again.
I stared at her.
"You did that."
She said nothing.
"You made everything go quiet."
Still nothing.
"How?"
Her eyes met mine.
"You ask too many questions."
"And you avoid too many."
A faint smile touched her lips.
"There you are."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Nothing."
She turned away.
I didn't like that answer.
I especially didn't like the fact that some part of me felt like I'd heard that tone before.
Not from her.
From someone else.
A memory tried to surface.
A room.
Dark curtains.
A voice.
My name.
Bella.
I blinked.
Gone.
I pressed my fingers against my temple.
Seraphine noticed.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
Her expression changed.
"Don't force it."
I looked at her.
"Force what?"
She said nothing.
I lowered my hand.
"You keep talking like you know exactly what's happening to me."
"I know enough."
The words irritated me.
"Then tell me."
She stared at me.
For once, she didn't immediately refuse.
Instead, she said,
"Because you left something here."
I glanced toward the carved tree.
The words.
Bella was here.
My handwriting.
My eyes narrowed.
"I wrote that."
It wasn't a question.
Seraphine didn't answer.
I looked at the carving again.
I knew that handwriting.
I knew the shape of every letter.
And yet I had no memory of standing beneath this tree.
That bothered me more than the stranger standing in front of me.
I turned back to Seraphine.
"Why don't I remember writing it?"
Her expression softened.
Just slightly.
"Your past."
I stared at her.
For the first time since I had met her, she looked almost sorry.
I didn't know what to do with that.
The words were simple.
But something about them landed differently.
My past.
The things I couldn't remember.
The life before I woke up.
The life I kept finding pieces of without understanding how they belonged to me.
I looked at the carving again.
He brought you back.
A thought surfaced.
Not a memory.
A question.
"What does 'back' mean?"
Seraphine went still.
I watched her carefully.
There.
That reaction.
She knew.
I took a step toward her.
"Who wrote the second line?"
Silence.
"Do you know?"
Another pause.
"Yes."
My heart beat faster.
"Who?"
Seraphine looked directly at me.
"I don't know if I should tell you."
I almost laughed.
"At least that's a new answer."
She didn't smile.
Instead, she looked past me.
Her expression changed.
I followed her gaze.
Nothing.
Just trees.
Then I heard it.
A faint sound.
Footsteps.
Seraphine's face hardened.
"Someone's coming."
I looked toward the darkness.
"Who?"
She didn't answer.
The footsteps came again.
Closer.
This time, there was more than one set.
My instincts took over.
I looked behind me.
Three left turns.
The stream.
The fallen tree.
I could get back.
Maybe.
Seraphine caught my wrist.
I immediately pulled away.
"Don't."
She released me.
"Listen to me."
"I am listening."
"Whatever happens, don't follow any voice that calls your name."
My stomach tightened.
"Why?"
Her eyes moved toward the trees.
"Because they already know it."
The first branch snapped.
Then another.
Something was moving through the forest.
Coming closer.
Seraphine stepped in front of me.
I stared at her back.
"What are you doing?"
"Keeping you alive."
I froze.
The words were too certain.
Too personal.
As though she had said them before.
Seraphine looked over her shoulder.
For one brief second, our eyes met.
And something in her expression made my chest tighten.
Grief.
Old grief.
The kind that had nothing to do with meeting a stranger tonight.
Then a voice drifted through the trees.
Soft.
Familiar.
My voice.
"Bella."
Every hair on my arms rose.
I didn't move.
Neither did Seraphine.
The voice came again.
Closer.
"Bella."
I stared into the darkness.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it before.
But I couldn't remember where.
Seraphine's hand closed around mine.
This time, I didn't pull away.
"Don't answer."
The trees shifted.
A shadow appeared between them.
Then another.
Seraphine whispered something beneath her breath.
The pendant against my chest suddenly grew warm.
I looked down.
The silver metal was glowing faintly against my fingers.
Seraphine saw it.
Her face went pale.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
She didn't answer.
The light beneath the pendant brightened.
And somewhere deep within the forest—
something answered.
A sound rolled through the trees, low and ancient, like something waking.
Seraphine looked at me.
For the first time since I had met her, she looked genuinely afraid.
"Bella..."
"What?"
Her eyes moved toward the darkness behind me.
"You need to run."
I turned.
And saw two pale eyes open between the trees.