Moonrise, Chapter 3: Lost in the Woods
Title: Moonrise
Pairing: Demi/Selena
Rating: PG-13/R (for blood/possible violence)
Chapter: 3/?
Summary: One month after the attack, Demi and Selena’s lives are finally starting to even out again. Demi is about to find out that normal is a lot further away than she thinks as her injury has consequences she isn’t at all prepared to deal with.
Author's Note: Here’s the third chapter! Thanks to everyone who’s still reading. Classes just started up, I have a new job, and life is just being particularly busy right now. I haven’t had much time to write this lately but I promise it’ll get finished. I already have everything plotted out through the end. It’s just a matter of finding the time to write it. Thanks to thefantasmickah for beta-ing all of this :)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
The loud sounds of early morning bird calls pierce through Demi’s consciousness and she wakes quickly from her latest dream. Brief flashes of running swiftly through the woods are interspersed with memories of the full moon and bright flashes of pain. As her head clears she slowly becomes aware of the stiff pain in her neck as well as the rough sensation of sticks and leaves pressed into her bare skin.
Demi’s eyes blink open in confusion and she scrambles quickly to a sitting position upon realizing she is lying naked in what appears to be the middle of the woods. Fear joins her confusion as she realizes she has no clear memories of the night before. The last thing she can remember is leaving Selena’s house for another short walk to the nearby park and from there things begin to blur.
She doesn’t recognize any of her surroundings and tries to fight down her rising panic as she takes stock of her situation. There’s no sign of her clothes or anything else that might give clues as to how she got here. Physically, she feels fine, save for the stiffness in her neck from her night on the forest floor, better than fine even. Much of the soreness left over from her attack the previous month seems to be gone and, to her surprise, she realizes the cuts in her shoulder seem to have healed completely, leaving her with only faint scars.
Suddenly the wind shifts and Demi quickly finds herself growing lightheaded as the scent of blood reaches her nose. Demi scrambles blindly away from the empty clearing in front of her until her hand meets something sticky on the ground behind her. She slowly lifts it up in front of her face to find it coated in what is clearly blood.
Demi jumps to her feet and turns around cautiously. The forest floor behind her is covered in blood. A few feet away lies the mangled corpse of what appears to be a deer. Large portions of its hide have been torn away and what looks like massive claw marks appear along its flank. One of its rear legs is completely missing and it looks as if large bites have been taken out of it in multiple places. The deer’s head is twisted at an odd angle and seems to be barely attached to the rest of the corpse. Its throat has been completely torn out.
Demi stares silently at the mutilated animal carcass in front of her before letting out a piercing scream.
…Fourteen Hours Earlier…
Demi walks quietly into the kitchen where Selena is getting ready to cook dinner for them. The other girl acknowledges Demi with a quick smile before going back to pulling things out of cabinets.
“Hey, need any help?”
“No, I think I’ve got it. Thanks,” Selena says with a smile.
“You sure? I mean, my shoulder’s not all fixed yet, but I feel kind of useless,” Demi asks again nervously, shifting her weight back and forth. “I don’t mind. Helping, I mean. I just… I feel like I’m taking advantage of you or something. I’ve been here for a month now and it’s not like my shoulder’s still so messed up I can’t at least make myself useful…” she trails off here before looking back up at Selena.
“You aren’t taking advantage of me, Demi. You’re staying here because I want you here, and because I’d worry if you moved back into your apartment by yourself with your shoulder like it is,” Selena tries to give Demi a reassuring look.
“It’s nice having an excuse to cook more often, and the house has been so empty this summer it’s been great having someone else around to talk to,” She smiles at Demi again but the other girl still looks nervous and makes no move to leave the kitchen. Selena sighs softly before giving in, “Alright, look in the cabinet there over the sink. I need the medium sized pan.”
The girls work in a comfortable silence until all that’s left to do is wait for the oven. Selena heads toward the stairs and calls back over her shoulder, “I’m going to go take a shower while we wait. Should still be another 30 minutes anyway.”
While Selena heads upstairs Demi paces the living room for a while. She’s been feeling restless all day, most of the week really, and it only seems to be getting worse. After she grows frustrated with her pacing she finally gives up and yells upstairs to Selena, “I’m going for a walk. I should be back in fifteen minutes or so. I just need to stretch my legs a bit.”
Selena yells something in response but Demi can’t really hear it over the shower. Demi grabs her jacket off the back of the couch and heads quickly out the door.
…
The sun is about to set as Demi reaches the park. She decides to wait the extra few minutes to watch it and wait for the moon to rise. It’s supposed to be a full moon tonight.
Demi’s thoughts wander to Selena as she waits. Their earlier conversation had helped to reassure Demi but she still feels as if she’s imposing on the other girl. Two years ago she wouldn’t have thought twice about living with Selena for a month, but as they’ve both acknowledged, things are different now. Their renewed friendship has been mostly stable in the two weeks since they caught up over coffee but to Demi it still feels as if this cohabitation is too much, too fast.
Two years without, and one month with, Selena in her life has taught her she really does need the other girl. She hadn’t realized it in their time apart, but having Selena back has immediately highlighted the pieces that have been missing for far too long. Staying with Selena hasn’t been awkward for the most part. They’ve slipped easily into old routines and have kept their distance from the uncomfortable topics neither girl wants to face, but Demi knows they can’t just pretend things are like they were. Demi thinks that moving back into her old apartment is the next step to rebuilding. She needs to show Selena that things have changed again and that they won’t go back to the way they were just because they aren’t living in the same house anymore.
The sunset is beautiful and as it begins to fade and the day gives way to night Demi is distracted from her thoughts. The sounds of the approaching night fill her senses; and as the clouds clear and the bright shape of the full moon becomes visible, Demi finds herself transfixed.
Everything goes still for a moment and it’s as if the whole world has fallen away and all that’s left is Demi and the glowing white sphere above her. Demi hears nothing, her mind is blank and the restlessness that has filled her for the last week has faded completely.
The tranquility is brief.
A bright spark of pain fills Demi’s mind and suddenly it feels as if her entire body is on fire. An itching, burning sensation covers every inch of her skin and she falls forward onto her knees, unable to keep herself on her feet any longer. With two violent cracks Demi feels what can only be the bones below her knees snapping in half.
Demi screams.
Her other extremities begin to stretch and distort. Solid bones snap into joints that shouldn’t be there. The burning intensifies as her skin begins to darken and thick hair begins to cover her body. A spasm runs up Demi’s back followed by a series of short, sickening cracks and she feels a painful jolt as her vertebrae lengthen and split before her whole spine juts out of her lower back growing quickly into a long tail.
Demi’s screams begin to distort and deepen as her vocal cords rearrange themselves.
The ends of her fingers have grown out into long dark claws. Muscles throughout her body shift and change. The dark hair that has covered every inch of her skin thickens into a layer of dark brown fur. Demi’s own long pitch black hair has receded into her scalp and changed color to match the fur covering the rest of her body. Demi feels a pressure behind her face and her vision goes black for a moment as, with another series of cracks, her skull stretches and her features shift. Her jaw and nose elongate into a canine snout.
Demi’s distorted screams die off. As her sight returns and the bones in her face stop moving, she lets out a tortured howl before finally blacking out.
The park is silent. The large form of a wolf lies unconscious on the ground where just minutes before Demi had stood watching the sunset.
After several long minutes the wolf begins to stir. Climbing slowly to its feet it opens glowing orange eyes and takes in its surroundings. Letting out a long howl at the full moon hanging in the sky above it, the massive canine turns and sprints off into the night.
…The Following Morning…
Demi’s scream dies off as she backs away from the deer carcass in front of her. Turning quickly she empties the contents of her stomach into a nearby bush. Once she’s recovered she begins to more calmly assess her current situation. Nothing about this makes any sense but she quickly decides that figuring out where she is and finding a way out of the woods is her only clear option.
“Hello? Anyone?” Demi yells into the surrounding trees but receives no response. After a few more tries fail to accomplish anything, she contemplates the forest around her before heading off in the opposite direction from the dead deer.
The walk through the woods is brutal on Demi’s bare feet but eventually her path crosses what appears to be a man made trail. She turns left and decides to follow the trail downhill in hopes of finding her way out of the woods.
About twenty minutes later the dirt trail gives way to pavement and Demi finally finds herself in an empty parking lot. A nearby sign tells Demi she’s at a group of trail heads in the Topanga State Park. The park is still in LA, but she’s miles away from the small park near Selena’s house. There’s no way she could have walked here, or been carried on foot. However the near hour long walk out of the woods she’d just finished makes it seem unlikely that she was just driven here then left to die. She also has no explanation for her newly healed shoulder, her lack of clothes or the mangled deer carcass near the clearing.
Demi wanders the parking lot slowly and silently thanks god for the working payphone she finds near the road. Hampered by her lack of clothes, and therefore money, Demi decides she’ll pay Selena back later before making a collect call to the other girl’s cell.
Selena picks up on the second ring.
“Hello?” Demi’s never been more thankful to hear Selena’s familiar voice although the other girl sounds exhausted.
“Selena? It’s me. Demi.”
“Demi! It’s 9 AM, where are you? And why aren’t you calling from your cell?” Selena sounds equal parts angry and worried.
“I don’t… I’m at the state park, Topanga. I don’t know how I got here.”
Selena is quiet for a moment before responding, “The state park? What the hell are you doing there? That’s miles from here. Where did you go after your walk last night? You never came back to the house.”
Demi thinks hard, trying again to remember what happened the previous night after she set out to the park. Nothing comes, just blurred images and memories of blinding pain, then nothing. “I don’t remember. Selena I’m scared, and I don’t know what the hell is going on. I woke up maybe an hour ago in the middle of the woods. I’ve got no clothes on and there was this…” Demi trails off at thoughts of the partially eaten deer back in the forest.
“A what Demi?” Selena prompts quietly.
“I don’t… it’s not important. I thought I might have remembered something, it’s gone now,” she lies, for some reason not wanting to tell Selena about the deer.
“God, Demi just wait there. I’ll come pick you up, and I’ll bring some clothes. I’ll stay on the phone ‘til I get there. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine, physically anyway. I just, I have no idea what’s going on. Hurry, please Sel? I need you,” Demi says quietly into the phone before sinking to the ground and pulling her knees to her chest.
It takes Selena ten minutes to reach the park. Stepping out of her car she stops for a moment upon seeing Demi. She walks quickly over to the other girl huddled naked beneath the payphone and drops to her knees to wrap Demi in a hug.
Demi shakes silently for a moment and Selena whispers into her hair until, after several minutes, the younger girl stops shaking. Selena slowly removes the phone from Demi’s hands before hanging it up and helps her to her feet before handing her some sweat pants and a shirt.
“Come on, let’s get you home. We’ll figure this out later,” Selena says quietly once Demi’s changed.
Demi nods silently and follows Selena to the car. Her confusion over her ordeal grows once again as she nears the car and catches sight of her reflection in the passenger side window. She stops a few feet away from the car and runs her hand through her hair before pulling a lock of it up in front of her face. Her hair that had been dyed pitch black the night before has returned to its natural shade of light brown. She stares at the lock of hair in stunned silence until Selena calls to her from the other side of the vehicle.
“Get in Demi. We need to get you home before we worry about what any of this means. You could probably use some sleep and then tomorrow we can retrace your steps from last night and try to figure this out. It’s going to be ok Demi,” Selena holds Demi’s gaze until she finally closes the rest of the distance to the car and gets in the passenger seat.
Demi stares out the window silently on the drive back, not focusing on anything. As they leave the park Selena silently reaches across the car and finds Demi’s hand with her own. Demi grips it tightly with both of her own before pulling it into her lap and closing her eyes.