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“The card to represent your future is death,” the fortune teller said.
Melody went pale, she didn’t know much about tarot cards. Death couldn’t be good. Getting her fortune read might not be smart when she believed in psychic powers. The fortune teller laughed as she placed the card down next to the others.
“The fool for your past,” the woman started, “a symbol of running into the dark and having your courage lead you through. A strength that is often seen misguided.”
Melody nodded.
“Temperance reversed for your present. You are too worried, too wound up. You need patience and calm to face the challenges in your life. Try not to overthink the world around you.”
Melody looked away. It felt weird to be seen so easily. Everyone told her to stop overthinking things. Of course that made the death card feel more terrifying. She didn’t want to die.
“Your future is one of the best cards to receive in a reading,” the woman said.
“What? It’s death, shouldn't that be bad?” Melody asked. The woman laughed.
“Many people assume that. For tarot, death means change. Young lady, there is change in your future. The death is of the current situation, it will feel as though something has died. Change is a welcome experience, one to look forward to. A change is coming, face it confidently.”
“Right…”
“Is there a problem? I could look for something more in the cards.”
Melody nodded for her to go ahead. The woman drew a card and set it down on top of the death one. This time it was the hermit and based on temperance it was reversed. It didn’t give her much confidence.
“Ah, it seems the change will relate to old bonds returning. Accept them, they will be good for you. If I remember you mentioned you came back here recently, is there anyone who has reached out to you?”
“No, not really.”
“It’s only a matter of time.”
“I-I see. Well, uh, thanks. Bye.”
Melody rushed out of the tent. She’d seen a fair on her way home and thought this would be fun. She didn’t expect some random woman to see straight through her. She didn’t expect some kind of promise of change either. Especially when she’d been thinking of making a change for herself. Work was good, but boring. Her social life was a consistent schedule of friend events. Not bad, but also kind of boring.
The thing that didn’t make sense was meeting with an old friend. No one else had stayed in their little town. Even her brother was gone. She was back for work, but she knew everyone in the area. She even kept in touch with everyone. There wasn’t an old friend to meet. A car blared its horn as it drove by pulling her out of her thoughts. She shook her head.
It was easier to take a shortcut home. The fortune teller took longer than she expected and a lot more cars were on the road. Thankfully she’d never forgotten her time in her little town. The new place was a straight path through the woods from the next corner. She’d be home in no time. Plus there wouldn’t be any “old friends” to run into. Nowadays everyone avoided the woods. There were rumors about a monster, but she’d spent a lifetime within the trees. There was nothing supernatural in them.
At the corner she ducked under a low branch and smiled. The trees had always been calming when she was younger. As a teen she’d hide out here to avoid her parents and their expectations. As a child she would play with her imaginary friend. All the hours her siblings were off doing after school clubs were spent with him. If she ran into any old friend that’s who she’d want to see again.
Crack!
Melody shivered. An animal broke a twig. She might have done it. It could have been her imagination. The fact she picked up speed didn’t matter. She was tired. Wanted to get home and rest. She had plans for the next day. Ones that didn’t start until the afternoon, but no reason to stay out late.
Thump!
A bit faster. A late night power walk through the woods was a great idea. Some exercise. She worked a desk job, it made sense. The death card meant change. She would get home just fine, not be killed by a monster in the woods. It felt a lot longer now that the road was out of sight on both ends. She wished she still had an imaginary friend.
Thump, thump. Crack. Grrr…
Melody took off running. It wasn’t that far to the other side. Her house was basically right there. She just had to get out of the woods. The thumps she heard picked up speed with her. A scream was locked in her throat. She’d call her brother once safely inside. He’d make fun of her or yell at her for going through the woods. It would be fine. Then she’d talk about the fortune and they’d talk about who it could be. A normal night.
Ahwoo!
“Crap!” Melody yelled. Her foot landed wrong near a small ditch. She tumbled down. It took too long, the thumps came closer. The growls grew louder. As soon as she stopped she tried to stand, but her ankle was shot. She couldn’t run anymore. “Crap, crap, crap!”
A few seconds passed with clouds intermittently covering the full moon. It gave her a terrible view of wolves slowly surrounding her. Every open space was covered by a snout with gray fur. Their eyes glowed each time the clouds cleared. Melody fumbled for her phone. Tears slipped from her eyes when she found it cracked and powered off from her fall.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Melody watched the treetops sway as the thumps grew closer. A chorus of growls and whimpers silenced any noise she considered making. The wolves should attack her and get it over with. Spare her from whatever grew closer.
Weirdly her imaginary friend popped into her head again. He was the size of an adult when they were kids. If he were real he’d easily be able to scare off the wolves and help her. She didn’t consider the animals to be the danger. A wolf with white fur over its eyes started to slide down towards her.
Melody tried to come up with anything to save herself. A person who would be out here like her. A hunter or another fool. An entire town of people she knew, but no one came to mind. No one except her imaginary friend. If she was going to die, she’d at least like to see him again.
“Kyrie help!” she shouted as loud as she could. It was stupid, she knew that. No one would find her. The wolves would attack and she’d-
“Mine!” a too loud voice yelled.
It wasn’t someone who could save her. If anything it was the same monster people whispered about. She’d made a terrible choice and now she’d be spirited away. The wolves even listened. The one that started towards her tried to scramble out of the ditch with a scared whimper. The rest backed away tails between their legs.
A shadow blocked the moon while the wolf tried to escape. Melody screamed as a hand grabbed the wolf that had entered the ditch. It lifted the poor creature up into the air and disappeared. The shadow was gone, but the wolf’s whimper wasn’t. Another crack made her fight back tears. The damned monster killed it because it wanted her.
The shadow came back. A hand started towards her. Melody tried to scramble back, but merely succeeded in aggravating her ankle. She yelped in pain just before the hand reached her. Shockingly, it pulled away.
“Hurt?” the gravelly voice mumbled. Melody didn’t move, she kind of hoped it worked with Jurassic Park rules. It only saw her when she moved. The hope died as the hand descended towards her again. The shadow moved enough she got a glimpse of the claws on the fingers in the moonlight.
Melody tried to crawl away. She bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain again. It didn’t work, a hand that was over half her height gripped her. She felt like an oversized doll as it pulled her off the ground. Her stomach dropped when vertigo hit. She screamed just as another hand came up under her feet. It didn’t help.
“Safe,” the monster whispered.
Melody tried not to say something snarky. It was easier than accepting she was at the mercy of this thing. She dug her fingers into its skin when it stood up straight. The moonlight felt blinding as it brought her close to its face. She felt it take in a deep breath, probably taking in her scent.
A curious noise left the creature. Melody forced herself to meet as much of its eyes as she could, only to pause. Something was familiar about them. Something that reminded her of her imaginary friend. The creature pressed its nose into her and took another deep breath.
“Melo,” it whispered.
“Wh-what?” Melody stuttered. She couldn’t remember the last time someone called her that. Actually that wasn’t true, she did remember. She remembered the last time she’d seen her imaginary friend. How sad he was, but he couldn’t say why. He wasn’t good at speaking…
“Mine. Melo. Missed you.”
“K-Kyrie?!”
The monster rubbed his face against her. She tried to push him away. Her hand slipped through his lips and scraped against one of his teeth. She gasped from the shock of pain. He pulled her away and looked over her with sad eyes. This had to be a dream, there had to be a reason she felt pain in this dream.
“Hurt you again…” there was a whimper to the words. As quickly as he lifted her he dropped to the ground. She was set down on her feet, but she crumpled right away. A whimper followed. “How help?”
“Are you…” Melody started. It felt wrong. Kyrie was an imaginary friend. He was huge and intimidating, but kind. He’d never hurt her or chase her through the woods. Then again she wasn’t exactly chased until she started to run. How could she forget someone like this was real? “Are you really Kyrie?”
He nodded. Another whimper. She tried to climb to her feet, but there was too much pain. She’d done this plenty of times and knew it was a sprain. That didn’t make this any better. She couldn’t get home and this suddenly real imaginary friend sat in front of her. Kept his hands close with claws that terrified her. He whimpered when she tried to stand again.
Melody froze as one of his hands came close. He ran a claw over her leg. She was relieved to see her clothes didn’t rip. Then he brought a claw up and touched her forehead. Those familiar eyes filled with pain.
“Made fell again. My Melo….” he whined. Melody brought a hand up to her head, traced close to his claw. She had been hurt one time in the woods. There was a lot she couldn’t remember from that time. A cut on her head and waking up in the hospital. Everyone said she’d been lucky it happened close to home.
“Were you there when I cut my head as a kid?” she asked. Another whine, but that massive head nodded. It felt weird to see a head almost as tall as her. Weirder still that she actually felt bad for how sad he looked. “Did… you make me fall?”
Kyrie let out a loud whine that made her cover her ears. This felt like a fever dream. She’d wake up in the same ditch in the morning. No sign of a gigantic person. A twitch above him made her jump as she looked up to see the cause. There were wolf ears on top of his head. She’d forgotten all about that, they were so soft…
“I leave,” he started to push himself up. Melody saw the wolf with white fur trying to climb over a huge tree branch. He’d ripped one free to keep the wolf away from her.
“Wait!” she cried out. Kyrie paused immediately. His head hovered over her, she kind of wanted to touch his ears again. “I… can’t walk. I twisted my ankle, can you help me?”
“Me? Help?” Melody nodded. She saw the ears on his head perk up. It was sort of cute. He had her in his hands before she could think. Head tilted to the side.
“W-wait, go slow! I’m scared of heights.”
Another head tilt, but Kyrie listened. Melody couldn’t believe this was actually happening. There were flashes in her mind that made it believable. Games, laughter, touching his ears. The things she couldn’t remember made it feel like a dream. How did they meet? Why did she forget him? Where was he during her teenage years?
“Where go?” he asked. Melody looked up at his eyes. Warm, caring, kind…
“That way,” she pointed down the path she’d been following, “I actually live close to the tree line.”
Kyrie started to walk. The thumps of his steps made her bounce in his hold. After a few he pressed her against his heart. The beat from his chest was calming. Melody closed her eyes. In the morning she’d worry about what was or wasn’t real. For now she’d be happy her imaginary friend was back.
—
The sun forced Melody’s eyes open. She had to blink a few times to actually see clearly. Her body ached, but it didn’t keep her from testing her ankle. It was sore, but she could walk on it now. Once she pushed herself up she realized she wasn’t in her bed. Wasn’t even in her house. She was across the street, still in the woods, and sleeping on Kyrie’s chest.
“Guess it wasn’t a dream,” she sighed before curling up again and going back to sleep.