Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Letting my shoulders fall as the tension left me, I watched as a deer bounced away. A deer. I was about to pee my trousers over a deer. I knew I was getting too inside my own head. Pulling myself up with caution, just in case it wasn’t just a deer, I brushed the dirt off my pants.

I let out a frustrated sigh of annoyance. Finding the Night Flower was going to be the one big adventure of mine for a good while. My little heart wasn’t good at handling such excitement. I much preferred digging in my garden, drinking my tea, and reading books about digging in other gardens. Venturing into the dangerous fog of night wasn’t the smartest idea I ever had, but it was one of the most adventurous.

Shaking my head as I continued on, I missed my step and my heart skipped again before I started tumbling head over foot. My body hit the ground firmly before sliding down a slope. How I missed the fact I was standing above a creek was beyond me. I skidded to a stop, my ass planting in the mud as I hit the water with a messy splash.

Of course, I’d miss seeing the creek. Everything was going far too well for me to simply find a rare flower. If someone had seen me making a fool of myself in the wilderness, rolling around in the mud and dirt, I probably wouldn’t live it down. Sure, I was used to digging in the dirt, but I wasn’t used to being covered in it from head to toe.

If someone had seen me like this, then they would have thrown me in jail under suspicion of working with a vampire. They threw people in jail for the most innocuous reasons while blaming it on vampires. Lurking around in the darkness, hiding from guards, avoiding the main road, and being completely covered in filth would immediately paint me as guilty. Luckily for me, they haven’t even been sending Lightbringer patrols out too often these days. I had wondered why, but was thankful for their lack of presence so I could make a fool of myself in private.

Wiping off what mud I could, I steeled myself and pulled my way out of the creek bed and back into the forest. I only had a limited amount of time to get to the grove. I couldn’t waste it by playing in the mud. Sighing, I shook my arms out and bounced up and down to get my blood flowing again, hoping some of the mud would fling off as I did it.

I tried my best to pay attention to my surroundings instead of whatever nonsense was swirling in my head. I always got too deep into my thoughts and would lose track of time. Overthinking was an unwanted hobby of mine. It wasn’t unusual for me to be in my head and the next thing I would know was the sun was setting and I was late for a delivery. Most of my patrons were understanding about my ability to be chronically late.

The fog was getting particularly thick as I pressed on. I couldn’t see much in front of my own hands and I was trying really hard to do just that. Falling again wasn’t on my nightly agenda. I should have done more research on how to navigate the fog of darkness, but I was so focused on finding the flower that I hadn’t even considered how thick it would be. I only ever saw it nestled in the dirtier corners of the city.

The trees started to clear into a small meadow. Moonlight was able to pierce through the fog, causing it to dissipate once again. As it crept higher in the sky, the moon was changing before my eyes. Something was moving over it, coloring the light with a red hue. I hadn’t expected an eclipse. Another complication in the mission. The light it gave was still bright enough for me to see, at least. My eyes followed the rays down, inspecting the grove as best as I could. The meadow was shimmering in colored light from the moon, clearing it of the darkness that pressed in around.

Scanning the horizon, I saw various batches of flowers I recognized, their petals closed for the evening. The grove was perfect for wild flowers to flourish. My heart started pounding at the possibility of finding it. Walking through the flowers, I let my hands brush on the various closed blooms as I admired their beauty. Stopping in my tracks, I held my breath as my eyes fell upon it: the Night Flower.

It was beautiful.

Its flower resembled a star, but the petals were longer. The inner portion was a brilliant red, while the tips looked as if they were dipped in white ink. My eyes were wide as emotion overtook me. The stems were long, almost unable to support the weight of the blooming flowers. It drooped over from the heavy weight of the illustrious bloom.

The stalks were tall, reaching as high as my knees on some blooms. I didn’t think the plant would have been that large. I started poking around the area to see if there was a smaller cluster. Nothing. Only one cluster of the plant existed in the grove. One plant in the entire forest. The rarity was remarkable, and I had actually found it. Me. I did it. I actually did something worth remembering.

Looking back toward the sky, my eyes hung on it as the eclipse was moving further over the moon. How perfect was it that I found the Night Flower, a flower that was as red as blood with dripping brilliantly white tips, while under the blood moon. The universe knew I should be the one to find the flower. I was convinced so.

My body was tingling from excitement. I had been mentally preparing myself for disappointment that I wouldn’t find it, that the reason no one bothered with the journal was because it didn’t actually exist. Sure, I wished I’d find it, but I had a feeling that the only thing I’d find was an empty grove. Maybe some wildflowers, but nothing wonderful or rare. Considering my luck in life so far, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if this was all for nothing. Everything always went wrong for me. Every plan, every adventure, every mission of mine ended in disappointment. Every relationship, every love, every…

Setting my pack down, I reached in to pull out some tools to dig into the dirt. My fingers brushed the cold metal inside. It was a small shovel, but it was better than manually pulling up the dirt with my hands. I took a moment to examine the plant, looking for the best section to take that wouldn’t harm the beautiful bloom in front of me. I could coax another bud to pop open in time, but this one, this bloom, was meant to be admired.

It was like nothing I had seen before. Maybe it was the entire setting that had me feeling wistful, but I was feeling a deep sense of euphoria. My heart was racing and my soul was happy. Happiness was scarce anymore, but tonight, tonight I was finally happy. There hadn’t been too many times in my life where everything went so well.

There was so much for me to do with the Night Flower. So much for me to learn about it. Pulling a small notebook out, I scribbled the details of the plant down. Writing about all the small intricate aspects of it filled the page quickly. Being thorough was only going to help my research in the future. I tried to draw a sketch of it the best I could with as little light as I had. I’d probably laugh at my attempt once I got back to proper lighting.

The plant looked as if there were several buds just about to pop. Staring at one of them intently, I watched the bloom in action as it slowly pulled open, sucking in the tinted moonlight above.

It was magnificent.

My attention was fully invested in it until I heard another crack of wood. My stomach dropped as fear crept back into my mind. Whipping my head toward the noise, I frantically looked around for anything to show itself, but nothing was there. I had been so lost in my discovery that I forgot where I even was. I forgot about the potential danger I had put myself under.

I knew I wasn’t lucky enough to come across another deer. Something was out there, something was watching me. I swear I could feel their eyes analyzing my every move. I worried it was one of those violent hollows they warned us about. There was little chance I’d survive such an attack. Slowly dipping down, I reached for my shovel. Wrapping my hand around the cool metal, I pulled it up to my chest. It wasn’t going to do too much damage, but it had a sharp point, and that could be the difference in life and death for me.

Gripping it tightly, my voice shook. “Come out slowly and I won’t hurt you.”

I couldn’t hurt a fly, but whatever it was didn’t need to know that. I heard a chuckle in response, and my stomach dropped. It wasn’t a hollow, those didn’t laugh.

It was much worse.