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Chapter 16
Josh knew the road to the trail by heart, so it was no chore following Ingrid without really following her.
When he reached the car lot, he parked his father’s van in a space well removed from Ingrid's and immediately took cover in front of it, peeking his head out in hopes of getting a clue as to what Ingrid was doing.
And he saw it.
A small but powerful light emerged from the entrance of the trail, bathing Ingrid’s face in its glow. Directly behind the light was a massive humanoid figure with the horns and legs of a goat.
Josh’s eyes widened and he clapped his hand over his mouth as he watched Ingrid practically launch herself into the arms of that thing.
He knew what he had to do.
--
For a moment, Ingrid didn’t want to let go of Xenia, though she knew she couldn’t let herself get lost in the faun’s all-encompassing embrace just yet.
She reluctantly let go and looked into her eyes, glowing in the light of the green fairy. “I’ve already asked so much of you all, so I brough as many of my things as I could carry.”
Ingrid opened her trunk and retrieved a duffle bag full of clothes as well as a mid-sized cardboard box labeled “BOOKS” with every opening duct-taped shut.
“It was the biggest box I had, so I only took what I knew I couldn’t go without. I can come back for it tomorrow mor--”
“Oh no, don’t worry about it.” Xenia took the duffel bag from the human girl and slung it over her shoulder, then hefted the box aloft as if it were full of feathers.
“Shall we?”
--
The three of them started down the path, the fairy in front, Ingrid in the middle and Xenia bringing up the rear, keeping the box on her shoulder steady with both hands.
Ingrid knew they were safe, but as they wandered through the forest, something else entirely was eating at her.
“You were right, by the way.”
“Hm?”
“I was thinking about when you asked why I kept going to church. My parents weren’t even making me go anymore; it was just a given. And... something happened this afternoon.”
She heard Xenia stop behind her. The fairy stopped in front of her as well.
“What?”
“...Josh tried to get me to go talk to the pastor with him, and I just...I don’t know what I did. I just know he grabbed my hand and then...and then vines shot out from the ground and... I just ran.”
Xenia nodded. “You did the right thing.”
“You think so? They looked pretty pointy and they were aimed right at his face and he looked so scared right after--”
“He tried to compel you to do something that wasn’t good for you. You only defended yourself. Earth willing, if anything like that happens again, you won’t be alone.”
Ingrid smiled in relief as they contined walking. “Good to hear.”
When they reached the clearing, Ingrid took the initiative and approached the door of the bagworm, checking her surroundings before pressing her hand against the small wreath until it glowed bright green, and the branch-door expanded to reveal Camellia and Esmeralda smiling warmly.
“We’re so glad you reached out,” Camellia said, taking Ingrid’s hand and pulling her inside. Esmeralds took the box of books from Xenia as the faun shrugged off the duffle bag.
“Me too. I said I was gonna wait but I just couldn’t...what’s that noise?”
In the distance, there was a sort of drobe that was quiet at first, but becoming louder and louder
“IiiiiIIIIIIIN--”
Ingrid realized that it was someone yelling, and it sounded an awful lot like...
“--GRIIIIIID!!”
The girl whipped around towards the door just in time to see Joshua Pendelton swan diving through the shrinking opening in the front door, tucking into a ball the moment he hit the floor and barreling towards the shocked druids that were gathered.
When he unfolded, he ended up flat on his back, with Camellia looking down at him, flanked by his ankles.
“Hello there,” she said wryly. “Are you lost?”
Josh hopped to his feet and looked Camellia squarely in the eye. “I’m not, but...” he turned to look at Ingrid. “She is. Ingrid, we need to talk. Come home, please!”
“S-stay away from me!” Ingrid cried, clutching one of Xenia’s arms. The faun looked at Ingrid, then at Josh, horror etched in her features. “Is he the one who...??”
Ingrid nodded frantically.
Josh rolled his eyes and stepped towards the girl “You’re making it sound so much worse than—whoa?!”
Suddenly the young man found himself hurtling towards the floor, having been tripped by a single vine the emerged seemingly out of nowhere. He shut his eyes and waited for his face to smack against the wooden floor...
But the impact never came.
Instead, when Josh opened his eyes, his face was mere centimeters away from the floor, just close enough for the very tip of his nose to press against it. Then he was becoming vertical again, without moving a muscle.
In fact, on the way back up, he realized he couldn’t move a muscle, even if he wanted to; dozens of thick vines had entwined themselves around him, lashing his arms to his sides.
He looked up and saw the goat thing that had brought Ingrid to this place with its hands outstretched in his direction, its features suffused with anger.
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