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Chapter 18
Already a light sleeper, Miyo Noran hadn’t gotten any rest in the past several hours. She sat upright in the living room. Eyes bleary but refusing to close for more than a second, just in case Ingrid came out of her room. Her husband had made a pot of coffee upon waking up not long ago, and she’d helped herself to 4 or 5 cups, reflecting on her life with her daughter.
The two of them had always had a rather business-like relationship with her, for lack of a better term. She realized that they could’ve endured being a little more affectionate with her, but she’d aleays seemed so precocious, so well-behaved, so independent, even as a toddler. She was never prone to bouncing off the walls like her peers.
But after Sunday, she had to wonder if she or Edwin could’ve done anything different, if they could’ve prevented this from happening.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“Who is it, honey?” Edwin called from the kitchen.
“I don’t know,” Miyo replied, gathering her robe around herself and answering the door.
To her surprise, Joshua Pendleton had returned, in the same clothes he’d been wearing the day before and a disconcertingly empty look in his eyes.
“Joshua! Are you alright? Did Ingrid call you???”
Joshua didn’t answer. Instead, he simply reached out his hand and presented Miyo with a brown envelope. Miyo noticed that there was a dark green drawing of a bird in flight on his wrist.
Miyo simply stared at the proffered letter as Edwin came up behind her. Joshua stood stock still in their doorway, staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.
The Norans looked at each other in puzzlement, and back at Joshua. Finally, reluctantly, Miyo took the letter from Josh...
And as soon as it left his hand, the bird on his wrist turned brown and the young man collapsed on the spot, leaving Edwin to grab him as he fell forward into the house. The older man put two fingers to his neck and breathed a sigh of relief when he found a strong and steady pulse.
As her husband half-carried, half-dragged Joshua to the couch, it came to Miyo to look outside...
“What on--??”
...to see a curtain of vines extending from her daughter’s bedroom window to the bushes. She quickly grabbed a ladder from the garage, and when she climbed up to Ingrid’s window, she saw that the young woman’s bookshelf and dresser had been completely emptied of their contents.
“Edwin?!” She cried, descending the ladder and dashing back into the house. “Edwin, we have to read that letter. Now.”
“What, why?” Edwin had just finished draping a blanket over the unconcious young man.
“Our daughter’s gone Edwin. There are vines coming out of here bedroom window and her books and clothes are gone and I think the letter might have something to do with it!” She said breathelessly, scurrying into the kitchen to find a knife.
“Oh god...” Edwin muttered, following his wife, wringing his hands together as he sat down at the dining table.
Swallowing roughly, Miyo broke the seal with the knife and opened the flap before pulling out a letter.
It didn’t look like any ransom letter they’d ever seen. The paper was light green with swirling embellishments at the top left and bottom right corners. To their surprise, a bird perched atop the bottom embellishment sang and flapped its wings. As Miyo skimmed the letter, she realized, rather than being constructed with letters from various magazines, that the letter had been written by hand...by Ingrid’s hand.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I know you’re confused and worried, but I’m about to explain everything.
I am now part of a coven of druids located among the trees of Mounds State Park. I found this place weeks ago while on a church-sponsored hike with Josh, and it has done more to fulfill me spiritually in those mere weeks than Heavenly Road has managed in years.
Josh copped to this rather quickly and has been relentless in trying to earn back my already non-existent enthusiasm for the faith—his faith—up to and including following me to the coven’s location (this happened after he had tried to physically drag me to Reverend Park’s office to try to “set me straight”). While there, three of my sisters restrained him, and when given a chance to speak, he used it to attempt to proselytize to the rest of the coven and insulted one of the sisters binding him, a faun, calling her a “goat-demon.” He has been rewarded for his audacity.
The bird on his wrist is an enchantment that compelled him to go straight to your house with this letter. It will remain on his wrist as a warning to never breathe a word of what he saw that night, or he will be wrapped in thorns. It may seem like overkill, but after the way he treated me, we couldn’t take any precautions.
Please trust that I am safe, and I am happier than I have ever been. I know the three of us were never particularly close but know that I love you both with all my heart. I trust you to trust me and my siblings and not come looking for me, for your own safety and for the safety of the coven. I promise I’ll come visit you whenever I can.
Forever your loving daughter,
Ingrid Shizuku Noran
There was something else in the envelope: a self-portrait of Ingrid standing in front of a collection of multicolored plants, holding a thick notebook, wearing a smile that neither of her parents saw very often.
Miyo put the letter down and looked at the young man supine on her couch.
“So what now?” Edwin asked.
“Two things: Frame this photo and get this boy out of my house.”
Weeks later...
Xenia clocked out at her usual time and set out to look for her girlfriend. She didn’t have to search long; Ingrid was in one of the couches near the front of the library. She came up from behind and leaned over the back of the couch.
“Hmm. Never known shadows to have horns.” Ingrid looked up at her and smiled. “Hey, you.”
“Hello, darling.” The faun bent down and kissed the human girl’s forehead. “Ready for our picnic?”
Ingrid took the back of Xenia’s head and kissed her on the lips, tracing the length of her horn with one finger. “In a sec, babe; gotta check this out and get the basket from my room.”
“I’ll be downstairs,” Xenia replied, scratching Ingrid’s shoulder affectionately before leaving.
Ingrid watched her go with a dreamy look in her eye, then got up to see Aaverie.
“Ahh, Ingrid! Want to spend a little more time with a book?”
“Sure do.” She handed the book to the elf.
“’Magic and Neurospice’. Doing a little introspection, eh?”
“Yup. I figured I’ve spent so much time learning about nature and magic and all that, it’s time to learn a little more about myself.”
Aaverie smiled in understanding. “A noble pursuit. I hope you get what you need out of it.”
“I think so. It’s so hard to get tested anyway; maybe getting in my head will help me get out of it.”
With that, Ingrid Noran walked out of the library towards the rest of her life.
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