Nature is not a place to visit 50

Chapter 50
*“I’m only guilty of having good hygiene and making bad decisions.”*
*J.C. Wickhart*
Rae and I left in the dead of night.
I’d tried to keep my departure as discreet as possible, especially since I was going behind Ambrose’s back. Not that I was
completely leaving him in the dark. In my absence, I’d left a note by Hudson’s bedside that read: *Be back in a couple of
days. Love, Ollie*
There was no guarantee that he wouldn’t come after me – or send someone after me – but I had to take my chances
anyway. At least we’d have a head start.
Right before 3AM, there was a five-minute gap when the patrols at the gate changed. That’s when we snuck out.
Three hours into the adventure and I got hit an intense cocktail of emotions all at once. Worry, fear, but the most
prominent of all – anger. Fiery, hot rage that felt like it was going to boil me alive, and potent enough that I’d nearly
tripped and stumbled down a hill.
And I knew these weren’t my emotions.
They were Ambrose’s.
That anger was his seeping through the bond, and I had a feeling the majority of it was directed at me.
And then the new emotions were gone.
The rage, the worry, the fear – it all disappeared like it’d never been there at all. That should’ve made me feel better, but
somehow, it unsettled me more.
From the castle, the town was around a day’s run away. We took as little rest breaks as possible, so by the time we made
it to the border of the mountaintown, a new dawn was creeping over the horizon and we were both *exhausted.*
Rae hadn’t been kidding when she said this place was an isolated mountaintown. A layer of fog blanketed a single road
and a couple of storefronts that looked like they’d been built in the 1800s. The only evidence that it wasn’t a ghost town was a lone streetlight, flickering to life every once and awhile, and a couple of cars parked along the street. If I squinted, I
could make out some residential homes in the distance, smoke pouring from the chimneys.
Rae and I remained crouched just outside the town-line in the pine forest we’d journeyed through. Although we’d ran an
entire day to get here, paranoia held us back from actually crossing the town line.
Now more than ever, I was wary of Ambrose’s concerns. What if it was a trap? If these witches could curse my brother,
there was no telling the extent of their magic. If we crossed that town line, maybe we’d never be able to leave. Maybe we’d end up cursed the same way Hudson was.
*It doesn’t matter.*
*This is for Hudson, and you’ve got to try. What if his cure is waiting beyond that town-line, and you’re wasting time out
here?*
With a deep breath, I turned to Rae. I could do this. “You picked up the scent yet?”
She closed her eyes, her nostrils flared, as she sniffed the mountain air. “Oh, yeah,” she said, “I got it about a mile back.”
She popped one eye open to look at me. “You seriously don’t smell it? I can’t get enough of it. It’s like someone doused
this place in vanilla and bergamot – like those candles I used to snag on supply runs all the time.”
I cracked a smile. “Oh, yeah. I remember those. Your room smelled like vanilla and bergamot for *months*…but I don’t
smell that.” I took a couple of long whiffs myself. I could smell the fresh pine trees, the oil leaking from a car down the
street, and even the coffee from what must’ve been the local cafe…but no vanilla and bergamot.
“Weird,” Rae muttered.
“Yeah,” I whispered. A mysterious, potent scent that Rae could smell, and I couldn’t? It certainly didn’t alleviate any of my
paranoia about this place being a trap.
“Well,” I swallowed, “Guess there’s no use delaying the inevitable.”
“Right,” she said, “You ready to go find some magical flower and kick some witch ass?”
“I’ll settle for the magical flower,” I told her, but the thought of kicking the ass of whoever cursed my brother sent fresh
anger coursing through my veins.
With Rae leading the way, we began our descent into town. I held my breath when we walked past the town sign. It was a
lopsided wooden sign that read: *Welcome to Criders Creek, We Run Things Different Here.*
“‘Run things different’?” Rae snorted, “If that doesn’t spell that something witchy is going on here, I don’t know what
does.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to get start-of-the-horror-movie vibes,” I said, “We should keep our guard up.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice.”
Within a few minutes, we’d made it to the strip off storefronts on Main street, which seemed a little redundant since it
appeared to be the only street. The smell of coffee wafted from a local cafe tucked in between a convenience store and a
post office.
As we passed by, the doors of the cafe jingled and a young couple with a little girl walked out. The couple stopped in
their tracks, staring at us in surprise, but didn’t say anything.
I flared my nostrils – human. They smelled human.
“Those people are staring a little too hard,” Rae hissed, her eyes darting back at them. “You think they know we’re wolves? They could be alerting the rest of their coven.”
“Or they just haven’t seen a visitor in a decade,” I said, doing my best to pretend like the possibility didn’t scare me. Our
presence would only raise more suspicion if we began freaking out and questioning what very well could be innocent
humans.
If there was a coven, making a scene would only put us on their radar.
We encountered a few more stares as we made our way through town, but we ignored them. We must’ve walked a mile
down the sidewalk of Main street before Rae suddenly stopped, her eyes fixed on a small brick building that looked like it
was one gust of wind away from crumbling completely.
The sign on the front was missing a few letters, but I could still make out what it said.
“Criders Creek Animal Hospital?” I read aloud.
Rae looked just as confused as I was. “This place doesn’t even look like it’s in business anymore.”
I strained my ears. If I listened closely enough, I could make out soft voices and shuffling inside…but it was muffled. More than it should’ve been for our supernatural senses.
*Well, that certainly doesn’t help the suspicion that there’s something supernatural going on in this town.*
“I think it is,” I said, “I can sort of hear people inside, but I can’t make out more than that. You sure this is where the scent
leads?”
“Yeah, there’s no mistaking it,” she said.
I scanned the front of the building, and when my eyes landed on another smaller sign crammed into the left window, my
heart jumped into my throat.
“Look at that,” I said, “‘Criders Creek Herbalists.’ I don’t think this is just an animal hospital. If that sign is telling the truth,
there’s some herbs in there too.”
“Herbs?” Rae repeated, and from the way her eyes lit up, I knew she was thinking the same thing. “That could mean…”
“The Medela flower.”