WOLFBANE BLOOMS

       TRUTH BE TOLD, he thinks she’s just another stray dog, wandering around the property that he’ll have to pretend he doesn’t see because harley doesn’t WANT a dog or shoo off the property before one of the neighbors tries to shoot it again. austin takes the braver route while harley’s out of the house; he’s already off the porch with a broom in hand when he sees HER. she’s frozen, just like he is, except she’s half-naked in a flannel and barefoot in the middle of winter and sure, it’s technically the south, but it gets cold at night these days. he’s already dropped the broom to the forest floor, shouldering off his jacket to wrap around her shoulders, when he stops, suddenly AWARE of his actions.

    true clarity doesn’t filter back into ginny’s perception until the boy before her speaks. she’d noticed him approaching, how could she not with the racket he made, crunching on leaves and heavy footfalls, but the knowledge is more intrinsic than observed. like a predator sniffing prey on the wind. like eyes that don’t need to see things moving in the shadows to know they’re there.

    she gives a shiver although it’s mostly cursory. the cold isn’t something she feels as much as it is something she knows, like a simple fact or a measurement. the weather is cold. the boy is austin. ginny is somewhere unfamiliar to her. lost seems too strong a word. how could she be lost if she isn’t looking for anything? how can she be lost when there is no place she belongs anymore?

    ginny steps forward, her careful step hardly mussing the leaves beneath her foot. she’s gotten good at walking silently in the woods, but she can’t remember when. perhaps it’s something intrinsic to her now, something that comes when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is full and bright. 

female awesome meme: 1/5 unfairly hated ladies ♡ nancy wheeler (stranger things)