Was he trying to protect Mosavi or protect others from him? He also mentioned witches. I had been hearing so much about how dangerous they were, but I didn’t really know anything more than what I was told.
The forest was different than when I’d first walked through it. Instead of it being eerie and dangerous, there was a lingering peace that blanketed the atmosphere as the fog began to lift. I considered staying one more night under the stars, laughing with Roscoe, but a nagging inside wanted to get away from all these other dreadful thoughts.
I knelt next to Roscoe, ran my fingers through his messy mane before climbing onto his wide torso, to straddle his hips. He was like a warm mattress with lumps in all the right places, and as I lay on top of him, it was hard to keep my eyes open with the rhythm of his breaths.
Remembering how protective he was of me in that vision, I wanted to kiss him awake. At first, I planted a peck on his wet nose before trailing kisses to the sides of his open mouth,disregarding his frightful morning breath. It was difficult to get a decent angle when his tongue was hanging out, so I gave him another kiss on the nose. When I leaned back in to tackle his mouth, he sneezed in my face.
“Ew fuck!” I shouted, scrambling off him, screaming in disgust as I tried to wipe away the snot. “Oh God, it’s in my mouth!”
Roscoe sat up and rubbed his eyes. “What happened? You okay, buddy?”
“I am never kissing you again,” I choked out. I had to use my light jacket to wipe most of it away, but some of it stubbornly lingered on my face. “I’m gonna throw up.”
“It’s just a little snot, jeez. You know how many loads you swallowed last night?”
“That’s not the same!” After I finished wiping my face, I nudged Roscoe with my foot. “Let’s go.”
“Where’re the ferals?” Roscoe asked, jumping to his feet. “Shit! Did you see ‘em leave?”
“Yeah, but we’re not getting any help from them,” I muttered, hooking my arms through the straps of my backpack. I gathered all the plastic wrappers and beer bottles scattered around camp and threw them in the empty box. “This was such a waste of time, and now Mosavi’s going to know I was out here. I have to face the guy at some point.”
“I’ll go with ya,” Roscoe said and grabbed the box. “He’s not gonna know we were in the woods, anyway.”
“Not unless he uses thecursed nipple clamps of truth, or whatever perverted fucked up shit he has lying around for fun.”
“He’d be a blast if he wasn’t so damn scary,” Roscoe said in a stuffed-up tone, walking next to me as we headed in the direction that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
“Do you remember which way we came?”
“Uh, I thought you did.”
I slapped my forehead. “You’re the werewolf, Roscoe! You’re supposed to be able to sniff us back home.”
Roscoe gurgled as he inhaled the remaining mucus before spitting it onto the ground.
“I’m feelin’ a little under the weather.”
“That makes no sense. You told me werewolves don’t get sick.”
“Yeah, about that,” Roscoe said, his ears folding back against his head. “That stuff we smoked kinda messes up the senses fer a day er two, but it’s worth it.”
I stopped and glared at him.
“Naw, come on. Don’t look at me like that. It was the only way we could talk to ’em.”
“Really? There was no other way?”
Roscoe scrutinized my face and sighed. “I guess you figured that out, huh? Smoking makes everything better, and you had fun, right?”
“Damn it, Roscoe,” I sneered while examining our surroundings. “Okay, let’s see… we walked west to get here, and the sun is coming up that way.” I pointed toward the heavier brush. “If we just walk in that direction, we’re bound to get to somewhere familiar.”
“You sure about that?”
“No,” I snapped. “I have no sense of direction. You know this!”
“All right, calm down. Goin’ east is a good idea.” Roscoe snorted again, spitting more snot onto the ground.
“That’s so hot,” I said sarcastically while snapping branches and pushing brush out of the way. Before letting go of the dense flora, I noticed something. “Hmm…”
