Page 45 of Faun Over Me

Avery nodded dumbly, following her up the broken stairs. The interior of the cabin was worse than the outside: her mattress was flipped and torn, and her clothes ripped to shreds. Claw marks scraped down the walls, and glass from a picture frame lay in shards on the floor, the photograph of her mother and siblings crumpled and slashed.

The destruction was staggering and only on her half of the cabin. Sanoya’s side lay as untouched and pristine as the day she moved in. It was unsettling to see such an obvious line drawn between Avery and her roommate, between her and the inhumans in this camp.

She pinched the corner of a torn blanket and raised it from the ground, frowning at the waft of lavender and a bright, fresh note she couldn’t quite place. She scrunched her nose, stifling a gag. It was the same overpowering scent she’d smelled on the monster before, lavender and musk, and that sharp, minty scent, albeit absent the heat of its body. No, not mint. She sniffed the blanket again. Wintergreen. A cold lick of fear ran down her spine at the familiarity because she’d smelled this exact scent before. Not on the monster that chased her, but somewhere else … on someone else …

“There you are,” a soft, breathy voice spoke in Avery’s ear. She jolted and spun around, a scream lodged in her throat. Sanoya stood behind her, white-blonde hair drifting to her waist on a non-existent breeze, haloing the Life Sciences Instructor in moonlight pale strands a shade lighter than her skin. Her wide eyes were hidden behind a pair of large, round sunglasses, and her dusty purple lips were pressed together in a sympathetic moue. “We were out all night looking for you.”

“I heard.” Avery gathered the blanket in her hands, casting a sad glance around her side of the cabin. “I’m sorry about the mess. I should have it cleaned up shortly.”

“Don’t worry,” Sanoya said. “The Hidebehind and I will handle it.”

“The Hidebehind.” Avery glanced around the cabin, failing to spot anyone other than Sanoya. On the porch, just out of sight, Mac’s voice rose and fell, assuring someone that Avery was alright. A tightness cinched her throat, her eyes burning as a chorus of children and teens replied, all of them expressing concern and fear. For her.

She rubbed a knuckle under her eye and faced Sanoya. It wasn’t the first time she had mentioned a hidebehind, and Avery was seriously beginning to wonder about her errant roommate’s sanity when, out of the corner of her eye, the mattress heaved upright.

“Please don’t scream,” Sanoya rushed out. “He is a little shy, but mostly he is afraid you will blame him for this.”

“What is he?”

“A very old friend,” she sang with a smile. “We packed what was left of your clothes, and he helped me set up an extra bed in the piano room you favor—the one at the end of the hall with the window, yes?”

“Yeah.” Avery wavered where she stood. “You did that for me?”

“Of course we did; you’re part of the Elkwater Family.” She smiled as if that should have been obvious. Which it wasn’t. This was only the third time she and Sanoya had spoken since meeting at the start of the summer, and their last conversation had consisted of a terse “hello” in the cafeteria followed by a “no room, sorry” when she’d tried to join the rest of the counselors at their table for dinner.

“I am sorry about that.” Sanoya cocked her head, frowning in time with Avery’s thoughts. “The Hidebehind is intolerably shy, and there was only enough room for him that day. I should have asked you to sit with us the following night.”

“Can you … never mind.” She shook her head, unable to rid herself of the feeling that Sanoya was reading her mind. Considering she had only recently figured out her roommate was inhuman, Avery had no idea what sorts of abilities she had. It was possible she could read minds.

Maybe that’s why she doesn’t sleep in here; my head is too loud.

“It’s more that I keep different hours,” she said. Avery jumped back and immediately began playing the 1812 Overture in her mind. “And you know how the Hidebehind is; too much noise in the camp. The quiet of the woods is so peaceful, don’t you think?”

“Right, I … yes.” Whatever it was holding her mattress up snuffled in agreement. “And, um, why is he afraid I’ll blame him for this?”

“Whispers in the night,” Sanoya shrugged. “A creature in the wood. The one that chased you that the faun can barely describe. The loggers have said very many mean things about the Hidebehind, but he is a sweetheart, truly. He would only hurt someone he intended to eat, and even then, he would do so politely.” She smiled in the direction of the mattress, a blueish tint filling her cheeks.

Avery followed her gaze, catching the twitch of a rounded, furry ear before the Hidebehind ducked behind her mattress. “Right … so if it wasn’t him—and I’m not saying I think it was!” The Hidebehind snuffled. “If it wasn’t him, does he know what it is?”

“We do not speak his name,” a voice rasped in her ear, hardly more than a breeze in the trees. Avery spun around, every muscle in her body twitching, her arm pulled back and ready to swing.

There was nothing there.

Nothing but the broken door and the camp beyond.Her mattress flumped to the floor and she whirled back around, seeking out the Hidebehind.

“Oh, he’s so fast, isn’t he?” Sanoya giggled lightly. Then she tutted in the direction of the shared closet set into the rear wall. “I do hope you’re wrong, and it is not a He Himself. They make such a mess.”

Avery’s scalp prickled at Sanoya’s words, spoken as though she not only had heard of a whatever-it-was but knew exactly what they were. “Have you ever seen one?”

“Oh, yes.” She nodded and pinched the arm of her sunglasses, sliding the frames onto the top of her head. Wide, alien eyes gleamed back at her, round and dark as a cavern pool. “They have been in these hills as long as I can remember, the poor things. Always so hungry. If you’re ever out for a hike and feel an unnatural chill or catch decay on the wind, you are in the presence of one.” Sanoya pursed her lips and shook her head sadly. “Terribly shy, worse than my Hidebehind, and such awful table manners.”

She drifted past Avery to the mattress, grappling it from the ground. A waft of lavender and wintergreen rose from the destroyed bedding, making them both sneeze.

Again, Avery racked her brain, trying to place where she had caught this same scent before. Not in the camp, they were all advised against perfume and cologne to keep from attracting bugs. So where?

“Do they have antlers?” she asked.

“Oh yes,” Sanoya grunted, propped the mattress against the bedframe, and glared at the closet door. “A little help?” Avery headed for the mattress and halted as the door creaked open. Footsteps padded across the floor, the boards groaning under a new weight, and the mattress shifted upright. She gaped at it, catching only the corner of a furred elbow and the glistening triangle of a snout as it disappeared. “Thank you,” Sanoya sniffed. “And yes, great, broad, lovely things. Numerous points dangling with delicate strips of … leather.”

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