The Dryad's Touch

[Tortured]

News of treachery and betrayal spread quickly throughout the massive and extensive forest within the mountainous highlands of Scotland. The trees, and the ones who lived within them, were in shock. They had faced such a thing before, but never of this magnitude. It seemed that the more humans arrived on the planet, the more trees and forest lands were destroyed. In this case, it was for profit… entertainment. The mortals held such things in higher esteem than the world who so selflessly gave to them.

“It isn’t true…” This was softly whispered, feminine, from a towering silver birch from somewhere far away.

“It is,” others moaned, quietly disappointed and afraid.

“How can they think to cut our trees down?” This came from a more childish voice, her tone dragged down by misery. She was one of the youngest dryads, yet to reach sexual maturity.

The sorrowful sounds of the forest and its inhabitants grew longer and louder in pitch. None were silent, and all had something to say… aside from one. Shunned by his kind because of his cruel methods of revenge, Derrick Black was utterly silent. His tree, an old downy birch, was much the same. Situated near a cold, boggy swamp, the roots of his tee went deep and long. The typical lifespan of the downy birch was somewhere between 60 and 80 years, but this one was far above the norm. Touched by Derrick’s stubborn will and power, it was well over 150 years of age. Many within the forest had been waiting for it, and its dryad, to die, but they simply refused.

While ancient, Derrick retained his beauty. The older he grew, the more seductive and magnificent he became. As he aged, however, he also became more frigid and less inclined to share company. He, along with very few others, had the ability to jump from one tree to another, permission granted. The male dryad, a rarity among his kind, often used this trick to find and seduce unsuspecting humans. Once he ‘had’ them, Derrick led them back to his tree, and watch as they froze to death in the unforgiving swamplands.

It was because of such actions that the others tried to stay as far from him as possible. Some were uncertain about his methods, while others would rather see him more dead than alive. In this case, however, with horror looming over the forest…

“Derrick…” the trees whispered his name, as did the dryads and other creatures within. “Derrick… Derrick… do something… we have not the courage… we have not the backbone… do what we cannot…”

Deep within the downy birch, Derrick was asleep. Tall, yet not broad, he fit effortlessly within, born as a match to the tree. It held him in its core, keeping him warm and comfortable… his home, his life, it was the only thing that offered him any sort of love and affection. Not that he wanted it from any of ‘them’, but once in a while it might be nice to…

No, nevermind. He didn’t need it. He didn’t need them.

“Derrick…”

Their voices whispered across the forest, following the strands of the wind, hopping from place to place, drawing ever closer. It wasn’t long before the call awakened him. Eyes opened, brown with dark silvery flecks, so much like the bark of his tree. Younger trees had soft, silvery bark, but his was rough and weathered. This was reflected not only in his humorless gaze, but also in his expression. While his skin was unblemished and with very few wrinkles, there was a roughness to his visage that betrayed his dour disappointment and anger toward the human race.

“What?” His voice was mechanical and flat, no emotion present.

“The forest needs you… please… help us…” They spoke in near unison, filled with such sadness.

There was only silence from him as he let his eyes fall shut once again. The dryad dozed, drifting in and out of deep sleep. Always, though, their voices touched his dreams. They would not rest until he saved them… or until they were all but destroyed.

[Alexis Sapphire]

Cause it's going down...

Tonight-...

We're the life of the party...
Hit the floor and the spotlight follows us...
We're the life of the party...
Even all of the haters, are showing love.

Amanda's hair waved wildly in her top-down ride as the weather was simply devine. Warm sunlight and a healthy breeze was nothing but refreshing for the ride home. The Hudson Hotels company had just acquired 3 new contracts which meant it was going to be a busy several days.

Several seconds passed before another sound brought her right hand to her ear.

"Go for Amanda."

Hello Amanda, it's Charlie.

"Well hello Charlie. How are the kids doing?"

Oh, you know, spoiled rotten.

"Always better than the extreme opposite I suppose..." She managed with a chuckle before continuing.

"What can I do for you today?"

We've got the logging guys coming in on Monday. They need to make sure the insurance is in place?

"Insurance quotes were faxed about an hour ago. They should have that filed by tomorrow morning. I'm not too concerned about it."

Sounds good... the environment board is sending their team down tonight to be present for the on-site analysis.

"Oh joy. Father's going to love that."

Well, that's the other thing, Your father said you'd handle it.

"Me. He said I'd handle it?"

I'm guessing this is the first you've heard of it then.

"That's about right. I figured the owner/operator of the company was needed for the approval signing."

Apparently not, or you're being promoted to something you haven't had a chance to expect... umm, congrats?

"Ri-i-ight. Thanks alot for that. I'll get ahold of father and find out what's going on."

Alright, talk to you later.

*click*


A few buttons, and several seconds later, a huskier voice occupied the space in Amanda's right ear.

"Father, is there anything you'd like to talk to me about?"

By order of significance or alphabetical...?

"Let's go alphabetical. A. Analysis. As in... there's a group going over a site analysis tonight and I've just been told that I'm going to be there?"

That's about right. I'm going over the skyscraper project, these guys need everything settled before tomorrow night and so tonight was the only available slot for their meeting.

"So I'm going over the Resort analysis?"

Well, trees have never really agreed with me.

"There's a dance tonight for one of the celebratory events. I can't really be trudging through pine country and then show up-..."

If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Those dances are fine every once in awhile but you shouldn't be making a habit of them. We're a little higher up on the scale than frat-boys and sleazy whores.

"Well... that was classy."

Are we on the letter C yet? Don't go giving your old man that kind of sauce.

"Of course. My ample apologies father..." The sarcasm in her tone couldn't be avoided by her father even if he wanted to disregard it.

Look, we'll talk about this sometime, but I'm not going to be around forever, this is all going to be yours someday. It's time to leave some of the childhood habits on the shelf. Wouldn't you agree?

"I think I get it... so it would be a 'bad' sense of humour to send a male stripper to your office to celebrate your 45th birthday?"

There was a momentary silence from the other line which was almost terrifying given how well they knew each other. And then...

Honey, your next flight to Switzerland would undergo a mechanical malfunction and they'd never find the body. You tell me if it sounds like a good idea?
*Silence...*

"Love you dad... you know that right?"

Love you too sweetheart. Knock'em dead now.

*click*

With a sigh and a shrug, Amanda turned into her parking lot. She had about an hour to get changed and get ready to go meet the group at the established rendez-vous.

Forest land... just great. She'd have to shower for an hour and a half afterwards just to get the smell of pine off of her she was sure.

[Tortured]

Several hours later, Derrick felt the brush of lips against the side of his neck. One eye cracked open, while the other remained shut. There was a funny tilt to his mouth, like he was trying to look mean but was too sleepy to pull it off completely. His other eye eventually opened, joining the first, and a quiet growl rumbled from his chest. Who dared stir him from his rest, and in such a manner?!

“Get out of here.” There was a snap to his voice, like a trap going off.

“Derrick, we need you… all of us need you…” her voice was solemn and gentle, a soft caress in his ears. She was the only one brave enough to come to him in such a manner. The only one brave enough to touch him.

“What have you ever done for me? Nothing. Now get out of my tree… and I hope you get lost finding your own.”

Soft laughter now, which only made the male dryad even angrier. “derrick, we are bound to our trees. Never can we become lost… now please, help us. We will accept you back into our family if you do. Please…”

“I don’t want to be part of your stupid family, now GO!”

“We are all going to die if you don’t do something!” Her shout was even louder than his was, ringing through the downy willow and making its branches tremble. “Some part of you has to care! You can’t be that different from us, Derrick, you can’t be! We are all the same, we are dryads just like you are. Now grow a pair, and help us. Help yourself. If you want to fade away and die afterward, fine. But don’t take all of us with you, we don’t deserve such a fate!”

“I have a pair, thank you, and they work just fine. NOW GET OUT!” The power of his voice, as well as his push of negative energy, was enough to shove the female dryad from his home. She let out a scream of shock and despair, and fell hard to the ground with a thud. Tears made her cheeks glimmer as she got up, tilting back her head to look up at him. After a sob, she turned and fled into the trees.

“Finally, I can get some rest around here,” he grumbled, his eyes closing again. “Annoying little whores, all of them…”

“Derrick.” This voice was more familiar… and more annoying.

“Go… away…” He kept his eyes closed, lips parting from a sigh.

“At least go take a look, feel what you feel, of the ones who come to take our homes from us. That is all we are asking. Then you can decide from there.”

“You aren’t going to stop heckling me, are you?”

“No, I am your mother. It’s what we do. Now, do we have an accord?”

“Fine… whatever.”

“Thank you, my boy.” A soft whisper against his cheek, and then she was gone. The forest went silent, some already despairing and giving up hope. Others were counting on Derrick, believing he would save them. Still others believed that they had strength enough to save themselves.

Laying there in his tree, seemingly dozing once again, the dryad stretched out his senses. He let them weave from one tree to another, easily hopping short distances until he had most of it covered. In this way he would be able to see and feel who was coming in and out. It was how he hunted. While technically cheating, as he wasn’t actively searching with his other senses, no one complained. This was important, and it seemed as though Derrick had decided to help.

[Alexis Sapphire]

Amanda's vehicle brought her to the rendez-vous which only made her feel a little more self-conscious about being late. She was never the last one to arrive to anything. She was prominently prompt. There they stood however, leaning on the hoods of their cars, drinking their coffees and eating their early-evening bagels.

"Apologies ladies and gentlemen..."

Amanda's voice did little to match her frazzled appearance as she raked her fingertips through her long dark hair and approached the group with her pen and pad.

"It's been a hectic day... sorry for the wait. Shall we proceed?"

Even the look of the trees that seemed endless in length made her feel less than enthused. She was never one for camping or roughing it. She really was a city girl at heart... and in body. Soul... mind... the city was for her. The city could one day be hers, she appreciated trees for their contribution to the environment simply because a city couldn't exist without them.

But... spending time in the forest? She'd do without that pleasure.

The quicker this is over with, the better... she thought to herself as the 4 man and 1 woman group entered the woods.

[Tortured]

When he found ‘The five’, he, and the forest, knew immediately who was the greater threat. The leader in all of this treachery, as well as his ‘minions’, had always spoken of a daughter. It was only on occasion when a woman came into the forest, and this one’s demeanor spoke of leadership. She also looked extremely uncomfortable with the setting, which made Derrick smirk. Even as far away as he was, his will stretched that far, and even beyond. He was sold in the fact that she looked about ready to turn around and leave any moment. This would be easy.

There was a soft hush, like a sigh of unison from many individuals, as he began to emerge from his tree. His hands and his head came first, stretching outward like branches. But they soon took on shape, leaves and bits of bark fluttering to the forest floor. His locks were black and long, falling just past his shoulders. They were twisted and ragged, but with a small amount of effort he smoothed them out. There was a natural curl to his hair, coiling more around his face and at the ends than at the top. His eyes were a heavy brown, but held no warmth as the color traditionally did. Limbs were not slender like most dryads, even males, but thick and strong. Despite the power of muscle and bone, his form was sleek, this allowing him to fit so perfectly into the downy birch he called his home. Features were rugged, and stubble casted dark shadows across his jaws and neck. He was nothing like the traditional dryad at all, but the isolation and bitterness had changed him beyond reversal.

Her voice was carried to him on the breeze, confident and almost irritable. She didn’t want to be here. Perhaps, too, there was something of the unexpected in her tone. She really didn’t want to be here. A quiet ‘hmph’ was issued from his mouth before he dropped down to the ground. His naked knees bent with the impact, his feet creating the softest of thuds.

“Derrick… you are going to help us…?”

“If I hear someone say my name one more time, I am going back to my tree… forever this time,” he snapped as he walked eyes narrowed and spitting fire.

There was a long pause of silent before the voice spoke again. “You will help us?”

The male dryad didn’t answer. With no name to acknowledge him, she could have been speaking to anyone. Of course he knew she was addressing him, but he pretended that he didn’t notice. In all reality, he just didn’t give a flying shit. Why he was doing this in the first place had a lot to do with being annoyed, constantly. The other reason was because he held an incredibly deep hatred for all of mankind. Any and all excuses to make their lives absolutely miserable were good enough for him.

“Please answer…”

Again, all she received was silence. Through his broad and sensitive connection with the trees and those within he could feel her tears. It only made his resolve harder. Jaw growing tighter, the male dryad launched himself into a massive pine. This was the beginning of his journey. From that tree he bounced to another, and another, and another. No one complained about the intrusion, for they knew what Derrick’s intentions were.

Hardly any time passed before he heard their voices on his actual ears. They were almost directly below him, walking. Not wasting any time, he willed his skin to change color, matching the tree he was currently clinging to. His chameleon-like abilities were legendary, and even many of the dryad couldn’t even begin to spot him. Shimmying down a little bit, he crawled onto a branch before curling his knees around it. Once he had a solid hold, he lowered his torso down, holding on with his knees. One hand stretched out, just long enough to give one of the men furthest from Amanda a stinging swat, right in the ear. As camouflaged as he was, there was no need to hide… he was already very well hidden. Given that, he had front row tickets to the show!

[Alexis Sapphire]

Amanda had been the 2nd to step into the treeline following the initiative of the group's guide. Her pen and pad constantly taking down notes as he sounded off mileage numbers, wood quality in the trees, the view of course had to be seen personally.

"So we're talking about the size of 2 football fields..." the guide emphasized as Amanda stole occasional glances the ground as though to walk in the footsteps of the guide. The land was uneven and full of slopes like Amanda had painfully imagined it would be.

"That's right, parking spaces and such included in the resort's location."

Ow...

There was a quick glance backward. One of the contractors had planted his palm over his right ear.

"Everything okay Bill?" The guide called out from behind Amanda given that they were now all facing backwards.

"Yeah-... I think something stung me."

Eyes studied the immediate area. The lighter branches in the space were easily manoeuvred by the wind.

"What... like a bee or something?" the man nearest him asked.

"I don't know, more like a flying twig." Bill stated abrasively giving his ear a few squeezes and then just gesturing forward.

"-Nevermind. Let's just keep going yeah?"

"Good idea." Amanda rolled her eyes as she turned back to the guide who in turn faced forward again and they began their trek deeper into the forest hearing random stats as they moved.

[Tortured]

Derrick could hear giggling in his ears from the trees, from the dryads, and from everything else in the forest that most people had no idea about. They always dismissed it as legend, myth. Not real. Even the rocks were amused, the water, the air, everything had its own voice.

Lifting himself back up, he sprung from that tree to the next, following along the path he thought they were going to be taking. Using his knees to hang down from another branch, just like the last one, he waited. Brown eyes were intent on the man he had smacked, and he fully intended on making the others in the party believe he had some sort of mental illness.

Just a few more steps…

As the same man walked by, Derrick reached out and grabbed one of his hairs. Just one. A swift tug and he freed it from the human’s scalp. Fingers parted, letting the single hair fall to the forest floor below. His gaze watched it flutter and sway, and then he dropped down from the branch, just behind the four. He did this so quietly as to not be heard. Hands clasping behind his back, the ‘invisible’ dryad stayed close, padding nearer to one of the trees. He placed a palm against its trunk and canted his head to one side to watch the show.

“How is playing with one of the humans going to do anything?” This was another male dryad.

“You guys wanted me to help, so I am… but I’m doing it my way. Your way would involve kittens and flowers. My way involved scaring the shit out of people enough that they eventually think they’ve gone crazy. Maybe a few of them will ever get locked into institutions. So shut your pie hole and let me do my work.”

The normally naïve and abrasive young dryad went incredibly quiet after hearing Derrick’s words. Whether he was insulted or intimidated was unclear, but at least he did was he was told, and went silent.

[Alexis Sapphire]

Bill's eyes flinched. The feeling of a small sting, infinitely smaller than the first swat could be felt, but easily mistaken for some kind of fly bite. His hand, on instinct didn't smack onto his head, but it did nuzzle and rub the sore spot momentarily.

His lips pursed together as he glanced around, sometimes you could feel this if there were flies swarming around your heads but no one else seemed to be having this kind of trouble. Or if they were-... they were just keeping their composure much better.

With little more than a hissing breath, he took a few steps to be closer to the man directly in front of him.

And over here, we expect some trouble with roots, it'll cost us in the area of 6,000$ we figure conservatively...

The voice of the guide being the only sound that really swamped out any buzzing or noise of crickets Bill might have heard. Amanda meanwhile, continued to write as she advanced.

[Tortured]

The reaction was about as much as Derrick expected. He was more than happy to go on this way, and make the man think nature was utterly and absolutely against him. That was the fun part, biding his time and slowly torturing his victim. It had been a long time since he had done such a thing, and so now he wanted to take his time and revel in the pure fun of it. Talk of money ruined that, though, and made a savage anger ignite inside of his chest. A sneer spread across his lips, flashing his white teeth.

Money. All people cared about was fucking money. Nothing mattered more, that was all the world was. The trees were money, the earth was money, all of it had some sort of dollar value. It made Derrick sick. What made him even more ill to his stomach was the fact that the humans thought they owned it all. It was their earth. How often had he heard someone say our planet? It was their planet his ass!

Spurred into action by a quietly building rage, he manipulated one of the larger roots close to where Bill was walking. They were all focused on what was ahead, none of them would notice what Bill saw, or such was the plan. It wrapped itself around his victim’s leg, and not too low either. Like a constricting snake, it actually wound tight around his upper thigh, reaching up to do so. The squeeze was hard and harsh, easily enough to create a good bruise and knock him flat on his face at the same time. Derrick really wanted to just crush his balls, but there would be time enough for that later.

The root retreated quickly enough, any motion caught by eyes mostly covered by the flailing form of Bill. And if not, then the fun would really begin! At this point, Derrick really didn't care who saw what or when. As much as he wanted just the one playtoy for the moment, if the opportunity came to take on more he knew he could handle them just fine.

Wind picked up near the tops of the trees, hard enough to make them howl and softly groan. A few small twigs and leaves fluttered to the ground as the trees wavered and shuddered with the dryad’s displeasure.

[Alexis Sapphire]

"The fuck-... -woah!..." Bill's body contorted into a violent twirl springing forward to try and avoid the extending ligament from the earth. His fingers had instinctively grasped at the root but as it retracted into the ground, it simply drew his arms forward. Unfortunately, it also drove him smack-dab into Carl who was walking in front of him.

Without any real instinct for balance at the moment, Bill ended up extending his arms to loosen his light fall forward. Carl on the other hand simply had the shuffling experience of adjusting his footing and leaning on the nearest tree to avoid falling.

This brought the eyes of the 4 in front of Bill to glance back. Eyebrows rose, glares of confusion as well as skepticism met the man who sprawled to his feet. His palms shuffled and scampered along his thighs, waist and legs as though he were absolutely queasy or crawling with insects somehow.

"Damnit Bill-..." Carl spoke finally as he decided to continue leaning on the tree he was near.

"What the hell is wrong with-..."

Carl was immediately interrupted by a now savagely horrified Bill.

"It wasn't me! Shit man the-... it like..." he mimicked a rising motion with his hands.

"-... and kind of wrapped around me like some crazy vine thing."

His fingers latched to his legs and thigh demonstrating what had happened.

"When's the last time you got laid Bill?" Steve asked. Steve was the one who stood between Amanda and Carl. Carl of course stood between Steve and Bill... who was the last man in line. Only the guide stood in front of Amanda, named Ivan. This 5 person line was the committee group.

"Shut up Steve! I'm serious, something latched onto my leg here. Look I'm sure it would have bruised-..."

Almost in a delirious need to defend his sanity, he began to lift his pant leg as though to prove a point.

"Wo-... hold on there Bill." Amanda let her head angle with slight disbelief. Whatever happened, Bill was roused enough not to catch onto the fact that he had complained about something grabbing his thighs... but wanted to demonstrate it with proof.

And there was absolutely no way Amanda was interested in staring at Bill's thighs.

-... For any reason... let alone some creature from the black lagoon story.

"It's really... fine just... uh fine. Did you want to go home?" She glanced around the group to the other 3 members. Clearly Bill wasn't feeling well and if he was going to keep slowing them down, this meant that she would have to be there even longer.

Still leaning on his nearby tree, Steve could only nod as he lifted his heel in order to swipe at some of his lower leg in order to wipe off anything Bill might have knocked onto him.

"Yeah man, call it a day. We'll send you an email or something."

Bill couldn't help but feel somewhat insulted, and a little silly. Instinctively he looked along the surface where he had felt the attack.

"But it was here... it was like a... and it... it just... you know, sprang up and-..."

"Bill-..." Amanda's voice seemed to have lost some patience. It wasn't exactly rude or arrogant, simply firm.

"Bill-... go home. I'll have Carl send you an email. Get some rest."

Bill's eyes glanced at the four. He didn't know what else to say, anything he could do to try to honestly explain it was just going to make him look more foolish. The fact that he couldn't find the large root anywhere just made it all the worse.

"I-... okay. Sorry guys. It's just been a long day I guess."

He saw what he saw. He felt what he felt, but somehow being 100% honest could just make you look crazy.

As he moved out past the tree line, the group watched him, only when they heard the car begin and disappear into the distance did they exhale in unison and shake their heads somewhat.

"Moving on-..." Ivan's voice continued to guide them. Carl meanwhile pressed off with his legs, but had some difficulty somehow.

Now he was the 4th man back in the 4 person group. He had been leaning against the tree, but now for some reason, his clothing seemed to be stuck to it.

[Tortured]

Derrick slid up the tree again, and settled in its branches. Another dryad joined him, her smile indicating how much she approved of his actions. She was his mother, and because of this he tolerated her presence there, even allowed a shoulder to touch her own. The drama down below was far too comical for them not to laugh about it. The bewildered expression on Bill’s face was almost enough to make Mom fall right out of the tree!

“Look at how easy this is,” Derrick said, watching and listening to the dialogue down below. “Someone else could have done this.”

“No one could have done it better, though, my son. No one else has the coldness in their heart in order to find joy in another’s suffering. Only you do, and as much as we loathe to admit it… we need that now, in order to save all of us, and everything that we cherish.”

With no mind to comment on what his only living parent had just said, he lowered his eyes to the man leaning against the tree. Considering what had just happened, it didn’t seem to Derrick like the smartest thing to be doing. Then again, he was a human, so obviously the trees were completely harmless. Obviously.

A snort was issued through his flared nostrils as an idea started coming to mind. He could just have the tree swallow him and kill him, but slow torture and confusion were the words of the day here. His head tipped as something savage worked its way across his expression. It shone like the devil in his eyes, and a quiet chuckle rumbled in his chest. This was going to be FUN. His mother, uncertain of what her son was about to do, watched intently, her lips barely parted. She was even holding her breath, her fingers clutching the tops of her thighs. What was he going to do this time?

As Carl used his leg to push against the tree, Derrick fooled with the molecules in the bark and trunk. He spread them apart, pulling them away from each other just enough to make it incorporeal, like a ghost. As his leg slid back into it, the dryad released his influence on the tree’s molecules. The end result was Carl’s leg literally stuck in the tree.

[Alexis Sapphire]

Carl's voice shouted an echoing blast of profanity as his foot seemed to be sunk into the bark of the tree. His leg was in constant motion so he had no idea about what he had done to suffer the immediate jolt of pain up his leg.

It was as though he had stepped into a bear-trap where you simply stepped on the trigger and then two semi-circular jaws emerged to collapse on your leg between your ankle and knee.

Derrick's trickery had manipulated the molecular structure of the tree, and the 2nd time he did so, the tree's force didn't just gash and rip into Carl's leg, but it re-froze around it as best it could so it was as though the tree linked to his leg like some kind of independent cast structure.

As he pulled, his skin tore violently, cuts visibly appeared along the streamline of his knees and it was as though the tree were part of his leg. The way it was arched to push off against it, his foot had been buried inside.

Gasps from the others immediately followed. Amanda's eyes darted around, though widened to the point of unmovable shock. What the hell was going on here?

They glanced around, swarming to Carl.

"Hold on buddy, we'll get you-..." Another yelp of pain came as they tried to move him. The tree seemed to have trapped his leg entirely. There was an immediate thought of perhaps having to amputate the leg and carry him out of here but there wouldn't be a hospital for the longest while.

This was just insanity.

Ivan himself had no idea what to say, how do you offer any guide advice for this?

"We'll... we'll bring help..." Ivan called out as he began fleeing for the vehicles. Steve seemed to link his fingers together in some kind of horror filled prayer of forgiveness.

"Sorry man-... I'm sorry I really am I-..." but more moving twigs, leaves and a violent breeze brought him to a healthy pace leaving the area to his own vehicle.

Carl's teeth closed on his lower lip, his eyes moved to Amanda.

"And what are you waiting for-... get the hell out of here! Run!" His arms gestured towards the cars that were getting ready to leave.

"Bring help-!" he called out as Amanda dropped her pen and pad and began to move in the direction of the parking lot.

[Tortured]

There was widespread panic and chaos among the humans. He had already lost interest in Carl, the one with his leg stuck in the tree, and now had his sights set on the woman. Everyone else could run as far as they wanted to. They would still be close to the earth, close to the forest. Despite all the plastics and other such chemical created products out there, it all still came from a base earth product. ‘Man-made’ was a strange myth that had always made Derrick roll his eyes. If it was so man-made, then how come he could manipulate a rain jacket? Or a pair of faux fur gloves? Everything was alive, regardless of whether people thought of them as ‘dead’ or ‘not alive’.

“Idiots,” he whispered to himself. “Her, too.”

A crooked smile fell across his mouth as he let his eyes follow the path of least resistance before Amanda. He anticipated that she would take it, rather than try her luck at jumping over rocks and rolling under branches. It was, in his experience, what people did, and even the animals of the forest. With that in mind, he willed the wind, twisted it to his will. It howled, coming out of nowhere and sweeping low across the forest floor. This was not a gentle wind, and it slammed into the side of an old rotting tree, as thick as two men’s chests. There was a hollow groan before it teetered, then slowly started to fall. The thick trunk wiped away the branches of other trees as it was falling, debris flying in every direction at once. When the big behemoth hit the forest floor, the BOOM was horrendous, echoing for miles. It made the ground shudder, the tree actually bouncing a few times because of how hard it hit.

This happened, of course, directly in Amanda’s path. Derrick formed a path with his mind, willing the forest to make a route for Amanda to take. Hopefully she would flee in fear in the easiest direction, rather than try and climb over the tree. If she climbed, the dryad would have to take another tactic. He didn’t feel guilt for the tree, for with its death it would offer life for thousands of other creatures and trees.

“Just don’t knock the entire forest down,” his mother said in a quiet voice. “Balddrin won’t be happy you took his tree.”

A smirk fettered cross Derrick’s lips before he climbed higher, his strange colored eyes staring directly at the back of Amanda’s head. Tormenting her, and scaring the crap out of her, were the things he lived for. His heart thudded hard against his chest, the excitement inside of his frozen soul growing.

[Alexis Sapphire]

It was chaos, complete and utter chaos. Amanda's eyes presented her a very appealing parking lot with god-gifts called vehicles. She was moving at speeds she didn't know were possible to attempt on her own two feet.

"Gotta... get... outta he-oooly fu-..."

Her eyes would have given the illusion of doubling in size as the sound of branches breaking and leaves furiously clashing together turned out to be a mere prelude to an earth-shaking collision.

Her breath was stalled, halted until she literally had to exhale. She was frozen in fear at the moment. Sure, people had seen tornados and rampant storms do massive damage to houses and full communities, but that wasn't her life. That wasn't the type of incident she had ever gone through before.

It wasn't close enough to cause any harm beyond the initial shock, but the fear of the fact that being any faster than she was could have resulted in her being under that tree was absolutely shocking.

Her legs seemed to kick back into motion, as though being still was the last thing she should be doing now. The parking lot was still within view, only slightly obstructed. Her running now became random bobbling left and right as she ended up moving over dirt-rock and to the right of the trail.

Not interested in taking any look at the tree as she by-passed it, she made a swift dash for the centre path again.

Simple science really.

On flat ground, she could move faster with a more inclined running stance.

That's right. Maybe if she had paid more attention in science, she would have learned how a tree could swallow someone's fucking leg!

[Tortured]

The chaos was palpable, but it didn’t make Derrick panic. On the contrary, it had an evil little grin lighting up across his face. His teeth flashed white as he dipped his chin down. Eyes watched as the one man was helplessly stuck to the tree. There was no way they were going to free him unless they either took it down, or removed his leg. Those cold eyes seemed to smirk, while the upward curve of his lips vanished. Whatever his fate would be, it would be a difficult one. The human would very likely spend a night out here, maybe more. Perhaps not, though…

A favor was asked, not a command. His senses stretched outward, gently touching upon the minds of carnivorous and omnivorous forest creatures – all of them small.

“A meal for you, if you wish it… enjoy.” The male dryad showed them where Carl was, and once they had the scent they knew where he was, anyway. Helpless, unable to move. He would be, to the creatures of the forest, delicious.

While the trapped man awaited his fate, of which he knew nothing about yet, Derrick set his sights on Amanda. She was in full-fledged freak-out mode, which caused that grin to snap back into place. He watched as she tried to make her way around the tree, back to the parking lot. While he could make more trees fall down, he would rather ‘build her back up’, and eliminate her fears. As panicked as she was, it left a vast opening for his sensual nature to try and break through.

“Amanda…” His voice was sultry in her ear, red hot and dripping with intent. Moving from one tree to another, then dropping down and running invisible along the ground, he tugged at her mind, building the seed he had planted so easily and so swiftly.

“Come to me…” That breathy voice held thousands of unspoken promises as he attempted to wind her in his magical folds. “Let me comfort you. Amanda…”

Up another tree, silently and easily maneuvering through the trees. Sometimes it was as though he was floating instead of actually moving, his grace and physical prowess far greater than any human could ever dream of achieving.

[Alexis Sapphire]

“Amanda…”

Amanda couldn't necessarily distinguish between a voice and the constant rustle of violently blowing leaves for the first few seconds. It was only when words took shape that a voice became more acceptable as a premise.

Just keep going... Come on. Left right left right left right...

“Come to me… Let me comfort you.”

Left right, left right, left right-... yeah right!

Like hell she would stop running right now. She was determined, almost more-so now that trees wanted to comfort her, that it was probably not the best idea to sit around and chat.

Unfortunately, the more she ran, the matter of distance seemed to elude her. It wasn't about how far she had to go anymore, it was just about how difficult it was going to be to keep pumping energy into her legs to strive for that parking lot.

The voice almost made each and every step she took seem foolish. There was nothing threatening about it, if anything there was an intonation of allure, there was an inviting sense of slowness and ease in the husky voice that circled her.

Now, the leaves settled, the crackling of branches, the motion of trees, nothing but the swerving of a silhouette that seemed to appear and disappear at random around her could compete with the constant thudding of her sneakers against the earth.

That voice... it was irritating because it made her feel foolish about running. Common sense told her to run, to flee for her God-given life... but the voice treated her as though there were no danger and as such, she was just being a side-show freak.

This must be what those mental patients feel like. The good doctors approach them calmly. 'Calm down Mr. Jacobson, Take it easy. There's nothing wrong. It's just a syringe.'... and they run for the walls, flee for the corners, they flip out and we just think it's irrational behaviour. After all, why flip out if the kind doctor is telling you there's nothing to be afraid of?

In this case, she considered herself to be like some kind of mental patient, fully believing she shouldn't stop. Shouldn't believe the voice. Shouldn't even tempt giving it an earful. Unable to ignore it however, she had to justify disobeying it. Why run if a soothing voice was telling you there was nothing to fear? Simply because you felt you couldn't believe it. No matter what they said.

At about this time, the pain in her driving legs snapped her back to reality where she had time to blink vividly and take a deep breath, realizing all too late from a series of huffs that she hadn't done it recently. She had just considered herself on par with a mental patient.

What a day.

[Tortured]

Derrick could feel her little heart rushing like mad within her chest. It could pump faster, though, go harder and longer. The human form, while fragile, could also be incredibly durable. He made another drop down from the trees, running behind her without showing himself, silently charging forward with her. She didn’t seem to have any real direction aside from the parking lot, so he set his sights on that area and passed her, taking to the trees once again.

Into the parking lot he went. The others were already there, for they hadn’t been encumbered by the toppling tree. Only Amanda had, which had cost her precious time. It wasn’t really them he cared about, and his sole purpose was to isolate the woman, and make her believe that she was safest only with him.

Trees rising above her vehicle looked inviting, and so the dryad settled himself on a thick branch. He stretched out his presence, letting it flow across the workings of the engine and computer within the car. His energy was otherworldly, and didn’t coincide with the ‘normal’ workings of human life. Built to withstand elements, the car was unable to deal with what Derrick was placing upon it. The metal parts were easy to see and work with, for they were as much a part of the world as his tree was. He plunged his metaphysical self into the workings to see how everything functioned, cold brown eyes snapping with a strange ethereal intelligence.

His head lifted as another smile crept across his mouth. She wouldn’t be getting anywhere now. Electricity was a thing of dreams now, and even her cell phone would suffer. Oh, look at that. No signal.

Now… now she would come. If she still refused, then he would keep her alive, keep her warm. The dryad was interested in tormenting Amanda, in keeping her life intact for as long as possible. A quick death was undesirable, as well as boring. Even though he knew the forest was watching, he didn’t care. Let them watch, and let them wonder. This was his way.

[Alexis Sapphire]

Amanda's eyes had sunk to the ground for the most part now as she moved in the general direction of the cars. She hadn't much need of memorizing exactly where she was going and, to be honest, she was more worried about things growing out of the earth or creatures swarming her on the one hand, or simply tripping on a rock on the other. For this reason, the earth flew in and out of her field of vision as her eyes remained fixed on the land around her feet.

Her eyes were only drawn up as the sound of engines began to move. It was in looking up that she realized just how close she was to it. It was palpable. Freedom. Safety. Okay well... slight exaggeration there. What was more free than enjoying the great outdoors? She actually was looking forward to sacrificing some of this great outdoor 'freedom' in exchange for a greater dose of 'indoor' safety.

Her body had moved with such speed that by the time she reached the pavement of the lot, her knees were aching from some kind of manipulated shock absorption. Her palms buried themselves into her pockets until the jangling of keys brought a sigh of relief. She inserted the key with the frittering pulsing fingertips which caused for some pride when the door opened on the first try. Her head had glanced back in the direction she had just surpassed to get here.

As she stepped in and slammed the door, she moved instinctively to insert the key and try starting the car. Her eyes glanced into each of the mirrors, as though expecting to see someone or something appear.

Thank God for the small blessings, I could have dropped my keys back there.

Then where the hell would she be? Casually walking back to look for them? Hell no. She wasn't a hot-wiring expert, she wasn't a hitchhiker, she wasn't a long distance marathon runner (at this distance from society). What she would have been however was good old fashioned screwed.

Now if only this bloody car would-...

[Tortured]

There she went, straight into her car. Had Derrick expected anything less? No, not at all. That was why he was still hanging around on that same branch, right over her vehicle. His eyes hadn’t even looked up as the other guys left. Even if they did tell of what had happened, who would believe them? Carl would be bones by the time anyone came to ‘rescue’ him, if they ever did. And if they did, it would be one of those ‘freaks of nature’ things that circulated through the web for a few months and then disappeared. It was soincredibly easy being a ‘monster’ in this day and age. Almost… too easy.

There were individuals who tried to lay everything out in the open, and tell the world that so much more was going on than anyone realized. But it was amazing how swiftly their voices were snuffed out. The male dryad knew he could take a walk down the middle of a busy street and still be okay. It would be some sort of prank or some other stupid excuse like that.

Well, he was about to prove little miss city pants wrong. Humans weren’t the only ‘intelligent’ beings on the world’s list. Dropping down a branch, Derrick positioned himself directly in the path of her rear-view mirror. That way, when she looked at it, she would be staring right into a pair of frigid brown eyes. His skin was relatively pale, but that wasn’t the strangest thing. There was an otherworldly gleam to him, like he was shining from the inside out. The way his eyes burned into that rear-view mirror… he could possibly set it all on fire.

“Come with me,” he mouthed, not actually speaking the words verbally. Another moment, and then he dropped from the branch to the trunk of her car. The car didn’t move at all when he did this, despite that he was a relatively large individual. ‘Man’ wasn’t exactly the right word even though he was, in fact, male.

Back in the woods, Carl was practically trying to claw his own leg off as insects, small birds, and rodents swarmed all over and around him. They took out little chunks of skin and flesh, eating him little bit by little bit. His screams were echoing through the trees, his continuous lunging, struggling, and flailing sapping away his energy. There was only panic, though, as he pulled more at his leg. His pants were shredded, and blood dripped from self-inflicted wounds.

Carl was going to die… slowly. And there was nothing that he could do about it.

[Alexis Sapphire]

"Hol-..."

Amanda's head snapped back almost immediately after a rapid couple of blinks. With the appearance of Derrick's visage in her rear-view mirror, she had been momentarily froze, unable to truly believe what she was seeing, but too scared to turn around and lose sight of it. It was only when her eyes absolutely had to blink because of the burning strain that she allowed he neck to rotate and try to get a better look at the figure.

He wasn't in the car with her was he? It was impossible to tell from the gaping eyes that occupied her rear-view mirror. Derrick had either been at a ridiculous angle or he had been close enough to the vehicle that she should be able to see him, hear him, see anything really-!

Her heart began to pound with the awkward silence that was out of place given just how much she wanted her car to start up right now. Of all the dumb luck in the world, there was none available for her. The car lay as dead a door nail and as long as she stayed inside, she was a sitting duck... on a dead door nail.

Her breathing intensified, Derrick's voice again flooding her ears in a way that caused her fingers to abandon the wheel and move half-way to her head as though they wanted to clasp around her ears and drown out his voice. It was only due to some instinctive composure that those hands remained suspended between the wheel and her neck for a couple of seconds before they clasped the wheel again.

Her fingertips gently traced the wheel, her shaking hands now vividly felt as her breathing seemed to take enough of her focus. For the time being, the car provided some kind of momentary safety, but there was nothing but anxiety in the atmosphere. Seconds passed, feeling like forever. She was used to being busy or tired, right now, she had nothing to do... and she was absolutely restless.

Her left hand made its way to the door handle as she stepped back out. Her eyes studied the trees fervently, in spite of herself, her breathing came back under comfortable control and she was left with simply a feeling of frustrating helplessness. She had a long way to walk if she were to try to make it back to the city, but that was so unlikely given how much toil and effort had to be put in to get to this point.

Derrick's tone almost seemed to be credited for Amanda's resolve and new calmness. With a firmer stance, with more solid breathing, she threw all ridicule to the wind.

"What do you want-!?" her voice bellowed out, a two-time echo inserting the sense of embarrassment that came with catching oneself talking to themselves. Amanda knew better now however, there was no one around to call her on this embarrassing moment and the only voice she'd heard had talked to her first so-... she was in the clear.

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