Page 1 of True Sacrifice
CHAPTER1
MORRIGAN
“Cut the shit, Sheila, you said we were going to a party in the woods.” I grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to a halt amid the thick trees. I could see the faint stripes of the roaring fire way off in the distance. It was the thick part of the woods, which was a bitch to get to, but at least it offered us a bit of protection from prying eyes. The fire signaled that it was a party, but the strange chanting suggested something else.
Sheila leveled her brown eyes at me, ripping her arm free. “I said it was a fucking party, and it is. I’m sick and tired of seeing you all holed up in your room. Shit with Brad went bad. I get it, but girl, this is college. You’re going to get that piece of paper and get out of this town. There are so many fucking dudes out there, hon.” She hugged me securely, and I melted into her arms. I had missed contact with other humans, but this human in particular.
“He isn’t worth it,” she whispered in my ear.
“I’ve missed your face,” I said, pulling back to look my best friend in the eyes.
Sheila was right, and I knew it. Ever since Brad and I broke up, I had done little except sit in my room and watch tv. My grades were slipping, and I only had two more years until I had my bachelors. I worked my ass off in high-school to get a full-ride scholarship. When they awarded me with a scholarship, it surprised my parents. If they hadn’t been so busy they would have known.
I got here on my own, and I had an entire future ahead of me. Brad and I broke up after Sheila found him balls deep in some high-school chick at the frat house. She promptly punched him in the face so he could wear the bruise as proof before she called me. It was still hard to know that you weren’t enough for someone.
“I’m here. There better not be any of your weird shit. I’ve seen your for-you-page.” I gave her a smirk to let her know that, at least for tonight, I was back.
Sheila grinned in response. “Hell yeah!” she yelled, grabbing me by the arm and tugging me into the woods.
We tore through the trees, laughing and weaving between the old trunks. Some were massive, while others were much thinner. This forest had always been here on the very edge of town. A lot of the older folks said it’s haunted. I thought it was beautiful.
The smile on my face felt temporarily painful. Muscles that I hadn’t used in far too long aching. They screamed out a new and improved Morrigan Hallspring. No more sitting in my room moping over one guy. I was in college. Maybe I should just have a little fun before I try going back into the dating route.
We weaved our way through the trees, guided by nothing more than the beckoning fire. The chanting I had heard became louder and suddenly I realized it was singing. As in, heavy fucking rock music and everyone was singing along. My eyes widened as I broke through the last of the trees, gasping for air. Sheila emerged from the space next to me, her eyes glistening.
Looking around, I saw a massive fire standing at least five feet tall. I knew, because I was five feet tall, and the fucker was about my height. A few people stood just outside the ring of rocks that signaled the fire pit. They talked with drinks in hand, bobbing to the sound of music.
Further ahead was all cleared out, and they erected a small stage where a live band was rocking out. There’s no way we have something this cool in our town that I never even heard of before.
“What the fuck, Sheila?” I was beyond astonished. She smirked at me in response, moving past me towards the fire, wiggling her ass in time to the music.
“Best kept secret of this shitty town!” She yelled, waving her arms out wide.
I jogged to catch up. I needed answers. There’s no way something like this has always been here. Who was up there singing? I listened intently, wanting to know if I could recognize the song. I knew that there wasn’t a hometown band here that could get this many people to show up and sing their songs. “No really, Sheila, what the fuck is all this?”
“Fine, so last summer Sam and Max were out looking for party spots on the edges of the park and they found this place and it had an old shelter house. The building still had electricity!” Sheila bounced up and down in excitement, and I waited for her to continue. “So anyway, they uploaded a video of it, and it went fucking viral. Eventually, it became a thing where a few people contacted the park service about making it available to rent. I don’t know the exact details of it or whatnot, but it ended up being this stunt thing where bands come out to do these secret shows. They upload clues online to make people keep up with their streams. Those that figure it out and can show up, come here for the secret show.”
My mouth couldn’t open any further. My tiny little quaint college town. My tiny fucking boring ass small town was the center of a viral concert backwoods pop-up stunt, and I didn’t know about it. No. No. There is no way I could have missed this. I may have been dead to the world for the past month, but I have kept up with my social media.
“Girl, don’t even let it get in that overthinking brain of yours. Who the fuck cares about the how? All that matters is right now you are here. We are here. They are here.” She pointed toward the stage and all the people gathered around, singing, having the time of their lives. I could feel the bass pound into my chest, forcing my heart to be in tune with the music. Nothing quite makes me feel alive, like the feeling of live music.
With a smile, we headed toward the throng of people, wiggling and writhing our way into the very heart of the sweating bodies. I hadn’t spotted a single person I knew. I watched Sheila, and she watched me, but we gave ourselves to the music and danced until the last note rang free.
Sheila turned to me, a sweaty, partially melting mess, as I am sure I showed a mirrored image. Facing the day had meant a quick round of war paint before I left the house. It would have been fine for a drinking in the woods party, not an outdoor club experience.
“Want to stick around by the fire a bit?” Sheila panted.
“Fuck yes. Let’s get something to drink really quick first.” I felt like I was dying. I needed water. There would be no walking out of the woods without some hydration.
Sheila nodded and headed off toward the side of the stage. Vendors were set up, selling bottles of water and small snacks, along with some band merch. I bought two bottles of water and a candy bar. They handed the water bottles to me, opened and without lids. Fucking weird ass concert vendors. Heaven forbid I can seal my bottle back up and sip on it. I handed one to Sheila.
We stood by the fire and drank, ate and talked. I missed this fucking girl so much.
“I needed this,” I whispered. I set my gaze on the flickering of the fire. Sitting and watching it dance helped to calm my mind. For once, I wasn’t sitting and thinking through all the various scenarios to every unanswered question in my mind.
“I know you did,” Sheila whispered back. She bumped her shoulder into mine, and I looked at her and smiled.
Crawling into my bed a few hours later never felt better. My entire body felt lighter, like the weight of the world had finally fallen away from me and I was ready for a change. I didn’t even have the energy to take a shower. I grabbed a large t-shirt and boy-short underwear combo and threw it on, before curling up in bed and falling immediately asleep.
