Heart Wood | Forest Creature X Reader (COMPLETED)

Chapter 4: "Ida"

You sit up in your bed, breathing heavily as your heart pounds against your ribs. You're gripping your sheets tightly, as if to tell yourself that the dream wasn't reality, and that it truly was only a dream. But, something tells you otherwise. Staring down at your covers, your mind replays what it can. You're forgetting it by the second, you tell yourself. You need to write it down, before you forget everything.

As you regain your steady breath, you quickly scramble for your dream journal. Once again, if you can write it down, maybe then you won't forget all of it. You try to recite as much of it as you can, writing it all down as you think.

As far as you can tell, you're remembering everything quite clearly. To your amazement, it seems that everything is here. Except, you stop writing, unable to remember one small detail. 'The name.' Your mind whispers. You can't remember what name the woman in blue yelled out. 'The woman in blue.' Something clicks in your brain. You've seen that woman before, but where?

Missy scratches at your bedroom door, causing you to jump. You forgot, when going back inside after that odd encounter in the forest, Missy wanted to go in with you. Then, for the rest of the day, Missy went where ever you went. She scratches at your door, alerting you to her presence once again.

You get out of bed, staring at your journal. You go to pick up your phone, and it starts ringing. 'Mom.' You read, picking up the phone and answering. "Oh good," She starts, sounding quite relieved that you answered. "At first I was thinking you were asleep." She laughs, causing you to chuckle in response. You weren't known for over sleeping, unless if you stay awake longer than usual. She blabbers on about Canada, how her gps now says "kilometers" instead of "miles", and how beautiful the maple trees are.

"They're everywhere!" She explains with an excited tone. "I'm staring at a maple tree right now. Maybe I can milk- milk it? Do you milk maple trees? Is that what it's called?" She goes on, tone as happy as ever. You stare at your dream journal, listening to her with a soft smile on your face as she continues on about maple trees.

The name. It's on the tip of your tongue. 'I... something.' You hum, tapping your journal as you think. "It starts with an I." You whisper to yourself, unbeknownst to you, while you ponder the name. "What?" Your mother chimes questioningly. "What starts with an I?"

You snap out of your thoughts, not knowing that you said it out loud. "Oh," You sigh into the phone. You decide to explain, rather than telling her to forget about it. "I had a dream with a lady in it, but I can't remember her name." You whine, slouching down on your bed.

"It starts with an I, I think." You hum, trying your hardest to bring the memory back to the surface. Your mother stays silent on the other end, thinking to herself. "Ida!" She exclaims happily, before bursting out into laughter. Something in your mind clicks, and you gasp with excitement and amazement. 'That's it.' Your mind whispers. 'But how did-'

"That's probably not it, but it was the first name to come to mind." She breaths, laughing shortly after. "I mean," She starts, laughing once more before continuing. "It was your great ancestor after all." She mumbles, mostly seeming to be talking to herself. Your eyes widen, breath catching in your throat. 'I must not have heard her right.' You think, staring out your window as your mind fills with questions and theories. "Who?" Is all you can get out, before your mind can do nothing but wonder. "Who? Who what?" Your mother asks from the other end. "Who was Ida?" She answers your question with another question. "I never told you about- oh, well I guess it was too grim of a story for when you were little." She hums, clicking her tongue while thinking to herself.

You sit in confusion, hearing Missy scratching at your bedroom door. You're too invested in the "story" your mother is talking about for you to pay any attention to Missy's whines and persistent scratching. "What happened to her?" You ask. Something deep within you says that something awful happened to Ida, something you have a feeling you might already know. No, that must just be you theorizing again.

"Well, I think you're old enough now." She finally says after considering telling you or not. "The poor girl was only eighteen." Your mother starts, sounding like she heard the story a thousand times and can easily recite it at this point. "She went out to collect flowers, and her mom hadn't seen her for an hour afterwards. Her mom finally got Ida's husband to go out and look for her."

You replay every part of your dream, reading your dream journal as your mother talks about this young girl. Your mother continues on. "And, oh boy, was it a mess. Apparently a tree had fallen in the forest. Right where Ida was standing." She whispers the last part. You stare down at your journal. It's as if you're reliving her last day in your mind, able to recall everything that happened to her. You can even recall the fear she felt as she watched the tree come crashing down.

"Supposedly it took twenty seven men to move that tree out of the way. Weirdest thing was," Your mother stops, knitting her brows as she thinks of the story that has been passed down to her from your father's side of the family. "There was no body." You crinkle your brows, gritting your teeth as you think. That can't be right, unless if she did get out of the way.

"But there was still blood." You mother breathes out in a small whisper.