Queen of the Forest

070703-071103

"They say these woods are haunted," Joey said, surveying the trees bouncing behind him. He looked at the enquiring faces all staring back at him, waiting for him to go on. He leaned into the corner of the pick-up truck's bed and continued. "Nobody quite knows who she is or how she came to live here, maybe even die here, but dozens have claimed to see her. She's the Queen of the Forest. She can command the animals and their spirits to do whatever she wants them to, and she runs naked through the trees with the packs. She is, essentially, their leader." The truck hit a bump and everybody bounced into the air. Joey continued, "The Queen has been known to attack and to kill people who stumble into these woods and harm the wildlife. The rumors began–"

"Wait, let me guess. The first reported attack was on a hunting trip." Dawn was nestled into the crook of Eric's arm, and he had to look over her shoulder in order to see Joey as he talked to him. "Am I right?"

Joey smiled widely. "You better believe it."

"What a load of bull," someone scoffed. It was Alison.

"Oh, I don't know," chimed Domino. "If you ask me, it's one of the best legends I've heard about these woods."

"You've heard others?" Alison asked.

Domino Love shrugged.

"Why, thank you, Domino," Joey beamed. Alison scowled and shot a bitter look at Domino, but then Joey had put her arm around her and she seemed to settle. Domino looked into the front of the truck, where Alan sat behind the wheel, and didn't really mind the distance. "What did you like about it?" Joey asked.

Domino looked out into the trees that were passing them so quickly, and then turned back to Joey. Everybody was waiting for an answer. "I guess I just like the idea behind it. I mean, granted, a wild naked woman who kills is a bit much, but her motives aren't half bad. She's an environmentalist. With teeth."

Eric furrowed his brow. "Alright. She's a tree hugger, and she's naked. I think she's doing more than hugging, don't you, Joey?"

Joey snickered, and when Dawn smacked Joey's arm he laughed louder.

Alison turned to Domino, looking slightly indignant that Joey had paid her any attention whatsoever. "You're into all that environmentalist shit?" Domino nodded. "Then why'd you come on a hunting trip?"

Domino looked in toward Alan. The truth is, she hardly knew him. She'd been in town on vacation with nothing to do for a few days, and had seen Alan at a bar. His girlfriend had been screaming and hissing at him, and stormed out. When Domino bumped into them later, a conversation started in which she discovered he was supposed to go on a hunting trip for the weekend with two other couples–and now had no one to go with. Domino was single and bored, so she suggested she go. Now she was starting to regret it. But she looked at him nonetheless, and the four sitting beside her seemed to nod in understanding. But Alison wasn't done.

"You're going to kill him by the end of the weekend, aren't you?"

"Excuse me?" asked Domino, taken aback.

"A tree hugger alone in a cabin with an avid hunter. You'll be at each other's throats the whole time!" She seemed to laugh to herself, and Domino blushed.

Joey shook his head. "Nah, she won't kill him," he said.

"Thank you, Joey." Domino smiled sweetly at him, to Alison's dismay.

"She'll set up a mysterious hunting accident!" They all laughed, and Domino felt bitter again. "Or, or, or, better yet, she'll call up the spirit of the Forest Queen to kill us all!" Domino saw no humor in what he said, but now everybody was laughing at her. She sighed and leaned over the side of the truck.

"Invoking her spirit wouldn't be that bad at this poi..." Domino trailed off.

Alan had told her all about the cabin his parents had left him, and she'd assumed he was just running his trap. She was surprised to see he hadn't exaggerated in the least. Over the side of the truck she could see a gigantic cabin rising up above them, almost as if it were carved into a hill. She saw a large balcony overlooking the forest, gigantic French doors, walls with windows so large they looked as if they were made of glass, all rolled up into one monster of a house complete with a nice little chimney on top. She somehow found that she was completely able to forget her company once she saw the cabin.

Alan pulled the pickup truck into the gravel driveway, kicking dirt up into the air. Before the truck had even stopped rolling Domino had leapt out of the bed, pulled her sweater closer around her, and started walking toward the doors. She gasped, brought her hands to her mouth, and smiled.

Domino paused. Up in the distance and through the giant windows, she was sure she could see a massive beast lumbering about in the cabin, darkly silhouetted against the rest of its surroundings. She gazed, curiously, up at it...

But then Alan's hand was wrapping itself around her waist, and she shivered. She wasn't yet used to his touch. She realized when she'd volunteered to go with Alan, and volunteering is exactly what it was, that sex might be involved. She looked over at him, but he wasn't looking back. She felt almost like an arm trophy, and hoped that he'd contain himself.

The shivers that Alan had given her instantly made her forget the presence of a large animal in the cabin.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I love it!" she said, a bit too enthusiastically. He didn't give any indication that he'd noticed that her tone was bordering ‘mocking' level, but simply beamed and tried to escort her up onto the front porch. She didn't really want to go inside yet, but felt she must oblige.

When the six of them were on the porch, Alan reached into his pocket and began fumbling with his keys. While he struggled to remember which one opened up the cabin door, Domino took the opportunity to look out into the forest from the cabin's amazing view. It seemed almost too good to be true, and then Alan had opened the door and yanked her away from her own little heaven.

"Here it is," he said, stepping through the doors and opening his arms wide. "My Kingdom!"

Domino was the last to go inside. She watched the couples amble through the doorway, looking around, and thought she heard Alison mutter, "Is this it. I was expecting so much more..." Domino stepped through the doors, gawking at the sheer size of the room, nothing but a foyer, and then followed Alison's footsteps and the sound of Alan's voice.

"Here," she heard Alan saying, "are all my... trophies."

She stepped into the room and let out a small scream. There was the animal she'd seen from the driveway, a bear on its haunches with its mouth opened wide and its hands lifted above Alan's head, preparing to swipe.

"Domino, what is it?" Alan asked, hearing her yelp. She was still shaking, looking at the bear, and he chuckled. "Oh, baby, they're not real."

Domino stood in the doorway, quaking, staring at all the animals lining the room. There were all sorts of creatures surrounding her; deer's heads were mounted on the walls, a giant buck had been stuffed and set in the corner, there were bobcats with fake eyes and lips pulled back into a silent hiss, a fake owl sitting on a wooden plaque in the far corner, and plaques with gigantic racks, enormous antlers, looming over her. And of course, the bear.

"Oh, I don't think she thought that for a second," Alison smirked. "Did you, Domino. No, of course not. Alan would pick smarter girls than that to trounce about with." There was a tense silence lingering in the room. "But. We couldn't have our tree humping–"

"Hugging..." hissed Eric.

Alison raised her voice. "–tree humping little Greenpeace goodie around dead trophies. Oh no, oh no."

"Stop it," Joey urged.

Domino looked at him briefly, but saw he was also hiding a smirk and her anger only rose.

Alison, who'd already shown some jealousy toward Joey and Domino's nonexistent relationship, was only spurred on. "It seems to me that we've got something of a pansy on our hands, fellas." Domino's mind flashed, and she remembered that pansies were actually incredibly resistant flowers that showed tremendous strength, and so she'd just been complimented. It didn't help her mood or temper, however, and she didn't think that presenting the fact would help the fight. She was feeling resentful. She didn't know how to fight back without getting preachy, emotional, or hostile, none of which would make her look good. "She can't even take the sight of a few dead–"

"Shut up." Domino's eyes were cold.

Alan looked at Domino from across the room. "You really feel that way, huh?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Don't like it here?"

She shook her head.

"Don't want us hunting, do you?"

She shook her head again.

"I guess you'll just have to stay here alone tomorrow, then." He shrugged and turned back to the others. "Now, I guess you all want to know where you're staying, don't you? Well, your bedrooms are..."

"Where's mine?" Domino asked.

Alan cleared his throat. "Ours is the loft up top. It's the big one."

Domino turned away from the others and went up. She could hear voices below her, and heard Alison laughing cruelly. She knew, somehow, that she was the butt of the joke. She heard Alan say something to them all, and they laughed again. One word floated up to the loft, and only one: "...prude..." Even Alan, who she'd tried to save from a wretched, lonely weekend, was making jokes at her expense. When she got up to the loft, she could see that Alan had been right about the size of the room. It was enormous, almost an entire floor without walls. Yet, with all that space, there was only one bed. She cursed.

By the time Alan had climbed up the ladder to find her in the loft, the sun had set. Domino was standing in the corner of a room, in front of a mirror, brushing her hair. She heard Alan but didn't look toward him. She only saw him when he came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her stomach. He kissed her neck, then her earlobe, and whispered into her ear. "Hi..." And nothing more. Just... "Hi."

Domino set down her hairbrush and picked up a pair of tweezers. Before she could even being to use them and ignore Alan completely, she felt his hands trailing down to her crotch. Even with her denim jeans between them, she hated his hand placement.

"What say we go to bed?" he whispered. "Together."

One hand lingered over her crotch. The other he lifted to her waist, tucking a thumb between her stomach and her jeans, and began to unbutton her pants. She swatted his hands away, and he jumped back with a wince, sucking his palm. She'd forgotten about the tweezers in her hand.

"Damn, woman! What was that for?" he hissed.

"You took an awfully long time getting up here, didn't you?"

"Oh, come on! I had guests, I couldn't just leave them..."

"You left me."

"You left us."

"Alison attacked me! You agreed with her! What did you want me to do?"

"I didn't–"

"Oh, please, don't play with me. I know what you're up to."

"I... what?"

Domino looked into his eyes. "Look, I don't know where in any conversations of ours I misled you into believing I wanted to sleep with you, but you've made it clear to me that the only reason you invited me up here was so that you could get a little action."

"Domino..."

"No! Don't talk! I'm right, and you know it. You haven't even tried to get to know me, and down there you refused to defend me. I mean, my God Alan, just because I came doesn't mean I'd sleep with you even if you weren't nice to me."

"And if I was?"

"Were you?"

They were silent a moment.

"It doesn't make much of a difference, then, does it?"

Alan looked torn between feeling angry and sheepish. He eventually settled on sheepish.

"So," Domino continued. "Do you want the sleeping bag or should I?"

Domino wound up on the floor. But that still wasn't why she couldn't sleep. It took her hours of the silent night to drift into her dreams, and once she did the experience was short lived. She awoke feeling tired and groggy. But the bed beside her was empty, and that made her smile.

Domino rose to her feet and walked to the edge of the loft. She waited for a moment, listening, but the entire cabin was silent. It was almost as if everybody were dead below her. She enjoyed the thought and, knowing she was alone, decided to make herself comfortable. She undressed and walked over to the mirror, looking at her reflection. Her long brown hair had twisted about her shoulders haphazardly as if she'd been running all night. She grabbed her hairbrush and began to straighten her hair. As she did, she remembered that Alan had slid up behind her with his hands around her waist the last time she'd brushed her hair. She hated that they were hunting, but she was glad they were gone. She wished she hadn't come.

Domino walked back to her bag, picked out a fresh pair of jeans, and slid them on. She was about to put on a sweater to guard her from the November chill that was lurking within the cabin, when she realized she needed a shower. She grabbed the sweater, tossed it over the side of the loft, and then climbed down. She went looking for a bathroom, making sure to avoid Alan's "trophy" room, hiding ominously in one glass corner of the house.

She found the bathroom soon, entered, and turned on the hot water. The shower was taking several moments to pick up, and so she closed the curtain and turned. She slipped off her clothing, nestled it in one corner, and then waited for the water to heat up. After a minute she slid through the plastic curtain, into the stream of water, and sighed. It was still cold.

Domino tried to relax, eyes closed and back arched, the water running down her body. Even though the water's grip was still icy cold, she found the sensation oddly enjoyable. And then she heard the gun shot.

When she looked down, she screamed.

Domino Love was covered in blood, from head to toe. It was falling down her body, swirling around her feet, weaving over her curves and between her legs, dripping down into her eyes.

She leapt back, slamming her spine into the wall, and slid to the basin of the tub. The crimson drops continued to spurt out of the showerhead, and she gasped as pain ran up and down her back. For a moment, she felt paralyzed.

There was another gunshot, and then what had happened clicked in Domino's head. Somebody was shooting at deer. Out in the forest, a rifle had been shot, and it was nowhere near her. She looked at the tub and saw dozens of red rings on the side. The shower wasn't leaking blood, it's pipes were rusty and the water was picking up the tint.

Domino took a deep breath, reached out, and turned off the water.

She could take a shower later.

Domino pulled the sweater down over her head as she entered the kitchen, and then she spotted the yellow Post-It note stuck to the pantry door. It was from Alan. The handwriting was far from elegant, and seemed to be more of a scrawl. The note wasn't long, either, only a few words.

domiNO -

Out hunTing.

Food in pantry.

"Gee, ya think?" she muttered, crumpling the note and throwing it at the trash can. It missed, but she didn't care. Sir Alan's cabin, Sir Alan's trash, Sir Alan's problem.

Domino turned to the pantry, opened the doors, and looked inside. She spotted some gourmet chocolate that must have cost Alan a fortune and tucked it in her pants for later. Then she reached up, grabbed a box of cereal, and searched the drawers for a bowl. She found one eventually, emptied the cereal into it, and filled the bowl with milk.

As she settled down to eat, she heard another gunshot out in the distance. Jarred, she spilled some milk.

Alan's problem.

The shot was followed immediately by a loud succession of shouts, too far away for Domino to understand. And then there was silence in the forest.

Domino's company didn't return until dusk, and though she fully expected to be upset by their return, she wasn't prepared in the least. Eric was missing. "What happened?" she said urgently. She looked from face to face, and saw that Dawn was crying. She hardly looked at the girl, Eric's date for the weekend, but their were tears in her eyes and her whole face was one blotchy pink spot.

"If you hadn't been so uptight, you'd have come and you'd know," said Alison.

Alan just glared at her.

Joey eventually spoke up. "Eric was shot." Dawn choked on her tears and left the room. "It was a hunting accident. Real bad. We don't know who's gun hit him, we were all aiming for the same buck, but..."

Silence.

"Is he dead?" Domino asked, tentatively.

"No. Ambulance came."

Domino thought it was funny that she hadn't heard sirens, but assumed there was a reason.

"He's going to be okay," Alan finally said. He looked pale. "He's got to be."

Joey nodded, turned to Alan, and put his arm over Alan's shoulders. And then he smiled. For an instant Domino thought they were playing a horrible, horrible joke on her, but then Joey continued. "But, hey! He's going to live, and we got some mighty fine buck out their today, didn't we?" Domino noticed a dirty grin on Alison's face. "Let's celebrate Eric's survival, eh? Let's get dinner!"

"Venison?" Alan grinned.

"You betcha."

And then the three of them went into the kitchen, cheerfully. Domino watched them go, distraught. They were being much too cheerful, in her opinion. She wondered if it was, indeed, a prank. One that was only half over.

Alan grabbed the antlers and Joey grabbed the rear. Together, the two of them were able to hoist the buck up onto a table. "Dinner looks good, don't it?" Alan asked.

Joey stepped back, wiped his brow, and surveyed the dead deer. There was a large chunk missing from its body, for they were both still amateurs when it came to removing the shot from the body. The buck was enormous, and carried several scars from the antlers of other deer. Obviously he'd been the victor in those battles. Joey was pleased with his kill. "I sure am a good shot."

"Yeah, but you're a horrible cook," muttered Alan. "Hand me that saw, will ya?"

Joey handed Alan a crude, rusty saw, and then he bent over the dead bucks head.

Dinner was silent. Dawn still had tears trailing down her cheeks, and nobody wanted to say anything in her presence. She sniffed and bit into her meat, but she didn't chew it much. She was hardly in the mood. Alan cleared his throat and looked around the table nervously. His eyes met Joey's, and he knew Joey wanted to brag about his kill, and how wonderful a meal he gave them. But nobody said anything.

Domino looked down at her plate and grimaced. She'd never been a vegetarian and ate meat regularly, but she still didn't like what was on her plate. This was an innocent animal from the forest, not some domesticated puddle of lard who would, otherwise, simply eat grass. She put her knife into the meat hesitantly, and juice squirted onto her plate. She shivered and turned to the vegetables.

Alison watched Domino and sneered.

"So," Joey began eventually. "Does everyone like their dinner?"

Dawn nodded weakly. Domino watched Joey open his mouth to say something about Eric, but then seemed to think better of it and was silent. "Any ideas as to what we're going to do tonight?" he asked.

"I know what we're going to do," Alison smirked, flashing a seductive smile at Joey. Domino could see her shoulder moving and knew she was repositioning her hand under the table. Joey beamed but, thinking it highly inappropriate in the wake of Eric's injuries, pretended as if nothing was going on under the table. Except, Domino noticed, he'd put one of his hands beneath the sheet, too.

"What'd you do today, Domino?" Alan asked.

Domino looked up, startled that somebody actually wanted to hear her speak. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you must have had to occupy yourself somehow while we were gone. What did you do?" Alan was trying desperately to make conversation, and even to be nice. Domino shrugged and decided to make the best of her situation.

"Aw, you know. The usual, when you're alone in somebody else's house. I snooped around a bit, read some personal mail, uncovered some family secrets, stole from your mother's jewelry box. Nothing special." She smiled to show she was joking. Nobody laughed.

"It wouldn't surprise me in the least," Alison hissed. Joey distracted her before she could continue.

And then, before anybody could continue, they heard something roar, like a bear. The sound hit the walls and reverberated all around the room, nobody could tell where it had come from. But everyone froze.

"What was that?" Dawn eventually whispered.

Nobody answered.

Domino took a deep breath, waiting to hear more signs of life, waiting for the ambush. She looked down at her plate. The venison was quivering, pulsing. It was as if it had a life of its own...

Alan's head darted up and watched the ceiling. Domino noticed and jerked her head up, and then heard what he had. There were footsteps above them. No, wait, not footsteps. It was the sound of hooves thudding against the floor above them, smacking the wood and sending shivers of an echo throughout the house.

"Guys?" Alan whispered. "What was that?"

Alison looked panicky. "How the hell should I know, it's your house!"

Alan took a deep breath, pushed out his chair, and stepped out around the table. Domino watched him edge closer and closer to his trophy room, looking for the sound's origins. And then he stopped. There was a loud thud in the room, as if something had fallen, and then long, long scratching sounds, like claws scraping against the floor as they hunted for life...

There was another roar.

Domino looked down at her meal, saw that her meat was bleeding, and pushed it away quickly. She turned back to watch Alan, and wasn't that surprised by what she saw before them.

All the deer's heads, stuffed bobcats, roaring bears, and angry hunted forest animals had crawled into one creature, an angry, rippling amalgam of Hell. Antlers sprouted out of it's head randomly, like the horns of the devil, and ran down the back in ridges. The arms weren't countable, but were all dangerous; if the arm didn't end in razor-sharp claws it ended in thick hooves to hammer into a man.

Alan screamed, but it was too late. The demon before him let out a gigantic roar, lifted one massive arm, and heaved him into the wall. Bones cracked audibly, and everybody at the dinner table screeched and cowered behind one another.

Except for Domino.

"Down, Kito."

The beast before them looked up at her calmly, and then sat on its haunches. The antlers quivered dangerously on its back as it did so. Domino rose from her seat and strolled over to the beast, stroking it between the eyes. "You're okay, guy, you're okay."

When she looked back at the others with fiery red eyes and a demon behind her, she looked for all the world like a seductress so evil even Hell wouldn't let her in. The flames in her eyes burst with energy, and the lights in the house went out.

In the distance, a wolf howled.

Domino left the cabin and retreated to the woods, shedding her clothes as she did. She could hear the shattering glass, and Kito's roars as he slaughtered those who had hunted his kind so many times before. With a smile, the Queen of the Forest stepped through the trees and into a pack of wolves waiting for her return.