Some Quiet Place

mysterious visitor is closer than ever.
    When I know for certain that it’s just a couple yards away from me, I halt at the edge of a clearing, tilting my head to listen. My flashlight sweeps the tree line. The presence is still palpable, still nearby, but I see nothing. Is it taunting me? I wait for a sign of its location, gazing around silently, alert. My heel is throbbing.
    Finally there’s the sound of a twig snapping—it’s on purpose. This creature wants me to find it. I jerk the flashlight toward the noise, my entire body poised, ready for anything. I finally spot my visitor, a dark shape standing behind a tree just a few feet away from where I am.
    “Who are you?” I call. “What do you want?”
    For a time there’s no reply, but the stranger is still there. Is it testing me, somehow? I don’t address it again; that’s what it wants. The woods around us thrive with life, time itself seeming to speed up and slow down.
    Finally there’s more movement. My senses are at their best, intent only on survival. The stranger finally steps out from behind the tree and into the circle of light. Still tensed, I take in her appearance—and it’s female, without a doubt; even though her sweatpants are baggy and a hooded sweatshirt covers her body and face, the form is willowy. Definitely not male.
    “Are you going to answer my questions?” I ask flatly. At this proximity, her essence sweeps over me more than ever before, and I can’t put my finger on it. Is she an Emotion or an Element?
    She keeps her head down, using the darkness as a cover. I lower the flashlight to my side so I don’t spook her. “I came here to warn you,” she says. Her voice is rich and deep, but I get the sense that she’s young. Again, there’s an ongoing sense of recognition. Before I can prod for more, she continues. “He’s found you, and you need to try harder to remember.” The words are halting, as if she’s speaking past a pain in her gut.
    “Remember what?”
    An owl hoots somewhere above, a deceiving sound of normalcy. “What we started,” the stranger replies, taking a step back. She’s nervous. She’s angry. She’s … scared. As if she’s reading my thoughts, she takes another step away from me. Under her long sleeves I suspect she’s clenching her fists.
    “You can’t tell me more?” I ask, not bothering to pursue her. If this woman wants to evade, she’s proven that she can do it.
    “Don’t ask stupid questions,” she snaps. She takes a third step. A fourth. “You already know. Remember , for both our sakes. And don’t trust … anyone.”
    With that, she spins and runs, melting and becoming part of the black beyond. Her tread is almost completely silent, and soon not even the rays of my flashlight can touch her. I wait until I know she’s gone to start for the house.
    I’ve only taken a few steps when I see another movement out of the corner of my eye. I stop, every muscle in my body taut, and then I realize that it’s only a deer, standing by a bush. Its ears flick back and forth and its nostrils flare, probably smelling me. I turn my back on this place and its quiet lure. I have more to think about.
    And I need to pull the thorns out of my foot.
    “No,” she sobs, clutching the boy tight to her chest. Her shirt and skin are saturated with bright red blood. She glares up at the sky, tears of rage and anguish pouring down her cheeks in skinny rivers. She starts to scream at the innocent stars.
    When her throat has gone hoarse, she rocks the two of them back and forth, back and forth, sobbing some more, jagged rasps of sound. “No, please. Please, come back,” she whispers, stroking a bright head of blood-smeared hair. “Don’t leave me alone. Please, please, come back. Come back … ” She rests her cheek on the boy’s head, whimpering.
    There is no answer, no reply. Not from the boy, at least. “We need to go,” a voice says, somewhere in the trees. The girl doesn’t bother replying, just keeps rocking. She digs her fingers into the boy as if she’ll never let go. She murmurs something—his name—and kisses his forehead. When she pulls away, her lips drip with blood.
    “It’s not safe here. We need to—”
    “Leave me alone!” the girl shrieks. Her eyes blaze. Just an instant later, though, she’s a moaning hole of pain again. “You can’t leave me all alone. Please, please, please,” she chants. “Come back … ”
    But he never will.
    My eyes flutter open to