The Whispering Caves

_Chapter 5_

They felt soft, the leaves of this flower. She traced her hand along the ribs of the leaf, where they stretched out from the center to branch off. She took a moment to kneel and smell it. Faintly of honey suckle; it made her smile. It reminded her of the small, good parts in life.

The flower petals themselves felt a little crisper, she imagined them reaching out to the sun, asking for all the warmth and nutrition they could. Like her; Eliza stretched her eyes up at the sun, and she asked for the warmth, but she could only feel it. She could not see it. Eliza was blind and took immense stock of her world around her with her ears, and with her hands. But she wished with all her heart that she could see what the bees see. See the wonderful flowers she came out to the woods to press into her book. She pressed them every summer and fall, and she was out gathering the last of what would be good in the forest nearby before the upcoming snows covered the hillside in a deep frosty blanket of snow, to put Mother Nature and all her critters to sleep.

But Eliza smiled, she could hear the birds, she could feel and smell the flowers. Her world was rich with experience, and her experience was detailed with some things the rest of the world never gets to see.

Eliza found herself thinking so much internally about how friends and colleagues must experience the world without her acute examination she always saw her always through. She also knew this local area was more closed off, but she had followed the fence line one day with her cane and found a small opening in the perimeter. It seemed more off limits, but Eliza, even with her world visually cut off, was such an adventurer. She had found her own ways to reach out and ask questions of the world, whether it was about touch, where she could walk, the wind she could feel on her skin - there was a whole universe to feel. Eliza had been coming to this space for the last month since she had heard in town the owner had passed the land to a family Estate to manage. So, it should be empty. Soon the ground would be covered with snow, and the Montana winters would beat anyone who was not tucked inside safely by a fire come another month.

Still, Eliza took great pleasure in picking up the last of the dried-up plants and nature parts here. She made a fantastic soap basket for anyone lucky enough to be on her Christmas list; but the special touch was in the Montanan mount side. Let’s be honest, there were so many tourists in once wild parts, like Missoula, but here, what was the harm in just enjoying the land, if she didn’t harm it? Please, the land did not notice that Eliza was blind, here she was as capable as anyone, she was equal to the flowers, she was as big as the sky. No lack of vision made her any less or small, any less capable here. No one looked at her like she was any less capable.

Eliza could start to tell from the chill kissing her shoulders, and her subsequent tug of her shawl tighter around her told her it was almost time to turn back. Eliza took a moment to stand still, to appreciate the peace and steadiness of the moment before it took off again. Her life managed to stay at such a pace, or perhaps she kept it at such a pace, that she needed a moment, or five moments, to breath.

Eliza was just about to tuck her bag of picked nature goods under her arm and begin her journey back, when a crack behind her back made her stand absolutely still, but for a different reason now. Eliza did not hardly breath since her senses were highly attuned to listening by now. Her breath became she shallow, and she held it in her chest.

She heard first faintly a whistling around her, it was almost too high or quiet to hear correctly. She had been here at least a few times before and never encountered something like this. But then again, she had never come this close to nighttime before. Her schedule had been different today; normally she went to a class in evenings, so she came here in the day time. But today her class had taken up the afternoon for some speaker, and hence she found herself out near dusk. She chided herself, she knew better than to be out near this time. Eliza, like having many other perceptive senses, could Read Beyond Words. Her aunt had taken her quietly aside one day, clarifying to her what was a subtle gift passed occasionally, on random chance, to a keeper in the family. It could be a girl or a boy, and it could be two generations together that have it, or it could disappear for five generations. Eliza was the first without actual physical sight to have it, so it did not gain its name from her condition.

But it came from the glow of the words inside, they appeared to her, like a teal gaze that she could see on the inside. But now, in her present moment, as she reached outside of herself with her open mind, and she searched for anything to read, she did not hear back any articulation or see any words, but rather she felt in turn a feral, a feral presence. She shuddered and closed her mind. She opened her actual eyes, and knew she had to hasten back to the opening. Only she hadn’t intended to rush back; she only knew the way by soft feel as she was not wholly familiar with the land she had snuck on to.

Eliza picked up her pace as much as she could, and she tried hard not to panic. She knew that the key to surviving and navigating was to stay calm. She picked up her feet, but she was already stumbling. That made her more nervous and feel like she had a cap on how fast she could escape - instead of a rabbit speed, she was somewhere just beyond turtle speed.

The whining was getting closer. It felt like from the spatial audio surroundings like it was possibly circling her. Or it was pausing then readjusting position. While she was feeling her way back to the fence, she felt she was so close, fuck, she tried reaching out her mind again to whatever she was hearing. To read whatever chaos might be in the mind of a beast - and there was no reading, there was only the feeling of fleeing and fright.

She only felt terror. That was her last cue, but it was also the thing to not bend her but break her psychic tangent to her then. Eliza was strong, but every human being, no matter which special powers they might have, had a feeling of vulnerability and fear when they were alone. When despite all the confidence in oneself, its not enough. That is why human being often need one another; they are meant to need to talk and lean on one another. In dear Eliza’s case, even her very resilient and stable psyche struggled now, and still wished for a friend. It was too late, and as Eliza just tried to return her attention to her steps, she faltered and fell to the ground.

She also dropped her cane nearby as she was walking down a slope back to the permitter, that is one way she could tell she was going in the right direction). That made her mouth go dry, and now in a very human reaction, she simply turned around and raised up her hands in what perceived protection she could offer herself.

It went quiet; whatever was studying her had stopped. Or that’s at least what could tell from holding her breath in. She felt like whatever it was could see her, but she could not see it. The best feeling ever to have right? Wrong. She did feel something. But it was fainter than before. It was drawing closer from a different direction.

Suddenly, she heard something break out of the silence, that she needed no special senses to understand.

“Are you ok, ma’am?” Eliza was more startled to hear a reasonable voice of concern than to feel the claw of whatever she had imagined, or felt, coming towards her. Perhaps there was nothing studying her at all; did it flee in the presence of whoever had now found her?

Perhaps it was just female intuition, but in the microseconds she had to respond, she had the ability to ask herself - if this land was private, if it was fenced, and she shouldn’t even be here in the first place… who, a man at that, would find themselves out here so close to dark? Now her brief sense of calm at not hearing a supernatural creature, was only replaced to suddenly wonder what assault she might face from a stranger out here, who could obviously see her, while she could not see him. She was far, very far from any help she realized. A small knot formed in Eliza’s stomach. She had not told anyone where she had gone, since here was not even where she was supposed to be. Eliza got ahold of herself and began to scramble for her feet under her, as difficult as that now posed itself to be that she was without a cane, shocked with adrenaline, and disoriented from multiple perceived threats.

“Uhm, yes. Yes, I am ok. I mis-stepped for a moment.” She tried to make herself and her words out to be a big bulldog, with a huge “Do not mess with me, I am very capable” type vibe, but instead, Eliza was pretty sure was no measure of intimidating. “I was just going.” She made her voice sound as firm as she could.

She braced herself as she finally got to her feet and took a better stance. She heard a chuckle in the background and to her great surprise, found it soft and warm. She felt her shoulders give a little, felt herself breathe a little deeper. Dare to move a step to be more comfortable.

“It’s no trouble; I’m the new owner of this land, so I was surprised to find anyone out here. But you don’t have to worry, it looks like you were enjoying the local beauty as much as I have these last few days.” She could tell from the angle where he spoke that he had been facing directly at her, but now he spoke away from her slightly, like he was looking at something.

She found herself a little less threatened, a little more open. “I do apologize, I thought that the land was just...” She tried to find a passive word, “thought it was a nature preserve of some sort, and I wandered far up this hill here.” She did not detail that she had not known about the permitter, she found that information would not really evolve usefully past here.

“It’s beautiful here, I only came here a few days ago, and already made a new friend. Seems like the last couple of days are good for making friends.” Now Eliza could finally become relaxed enough to make out the sound of a soft panting. A cute panting - it was a dog. Eliza could not help but reach out towards what she now understood was there.

“My name is Fover, and this here is Buster.” Fover finally relaxed himself as well; he had not been sure exactly who he had seen ahead of him on private land in the fainting dusk. He had taken another walk with his new pal Buster, after they had both fended off whatever Guard they had encountered. He felt more comfortable now going for a walk, and now as he had seen that it was just a young woman, as he closer approached, who looked more frightened of him than he was of her, he relaxed his guard and hoped to possibly help her. Even if she had been trespassing, he silently chuckled to himself.

She came forward and finally found Buster. He could tell he had picked a good boy; he raised his snoot to meet her hand, as almost if he knew she couldn’t see. Finally the fear washed away from Eliza, and she could feel the Buster’s warm tongue on her hand; she was officially the dog’s friend now. Aren’t dogs just the best for making friends?

“I am Eliza.” She finally offered her name, she already had their two, so it did not seem a harm to share hers. She knew she would likely have to explain herself at minimum.

“Wonderful to meet you, Eliza.” Fover seemed to have a warm tone in his voice, and even though Eliza couldn’t see him, she still found at least a slight sense of trust within him, although they had just met. “I should caution you though, I have had some recent trouble in these woods, with some sort of...” Fover’s warm voice suddenly faltered and got quiet. “Some kind of presence on this land, creature or otherwise, who guards this land. What it is, or why it behaves the way it does, it still a mystery to me. I know we have just met, but if you like, my cabin, or at least what I have put together of it, is closer to here than I am sure wherever you came from.” Almost as if to corroborate his story, the sun was on a full tilt down in the sky now, as Eliza could feel the last bit of warmth leave her skin as they introduced themselves.

“You are welcome to come back, and warm up, and I would be happy to drive you back into town wherever you are staying. Did you...did you walk onto this land all the way from outside the fence?”

Eliza could feel her cheeks reader and agreed quietly with him; “I did, Fover. I do apologize, I thought it was uninhabited. Might I ask, did you just move here? I have not ever heard that this place ever occupied, other than what local caretakers spoke of it. It seemed like some sort of a nature preserve, and it seemed like a perfect place to get supplies for my local soaps. But what you said just there...”

Fover could tell she tilted her head down and wrapped her arms around herself in an inherently comforting manner. She was uncomfortable. “I was chased by something, right before you found me. It’s how I found myself down here on the ground trying to pick myself up when you found me. I could not tell what was chasing me, as I cannot see. But I could feel my spine grow cold and my pace grow with haste.” Eliza, like anyone might in that situation, felt embarrassed at all sounding like a crazy person describing an invisible demon force. I sound like I’m from the dark ages. Eliza didn’t enjoy feeling like she’d lost her mind. But she did many days, since it was hard for anyone to understand what she went through, she felt like she’d lost her mind long ago.

As Eliza went on to tell him about the creature, her arms came down, and she started to gesture with her hands. She finally rounded back to him in the end, and she relented to getting a ride back to home, though not first before getting warm and who knows, maybe he would have a snack. It had been so long for Eliza since she had really talked to anyone for something small, let alone shared a decent conversation.

As they walked back towards the house, Eliza and Fover exchanged words about how they had both been stalked by the creature, but Fover also shared details of how he had ended up in the cabin. Fover also reflected that it was such a pleasure to share a real conversation; in his line of work the only folks he really talked to were the ones who were highly distressed and under intense trauma. Sometimes it was just nice to talk about weather, instead of death. Anything but death.

The cabin came into view with warm lights greeting, and the darkness pressing in from behind them from both the cave, the encroaching creature, and their own mental states. Eliza’s cane tapped back and forth, and she also followed the sound of Fover’s voice and the panting of the dog. Fover and Eliza, quite ironically, but at the same time, both thought how it was kind of nice to have a friend, or at least an acquaintance.