The Emergence Of The Wolf - Completed

9. The Goddess Dance

I woke up on the trailer's couch. The light coming through the windows was dimming as the night was falling. The knocking that woke me up finally stopped. Then the door swung wide open. A middle-aged guy who was so big and broad-shouldered that he had to bend over and turn sideways to walk through the door was looking at me.

"Well, you are certainly not Maria," he laughed. His laughter was kind and contagious. I even started to feel like smiling for the first time in a while. He smelled like wood, fire, and some metal. He was also wearing a collar.

"You are coming with me," he said.

I tried to speak again and could not, so I shook my head as a no.

Suddenly, Maria barged behind him.

"Hey Leo, what are you doing here? Are you messing with the new girl?" she asked.

"Why do you always think the worst of me, Maria? I am inviting her to our fire ceremony," he said.

Maria thought for a minute. Then, she looked me up and down.

"This girl went through a lot, I can tell. We might want to leave her alone, but it's up to you .." she looked at me and paused. I realized she didn't know my name.

I nodded and smiled.

"Wonderful, you are coming with us." Leo almost danced, and we stepped out of the trailer.

I was following them, and we were not alone. People were leaving all the trailers behind and funneling into the trail that led to the woods.

I looked around, everyone had a collar on, and a few people were bringing the kids with them, who were also wearing collars around their tiny necks. People seemed happy and chattering. No one was even paying attention to me, which was nice for a change.

I was walking with Maria and Leo.

"So, who are you?" Leo asked.

"She is not from around here." Maria replied, "and she must have already messed up, so that Master took her voice away," she added.

"I wonder which tribe she is from," Leo said. "We have not had newcomers in years here."

"Are you from Silver River?" he asked. I shook my head. "Red brotherhood?", "Moon forest?" the list went on. I just shook my head.

We kept walking on the path and entered the forest. It was even darker as huge branches with leaves were covering the sky, and there were no lanterns of any kind. I took Maria's hand, and she gave it a friendly squeeze. Small branches were snapping under our feet as people kept chatting around us and going deeper into the woods.

We kept on walking. Eventually, we got to the opening with only a few trees. Many were there already, building a massive fire in the middle of the meadow. The black fire pit made of rocks was quickly filled with wood and set on fire. Logs were set up as benches around the field, so some elderly people sat on them while others sat on the grass.

The flames rose to the sky, and people started to chant.

"Moon goddess, we feel you are watching us.

We worship you today and thank you for your blessings.

We offer you our hearts, our pulse, our trust, our lust.

You have our bodies, dances, and our songs,

You are in our minds and blood and pulse,

You are in our veins,

Come dance with us on this sacred day."

Everyone started to dance around the fire, but I was standing there, just watching them dance, sing, and chant. Maria was dancing with Leo, but she reached out and grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to the fire into the dancing crowd.

The fire blazed higher and higher, and the dance grew more intense. I felt like we were all possessed by the fire, the forest, the moon, and the chanting, yet we kept on dancing. It was the dance of something wild from within us. People were howling, and some men took their shorts off. I had lost Maria. I was sweating, water was dripping off me, and my clothes clinging to my body, but I kept dancing as if my life depended on it. There was no alcohol in my body, but I felt as if I was drunk at this chorus of voices and bodies moving around me. The aromas of trees and grass, sweat, and fire burning consumed me.

Even in the crazy daze, I noticed that people with children left first, taking their kids home. Other couples were intensely making out. Some men were lifting excited girls and carrying them in different directions in the forest. Some people were leaving, while others kept dancing.

The air was filled with the scents of so many bodies. I tried to get out of the way when I tripped and accidentally fell on someone. It was a man. He was taller than me, so my face looked directly into his bare chest. His big arms caught me. His torso was also wet and warm. I was intoxicated by his scent. When our bodies touched, I started to feel a tingling sensation running through me, and it landed in my stomach, circling and pulling. Is that what butterflies feel like?

We started to dance next to each other with some wild rage, and then suddenly, in sync, we reached out for a kiss. When our faces got close, I saw it was Jakob, and I immediately pulled away. Did he know that it was me the whole time? I could not deny that I was attracted to him. I thought for a minute that he was my protector when I opened my eyes in the car in front of the Palace of Justice to meet him for the first time. However, there was no reason for me to like that man.

But actually, he was the person who helped the Master take me to the Elders' judgment. He was the person that was supposed to educate me about life here. He was probably a guard that would torture me when he had a chance. I stopped myself and took a step back. I observed him. He was also looking at me with a twinkle in his eyes. I didn't trust him.

I wanted to ask him why he didn't tell me who he was. Unfortunately, I still could not speak because of the collar.

He suddenly smiled, "Let me take you back to Maria's."

I was wondering what was he smiling about? Was it that he tricked me into almost kissing him?

We walked back through the forest to the trailer park. I was glad he was taking me back as it was dark, and I might have been wandering between the trailers for a while trying to find it.

When we reached Maria's trailer, it shook, and I heard screams.