Jared led me through the village away from the party going on in the background. I stopped walking when we reached the kitchen garden, then had to hustle to keep up with him as he walked right past the house and toward the sparse woods beyond.
The “good” woods, I noted, not the scary forest to the north, void of light and filled with beasts, according to the man himself.
“Where are we going?” I asked as we started down a slow descent, the lights of the village fading until we were blanketed in pale violet light, the sun all but set.
“It’s a full moon tonight,” Jared said, not looking back at me.
“Oh,” I said with a hint of annoyance. His answer had given me absolutely nothing. “Are you going to shift and eat me, then?”
He glanced at me over his shoulder, looking me up and down.
“You wouldn’t be much of a meal.”
I pursed my lips and followed him further into the woods for several minutes. Was this another one of his punishments?