1 Ch.1 - I, The Nobody

Hello and Welcome to my story. This has been in the works for a while. I will try my utmost best to upload about three times a month, at days 5, 15 and 25, respectively, but since I'm a College student It might be hard to keep up with the schedule, so don't be surprised if I end up reducing the number of monthly chapters either because I can't keep up or for my own mental health.

Criticism is welcome. Being an asshole isn't.

Enjoy.

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I walked into the convenience store, and I could immediately tell by the clerk's face that I wasn't welcome. Not that I blame him, I didn't exactly present the best image - or the best smell. I looked like a homeless man, a blind one at that - which I think is the only reason why he hadn't kicked me out yet - a small modicum of humanity his nine-to-five had yet to strip from him. Either that, or he simply didn't think I could steal anything in my current state.

Again, I do not fault him for that, and he was mostly right. What I was about to do couldn't be considered stealing. It could, however, be considered cheating.

Lowering my head to hide the smirk on my face, I pretended to peruse through the store, making sure to exaggerate the 'poor homeless man with bad eyesight' act, before I took a random candy bar and brought it to the cashier.

Of course, I wasn't there for the candy bar. I was far more interested in the little display for scratch tickets.

The clerk clearly saw my intentions and scoffed at me, but I ignored him. I picked up what seemed to be a random ticket with my left hand while the other took a few crumpled notes and leftover change out of my pocket and put them on the counter.

I gave him the most innocent smile I could, "Just the chocolate and the ticket, please." I said.

I noticed the clerk take a little bit extra time counting the money, but again I let it pass. He passed me my purchases, not putting them in a bag or even bothering to offer the choice.

Ticket payed for and in hands, I pulled out a single coin from my pocket and began scratching away. The numbers slowly revealed themselves while the clerk watched with the interest of a man that had nothing better to do - which I didn't doubt was true.

His look soon changed into mild surprise when I got three out of the five winning numbers, then into wide-eyed astonishment when I uncovered the last two on my last scratch spots.

I brought the ticket really close to my eyes and pretended to examine it before handing it over to the open-mouthed man, "Excuse me, but I believe I may have won something on this ticket."

"Huh? Oh, uh..." he gently took the ticket from my hands and looked it over, blinking his eyes hard as if it would change what he was seeing, "Yeah. You... you won five-hundred dollars. Congratulation?" he said uncertainly, gaze moving to me.

I allowed my smile to widen, "Thank you."

Minutes later I was out of the store five-hundred dollars and a candy bar richer. Walking around with so much money in my pockets did make me a little bit nervous, but while I wasn't much of a fighter I was a man that easily blended in with the crowd so I was mostly unperturbed.

I slowly made my way out of the city. It was a small town all things considered. It was squished between the sea and a small forest. The former didn't much interest me, but the latter certainly did. Many people went there for various reasons, but never too far in - afraid they'd get lost.

Not me, though. Let's just say that as long as I've kept my eyes 'open' the chances I'd get lost were close to zero.

Just as I was about to walk in, I saw a group of five a few ways away from me; three boys and two girls. Most were teenagers or slightly older, with the oldest one probably being no older than twenty-one.

"I... really don't know about this, Lucian." said one of two ladies hesitantly, standing close to the other - who looked equally as uncomfortable.

Lucian, who you could easily tell was the 'leader' of this little squad, watched the rest of the rest of the group for a moment before shaking his head, "C'mon, guys, don't tell me you're afraid of a little scare story for children?"

"It's not some wendigo we are worried about, Lucy." said a second man with glasses, "It's just that... well, none of us have a lot of experience camping, and you're trying to drag us deep into the forest, man. The sun is already starting to go down! People have gotten lost in these woods you know?"

At his friend's worry, Lucian scoffed, "Man, you all worry too much. We'll be fine. I brought all the supplies necessary. And what do you mean 'no experience'? I'll have you know I was a boy scout once!" he man replied, puffing his chest proudly.

"Yeah, for, like, a month." said the oldest man dryly, arms crossed above his chest.

Lucian's shoulders seemed to deflate almost immediately, "Hey... it still counts." He said, and funnily enough, he recovered just as quickly. "Anyways, we'll be fine. I already went to this place before. Lots of people have, actually. There's even a small trail." He added.

The group seemed to exchange nervous glances before simultaneously nodding. Lucian's smile was that of a cat that got the mouse, which is fair, I suppose. He turned with a flourish and walked, signaling his friends to follow him, which they did with some hesitancy.

I openly chuckled as I watched their figures be swallowed by the forest one by one. The oldest one heard me, I think, being the last to enter but when he turned I had already dived into the forest and disappeared from sight.

The world around me slowly changed as I walked deeper into the foliage. Car horns became buzzing mosquitos and chatter became wind and shaking leaves. It was like entering another world.

I proceeded further into places only small handfuls of people had gone before. I climbed a small hill and found myself at a clearing with a singular tree at the center. It was the oldest tree in this area, possibly even in the entire forest.

I approached said tree, turned around, and unceremoniously threw myself to the ground, using my hands as temporary pillows for my head. I released a sigh and enjoyed the cool breeze that hit me for a moment before reaching for my pocket and retrieving my candy bar.

I went to take a bite out of the sugary treat before I felt it disappear from my hands. I was not confused by its disappearance. In fact, it was quite the opposite - I knew exactly where it went.

I smelled the gentle smell of roses as a wave of gently curled red hair caressed my face. I followed it to striking amber eyes that stared into mine. Like a mirror, I saw a smile that matched my own, only slightly more mischievous.

Many would probably panic at this moment, seeing a green-skinned woman suddenly jump out of a tree to greet them. Me?

"Hey there." I greeted the woman casually, and a mixture of amusement and recognition flashed in her eyes.

"Why, hey yourself." Rose answered, voice somehow dripping with youthful vigor despite her mature appearance. She was by no means a young woman anymore, but that's okay because neither was I.

"You come here often?"

She looked away, gently tapping her lips with her finger in mock thinking, "Well, I am a tree so... sometimes."

She giggled, and I felt butterflies start flying inside my stomach. I couldn't help it. I reached for her and gently pulled her down to meet my lips.

She tasted like my chocolate bar, the brat.

"Missed me?" she asked teasingly.

"Always." I answered.

She hummed, "Good answer." before gently lifting my head and putting it on her leg, "So, what have you done today?"

I shrugged, "Oh, you know, same as always. A little bit of begging here, a small, quick job there. Oh, today I won five-hundred bucks!"

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Scratch tickets?"

"Yep."

"Did you cheat?"

"Yep." I admitted with zero shame in my voice.

She laughed. Not giggled. Laughed. It was just as beautiful of a sound.

She bent down until she was inches above my face and gently took off my glasses. My eyes were closed, but I could see her just fine.

"Let me see your eyes, Adam." She whispered to me.

I felt like teasing her, "Why?" I asked, the corners of my lip twitching, "I can see just fine like this."

Ever since I could remember my eyes have been special. I have been to multiple doctors, but none of them could ever tell me why, and many offered a good amount of money for a chance to study them.

If I had to explain, it was like having multiple 'invisible eyelids'. The more eyelids I 'opened' the more I saw. My physical eyelids, as in the ones that actually existed, were what I considered a 'gateway' into my others since, if I kept them closed, my vision would be no different than someone with really, really good eyesight... and a few special properties.

"Yes, but I can't see you."

A moment of silence passed before I slowly opened my eyes. It was not something I did often, but when I did I always enjoyed it. It was like the world suddenly gained ten times as many colors and one hundred times the detail. Trees were no longer just green but every color under and over the rainbow and the sky was no longer the sky but a whole planetarium of stars and nebulae, forming every shape you could and couldn't imagine. It was the type of image that ruined artists, for they would attempt to replicate it again and again but never achieve the same beauty.

"It's like a galaxy..." there was a gentle awe in rose's voice as she looked into my eyes, "I never get tired of seeing it."

I looked back at her, and I will admit that the sight always confused me no matter how many times I saw it. Rose's body, under my 'free' eyes, was always a mixture of purple and black 'mist' violently flowing as if in turmoil.

"Adam? Something wrong?" said the woman in question, eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing." I replied quickly.

Rose looked at me with a raised brow. She hummed that hum people do when they don't believe something they've just been told.

I knew what she was doing, she was waiting in silence to see if I broke and spilled my guts. So I did what I thought was best: I changed the subject, "Did you know there's apparently a Wendigo in this forest?"

Rose blinked. She knew what I was doing, I'm sure, but allowed amusement to return to her eyes anyway.

"A Wendigo?" she asked.

"Yeah. Some kids at the edge of the forest were talking about it earlier. One seemed eager and the rest were clearly scared shitless."

Rose got a good laugh out of that, and I knew I had successfully changed the topic of the conversation.

After that, we kept our talk to more mundane things. Rose had begun taking care of my hair at some point. I still didn't quite understand why she liked to do that. I washed my hair every once in a while in a nearby lake but it was still very long and messy. When I asked her, the only thing she answered was, "Colorful flowers look pretty on black hair like yours."

Hours flew by, as they usually did when I'm with her. We didn't have a TV, a big house or anything like that, but we sat there in the open air and talked about the most uninteresting things imaginable but I wasn't bored, for not even a second.

"You know, I wonder why there aren't more dryads around here?" I asked suddenly.

Rose simply raised her head from my chest and gave me a dry look, "Oh? You looking to try your hands at other dryads, are you?"

I laughed, "No! Just curious is all."

"Hmph! Well, if you must know, this forest is considered too close to human civilization to be considered safe." she let her head fall back down with just a little bit more force than necessary, "Most who lived here died some way or another. When a dryad's tree dies she dies along with it, but the opposite is not quite true. Sometimes it's the pollution, sometimes it's a monster, and sometimes the dryad in question just gets old enough that she just decides to become one with her tree, pretty much entering an eternal sleep that will last as long as the tree lives."

"Monsters, huh?" I said to myself, "I wonder why I've never met one... not that I want to, mind you."

Rose's hand, which was gently rubbing circles around my chest, suddenly stopped, "I... I can't tell you much. Knowledge of the other side is very sensitive and can attract unwanted attention. Most people don't know anything about it so monsters usually ignore them. Those that do are killed to protect the anonymity of the other side." she shrugged, "Though some do it because they're hungry. Apparently, knowledge is kind of like a spice. The more they know, the better they smell and taste."

"Huh... I wonder how I taste..."

At my words, a smirk came over Rose. Her eyes became slightly glossy as she pushed herself up and on top of me, straddling my body with her own.

"Oh, Adam..." she said in that special voice of hers that gave me the tingles, "You don't need a monster to tell you that..."

I looked at her with closed eyes. I honestly preferred her appearance when I was looking at her with my 'normal 'vision. From the way her hair cascaded down to cover half her face to the smallish glint in her eyes, I sucked in every detail greedily.

"What did I do to deserve you?" I asked genuinely, and I saw her eyes soften ever so slightly. We've had this conversation multiple times already. I was a bum, and I was okay with that. I never cared much for TVs, computers, games, or even if I had a bed under my body as I slept. Honestly speaking I wouldn't be surprised if I found out I was the spiritual successor to Diogenes or something like that. Living in a little wood ball under a bridge or a pair of stairs with nothing else but the clothes in my body sounded super cool to the weirdo that was younger me.

I was a nobody. I was going to live, die, and then be forgotten by history. I was fine with that, but that didn't mean she needed to be.

Rose lowered her head and touched her forehead to mine, "Adam, listen to me. I am a dryad. I don't need money or any of that material stuff. We are as simple as the trees we inhabit -- all we need to survive is water and sunlight. Love, however, is a luxury. Not lust, mind you, that we receive enough."

I opened my eyes and stared right into hers. They were colored deep purple and they did not flicker; did not flinch. They remained perfectly still and honest.

I closed my eyelids and let a smile work its way across my face. I said, "I'm sorry, it's just hard to believe my luck sometimes. It's like I made you in a computer."

She giggled and showed me a smile that was somehow even wider than mine, "Maybe I was. Who knows? You can never find out what the people above are thinking."

We took one last look at each other simultaneously closing the distance between us.

After we separated she let her body fall to the side and used my arm as a pillow, "Can you sing to me, Adam?" she asked, eyes glued to the sky above.

I, of course, obliged.

I was a bum. I slept on the cold, hard floor with nothing to shield me from the elements. I was a nobody. If I were to die right now no one would care.

That is, except for one person.

And that was more than enough for me.