Roots of the Heart

Ellie 

Ellie’s heart races as she steps into the garden, behind the penthouse that she and her brother live in, the early morning mist weaves through the air like a ghostly serpent. The usual rustling whispers of Bramble, her treant familiar, are conspicuously absent. The garden, once vibrant with his leafy presence, feels unnervingly silent. Panic flutters in her chest as she calls out, her voice slicing through the stillness, “Bramble?” No response. The treant, usually so attentive, has never strayed before. A sense of foreboding settles over her as she notices a trail of crushed flowers leading to the forest’s edge. Bramble has gone missing, and something in her gut tells her this is no ordinary wanderlust.

She runs back into the building, upstairs to the penthouse, where her brother and their friends, Matt and Marie are hanging out in the living room. “T…Thomas!” she exclaims.

He looks up, noticing his sister, who looks upset. “Kitten, what’s wrong?” he asks.

“B…Bramble…I can’t find Bramble!”

“What do you mean you can’t find Bramble?”

“He’s not in the garden where he normally is! Finny and the slimes are there! I can’t find Bramble!”

He stands up, pulling her closer to him. “Shh, it’s okay. We’ll go look for Bramble. Hey Matt, Marie, do you want to help find Bramble?”

“You mean her treant?” Marie asks.

“Yeah.”

“Alright, let’s go.” They leave the penthouse and return to the garden.

“Kitten, it looks like Bramble wandered into the forest.”

She nods in agreement. “Bramble wouldn’t wander away unless something was wrong!”

“Shh, let’s split up and look for him, okay?” She sniffles, too upset to answer him. “Marie, go with Ellie and see if anyone has spotted a treant. Matt come with me. We’ll go look in the forest for him.”

They nod, and Thomas and Matt head into the forest. Marie takes her friend’s hand, guiding her into the town’s center. “Bramble!” she yells, “Bramble, are you here?” They search for a while to no avail. “Come on, Ellie. Let’s go tell Mila, maybe she’ll know what to do.”

“O…okay,” she whispers. They walk towards The Hexers Organization.

Thomas

“Bramble!” Thomas yells, “Bramble, where are you?” He sighs. “Matt, let’s split up, we’ll cover more area that way.”

Matt nods. “Alright, be careful. Ellie will kill us if we get hurt.”

They split up and Thomas heads deeper into the forest. “Bramble! Bramble, are you…” Suddenly the scent of wildflowers and earthly moss comes from nearby. “Mate!” Bear yells, “Mate is here! Go to mate!” Thomas sprints towards the scent, eventually colliding with a teenage girl.

“Oof!” Thomas exclaims. He catches himself before he fully falls, “Ah…Cathleen, sorry I didn’t mean to run into you.”

“It’s okay,” Cathleen answers, “you probably didn’t expect to run into someone this deep in the forest, but here we are.”

“Cathleen? What exactly are you doing out here?”

“W…well…” She looks around nervously.

“Um…n…nevermind, it doesn’t really matter.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, I’m looking for my Ellie’s familiar. He’s a treant and his name is Bramble.”

“I haven’t seen anything like that around. Do you need help?”

“S…sure.”

As Thomas and Cathleen delve deeper into the forest, the shadows seem to grow longer and the air chills. Suddenly, they hear a thunderous roar, and a griffin swoops down from the canopy, its majestic wings stirring the air into a frenzy. In the chaos, the pair find themselves back-to-back, facing a surge of slimes that quiver ominously in the griffin’s wake.

Cathleen looks frightened. “It’s okay,” Thomas states, “griffins aren’t aggressive as long as we aren’t near their nest. Slimes are harmless too.”

Eventually, the sky darkens and they halt the search for Bramble. “Erm…so thanks for the help today,” Thomas states.

“No problem,” Cathleen replies.

“Um…here…I can give you my phone number.” She hands him her phone, allowing him to plug his phone into her phone. “So, I guess we’ll talk later?”

“Sounds fun.”

He walks back to the entrance of the forest, where he finds Matt. “Any luck?” he asks.

“Nope, I didn’t find anything,” Matt says. Thomas sighs and they walk back to the penthouse.

Ellie

Ellie and Marie arrive at The Hexers Organization. They head inside, where they find Kara speaking with an associate. “Ellie, Marie?” she asks, “What are you doing here?” She notices that Ellie has been crying. “Ellie, what happened? Did your brother do something again?”

“N…no,” she stutters out, “Bramble’s missing.”

“Your treant?”

She nods. “M…Matt and him went to go look in the forest for him. W…what if we can’t find him. What if he’s hurt?”

“Shh…” She gently embraces her. “Honey, we’ll find him.”

“What if w…we don’t?”

“Shh, we won’t stop looking until we do, okay?” She nods. “Marie, why don’t you bring her home. I’ll tell the other associates to be on the lookout for a treant.”

“Alright, I’ll take care of her. Come on, Ellie. Let’s get you home.” Marie takes her friend’s hand and leads her out of the building.

When they arrive home, Thomas and Matt are there already. Ellie perks up. “T...Thomas, did you…”

“No,” he whispers, “I’m sorry, Ellie.”

Her expression crumbles. “T…Thomas, what if…what if Bramble…what he’s…”

“Shh, he isn’t. He won’t be.”

“You don’t know that!”

“We’ll find him, Ellie. I promise you, we won’t stop looking until we do.” He takes her hand, bringing her up to her bedroom. “Rest, kitten. We’ll start looking for him again tomorrow.” She buries her face into his chest, sobbing quietly. Eventually, she cries herself to sleep.

Thomas

Thomas watches quietly as his sister sleeps. “Bear?” he asks his wolf, “Do you have any idea where Bramble could have gone?”

“No, we saw our mate today,” Bear states, happily.

“Yes, we did.”

“She’s beautiful.”

“She is…wait Bear! We’re getting off track, we need to find Bramble first then we can think about our mate!”

Bear huffs, annoyed. “He probably wandered into the forest.”

“Ellie told us he won’t wander off by himself!”

“He must’ve! There’s evidence in the garden that he did!”

He sighs. “Alright, we’ll look for him in the forest again tomorrow.”

“We should call our mate tomorrow.”

“I’ll text her later.” Bear retreats to the back of his mind. He sighs again, before wrapping his arms around his sister, falling asleep.

Ellie

The next morning, Ellie heads downstairs, finding her brother in the kitchen with Gray and Violet. “T…Thomas?” she whispers.

“Good morning, kitten,” he states, “did you sleep okay?”

“Y…yeah.”

“That’s good. Sit and eat something, we can go look for Bramble afterwards.”

She nods, sitting down at the table. Her brother sets a plate of eggs and hashbrowns in front of her. She nibbles at it unhappily. “I finished, Thomas. Could we go look for Bramble now?”

“Yes, let me call Ms. Garcia first. We can’t leave the kids at home by themselves.” She nods, looking anxiously around the room.

“Thomas?” Ms. Garcia answers, “Why are you calling me?”

“You remember Bramble, right?” he asks.

“Yes, he’s one of Ellie’s familiars.”

“Yeah, well he’s gone missing. Could you come here and watch the kids while Ellie and I go look for him?”

“Of course, I assume she’s quite upset about him disappearing?”

“You got that right.”

“Alright, I’ll be there soon.”

“She’s coming, kitten.”

Ellie nods her head as she begins to pace around the kitchen, waiting for Ms. Garcia to arrive.

Ten minutes later, the penthouse door opens and closes. “Thomas, Ellie!” Ms. Garcia exclaims, “I’m here!”

“T…Thomas! Let’s go!” She grabs onto her brother, dragging him out of their penthouse. She drags him to the back of their penthouse building, into the forest. She quickly finds some evidence that Bramble had been in the forest at some point. “Thomas! Look what I found!” She holds up a piece of tree wood.

“Um, Ellie,” he says, “that’s a piece of tree wood.”

“It’s not just a piece of tree wood! This is Bramble’s tree wood!”

“How do you know that?”

“He smells differently than normal trees do!” She runs off in front of him. As they venture deeper into the whispering woods, a sense of unease settles over them. The air is thick with an ethereal mist that seems to dance around their feet, leading them astray with its ghostly tendrils. Shadows flit just beyond their sight, and the trees themselves appear to contort, their branches reaching out like twisted, seeking hands. The usually vibrant underbrush is now a palette of grays and muted greens, as though color itself has been drained from the world. The forest creatures, once familiar and friendly, now watched with wary, glowing eyes, their forms slightly askew, as if reflected in a warped mirror. Bramble’s absence has upset a delicate equilibrium, the magic of the forest turning wild and unpredictable without its treant guardian to maintain the ancient balance.

Tears pour out of Ellie’s eyes as they venture deeper into the forest. “Thomas, we have to find Bramble. His presence keeps the forest in balance.” As the thick, swirling mist envelops them, Ellie feels her chest tighten. She fumbles for her inhaler, but the mist seems to confuse her senses, making it hard to get her bearings. Thomas notices her struggle and quickly guides her to a drier, clearer spot, but Ellie’s breathing remains labored.

“M…mist, asthma,” she gasps, eyes wide with fear. Thomas keeps a steadying hand on her shoulder, scanning their surroundings warily. The forest has grown unnaturally quiet, as if holding its breath.

“Easy, kitten. Breath. I’m right here,” Thomas says, his voice low and reassuring. But inwardly, he worries, without Bramble to maintain the forest’s balance, who knows what other dangers might be lurking in the eerie, mist-shrouded trees?

Eventually, he lifts her into his arms, carrying out of the forest, where the air is crisp and clean. She’s still gasping for air when they arrive home. He gently sets her down on the couch before leaving the room to retrieve her inhaler.

Ms. Garcia comes into the room. “Oh, Ellie, you’re home sooner than I thought,” she states. Ellie gasps for air, unable to answer her. “Oh dear, are you having an asthma attack?” She nods slowly. “Where’s Thomas, is he grabbing your inhaler?”

She nods again, as tears fall from her eyes. Ms. Garcia sits with her until Thomas bursts into the room with his sister’s inhaler. “Kitten, I found it!”

She takes her inhaler from him, taking a few puffs of it, finally getting the relief she needs. “T…thank you, T…Thomas,” she whispers.

“Rest, kitten. I’ll go back out and look for Bramble. I don’t want you in that forest again.”

“B…but…Bramble he…” She gasps again.

“Bramble will be okay, kitten. I promise you’ll be the first to know if I find anything, okay?”

“O…okay, please be careful.”

“I will.” He turns and faces Ms. Garcia. “Ms. Garcia, take care of her, okay? If she starts breathing funny again, take her to the hospital. There was…this weird mist in the forest. It triggered her asthma.”

“She’s in good hands, Thomas,” Ms. Garcia answers. He nods before leaving the penthouse again.

Thomas

Thomas heads back into the forest. “Ah, dammit,” he mumbles, “I can’t see a damn thing with this mist in the way. He sighs. “Maybe, Bramble wandered further away from the penthouse than we thought.”

He heads away from the penthouse in his wolf form, trying to pick up the scent that his sister had shown him earlier. Forty five minutes pass before he finally picks up the scent again, he follows it until it leaves him to a trail of trampled foliage.

He shifts back into his human form. “Bear, Bramble’s scent suddenly disappeared here. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Don’t,” Bear mumbles.

He paces back and forth for a while, trying to figure out where Bramble has gone. “I don’t understand,” he murmurs to himself, “why would Bramble suddenly disappear? He always stayed within the garden’s walls, unless Ellie took him out to the forest. What am I missing?” His phone suddenly rings. “Hello?”

“Hi, Thomas,” Cathleen answers, “how is the search for Bramble going?”

“Not good, Ellie and I went pretty deep into the forest today and we couldn’t find anything. There was this very weird thick mist though. It made her have an asthma attack.”

“Where are you? I’ll come and help you look.”

“Erm…you know where Maxstin Apartments are? I’m about forty five minutes away from there, actually I’ll just send you my location.”

Cathleen

Fifteen minutes later, Cathleen gets out of a car. “Thomas! Why are you all the way out here?”

He sighs. “I tracked Bramble to here and then I couldn’t find anything else to track.”

“Hmm, let’s look around and see if we find anything.”

“O…okay.” They begin to look around the area for any signs of Bramble.

“Mate is here,” Bear says, “she’s here.”

“I know, Bear. She’s helping us find Bramble.” He looks over at her, noticing that she seems a bit uneasy. “Cathleen, what’s wrong?”

“H…huh?”

“You seem uneasy.”

“Oh, I just…have some unpleasant memories that have to do with this forest.”

“I see, Do you want to talk about them?”

“Okay…” She takes a deep breath. “When I was ten years old, I was wandering around the forest one day and I came across some people doing this weird ritual thing. They summoned a dark, otherworldly spirit. It was terrifying, I tried to run away, but I made too much noise, alerting the people. They try to capture me. I had to run away. I just…want to figure out what I saw that day.”

“I understand.”

“You aren’t freaked out?”

“No, I’m very familiar with the supernatural world. I’m sure it freaked you out when you first saw it though.”

“True, you’ve made me more accustomed to the supernatural world.”

“I mean…Ellie and I do work for a supernatural organization.”

“I know, you’ve told me about some of your cases before.”

“Come on, let’s go. The sooner we find Bramble the better.”