The Killing Forest Read Online Free PDF Page B

slammed into his chest so hard he could barely breathe.
    At first his father and the others in the group had been furious about the decision of the Asa and Vanir religious organization, Forn Sidr, to expel them. Now, however, they seemed to think of themselves as nobler, because they were more faithful to the original customs. Not like the hippie types who were more interested in getting high and drinking their homemade mead, as his father put it.
    He had spent many nights in the forest since his initiation. Twice he had found food at the sacrificial oak. What he’d gathered up after the ceremony had lasted a week. The second time, he’d packed the food in big leaves, hoping that would help keep it fresh.
    Several hours had passed after the horrific events of his initiation before he dared sneak out into the clearing. The cars were gone, and he’d held his breath; the silence and the sharp light from the clear, starlit sky seemed threatening. A few embers from the bonfire still glowed, but he didn’t dare approach it to warm himself. He had no way of knowing if anyone had stayed behind to wait for him. At last he snuck around in the shadows of the trees over to the oak, where he knew they must have left a lot of the food his father had brought along.
    He had tried to forget what had happened, to banish the image of the young woman smiling at him before she was killed. After the men had returned to the clearing without her, and the gothi had closed the circle and passed the oath ring around, they sat beside the bonfire, eating and drinking as if nothing had happened.
    But so much had happened, and everything had gone wrong for Sune. Very wrong. He missed his mother. Every single night, he suffered from nightmares about her death. He saw white coffins and graveyards. He woke up bathed in sweat. He knew his mother grew weaker every day that he was away. But he also knew, full well, that he couldn’t return home without reconciling with his father and the others. And he wasn’t going to do that. Not after what he’d gone through that evening. He would never be a part of that; would never be like them.
    He jerked around when he heard a car approaching on the narrow forest road, kicking over the small twigs and branches he’d arranged for the small fire before hiding in the tree.
    They came looking for him every night. When they got too close, he picked up his things and ran. Like a hunted animal driven from its den, he hurried off to find another hiding place. He didn’t know who it was on any given night. They might be taking turns searching, he thought. He hugged his knees.
    The fear of being found made his skin tingle. He had to get out of this area, go somewhere they wouldn’t be looking for him. He just didn’t know where. If only he’d gotten the stupid fire started earlier. His clothes would’ve been dry by now, and he wouldn’t be freezing.
    He opened one of the leaves and gnawed on a cold pork chop, thinking about his mother again. Hopefully, his father was taking care of her. Sune used to go into her bedroom and sit and read to her when he’d come home from school. She wasn’t strong enough now to hold a book. Once in a while she fell asleep and snored lightly with her mouth half open, but he’d just kept on reading. When she woke up, she’d smile and say, “I guess I dozed off for a moment.”
    His father didn’t like books. They were a waste of time, he always said. But he wanted his son to do well in school, so he didn’t complain when Sune read.
    School , Sune thought, as he watched the red taillights of the car after it passed by. This was the final week of exams. How had his parents explained his absence to the school?
    He swallowed the last of the pork chop, too quickly—and felt a sharp pain in his esophagus. He didn’t have anything to wash the food down with. Normally he drank from the stream, but he couldn’t go there now.
    The car approached again, so he kept perfectly still. It drove