Flutter (The Discover Series) (18 page)

I momentarily felt bad that I wouldn’t be there to warn Aaron of the danger that was about to walk into our camp.
The change to my body came easy to me as I chuckled to myself. I laid
on the ground, with a soft thump that sent out little flakes of snow in every direction around me. I wasn’t far from the shed door and I laid there and listened to the sound of Sara’s breathing.

Correction:
Princess
Sara.

It was probably a good idea to start addressing her as ‘Princess’, even inside my head.

The noises she made while sleeping were hypnotizing, and I closed my eyes, getting lost in her soft murmurs. I could tell she was dreaming, the way she moved from one side of the cot to the other, and I wondered what images filled the inside her head. After everything she had been through tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if nightmares haunted her sleep.

My ears perked up when she began to talk. I thought she had awakened, but listening to her breathing patterns, I realized she was talking in her sleep. I smiled to myself, and relaxed. My eyes closed again, and I started to drift to sleep when I felt the familiar buzz inside my chest start to grow, becoming too intense for me to ignore.

Her breathing had changed, and I could tell she was starting to wake up.

I started to sit up, and instantly froze.

I turned my head
toward
the shed. I knew there was no way I could have heard wrong, but I held my breath, not making even a small noise.

And then
, no louder than a whisper,
she said it again.

“Adan.”

Flutter

Six

Big Bad Wolf

Sara

I pulled myself into a sitting position.

Well, it was more like I catapulted myself into a sitting position.

I placed my fingers against my temples, and massaged slowly, trying to rub away the sleep, and slight throb at the spot behind my eyes. Still fuzzy headed, I looked around and tried to figure out where I was.

I was in the shed.

At least I was pretty sure that’s where I was; I didn’t know many sheds that had built in fire places. I pushed away the blankets that had pooled in my lap, and swung my legs over the edge of the cot I was laying on.

I instantly regretted moving.

My entire body felt like I had been run over, backed up on, and run over again. My muscles screamed out in protest of the little movements, and so did my head. Everything felt sore and I wondered how I was ever going to be able to move again. My arms felt like dead weights at my sides, and I could feel each and every bruise, cut, and bump on my entire body. I scooted toward the edge of the cot, and grimaced in pain. I decided to just
look
around the room for now, and hope that after a while I would regain the use of my legs.

There really wasn’t much to take in, since there wasn’t a lot of room. Other than the cots, and a few plastic totes, the room was bare. It made me wonder who would build a shed out here, in the middle of nowhere, for some cots and totes. It was a little too well thought out to be random; and to keep it stocked with clothes, food, and blankets was like a red light in my eyes. It seemed more like a hideaway for someone on the run rather than a convenient shelter for someone who had just woken up as an ice sculpture.

I decided it was time to try out my legs, and see if I could find anything in the tote labeled CLOTHES that would fit me. My hands gripped the edge of the cot, and I used it to support my weight as I stood up. My bones and muscles cried out in anguish, and punished me with a shooting pain that ran up my legs and all the way up to my head. I sat back down, and waited for the room to stop spinning before I attempted to stand again.

I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth, and stood up. The room swirled, but only a little this time. I closed my eyes, took another deep breath, and waited for the dizziness to pass before I opened them again. When I no longer felt like I was going to throw up, I took a step toward the direction of the totes. I was lucky that the first one was labeled ‘clothes’, and wasn’t that heavy.  I lifted it so I could put it on the cot. I underestimated the weight as I set it down. It seemed that no matter how light it
looked
, it was still too heavy for the poor condition of my arms, but I knew I was going to need the tote underneath labeled FOOD. Just the thought of food had my stomach growling out of control, feeling as if it was turning inside out, and I wondered how long it had been since my last meal.

I pulled at the sides of the lid. My wrists ached in pain even at the subtle movement, but I ignored it as the lid came off with a POP-ing sound. I tossed the lid on to the cot, and searched through the dark clothes. I couldn’t remember my size, but I lifted out a pair of jeans that looked to be the right size, and black t-shirt. Digging a little deeper I found
a
hoodie tucked away at the bottom of the tote, and pulled it out, deciding extra layers was best. I found some socks and a single pair of brand new sneakers. I lifted some of the other shirts and pants, and thought how oddly convenient it was that I found something my size. It only made my curiosity burn hotter, wondering who all this stuff belonged to. If my head hadn’t still been pounding, and if my body hadn’t been aching, and if I wasn’t too tired to think, I would have analyzed everything; but as it was, I felt like a walking zombie. I just couldn’t handle anymore.

With a sigh, I returned the lid and pulled the tote off the cot until it landed on the flood with a loud thud. Slowly I pulled at the zipper nestled against my neck, until the wetsuit opened up to my belly button. I figured it would be easier to free one arm at a time so I started with my left side, pushing the suit over my shoulder and down my arm until it was free. I did the other side next, and let the top half of my wetsuit hang down around my hips. The light from the fire cast shadows over my body; I noted the way the golden flames brought out a strange shimmer on my skin, but I knew that as tired as I was, it was probably my imagination.

My breath caught in an audible gasp, when I realized the shadows on my arms weren’t shadows. My arms, chest, and belly were peppered in dark, deep, purple bruises. There were cuts on the inside of my hands, and wrists, and a few on my belly
where thorns had
managed to penetrate my wet suit. I was almost dreading what the rest of my body was going to look like, if it was anything like this, and I was sure it was-

I whirled around at the sound of a low hiss.

My heart was screaming inside of my chest, and pounded against the walls of my rib cage. My hand had flown up to cover my mouth, and strangled the scream that had tried to escape the moment I heard the sound, it slid down now to cover my heart, in hopes of calming down the erratic beating. When my body function became normal again, my eyes narrowed, and I did my best to glare at the cause of my terror.

“You scared me!” I accused, and felt like stomping my foot should have accompanied my outburst. “Ugh!” I growled, and turned around to shove my arms through the shirt with angry movements, ignoring the pain. I pulled the shirt down, stretching it in the process, and then whirled around again.

“How did you even get in here?” I asked to myself, looking at the wolf in the door. He was staring at me with an almost amused look, and I could have sworn his eyes twinkled with laughter-

‘Twinkled with laughter’?
Who says that?
I mused to myself. I turned back around, and shoved the wet suit past my legs.

“Just as I thought.” I muttered to myself, looking down at my banged up legs. “Perfect! Just perfect!” I quickly pulled the jeans on over my bikini bottoms, and the t-shirt over my top. After fastening them, I sat down again feeling exhausted. I sighed, and my posture slouched, proving just how defeated I felt. I hated feeling this weak.

I looked up to see the wolf staring at me, and felt completely foolish for my temper tantrum. I glanced away and my eyes connected to the food tote. My stomach instantaneously growled, and the sound bounced off the stone walls. My Wolf stood, and walked lazily toward the tote marked FOOD, and began sniffing the air. He looked at me and whined a little.

“Right. Food.” Getting up, I removed the lid of the tote. “Let’s see what we have here.”

Minutes later I return to my cot with an armful of granola bars, mini bags of chips, an almond joy & 3 bottles of water. I dropped it all on the bed and sat down to dig in. I open a bag of chips and popped a Dorito in my mouth. I closed my eyes and savored the cheesy goodness that melted on my tongue. Chewing nosily, I devoured the first bag, licking the cheese off my fingertips. I twisted the cap off of one of the water bottles and gulped down the entire bottle in one swig.

“I can’t believe how hungry I am.” I said as I opened another bag of chips. It was Cheetos and I was determined to take my time with this bag, and actually chewed as I looked at My Wolf - who was now lying down by the door.

“I wonder where Andres went.” I said to him.

He glanced briefly at the door, and then laid his head down on his paws. I laughed to myself.

What was I expecting? An actual answer…

When I finished the bag, I decided to eat a granola bar next. Ripping open the wrapper I tossed it on the cot and looked for a chocolate chunk before I bit into it, catching the slipping crumbs with the tip of my tongue. When I finished off the granola bar, in record time, I decided to put on the socks and shoes that I had found, in case we needed to leave in a hurry once Andres returned. The fire was starting to dwindle, making the shed drop slightly in temperature. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, hoping the friction would cause enough heat to warm my chilled skin. I remembered the hoodie I had taken out. I slipped my arms through the sleeves and hitched it up as much as was comfortable.

“Am I really that interesting to you that you just can’t take your eyes off me?” I joked, when I found him once again staring at me. The smile disappeared and I whispered to him. “You saved my life.” I said and laughed, almost bitterly. “Twice actually, if you hadn’t found this shelter for us, we would have died.” I fidgeted with my nails as I spoke. “You have no idea how grateful I am that you were there to catch me before-” I swallowed hard, trying to push away the emotion that clogged my throat.

When I finally looked up I gasped, not realizing how close he had come toward me during my quiet confession. He was so tall that I had to look
up
to look into his eyes. Slowly I lifted my outstretched fingers toward his neck, my eyes never losing contact with his. My finger brushed the fur at his neck and I stopped and weighed his reaction. When he didn’t flinch at my touch, my fingers lost themselves in his fur, and I almost sighed at the sizzling sensation.

I suddenly realized I had been aching to touch him again; telling myself that the first time hadn’t counted, because I hadn’t really been paying attention to the feel of him. Now, as I combed my fingers through his hair, I didn’t feel relieved of the ache, instead it seemed to grow and settle inside my nerves. Using my other hand, I ran my fingers up along his neck and down over his back, down as far as my arms would allow. As my fingers traveled back up toward his neck I felt a shiver run through his body, and a low growl rumble inside his chest, and I smiled to myself. I framed the sides of his face with my hands and smoothed back the fur. His fur felt glorious.

He heard the noise it before I did.

Suddenly his ears perked up, and he swiftly turned his head toward the door. I dropped my hands and stood up. I made a surprised sound when he dropped his head, and pushed it into my stomach. I realized he was trying to push me back down onto the cot. My legs were pressed against the edge of the cot, and I clumsily sat back down. This time I heard the noise clearly, and both of our heads turned toward the door. He was at the door before I could blink. Without thinking, I was standing and ready to follow him. He growled at me softly when I tried to step around him to push the door open. Shocked, I fell back a few steps.

“It’s probably just Andres.” I said, hoping to calm the sudden pounding of my pulse, but I knew if it was Andres, My Wolf would have been able to smell him…right?

He continued to stare me down.

“Okay, okay I’m going.” I said, muttering to myself about taking silent orders from a
wolf.
I turned and sat on the cot, gripping the edge until my knuckles turned white.

A second later My Wolf disappeared out the door, and into the night.

Sara

It was official, I was an idiot.

I was the idiot girl that you cursed in stupid horror movies, because she thought she was invincible, in a short white tee and bright pink panties as she crept down the stairs. Blatantly ignoring the blood smeared on the walls, and the desperate screams of her friends as they yelled ‘NO! Danger! Turn around! Hide! Call the cops! Do anything, but come down here and get yourself killed!

Yes, I had reduced myself to one of
those
girls.

Now I was standing in a clearing, spinning in circles in the forest - totally and completely lost. Even if I wanted to turn around and go back to the shed, I had no idea where it was. How I had gotten so turned around, while walking in a straight line, was beyond me.

The clearing had an eerie silence to it. I wrapped my arms around myself, not liking the sudden chill that had fallen around me. It was almost pitch black outside, and I couldn’t seem to keep my feet on the ground. I tripped over anything and everything, as I wove through the trees around me. I stopped walking, my breathing coming out in short, harsh pants, while I tried to catch my breath. I tried to listen to my surroundings, hoping to hear something, but it was dead silent. I thought about calling out for help, for Andres, but I decided against that. I didn’t want to give away my position to someone who shouldn’t have it.

God, what had I been thinking?!
I scolded, and caught myself as a branch tried to trip me.

I had been thinking about My Wolf, that’s what I had been thinking. Sitting inside the small confines of that shed, while I waited for him to return, had been complete torture. After Twenty minutes had gone by, and he still hadn’t come back to me, I had only hesitated for a few seconds before I had given up on waiting around any longer. Stepping outside and into the cold had nearly paralyzed me, but I refused to wait any longer and I ventured out in search of him.

Thirty minutes later, I was now lost, cold, and probably in a lot of trouble if Andres had returned to find me missing. That was seemed to be a big
if
, since I hadn’t heard any search and rescue calls, and that only had me feeling even more dejected. What if I was only taking myself further away from the shed? Further away from being rescued?