Flutter (The Discover Series) (19 page)

Although I didn’t feel scared…why?

Because you think he’ll save you,
I told myself.

No, because I
know
he will save me, I corrected myself.

I stopped again and decided to take another break. I leaned against a tree and closed my eyes, surrounding myself by an entirely new darkness. It was painfully clear that I was not adapted to the high altitude, and the cold air burned my lungs as I inhaled. It took twice as long as it normally should have, to fill my body with much needed oxygen. I felt exhausted, and I cursed myself, again, for being so stupid. I turned my head toward the side, and opened my eyes, hoping it wouldn’t be long before I was rescued,
again.
I was beginning to annoy myself with my current role as a damsel in distress.

I had two options: I could be stubborn, and back track, and continue walking until I found either the shed, or Andres, or managed to get myself even more lost, if that was even possible. But with me what wasn’t possible?; Or I could stay put & wait until one of them found me, hopefully before someone, or some
thing,
else did.

I let my back slide down the tree I had been leaning against, and planted myself on top of the cold snow. I drew my knees up to my chest and wished it wasn’t so dark out, or cold, or wet. Not that I really had any right at all to complain, I had been safely inside a warm shelter, and I walked away from that because I thought I heard someone.

Well where is that someone now Sara?

Not that I didn’t think I had had a good reason too. I had worried about My Wolf. Although I realize, that had he been in any danger, I doubt I could have done anything helpful. Still it had been torture just sitting there waiting, not knowing if he was okay or if something had happened to him. I thought at the time that my reasons were valid, but my decision kind of seemed rash now. For all I know he could have returned minutes after I left.

He had seemed anxious about the noise we had heard. When he was around me, I didn’t feel any reason to be uneasy, so it wasn’t until he had left me alone that I began to wonder if there was any real danger around us. I mean what could possibly be bigger or scarier than him?

Hopefully I would never have to find out.

I laid my head back, my eyes slid shut, and I wanted nothing more than to rest my eyes just for a few minutes. I listened to the soft sounds of my breathing, they were hypnotic, and I felt my muscles begin to loosen and relax. Nature seemed to come alive. I could hear the faint swooshing of the trees above me, and the occasional cry of a hawk in the distance.

I could feel my mind drifting. I didn’t seem to be aware of much anymore, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay awake much longer.

I was almost there, sleep could have easily claimed its stake on m
e
, but something wasn’t right and my body became alert. My brows pulled together as I listened quietly. I didn’t open my e
yes, hoping that if I didn’t utilize
too many of my senses, I could hone in on whatever was putting me on edge. I mentally made a checklist of the noises that surround me. Wind, trees, birds and the sound of…

I froze and my breathing halted. I didn’t open my eyes now out of fear of what I might see. I strained to hear, hoping that I had been wrong, but the sound was there again. My heart stopped for a minute, before it pounded double time. I tried to breathe in small pants, hoping not to draw attention to myself, but something told me that it was already too late.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a flock of birds take flight from the trees above my head. I let out a small scream but managed to choke back the rest of it by grinding my teeth together. I looked up just in time to see the black birds take off into the night, something had scared them, and they were forced out of hiding. I had the feeling someone or something was trying to do the same to me as well.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I could hear the crunch of snow to the right of me, beneath the weight of something very big, and decided it was time to face whatever it was.

I slowly opened my eyes until I was able to peek through my lashes, but I didn’t see anything. I let them open fully, and found myself staring at…nothing. I lifted my head and pushed my back away from the tree. The moon’s light had slipped through the trees, shining down like a spotlight in front of me. The top layer of the snow looked like someone had gone a little crazy with glitter dust, and it sparkled brilliantly under the moon, but something just beyond the light and into the darkness caught my attention.

I squinted and leaned forward on my hands, trying to make out the figure, but it was like trying to see a shadow in the dark. It was getting closer, but the movements were slow, deliberate, and that confused me. I held my breath and waited until the shadow finally revealed itself.

I nearly collapsed in relief when I recognized the familiar silhouette as it drew nearer to the light of the moon. I stood up with surprising speed. The rush of uncertainty that I had experienced just moments ago, had gotten my adrenaline pumping, and I was rewarded with a renewed sense of oomph. I dusted off my butt, flinging crushed snow onto the ground. I was going to need to change my pants again, and I hoped there would be another dry pair inside the totes I had found in the
shed
. I rubbed my frozen palms off on the tops of my thighs and stood up fully.

My eyes connected with the wolf’s in front of me, and the sound that escaped my lips sounded strangled. As I stared at the wolf, I realized there was something missing. There was no calming response that washed over me, there was no hypnotic hum
,
buzzing under my skin.

Unfortunately for me, I was not staring into the eyes of
My Wolf
.

I stood there frozen, like a deer caught in headlights; only I was a girl caught in sight of menacing red eyes. I couldn’t move I couldn’t breathe, and all my brain kept telling me was:
Run! Run as hard and as fast as you can, and as far as your legs will carry you!

But I knew there would be no point in that. If he wanted to catch me, if he was planning on killing me, running would be futile because he
would
catch me and he
would
kill me.

You have to try though!
My thoughts argued.

Without thinking about it anymore, I turned on my feet, my hair whipping across my face, momentarily blinding me, and I took off in the opposite direction. I could hear a low hissing sound behind me. It sounded oddly enough like a chuckle, and the mocking echo pushed me harder.

I ran as fast I could. I ran until I could no longer feel my legs or my feet hitting the ground. My breathing was loud as I sped through the forest, dodging tree after tree. The sound of my breathing filled the spaces around me, until that was the only thing I could focus on. I wanted to turn around and see if he had started to follow me yet, but I was afraid if I did that it would be the end.

My lungs were starting to burn and smolder inside my chest, my heart had swelled to three times its size and was threatening to explode. My eyes were burning and watering from the sharp wind, and my legs were starting to disintegrate. I could feel my body starting to slow down, and no matter how hard I pushed I wasn’t going any faster. I decided it was time to look behind me because no matter what, I wouldn’t be able to outrun the wolf forever.

Without slowing down anymore then I had too, I threw a quick glance behind me. I searched frantically around, but I didn’t see anything. Everything looked the same to me, but he could easily be hidden within the shadows once more. I turned back
around, slowing to a jog, and then came to a full stop. I stumbled toward a tree, placing my hand against the rough, frozen bark, and bent over. I felt nauseous and I couldn’t gasp air fast enough to refill my shriveled lungs. I coughed until my throat burned, and then the coughing turned into gagging.

My body was throbbing in pain, and it took all of my strength not to collapse right here and now. When the dry heaves finally passed, I spit a few times, trying to get rid of the feeling of needing to be sick. I turned around, leaving my hand against the tree, my arm twisting and my fingers bending, until I could rest the back of my head against the tree. I could feel the strands of my hair getting caught, getting snarled on the shards of the bark, but I ignored the tingling sensations it caused as they were pulled from my scalp.

I opened my eyes, only to be surrounded by more darkness, and I suddenly had the strangest feeling of déjà vu. I frowned and rubbed my face, but couldn’t shake the feeling of having been in this same spot before. I looked around the forest, but couldn’t see any one thing that I recognized. I looked to my right, but didn’t see anyone or anything move in the distance. I took a deep breath, and rolled my head toward the left hoping that side would be clear as well. I squinted, but couldn’t mak
e
out anything in the shadows of the trees.

I wanted to feel relieved. I wanted to believe that I had managed to out run the wolf, or he had gotten tired of the cat and mouse game, but something told me it wouldn’t be that easy. The longer I continued to stare in the direction that I had run from, the more it became clearer why I had the feeling of déjà vu.

Walking slowly out of the darkness was a wolf, so dark he camouflaged in the shadows. His eyes glowed bright red, against the dark contrast of his fur, as they watched me. I shook my head, not believing it was possible. There was no way I had just run in a straight line, for at least five minutes, and ended up in the same exact spot. I frowned not wanting to look down, convincing myself that it wouldn’t be the there when I looked up again, there was no way it could be!

I didn’t want to take my eyes off the monster in the dark, but I needed to make myself believe that what I was seeing wasn’t real. I looked down slowly, scolding my heart for the projected fear that was violently racing through me, leaving me breathless. My heart sank. The fear coursing through my body exploded and I nearly choked on the scream that tore at my throat for freedom.

I stared blankly at the crushed snow and imprint of where I had been sitting earlier. I followed the trail of messy footprints that I had left behind in my rapid escape.

I wanted to scream! I was so confused, I didn’t know how any of this was possible, how coul
d
I run, and run, and run some more, and somehow end up in the same spot?

The sound of the wolf moving through the snow made my head snap up, and I realized he was walking toward me. His long legs managed to carry him alarmingly close to me with only a few strides. I was determined not to make this easy on him. I watched him closing in; I concentrated on every move he made. I slowly moved my hands to my sides, until both palms were resting against the tree.

He seemed to know what I was planning to do and he stopped, watching my hands closely. If wolves could snicker, I would swear that’s what he was doing right now. I mentally counted to three, and then used my hands to push away from the tree. Launching myself forward, I took off straight ahead of me, ignoring the protest of my body. I could feel the stray strands of my hair as they were pulled from my scalp.

The muscles in my legs were getting tighter and it made it hard to bend them in the motions I needed to keep running. I could feel the cramp coming, but stopping wasn’t an option, so I tried to ignore it, hoping my body would work past it.

It might have actually worked if I hadn’t managed to step on a stupid random rock, causing my ankle to buckle out from beneath me, and I went down hard on my knees, my legs twisting awkwardly out from underneath me. Out of instinct, my hand flew out hoping to help absorb some of the blow, and I grabbed the tree, slicing my palm on it.

I cried out, pulling my hand back, and collapsed on all fours in the snow, my body pleading with me to give up. I sat there on my hands and knees exhausted, but I managed to push myself back up slowly, and I examined my hand. Blood had smeared over my palm, and left a bright bloody print in the snow. I held my injured hand by the wrist, trying to squeeze off the pain, and got clumsily to my feet. I used the tree to support most of my weight, inching my back up along the tree. My legs weren’t ready to take on the weight of my body yet, and I stumbled a little. Instinct had me reaching for the tree with my hurt hand, and I bit my lip against the searing pain as my palm flattened against the jagged bark. I pulled it away, and uncurled my fingers to examine the mess.

My good hand flew to my mouth as I started down and my hand.

No! It wasn’t possible!
  I was shaking my head violently, denying the truth before my eyes.

No, no, NO!

My fingers shook as I reached for my injured hand, and pulled off the strands off my hair that had stuck to the blood that was now starting to dry. I looked at the tree that I had just been touching. More strands of my hair stuck to the wood, blowing lightly in the wind. I knew if I looked down, I would see two separate sets of footprints leading away from the tree, in two separate directions. I knew if I turned around, I would see him emerging from the shadows; his red eyes mocking me and my failed attempts at escape. As if it could hear my thoughts, I heard the low snicker of a growl behind me.

             
Without thinking, I took off again, turning and dodging the tree that was beginning to hunt me. The muscles in my legs cooperated with me this time, and I ran until everything blurred around me. I knew I was making more ground this time, I could feel it. I was actually out running this nightmare. I felt like I was hovering above the ground as I sped away. Just a little bit farther, and then maybe I would finally be in the clear. The moon shone brightly on my path, almost like it was leading me out of the deception, away from the trickery my mind was playing.