"You were gone a while," Dad said, not looking up from his fire. He had several long sticks dangling over the crackling blaze, each with several marshmallows attached at the end. "I was getting worried."
"Sorry." I sat down on the log beside him, relieved to be back in a place of sanity. "Are we expecting company? What's with all the branches?"
"Nope, just trying to get the perfect marshmallow." Dad chuckled. "This camp site is great."
Dad found Eden. I wish I could have said the same. I wanted to curl up in my sleeping bag and forget this night existed. Turning off the flashlight, I placed it down along with my dead one.
"Where'd you get the extra flashlight?"
I sighed, not wanting to explain my strange encounter in the woods. "I found it." I stood up from the log. "Sorry, Dad. I'm really tired from the drive. I'm going to sleep."
"Everything all right?"
"Just tired." I unzipped the small tent entrance and crawled inside without looking back. I felt guilty leaving him there.
I pulled the strap holding my green army looking sleeping bag, letting it unravel by itself, and I slithered inside. It made me feel a little better, the warmth - nice and comfy. Dad had made sure to bring the heavy-duty sleeping bags since the fall weather varied so much. I curled myself into a ball and closed my eyes.
When I opened them sometime later, everything had gone black and Dad snored beside me. I scooped the edge of my sleeping bag tightly under my chin and rolled to my side, trying not to feel the uneasiness of the forest.
A shadow moved outside the tent. My heart quickened.
They found me. Why are they following me?
It could be the drunken men from the office.
I rolled my eyes. The wind, it had to have been the wind. I tried to drift back to sleep, until I heard a small twig snap. A low voice said something outside. My body went cold. I couldn't move.
"Dad," I whispered. He didn't stop snoring and I didn't want to speak louder, afraid that they might hear me. At least voices meant they were human.
It still could have been the wind.
Oh, who am I kidding!
"Where?" a voice said.
"Over there, Nimrod."
"What'd you call me?"
"Shut up you idiots."
I shot upright. My sleeping bag fell down around me, but I didn't care - as if a piece of cloth would protect me. A familiar scent of musky pine saturated the air, but new variations filtered it: birch, rust, and something close to warm honey. With my lack of vision, my other senses screamed.
My fingers ran across the thick sleeping bag that had become twisted from my restless sleep, and searched for the flashlight. I touched the smooth round frame, and turned it on, illuminating the small enclosure.
A brush of wind and several shadows swept by the side of the tent. I jumped. A crack sounded, feet shuffled, then all went silent. My pulse thudded in my ears.
I crawled to the tent flap, my muscles stiff and heavy, and then undid the zipper. The crisp air made me shiver, but I didn't go back for my coat. I didn't see anyone so I made my way out.
A dull smoldering hue burned from the ashes of Dad's fire and the smell of sulfur so strong, that I couldn't discern the other scents anymore. I glanced at the Jeep. Everything seemed intact. Had I scared them off?
"Hey." A voice spoke behind me. "You okay?"
The flashlight fizzled out. I went to flick it back on, but my fingers trembled so hard I couldn't get it to work. I tapped it several times then smacked it across my thigh.
"You know, I'm not going to want it back if it's broken."
I froze, knowing the owner of the voice. Why couldn't I get my fingers to work right?
"Hey, it's okay. Relax." He looked like a shadow as he moved closer, placing his hand on the top of mine. "Here." He took the flashlight from my hands and turned it on. "They're gone. See?" He cast the light around the camp.
"Did you see them? Were they the guys from the office? They were drunk earlier and I thought..." I paused. His warm scent filled my nose and I shook my head. "What are you doing here? Are you following me?"
The boy fidgeted. He wouldn't look at me. "I'm not following you, Charlotte. Your camp is right here along my walking route. I just happened by when I heard shuffling around your site. I was worried."
"Your walking route?" My brows furrowed. "Who in their right mind walks around the woods at...at...whatever ridiculous hour this is?"
He remembered my name.
He shifted awkwardly and pointed to the moon. "Three fifteen in the morning." He gave me a small smile, surprisingly gentle, which I hadn't expected. It temporarily knocked me off my guard, making me blink.
"Three fifteen? Please. How can you possibly know that?" I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small watch head dial. It read three fifteen.
"Well, who goes for a walk at three fifteen in the morning?"
"Me."
"Why?"
He ran his hand through his messy hair. "It's peaceful? I don't know. No one's around at this hour; it's nice."
"This is the woods; no one's around at twelve in the afternoon either." I said.
"You ask a lot of questions."
"Well it's not everyday I have a strange boy following me."
The boy grinned crookedly. "I'm not following you and I'm not that strange."
"Yes you are." I said. "And that goes for both of those statements" I turned from him. "Who are you anyway?" The night air made me shiver. I sat on the log by the smoldering remains of Dad's fire and rubbed my hands.
"Liam," he whispered as he circled behind me. I looked in the direction of his voice, but he had already sat down on the opposite log. My nerves jumped.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?" he asked.
I glared at him, but he seemed confused. "Moving so fast like that. It's dark and...do you live here or something?"
The way he sat there, leaning on his elbows, watching me, made me nervous.
"Sort of." His attention shifted to something in the trees. He tilted his head and when I followed his gaze to the dark growth, goose bumps flushed across my spine. I couldn't see anything, but I could feel it. The wolves just out of sight, watched us, and moved with silent steps against the stilled forest ground.
My body tensed. Did he see them? No one ever had before.
"What is it?" I asked, realizing I wanted him to say that he saw them.
"Nothing," he said.
I cursed myself when I felt the pinch of disappointment, but he didn't change his focal point.
"I live a few miles from here on the outskirts of Maplefield."
"Liam?" I asked.
He shook his head, making his hair fall half in his face, and looked up at me, away from the trees. "Sorry. It's nothing."
I blinked my mind into focus and then said it. "I know what's out there. You saw them, didn't you?"
Even in the dim lighting, he appeared ashen. "What are you talking about? The men who were here? No, they're gone."
"No. Not that." I motioned my head towards the trees.
His sneakers shifted against the dirt. "I don't know what you're talking about, but you don't need to worry about those people. They're not coming back. You're safe."
"Wait. Do you know who was here?"
"No." He shrugged. "Yes. It doesn't matter. They're not going to bother you anymore."
My jaw dropped and I stood up. "Who was it?"
Liam's face twisted. "My friends. They weren't going to hurt you or steal anything. They were just curious."
"Your friends?" My arms crossed protectively around my chest. "Curious about what?"
"Nothing." He wouldn't look at me. His gaze fell to the hole his heel had dug beside the log.
"Not nothing, tell me."
"You." His whisper seemed loud in my ears. I felt dizzy.
I tried to stay lucid. "Why me?"
He lifted his head and slowly inhaled.
"What...are you doing?" I asked.
"Your scent. It doesn't make sense, but it's there. Even from your car I could smell you."
"My car?" I felt a little cold. "What are you talking about?"
He sat so close, that his scent, too familiar, confused me. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists.
"Liam?"
He opened two blazing gold orbs on me. I scrambled off the log, nearly falling backwards. Howling broke just past the covering of the trees. Liam whipped his head in its direction.
My body shook.
A low reverberating sound came from Liam's chest. "Stay here." He took off into the woods, leaving me alone.
I sunk to the ground in front of the log and pulled my knees to my chest. The sounds of vicious snarling filled the air. I buried my head in my knees, praying it would all go away.
The snarls finally waned, replaced by high-pitched yelps and barks. I heard paws scampering away from the camp.
I jumped when Liam reappeared out of the shrubbery, dusting off his worn jeans. No way. He didn't just fight those wolves. Clearly, I had lost it.
"It's okay. They're gone." He glanced back towards the tree line. "Immature pups."
"What?"
He shook his head and cleared his throat. "Nothing." He reached an arm out to me. "You okay? Here, let me help you up."
I didn't know if I was scared of Liam or grateful, but I slowly opened my fingers to take his hand. He easily pulled me to my feet and steadied me. I trembled. He took off his jacket and handed it to me.
"Thank you." I swallowed hard and wrapped the jacket around my shoulders. "What's with all the wolves around here?" I tried to joke. "What am I a wolf magnet?"
"You have no idea."
"What?"
"Nothing." Liam cleared his throat and shifted his stance. "Why are you so afraid of canines anyway?"
I watched him. He avoided my eyes, kicking and poking at dying embers with his sneaker.
"I got attacked by one when I was really little. It bit me pretty badly. Still have the nasty scar to prove it." I nodded.
"What?" His head shot up and he stared at me like I had committed a crime. His shoulders trembled.
"What? I'm okay now." He looked terrified. "It's okay. I don't even remember it. My parents had to tell me why I had the scar. I was only five when it happened. But I think something in my subconscious remembers it. I've been afraid of dogs ever since."
"Where's the scar?"
"On the back of my shoulder." I pointed. "Really, I'm fine, Liam. It's okay." I wished he would relax. I didn't expect this reaction.
"Let me see it."
"I...I don't think so." My stomach tied in knots. "I'm really self conscious about it. Maybe another time."
Another time?
I couldn't think straight.
He ran his hand roughly through his hair. His breathing seemed irregular and shallow. "I'm sorry. I don't want you to do anything you're uncomfortable with. Besides, that's impossible. It happened years ago."
"What are you talking about Liam? What's impossible?"
"Nothing."
"Everything's always nothing with you, do you realize that?"
He shrugged and the corner of his mouth twitched. "I'm sorry. This is why I don't usually talk to people. Things get confusing."
"What do you mean you don't talk to people? Why are you talking to me?"
He cleared his throat and looked down at his sneaker as it fiddled with the dirt. "You seem different. I had to find out."
Different? "How? And find out what?"
He smiled and my cheeks felt hot.
"You're cute when you blush."
"I'm not blushing and you're evading my questions." I sat back on the log and wrapped the coat around my shoulders. "Why are you so interested in me? Why were your friends here? What do you want from me, Liam, if that's even your real name?"
The grin on his face widened. I tried not to look. "First of all, you're adorable." I shot him a glare and he chuckled with a little shrug. "Secondly, something about you seems very...familiar."
The choice of words made my stomach flip. My eyes stung. "You know what? I don't even know why I'm talking with you." I got up and then started towards the tent.
"Hey, I'm sorry. Charlotte, what's wrong?"
I paused. "It's nothing. I'm fine. I'm going to bed. You can leave now."
"Charlotte..."
"Please." I couldn't look at him.
"What'd I say?"
I sighed a shaky breath and shook my head. "It's nothing. I'm going to bed. Night, Liam."