Hunting You, Hunting Me (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

A/N: Sorry, this is not edited. I just wanted to post it as quickly as possible. :) A big thank you to MarisaLuvsJared, TheVeronicasAngelBut, and TheDivineMissM for their help. Thank you, ladies! :D

All rights reserved, © 2012

RECAP FROM CHAPTER 12:

Making the decision to stay, I begin to put things away. I cannot afford to be careless. If I pack up now, it will save me time if I need to make a quick and unscheduled departure in the middle of the night. I hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

My fingers tidy up automatically while my mind wanders. What are my parents doing right now? I pray to God to keep them strong and to help them find peace. I also pray for them to miraculously find me and take me back home. I wonder what Abby is doing…she was supposed to go away with her parents this upcoming weekend for a special sixteenth birthday pilgrimage to an Indian reservation. Weird choice for a trip…but to each their own. Was she carrying on like nothing happened? Did she feel guilty? What had she told my parents about where I was? Did they believe her? Why wasn’t anyone looking for me?

Yawning widely, I realize that the events of the day have finally caught up with me. I am exhausted. Unfolding the blanket, I wrap it around my body, covering my head with the hood. Since that night of the party, tonight will be the first time that I have laid down, and for this I am truly grateful. I pull the blanket tightly around myself and go to sleep.

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Estela POV

I am lying on a cloud of spongy vanilla fluff, floating over a field of rainbow sprinkles. My eyes are closed, shielding my senses from the overdose of color around me. I am content and I know this because I can feel my skin stretch into a smile. Gentle pellets hit my face causing my smile to widen. It is raining rainbow sprinkles! I hear a crunching sound.  What is that? Am I eating the sprinkles?  This just gets better and better…A sharp whistling causes my eyes to snap open, paralyzing my body with fear. It takes me a few seconds to realize that I am not floating on a vanilla cloud and that in fact, I am lying on the cold, hard ground. The events of last night come rushing back to me. I sigh in disappointment.

Gentle pellets continue to hit my face sporadically, most being blocked out by the dense vegetation. I open my mouth hoping to catch a few raindrops and take advantage of the free water. The occasional cold drop meets my mouth and I savour each one.

The crunching and the whistling get louder. From the rhythm of the crunching and the swishing of the fabric of what I assume are pants, I am certain that there is only one person out there. The campers are travelling in a group, and the only other people out there that I know of, are the boys. There is that wolf too, and if it is the wolf that is whistling, then I may as well just click my heels together thrice and chant ‘there’s no place like home.’ It has got to be one of the boys, I deduce, possibly heading back to find Billy who is currently lying six feet under. Well, more like four feet under.  I chuckle to myself and immediately say a quick prayer asking for forgiveness. What is happening to me? I should be feeling bad about taking someone’s life, not joking about it!  It is then that it hits me- I will never be the same again. These last few days in this forest have kick-started a chain reaction within me, one that I am not sure I can undo even if I make it out of here alive.  I accept the epiphany for what it is- the simple truth, and tuck it away in that compartment of my brain labelled ‘not now.’

I am starting to get restless and even though I know that I am well hidden, I stay eerily still.  Any sudden movements from me may send animals or birds fleeing from my surroundings and that would definitely alert whoever was approaching.  Staring at the emerald green leaves above me, I notice that it is already daytime. A little light escapes the thick bushes and makes its way to me.  I’d love to know the time but the iPhone is in the backpack, which is out of my arm’s reach. With nothing to do, I decide that now is as good a time as any to wish myself a happy birthday. Never had I imagined that I would be spending my sixteenth birthday like this. Feeling sorry enough for myself, I wallow in self-pity.