Aren't territories a werewolf thing?

1. Turning

It is a normal cloudy Saturday morning. Too bad it didn't stay that way. I am in Kaimu, on my graduation trip which happens to be in the same state as my university, the National University of Kaimu. This earlier trip was a gift from my parents, having just graduated from Harrison College High School. College High School, I know, really weird name. Anyway, I am with a group of people who, like me, are waiting to go on a hike through Kaimu's famous jungle, the Arek. The brochure said it should be a short hike. Hopefully my short and their short are the same.

Eventually, our guide arrives. I don't want to seem scared but I need to know if we are going far in. Who knows what's in there!

"So...how far in are we going?" I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

She turns to me and responds. "We are hiking on the outskirts of the jungle. They are very dangerous animals inside and we don't want to lose any more... I mean we don't want to lose anyone." No one could be fooled by that! They have lost people before. Well that was reassuring. A murmur starts up in the crowd. "Look. That was before. Now we go on the very outskirts of the jungle where there are lots of plants and hardly any animals. Anyway, enough chit-chat! Let's hit the road!"

We start off on the trail. It is breath-taking once you are inside the clumps of trees. They are so tall and closely spaced that you can't even see the sun. I feel like if we are not part of Kaimu at all. You can still hear the cars a distance away but they did say the outskirts of the jungle. I can hear some animals far off. It sounds kind of like a monkey? Lol. I don't know.

No. Freaking. Way. A silver ako! I stop to check out this rare non-native plant. It's a long-petaled gray-silver flower hence the name. My mom is an intense plant-lover. Whenever she wants to emphasize how rare something is, she always says "it's as rare as a silver ako". My sister, Janiya, and I have seen my mom's only picture of it so many times we could never forget it. With my dad, it's even worse.

A tall, attractive guy stops next to me to check it out too. I wonder if he knows what he's looking at or if he just wants to talk to me. Cocky much? Shut up. It has happened before... Oh my god. I mentally facepalm. I'm talking to myself.

Back to the matter at hand. It's time to get the answer to that question. "A guy interested in plants? That is really rare these days." I wonder if he'll get it. It's a pretty obvious hint if you ask me.

He laughs and responds. "Well, it is a rare non-native silver ako. Really intriguing plant by the way." So he does know about plants. Hmm. He could prove quite interesting... I smirk internally.

"I'm Janelle."

"Brandon."

I ask him how he knows about plants. He tells me his father forced him to study everything, botany included. That must have really sucked. He changes the subject and asks me how I know about the silver ako. I am in the middle of explaining my obsessed mother when we are suddenly interrupted by this thunderous noise that sounds a lot like a fallen tree. The trees here are like a metre thick. How is that possible?

"What the hell was that?!" I ask him.

"I don't know. Sounded like a fallen tree..." Oh good! I'm not the only one that thinks so. "But that's impossible. Hmm. Wanna check it out?"

Why not? I agree to go and we travel as silently through the jungle as possible, in the direction the noise came from.

We walk about a mile in, which, now that I think about it, is sort of funny since we all know a person... or people were 'lost' in here.

Woah. Hold the phone. Something just moved.

"D-d-did you see that or was it just me?" I say to Brandon, my voice trembling. I hate sounding scared but at the moment it's the farthest thing from my mind.