In Between Seasons

Chapter 45

It would all come down to one moment of time. That one moment would be the one that sealed our fates. It would decide whether or not we would get away from the lies that bound us so tightly to the Tribe we felt no alliance to. Hunter's face had been serious when he nodded over his shoulder to the coming twilight, and I knew tonight would be the night I would show him I was ready.

I only hoped it was the night where I realized it myself.

I accepted everything about this horrible world openly, and some would think without feeling, but there is a time when you realize you can't change what has happened. There is no reason to try to rationalize what has happened because in the end, it just is. I had faced one of the worst awakenings in the world; the realization my family didn't have my best interest in mind, and even worse, they didn't care at all.

They wanted me dead.

And so did everyone else.

Hunter jumped off the porch when we reached the bottom step, and I found myself looking between him and the door leading into the house. Since it had become too cold to train at night outside, we had been sneaking into the gym downstairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked, rubbing my arms against the cold. I wasn't dressed to be outside for long.

"It's a secret, now come on," Hunter said, his voice a harsh whisper against the night as his sharp jaw chastised me for questioning him.

"It's cold!" I replied as I jumped and landed at his feet.

"We'll be running. You'll warm up quickly," he replied before taking off.

I had to sprint to catch up with him, but when I did we slowed into an easy pace. Still, the cold air bit into my lungs in between the plumes of warm air that passed from my lips. When I felt I couldn't take the pain of the ice in the air anymore, Hunter began to slow from a jog to a walk.

"Where are we?" I asked, looking around the forest. We had gone in the opposite direction we usually went, but there were still trees everywhere.

"See how the trees are smaller?" Hunter asked, pointing to the ones in front of us.

I stood back and observed the area. The trees were smaller, but not noticeably so, especially seeing the fact the smaller ones took up a good hundred plus yards in all directions.

"I guess, but not by much."

"It's not as noticeable as it used to be, but that's the idea," Hunter replied as he narrowed his eyes, took out a compass and then began to move the thin coat of snow around at his feet.

I watched as he kneeled down and stuck a key into the ground, pulling the forest floor up with him as he stood.

"What the hell," I whispered as the hatch revealed a ladder.

"The supply hanger," Hunter replied as he moved down into it.

I stared into the dark hole as a pit formed in my stomach. The last time he pulled me into a tunnel like this was when Trevor was hunting me down.

"You coming or not?" Hunter called up as a light flickered on.

Relief flooded my veins as I saw the ladder went down fifteen feet and then opened up. I lowered my body into the tunnel and pulled the trap door shut over us; not that it mattered at this point, because without the snow you could clearly see it was there. The cover slipped shut with a resounding thud that sent my teeth jittering before I heard a solid click. I was pretty sure I locked us in.

"Hunter!" I yelled back down.

"It's fine. It automatically locks from the outside and inside. Two different keys—and I have both," he said and the air rushed out of my lungs in a relieved whoosh. "Now move your adorable ass! We still need to train after this."