All I Want

CHAPTER 4: Whispering in the Dark

He looked at the time; a little under three thirty. Would it be weird if he woke her to tell her that he was sorry for blowing her off and that he wanted to help her? It certainly wouldn’t help if he waited till morning, and waking her in the middle of the night for an apology wasn’t too good either.

‘Are you serious bro?’ he heard Chris saying. He turned to him and for a moment forgot what was going on, but it came back to him soon enough.

‘Yeah,’ Dennis replied. ‘I’m staying.’

They were strolling seemingly aimlessly along the borders of the campsite and the outskirts of the forest. The cold had finally got to Heather, who had closed in on Dan so much it was a wonder she kept walking.

‘It must be fun being an ambassador’s kid, huh?’ Dan was asking.

‘No its not,’ Heather admitted. ‘I hate it when I have to dress up for some pointless dinner, or when I have to meet some random dignitaries like I have anything to do with peace treaties or stuff like that… I just want to live a normal life and that is exactly what I can’t get.’

‘Your life seems pretty normal to me,’ Dan noted, glancing at her from head to toe, like her life story was written all over her body.

‘When I’m not in school or with friends from school I have to be this conservative girl that always wears an expensive dress, says “Daddy” every now and then, smiles at everyone… I really hate it.’

‘I always thought it’d be fun, you know? Getting everything you want, meeting big guns like the president… you know, that kind of thing.’

‘It’s not fun, Danny, trust me.’

He chuckled but this time refrained from glancing at her. ‘You’ve really insisted that my name’s Danny, isn’t it?’

‘Well, you’ve insisted that we’re out on a date,’ Heather retorted, ‘and so far it isn’t living up to its build up.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘When does the fun begin?’

Dan stopped, glancing at her for a few moments, clearly taken by her beauty but strangely enough it was her personality that actually captivated him. He was even convinced that she may have been a troll and he would still have crushed on her. Slowly, he whipped out a black bandana from his pocket, and, dangling it in her face said, ‘Guess what?’

‘What is that for?!’ Heather asked with an intrigued smile on her face. Dan only smiled back, telling her to stand still. He then walked over to her back and gently, tied the bandana somewhat loosely over her eyes. ‘Oh my God, what are you doing, Danny?’

‘Having fun, Heather, what does it look like?’

‘Well, I don’t know exactly what it looks like…’

He came to her front and put a finger to her lip while she was still rumbling. Instinctively, she shut up. Still, she couldn’t help but imagine what was coming next, so she felt the need to whisper, ‘I don’t think we’re allowed to do this.’

‘Don’t over think things, Heather,’ Dan said. ‘Now, whatever you do, do not peek.’

She smiled and promised not to peek, although she was dying to do so more than anything now. The thought of being in the dark, not knowing exactly what he was doing intrigued her. As she considered the possibilities, time went on, and she didn’t even realize that she was walking. Dan was holding her hand and leading her slowly through what she assumed was the forest. This place freaked her out, but since she knew she was with someone she so suddenly trusted, she didn’t care.

As they walked they kept whispering things to each other, although Heather would later admit that she missed half the things Dan said to her.

Finally they stopped.  The wind blew a little more and a little colder here than anywhere else. Yet, even with that, it seemed a friendlier place to be in. The air felt lighter, scented with all types of flora. It tickled her skin, played with her hair; almost like Dan was making it happen.

Suddenly, yet gently, the bandana peeled off her eyes, revealing easily the most stunning landscape she had seen in her life. In the moonlight, long shadows of century-old trees were cast in a near-perfect circle around her and Dan. At first glance the spot they stood in looked like the work of Monet, but Heather chose to accept that this was reality.

All around them the tall trees stood diligently, deflecting just the correct amount of moonlight. The due on the grass reflected what little light came through, and bouncing off the due on the trees, the place seemed to have chandeliers all over. Yet, regardless of all the manipulated light, the darkness around them was still too much to go unnoticed. Something unique about that particular spot, Heather noticed, was that it seemed to have come out of a black and white film shot with I-Max cameras.

Heather absorbed the scene, but when she was finally able to control her amazement, she noticed that Dan was nowhere to be seen. She called his name, but there was no answer. Again she called but nothing.

The wind swept past her again, brushing her skin and hair softly. She closed her eyes so she could make the most of the moment. When she opened them again, Dan was right in front of her, holding a bright red rose that totally contrasted with everything around them. Her smile was wide and beautiful; gleaming in the moonlight as Heather quickly accepted the rose from Dan.

Next thing Dan knew, there was a soft sweet sensation on his lips, and his and Heather’s teeth collided, and without further ado their tongues met. Though she had initiated it, Heather totally lost control of herself and Dan was suddenly dominating the kiss. She had to admit that it felt great, and that he knew exactly what he was doing. It had been a while since she had kissed a boy, but Heather suddenly felt like it was worth the wait. If Dan was this good at making out, then she could have waited a century; and he was.

She was unaware of what she was doing when her hands met the sides of his head and her body pressed hard against his, shoving him backward. After what seemed like a whole year, Dan’s back met a tree, allowing Heather to finally accentuate the kiss. Her body grinded on his, her hands caressed him, her tongue danced on his, and she didn’t want it to ever end. But the moment was interrupted when she heard him whispering something. ‘Ssh,’ she said in between kisses.

There was silence for a microsecond and then he spoke again. ‘Stop talking, Danny,’ she said again, forcing her lips onto his and pressing hard so that he would just shut the hell up. But, as she kept coming onto him, Dan managed to push her gently away from him.

At first Heather was stunned, but then Dan told him to stay silent for a while. ‘Are you kidding me?’ she asked, the playful smile on her face long gone. This didn’t seem to be part of the date, as far as she was concerned.

‘Ssh,’ he whispered to her. ‘Did you hear something?’

‘You mean besides you talking at the worst possible time?’

‘No, I never spoke,’ Dan replied, glancing around the forest. Silence fell between them again with the moment suddenly disappearing. Only now did Heather realize how impossible it was for Dan to have spoken while she was planting kisses all over him. Indeed, when she stopped to listen, she heard them; whispers coming from a deeper part of the forest.

Quickly, she grabbed Dan’s arm, and asked to leave, but Dan was determined to find out exactly who was in the forest with them; especially this far in. slowly, they inched in the general direction of the voices. The closer they got, the less the whispers sounded like whispers and the more they sounded like sobs and cries of pain.

Finally managing to fight their way through dozens of plants, Heather and Dan got to a spot that was similar to the one they had just left, only not quite as immaculate. Heather let go of Dan’s hand when she noticed a foot with the rest of the body hidden behind the tree. Slowly, and rather frightened, she adjusted her angle so she could get a full view of the body.

Not to her surprise, though, she noticed the hair and dragon tattoo at the back of the neck. ‘Lily,’ she cried, rushing to her aid and turning her face up. However, the first thing she noticed when she did so wasn’t her face; it was something much more daunting and Heather let out a blood-curdling scream to match.