One of Nine

CHAPTER 1 (REVISE)

I grounded myself, just like I had been taught to do when I had moments like this. Moments of panic that were so stressful and overwhelming. I knew that the first step to getting out of this situation was calming down. As the waves of anxiety and terror became smaller and less frequent, a rational thought was able to get through.

Food. Water. Shelter.

I needed to find those three things and then I could worry about how and why I had woken up alone in a snow covered forest.

With a bracing breath, I moved to the edge of the bushes to peek into the clearing, searching for anything that might help me find at least one of the things I needed.

My eyes landed on an object in the center of the clearing. A black backpack. I gave a quick once over of my surroundings and determined that it was safe enough to run out, grab it and take shelter behind the bushes again.

Then there was a crack and then a snap and then another snap. It was the undeniable sound of a person walking through the woods. My blood turned cold.

I pulled back and stayed low, hidden behind the bushes. With another snap of a twig I could tell that they were getting closer to where I was hiding.

"Hello?"

The voice belonged to a man and I prayed that he wouldn't find me or see the backpack.

"Hello?" he repeated.

I put my hand over my mouth to quiet my breathing which was growing louder and more unsteady each second.

"Anyone here?" he asked, his voice carrying farther.

I saw no reason to reveal myself. I didn't know who this man was, and I was already in a bad situation, so I didn't need to make it worse for myself.

Then I wondered if he was like me. Had he woken up here too? Did he remember how he got here? Did he know how to get out?

But he didn't say anything else.

After I couldn't hear him walking around the clearing anymore, I waited one more minute before peeking around the bushes again. My heart dropped when I locked eyes with a man, crouched over the backpack.

"Gotcha," he said. Our gaze broke as he looked down to the backpack and then back up to me. "Opal?"

I blinked.

"You are Opal, aren't you?" he asked.

I stayed still, studying him as he continued to talk. He seemed focused as he kept his eyes on me. He was just as distrusting of me as I was of him.

"Alright, I'll level with you," he said, relaxing and sitting down on the forest ground. "My name is Ben."

He sat about twenty feet away and from what I could tell, he didn't look threatening, but then I noticed something strange about him. His coat looked like mine and so did his boots. His pants however, were grey, not black.

"Do you know where you are?" he asked.

I didn't answer.

"How did you get here?"

I didn't answer.

"Are you hurt?"

Silence.

"Did you see this?" Ben grabbed one of the straps of the backpack and held it up.

"Eso es mío," I blurted out, but I made no attempt to stand up and take it from him. I didn't want to accidentally start a battle of force for the backpack because I knew I would stand no chance.