Cherry Bite

Cherrybite- Miss forbidden 23

Callum <8bite

Callum's eyes snapped open with a jolt. He looked around, quickly remembering the situation. Shit. He'd fallen asleep for a moment there. How long? Not too long evidently, he could hear shuffling from the master bedroom. Nate and Dawn must be looking through the clothes.

It seemed that even a minute's rest had been enough to restore clarity. He'd remained undetected for all this time. He'd evaded capture from the police and managed to flee persuers of whom he'd had no forewarning. It wasn't as if he hadn't already proven he was strong enough to get through this, but bringing Dawn into the equation to begin with had been a mistake. Now Nate was looking out for her sister rather than herself. Ideas turned over in his mind, as a piecemeal way forward slowly assembled itself.

There was a slight creak from outside. Callum remained still. Someone was trying to get downstairs. A subtle smirk formed on his lips. No doubt it was Nate. Prowling around, looking for a way to escape but he could still hear Dawn in the bedroom. So even if Nate found a way out - and everywhere was locked, with the keys on the desk in front of him - she wouldn't leave without her sister. So Callum didn't even to have to worry about getting out of his seat just now. If Nate was willing to escape alone, she'd have done it back at the river.

He got onto the computer again and started punching away at the keyboard. His eyes scanned the monitor as listings appeared. He opened several entries to new tabs in his web browser, as his plan materialised on the screen. His heart beat steady as he calculated the risks. How long would the police take to get his identity? Maybe twelve hours to find anything useable at the warehouse. Another day or two for forensics to process and find a match; Callum had kept a low profile for years. There wouldn't be too much for him on the system.

If he was still here in two days, he'd be trusting too much to luck. But that should be enough. He stabbed away at the keyboard a few minutes longer, until everything was set in place.

Then he listened at the door. Dawn was still in the bedroom. He couldn't hear anything downstairs.

He felt almost a sense of admiration at how Nate was managing to be so stealthful in searching for whatever it was she thought she was looking for. With a satisfied grin he stood up, and padded softly out of the door, and downstairs to the ground floor. Cautiously he looked around. He felt a thrill, almost as though this was finally, in a small way, an opportunity to put the Amazonian to the test, and outstealth her.

Nate<8bite

At the bottom of the stairs Nate hesitated until she heard the taping of keys on a key board resonating out on to the landing. She'd managed to slip by him now all that was left was making something of the time she'd salvaged. Lithe like a leopard she might as well have slunk around the house on her hands and knees as, with her muscles contracting beneath the loose knitwear, she slid towards the kitchen pulling out each draw with a gritted silence before turning towards the living-room.

Her search ended up at the windows feeling along the sills for any small keys when she paused. No keyboard noise. Nate stood painfully still her ears forced to their maximum concentration as her eyes darted about in the darkness. After a few seconds she turned back to searching her body lightly quaking, wound tight on alert, there had to be something...

Nate paused again at a creak. She twisted her head round her chest contracting at how shallow her breathing had become in order to avoid any noise. Her stomach coiled and knotted with anxiety and something she could only associate with thrill, the frightful kind you felt in a game and here came the moment of uncertainty. Was it:

Paranoia

Sincere.

She could hear Dawn upstairs making subtle sound for distraction but Nate feared the distraction had become her own enemy, that he knew she was down here and was now using that noise to hide from her.