Plunged into Darkness (blind human/vampire)

Chapter 31

“It’s alright,” he said, taking my hand and giving it a small squeeze before he stood up, “I’m sure he’s fine, but I’m going to check it out anyway. Alright?”

I was quiet for a moment, starting to get nervous now, then finally nodded. “Alright. Be careful!”

“Of course,” he called back as he slowly made his way out of the cave.

I sat there for awhile trying to think of everything I could to keep my mind off the fact that not only was I still in a small cave, technically underground, but that now I was also alone in said creepy cave.

“It’s okay,” I told myself, “I’m fine. Nothing is wrong with just sitting in here . . . all by myself . . . in this cave that only has one exit . . . and stone walls all around . . . trapping me in . . . walls that are starting to close in on me . . . stuck in this little place.”

I closed my eyes tight and shook my head. I couldn’t think like that, I couldn’t let myself get freaked out. I needed to stop freaking out so I could stay put. It wouldn’t be much longer before I could get out of here, just a bit longer. I can do it, I can make it.

A small sound echoed from the back of the cave, echoing off the too small walls, and my eyes widened.

“I can’t do it!” I yelled to myself, jumping up and running for the front of the cave, “I can’t do it!”

When I got out of the cave and felt the soft, moveable earth under my feet I calmed down a bit, but still kept running, determined to get far away from that cave. The fresh air blew on my face and through my hair, helping me calm down more as I slowed my pace.

I finally slowed to a stop and leaned back on a tree, catching my breath and making my heart slow down. It just felt so good to not be trapped in that stupid cave any more. Finally I had room to breathe!

I stood up and turned around then froze, turning in another circle. “Which way did I just come from?” I asked myself, listening and trying to find a clue but coming up blank.

I stumbled back into another tree as I realized that I just got myself lost. “Way to go Elizabeth,” I sighed, “Now you’re lost in the woods!”

A stick snapped a few feet away and I straightened up, turning my ear toward the noise and listening closely. “Jesse? Chance?” I asked, hoping it was one of the boys. When no one replied I tried again. “Jesse, Chance, is that you?” Still no reply.

I turned and was about to ignore it when I heard another, slightly closer twig snapped followed by a rustle of leaves.

My heart kicked into over drive as I took off running through the woods. My mind was racing, thinking it had to be one of those vampires that wanted to kill me. Of course they would show up right when the boys finally leave my side!

I stumbled through the forest as fast as I could, keeping a hand in front of me so I wouldn’t run into anything. Unfortunately, the hand in front of me didn’t do anything to detect roots or fallen limbs on the ground and every few feet my leg would get caught on something and I’d have to free myself or get back up after tripping then take off running again.

At first I could almost hear something following me, but after several minutes of running I couldn’t hear anything anymore. Which was odd because no way could a vampire not keep on my trail with as much noise as I was making. Maybe I was wrong, maybe it was just a little animal and I scared it off.

Either way, my lungs were on fire and my legs sore from running and tripping over so many things, so I slowed to a stop and leaned on a tree as I caught my breath. As many times as I had just fallen into the snow, I sure was glad that I wore a long sleeve shirt, otherwise I’d be frozen by now.

I had finally caught my breath and was about to try to find a way back when my phone started to ring. My eyes widened at the loud sound and I quickly dug it out of my pocket, fumbling with the answer button then holding it to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Liz!” my brother’s angry voice yelled into the phone.

Great, now I got to get yelled at by my brother. This day just keeps getting better and better. “Now’s not really a good time,” I whispered nervously into the phone.

“Where are you!?” he demanded. “Because I know you’re not at Jenna’s house.”

“What?” I asked, a little too loud. “How do you know that!?” So much for Chance’s amazing plan to deceive them. Guess he didn’t count on an overprotective brother before.

“I called their house to see if you needed anything and they said you weren’t there.” His voice was hard and he was practically yelling into the phone. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him this mad before. “Jenna said you were staying with some family friend that’s in town?”

“Yeah,” I said nervously, “That’s what I told her.”

“But if any so called family friends were in town, I would know about it. So where are you!?”

I sighed and rubbed my forehead with my free hand. “Look Jack, right now really isn’t a good time-“

“Isn’t a good time!?” he yelled so loud that I pulled the phone away from my ear for a second. “Now is the perfect time, now tell me where you are!”

“No,” I said in a hard voice. “I’m with friends and I’m fine . . . ish.”

“Ish?” he asked, sounding even more worried now. “What’s with the ish? What’s going on!? And who the hell are you with!?”

A twig snapped somewhere nearby and my eyes widened, nervousness seeping into my voice. “You know what, never mind, heh, I’m just fine. We’re all fine and dandy, nothing weird or crazy going on here!”

“Liz,” his voice was starting to take on a worried tone, “What’s going on?”

“I’ll just see you later Jack, love you.”

“Liz, don’t you dare hang up on me, I’ll-“

“Okay, bye now!” I yelled into the phone quickly before hanging up and slipping it into my pocket.

There was a rustling of the leaves and the crunch of snow as someone started to slowly walk toward me. I spun around to face the person and backed up a few steps.

“Jesse?” I asked nervously. “Chance?”

A sickly sweet laugh bounced off the trees, making my heart sink. “Try again sweety.”

“Siena,” I whispered, backing into a tree.

She giggled again. “Miss me?”