Wake Me Up ( Home Free )

Chapter One

Tim Foust stared into the bathroom mirror at his reflection. His wet, long shower of dark brown hair clung to the sides of his face and tiny water droplets formed on the tip of his short beard.

His fingers wiped the hair from in front of his face and uncovered his dead-beat eyes, dark brown, like the black that reflected through his orbs. The 31-year-old's hand tucked his dripping-wet hair behind his left ear.

Cold water drops tapped on his bare chest and back from his hair, feeling it trail down the curves and ridges along the way.

His own eyes stared themselves down, and he found himself only seeing the wolf inside him. Tim stared at himself until he finally broke away and turned towards the door of the washroom. With a towel tied around his waist, draping down to his knees, his rough hand reached out and grasped the door handle.

Tim hummed along to one of his songs, I've Seen, and walks out of the washroom, feeling the chill of the cold air send shivers down his spine.

As he entered his small, and frankly quite bare room, he slipped some pants on and reached for the belt on his dresser when he heard a shriek come out outside his half-opened window.

His eyes darted to the window where a slight breeze drifted through. Quickly moving to the window and sticking his head outside, he peered into the moonlit darkness of the late night.

"Hello?" Tim called out into the open air. He lived in a small house out in the country, surrounded by rich forests of green, just in case it happened. "Is someone out there?"

It was a few eerie moments before Tin heard someone, a girl, shriek, "Help! Please help me!" The cry sounded so agonizing and raw that Tim didn't bother to run out the front door, instead he leaped out the window and dashed into the forest.

"Where are you?" Tim shouted out as his bare feet trended dirt as he bolted into the lush trees. "Talk to me!"

"It hurts!" The girl cried out. Tim tuned in on her sound and took a sharp turn to the right. Wind whipped his hair back and blasted in his ear, he finally spotted movement behind a few skimpy-looking dark red bushes.

Tim stopped for a few moments as he finally took in the sight of a young woman with her leg caught in a bear trap. Blood oozed from her calf as she gripped her leg in pain. She cried out with pure agony that it made the hair on the base of Tim's neck stand on end.

Tim rushes to her side. "Are you alright?" He asked as he looked her in her blue eyes.

She sobbed uncontrollably and gripped her leg as tears streamed like a waterfall down the curve of her cheeks. Shaking her head at him and biting her quivering lip, she gave Tim a small whimper.

Tim's gaze fell to the bear trap and his jaw clenched. His heart was beat fast and he could feel the hairs on his forearms itch and tingle. "Stay calm, OK? This is going to hurt..., a lot." Tim said to her in he most comforting tone he could manage at the moment.

The black-haired girl stared with wide and fearful eyes into Tim's two brown ones. As if reading his mind, she rapidly shook her head in disapproval. "No no no.. Please, please no..." She pleaded in a small voice, though Tim's
apologetic look told her her pleas were in vain.

As Tim eyes fell to the ground for a brief moment, he drew in a shaky breath before he exhaled warm breath. His hands moved toward the trap, brushed the bloodied skin of her leg and gripped the opening of the spiked trap.

The girl's lips parted and her eyes grew wider as her hand teared at Tim's. "No!" She pleaded with a hoarse and raw voice. "Don't! No! No, please! No!" She cried with her voice cracking out of pure desperation.

Without another warning, Tim gripped it and pulled apart slowly, the sickening sounds made his stomach turn with queasiness. The girl cried out in agony, Tim's teeth ground together and cold sweat leaked down the sides of his face.

Tim finally pulled it apart and gently moved the wounded leg aside before he shoved the red-stained trap aside. The girl belted out muffled cries as her hands covered the open wounds aa blood rapidly gushed out.

Tim's arm wrapped around the back of her shoulders and his other slipped underneath her knees. The girl winced as he tried to pick her up, Tim felt her entire body tense and stiffen.

"Ow, ow, ow.." She whimpered with sweat and tears that coated her face.

"Hold on." Tim said as he started speed-walking back to his house. The black-haired girl wrapped both her arms around his neck and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Tim felt the stickiness of her tears and sweat against his warm skin, he felt the sensation of her cooled sweat and the warmth of her fresh tears at the same time.

By the time he reached the house, he was sure he had a dozen pine needles lodged into his feet. There was blood that dripped from the arm which supported her legs, and it had also trailed down her legs as well. Her hands had smeared red all over his neck and bare chest.

"Open the door." Tim said to her, since his hands were full. Her pinkish puppy eyes looked up to him as she sniffed.

"What?" She asked in a hoarse voice.

"The door. Open it." Tim instructed as he repeated himself in an irritated tone. The blue-eyed girl glanced over at the door before she extended her shaking hand over the to doorknob. Her small and blood-coated hand turned the doorknob and pushed open the door.