Summer Vineyard

☙ 03 | lowell

[GIF: Myles Lowell]

I STRUGGLED TO catch my breath from fear and exertion, and I would have been on the floor right now if I didn't have one strong arm holding me up by my waist. It didn't seem like he was going to do anything, because if he had planned to do something, he would already have. His arms stayed there, unmoving, as I tried to regain my normal breathing. At least it wasn't some kind of animal, at least he wasn't pointing a knife or a gun at me right now ... at least he was human.

I didn't reply to his question, not wanting to create a bad first impression or admit that the things that he had listed earlier were indeed on my mind, and many more.

"If you're planning to run through the woods next time, you should watch where you are going and not trip over your own feet, Miss Herbert."

Still breathless, I tried to push his arms, that was wrapped around my waist, away with my good hand. He didn't move an inch, and with a bleeding hand, there wasn't much I could do. I was defenceless. "Can you let me go, please?"

He did just that, although slowly, making sure I wasn't going to stumble and lose my balance before he completely let go.  I took a few steps forward before turning around to look at who I thought was an attacker.

The first thing I noticed under the dim lighting of the moon was that he was tall, standing with his hands in the pocket of his jeans and the sleeves of his button-up white shirt rolled up to his elbow. His hair was dark, disheveled, and then ... I found myself staring at his forest green eyes. After a few milliseconds, his gaze had become too intense and I didn't dare fight it. I everted my gaze away, but could still feel his eyes staring intently at me.

"Um," I whispered under my breath, unsure whether I should thank him for not letting me fall head first onto the ground, or not thank him because he scared the hell out of me in the first place. "Thank you."

"Are you all right?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah. Just ... a little bit out of breath."

He laughed. "Sorry if I've scared you. I didn't mean to."

"No, no," I lied, frowning at the way my body reacted so weirdly to his laugh. It was as if there was a blanket of warmth that enveloped me instead of the cold air I felt a few seconds before. "I'm fine."

"Then," he said, as I was about to turn away to head back to the main house. "Should we head back?"

I turned to him with an obvious frown, and he seemed to notice that I was completely and utterly confused. "Head back?" I repeated, but there was a more urgent question in my mind. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

Was he a guest?

However, the path that led to the graves wasn't a path that a guest would know. There were many routes through the many woods in the area that guests could take to go for a walk, some would lead them to the mountain, other the rivers, the plantation or a picnic site, or simply a route that would take them through the woods and back to the same place. Also taking into account how he knew who I was ... was he a staff? Perhaps a close friend of Scott? No one else knew I have arrived except for Scott and Mr. Lowell.

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought Scott would've told you about me."

"Perhaps... are you Myles Lowell?" I made a guess.