Remember the Past

Chapter 16

 I hear distant gunshots that echo over the lake. I block it out. I can't let dreadful thoughts seep into my brain.

I quickly lose speed. It is hard to keep the fast pace that I began through the dense woods and fallen trees. I trip a few times on turned up tree roots and uncovered stones.

I pause to catch my breath at the base of the mountain. As far as I know there was only one helicopter and it is following Colin. How did they find us? And then it hit me. They saw the smoke. When Colin put out our fire a thick cloud of smoke rose up. It was a beacon that gave away our location.

"What am I doing?" I can't hold back the words as they hit me. I am astonished that I just let Colin go. I turn to my right and run across the base of the mountain util I come to the sandy shore of the lake. I see the top of the car on the surface of the water. It quickly disappears under the surface.

My heart stops. The air is gone from my lungs. I suddenly feel like the sunshine holds no heat and my skin goes cold. I thought he knew that he was heading toward the lake. I thought he had a plan. I thought... wrong. I could have warned him. Tears swell in my eyes. I could have warned him.

I have no other choice: I keep moving.

I make it to the other side of the mountain before nightfall. I decide to sleep there. There is no fire to keep me warm or sleeping bag. I find a baggy sweatshirt. Is is Colin's. It smells like him: pine and fresh air.

I fall into a restless sleep. I watch the boy the died in the confine fall. Over and over again. I hear the sound of his bones cracking as he hits the ground. Each time I am watching it from a different point of view, but I can never stop it. I shout and scream, but he never even looks at me. That, isn't such a bad thing. If he looked me in the eyes, when he fell that would feel like I fell with him.

I wake up screaming under the cover of night. A dark figure hangs over me. Colin? I think, but then my eyes let in the little bit of surrounding light. No, this is not Colin. This man is over thirty with a scruffy chin and a scared face. His hair is dark and his eyes are grey.

He hold me by my right arm and turns my arm over to reveal my tattoo. I scream in pain. He just eyes me viciously. "From the schools, eh? I'd get payed a pretty price for returning yah."

I struggle and he grabs hold of both my arms. I'm pinned down and he is so much stronger than me. I'm helpless.

I hear the whipping sound of wind and fell the spatter of blood on h=my face as the man keels over. I franticly shake out of his grip and stand up. I back up quickly until I hit the base of the mountain.

I scan the area, looking for whoever threw the stone. That dented the man's skull. A figure jumps down from a ledge behind me. I spin around on my toes. I lift my arms to protect myself. The figure grabs them, but his grasp is oddly gentle. Then he speaks. "Sh, sh! Settle. Settle!" I know that calm, kind voice anywhere.

I am finally able to breath again. "Colin!" I wrap my arms around him and take in his pine and fresh air fragrance. He is nearly a head taller than me. I press my face into him. I'm overwhelmed by emotion.

I back up and realize that I am now damp. His clothes are soaked and he is chilled to the bone.