A Heart Unbroken [Book One]

Exploration, a Swim, and Possession, Oh My! ~ Hanan

Leaving Marshall with Lilly felt wrong. I didn't want her to have to end up babysitting him, even though she said it was fine. And I didn't want to seem unfair to Marshall, either, because he doesn't actually need to be babysat right now.

I kept glancing over my shoulder as we walked away, and made comments about how I felt under my breath. Meghan, who was standing close by, slid her hand in mine and squeezed it gently. She encouraged me to have some fun, and leave them out of my mind.

I looked down at her, hesitant and frowning. She raised an eyebrow and pushed a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"If you won't do it for you, will you at least do it for me?" she whispered.

I bit my lip. Darn this girl. "Yeah, okay. I'll have fun. But not for you," I added quickly.

"Sure," she giggled, trying to hide it.

I smirked, pulling her closer and poking her sides, which were very ticklish. "You don't think I can have fun? Hmm?" She tried objecting, but her laughter rendered her too breathless.

Finally, she just gave up and fell to the ground. I fell to my knees next her, laughing as she caught her breath. She shot me a playful glare and jumped up, breaking into a sprint. I gasped a little, surprised by her sudden recovery. She quickly disappeared from view.

"Meghan, wait!" I called, starting to run after her. "We have to be cautious out here! We don't know what's-"

"Surprise!" she yelled, jumping onto my back. If you ask her, she would tell you I screamed. I prefer to think of it as yelping in fear.

Maybe it was a little scream.

While I sat there, calming myself down and showing Meghan my annoyance by glaring at her, she just sat on the ground and laughed. We sat like that for a couple seconds before Cameron and Louis started calling my name.

They were a few yards ahead of us and were waving their arms in the air like madmen. I was worried something was wrong, but then I caught the word 'lake,' and saw Cameron ridding himself of his shirt. Meghan squealed with delight and looked up at me with eager eyes.

"You ready to go swimming?" she asked.

"I don't know, Megs. I mean what if it's dangerous, or there's creatures or-"

"You think too much, Hanan! Come on!" She grabbed my hand and started tugging me along. When I complied, keeping up with her pace, she let go of my hand and took off her shirt, revealing a tank top underneath.

When we got to the lake, Cam and Louis were both shirtless and splashing each other near the shore. I watched Meghan run in, jumping into the war zone. After a minute, they all looked at me expectantly.

"Aren't you coming in?" Louis asked.

"I think I'll just stay out here..."

"Oh, Hanan, come on! Are you still worried about the lake?" Meghan called. Then, her tone becoming a little more teasing, "Why don't you come in here and protect me?"

I crossed my arms, restraining my jealousy. "You have Cam and Lou to protect you."

She stuck her bottom lip out as far as it would go. "But Hanan...who's going to protect them?"

She smirked, failing in an attempt to hide it, as they both started protesting. Suddenly, Cam's feet were pulled out from under him, and I heard his face and bare chest slap against the water. He yelped before going under, and began frantically clawing at anything he could.

Meghan screamed and Louis dove for Cam. He couldn't run in the water, though, and we could no longer see Cam. The water was still as we all tried to see through the murky waters. I had run into the water, but we were all very still.

Cam's head quickly popped above the surface, and he took a deep breath. He had a small cut above his eye and he was calling to us, something about a water monster.

"Strong...four arms...at least..." he cried, struggling against what lurked below.

Louis and I unstrapped our swords, walking further into the lake. Cam tried calling to stop us, saying there might be more. We ignored him.

Meghan pulled both of her knives from her belt and quickly dove under the surface. A gurgled cry came from below just moments later, and Cam was able to swim away.

"Meghan!" I shouted. She popped up, gasping for air.

"I took off two of its arms." Her eyes locked with Cam's. "Good, you're okay. Now, let's get out of here, shall w-"

Meghan went under next, but this lake monster rose to the surface. His mouth was wide open, and he was dangling her above it, as if daring us to do something. The body of water was swiftly becoming a sickening yellow color, and from the oozing wounds on the creature I judged it to be his blood.

"Wow. We're sitting in monster blood. That is disgusting," Cam said, voicing my thoughts.

"We have bigger problems, Dude," Louis replied.

"Wait. Maybe if we sit here and do nothing, that thing will bleed out. What do you think?" I asked.

"Worth a shot," Cam replied. "How are you doing, Meghan?"

"Getting a little dizzy," she called. Her face had gone bright red, and was starting to turn purple. "But I'm fine!"

We waited there, staring down the monster. When he started to get woozy, we all started sneaking forward to be there to catch Meghan. Slowly, his eyes closed and she slipped from his grasp, falling into the water. The splash startled him, so he weakly threw a tentacle-arm at Cam. Its claws etched three deep lines into his back, reaching from his right shoulder blade to his left hip.

Cam winced, but helped get Meghan back to shore. When she had caught her breath, and the blood flow started returning to normal, she noticed the blood dripping down his back. She scolded him for being heroic, at which he chuckled.

"It was the least I could do, since you were heroic for me," he replied.

"We should get back to Lilly so she can clean you up," she said, quickly changing the subject.

We made our way back, I was carrying Meghan so she could regain her strength and Louis was trying to help support Cam. While we were still a good mile from our campsite, I started noticing tracks.

"Hey, Lou," I said quietly.

"Yeah?" he groaned, struggling breathlessly under Cam's weight.

"Do those look like bear prints to you?"

He looked in the direction that I was pointing, his look becoming fearful. "Um...yeah. Those are definitely bear tracks."

"Lilly and Marshall," Cam exclaimed. The three of us hushed him. Then, proceeding in a whisper, "Do you think they're okay?"

"If Lilly wasn't too busy with making sure Marshall was comfortable, I think they are fine," I replied.

I was less confident than I sounded, and Meghan saw it. She looked up at me with big eyes, radiating fearfulness. I gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Don't worry, Megs, I'll protect you," I whispered. "I promise."

Her look softened a little, and she silently encouraged me to let her down. I shook my head, holding her tighter to let her know that she wasn't going anywhere. At least not until the threat of a bear was gone.

But that threat didn't go away. It became worse as a seven-foot monster stood before us, calling itself a bear. We all stood there with terror paralyzing our legs, striking to the very core of our heart. No one made any noise, and no one attempted to move.

I tried to control my breathing, but the more I stared at the beast, the more nervous I became. I slowly let Meghan down so I could unsheath my sword, but that made him angry. His growl was enough to make all the birds in a one mile radius shriek with terror. Their flapping distracted him for only a moment, and in that moment Meghan leapt upon his back. She was the only one with energy at this point. We were all exhausted from our fight with the lake monster.

This was going to be a long fight.