"I better get going, Ophelia," he told me.
There was still so much more that I wanted to ask him, most importantly about the forests, but I knew that I was going to have to let him go.
"See you around, Fenn," I said.
I hoped that I would. I really wanted some answers.
"See you," he said with a small smile, that didn't look entirely genuine. He then rushed off into the trees, away from me, and I settled on making my way back home.
I hadn't been gone for too long, but I knew that it would be long enough to cause my father to wonder where I had got to.
I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him at home, worrying about what had happened to me.
As soon as I got home, I opened the front door and quickly found my way into the living room.
I soon realised that my dad was watching a news report, and on the news a wolf had been sighted.
"They have real evidence this time," my father said, as though making a point that all of his previous concerns had been perfectly valid.
"Dad," I said, "I kept to the path when I went into the woods earlier."
His eyes widened.
Shit. I'd already said too much.
"You've been to the forest today?" he asked me.
I simply nodded. It seemed like the easiest response.
My father only sighed in response to that.
"I suppose that I can't completely forbid you from visiting them," he said.
I took a step towards him.
"I just worry about you," he said.
As I gently squeezed his shoulder, I met him with a sympathetic expression.
"I know you do, dad, but I can take care of myself. I'm older now and slightly taller- not much, granted- but I know how to look out for myself," I said, "Has the wolf hurt anyone?" I added.
My father shook his head.
"No. These wolves seem rather peaceful, actually, I don't know...it's weird," he said, "I almost feel bad for wanting to hunt them."
My eyes widened at that.
"Kidding," my dad said quickly.
I removed my hand from his shoulder, then, unsure of how much I actually believed him.
"It's fun out there. There's so much to explore. I wish you weren't so worried about what was out there. You might find, then, that it's actually not so bad. Besides, I found a friend there," I said.
My dad tilted his head a little to the left, intrigued.
"His name's Fenn. He's a few years younger than I am," I explained, so my dad would be comforted by the knowledge that I wasn't, in fact, out making friends with serial killers. "Anyway, that's besides the point-"
"What do you mean it's besides the point? His parents shouldn't let him out in the forests. Younger than you are..." he trailed off quietly, as though completely insulted by Fenn's parents, well, parenting. "That's positively unbelievable."
I supposed that he found the parenting side of the story the unbelievable apart because fifteen year olds did, in fact, exist.
"Well, believe it, dad. Do you think that I'm simply making all of this up?" I asked him.
He shook his head.
"No, I believe you. I just..." he hedged.
"Worry?" I asked.
"Yeah," he said and his expression softened subtly. "But I'm rather content with you, in all honesty. I think I know that I can trust you. It's just ingrained in me as your father to worry about these things."
I nodded. I supposed that I could understand that much, and I really was glad that he wasn't completely ruling out me ever visiting the forests again.
"At least we live in the north of Europe and I don't have to worry about...I don't know- tarantulas, for instance," he said.
I released a gentle laugh at that.
"No, just wolves, apparently," I said.
It was a joke, but my father's expression became more serious, all the same.
"Right. These wolves," he said. "Probably best you try to avoid those," he added.
"I'll try my best," I replied. No promises that a wolf wouldn't digest me as an appetizer, though.
"Ophelia, I am proud of you. You're pretty much all I have left," he said.
Here we go...
"Don't say that, dad," I said. It was my turn to become serious.
"No, you really are. With your mother gone...you're my family. You mean the world to me and that is exactly why I want you staying out of trouble. You're Ophelia Amarilla. This family would simply not be the same without you in it."
"And you don't need to worry about that. I am, may I remind you, alive," I said.
He released a laugh that sounded more like a sigh.
Before I could say anything else, there was a knock at the door.
I went to answer it quicker than my father could stand up from the sofa.
"Accalia?" I asked, hardly believing my eyes. My voice sounded positively incredulous. "Accalia Luna Winters?" I said again.
"You've seen my name on the school register," she said.
My eyes were drawn to it the moment I knew of Accalia's existence. I wasn't sure exactly of what it was that drew me to her, but something certainly did.
"Yeah," I replied. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"You met my brother?" she asked.
"Fenn?" I asked back.
She gave a small nod.
"He may or may not have mentioned you," she said.
"He also said your family live in a cave," I blurted.
"He plays weird games," Accalia said quickly. It almost sounded like a rehearsed answer. Almost. "Anyway, I just wanted to come and check how you were doing and honestly..." she trailed off and then swallowed. I could hardly believe that she was nervous. It almost seemed as though she was more nervous than I was. "I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out with me today."