~Carmen Silver's P.O.V~
Every night for the rest of the week I’ve had nightmares. I’ve woken up to Lily shaking me furiously and my own blood curling screams. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep and the large amounts of crying I’ve been doing.
For some reason, the nightmares keep coming back. They’re different though; sometimes I’m in the forest like during the treasure hunt, other times I’m in the cave. Sometimes that man is there, sometimes he isn’t. One time he wasn’t there, but I was chained to the wall and couldn’t get free no matter how hard I yanked against the mental cuffs.
One thing I was sure about though, was that every night they got worse and worse. I don’t know why, but I have a gut feeling that they’re warnings.
So, today was Friday. It was early morning….again. I was used to waking up early in the morning because of nightmares, but today I had had enough. I woke up feeling exhausted but restless, so I decided I’d go jogging today again.
I pulled on a pair of sweats, a tank top and a sweater. I didn’t grab my I-Pod because not being able to hear what was going on around me scared me to death.
I slipped out of the house silently and took off jogging down the street. It was five thirty in the morning, but I didn’t care. Maybe exercising would make me so exhausted that I’ll just pass out later on tonight without nightmares.
I jogged for almost two hours, and I felt even more exhausted than I had during the week. My limbs were heavy and my lungs felt like they were going to explode. I slid to a stop and bent over, hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath.
A wave of unease washed over me and a familiar prickling feeling made the hair on my neck stand on end. I straightened up and looked around, and noted that I had stopped right next to the forest. The early morning light, it didn’t seem so bad. But looking deeper into the forest, I could see the darkness inside it.
I sniffed the air cautiously, and there was that metallic scent again, which I now recognized as blood, except it was stale.
I stared at the forest for a moment before looking up and down the street; there was no one. So I took a deep breath and stepped into the forest.
I was sick and tired of being afraid of something that most probably was just my imagination. So, that’s why I swallowed hard and kept again into the inky blackness. I followed the scent of blood and hoped I could find the scent of the thing that wasn’t quite animal and wasn’t quite human either.
I walked cautiously for a long time, just sniffing the air. I had already made it to the darker, creepier part of the forest where everything was dead…where I had found the blood on the rock.
I shuddered and continued walking around, trying to calm my pounding heart, as the scent of stale blood seemed to grow stronger.
I heard a twig snap, and I stopped, my head whipping around to follow the sound. But there was nothing and no one around, so I kept moving as silently through the forest as a shadow.
I finally found the rock with blood, except the blood was dried now. I sniffed it, trying to figure out who it belonged to. The scent was somehow familiar to me, but I just couldn’t place it.
I sat there for a while; crouched next to the rock, just thinking about whose blood it was….until I heard it.
Death.
I stiffened and my eyes widened. I knew it couldn’t have been a nightmare, it was just wishful thinking.
I heard it again and again, and my fear seemed to slowly creep up and tried to swallow me whole.
I took off running with the whispers of death at my heels, but I didn’t scream because I’d waste the precious oxygen and energy that I needed to run, so I kept silent and tried my best to outrun this….this….thing.
I tripped and fell, and landed on something that was soft but firm. I closed my eyes as I fell, and opened them again when I landed.
Two blue glassy eyes stared past me. I screamed and scrambled backwards off Rhinnata’s dead body. I looked at her body, so badly cut up and her skin pale and sullen looking. I turned away, afraid I would throw up at all the blood and gore, until I heard soft laughter.
I froze again, and looked up. Just in there, in the bushes, were two black eyes, shining in the darkness. I was locked in his gaze, frozen and hypnotized, unable to do anything but stare into their shiny black depths.
And then a soft breeze blew, really it was so small, but just big enough to carry all the scents of the forest with it….and Austin's
I inhaled sharply in confusion and turned my head to the right, the hypnotic spell of the black eyes was broken, where I could hear somebody running. Immediately I snapped my head back to the bushes, scolding myself for looking away, but there was no one there and no evidence of there ever having been someone there.
“Carmen!” I heard someone gasp, and I turned my head to look again. Austin was standing there, wild eyed and worried as he searched my face.
He walked over to me before sinking to his knees in front of me, a sad look on his face. I watched him carefully; sure this was a trick, a figment of my imagination, until he wrapped his arms around me. I crumpled as soon as he pulled me into his chest, and wild sobs wracked my chest.
I had been crying throughout the time I had been running away, but they just streamed silently down my face. These sobs were the wild ones, ones that showed how terrified and exhausted I was.
I wrapped my arms around Austin, tangling my fingers in his hair tightly and squeezing him to me with all the strength I had left while I cried into the crook of his neck.
We sat like that for a while, just holding each other while I cried until Austin finally pulled away. I noted that he still held onto me tightly, and that made me feel better. My sobs quieted after a while, and I had a throbbing head ache and my eyes burned.
He pressed his forehead against mine, “You have a knack for always finding trouble, don’t you?” he chuckled darkly, swirling his scent into my face. I gladly inhaled all of it; I loved his scent, even if it was tinged with vampire smell.
He stood up, pulling me to my feet as well since his arms were still wound tightly around me. He looked at Rhinnata’s dead body, the girl from English class whose friend had gone missing a few weeks back, and then she herself had gone missing a few days ago.
I recognized the scent of blood on the rock as hers, and I shuddered at the thought of how it got there. I turned my face into Austin’s shirt, and I barely noticed the fact that he wore no jacket. I felt him shifting his weight around and I pulled away and gave him a curious look.
“We should call the cops; it’s only right that they find Rhinnata's body,” he said quietly. I nodded my head in agreement before putting my face back in the crook of his neck. He finished the call and put away his cell before stroking my hair.
“He was here.” I whispered, feeling tears prick my eyes again.
“Who?” Austin asked, sounding wary.
“I don’t know; I’ve had dreams….nightmares about him.” I said, the image of knife about to be plunged into my chest flashed through my mind.
I clung even tighter to Austin “He’s always tried to kill me.” Tears streamed down my face, “He said he’s waiting for me, but for me to hurry up because he can’t wait much longer.”
My fingers tightened their hold in his hair, “He chained me to the wall once. And he tried to stab me.”
He pulled me even tighter against him, and he sank to the floor, pulling me into his lap. He rocked me back and forth until I stopped crying again.
“How did you find me?” I whispered hoarsely as we waited for the police to arrive.
“I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk,” he said, still stroking my hair, “And I caught your scent. I followed it until I realized it just stopped. I doubled back and found that it lead right into the forest.” I could hear his angry tone and felt his body tense all around me.
“What were you thinking, Carmen!? You could have been killed!” he accused.
I buried my face even further in his shirt, “I’m sorry, I just thought if I came back and proved myself wrong, that there was nothing, no one, here then maybe my nightmares would go away.” I said quietly.
Austin exhaled in exasperation, “Did you ever think of maybe bringing someone along in case something happened?”
“Everyone was asleep and I didn’t want to bother anyone,” I said weakly, knowing it was a pathetic excuse as soon as it left my mouth.
“Your pack wouldn’t have cared about being woken up; you’re all supposed to protect each other and trust each other.” He said, and I felt him shaking his head. “Your sister and your father wouldn’t have cared about being woken up either.”
I sighed, “I’m sorry, I honestly didn’t even think about coming back here until I stopped to try and catch my breath. I only noticed when I stopped that I was next to the forest, and that’s when I decided to come in.”
I felt Austin inhale deeply, before exhaling slowly. His whole body relaxed as he exhaled and I felt him turn his face and bury it in my hair. He inhaled deeply again, and then groaned.
“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious about being sweaty and smelly from my run.
“You smell good,” he said, pressing his face firmly into my hair. Okay Then...
I felt a smile spread across my face, my worries suddenly disappeared. Suddenly he groaned again.
“They’re coming,” he sighed, standing up and pulling me to my feet. My knees were threatening to buckle after I stood up, and I was thankful that Austin kept one arm around my waist.
I cocked my head to the side, trying to hear the police and other people traveling through the forest but I could feel my head throbbing with a pounding headache to the rhythm of my heart so I couldn’t hear them until they were almost in the small clearing.
I leaned against Austin, letting him support most of my weight since there was no way my legs would be able to hold me up for much longer. The exhaustion was starting to hit me, physically and emotionally, and I was pretty sure that I was going to go insane soon.
“Mr. Mahone?” a policeman asked after he stepped through the trees, several other officers, paramedics and such behind him.
I frowned in confusion until Austin spoke up. “That’s me.”
“Who are you?” the chubby officer asked, stroking his mustache as he glanced at me.
“Carmen Silver.” I said quietly, keeping my eyes on the ground.
“Which one of you found the body?” he asked, eyeing Rhinnata lying on the ground, where the paramedics and officers were looking at her carefully.
“I did,” I said, keeping my gaze glued to the forest floor in fear that I might catch a glimpse of Rhinnata's body.
“What were you doing so far in the forest?” he asked, looking at me suspiciously.
“I couldn’t sleep so I went jogging and then I decided that I wanted to check out the forest,” I shrugged, “I got lost and started to get scared, so I started running and then I tripped and fell on…Rhinnata.” I cringed as I said her name and Austin gave my waist a comforting squeeze.
“Rhinnata? You know her?” the policeman’s eyebrows shot up.
Austin nodded. “She’s in our English class.”
The policeman shot Austin a look, and I could tell he was annoyed that Austin had answered when he was questioning me. I looked up at Austin and saw him make a face at the cop when he wasn’t looking.
“How well did you know her, Miss Silver?” he asked, enunciating my name slowly so Austin wouldn’t answer. I bit my lip to try and hold back a smile that was fighting its way across my face since I was pretty sure that when someone is questioning you about someone being murdered you shouldn’t be smiling.
“Not very well, I only moved here a few weeks ago.” I said, shaking my head.
“How about you? Did you know her very well?” the cop asked Austin, still looking annoyed with Austin.
I tried not to smirk as Austin answered, “I barely knew her; I’ve seen her around school but I don’t think I ever even spoke to her once.”
“I see. So neither of you knows any of her friends?” the cop asked, giving us a doubtful look.
“Um… Vironica,” I hesitated, “Rhinnata was friends with Vironica, but Vironica disappeared a few weeks ago but they found her…but she….” I trailed off, not wanting to say the word.
“She died as well.” The cop finished.
I nodded solemnly, and the cop paused a moment. “Alright, do you know her last name so we can contact her parents?” he asked finally.
Austin gave the cop her name, and we stood there for a while, while the cop continued to question us.
“You two should start heading home,” the cop said after he finished questioning us.
And let me tell you, it took a lot of crafty lies before he finally finished with us. I mean, how could Austin explain that he had followed my scent into the forest and that I had smelled stale blood and followed it into the forest and found Rhinnata’s body? So we lied, tweaking the truth to fit our needs.
The cop didn’t seem to suspect anything, so I was sure we were in the clear.
Austin gave the cop a cheeky smile, “Actually, we were supposed to be at school about…” he checked his watch, “Two hours ago.”
I struggled to contain my smile again, and the cop shot Wyatt an annoyed look. “Alright, then. We’ll drop you both off at school.”
“We need to go to our houses first to pick up our school stuff, and I think Carmen wants to shower and change clothes before school.”Austin asked, and I almost burst out laughing when I saw the cop’s angry face.
“Fine, we’ll drop you both off at home and then drive you to school!” he said, and I could tell he was trying to keep his voice under control as he walked off to talk to the paramedics.
I looked up at Austin, and saw him smirking openly. I hit him in the stomach lightly, and he made a face at me.
“What?” he asked quietly, bending his head a bit so I could hear better, even though I could hear him just fine even if he was across the clearing.
“Stop taunting the cop,” I scolded, but I felt the smile on my face. It was one of the only smiles I had gotten in days. And it seemed I was only smiling when Austin was around.
“I wasn’t taunting, I was simply pointing out facts,” Austin said innocently, leading me away from the clearing as we followed the cops, paramedics and the other people that I didn’t know quite what to call them.
“Yeah, sure,” I rolled my eyes at him. We walked for a while in silence, and I felt the exhaustion rushing back through me with each step. I started to stumble and I even tripped and would have fallen if Austin hadn’t caught me. He tightened his hold on my waist after I tripped, and now he was supporting almost all of my weight.
Finally, we came out of the forest and ended up back on the sidewalk. I saw several emergency cars like ambulances, police cars and even a fire truck. The same cop that had questioned us lead us to a cop car and opened the door. I slid in first and Austin slid in after me.
He wrapped his arm around me again, and I slumped against him, resting my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. It wasn’t long after that I fell asleep against Austin, feeling calm, relaxed, and safe in his arms.
___________________________________________________________________________
I HAVE NO LIFE!! THEY CANCCELED SCHOOL TODAY! AND ITS ONLY LIKE 6:40 AM! UGH HHAHA
HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPPY
IT WAS RATHER CREEPY I WOULD HAVE THROWN UP IF I FOUND A REAL DEAD BODY!
ANWAY
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~Codys_Babe