Elizabeth
“I’m scared,” I said, closing my eyes tight.
Chance laughed. “Come on you chicken, it’s not that bad.”
“But I can’t see anything! I could get hurt!!”
“It’s just sledding!” he laughed again but it sounded like he was starting to get frustrated. “Besides, I won’t let you get hurt.”
I sighed, sitting on the front of the makeshift sled, and leaned back on Chance who was sitting behind me. “Do you even know how to steer this thing?”
He chuckled, leaning his head over my shoulder. “Would you rather steer?”
“No,” I said quickly. He leaned back and I chewed on my lip for a minute, thinking. “Promise you won’t let me fall off?”
“Promise. Can we go now? The snow’s going to melt before you make up your mind.”
I jabbed him with my elbow then crossed my arms. “Fine, then I guess it’ll be okay if-“
“Finally,” he said quickly, not even waiting for me to finish before he pushed of the top of the hill.
I let out a small scream as the sled flew down the slope. Chance laughed and wrapped an arm around me, holding me close so I wouldn’t slip off.
“Isn’t this fun!” he yelled out as the sled picked up speed.
“No!” I yelled back, trying to keep the smile off my face.
I could feel the slant of the sled decreasing as the hill came to an end and started to relax.
“Uh oh,” Chance said behind me.
“Uh oh? No uh oh! What’s uh oh!?”
“I didn’t think about all these trees at the bottom, I think we might hit one!”
My eyes widened and I leaned back on him. “Chance, I’m going to kill you!” I yelled. “Steer us away!!”
The sled slowed to a stop and he started cracking up laughing. “I really had you worried didn’t I?”
I stood up and turned my head a few times. “There aren’t really any trees down here, are there?”
He laughed then took my hand and pointed it in the direction we had been sledding. “There are, about a hundred yards that way.”
I pulled my hand away and hit his chest a couple of times. “You jerk, we wouldn’t of hit those!”
“I know,” he said, that smirk of his in his voice.
I hit his chest one more time, still upset. “Don’t do that! You really had me scared! I want to be able to trust you.” My voice slowly lost its edge as I finished my rant.
Chance stepped closer and took my hand, holding it up between us as he closed the gap. “You can trust me,” he whispered, leaning his head by mine. “You can always trust me, because with me, what you see is what you get.” I felt like that was a stab at Jesse and this other side of him that Chance had been hinting at.
He stepped back, still holding onto my hand, and the smirk returned to his voice. “I may screw with you from time to time, but you can trust I won’t let you get hurt.”
I smiled and looked to the side then felt for the sled with my foot. “Think we can go again, now that I know you won’t get me killed?”
He laughed then started pulling me up the hill, the sled in his other hand. “We’re definitely going again.”
We rode down the hill several more times and eventually, my screams turned to laughs, despite Chance’s horrible sled steering skills.
“We’re tipping, we’re tipping!” I yelled, trying to lean the other way and steady the sled.
He let go of the sled and wrapped both arms around me. “Abandon ship!”
I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms over his, letting out a small squeal as he jumped off the sled and pulled me with him. We landed in the soft snow and rolled for a minute before finally stopping. I laughed as I sat up, moving off of him.
He laughed then sat up quickly. “Oh no, there’s something trying to get you Lizzy! I’ll save you!”
“What? No, I don’t think- AH!” I yelled then laughed as he carefully tackled me into the snow, sending us rolling down the hill yet again.
I was laughing too hard to talk by the time we finally stopped again and lightly hit his shoulder before pushing him off me.
“So that’s how you save people?”
“Uh huh,” he responded, that smirk in his voice.
I shook my head, sitting up. “And what exactly were you saving me from?”
“Hmm,” he mumbled, trying to think, “There was a spider.”
“A spider?” I asked with a laugh.
“Yep, a big hairy spider.” He lightly tapped my arm with his fingers, trying to imitate a spider. “It was going to sink its evil pincher things in you and bite you!”
I smirked. “And you’re the only one allowed to bite me, right?”
There was a short silence before he replied. “Right.” The smirk was gone and his voice was actually kind of sweet.
The cold of the snow started to seep through my clothes and I shivered, folding my arms to my chest for warmth.
Chance stood up and took my hand, helping me up. “Alright my little snow bunny, let’s get you back inside before you turn into a popsicle.”
I laughed to myself as Chance pulled me along, because even though he was pulling me along, he was barely holding onto my hand. He was always so careful.
“I’m not a china doll you know,” I said with a small smile as I held his hand a little tighter, “I’m not going to break.”
He gave my hand the tiniest squeeze. “To me you are.”
“Just because I’m blind-“
“Because you’re human,” he said, cutting me off. “Besides,” he added, the smirk returning to his voice, “Jesse would kill me if I broke you.”
I smiled and we walked in silence the rest of the way. As we got close to the house, Chance tensed.
“Something wrong?” I asked, turning my head and listening for any signs of danger.
He held my hand tighter and picked up his pace as we hurried inside.
“Jesse!” Chance yelled, letting me go and taking a step into the nearest rooms. “Jesse?”
“What?”
I jumped, not having heard Jesse walk up.
“I could smell her outside, what did she-“ Chance paused for a moment as he came closer to Jesse. “What the hell happened to you?”
My eyes widened slightly and I hurried over to Jesse. “What is it? Are you hurt?” I asked quickly.
I reached my hand out as I got close and he caught it, slowly pulling me to him. I reached up and lightly touched his face, immediately pulling my hand back when I felt a swollen knot on his cheek.
“Siena showed up asking where El was,” Jesse finally said, putting a loose arm around me as my fingers searched for any other injuries.
“What did you tell her?” Chance asked in a defensive voice.
Jesse growled quietly. “I told her to get lost, that El wasn’t here and she wasn’t getting her regardless.”
I could feel the tension die down as both boys relaxed. “Then she did this to you?” I asked, finding a few more swollen places and small cuts on his neck and arms.
Jesse laughed once under his breath. “Yeah, that spoiled brat doesn’t like being told no. But I ended up throwing her out so it’s alright.”
“Nice,” Chance said from somewhere behind me, the sound of ice hitting the side of a glass echoing off the walls. When did he make a drink!? “But where is the bi- brat now?” Was he censoring himself on my account? How nice.
“Not sure,” Jesse replied, sounding a little worried.
I pulled away and took a couple of steps back. We really needed to know where she was. What if she was still wondering around outside the house, just waiting for a chance to kill me? I closed my eyes and concentrated, focusing on her.
Moments later images appeared before me. It didn’t take long for me to realize I was watching Siena. She seemed to be in a hurry, running through the woods. She passed by a couple of large boulders then jumped off a cliff, landing on the forest floor below and continuing to run.
I opened my eyes and was greeted with darkness. It took me a second to get used to it again then I turned my head toward where the boys were a moment ago.
“She’s running right now, through the woods. She was passing these big rocks and boulders then jumped off a cliff.”
“Please tell me she crashed and burned,” Chance said with a smirk.
“No, she landed fine and kept running through the woods.”
Jesse made a small hm noise as he thought. “I think I know where you’re talking about, which means Siena is actually leaving town right now. That’s good to know.”
“Well aren’t you a useful little thing,” Chance said, a grin in his voice, as he moved closer.
“She might be giving up,” Jesse said, still thinking, “Or she might be going to tell others about El so they’ll help her get what she wants.”
I stopped for a second then couldn’t help but ask. It was something I’d been wondering for awhile. “And what do you two want with the girl with the sight?”
They both must have been shocked by my answer because neither spoke for a long time.
“I have no use for the sight,” Jesse finally replied, “All I want is to protect you.”
Chance set the glass on a table then spoke after a moment. “All I want is you.” He turned and started to slowly walk away.
I opened my mouth to say something but was cut off by a deep pain in my head. My knees felt weak and I vaguely sensed someone catching me before everything around me went blank. I opened my eyes and saw several men hurrying through the forest.
I didn’t know the forest very well, but I knew they were heading straight for the old house, the one we were in right now. It was still light, but just barely, so I knew this couldn’t be happening right now, seeing as it was only lunch time, but it didn’t feel far off. It felt like it could even be tonight.
The men grinned as they got closer, their eyes glowing bright red and their fangs stretching down. Some of them crouched forward, readying for a fight. Vicious growls echoed off the trees and they suddenly sprung forward.