At night, after they spent a few hours around the bonfire, Mr. Leonard called it a day and told everyone to go to their tents and sleep. Rose assisted Dylan to his.
"Is there anything else you need?" she asked before leaving.
"Is your tent next to mine?" he asked.
"Yes. Just call me out if a savage bear attacks you." she joked, but in a serious tone.
"It better be." he replied firmly.
"I'll zip-up your door now. I'll wake you up at 6 A.M. I'm not sleepy yet. I'll stay by the lake for a while." she told him. After she secured his tent, she went to the lake with a camp lamp.
"Hey, Rose. Where're ya going?" Max called.
"To the lakeshore" she answered.
"Can I join you?" he asked.
"Sure" she agreed.
Dylan overheard them.
Rose and Max went together to the shore of the lake and sat on a clear ground.
"It's in times like this you will feel connected to the other side of the world. Don't you think?" Rose asked.
Max looked at her. "What do you mean?"
"I honestly don't understand it either, but I think there's beyond what our eyes can see... Have you ever wondered why the stars are up there? Or why a person can't breathe underwater while a fish can? Or why trees can grow way taller than us in years? ...There are so many wonders around us that we can't see." she explained.
Max was staring at her glowing face as she was talking. He was hooked by her awe and fascination with the things around her. "Do you believe there's a God?" he asked.
She looked at him.
He saw the fullness of her face when the yellow light coming from the lamp flashed at her.
"Yes, and I badly want to meet him because I have a lot of questions to ask." she answered with a smile.
He smiled too. "You'll meet him one day. We'll all do."
"You're right. It will be a long wait though." she replied, then she turned her head and looked back at the lake.
"Um... Can I ask you something?" he requested.
"Sure" she answered.
"That thing you said earlier, is that true? You're really not interested in having a romantic relationship?" he asked in a curious tone.
"I have never fallen in love with anyone before, so I guess, yes, it's true." she answered.
"What if someone tells you he likes you?" he asked.
She looked back at him. "I've already received confessions before, but none of them made my heart beat fast. That's what love is, right? When you feel your heart is beating like crazy?"
"Yeah... you're right." he replied, staring at her face.
At that moment, he suddenly felt something heavy inside his chest.
☆••••○○●○○•••••☆
The next day, Steve invited them to swim in the lake. Rose agreed right away.
"Just be careful kids, and don't swim too far. I'll just get some firewoods." Mr. Leonard told them.
"Yes, dad" Steve replied.
"Hey, Dylan. Do you want to swim with us?" Rose asked him. He was quietly sitting on the wooden bench facing the lake.
"I'll pass today." he answered.
"Okay, just yell my name if you need anything." she said.
"Good morning, Rose" Max greeted.
"Hi, good morning. Steve and I will go to swim. Would you like to join us?" she asked him.
"Sure, I'll join you in a bit." he answered.
"Okay" she said, then she went to the dock.
Max sat next to Dylan. "Are you not going to swim?" he asked.
"Nope" Dylan answered.
"Whoa!" Max reacted.
"What?" Dylan asked in a curious tone.
"Wow... I can't believe Rose is hiding a very nice body." he told him, looking at her in bikini.
"Really?" Dylan asked.
"Yeah. She's slim, but she has a very healthy chest, and she got curves on her hips too." he said. He sounded very attracted.
Dylan felt a bit envious. "Do you like her?" he asked abruptly.
Max looked at him, then he chuckled. "I'm impressed. You can't see, but you noticed."
"So it's true then? You really like her?" Dylan asked again in a surprised tone.
"I'm not sure yet, but... she's a pretty interesting girl. I haven't met someone like her before. I think... it's not impossible I'll fall in love with her." he answered.
"But she's an axesual. She told me that herself. Don't you think you'll just waste your time with her?" Dylan warned.
"Yeah, I know, but... I want to take it as a challenge. If I can make her fall in love with me, I think that will be very fulfilling." he answered.
At that moment, Dylan felt a weird, bad feeling inside of him. "All right. How about you do whatever you want to do with her after her contract with me? Because you know... I don't think I would want to hear my helper and my best friend flirting in front of me."
Max chuckled. "I will only agree if you will promise you will not fall in love with her."
Dylan laughed scornfully. "Pfft! You know my type, Max." he told him, but strangely he was not convinced of what he said.
"Okay, it's a deal. I'll get her once her job with you is over. Anyway, I still want to know her more." Max replied, then he got up and joined Steve and Rose in the lake.
While Dylan was deep in thought about his conversation with his friend, he felt the call of nature. Thinking that it's embarrassing for his friends to call Rose for help, he decided to do it on his own. He took his foldable walking stick out of his jacket pocket and got up. Then, he carefully traced his way to the back of the campsite. He thought of finding a tree and do his thing there.
After walking for several minutes, his stick finally hit something. He quickly checked if it's a tree. It was. He unzipped his jeans and peed. When he's done, he traced his stick he leaned on the side of the tree. Unfortunately, it fell when his hand moved to the wrong direction and hit it.
"Shit" he muttered.
He stooped down to find it on the ground. When his hand felt it, he picked it up and headed back.
☆•••••○○●○○•••••☆
After a deep dive, Rose swam back to the surface. As she was catching her breath, she took a quick look at Dylan. To her surprise, he was no longer on the bench. She looked around to find him, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She was bothered, so she swam back to the dock. When she got out of the water, she quickly put her clothes back on.
"Are you going back?" Max asked her.
"I'll just check on my boss." she answered.
When Max looked at the bench, Dylan was not there.
"What's going on?" Steve asked.
"Dylan disappeared from the bench." Max told him.
Both of them climbed into the dock. They put on their clothes and followed Rose.
"Dylan!" she called. "Dylan!" she called louder.
"What's happening?" Mr. Leonard asked. He just got back from collecting firewoods.
"Dad, we can't find Dylan." Steve told him.
"Oh god, where did he go? ...Dylan!" Rose called again. She was beginning to panic.
"All right. Let's split up. Max, go with Rose. I and Steve will team up. You go west, we go south. After an hour, we'll go back here. If nobody finds him after that, we'll call for help. Remember, just go straight to your direction. Do not turn. Stay on your track. In that way, you'll know where to head back. Got it?" Mr. Leonard instructed.
They all nodded.
Before leaving, Max took a small kitchen knife just in case they would encounter a wild animal on their way. Rose brought her taser. Then, they began their search.
☆••○•••○○●○○•••○••☆
When Dylan got up after he got his stick, his position changed. Instead of going back, he went through the woods unknowingly. After walking for several minutes, he noticed he kept bumping into trees.
"Rose!" he called. "Rose! ...Max!" he called again, but no one answered him.
Then, he also noticed he couldn't hear the streaming sound of the lake and the sound of Mr. Leonard's radio. Thinking that he headed the wrong way, he turned and walked back. After fifteen minutes, he tried to call Rose again, but still no one was responding to his calls.
"Don't tell me I'm freaking lost." he murmured.
Since he was a bit tired, he decided to sit under a tree and wait for help. He remembered from his previous camping to stay in one place when lost in the woods. He knew walking would only make him harder to find.
"I just hope they already noticed I'm missing." he murmured.
After half an hour, no one came, but he still patiently waited. Every after five minutes, he would call names in hope someone might hear him. When another half an hour passed and still nothing happened, he decided to change his location. He grabbed his stick and got up, but when he was about to take a step, he heard something.
"Rose?" he called.
No one answered. Then, he heard it again. The rustling sound was coming from dried leaves as if they were being stepped on.
"Is someone there?" he asked in a tense voice.
He was beginning to feel scared. Then, all of a sudden, he felt something moved and touched his one leg. He panicked.
He turned and walked fast, but he hadn't gone far yet when he bumped into a tree and fell down. Then, he heard the creepy noises again like as if he was being followed. He quickly got up from the ground and walked faster as he was catching his breath.
"Help! ...Help!" he screamed in fear.
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To be continued....
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