Hunted (Dark Secrets Book 1) (10 page)

"The face perdition was worse," he said quietly, turning his profile toward me slightly. "Though it didn't leave any visible marks"
—he swallowed hard—"you wouldn't repeat your error."

I couldn't bring myself to ask what the face perdition was. I felt my heart breaking in my chest. I couldn't imagine such a horrible place. All of a sudden, my side of the tracks didn't seem so bad.

"How did you get away?" My voice was breathy. "Did you turn eighteen and become free to go?"

"There is no way a commander would ever let one of his top soldiers leave, no matter what his age. You don't get to go free. You can only hope to be killed in combat."

"Oh," I whispered painfully.

"To answer your question more specifically," he continued, "I was given a job to complete, but it required me to work alone and to travel a great distance. I simply never went back." He stepped away from me and covered himself with his shirt again.

"Do you—
feel
now?" I asked slowly.

"I've always felt on some level, but my emotions only became intense that morning you fell and I caught you. Excuse me," he said calmly, and he walked into the tent. I heard him rustle a bit and then everything turned quiet.

I stored our uneaten food and stood silently out front of the tent, trying to figure out what to say to him.

"They can't hurt you anymore, Theron. You did it, you escaped. It was wrong for them to do what they did. It was abuse." I felt tears well up in my eyes. I could see him as a little boy, denied essential loving human contact. I wanted to throw my arms around him, to comfort him, to let him know it was okay and that it was good to feel. "You have the right to be free, to do whatever you want and to be happy. I give you my permission, Theron. You never have to go back to it! You can live your life for real now and experience everything." My voice broke.

I turned and walked briskly into the woods so he didn't see my tears and so I wouldn't make the situation even worse.

While I walked I gathered fresh green pine needles to brew a soothing tea for him, like my mother always did for me when I was cold or sick. I stayed away for about an hour before I came back into camp.

Theron was out of the tent. He had a tarp stretched across the grass and was laying on it with his arms folded behind his head. He was staring up at the bright blue expanse over him. My earbuds were stationed in his ears, the white wire trailing down his stomach and to my iPod next to him. He noticed me watching him and gave me a small smile. I returned it.

Then I filled the cooking pot with water and set it on the stones next to our fire circle. I set a few logs that Theron had split into the pit, along with some twigs and dried grasses I had bundled earlier for immediately reachable kindling. I struck the flint to the steel several times until a shower of sparks cascaded into the bundles of dried grasses. I blew gently till the sparks took. The small flame consumed the tinder, twisting it into ash. Once the logs caught, I set my pot over the flames to boil.

Once the water rolled and bubbled, I dropped the fragrant green pine needles I had collected into the pot in order to brew tea. I let it boil for a good two minutes then removed the pot from the heat to steep. I carried my cooling pot to where Theron was and sprawled out next to him, the scent of warm pine tea perfuming my clothes.

I gazed up into the pale blue sky and watched the floating clouds as if they were from another world.

When the pot was cool enough to touch, I offered it to Theron. "Taste."

He lifted the pot to his lips, breathed in its strong aroma, then sipped at the liquid. A smile spread across his face.

"It's good," he said.

We lay there, taking turns sipping at the tea as we watched airplanes streak through the sky, leaving white ribboned trails behind them.

"If you could go anywhere in the world," I asked, "where would it be?"

"I don't know," he started. "I'm pretty happy right here."

I thought about that for a moment. I'd always wanted to travel through Europe, but right now… I was happy here too.

Suddenly, the sky changed so quickly that we hardly had time to react. The white airy clouds darkened and began to swirl like the contents of an angry stew cauldron. But I recognized what was happening quickly. This was beyond an ominous thunderstorm. The sinister clouds hued with a sickening green tint put me into action.

"Theron, get up quick," I ordered. The wind was becoming furious and electricity charged the air surrounding us.

"What is it?" he shouted against the rising force of the wind.

"Tornado!"

I lamented the probable loss of everything I owned and shouted, "Follow me!"

A super-cell had formed above us. We watched as the dark and deadly funnel extended menacingly from the cloud. Dirt and debris began to whip into our faces; soon it would be trees.

"We only have a couple of alternatives," I shouted. "We can lay flat on the ground or try to run out of its path!"

Whatever his answer was, it got cut off by a new and terrifying sound—an all-encompassing freight train roared in our ears. The black rotating vortex touched the ground. It instantly began ripping aged trees up and out of the soil, causing them to plummet through the forest like massive projectiles, splintering and crushing other trees on impact.

"RUN!" I yelled, grabbing Theron's hand, and we sprinted through the trees that led to the gully.

After we had gone some distance, I quickly turned to check the tornado's path. I found a fixed object (a large boulder next to a maple tree), then I compared it to the movement of the tornado. It appeared not to be moving to the left or to the right, but only swelling. It was getting bigger.

"It's coming right at us!" I shouted as I veered to the right, hoping to steer us out of its deathly path. It was gaining speed. Rocks were whizzing past our heads.

We jumped down onto the steep gully wall and slid on our backsides—half controlled, half falling. When we made it to the bottom, I looked back up behind us to watch the tornado's projection.

Remember the rules, Freya!
My mind sped. Spending so much time in the southern states, you had to know all about tornadoes—this was called Tornado Alley for a reason.
Okay, fix your gaze on an immovable object. If the tornado appears to be moving to the right, you move to the left. If the tornado is moving to the left, you move to the right.

Good, it wasn't standing still anymore. That meant we had escaped its direct path
—for now.

"It's moving left!" I shouted. "We go right!"

We booked it.

I tripped over a tree root jutting sneakily out of the dirt and landed hard enough to knock the wind out of me. Theron scooped me up and helped me keep moving. The tornado was unearthing huge rocks and catapulting them through the air. Massive branches and tree trunks were gouged from the ground and sent flying across the ravine.

"GET DOWN!" I wailed in Theron's ear. He brought me down to the ground at the bottom of the dry gully and threw his body on top of mine to shield me.

The tornado's violent rage continued away from us to the left
—its imminent threat had passed.

"Are you hurt?" Theron asked as he climbed off of my back and helped lift me to my feet.

I quickly assessed my damage. I had some rising welts due to the rock storm and I was pretty sure my face was bleeding a bit from a nasty branch that had snapped back on me while we were running. "Fine," I answered. "You?" I looked up at him.

He stared at me, contemplating whether or not I told him the truth. Slowly, he raised his hand to my face and gently touched the edge of my cut with his fingertip.

"That thing was wicked!" he said with awe.

"Yes it was," I agreed and smiled.

Theron let his hand drop and smiled back.

Out of my throat bubbled a hysterical laugh. Near death experiences tend to have that effect on me. Soon we were both laughing.

A moment later, in the tornado's wake, came hail that pelted us mercilessly with near golf ball-sized chunks of ice.

"Let's see if there's anything left of the tent!" I said. We half-ran and half-hiked back up the ravine. Getting back up the hill was tough because the hail pinged off of our exposed bodies painfully. After we made it halfway back the hail turned into a torrential downpour, instantly drenching our clothes. The sky became so dark it was like night.

"We need to grab the Ursack for food if it's still there," I told him. It was, and we quickly took it down from the tree and went for the tent.

"It's still up!" Theron pointed to our safe haven, which was miraculously standing.

However, the camouflaging branches and twigs were tossed all over the place as if a giant toddler had had a massive fit. We gratefully climbed into the warm, dry sanctuary, unscathed —a little bruised up and disheveled, but alive.

I wedged a dry tarp underneath us to trap the water from our clothes. "We need to get out of these wet clothes fast or we're going to soak everything."

We turned back-to-back and quickly stripped down to our underwear. Of course, turning back-to-back was sort of silly considering we were still going to see each other when we turned back around to get our dry clothes.

I'm wearing my exercise bra and underwear
—It's like a bathing suit,
I told myself.
Just like a bathing suit.

"
Oh, for goodness sake, just turn around and give me your wet things!" I tried to act nonchalant.

"Are you sure?" Theron asked doubtfully.

"Just give me your clothes," I said. I had already dropped mine into the tarp and wanted his so I could wrap them up and throw them out of the dry space. With this rain, things could be wet for a long while.

He turned, but tried to keep his eyes averted as he put his dripping, balled-up clothes into my hands. I got down on my knees, wrapped his clothes together with mine in the tarp and set it all outside the tent flap.

I felt a shy and awkward moment pass as we both dug through our packs for dry clothes. I couldn't help but peek just a little. I remembered what he had looked like when he was lying unconscious in the lean-to and I had stitched him up. Now, though, he was squatting down over his pack, clothed only in gray soaked-to-his-skin boxers. Lightly balanced on the balls of his bare feet, the muscles of his body—legs, abs, back and arms—were pronounced and flexed as he moved. I couldn't look away. I didn't snap out of it until he started to stand and turn toward me. I pivoted almost manically so he wouldn't catch me and dropped softly to both knees to get dry clothes from my own pack.

Shyly, I tilted my head back to look at him. He was watching me and hadn't been as quick as I had to turn away. I stood up with dry clothes in hand. "Back-to-back?" I suggested.

"Okay," he said.

And I didn't look! I dropped all things wet and changed into dry sweatpants and a T-shirt.

"Are you done?" I asked tentatively.

"Done," he said. "You?"

"Yes."

We turned to face each other. His damp hair draped in glistening dark waves to his shoulders. "Wow," I exclaimed, trying to distract myself. "That was an adventure!"

"Yeah," he breathed. "I hope we don't see another one of those."

"Me too."

"Well, what do we do now?"

"We wait it out."

I turned on my LED lantern. The glow illuminated the tent as we listened to the rain dance over the canvas.

"I have just the thing for these kinds of situations
—and you're going to love it!" I said, reaching into my pack and pulling out a small rectangular gadget. I switched it on, and my Kindle came to life.

"What is that?" Theron asked in its glow.

"It's a book reader. It stores hundreds of books in this lightweight, easy to carry gadget—perfect for a girl like me," I laughed. "Before these were invented, I could only carry one book a time. I'd usually buy one at a thrift store then donate it to a different one. It worked alright, but it was hard to find the books I really wanted and I couldn't keep my favorites. Now, I get to have them all."

"What kinds of books?" The curiosity in his eyes was contagious.

"Another big decision. Which book first?" I said, feeling something akin to responsibility. This wasn't just a form of entertainment, this was someone's first book. I thought out loud, "I have classics from authors like Jane Austen and George Eliot, Hemingway, Frost and Whitman… I also have some YA novels from contemporary authors." I looked to him for help. "I even have some of my favorite books that my mom read to me when I was little. They're children's books and I know you're not a child but they're so nostalgic. It's a good place to start."

I chose
Where the Wild Things Are
and
Green Eggs and Ham
.

"These are great," Theron laughed.

I picked out a few comic books—
The Avengers
,
Spiderman
and
Xmen
—and made us something to snack on from the bag. We snacked and read through the rest of the rainy day and into the night.

"How about something with some more meat to it," I said as I scanned the titles in my reader. "I think you'd like
The Giver.
Want to try it?"

"Sure."

"Remember, if you don't like something, all we have to do is pick a different one."

We sat next to each other, leaning on our packs which we had made comfortable by covering them with my blanket. When the evening turned chilly, Theron unzipped his sleeping bag and laid it over our legs.

We took turns reading the novel late into the night, the hard rain as our background music. Soon, I began to nod off to sleep to the sound of Theron's deep voice. My head kept landing on his shoulder and I kept snapping it back up.

"It's okay, you can rest your head on me," he said softly.

I did, and a moment later I was asleep.

I stirred just a little when I felt Theron scoop his arm around me so my head nestled onto his chest and he aligned himself to get a little more comfortable. Then he pulled his blanket up over the both of us.

~

When I woke up in the morning I felt amazingly well rested. Then I startled when I realized Theron and I had slept in each other's arms the whole night through. I felt my face shade pink and was thankful he was still sleeping. I had never kissed a boy before, and I certainly hadn't ever slept with one! Our legs were all tangled up together. I closed my eyes for a moment, laid my cheek on his chest again and took in his warmth.

I thought about how I must have been starved for human contact. For connection. Touch. I had never allowed myself to be so vulnerable. I breathed through the terror that threatened to crush me and let myself feel it. I thought about Theron's past—if I was starved for human contact, he had to be famished.

All of a sudden he stirred. I froze. Theron stretched and yawned then smiled sleepily down at me. "Good morning," he said, his voice husky.

"Hey," I breathed.

"It's still raining," he stated more than asked.

"Yeah." I could feel his heartbeat speed up under his T-shirt.

"Will we keep reading?"

"Would you like that?" I smiled.

"Yes. Very much." He smiled back.

Okay, someone will have to move sooner or later,
I thought. I got up first. "I'll fetch some breakfast."

We ate a light meal of venison and berries, then we curled up together under the blanket and stayed that way for most of the day.

I had seen movies and read books about romance, but nothing prepared me for the real sensation of being cuddled up with the warm body of a boy I felt so strongly about.

We finished Lowry's
The Giver
then moved onto Bradbury's novel
Fahrenheit 451
. We discussed all the characters and plots, the villains and the heroes, the utopian and dystopian societies.

For four days it poured, and for four days we sat huddled close, reading and talking.

"Do you arm wrestle?" Theron asked out of the blue after lunch on the fourth day.

"Not often, but I'm game."

We lay sprawled out on our stomachs, facing each other, our fingers laced, palms together. It was a ruse. Neither of us was winning because neither of us was trying. I had a feeling he just wanted to hold my hand—arm wrestling
was
his idea. But I wasn't complaining. The touch of his hand in mine made my entire body feel electrified.

"What's your favorite color?" he asked, putting a little pressure on my arm for the sake of the charade.

"It's a toss up," I answered.

"Between what?"

"Depends on what mood I'm in mostly. But if I had to answer, I'd say that my favorites are violet and yellow—the colors of the first spring wildflowers that come up in the fields of green grass. They grow in every part of the country, so no matter where I am in the spring, it feels like home. What about you? What's your favorite color?"

"Greenish-brown."

"Like the trees?" I asked, puzzled.

"Like your eyes."

Blood rose into my cheeks. "What's your favorite food so far?" I asked quickly.

"The wild turkey you roasted with the berries, fiddleheads and cattail roots."