Census of The Stars

Chapter Three: Campbell and the Making of a Traveler

The door pops open with a click. Night has overtaken everything but as he fumbles through, not wanting to disturb Cass asleep in the bed, he plops on the couch and notices the stuff around him. Reaching for the light on the wall his eyes adjust to no one else in the room and a bunch of Cass's things thrown about.

A slight prickle tells him where she went. "There is no way she went in there alone..." he states. A light howl sounds from outside, the moon catches his eyes and the forest beckons.

Panicking, Campbell fumbles through his bag for the gun he brought for extreme cases and thinks to himself how the Rotherwood forest is nothing to play with in the daytime, let alone at night during a waxing moon in preparation of a Star Race. Before he can tell himself no, or, think of a better way to handle this situation, the grass is below his feet and Campbell can smell the forest before he even enters its vines and branches.

The worse part about being in the Rotherwood Forest, is the Rotherwood Forest. Pollen that the Pine Trees give off is full of Star Dust, and Star Dust is lethal to Travelers, but in such an all-natural and not secondhand way, it's more exhilarating than anything.

Sticks break near him, and his senses go into overdrive. This isn't his first time inside the Forest at night, and he uses the open view of the stars to try and find Cass. he knows there isn't a true way to Chase another Traveler, that's what a Tracer is for, but there has to be a way of knowing where in the tricky forest she has gone.

There's a mumbling he hears ahead that tells him it might be dumb kids; he approaches with the knowledge of what he's seen with and without a light on and understands that this person isn't using one. Just as he thinks she is going to run into him, the woman turns around and goes back the other way, crunching along her own path, and talking to herself ferociously.

"Are you alright?" He asks in a low voice, but he startles her anyway. "I'm Campbell, are you lost?" he asks but notices her laugh a little bit.

"No, Campbell, I'm not lost, I'm debating;" she tells him, and something about her mannerisms seems familiar. "I'm Andrea; just moved here." She says, and he realizes this is Evie's sister.

"What's the debate?" he asks, intrigued now. Aware that he has to find Cass, this could be them making or breaking their deadlines.

"See, that's the thing, I don't think it's a debate at all. My sisters think I need to tell the love of my life that I'm pregnant... and not by the man I married, no of course not, but by him... a man that cares more about his career than anything that could make him weak, like love or affection, or a family!" she says with a small wine. "It sounds ridiculous, I know, its pathetic, but the worst part is I've only known him for a few months, and now I don't know what to do. It's crazy what happens when two fractions of the universe find each other." She tells Campbell, utterly smitten, and he would have to insist, on not getting involved in that mess.

"Well, honestly I think you should talk to your sisters more, or, maybe not at all, this is your life and you should handle it the way you want to... anyway, good luck with all that." He tells her as he backs away into the Forest. The girl hesitates for a moment but goes back to pacing, and he could not be happier. A lightning zap emits static into the air. As if a flash from a camera went off, dazing and somewhat bewildering Campbell for a moment; he begins rushing through the trees, trying to clear his head and find a clearing that Cass should be in.

He begins to panic a bit thinking of the many scenarios that could have gone down without him present. He had one job. Keep her safe. Now he can't even find her. "Cass!" he shouts, knowing it's a horrible idea, but what are the odds that a few bad things happen at once? And who is to say she is even in trouble.