Me, Myself, and I

Chapter Four - Demons

Harlow's POV:

I start walking back to my window when suddenly I'm pulled aside and shoved against a tree. I look up to see a familiar pair of green eyes staring back at me.

"Oli-" I question but get cut off when Oliver puts his hand against my mouth, preventing me from speaking. "What are you doing here?!" I ask exasperated. Except it comes out muffled against his palm as, "Mmm mm mm mmm mmmm?!"

He leans in close so his mouth is hovering right above my left ear. "You'll be quiet if you know what's good for you." He murmurs. I shut up and do as I'm told and wait for his next words. "Good. Now, listen carefully to your surroundings," Oliver whispers. I relax against his hold and stay as still as humanly possible, trying to identify whatever sound he is talking about. I look back up at him to meet his eyes and raise my brow, signalling to him that I couldn't hear anything. Oliver furrows his brows and quietly asks, "Have you Shifted before?" Now it's my turn to furrow my brows. Oliver looks at me with raised brows as if I've just told him the stupidest thing ever. "Good Lord." He says.

He stays staring at me for a few more moments as if he's trying to read me. Then he starts scanning the area with his eyes. Once the apparent danger-infested area is cleared, he nods his head at me and grabs my arm. Oliver starts pulling me in the exact opposite direction of my house and we start walking south.

I start getting tired of the long distance we've walked which was probably one kilometre and my steps start slowing down. Oliver notices and sighs. He picks me up and puts me on his back. Then he starts running at lightning speed further towards the south.

Once we're far enough from the forest we were once in near my house, Oliver sets me down and grasps my arm once again. This time, he leads us a little towards the west, into another forest.

We don't go that deep into the forest because I can still see the open lands where we stopped. We continue on for a little bit until we stop at a big oak tree with a ladder. He climbs up first and looks down at me when he's halfway up.

"You just gonna stand there or what?" He asks with a raised brow.

Soon enough, I follow his lead up the ladder and through the leaves of the big oak. Once we reached the top, I realized there was a treehouse up here.

We go inside the treehouse and Oliver examines me while I look around at the beauty of the interior.

"Wow." I breathe out. "This is- wow."

Oliver chuckles and moves to sit on one of the couches. I follow his lead and sit on the opposite couch. He looks at me for a moment before I ask him a question. A question I'm not sure I want to know the answer to.

"Oli.." I start off, not really knowing how to put my thoughts into words.

"Hm?" He hums out.

"I...this..you..." I gesture with my hand to himself. I open my mouth and close it again while Oliver sits and waits patiently for my response. "How?" Is all I manage to get out.

Oliver looks at me in amusement before replying. "What would you like to know?"

"How did you run so fast in such a small amount of time? What do you mean by Shifted? What sounds were you talking about back in the forest where I live? How did you know where I was? Do you know where I live?! Why do you have such a beautiful treehouse in the middle of nowhere? Where are we? Are you planning on killing me? If so, I know self defence and I bite!"

Oliver chuckles again. "I'll explain your first four questions in a bit. As for right now, yes I know where you live." I look at him and my mouth drops. "You're on my bus to go to and from school." He explains. I sigh and nod my head. "I knew where you were...because I followed you. I needed to make sure you got home safe. Right now there are a lot of...things..on the loose." I nod my head again, trying to comprehend what he just said. "My treehouse is not in the middle of nowhere. Maybe to you, but not to me. This area is my home. My family owns this land. I have a house with my parents and siblings back in your home town as well as here, but I was born in this area. As for where we are, we are in Natura. Fae territory." I look at him as if he's crazy, which at the moment, he probably is. "And no, I'm not going to kill you. I was assigned as your protector."