Pan

Chapter 17

The walk back to camp was a silent one.

The sun was just going down, taking back it's bright light from earlier. The blue sky became dimmer and dimmer, the air growing cooler with every ray of sunshine that disappeared. I shivered as a gust of wind blew through my wet hair.

The moon began to creep its way up, bringing back the shadows along with it. They climbed up the trees and clawed across the ground, eager to take back control.

A few crickets began to chirp somewhere in the grass, the only sound breaking the heavy silence around us.

Pan was a few meters ahead of me, gracefully avoiding branches and roots blocking the path. I, on the other hand, had to not so gracefully move each twisted branch out of my way in order to pass.

He didn't care to wait for me to catch up. His head remained facing forward the entirety of the walk, not once looking back at me. 

He didn't even notice when my pace slowed, or when I was no longer in sight of him. So much for the side of Peter I met at the lagoon.

Why was he such a puzzle?

My feelings towards him were as mixed as ever. At least before I knew he made me angry, pushed all the right buttons to get a reaction out of me.

Now, I didn't know what to think. The version of him I had met moments ago was...nice.

Fun even, though it was hard to admit.

But he had brought his black wall of defense back up. I didn't understand. If he was able to bring his guard down then, then why not all of the time?

What was driving him to keep it up, to constantly barricade himself to the world around him?

He must be hiding something, something deep down that pushed him to shelter his vulnerable side and use everything in his power to defend it.

And what was the deal with his reaction when he thought something had happened to me, after our jump from the waterfall? Maybe I was imagining it , but he seemed worried. As if he actually...cared.

But that wasn't possible. At least, not towards me. He had made that clear from the beginning.

And I was fine with it.

Snap.

My head jolted to the left, a twig breaking in the distance making me freeze. Fear started to creep its way through me, sinking its jagged teeth into my skin. The hairs on my neck stood up, and my breathing stopped.

Who was there?

I cautiously peered into the woods, afraid to even move a single muscle. I did my best to look through the cluster of trees and shrubbery, trying to locate what made the sound.

Maybe it was just a squirrel. A little, harmless squirrel searching for a spot to rest for the night.

But I knew it was never that simple here.

There -far off in the distance- was a figure. A tree masked half of its body, but it was undoubtedly a person.

Though with the sunlight fading away and the woods growing darker with the second, I couldn't make out who it belonged to.

"W-who's there?" I finally managed to call out, my voice coming out small and scared.

No voice broke the thick silence. The figure remained motionless, hiding in the forest.

I really wish Peter was still here.

As aggravating as he could be, I couldn't deny that I felt safer with him near. I peeked ahead to see if maybe he had slowed down and was still there, but he was nowhere to be seen.