In Their Domain

Chapter 5

This all felt like a script. Like something they'd planned, staged, and acted out. It would've made a hell of an episode or even a three-parter, but this shit was serious. No one was recording. They were lost in the woods with strangers and Dean was possibly breaking one of their cardinal rules of business—something completely unlike him.

"I don't know what to do," Arlo mumbled, looking at Chris as he lowered himself into one of the folding chairs next to the fire.

"I wanna talk to these girls," Chris said, striding over to the tent Dean had disappeared into. "Hey, Dean."

"Later, Man," Dean replied from inside the nylon shelter. "Just get some rest."

Annie's giggle followed. "Or not!" she added.

Chris balled his hands into fists. If they were gonna be difficult, maybe he could get some information out of the other girl. His gaze shifted to the other tent. There was still a light on inside. Still a bit of movement. He purposely bumped Arlo on his way towards Sara's tent, startling him.

"You okay?" he asked under his breath as he paused.

Arlo shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah. Guess I was dozing," he replied, rubbing his eyes. It was a little alarming how quickly he'd apparently slipped unconscious as soon as he'd allowed himself to sit down again. Maybe it was the stress catching up with his body.

He watched Chris stalk over to Sara's tent and cast him a nervous glance before leaning in close to the zipped-up flap. "Hey, Sara?"

"Yeah?" came Sara's voice, which sounded as clear as if she were standing right next to him. Which probably meant she'd been able to hear pretty much everything going on.

"Uhm... We're still pretty awake," he lied, meeting Arlo's apprehensive gaze for a minute. "Wanna hang out for a bit? We were thinking of walking over to the circle. Ya know, with our clothes on, since someone-" He raised his voice for emphasis. "Seems to want some alone time."

Arlo's leg was bouncing as he watched from across the campfire, waiting to see how the seemingly milder of their two "fans" would react. Even that claim was something he was starting to question. Maybe they weren't big fans. Maybe the girls had only watched just enough to recognize him and Chris, Dean was never shown on camera, and for some reason had wanted to sound like they were more into them than they were... Maybe it was his ego talking, but the girls just didn't seem as enthused over them as fans usually were when they ran into them.

After the slow draw of the zipper, Sara crawled out and dusted off her jeans. "Okay, sure. Why not," she said, standing then tucking some of her hair behind her ear.

Chris looked over at Arlo, tipping his head for his best friend to follow, after he motioned for Sara to lead the way.

"So," Chris said after they'd walked a couple of feet and he'd stuffed his free hand in his pocket. "I don't mean to sound creepy or anything, but like... Are you and your friend not concerned about being alone out here, just the two of you?"

"Yeah," Arlo joined in, immediately catching where Chris was leading with his question. "I mean I know we wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone, but it honestly doesn't sound very smart to invite strange guys to stay at your camp."

"Hey, I'm not that strange," Chris said, but his joke was distinctly lacking in its usual energy. "You, on the other hand..."

"I'm just saying, if I found out my sister and her friend ran into some guys in the woods and invited them to chill for any reason I would go ape-shit."

"That's so sexist. Women can be dangerous too, you know," Sara cracked a small smile at the two of them as they walked, but it seemed forced, just before she'd turned her face away from the reach of their flashlights. It could have just been that she was tired or considering what they'd said, but it was definitely far different from her friend's forward and carefree attitude. "I follow my gut. And trust me, you guys don't give off the creeper vibe," Sara explained. "Honestly expected you three to leave. You seemed pretty spooked earlier."