Untouched Love

Chapter 1

In the end, at least I won the "I love you more" game. I closed the book after reading the last sentence and put it on my desk with a sigh, wiping the tears from my eyes.

This book made me realize why I don't read Romance anymore. It's 3 a.m. I should have been asleep a long time ago since it's a school night, I'm so going to regret the decision of staying awake until this time in the morning. I get up and finally lay on the bed and cover myself with the covers and bury my face in the pillow and fall asleep making fake scenarios in my head.

-----At 7:30 a.m. the alarm on my phone rings, and that annoying music makes my head hurt. Didn't I say I'd regret it?I get up before my mom knocks on the door and go straight to the bathroom to take care of my hygiene and at least look a little presentable for school, before I take off my pajamas my eyes land on the book on my desk.

I toss the book into my drawer, close it, get dressed, and walk out of my bedroom.I sit at the table and listen to the birds chirping outside and think about whether I need school for my future or if I can just stay in my bedroom all day. I quickly shrug it off, because if I'm going to be sad, at least I'll be sad in a Bentley. As I finish pouring the milk on my cereal, the front door opens and my mom walks in holding a letter with my school symbol on it.

-Not another school trip- I whine as I look at her.

-This one is in the forest,- she says as she reads the letter- all pay!- she smiles.

Oh yes, the forest, the safest place on earth for young adults. I look at her with a bored face.

-Where do they get the money for these trips?- I finish the now brown milk because of the cereal.

-I don't know and I don't care, you will be surrounded by nature and peace, stop being so pessimistic and enjoy life while you can, I did it at your age. -she looked at me pouting, the lines at the corners of her mouth disappearing. -At least Helios is going...

-Helios goes everywhere - I rinse the bowl and put it in the dishwasher.

-He's your cousin, don't be mean- she says going to another room. I'm not being mean, I'm just saying that he goes everywhere when he's invited, I try to tell her, but she's not there anymore. I grab my backpack and wait outside for my cousin.

- Have you read it?- he says as soon as he is standing next to me.

- My mom did it, it's no big deal. It's just another trip, nothing more, we'll camp and then we'll come home. -I start walking, still thinking about what my mom told me 5 minutes ago. I guess a trip wouldn't hurt.

--- A week later---

-Do you know what I was thinking?- Helios looks at me after one hour and a half in a cramped bus full of young adults.

-You think? Do you have that gift? I told you that miracles existed- I grinned as he rolled his eyes at me

-Funny. We could explore tonight- he talks like it's the most normal thing in the world obviously, Helios doesn't have a Ph.D. in horror movies like me to know how terrible this idea is.

- You know, too many horror movies started that way, right? I still want to go home after this trip.

- We're not going to die, this forest is one of the safest out there.

- It seems pretty safe to me, not scary at all - I point to the window where you could see countless pines outside, the little light that managed to get through the foliage illuminating the ground and creating a little mist. A beautiful setting, worthy of a photo in Nature magazine, if only my chest wasn't getting tighter as we approached our destination.

As soon as we arrived, I took as deep a breath as I could and grabbed both backpacks while Helios amused himself by setting up the tent, or at least trying to figure out how to do it. The ground was soft and the smell of the forest was refreshing and clean, a feeling of nostalgia overwhelmed me, as if it wasn't the first time I was here. A feeling like coming back home from school or work. I shook my head and decided to just stare at the Helios for a few brief moments, and in those seconds I made the decision to ask someone else for help, or we would probably both be sleeping out in the open.

--- Finally, the tent was set up, after much sweat and effort on my part, because Helios just sat down at the first adversity.I get up from the ground, shaking my hands to remove the dirt that was left on them

- Thank you for your help- I look at the boy sitting on the ground. His red hair is slightly disheveled after all the struggle he had with the tent (because he didn't want anyone else's help).

-Thank you! -he exclaimed happily and picked up his backpack and took them inside to tidy up the interior.

Maybe this trip was a great idea, I thought, before the teacher just kindly asked to take two colleagues with me to collect sticks and wood for the campfire, everything went well until I got separated from my companions for a short time.

Fantastic, that was just what I needed to get lost in the middle of the forest. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my heart because I definitely couldn't afford to have a panic attack in the middle of some trees.

I walked a few steps, taking deep breaths and counting to ten in my head to calm down.I picked up some pine cones so I wouldn't arrive at the campsite empty-handed, some dirt got under my nails and I stopped to clean it because it was extremely annoying, while trying to clean it I dropped the items in my hands and bent down to pick them up, that's when I heard a stick break behind me.

I'm just going to ignore it and pick up the pine cone because in my mind if I look back it might make it real. I took two steps forward to get away from that place, but it was enough to quickly feel a presence behind me.

The energy of the thing was overwhelming, to say the least, it made me shiver and my heart pound. Terror was what I felt, the terror of the unknown.

I froze.

My breathing stopped, and no air passed through me. The forest became silent, and the birds that were singing became mute. Time seemed to stand still.

I felt what was behind me move, a chuckle broke the silence.

- Are you alone? Are you that stupid?- His voice was serious yet with a slightly mocking tone. Nothing could have prepared me for the way my body felt when I heard it.My eyes widened and I felt my body heating up. Like fire, that was the feeling in my chest. Warm, fire ... it's too much.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my colleagues, and with a swift movement a cold blade pressed against the middle of my shoulders. Tears gathered in my eyes and the thought of death was in my head.

With a quick slash, some of my hair was cut off. This isn't possible, this is all a dream, I tried to move again and make some noise to alert my colleagues.A bit of hair fell to the ground near my feet, and fortunately, the students who were with me came towards me. 

That was when I felt the air return to my lungs and the world around me return to normal.

My gasp was loud enough to get their attention, and they ran over in concern. I clutched my sweater in my hands and tried to come back to myself. This wasn't happening, it was all an illusion, I thought as I took a deep breath.

-Are you okay?" my colleague asked me as she grabbed my shoulder.

- Yes I am, I just had an anxiety attack- I blatantly lied.

I looked at the fallen pine cone and bent down to finally pick it up when I noticed a few strands of hair next to it.

Oh no...

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Hello this is my first fanfiction written in English. Please bear with me because English is not my first language. I apologize if there are grammatical errors. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)