Book I: Near Death Experience (18+) ✔️

10.

Everyone had been placed on their flank as we walked within the dark forest in the night. Knox was far from me, in flank B across a kilometre away from me. Xander was in the front of the triangle, a ways from me about 2 kilometres away. I stood beside Daniel, Finn's brother Mark and three other men from the village.

Anxiety was coursing through my veins at this moment. My finger twitched on the trigger of my shotgun, eyeing every movement in the forest. This was suddenly all too very real, and being here...it felt like a mistake. But I couldn't back out now, I still had a promise to keep. I wouldn't be a coward now, that wasn't me.

"Addy?" I heard Daniel's voice coming from my right making me spin around to see him looking off into the distance. I whispered to him, eyeing the rest of the group walking further ahead of us, "Yeah?"

Daniel looked at me with a serious expression saying quietly, "Come on, I think I heard something over here." The rest of the group was slowly disappearing in my vision as the inky darkness of the forest swallowed them whole. 

"Should we get the others?" I ask him with a worried tone as it seemed better to take down this beast of a creature with more firepower. Did he see something or were his nerves also messing with his head?

"No, no come on," he said quickly grabbing my arm and pulling me away from the group. I became attentive to the sounds in the forest, trying to listen to whatever Daniel had heard. Daniel began running with me, and I followed suit next to him with my arm in his hand. But something didn't feel right, something in my head told me to stop.

"Daniel? What are you doing--we have to get back to the others-," but my words were cut short very quickly as Daniel's grip on me tightened even harder. 

"No! No--we need to talk," Daniel screamed at me, his face contorted with rage. His eyes blazed with fury as he shouted at me, his veins bulging with fury. I could feel the heat radiating off of him as he screamed, and I could see his hands trembling with rage. My eyes were frantically wide for a moment before irritation began to fill my veins at his dramatics.

"Can't this fucking wait?", I ask desperately.

"What are you doing with them, huh!?", Daniel's voice was vibrating with rage as he shouted at me. His breathing was heavy, and his voice was full of bitterness making me flinch. I was infuriated and confused, and asked, "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

Daniel snarled, "You think you can just waltz in here and start hanging out with them? They don't give a shit about you, they just want something from you. You should be with me, not them. You belong to me!" His eyes were blazing with jealousy as he spoke, and his fists were clenched in rage. I could feel the tension radiating off of him as he spoke, and I could see his muscles tensing with rage.

This was not Daniel, I don't understand why he was so worked up about this. And why now? Now was not the time to bring feelings and jealousy into this hunt. I pleaded desperately, my voice trembling with fear, "They have been helping me with the hunt and have been nothing but kind to me."

"No, no they are not your friends," he screamed making me jump at his reaction. His actions and voice were making me fearful of him, antsy once again with my gun. I couldn't even hear the groups anymore, they were now too far from us. And that was as terrifying as the beast. 

"They will use you, Adelaide, they only want you for your looks and your body," he yelled with rage and jealousy making me scoff at his words. Fear can be easily overpowered by one emotion, and that is anger. He was making unproven accusations about Knox and Xander, accusations that had no proof. Yes, they were flirty and kind but we were all adults. And I belonged to no one, but myself.