Scarlet's Mate

Part Thirty One

Stop checking the time, Vivian says clearly annoyed.

It's almost 11.  I'm supposed to be meeting Kyle in the woods in about half an hour and Derek isn't back yet.  His last text said it was taking longer than he originally thought but that he'd be home soon.  What if he doesn't get back before?  What if he gets back and I'm not here?  What if he gets back before, and then won't let me leave to go into the woods alone?

You need to take a MAJOR chill pill.  You're stressing me out, Vivian groans.

"Sorry," I say out loud as I fling myself onto the bed face first.

I roll onto my side and continue staring at the clock on the wall that seems to be standing still while simultaneously speeding up.  Time is funny.  I need to think of an excuse to get out of the house if Derek does get here before I need to leave.  And I need to think of an explanation for where I was if he gets back after I leave.  Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone.  If I don't leave any explanation and he happens to come back, he will for sure look for me.  But maybe I can leave a note, saying I'm going for a walk. 

Will that make you relax?  Vivian says sarcastically.  I ignored her and jumped out of bed.  I walked over to my desk and ripped a page out of my notebook, 'went for a walk, needed to clear my head.  I have my phone. -S.'  Perfect.  Now that that is out of the way, time to focus on everything else.  I can feel myself panic a little at the thought of seeing Kyle.  Especially with last night's dream still ringing in my ears.

Maybe I jumped to the wrong conclusion.  There's no way I have a brother, I'd know if I had a brother right?  Wouldn't my parents have known if my mother had twins?  And if they didn't, if I do have a brother, why isn't he "special" like I am?

Before I drive myself into another downward crazy spiral, I grab both phones off the desk and shove them into my pockets.  I go to the closet and grab a pair of Derek's sister's old boots, they're a little snug but I figured they'd be better with the mud than my converses.  I check the clock again, it's only 11:05, I stand still for a moment debating what to do.  If I stay in this room any longer I'm going to go clinically insane, and with that I walk out the door.

I walk down the stairs and through the kitchen to the back door, I'm about to unlock it when I hear someone walking behind me.  I spin around and squint my eyes, not able to see anyone in the dark, "hello?"  I called out.  No answer.  I pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight, I pan it around the kitchen but there isn't anyone or anything out of place. You're going insane, it's official, Vivian jokes. I laugh dryly and turn back to the door, unlocking it and stepping outside.

The air is chilly but my adrenaline keeps it from making me cold.  I walk to the woods, unsure of exactly where to go. I decide to just walk knowing he will be able to find me no matter what direction I take.  After what felt like an hour of walking I come across a little opening, there's a couple big rocks surrounding what looks to be a hand made fire pit.  I sit on one of the rocks and pull out my phone, it's 11:34.  There's no calls or texts from Derek so I can only assume he hadn't come home yet.

"Hello," I recognized the voice as Kyle's immediately but still couldn't help but flinch at the sudden noise, "sorry didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," I say as I watch him collect branches and twigs and throw them into the pit.  After a couple minutes of him collecting the wood in silence he kneels down on one knee and assembles the branches into a little pyramid formation.  He pulls out a zippo from his back pocket and lights the twigs resting at the bottom of the formation.  Moving his hand around seemingly at random he continues lighting pieces of wood until eventually a small fire takes hold.