𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄, ERIK LEHNSHERR

𝑻𝑬𝑵

The car was dead silent as both Kara and Kit sat occupied in it while it was parked on the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere. The sky above them cast no light nor was there any light inside of the vehicle.

Luckily, Kara had trained her eyesight due to her slit eye and she could see in the dark. Her eyes were glued to the map she held in front of her, laid on top of the steering wheel.

She could sense the confusion emitting from Kit but she continued to concentrate her thoughts on figuring out where the coordinates she had drawn out were. She bet herself how long it took for his mouth to open and question her what was happening.

After about two minutes, he finally opened his mouth and her guess was correct. "Why are we out in the middle of nowhere?"

She kept silent, looking up and out of the window where she trained her eyes on the trees surrounding the forest.

"Come on." Was all she said, quietly exiting the car and waiting for him to join her side. "Just stay beside me and try to keep quiet, alright?"

In the silent night encircling them, he nodded, focusing on what she held in her hands. He wasn't sure what she was up to, but he gladly followed behind her as she began walking toward the woods.

Their boots crunched against the fallen leaves spread across the ground and Kara fought back a groan at how they echoed in the night, spooking a few wild animals that burrowed themselves in their homes.

While glancing between the map and the ground before her, she made sure Kit was behind her in case of any type of traps set out.

After several minutes of walking, she stopped dead in her tracks as she inhaled, smelling the scent of burning wood. "You smell that?" She turned, questioning Kit.

He, too, inhaled and nodded his head. "Smells like wood burning."

Once she looked back down at the map in front of her, she noticed how close they were to the location marked on it. She wasn't sure what lied ahead of them, whether it be her grandfather or another bunker he had built.

She prepared herself for the worst, much like all the other interactions in her past.

As they walked further, her gaze caught a light emitting from a cabin. The glass windows allowed a dark orange light to escape past them, illuminating the grass outside of it. Smoke cast from the chimney from the fireplace that was figured to be inside.

She stopped, taking a breath in as she finally found what seemed to be a part of her grandfather. It could've been a stranger for all she knew, but why would a stranger hide in the middle of nowhere?

Kit caught the way she stopped and stared at nothing, his own eyes scanning the trees ahead of them. There was nothing there and that's what confused him. "What are you staring so intently at?"

The question caught her off guard, her head turning to look at him. She furrowed her eyebrows, gesturing a hand to the cabin a few yards away from them. "What do you mean? Do you not see it?"

His lips formed a straight line at her adamant words. He lifted his hands to rub his eyes before opening them and finding nothing but trees again. "All I see, or trying to see, are the trees up ahead." He shrugged.

"Are you messing with me, kid? There's a cabin right there!" She insisted but he only looked at her boringly.

"No ma'am. I do not see anything, I promise." He answered, watching her briefly stare at him before turning her attention back to what she saw.

"Stay close. I don't know what's up ahead." She murmured, pushing the map in her back pocket and trudging toward the cabin.

In an instant, the hairs on the back of her neck and her arms stood straight up along with her mouth becoming dry. She held an arm out to stop Kit from walking any further, her eyes glancing around them to try and find the culprit of her fired senses.