Love Restrained | Yellowjackets

chapter nineteen

XIX

Walking softly so they wouldn't wake the others, Hayden and Natalie made their way to the door as quiet as possible, after putting the most warm clothes they could find around.

"Wait," Lottie, who was by the window, whispered, causing the girls to stop. 

She gently grabbed Hayden's hand to put something the girl wasn't sure what it was but Lottie claimed that it would protect her, so she just accepted and smiled in gratitude. Lottie did the same with Natalie, but her reaction to it was always different.

Well, the last couple months Lottie started acting different. Constantly talking about the wilderness and how it hears them and sometimes doing some rituals that only some of the girls would engage in.

That behavior divided the group. Some girls such as Mari, Misty and Van would follow Lottie like she was some type of messiah that had all the answers. The others, such as Natalie, Taissa and Shauna, would just say it was complete bullshit and that Lottie was slowly losing her mind.

As for Hayden, she didn't follow Lottie like she was in some cult, but she wouldn't deny that some things couldn't be just coincidence. She also knew how Lottie felt about being called crazy, something that was happening a lot lately, and Hayden would never act like she believed Lottie was out of her mind, so she accepted all of her rituals and preferred to believe that they were indeed for good luck.

She watched as Lottie pricked her own finger and spilled the blood into a mug with tea, hading it to her.

"It's not like this wicca bullshit is doing us any good." Natalie looked at Hayden as the girl  passed the mug to her so she could drink it first.

"Well, you keep coming back alive, don't you?" Lottie retorted.

Nat looked at Lottie and then gave the liquid one final look before drinking and passing the rest to Hayden, who drank it without questionig, earning a satisfied look from Lottie.

"Thanks Lot." Hayden returned her the mug and headed for the door, followed by Natalie.

The two girls walked through the snow just like they've been doing for the last two months. Today was pleasant compared to the last weeks they had, at least the sun was out, giving them a little bit of warmth as they walked through the white snow.

Honestly, things have been tougher than before lately. The energy around the cabin was always tense, especially after what happened with Jackie.

Nobody talked about it. They've put her body in the shed, and there she would stay until the ground defrosted so she could be buried.

Shauna refused to talk about what happened but she somehow spent most part of her days in there with her dead best friend.

Obviously everyone thought that was very weird, and very unhealthy, not just physically but especially mentally. Except for Lottie. She said that it was a way of coping and that no one should interfere in Shauna's grieving process.

Jackie's death was already enough damage to the group, but it wasn't the only bad thing at the moment. Javi was still missing. That meant that Travis was now a part of the hunting group, transforming it into a trio since he would constantly go out with them to search for his brother.

Today was an exception, and Hayden couldn't be more glad that Travis didn't join them, because that meant that she would have some alone time with Natalie.

"I honestly don't know why we're still trying." Hayden said as they walked through the snow with no sign of animal life anywhere.

Natalie turned to her, a playful glint in her eye. "Don't pretend you just go out to hunt at this point."