𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝙲𝚊𝚖𝚙

Chapter 4

"DAY 1. 11:24 p.m."

The silence of the night was broken when a awfully highpitched whistle travelled over the whole lake.

"Okay everyone!" We looked at each other, hearing Tyler's excited tone from behind the closed door, "gather up! It's time!" Nathan took a deep breath and stood up, reaching out his hand to help me do the same. Our hands parted at the same time that we walked inside, mentally preparing ourselves for what was to come.

"Okay" started Alexis, elongating the -y, "I see that everyone's here, so Tyler, do the honors" I took a brief look at Emma, who was beside Willow, looking a tad bit more relaxed than earlier. "So, these are the rules: no going too far beyond the tree line that surrounds the lake" he pointed out a finger, "coupling up" another finger, "which we already sorted out" added Alex beside him, with a wiggle of her eyebrows, "and lastly, all's fair" he finished.

"The couples are: Tyler and me" I instantly looked towards Emma, who was already looking at me with what looked like a reassuring smile, "Violet and Jude" the pink haired made a beeline towards the brunnette, who was at the other side of the room. "Kai and Noah" the two of them bumped their fists, "we're gonna win this for sure, guys", "Don't cry victory too soon" joked Alex before announcing the next couple, "Nathan and Abbie" I could sense the girls' smiles from miles away, and I was so not looking up from a weird stain on the carpet, "And lastly, Willow and Em".

Emma raised her hand before Tyler could speak, "we'll be the seekers" she offered.

"Scared to lose, baby?" joked Tyler, "nah, it's just to give you guys a chance" she said with a wink of her eye.

"Okay, so now that we're all set, have fun and don't do anything I would" he finsished.

"We'll set a two minutes timer and we'll put on a makeshift blindfold. As soon as we press the start button you're good to go" pointed out Willow while preparing the timer.

And as she said, as soon as the timer started, we were all running to hide. Where? That's a good question.

"Where are we hiding?" I asked Nathan once we were out of earshot, "I was thinking of the supply closet or the cars, but those are too predictable" "what if we make a run for it and hide at the far end of the lake behind some tree or something?" I proposed when he had already started walking towards the treeline. As soon as we took the first step, we started running like we were being chased, reaching the trees at the same time that the cabin's door opened and Emma stepped out.

We had already disappeared behind a couple of trees when the door opened, so we were safe for now.

"Look, should we climb it?" Nathan asked while looking at a decently robust tree, I walked nearer and hesitated for a moment, not knowing where to step, "Put your foot here", he said pointing to a bump on the trunk, "I'll help you up so you can reach that branch" I followed his instrunctions as closely as possible, and firmly stepped where he said, reaching for a small cut out branch and a hole on the rough surface of the tree. Just as I was propelling up with all the strength I had to reach the thick branch we'll be hiding on, I felt his hands on my waist; his touch warm and his grip firm but not bruising. And with that, I was able to reach the branch, helping myself up with my arms.

Once I was sure I was not falling, I reached my hand down to help him in some way, even though, as he climbed, it looked like he didn't need it, but took it no less.

"That was the most I've worked out in a while" I slightly laughed at my own joke while he smiled, rubbing his hands together to get the filth off of them.

"Get closer" he suddenly said, "Huh?" He softly took my arm and motioned for me to get closer to him, "the branch gets thinner as it stretches out, it's likely it'll break". I moved closer on instinct, even though I had already. Both our legs were at both sides of the branch; our knees touching.

"Look, we can see the cabin from here" I lowered my voice, in case someone came closer enough.

Emma was looking inside the cars, not daring to go beyond that on her own.

"Good thing we didn't go with my idea" I slightly laughed at nathan's remark.

We heard a fit of laughter. Jude and Violet had been found in my car.

I looked at Nathan with an amused smile, and he was already looking at me.

My smile relaxed, yet it was still there.

From this distance I could clearly see the mole on his top lip, just in the center of his cupid's bow.

When I came to my senses, his nose was caressing mine, testing the waters, and I was there, completely still, not being able to get my head around what was happening.

He raised a hand towards my face and took care of a stranded lock, tucking if behind my ear. Just as I felt the ghost of his lips caressing mine, we heard a rustling sound from beneath us.

We didn't make any sudden moves. He took his hand from my cheek to my thigh, securing me in place, and then we both looked down. It wasn't that dark out, since it was the night before the full moon, but with all the trees around us, the moon light could barely filter trough the leaves.

I could swear I made out a person, it wasn't Emma, because this person's hair was dark; but it wasn't Willow either.

They didn't really make any sound, I was only able to hear their ragged breath and a strange whistle-like sound that came from their throat.

I looked at Nathan, who looked as confused as I was.

And then, just as Emma's shouts broke through the lake and Nathaniel's grip tightened on my thigh, that thing quickly turned back and started sprinting through the trees at an abnormal speed.

From our position on the branch, we just could make out its hunched back and long dark hair and, if my contact lenses had not moved from their place, it looked like it was running on all fours.

"Let's get back" he said; the warmth that his gaze had showed a few minutes ago, gone.