Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 70

I stood opposite the tree line having a showdown with the evergreens while I waited for Eli. I planned on giving him until 2 am to get there and if he did not arrive on the hour, I was heading into the woods and getting my best friend's brother back. I still had no idea what the hell Cameron was even doing in or around Bailey Creek. Something must have drawn him there and by the sounds of it, Parkinson did follow him. Still, what was the emergency?

The more I stared at the trees, the more I was convinced they were taunting me. With every second that passed, their height seemed even more oppressive than before.

Tilting my head back, raising two birds broad and wide, I sneered, "Act big all you want. I'll be coming for ya."

"Who are you talking to?"

Hearing Eli's voice caught me by surprise, and I panicked. Blushing, I shoved my hands into my pockets, "Uh, oh, um it's nothing."

He walked up beside me with a bemused look on his face underneath his hood, "If you say so."

"It's about time you showed up," I redirected the conversation as I walked across the road. "You had roughly one minute before I went in without you."

Following close behind, Eli spoke defensively, "It took me some time to pack up. So you have a plan then?"

"Plan?" I shrugged. "I thought we'd go to Bailey Creek and start from there."

Eli grabbed my upper arm just as I was about to step through the bushes, "You mean where the police are currently searching? That's not a plan."

"What do you suggest then? You've been on this longer than I have," I pulled my arm out of his grip.

"Taking into account the direction Meredith came from-" Eli began.

"Meredith? I thought it was Cameron that's missing," I frowned.

Eli's shoulders dropped, "She was with him when they were attacked. After being struck down, she fled to get help and came across Parkinson who had been tailing them." Noticing my confusion, as soon as I opened my mouth he put a finger to my lips, "Can we leave it to later?"

"Fine," I pouted.

"Ok, so there's a group of cabins about one-and-a-half to two miles northwest of Bailey Creek, not all of them are currently occupied," he explained.

I nodded and pushed through the bushes, "So we head that way."

Eli dashed behind to stop me again, "Which is why the police are sweeping in that direction."

"So not northwest?" I arched my eyebrow.

"East. We follow the creek to where it meets the Panuck River. There are some caves there. Excellent for hiding, especially from Polair," he gestured towards the east.

"Ok, let's go!" I went to step forwards again, when he grabbed my shoulder. "This is really starting to get old, Eli."

Eli pulled out my handgun and holster, wrapped in a towel, from his backpack. Rolling my eyes, I took it reluctantly and shoved it into the front of my pants. I only accepted it because Triple-6 was involved, otherwise I would have rejected the damn thing.

"No risks tonight, ok?" Eli emphasized as he helped adjust the holster to sit less awkwardly. His fingers brushed against my lower stomach, causing me to flinch. His eyes darted up to meet mine, but he said nothing and moved away. I hope he didn't notice the blush on my cheeks.

I cleared my throat and held out my hand, "And my phone? I assume you have it."

Silently Eli reached into his back pocket and pulled out my phone, placing it into the palm of my hand. I checked it and saw there were no new notifications, but I would have to examine it later to see if I had missed anything vital. Looking up from my phone, I noticed that Eli had already taken off east with the Maps app open on his phone. I had to run to catch up to him, but once I had I used the flashlight on my phone to illuminate ahead of us.