Almost Home

Another Search

A/N this chapter is dedicated to......... Bailarinadefuego !
"So, let's do something else," Lilith suggested, while glancing between Brian and I while we were still staring at each other.
"Sure," I replied, slowly turning towards Lilith.
"Do you guys want to do another search for Kayla?" Henry said. There was some pained look in his eyes when he looked at Brian and I. I wondered if we reminded him of Kayla and him. I wouldn't be surprised if that was it.
"Yeah," Brian said, probably noticing the pain in Henry's eyes.
"I vote we search in the forest," I suggested.
"Sounds good," Lilith replied. We all stood up and walked downstairs.
"Where are y'all going?" Brandon asked as we walked by the living room.
"We're going on a search," Brian replied, continuing on past him.
"Hold up. What are you searching for?" Brandon asked.
This stopped Brian. "It's who, not what," he answered.
"You're not being very helpful in telling me where you're going," Brandon complained, "Sarah, tell me, where are y'all going. I know you'll give me a straightforward answer."
"We're going to the forest to search for our friend, Kayla, who went missing four months ago," I said.
"Why are you searching now?" Brandon asked, "It seems like she's been gone a long time. Why are you searching right now?"
"The right question is why not," I smirked, and we all left the house, leaving Brandon a little bit annoyed. Well, I didn't want to explain to him the whole Henry missing her because of Brian and I, so don't blame me, okay? It's not my fault he asks too many questions. He brought the annoyance on himself.
"So, which forest are we going to?" Brian asked as we walked down the sidewalk.
"The one by the road that goes down to the beach," Henry replied.
"Ok," Brian said, "Just wondering." We continued to walk in silence. We passed by the cliffs that we searched yesterday and the small path that led down to the beach, not the big road that the forest was by. I looked over at Brian. His blonde hair was fluffed up by the breeze and whooshed along with the wind. His eyes looked down at the road and his face wasn't a frown or a smile. It was just that relaxed position your mouth falls in when you relax your muscles. He glanced over at me and the edges of his mouth drifted up into a smile that pushed up his cheeks. His mesmerizing blue eyes sparkled. He slowly sidestepped closer to me and whispered to me, "So, about the kiss earlier."
"Yes?" I whispered back.
"Did you feel it too?" He asked.
"Yeah," I breathed, my mouth making a big grin cross my face.
"So."
"So."
"You want to be my girlfriend," he asked.
"Yes," I replied. I pecked his cheek and then realized we were far behind Lilith and Henry. We both jogged to catch up. Finally, we got to the forest. We all stopped before the trees in silence.
"So, do we want to go in one big group, or in pairs?" Lilith asked.
"One big group," Henry replied, "This forest always gives me weird vibes. I'd rather be in the largest group possible here."
"Okay," I said. Secretly, I was hoping we could go in pairs so I could get some alone time with Brian, but if it gives Henry weird vibes, it'll probably give me weird vibes. Henry, like Kayla, has correct gut feelings. If he thought some place was really creepy, it always was.
"Well, let's go," Brian said. We walked slowly into the trees along the small dirt path that paved along the ground. There were a lot of roots that were hard to see because of the small amount of light that was filtered from in between the trees. Pine needles also covered the ground like a little cushion. Soon, we couldn't see the road behind us and we were deep in the forest. That's when the path split.
"Which way do we want to go?" Lilith asked.
"Left," Henry immediately replied. A gust of wind suddenly whooshed through the trees and chilled our bones. The wind didn't seem quite right. Everyone went rigid. "Run," Henry whispered.
"What?" I asked. Then I saw a dark figure walking down the path on the left. It was a bear. And it wasn't no little brown or black bear we usually see here, it was a grizzly bear.
"Run," Henry repeated, a little louder this time. And I didn't object, neither did Lilith or Brian. We raced down the path and I heard the bear start after us. The wind whipped in our faces and hair as we sprinted down the path, expertly dodging tree limbs and roots, adrenaline taking over. My throat started to sting from the dry Washington air, but I had to keep running. I didn't dare look back, in case it might slow me down. My friends, I know, weren't ahead of me, but I knew they were close behind by the sound of heavy breathing coming from right behind. All I had to do is run faster than my friends, I thought to myself. That thought kind of lifted me up and made me keep going.
Finally, I reached the end of the path and I exploded onto the street. My feet thundered to a stop and I realized how heavily I was breathing. I sat down on the pavement and immediately Brian, Lilith, and Henry bursted out onto the street, no bear in sight. "Where's the bear," I said in between heavy breaths.
"He must have left us behind a little while back," Brian said.
"Well, at least we're safe," Lilith breathed.
"But no more clues about Kayla," Henry sighed.
"Actually," Brian started, "I saw this shirt that was hanging from a branch. Well, it was part of a shirt. And a pair of shoes. The shirt part was like a light blue and it looked like t-shirt material and the shoes were purple converse."
"Kayla always wore that light blue shirt to sleep and always wore those purple converse," I said.
"If she was kidnapped at night, she would be wearing that shirt and would have pulled on their shoes!" Lilith exclaimed.
"And her parents said that pair of shoes were gone the next morning," Henry added.
"So Kayla may be in those woods!" Brian exclaimed.
"Not might," I said, "She is in those woods."