The Rift Walker

A Safe Haven

Chapter 9

Kaelyn

The snow was almost a foot deep when Kaelyn woke, shivering violently. They had been walking for almost four days, surviving on melted snow and a few squirrels which James had found. How he hunted them, she didn't know, nor did she care when she felt so hungry. 

Each night they would build a small fire in the shelter of the trees which protected them slightly from the falling snow. Once the squirrels had been cooked, James would pile snow over the fire, extinguishing it. He was worried something would spot the flames, yet even so, Kaelyn hated those moments, missing the brief warmth it gave her as she tried to sleep. Most times she was unsuccessful for many hours, but eventually exhaustion would overcome her and she would drift off into a fitful slumber.

When they woke, they would continue walking, trying to put as much distance as they could between the burnt village and themselves. They were heading towards what Kaelyn thought of as James's 'safe house' but because they were trying to avoid being seen, it was taking much longer than normal to reach it. They couldn't take the main road for fear it was being watched, so instead they would have to walk through what James had told her was the Forest of Dean.

On the first day, after walking for a few hours in a tense silence, Kaelyn had eventually asked him what exactly they were running from.

"Sooooo . . . what were those . . . things we saw?" she swung her arms by her side as she walked. 

At first, James had remained silent, but when she pressed him to tell her, he assured her he would tell her once he was sure they had reached safety. Until then, he insisted that they remain in silence, lest they were overheard.

The snow crunched with each step they took as the ice on top cracked. They finally reached James's 'safe house' after five days of trundling through the forest. The house was hidden amongst the trees near the forest edge and when they finally entered, they were both cold and tired. She removed her wet boots and immediately asked if she could use the shower. She remained inside the shower for almost an hour, simply enjoying the heat of the water and the feeling that she was finally clean after so long of being unable to wash.

When she finally left, she saw that James had left her a fresh pair of warm thick socks and some clean, dry clothes of his own. Despite them being too large for her, they were extremely comfortable and when she eventually trundled downstairs, he laughed when he saw her struggling to walk in a pair of sweatpants that were too long for her. She had to roll it up multiple times so she wouldn't trip over them. He offered to wash her old clothes for her, so she could wear them tomorrow, for which she was grateful.

They feasted that night on canned peaches, both of them feeling too tired and hungry to be bothered to cook a proper meal. By this point, Kaelyn was feeling much more content. She was actually feeling full, warm and clean for the first time in many days and extremely comfortable.

She had been about to doze off whilst lying on the couch when she heard James enter the room. She glanced up at him sleepily and beckoned him over when she saw he was about to leave again, having seen she was tired. He walked over to the couch opposite to her and sat. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad actually, thanks" She smiled and sat up feeling wide awake. She had many questions to ask.
He sensed this as well and asked "We couldn't talk about it earlier because I feared we were being followed, but do you know what those rifts were?"