Trust Me

Chapter 1

"IMPORTANT: THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN WHEN I WAS MUCH YOUNGER AND IS IN DIRE NEED OF EDITING! PLEASE DO NOT MEASURE MY WRITING ABILITIES BASED ON THIS STORY!

Charlotte Marie Fields, come down here this instant."

Mom was in a mood again, and I got to take the heat this time. I don't know why its always me though...Josh and Tiff can be pretty irritating, too.

"Coming," I yell. Tiffany gives me sympathetic look, then turns her eyes back down to her phone. I rush down the stairs, wondering what I could have possibly done. I guess I'd know in a minute.

Luna, my Great Dane mix, trails at my heels, hoping that I'll take her out. I stop for a moment before I enter the kitchen, where Mom is. I rub Luna's head, take a deep breath, and enter.

"You called me?" I announce, an annoying cheerfulness in my voice. I smile, hoping that if I seem happy, she'll be less harsh.

"Your dumb dog threw up again, so clean it up! It smells terrible," Mom yells. Her charcoal black hair looks crazy, as if it were on a witch, and her irritated expression makes her look even more so.

I quietly clean up after my dog, and cringe at the smell. Well, at least Mom was right about one thing. It did stink, so much that I felt faint.

"Luna, that's disgusting," I whispered.

When I was finished cleaning and sanitizing the area, I went back to the kitchen.

"Is that all?" I ask. I was itching to go on a run, and Luna looked as if she would appreciate the exercise.

"I suppose," Mom groaned. I wonder why she gets so upset, its not like we do anything wrong. Just then, Josh barged into the kitchen and opened the cabinet.

"There is no good food here, only health crap," he complained. As I walk out of the room, I whisper into his ear,

"You've awoken the beast." I hear Mom start to yell before I clip the leash on Luna, and walk out the door.

We jog down the street, and out towards the trails. I'm lucky enough to live near some trails that wind through the woods, which are untouched by human civilization. Some times, days will pass without people going out there. Except for me, because I go nearly every day. The peace and quiet gives me time to think. I turn into the woods, and run for about half a mile, before I unclip Luna's leash, and let her run ahead. She has come a long way since I adopted her last summer, and she heeds my every command. I don't have to worry about her running off to chase anything, or attacking another dog or person. She is very friendly, although oddly protective of me. There is almost no one she can't get along with, with one exception.

"Hey Charlie." Speak of the devil. I jump at the sound of his voice, and Luna's hair rises on the back of her neck. She jumps in between Caleb and I, and bares her teeth at him.

"It's Lottie, but you already know that," I growled. Then, worried of Luna hurting him, I commanded.

"Luna stop. Sit." I wasn't worried for his sake, but for hers. There are serious punishments for a dog the bites people.

"Why did you follow me out here, you stalker," I retort. He lives next door to me, so he had to see me leave.

"Whatever Charlie," he laughs. He has called me that since Kindergarten, the first day we met, and we've been rivals ever since, even though I have told him my real name a million times. He just won't let up! "What do you mean, I just wanted to go for a walk. Trying to find the best spots for when I go hunting."

Caleb always says he goes hunting, but I know better. He only says it to mess with me, considering I love any living thing, and have been vegetarian since I learned that meat comes from animals.

"Whatever you say Caleb. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to continue with my run." However, apparently oblivious to my voice, Caleb just kept talking.

"When hunting season comes around, you better keep that mutt locked up. He does look awfully similar to a deer, and we wouldn't want any accidents, would we?" That puts me on edge, and it takes all of my self-control not to lunge at his throat. Especially considering Luna was a light grey, buff dog, looking nothing like a deer.

"Leave, or I'll let this 'mutt' off leash, and we wouldn't want any, 'accidents,' now would we?" I smirk at him. He glares at me angrily, but listens and turns back towards the start of the trail. I assume he's going home.

"Bye Charlie," He laughs.

"It's Lottie," I growl through clenched teeth. I decide not to let him get to me, and continue with my run. I let Luna off leash, and she happily runs ahead, biting at the air as if an invisible butterfly were offending her.

We end up running 3 miles, before the rain starts. It is the middle of November, and the rain is frigidly cold. I turn around to head home, but it starts raining harder, and I have to find shelter. Luckily, I know the forest by heart, and I know there is a small overhang a quarter of a mile back towards home. Because of the rain, it takes me about 5 minutes to get there, when I would normally clear the distance in less than 2. I was so busy trying to get to shelter, that I didn't notice that Luna wasn't with me. ************************************ "Luna!" I yell, desperately hoping she is just outside of the overhang.

"Luuuuna!!!" I can't hear her paws against the dirt, or her playful bark she normally responds with when I call her. I want to go back after her, but it's so rainy, I can't see a thing. My clothes are soaked through and through, and I don't have to be a meteorologist to understand the air is well below 40 degrees, just above freezing. I have a coat on, but it isn't very waterproof. I'm on the verge of tears, when I hear a familiar growl, and see a vague figure of a tall, clumsy Great Dane mix. I desperately call out her name, and am so relieved to see her, that I almost don't notice the figure of a person, about my height, out in the rain. But I do. "Hey, come in here, or you'll get sick," I yell. Even so, the figure fades away, into the cold rain. "Hey, come back!" I yell, a little louder. No response. The person has completely vanished. "Well, thanks anyway!"