Wolf Country

Chapter 10- Return

When I get back home from being out with Adam, my mother has already gone to bed and all of the lights are off. I feel kind of guilty now that I yelled at her and took the car, but it's too late at night to apologize. Instead, I sadly drag myself up to my loft and fall onto the bed, going to sleep. On Saturday morning, I wake up around ten and go looking for my mom so I can attempt to apologize. In the kitchen I find a note on the counter telling me that she's gone to the grocery store again and I sigh, balling up the piece of paper and tossing it in the trash. My phone displays a couple of texts from Grace and Adam. Grace's reads:

Do you wanna come visit for Thanksgiving?

My mood lifts and I hurriedly type out a 'yes' before going to Adam's text, which says:

John's coming home today @ 3, you gonna come?

I check the time, seeing that it's almost noon, and send him a message saying that I'll be there. I eat breakfast and take a shower, left with two and a half hours until I have to be over at Adam's. I wish I had my own car, I think to myself as I lie out on the couch downstairs to watch television. This bores me after only ten minutes of watching some random reality show, so I shut it off and look outside. There's about a foot of snow on the ground and a dusting of it on the trees. I grin like a little kid and throw on some warmer clothes before I dash outside into it. My foot sinks into the snow, freezing my leg to the bone, but I laugh to myself and pick some up, letting it fall like sand through my fingers. I'm in the middle of attempting to make the base for a snowman when a truck pulls up and I look up.

"Hey, I saw your text," Adam calls out of the window, smiling. "How'd I know you'd be playing in the snow?"

"Guess I'm predictable," I laugh, wading through the snow over to the truck. "You here to rescue me?"

"You could say that," he says. "We're gonna go check out the woods next to Main Street."

"Adam...don't you think we should get a group together before we go?" I say warily.

"It's fine, we'll be in and out," he says, opening the passenger door for me. "We can do this ourselves."

I sigh and bite my lip before reluctantly climbing into the car with him. "This better be quick," I mutter, wanting to kiss him on the cheek but deciding against it. I can't quite tell if we're at that 'kiss-whenever-we-see-each-other' phase yet, but I don't want to rush things.

He drives us to Main Street and parks in front of one of the antique shops that hasn't yet opened. We get out and Adam stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets, glancing up and down the road carefully. "Okay, come on," he says lowly, grabbing my hand and walking briskly across the street and into the thick trees. The sound seems to be instantly muffled, and the only noises I can hear are the sounds of birds chirping and our feet crunching in the cold snow.

"Keep an eye out," he whispers to me, his eyes darting around us. I nod and follow him as he steps carefully over twigs and branches, the opposite of my stumbling and tripping a month ago. He's an expert at making little noise without having to look down and it makes me feel better about the dangerous task at hand.

"Hide," he says after awhile, pulling me behind a bush and crouching down. There's a perfect portal through the leaves that we can see through. On the other side of the bush I make out the clearing where the party was, well-worn from hundreds of people standing around, drinking, and dancing. But Adam was right; there are about two dozen tents scattered around, covered in a light dusting of snow. There are a few men walking around, seeming to be patrolling the area around the hastily-made campsite. A few campfires litter the ground, small vestiges of smoke still curling from the ashes. As I watch, I see Brian exit one of the tents closer to us and, to my surprise, Jackie following suit.