Midnight Playground

Chapter 19

"Wait!" Cassie loudly protested as Cole continued to drag her away into the forest. "I said wait!"

Cole ignored her, pulling her along with long heavy strides. She couldn't get a single word out before he yanked her over the rough terrain and rocky hillsides, deeper into the overgrowth of the dark forest.

"Wait!" She wheezed, riddled with pain. She did her best to try and stop him, placing the back of her heel into the ground, only to have her feet slip beneath her. Thick blotches of blood smeared the shrubbery below her, staining large stone surfaces like a painting of pain. The overhanging branches raked across her face, tearing at her cheeks and scraping against the fresh wound in her leg. It hurt but by now her feelings was gradually growing numb and she had become too shocked to react to it. She recognized the dull stirring ache in her leg, she even remembered the very instant that the creature had sunk its canines heavily into her leg but there was little else that fell into her mind. In this moment in time, her head was finally speechless.

"Cole!" She cried out one last time, watching closely as his broad shoulders attacked the forest with ease. He pushed his way through the foliage and everything else in his way, determined not to be hindered by anything.

Why wouldn't he stop? Her voice hadn't been able to reach him, and it appeared as though the droplets of rain that fell from the sky as the heavens opened hadn't even registered in his mind. It certainly made the journey harder for her. Powerful and strong, Cole challenged the weather change, oblivious to how Cassie was fairing as she slipped and squelched on the mud. At this rate, she knew that it wouldn't be long before he was dragging her through it, face fist! He had to be stopped! Desperate, she began to peer around her surrounding, risking a fall from the lack of attention on her footing. There was nothing of real use, except for perhaps the thicker of the tree branches that stretched just above her head. And while he still continued to tug her along, she didn't have the time to scoop up a rock to throw at his big head! She was running out of options.

Uncertain, she glanced upwards, ducking her head ever so slightly beneath a tilting branch. Her thoughts began panicking considerably more when she felt herself stumble and without skipping a beat she found herself clinging onto one of the branches just within her reach. She'd seen it work in cartoons before but even she had doubts in her idea. Still, she had no choice. She clasped herself around the branch, hauling herself over it ever so slightly. She had hoped that by the time that Cole had felt her resistance against him, it would have been too late and the tip of the branch would have come crashing against the back of his head, putting an end to his trails. And it was possible that it might have worked, if the branched hadn't snapped the very instant her feet had left the ground. Quickly losing her footing, Cassie suddenly found herself thrown forwards, catapulted by the slippery mud directly into Cole and in turn knocking both of them off of their feet! Too surprized to stop, they both tumbled down a small hill, barrelling over wiry thorn bushes and rocks before they landed with a splash in a light flowing stream nestled between two muddy banksides. Slightly dizzied from the fall, Cassie's head lolled to the side, the fringe of her hair dripping wet against her face. The sudden burst of coldness seemed to make her body unwantedly tremble, triggering splinters of pain to shoot up her leg. She choked on a cry, sucking back her agonized tears.

"Just how long do you plan to stay on top of me?" A gruff sounding voice came from underneath her. Stomach dropping to the floor, she hesitantly lowered her eyes to spy Cole lounging beneath her. She caught a gasp in her throat. Caught in a gentle yet loose embrace, her surroundings melted around her. She could barely feel the icy sting of the stream water licking against her or the frosty bite of the night air. How quickly the darkness had fallen around them. If it hadn't been for the way that the moonlight outlined behind the clouds, sweeping through the trees, then she might not have been able to gaze on for as long as she did. Blood spilled from his arm, the thick liquid running down his sprawled position, his head and neck tangled in thin black thorns. Putting it simply, even for her, it was a very dangerous look.