It's Only Skin Deep

Chapter 5: Getting "Lost"

Black shapes fluttered across my vision. I was light headed and my stomach felt as if it were trying to escape from my body. I heard muffled voices but couldn't string any of the syllables into words.

The outline of a man swam into focus, but my tired mind couldn't decipher any of his features. One of the voices was coming from him.

My stomach flipped and my head spun. I felt like I was on a rocking ship amidst a vast ocean. The restless waves tossed the little boat back and forth. My upset stomach had had enough and I retched over the side into the dark churning waters below.

The voices let out a muffled cry.

The ship was sinking and I felt myself being pulled beneath the waves. Instead of fighting the current like my mind told me to, my body calmly floated down into the cold depths of oblivion...

***

November 1st, 1:08 a.m.

A large warm blanket pressed against my skin, protecting me from the chilly night air. I was in an unfamiliar place. A strange room with walls made from fabric. A tent? It had to have been one of the biggest tents I'd ever seen, and looked as if it could easily house a small family comfortably.

I'd woken up in a double bed situation along the back wall of the tent. The room seemed to be cluttered, but with a closer look I saw that everything had its own place.

A single candle burned on the desk.

Retrieving the candle, I carefully treaded over to the tent flap. I lifted it to find that I wasn't in a lone tent, but actually a huge camp of some sort. The many tents loomed in the darkness like decaying buildings in an abandoned city. A few lone people wandered in between the tents, at what had to be an incredibly late hour, going to unknown destinations.

Crickets played their nightly tunes and other nocturnal creatures scurried to and fro.

I stumbled through the darkness, looking for any clues as to where I was. I remembered capturing skin-walker Georgia, Salem's interrogation, and seeing the... body...

Oh God.

The panic and sickness I felt earlier rushed back, and I had to stop moving to steady myself. The image of the blood slowly dripping out of the bag was seared into my vision so that every time I closed my eyes I would see one more drop of the coppery fluid hitting the cold floor.

Was that actually Georgia?

I needed to find Salem. He would know if the body in the bag was her or not.

I looked at the darkened camp around me. The tents had dwindled in numbers and a fire pit with a few remaining embers blazed beside me. Across the dying fire was a tent twice the size of the one I had woken up in. It glowed warmly in the cold night.

Transfixed on the warmth I could almost feel radiating from within, I drifted over to the inviting tent.

Voices could be heard through the thin walls as well as the shadow being cast of someone pacing inside. I picked up some of what they were saying.

"You shouldn't have brought her here." one said sternly. He had a note of authority to his voice that suggested that he was the leader of this camp.

"What other choice did I have?" I recognized this voice. It was Salem.

"You could have taken her home." the leader pointed out.

"I don't know where she lives and they could have followed me there."