"My father told me to watch out."
Ryan dips his bare feet into the warm, sun-heated water. The ripples spread across the water and fade away in the middle of the pond. A frog jumps into the water, making even more ripples. The pond seemed to never be still, always something was disrupting it.
"Did you tell him about the man we chased after?"
I shake my head and lean it on Ryan's shoulder. "No. He'd probably lecture me until morning came if I did that. I don't really tell him much, only stuff he needs to know."
Ryan nods. "I'm shyer around my parents than I am around everyone else."
I look at him and raise my eyebrows. "Really?" He nods and I lean back into him, studying the pond. "If it were darker out, I bet he'd be here."
Ryan peers into the woods and scans the trees. "Do you think he's here now?"
I stretch upwards and shrug. "Maybe. Wanna go check? If anything, it'll pass the time." I grin and glance into the sun-spilling woods.
Ryan looks at the woods, nervousness glazing his eyes. He puts on a straight face, trying to be manly. He nods and pokes out his bottom lip. "Yeah, sure."
I get up and walk around the pond, Ryan trailing by my side. He keeps up good enough and doesn't complain, the great boyfriend that he is.
The soft ground of the woods was like a carpet, squishing beneath our feet. It wasn't muddy, but it wasn't dried to the bone. It was sort of marshy. It seemed more rocky than last night when we ran through here. Maybe it had rained. There were no puddles, no sign of any downpour, but it still crossed my mind. A shiver trailed down my spine, but I quickly distinguished it.
I didn't want Ryan to think I was scared or weak. Then he wouldn't want to do this more often. I shot him a smile when I caught him looking at me which I hoped settled any questions in his mind.
As we weaved through the trees, I started to think about this murderer we were supposedly chasing. He wouldn't murder a couple of curious kids, would he? Maybe we could lie our way out of a questioning. Maybe he'd tip us off with a warning. I mentally laughed it off. A murderer wasn't going to just brush off some suspicious kids. The town was tense and ready to point fingers and if someone had even the teeniest reason to say he did it, the whole town would definitely back it up.
I slowed to a stop to listen, Ryan by my side. "We aren't going to find him today," I told him. "Not in daylight."
A creepy smile formed on Ryan's face. "Sneak out in the middle of the night and come back?"
I nod. "Of course."
