Hunted

Revelations

*Aura's POV*

     Chester and the guys decided to stay behind to make sure no one tried to break in while Dimitri and us girls went into town. I was kind of disappointed because I really wanted him to come, but I understand why he didn't. I think it's kinda sweet how concerned he is. Smiling, I thought back to our kiss last night. Even though it was done on a dare, I felt as if he really wanted to kiss me and that it gave him the perfect excuse to. It was everything I've been imagining over the last few months it would be. I really feel that he could be the one but I just hope he feels the same way. "Hey! You! Stop daydreaming and get your ass in here." I heard Rose yell from across the street. "I'm coming, jeez." I mumbled. Since none of us except Lacey knew anything about Townsville, we all stood around waiting for her to tell us where to go. Not that I couldn't have figured it out on my own. Townsville was a very small town that was home to maybe 100 people, if that. I could probably run 10 minutes and reach the outskirts of town. I've never liked places like this cause everyone knows everyone and it's impossible to keep secrets in a town like that. But this is Lacey's home town and who am I to judge. Without even looking to see if anyone was coming, I ran across the street to join the rest of the gang. "Where are we going first?" I asked out of breath. "The most important thing we need to get is sensor alarms and maybe a surveillance camera or two." Dimitri said. Lacey looked around and started walking towards a store named Security Plus. How original, I thought, as Rose opened the door. The shop smelled like a mix of mold and plastic and was definitely not appealing. Trying not to wrinkle my nose, I walked inside and was impressed with just how many different types of security devices they had. I was expecting maybe one or two types of alarms, but they had to have been over twenty, each with specific uses. "Can I help you?" the clerk asked in an annoyed tone. Dimitri stared him down and replied, "We need to make sure no one can break into our house without us knowing it; so whatever you think would be best to do that is what we need." I could tell he was frustrated with how rude the guy was.  The clerk shuffled slowly from behind the counter and picked up what looked like an over-sized camcorder. "This here is our top of the line surveillance camera. It has infrared and night vision and turns on its base to cover over 180 degrees. As long as you set it up properly, no one will be able to enter or exit without you knowing about it. We also have light motion sensors that will come on if anyone walks by. Those will probably be your best bet to stop intruders before they even get close enough to try and break in. We also have a high decibel alarm for your doors and windows that will go off if any of them are opened. They're damn loud and impossible to sleep through so you can rest easy." I didn't personally think we needed all of that, but apparently I was the only one. Lacey looked around at the rest of us then said, "We'll take them all." As we were leaving I thought to myself, with this much security, there's no way that anyone could break in undetected, right?

*Oliver's POV*

     I've never really been one to get scared easily but I couldn't shake the fear that there was more to what happened last night than we knew. Walking in to the kitchen being absolutely destroyed by an unknown person really rattled me, especially since I didn't even tell them the worst part. I don't think whoever was in the house last night was just looking for something. Before Dimitri came running in, I saw a note underneath a butcher knife left on the counter. It read, "Sleep with one eye open." Without thinking, I quickly ripped it up and tossed it in the trash. I probably should have told them what I found but I didn't want to worry them any more than they already were. Now that we are putting security cameras and alarms around the house, I don't believe that whoever's trying to scare us will be stupid enough to try and break in again. At least I hoped so. "Hey, Ollie!" I heard from somewhere outside. Opening the door, I looked around and saw Chester crouched down beneath one of the many trees that surrounded the house. "Did you find something?" He looked up at me and asked "What does this look like to you?" Bending down, I could just make out what appeared to be drag marks, from something that looked rather large. "Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it looks like something was dragged out here." I replied. "What do you think it could have been?" he asked. I racked my brain trying to come up with an easy explanation but nothing came. "I don't really know man. I'm not sure I really want to know either." I said while looking to see if the tracks led anywhere. We followed them for a few minutes but they stopped abruptly near the river about a mile from the cabin. Since we had no idea where to go from there we headed back towards the cabin feeling defeated. By the time we made it back, the others were already back. "Where have you guys been? We've been looking everywhere for you." Lacey said sounding really pissed off. "Nowhere, just looking around." I said but Chester cut me off saying, "Don't lie to them. They deserve to know... I found what looked like drag marks under one of the trees and we followed them to see where they lead, but we lost the trail down by the river." I heard Samantha say "Damn man." and Dimitri wrapped his arms around Rose. 'I think we should get to work on getting all this stuff set up before it gets dark then." Tyler said to no one in particular. I grabbed all the alarms I could carry and began putting them on all the windows on the third floor , while everyone else split up and did the same. There was only four windows, one being in the bathroom, and the others being in the bedrooms. Once I was confident none of them could be opened without the alarms going off, I headed downstairs to help Dimitri set up the camera facing the back door where the break in occurred. " I just don't understand why anyone would do this. I mean what's to gain?" Dimitri said while trying to position the camera to have the best angle possible. "I wish I knew. It's probably just kids running around trying to see who they can scare. I wouldn't be too worried." I lied. "Yeah,  you're probably right. I just couldn't stand the idea of anything happening to Rose. Well..I mean Rose and anyone else of course." he said sheepishly. "Yeah I get what you mean. I was kind of hoping this trip would be a relaxing one. Just beer, friends, and maybe a chance to finally get to know Samantha." I replied. Dimitri spun around with a grin and said, "I didn't know you had a thing for her." I looked up at him and replied, "I don't know man. I saw her all the time when she was dating Chester but then she broke up with him and I haven't really seen her much since. When Chester invited me to come along I starting thinking of ways to see if she's interested in me, but with everything that's happened I just didn't think it was the right time." "Well, you'll never know until you try, and there's no time like the present." he said and turned around to finish the final touches on the camera. "There, all done. No one's coming in here without being seen. Now lets go inside and see if there's anything else that needs to be done." Grabbing the ladder, I turned to take it back to the shed and ran right into Aura. "Hey Oliver, are you guys done yet?" she asked. "Yeah, we just finished up. Is there anything else I can do?" I replied. "No, the boys just finished setting up the last camera and the lights have already been changed so everything's done. We were just about to order pizza if you wanna come inside and pick what you want." she said in a sad voice. "Is everything okay?" I asked. She looked up in surprise and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. This just isn't how I thought our trip was gonna be is all. How could you tell something was wrong?" I thought for a minute on how to reply. "I guess you just seemed a little down, is all." I answered. She smiled and much to my surprise, threw her arms around me in a tight hug. "Thank you for being concerned. I'm not used to guys who actually pay attention to how I feel." she mumbled into my chest. She must not have been with too many good guys, I thought as I wrapped my arms around her. "Ahem.." I heard from behind me and she quickly pulled away. Samantha was leaning against the door, an amused expression on her face. How was I supposed to explain this? "Oh hey Sam, are ya'll waiting on us to order?" Aura asked. "No, they're still fighting over where they want to get it from. I got tired of waiting so I came to find you. I didn't know you were out here with Ollie." she replied. "I was just coming to let him know that we were done setting up." Aura said in an unconvincing tone. "Yeah, that's definitely what it looked like." was Sam's reply as she flipped her waist-length dark hair over her shoulder and  walked back inside. "Is it just me or does she seem mad?" I asked. She wouldn't look at me but mumbled, "She is mad, and I know why but it's not my place to say." She tried to walk away but  I grabbed her arm and said, "Aura, what's going on? I have a right to know." She turned around but didn't say anything at first. "A while back Sam told me she liked a guy but wouldn't tell me who. All she said was that it was a friend of Chester's she met when they were dating. From the way she acted when she saw us together, I'd say it's you." I couldn't believe it. Sam actually liked me? Great, I thought, how am I ever supposed to have a chance with her now that she thinks there's something between me and Aura? Without saying another word, she turned around and walked inside leaving me with nothing but doubt.