Come Together 》Octavian's Story

Lean on Me

As we followed the guy - Andy - into the woods, I begin to actually think about what we did, and mentally face palming at our (okay, fine, my) impulsivenss. Two girls, following a guy they just met who has either an amazing storytelling ability, is a compulsively lying rapist, or is telling the truth. Honestly, I'm most scared of the last one.

I want to know what is happening; all this weird stuff has to have an explanation and it's driving me crazy not knowing what that explanation could be. Whether or not the explanation is believable honestly doesn't matter to me right now, because at this point I think could believe almost anything. Things happen for reasons, and right now, any fears I may have are heavily outweighed by my curiosity. So I follow the boy, and Penn follows me.

He leads us through the trees, leading us on no visible path, but still obviously knowing where he's going . Andy looks back at us occasionally, saying encouraging little things like "getting closer", and "almost there".

While the walk feels like forever, in actuality it only took ten minutes tops. Except for Andy's encouragments, there isn't any talking. I know Penn is probably a bit scared, but I'm trying to think of an escape plan for it something goes horribly wrong and don't have time for feelings.

Our little hike ends when we come to a pathetic housing arraignment--basically a saggy lean-to made of sticks and branches, propped up against a willow tree. Then again, I guess we can't exactly be picky right now, seeing as how we're currently homeless.

Lordy Lordy picca, I'm already thinking of this place as my new home. Swell, why don't I just pick out curtains, I grumble inwardly. Maybe I can use them to cover up the holes in this ridiculous excuse for a living space.

Andy turns and makes a grand, sweeping arm gesture towards the lean-to.

"So this is home?" I ask, nearly wincing at how sarcastically it comes out. I don't though; when I feel threatened, my strategy is acting overconfident. It's worked so far, no need to stop now.

Andy starts to glare, then for some reason changes his mind, saying only "ladies first".

As I am in front of Penn, I make the first move, walking up to the lean-to and immediately having to resort to crawling to enter. I make my way to the end of it and sit down, pulling my knees to my chest to give the appearance of there being more space than there actually is. You know that phrase, "it looks bigger on the inside"? Yeah, that's a lie, at least in this case. The shelter is probably about five feet long, with its highest point being only about four feet. This means that with the slant of the branches, the highest your head can go is about three feet. That being said, the shelter is just big enough for three people to sit side-by-side with a tiny bit of elbow room. I feel bad for Penn, as she is stuck between Andy and I and looks distinctly uncomfortable.

We aren't quiet for a moment before Penn decides to break the silence and the start the inevitable conversation herself.

"So," her voice wavers with just the tinist bit of nervousness. "Would you please explain?"

Andy gives her a wry smile. "Anything in particular first?"

"The monsters," she answers promptly.

"Well...okay. I might have to explain some other stuff first to explain that," he replies, fiddling with his shoelaces. "But I must warn you, there is no gentle way to hear or tell this stuff," he continues, looking us each in the eye.

"You guys have heard the Greek myths, right? You know, gods and monsters and excuses for how and why weather and stuff happens?"

I nod slowly. "Yeah, who hasn't? And so what?" I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this, and it's making me feel surly, ready to pick a fight. Or maybe just prank him to death. At least the second one would make me feel better.