Where You Belong

A Little Game of Hide and Seek

At first, there were a few times Lexi heard Logan calling out her name with a deranged laugh, tromping through the brush angrily. After awhile, however, she could no longer hear anything besides the downpour of rain and the splashing of water against the cave's entrance.

She gained her breath back, resting inside the mouth of the cave, but now found it practically impossible to move a single limb. The burnout from running and the excess of adrenaline coursing through her body all night had taken its toll. Even shifting in place ached something fierce.

Her pants of fatigue had quieted down to ragged breaths, her lungs still burning in her chest. Whole body soaked thoroughly, the water began to chill as the cooler air within the cave began to settle. Unable to feel her fingers or toes to any extent, she simply waited for either Law and his group, or Logan, to finally find her.

Eyes closing, her hands skimmed a few inches around beside her for the fishing knife, closing her hand over the grip once more, as that last thought penetrated her tired mind. Logan. If he was the one who found her first, she'd at least attempt to get a stab in before he killed her.

Vision swimming, she allowed her head to loll to the side. Her injuries and the prolonged blood loss were the most worrying part. While she never really got a good look at how large the puddle of her blood in the basement had become, she knew that humans could only survive 2 or 3 pints of blood loss in the worst conditions. She'd easily lost at least 1 pint, looking down at all of the numerous cuts. She just hoped it wasn't too much more than that.

Because if they couldn't get her to the hospital for treatment soon, she my just bleed out in this very cave.

Outside, she heard the familiar snapping of branches and the crunch of shoes. With the darkness in the cave and the ever-flowing curtain of water blocking the entrance, she couldn't make out shapes or figures very well. Was it Law or Logan? Lexi couldn't tell. Swallowing thickly, the rational part of her brain concluded that it was better to be prepared for the worst, instead of mistake her would-be killer as a friend.

Then, she saw the figure move in front of the cave, running straight for the entrance. It was a man, that was for sure. It wasn't Brittany. Whoever it was was much taller than her friend.

Swallowing thickly, she prepared for whoever may walk through the entrance, holding the small knife up at the ready.

Law ahead of the rest of the group, he rounded the last corner and spotted the familiar-looking cave up ahead. The same one his men had stumbled out of in confusion, rain pouring down and soaking them to the bone. Sword leaning against his shoulder, he glanced around for any sign of Lexi but found none. There was no one around. Perhaps they'd gotten there first.

Panting from their jog through the forest, he directed his attention to the ground, searching the area for any footprints or signs of someone having been there. The river's flow was faster than when Lexi had brought them to look around for a way back home, the rain rising the water level. It obscured one section of the path, but a part still remained in tact, though excessively muddy.

Peering around, he spotted three prints running towards the mouth of the cave. The rain hadn't yet washed them away, so they couldn't have been too old. Widening his search, he also found another set of prints, these ones much larger in size than the others, running perpendicular off to the left. The man who'd taken her must be close as well.

Deciding to follow the smaller prints, Law's eyes rose up to see the mouth of the cave covered by a waterfall, cascading over the entrance and carving a path back into the river flow. He unsheathed his sword, holding it out at the ready in case the man had managed to loop around and find his way there, hiding in wait.