Bruised Innocence

Chapter 13

When the footsteps were near enough, I sneaked a peek, raising my head a bit to see who it was.

Gloise was approaching my hiding place and he just needed to walk down and turn right to find me. My breath fastened in anticipation. I didn't want them to find me.

But just at the edge of the large tree, he stopped and I was sure that I had been spotted. I started preparing myself up for a run.

Suddenly he turned around towards Samon and walked off. I released a tensely held breath and snuggled myself closer.

My face felt hot and my heart was all but running down a slope.

"What was that for?" Samon's voice enquired. A moment's silence followed.

"Nothing" replied Gloise.

"Why did you go there and return? Did you see something?"

"Nah, it was nothing. I thought I heard---, never mind. Let's go back. We should be on our way to school. He probably went back to his home."

"He couldn't have! Not with all those bruises. Didn't you notice he could barely walk after--."

A ghost of a pain struck my feet and I prayed for him not to finish that sentence. It was painful enough to live through it but having it said out loud wasn't something I thought I could bear.

I covered my ears with both of my hands and shut my eyes. A sniffle escaped me.

Unfortunately, words still trickled down to my ears, no matter how hardly I tried to cover them.

I gave up on covering them with a huff. His words made their way to me in a more louder voice, accompanied with a rush of air near my ears.

"Moreover, to get out of the woods he would have to go back to the cabin as there are fences all around this enclosure on the road's side but he didn't reach there yet!"

"How can you be so sure?"

I held my breath. I wanted to know that too.

"His bag was still there in the cabin where we left it. If he would have gotten out, he must have picked it up." Samon's voice came from nearer to my hiding place now.

I gritted my teeth. My bag! More tears threatened to come out and I resolutely kept them in.

"What if he went towards the river? There are no barriers on that side. I am telling you, you are just wasting our time here, let's go or we will be late for school. We don't have time to search a boy in the woods." Gloise argued.

There was something desperate in his voice. He really didn't want to be here.

"That wouldn't be necessary, he is here only.' Samon's voice came from the place where Gloise was standing a little while ago.

"Aren't you Arwin?" He looked into my direction from over the bushes.

He knew! My heart thudded like a drum. He had seen me already. The dread made me dash out almost impulsively. I didn't even think it might be a bluff.

I tried to get out of the bushes and run.

He was too quick. He was already standing in front of me and smirking before I could get even a few paces away from him.

"You didn't think you could outrun me. Did you?" He asked.

*So, I hope you guys are all well. I an recovering from a minor surgery and finally, I am in a fit enough headspace to start working on it again.

Actually, last night I was just reading another one of my stories 'Because he loved him' to distract myself from the pain and I realised that I actually liked the chapter I was reading, which is saying a lot because everytime I reread my works, I find things to improve. But it motivated me to keep writing and here I am.

Do tell me what you think please! More reviews=faster updates. Updated on 23/08/20*