Lost

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

School was school. Half my brain was thinking about Stacie and the other half was thinking about the woods behind my house. 

Detention couldn't be over fast enough. I called Mom and let her know I was on my way home. She said she was going grocery shopping, that she might not be there when I got in. 

The drive home seemed longer than usual but when I got there I went to my room and grabbed my shotgun. I made sure the house was locked up before I went into the woods. 

I walked slowly, scanning the entire woods with my eyes. 

I looked back every couple minutes and noted that I was losing sight of the house and going deeper into the thick trees with my gun held ready. 

A twig snapped and it sounded close. A little to my right I saw the dark figure. 

I realized it was a girl and put my gun down. She was staring at me from behind a tree a couple yards away. 

"Hey." I said but she didn't move. 

I walked towards her slowly. Her hair was messy with leaves and dirt. Mud was smeared across her face. 

"Are you alright?" I asked her. 

Her eyes flicked to the shotgun in my hand and back to my face. 

"I won't hurt you." I said, putting the gun on the ground. 

Her lips moved but I didn't hear anything. I got closer and she huddled to the tree. 

Her dark clothes were stained with mud and blood. 

I reached out to touch her shoulder but she twitched away. 

"I'm lost." She told me in a monotone voice.

"What's your name?" I asked her.

"I'm lost." She replied.

"Hey, What's your name? Can you tell me where you live?" I asked again.

She looked at me again. Her eyebrows plunged over crystal blue eyes. "I'm lost." She said, her cracked lips barely moving.

"Where did you come from?" I whispered to her.

"I'm lost." She whispered back. It might have just been how freaked out I was, but I could have sworn her eyes went from blue to red to blue in a split second. 

"What happened to you?" I asked her, trying to decide if what I saw just now was real. 

"Help me." She whimpered. 

I held my hand out to her. "Come with me, alright? I'll help you."

She took my hand and walked with me. All the while I kept asking her name and where she lived but she kept saying 'I'm lost.' and 'help me.'

I took her home and sat her down on a kitchen stool. I got a washrag out of the closet and ran it under warm water. I handed her the rag but she just looked at it like it was a snake. 

"To clean your face." I said, holding it out to her. 

She looked at me curiously. What was wrong with this girl?

I reached up to wipe the mud off her forehead but she leaned away. 

"It's okay." I told her and she let me clean her face. 

"Can you tell me your name?"

"I-I don't remember." She said. 

"Can you try? Can you remember what it starts with?" I looked at her, she looked like a Ginny. "Is your name Ginny?" I asked

"Ginny." She repeated. "Yes. I'm Ginny." 

I didn't believe her. It sounded like she was just accepting anything. I went with it anyway. 

"Alright, Ginny. I'm Jake."

"Jake." She repeated

"Yea. Do you remember anything?" 

"I don't know." She said. 

I sighed. I didn't know what to do. 

I took her hand and let her upstairs to Mom's room. They both seemed about the same size. I went to the closet and pulled out a green T-shirt and some jeans. I took Ginny to the bathroom and handed her the clothes. 

"You can clean up in here and change into those." I told her. She looked at the clothes then back up at me then closed the door. 

I waited downstairs. It seemed like forever before she came down. Her hair was wet but clean and I could tell she used my Axe shampoo. It was odd to smell it on a girl. 

I debated if I should call 911 or not so I called Mom instead. 

"Uh. I found a girl in the woods. I don't know what to do." I said. Ginny stared at me. 

"Honey." Mom sighed. "If this is a joke-"

"It's not. I went hunting and I just saw her. She was lost so I brought her home. I thought I could help." I told Mom

"I'm on my way home." She said. 

"Are you hungry?" I asked Ginny after hanging up. 

"Yes." She said. 

I rumaged through the freezer and found a pizza. I put it in the oven and took Ginny to the living room and we sat on the couch. 

"Thank you." She said to me. 

"No problem." I said. I heard the oven beep when it hit the right temperature. 

We sat in silence. I felt awkward. 

Mom came in with groceries and I put them away while she talked to Ginnny. I thought Mom would be a little upset when she found out I gave Ginny some of her clothes but she didn't even notice. she went into protective mode and tried her best to get more information from Ginny. 

"Jake, honey. Call 911 for me please." She said calmly from the living room. 

I sliced the pizza and grabbed the phone and brought them to Mom and Ginny. 

"No please, don't call the police. They won't help me." Ginny said to Mom. 

"Sweetie, the police can help figure out where you live and get you back to your parents." 

"Please. Maybe I can get my memory back in the next couple of hours." Ginny said, her face pleading. 

Mom sighed again, she seemed to be doing that alot here lately. "Alright." She said, getting up to go in the kitchen. 

I may have been seeing things again, but I could have sworn Ginny's eyes flashed red before she looked away.