The Hidden Sun

Chapter XIV

Never in my life had I been more right. I hated camping. Getting up Monday morning was difficult. When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I threw on a pair of sweats and headed to my car. I tried to ignore my rumbling stomach as I realized there are no toasters in the woods.

After making the short hike to my car, I got in and started my drive to school. At least the distance was shorter.

Unfortunately, I managed to get a glance at myself in the mirror and gasped in horror at my appearance. I looked exhausted. The dark circles under my eyes seemed to make a permanent residence on my face, and my skin looked pale and dehydrated. Wonderful. What a great way to start the week.

School, of course, wasn't any better. By the time practice came around, I was ready to crawl into bed and never leave.

As soon as I walked into the gym, Coach waved me over to his spot on the bleachers. Suppressing the urge to groan and leave, I trudged over to him.

"Jennings, take this to Chris for me. He's in his office." He handed me a box, probably filled with paperwork. I grabbed it and headed towards the stairs, hoping to waste ten minutes of practice.

As I approached the office door, a panic washed over me. What if he asked about last night? What if he demanded answers? What would I say?

Suddenly the door swung open, causing me to let out a yelp. Embarrassed, I put a hand over my mouth, completely forgetting about the huge box in my hands. Not missing a beat, Chris caught it before it hit the ground.

All at once I was angry. I stormed into his office and turned around to glare at him. How dare he make me go through this! He could have just left me alone last night. Why did he go after me?

Oblivious to my thoughts, he just calmly placed the box on his desk. Slowly he turned to me and every angry thing in my mind dissipated.

I know I had to have hurt him last night. Honesty is very important to me, and I broke my own code. How could I lie to him?

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I wasn't even sure if he heard me, because I was already out the door and running towards the locker room. I didn't go to practice that day.

***

Two weeks. Two whole weeks of being alone. Two weeks of hating myself, and two weeks of focusing only on running. Coach was thrilled. State was on the 15th, and he was certain I was going to break records.

The night before I had gone to bed early trying to get a good night's sleep. Well the best I could in an old camper. Unfortunately, my bladder decided to wake me up in the middle of the night.

Grumbling, I threw on a pair of sliders and made my way to the port-a-potty that Jessie had managed to acquire for us.

After doing my business, I got out and heard footsteps by Jessie's camper. As I got closer I noticed two male voices whispering to each other. Before I could quietly back away, I tripped over my own foot and fell to the ground. I heard the voices stop. In the next moment, I was being hauled to my feet and slammed against the camper. When I finally opened my eyes, I was staring at the empty eyes of my attacker from the dance. Behind him, I noticed another man holding a flashlight. Something shiny caught my eye as I realized he held a knife to my neck. I tried not to look nervous as he smirked at me.

"So we meet again," He said cheerfully. His eyes raked over my body as I realized I was dressed in nothing but a thin tank top and shorts. I tried not to shake under his gaze; I couldn't show him how scared I was.

"You were a lot easier to find than I thought." He scoffed. "I was hoping for more of a challenge."

I noticed his grip on my arm ease a little bit as he continued to ramble. Seizing the opportunity, I pushed him away with all of my strength and grabbed onto the ladder attached to the side of the camper. By the time his partner had him on his feet again, I was sliding the ladder out of reach.

I watched for a moment as they stupidly tried to climb the camper and then worked on sneakily opening the emergency exit window. I was able to escape their notice and get inside the camper; I was hoping once I got in there Jessie would know what to do.

Once inside, the camper was eerily quiet. The only light was coming from a small candle sitting on her nightstand. I fumbled with the mountain of blankets on her bed expecting to find her curled up.

The door rattled as I realized I was out of time. Acting purely on instinct, I grabbed the candle and pointed it towards the two men.

"Where's Jessie," I demanded in a low voice. When I noticed that the fear in their eyes was bigger than expected, I glanced down at the candle and was shocked to see sparks flying out of my hand.

I swallowed deeply and met their gaze again with a new found confidence. "Where is she," I reiterated.

"I-I don't know who you're talking about," one answered.

"There was no one here when we got here," the other one followed.

"Bullshit!" I screamed. The flame of the candle jumped out at them and they staggered back. "What did you do with her," I asked again.

They both looked at each other for a moment and then backed up even more.

"W-we don't k-know."

Frustrated, I blew out the candle and ran out of the camper. As I ran I left them behind with all of my fears and worries. I was going to get Jessie back.