Treason

Four

"Where are we going?" I ask Daniel as we walk through the brush, about two miles from where he "found" me. I still don't believe him. He holds a finger to his lips and shushes me, with a mock scowl on his face.

"Do you want to wake the crazies?" He scolds playfully. "They're practically nocturnal... Doesn't that make them creepier to you?"

I stifle a laugh as a mental image of a person crawling around in the dark, acting like an animal runs through my head. Because really, it seems pretty absurd. Scary, but absurd.

"It's not funny," he says, smiling. "Getting killed is a very serious matter."

"Do people really do that here? You know, go 'hunting'?"

Daniels face morphs into a grimace.

"Yeah, they do. It's scary as hell for the rest of us who aren't like that."

I rest a hand on his arm, feeling warmth just from this one touch.

"What are you like then?" I ask quietly. He breathes out through his nose, and purses his perfect pink lips.

"I'll leave that for you to decide," he says lowly. The sunlight filters down from the bright green trees, illuminating Daniels face and also casting dark shadows across it. He slowly raises his hand and lightly touches my check. His eyes are so deep, green and hazel swirled together to create a gorgeous brown. Even flecks of blue are mixed in.

He truly is handsome.

Daniel opens his mouth to say something but were cut off by a person screaming. He clenches his eyes shut and mutters a curse. I stiffen and take a step out of our intimate embrace.

"What was that?" I whisper to him, looking around for the source of the scream. Daniel huffs before grabbing me by the arm and dragging me faster through the trees.

"Dammit. I knew we were going to slow."

"What do you mean?" I ask breathlessly, trying to match his fast pace without stumbling.

"It's starting." He says flatly. My heart just about stops completely. "And were too far away from where I camped out. We're going to have to climb a tree and stay there for the night."

"Are you crazy?" I exclaim. "We'll be sitting targets!"

"You got a better idea?" I open my mouth to answer, but he cuts me off. "Didn't think so." He stops running for a second and turns to look at me. "Look, either you follow whatever I say or we die. Got it?"

I nod dumbly.

"Now come on and help me look for a tall tree." He says already scouting the forest. He whips out a knife from a clip on his belt (how did I not see that before?!), and turns to give it to me. "Hold this, and try not to get killed."

I grab it from his hand cautiously, studying it's menacing beauty. One wicked foot of pure steel, looking sharp enough to rip through flesh as easy as tearing paper. It gleamed dangerously in the fading sunlight. A reminder that night was approaching quickly.

A echo of screeching travels through the woods, there's no way of telling the distance, but they can't be too far away. Daniel, with a sense of urgency, sprints to a tall oak ten feet away from us. I quickly follow, not wanting to be left behind.

He expertly begins to scale the tree, finding tiny nooks and crannies to place his hands and feet. Before long he disappears from my view. I grow anxious as the seconds tick by, feeling uncomfortable for the first time in Treason. Uncomfortable without Daniel near me. Damn that boy.

"Hahahhahah!" A definite female laugh comes echoing through the forest, much closer than before. Oh hell no. Either there are multiple psychos out or one is traveling fast, too fast.