Ghost Of The Forest

Ch 2: Don't Be Afraid

                                                            Ch 2: Don't Be Afraid 

  I was shaking as I hid underneath a huge leaf, it shielding me like an umbrella as the rain came down super quickly and heavily.

  The rainforest couldn’t have sounded more alive if it had tried.

  It was slowly sinking in that shape shifters were real, and that this wasn’t a dream. I even tried to wake myself up by pinching myself at one point. And of course it didn’t work.

  When it had started raining, I knew by instincts that I should take cover before I slipped and hit my head or something, that I wasn’t accustomed for this weather, but I had gotten soaked in the process of finding shelter.

  I was starting to regret moving from the spot in the emergent layer where I had woken up, as now that I have wandered around a lot, I was near the Canopy layer and I had gotten lost...again. I was starting to miss the mystery boy: him being here protecting me, his striking eyes, his voice.

  I screamed as something slid past me without a care in the world, and I brought my knees to my chest as I wrapped my arms around them tightly, whimpering softly as it disappeared from my hiding spot.

  I spotted a black shape twelve metres or so away in amongst the tree branches as I looked around, but half of me hoped it was the boy who had saved me and half of me thought it wasn’t.

  As the shape moved closer, I saw that it was, in fact, a panther with vibrant green eyes stalking towards me. I shivered as I realized that the boy had came looking for me, making me feel wanted and cared for.

  He held my gaze as he came under the part of the leaf that was hanging down more at the side, but I rubbed my bare arms as I looked away from him shaking his fur so he could dry off. I heard him rubbing against the tree to dry off too.

  I gasped as another panther jumped down near the leaf, coming closer as it carried one of my bags in-between its sharply pointed teeth, dark eyes glimmering in the dim light.

  He nodded once to the panther behind me before he darted into the darkness he had appeared from. I put out a trembling, numb hand and pulled my bag closer to me, concentrating on opening it as my fingers were fumbling with the zip. When I finally opened it, I pulled out the towel I had brought with me and put it besides me on the ground for the boy, not turning around as I didn’t want to look at him when he shifted to dry himself.

  “ Thank you,” he murmured from behind me, his breath warm on the back of my neck, making me shiver. He disappeared behind me with the towel and I yawned softly, tiredness starting to kick in.

  I closed my eyes as I rested my cheek against my knee, my arms wrapped around my legs while holding them to my chest once again to keep warm.

  I was jolted awake when I felt strong arms wrap around me, holding me to a warm and soft, yet strong and hard chest. I opened my eyes sleepily to see the green eyed boy.

  He stroked my hair as I stirred and I pulled away from him with a shudder, knowing I had to get dry.

  “ I’ve already got some clothes out for you,” he said quietly when I looked at my bag, but I nodded slightly as I took them gently from where they sat besides us. I barely noticed they were my fluffiest ones, and when I did, I smiled softly to myself.

  I managed to change my top without revealing anything; putting it on over my wet top and taking the wet top off underneath the dry one, and I shivered as I put a slightly baggier short sleeved top over my long-sleeved one. I changed my shorts into a pair of joggies in the same way. While I had been getting changed, the green eyed boy had been drying my hair for me as gently and carefully as he could manage, and I was grateful.