Life Catcher

Chapter Twenty: Go Away... Please

20.

The rest of that night, or should I say morning, was a blur. We run home and Sam catches up with us. He gets angry when he hears we're heading back to the hut and tries to convince me to continue our "exploration". He almost convinces me. Almost. However, Erik steps in and says if Sam doesn't shut up with all this exploration crap, he was going to rip his head off. Sam, afraid he was right, shuts his mouth immediately.

When we arrive back at the hut, about midday, I crash on the ground in front of the hut and find out that Kai slept the whole time. She wakes up wearily after a few minutes and asks if we found any dinner. What an idiot. I wonder what Winter did to her.

After we fib about hunting for food and "finding" clothes in the forest, we crashed and rested until late afternoon. Erik sneaks out to find food. I lay awake, in my own bed, looking up at the ceiling, or should I say leaves, and think about all the things that happened earlier.

I sit up to the sound of scratching noises. I look around and see Sam writing on a piece of line paper. He goes back and erases a few words and writes again.

"What. . .are you doing?" I ask and his head pops up to look at me.

"Oh. I thought you were asleep," he says clueless.

I squint angrily.

"What are you doing?"

"Eh. . .well. I'm running away?" He says and shrugs.

A huge sigh escapes my mouth.

"Why. . .exactly?"

He drops his pencil and lies on his back.

"Your right Cleo," he says solemnly.

"I am?"

"Running away doesn't solve anything," he says and puts his paper and pencil in the hut-made backpack. That was easy.

"Why don't you go home? Where you belong," I say wrapping my arms around my knees.

He glances at me then studies the ceiling.

"Don't belong there," he mumbles.

"What do you mean you don't belong there? It's not like you're some freakish person with devilish wings. You fit in way better than I do," I say closing my eyes.

I hear him stand up.

My stomach does cartwheels when I feel arms wrapped around me. My eyes bolt open and I push Sam away. Our eyes meet.

"If I go back. . .will you forget me?" He asks suddenly.

"I'm not that stupid Samantha. How could I forget any of this?" I say when Erik walks in without his mask on.

Me and Sam look at him.

"Did I miss something?" He says, his voice less muffled than what I'm used to.

"Sam's going home," I answer.

Sam starts. "I didn't say I was going home," he exclaims.

"But you just said-" I begin.

"What I said was if I left. You really think I'd leave you with him and Crazy?" Asks Sam rhetorically.

"Oh? If she's Crazy then what am I?" asks Winter sarcastically.

I shrug ignoring Winter's comment. "I would have thought so. But going home would be nice, wouldn't it-"

"Sam's leaving!" Exclaims Kai in her funny accent.

I can't help but giggle.

She jolts to his side and squeezes the life out of him.

"You wouldn't leave me here all alone? I couldn't bare life without you Sam! Oh please don't leave!"