Pawprints

CHAPTER 1

The sun was shining for the first time in weeks, behind a thin, white layer of clouds, over the green landscapes of Bozeman, Montana, above a natural stream of water not far from town, surrounded by a myriad of trees, hidden from the noisy city life, only a few miles away.

It was Saturday. Nathan Campbell, who happened to live in this town, was finally out after a while. He used to share the house with two other males and his girlfriend, if she could be called that, but now that she had left and the guys had moved to a bigger city, he found himself all alone. No that he wasn't used to being alone, he had left his parents home after dropping college and he was used to his ex coming and going as she pleased.

Nathan never came to enjoy his life in the city. He worked at night, slept the whole day, and whenever he had some free time he would walk out of town, just to let himself get lost into the wilderness and maybe smoke some weed, a bad habit he had picked during his college days and he hadn't been able to drop since then.

This was one of those days, and he sat next to the running water, taking a look around as he picked the lighter out of his pocket. There was no sound to be heard, apart from the splash of water and the eventual chirp of birds, yet he spotted a patch of cream yellow hair at the other side of the stream.

Fuck! He thought, hiding the lighter in his pocket once again. The last thing he wanted was trouble. However, the more he stared at it, the more he realized the figure wouldn't move.

"Hey!" He shouted, but there was no reply. Whoever they were, they remained unmoving.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

He had somehow gotten himself into a crime scene. For a second he turned around, ready to leave as fast as he could, and yet a part of him that the person could be alive, that he was already too involved to just take his leave and pretend that nothing had happened.

Hesitant, he ran a hand over his stubble and then through his dark hair. He drew a deep breath and attempted to wade across the stream, without success, just to end up getting into the water, soaked to his tights, his clothes sticking uncomfortably to his skin.

When he pulled himself out of the stream, he noticed the unconscious person was fairly younger than he expected. It was a boy, probably not older than seventeen, of feminine features and — he hated to admit it — strangely beautiful. Nathan looked around again and then leaned down next to the boy, pressing his hands to his chest, feeling for a heartbeat. After feeling one, he held his hand to the boy's mouth. The breathing seemed as normal as the heartbeat. Quickly, he cupped some water from the stream into the palm of his hands and poured it on the boy's face.

The boy blinked a few times, slowly, his eyes still unfocused as he looked at the man next to him.

"Wh... Where... I...?" He muttered, before all strength left his body once again.

There were red stains in his hair. Someone or something must have hit him in the head. The paleness of his face worried Nathan.

"Hey, come on!" Nathan spoke desperately. "Don't black out on me!"

He looked around again. He didn't know what to do. At the end he took the boy in his arms and began walking out of the forest. He let out several deep breaths. Nathan had a lean body, but there was something about carrying a male versus carrying a female that was making the situation much more difficult.

"Hang in there." The man almost begged as they both got closer to the neighborhood. They approached a red Toyota and Nathan placed the boy gently against it while he pulled a keychain with a pair of car keys among other types of keys and chains dangling from it, some for use, some just for fashion.