Deep Waters

Chapter Nine

"Delilah, wake up!"

My eyes shot open as Aria's voice repeated these words at least five times until I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What?" I snapped a little too harshly.

"I think there's a bear outside."

Feeling exhausted from getting woken up after not getting much sleep at all, I rolled my eyes dramatically. "There's no bear," I told her, feeling sure of myself.

"There definitely is!" she insisted. "Marla get up!" Aria slapped her friend on the shoulder, but the girl just groaned animalistically and rolled over, making me tempted to laugh.

"Marla is the bear you are hearing."

She groaned in frustration. "Delilah, someone needs to go check."

I rubbed my eyes and sighed. "You do realize that if there actually is a bear out there, me going to see will get me mauled right?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Right," I said. "I'm the one being ridiculous."

"Delilah, please," Aria whined.

I growled. "Okay, fine." I'm climbed to my hands and knees and started making my way to the tent opening.

"Wait. Here, take this." She handed me a small pocketknife that fit comfortably in the clutch of my hand. I raised an eyebrow at her. "What? Holden gave it to me." Shaking my head, I unzipped the tent. "Be safe and don't get mauled."

"Thanks."

I moved out into the dark, making sure to zip the tent back up behind me. Tightening my grip on the pocketknife, I quickly realized that I needed a flashlight. However, the boys had taken the only two that we had, and right then, I vowed to never let that happen again. The small light from the fire was the only light around me, leaving everything dim and hard to see.

I looked around and couldn't see any large silhouettes which was a good sign. I managed to creep by the boys' tents and peek inside one of them. From what I could tell in the dim light, there were two bodies laying there. The other boy must be in the other tent. That meant they were back and not the ones making the noise Aria was hearing. Great.

I walked around a little more, being careful with my steps and trying to make as little noise as possible. A loud crack sounded behind me, as sticks broke underneath the weight. "Probably not a bear," I thought. "A raccoon? More likely." I spun around toward the campfire, only to see a man's silhouette standing there. It caught me off guard and it took me a moment to even react.

The silhouette was a little broad shouldered but was softly outlined as if the person was covering themselves in a cloak or a blanket. I stood there, almost completely frozen as the figure raised a flashlight and pointed it in my direction. The light was blinding, and I had to raise my hand to block the rays from hitting me directly in the eyes. I could tell the man was moving toward me, but not being able to see anything, I just stumbled back.

Within a second, the man raced toward me and grabbed me as I was falling, catching me before I could hit the ground. Charles was my only thought. It was him. He found me. I fought against the arms that were now wrapped around me.

"It's me," his deep voice spoke. "Delilah, it's me!"

At the sound of the familiar voice, I stopped fighting and managed to take a step back to see that it was actually Kason who was standing in front of me. I exhaled a breath of relief.

He placed a hand on his chest with his hand that wasn't holding a blanket around him. "You scared me to death."

I stared at him, trying to calm my speeding heartbeat. "What? I scared you? You scared me! I thought you were Charles!"

I watched the silhouette of his shoulders relax and he took a step toward me before pulling me into a hug. "I'm sorry. I just got up to use the bathroom. I didn't mean to scare you. He isn't here. It's just me and you."

I nodded. "It's okay...Just please be less creepy about going to the bathroom next time. What's with the blanket?"

"I'm obviously cold."

"It's not even chilly."

"That's where we disagree."

I rolled my eyes and smiled at him. This boy was going to be the death of me.

***

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~Emily