Awakening - The Last Science #1

Chapter 7 - Misdirection - II

  As Alden tripped over yet another tree root, he was reminded just how much he hated the outdoors. Rika had since opted to walk slightly behind him, and as he started to fall she caught his arm by the jacket sleeve, keeping him upright.

  "Thanks," Alden grumbled.

  "How are you this clumsy?" Rika wondered aloud. Alden didn't bother to answer, stubbornly forging ahead.

  They'd been walking for at least an hour, and he was beginning to feel like they were completely lost. As Rika predicted, they hadn't found a single shred of intelligent life. The forest didn't look like it was changing, except perhaps to get thicker. Thankfully, the canopy was thick enough that the ground wasn't too wet, and the periodic rainshower didn't always make it down to their heads. On the other hand, with the sun having already set, the clouds and trees combined to bring nightfall much quicker than they'd expected. A lantern bobbed about ahead, marking Lily, and Rika had produced flashlights from her bag for Alden and herself.

  "Hey, wait up!" Rika called. Lily and Natalie were atop a steep muddy knoll a few dozen yards ahead. Alden had lost track of the cat, but he had no doubt it was nearby.

  They stopped abruptly at Rika's voice. "What?"

  Rika clambered up the side of the hill, grabbing tree roots and branches for stability as she went regardless of how wet and dirty they were. Alden took one look at the first one she grabbed, saw the mud caked on her hand, and decided to wait for them at the bottom of the hill. He wished, not for the first time, that he'd brought some gloves.

  A nearby log looked reasonably dry and clean of dirt and mud, so Alden took the opportunity to rest his legs. He wasn't particularly out of shape, but it'd been a long day and he was starting to feel it. He rolled his head around his shoulders, trying to wake himself up a little more, when he saw something in the distance.

  It was a young man, likely just a student of the college if Alden were to guess. He was intimidatingly tall, well over six feet. Black, bald, handsome and wearing a thick, old fashioned overcoat that reached past his knees. It looked expensive, comfortable and warm, which were three things Alden could have done with right then. Still, what was this guy doing out in the forest this late at night?

  More importantly, he realized, what were the odds he'd end up so close to their group by sheer coincidence?

  Alden got to his feet and was about to call out to Rika when the man's eyes locked with his own. A chill shot through Alden's blood, rushing up his spine to freeze his mind entirely. It was his eyes. They were inky black, dark as the deepest night sky devoid of all stars, with only the faintest glimmer to show any life behind them.

  Alden could have looked away at any moment. Nothing was stopping him in the slightest from fleeing up the hill, where two powerful women and a little girl with a gigantic pet cat were busy arguing. They were nominally on his side if he were in danger. Yet he knew, instinctively, that to break this man's sight would be a mistake.

  Is this how I die? Alden thought, a multitude of regrets bubbling to the surface of his mind.

  The man slowly shook his head, answering Alden's unspoken question. Alden felt that chill spread further, lancing through his veins to every part of his body. Even if the man did not intend to kill him, he felt that he might be trapped in that spot for eternity.

  Finally, mercifully, the man turned away. For the briefest moment, he looked up the hill at the trio, and Alden was able to tear his gaze away. He focused his eyes on anything he could find. The twigs scattered on the forest floor, the fluttering leaf that had just fallen nearby—anything other than the man he had seen through the trees.