The Viper ONC 2020

Chapter One

The early morning sun peeked through the mountains, the sky filling with reds, oranges, and yellows. Clouds lazily littered the area; most of them disappeared within minutes of arriving. Scarlett Everest sat on a rock's edge as she rubbed her eyes vigorously to wake up, but truth be told, she never was a morning person. Her girlfriend, Jacklyn Holmes, skipped rocks a few meters away by a nearby pond. The two were three hours away from their not so small home of Detroit, Michigan, camping. Scarlett knew that Jacklyn was an outdoorsy, athletic person. She preferred— well— the indoors. No bugs, no rain, and perhaps the occasional air conditioning.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Jacklyn whispered as she wrapped herself around Scarlett's shoulders. A shiver ran down Scarlett's spine as Jacklyn laid a gentle kiss on her cheek. Scarlett's dark brown bangs drooped into her eyes as she fell frozenly to Jacklyn's spell; she always had that charm on her.

"Very," Scarlett hummed as Jacklyn walked around in front of her; Scarlett just stared, taking in every curve and feature. Jacklyn was all hers. It took her by surprise when Jacklyn sat on her lap, both of them taking a second to adore the beauty of the rising sun.

The earth was finally stretching its arms and waking up.

The two briefly spoke in their tired voices while the sky grew brighter and the sun grew larger. The clouds became less frequent, and the bugs that seemed to be abuzz in the night seemed to disappear at the very sight of the light.

Scarlett felt a small trickle down her spine. She gazed over her shoulder while Jacklyn gave her a pout, wanting a kiss. With a small smile, Scarlett pressed her soft lips toJacklyn's and they held that stance for a long moment. Yet, even during the kiss, Scarlett could not let go of the feeling that they were being watched by someone, or something, that was not supposed to be there.

She quickly broke away from her kiss as she stood up and grabbed a small pocket knife from her coat.

"Who is there?" Scarlett shouted, her breath heavy.

"Baby," Scarlett heard Jacklyn murmured under her breath. Scarlet didn't budge. She could feel eyes on her— how many sets— god, she didn't know anymore. She thought it was only Jacklyn and her here, but no, she swore there were more people here.

There were more people here.

Scarlett had to sit down and hold her head in her hands as her breathing remained heavy. Jacklyn rubbed Scarlett'sback, but it hardly helped soothe the panic that surged through her body. It took a moment for Scarlett to completely calm down, the wary feeling she had seemed slowly trickle away as the time went on. What was left was an exhausted young woman who was continuously looking over her shoulder at every little sound, every little leaf falling or blade of grass moving.

Scarlett remained frustrated with herself as Jacklyn comforted her. They clung onto each other as they sat a few feet away from the pond and watched the sunrise.

She couldn't get over the fact that everyone thought this feeling was just in her head. Her girlfriend, Jacklyn Holmes, skipped rocks a few meters away by a nearby pond. The fact that people are watching her was real; Scarlett swore it was real.

"Stop thinking," Jacklyn mumbled into Scarlett's sweater. Scarlett let out a burst of nervous laughter as she fiddled around with the ends of Jacklyn's soft, long brown hair.

"You know it's what I do well."

"You know I didn't ask that." Scarlett huffed for a moment. She was deciding whether she really wanted to put up a fight or not. The attempt would have landed short of success. 

"Sometimes I hate that you're right."

"I'm always right." There was a pause while Scarlett scoffed at Jacklyn. It was playful, and Jacklyn gave her a small punch to the arm.