Head In The Stars

Chapter Thirty-one

I curse under my breathe and ram my feet further into my hiking boots, wincing at the pain that shoots up to my ankles.

My breathe is coming in short, sharp, painful bursts as I try to stop myself from crying. Ray grabs my arm and I pull away, lurching towards the door. I swear again as I struggle with trying to open the door.

"Hey!" Dallas calls and grabs my hand, trying to pull me away.

"Leave me alone," I hiss and kick the door.

"Avril," Ray says and tries to lead me away from the door. "Calm down. You're acting insane."

My eyes flash with anger as I spin around on my heel to glare at him. "Acting insane?!" I yell. "My brother is in trouble! So, fuck off!"

"We need to go," Levi pleads.

"She needs to calm down first," Dallas replies sharply.

I look back at Ray helplessly, sorry for the way I just yelled at him, as the two brothers start to bicker. He sighs before pushing between them and grabbing his coat. He slips on a pair of shoes before taking my hand.

"Levi," he says. "Open the door."

Levi realizes that he's moved in front of me during the argument and is blocking the door. He sheepishly opens it and steps outside, out of our way.

"Wait!" Dallas calls, barging out behind us. "So we're just letting her go running blindly into the forest after her brother?"

"I'm right here, you know!" I snap. "And I'm not blind! Levi will take me and Ray is going to come with me."

"Yeah?" He asks with a sneer. "What about me?"

"You can do whatever you want, Dallas," I tell him, suddenly exhausted. "I need to go find my brother."

"Right now," Levi adds.

I look over to see him bouncing on the balls of his feet. His eyes are still wide with fear.

"Lets go," I say to him. "Now."

"Follow me," he replies.

Ray squeezes my hand and we both take off running after Levi. I can't tell if Dallas has decided to follow or not. I don't want to waste any time by stopping to look back.

My heart beats faster and faster as we run and I become more scared. I feel sweat forming at the base of my neck and grimace as worry sets in. We race down the path that Ray took me down for our walk yesterday.

Branches snap under our weight and leaves crinkle in the light breeze. It gets damper the further we go, with little to no sunlight in some spots.

I don't ask what has happened as we pound forwards. My mind races with all the different possibilities.

Please, please, let him be okay, I whisper repeatedly under my breathe. Please.

"Help!"

The call for help rings through the forest and I almost stop dead in my tracks at the sound. Pure desperation fills Teagan's voice.

"Teags?!" I yell, picking up my pace.

"Avril!" She yells back. "Hurry!"

"Call 9-1-1!" Amy's voice yells.

Ray fumbles with his phone as he pulls it out of his pocket. I watch him as he dials the number and then flashes me a smile as the call goes through. He gestures for me to continue after Levi.

I match my pace to Levi's so that we both burst into the clearing at the same time. Everything things seems to be paused for a moment. Everything is silent an the breeze disappears.