VALERIA

Chapter Three.

It was midday by the time Connor met Batty at the corner of fifth and main, right adjacent to the community park. Connor wore a bomber jacket that just about swamped his delicate frame whereas Batty wore a turtle neck and cami dress. It was dotted with strawberries; she loved it because she felt it matched her hair. Connor saw her and smiled, an eyebrow raised.

"Dressed up for a hike?" He asked as he joined her. Batty looped their arms at the elbow. "I never go anywhere else and I have all these nice things. This felt like an occasion to me." Connor laughed softly, and the two of them made their descent onward, on their way to the town's outskirts. Where the woods grew. Batty wanted to shiver but she couldn't, not in front of Connor.

The woods stretched tall into the sky, but not overshadowing the city. This time of year, the trees were an array of yellows and oranges and reds, all lit up by the afternoon sun. It looked like an autumn scene. Batty felt strangely drawn by it. "I never noticed how pretty it was before!" Batty marveled to Connor, practically skipping now. "Me either," The boy agreed, eying his friend fondly. "The pictures looked nothing like this but then again, it was night."

Batty looked around, swerving to avoid prickly tree branches in her path. "Where are we headed? Just to the end of the treeline, or?" At her question, Connor nodded. "Yeah. We'll just follow the path until the end then head back. We wouldn't have deviated off of the path, would we?" Batty held her tongue. She knew the answer to that — yes, they would. But her instinct was to help and causing a panic would do the opposite.

"Not gonna lie, I'm a little spooked. It feels like we're in a movie." Batty piped up. Their surroundings themself didn't look very offputting; gorgeous autumn leaves and the occasional hum of a cricket. But it was rather quiet besides that. Like time had frozen and it was just the two of them in the woods. Suddenly a nearby shrub rustled. In Batty's on edge state, she leaped backwards, almost colliding into Connor. The boy threw his arms protectively around his friend, eyes narrowing at the corrupt bush.

But it stopped, and out of the leaves came a slender black figure. It was a cat. Batty's body went lax and she howled in delight, falling to her knees. "Come here, baby! Come here, handsome boy!" She called in a child's voice. Connor smiled and lowered onto his own knees so that he could view the animal too. It padded over to them with a high pitched mew, slipping around their knees with a tinkly purr.

Batty was overwhelmed with adoration, petting the silky furred creature. "How cute," Connor admitted fondly. "But we should get going before it starts getting dark. Maybe he'll follow us." The boy stood upright, jamming his fists into his pockets. Batty did the same, though her hand lingered on the animal's back a bit longer. "Yeah, okay," Batty nodded with a childlike simper. "I hope he does! Like our little guardian cat-gel."

At that, Connor laughed, continuing their listless stroll down the path. "You sound like your Mom," He remarked with a playful smirk on his face. The blonde scowled, "Don't ever say that again. It's not crazy when I say it because I don't really believe in that stuff." Behind them, the cat meow indignantly and ran ahead, his feet spraying up leaves in his wake. Connor glanced at Batty in question, that playful look still about his face, "Is he telling us to follow him?"

"Why are you asking me?" But even so, a look of mischief came about Batty and she stuck her tongue out before racing down the path with the cat. Connor emitted a laugh and came sprinting after them. They didn't know where they were going, but they never knew before either. The cat then hopped off of the dirt path and raced into the trees, tail streaming out behind him like a ribbon. Connor stopped but Batty kept going, stumbling over a fallen log and falling into a pile of amber leaves. "Shit!" She breathed out, grinning ear to ear. Her gaze fell upon Connor, who was standing awkwardly at the edge of the path. He was smiling, but he looked concerned.