8 The Forest

Scarlett could see the world moving past her in a blur but for the first time in her life she didn't feel motion sick, like her body changing was removing all her imperfections.

Cameron never ran out of breath or broke out into a sweat as he kept running through the woods that surrounded the back of most of the houses. When he ran out of trees to hide himself and Scarlett in he would dash past houses quicker than people could see them. Scarlett was amazed at how fast he moved but that he never jostled her in his arms.

Eventually he reached the outer rim of the forest outside of their little town and slowed to a stop and placed Scarlett gently on her feet. He started to walk into the shade of the trees and Scarlett hesisted, not wanting to follow him into the forest, the images of what she saw last time she was here swimming into her minds eye.

"Scar? You okay?" Scarlett raised her eyes, snapping from her memories, as she heard Cameron's voice.

"Ummm... No," she said honestly and she saw Cameron's eyebrows furrow in response, his glowing eyes swimming like molten lava.

"What's wrong?" his concern lathered his voice.

"Do you know why I was running through the forest a couple of nights ago?" she asked, her voice cracking under her anxiety.

"Well I heard all the screaming," he responded, his eyebrows unfurrowing slightly. "But I didn't investigate it." he admitted.

Scarlett took hold of his hand gently, wary of her new strength, and lead him to a tree that had fallen to it's side on the edge of the forest and sat them both down. She began to explain what had happened that night and Cameron sat silently, taking in her every word and only ever reacting to what she said with his facial features.

"So... People were being murdered the night you were in the forest?" Scarlett nodded to his question. "And these "people" were going to kill you too?" she nodded again.

A low growl emanated from the back of Cameron's throat and he stood up suddenly, making Scarlett jump.

Cameron began to pace back and forth in front of Scarlett, who remained sitting on the fallen tree. Eventually his eyes snapped to her and she saw his eyes turn from a sweet honey yellow to a darker shade.

"We can't stay here. If people are getting killed in the forest and we don't know what the murderers are or what they are capable of," he shook his head. "I'm not putting you in that potential danger."

"But where else can we stay?" Scarlett asked tentatively, her body feeling tired and low on energy.

"I have an idea," she heard Cameron's words but they started to sound distant.

"Cam?" she heard her voice but didn't feel her body, let alone her mouth move. Suddenly blackness washed over her eyes. 'Here we go again!' her brain swam with the thought before she went fully unconscious.

*

Scarlett suddenly awoke, sitting up from her laying down position abruptly. She took in her surroundings and noticed she was in a small room and in a bed. She didn't recognize this place but she noticed the strong scent of abandonment and mold. Her nose wrinkled at the smell and she pulled the blanket off her body and started to get up, the wooden floor boards creaking under her feet as she placed them beside the bed.

"Scar?" she heard Cameron's voice call. "Wait there, you aren't getting out of bed yet!" she heard more creaking as the floor boards in the next room protested to every step Camerom made. His head popped around the door frame and he cracked a smile at her.

"Lay back down, it's almost night time, and from my experience you have a few more days of passing out. And even though you aren't heavy to me anymore I'm getting a bit tired of catching you everytime you faint on me," his grin widened and Scarlett scowled at him. Knowing she wasn't going to listen to him he sighed. "Fine you stubborn woman, come get some food."

His head disappeared out of the frame of the door and Scarlett got up out of the bed and followed him to the next room. She walked into a big room that evidently used to be a living room and kitchen that would have looked beautiful in it's hay day. All of the wooden floor boards had faded and were slightly dinted or scratched and all of the furniture was either rusty with age or falling apart and extremely worn. The smell of food suddenly filled her nostils as she sat at the worn dining table and her stomach rumbled in response. She could see Cameron dashing backwards and forwards in the kitchen as he prepared a meal.

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around the abandoned house again.

"This used to be a really successful farm on the outskirts of town but the family moved when the farm started to fail," Cameron responded as he started to dish out the food. "It's going to be our little hide away."

Cameron brought the plates of food out from the kitchen and placed one in front of Scarlett. Scarlett let the smell wash over her and she felt her stomach rumble again with hunger. The plate was filled with rice, some sort of meat with gravy and a little side salad.

"How did you get this?" she asked, hesistant despite her hunger.

"I made a quick run to the shops while you were sleeping," he explained as he sat beside her and dug into his food. Satisfied with his answer she dug in too, feeling the warmth of her food fill her body from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes.