Page 7 of Cimmerian

Merrick’s mouth dropped open as I stood, brushing off my pants. I gave him a smile, leaving Beau behind me.

Jasper shrugged. “Told you. Also, Beau, when will you give this shit up?”

“When I win.” Beau’s response was interjected with heavy breaths.Served him right. I happily sat down, accepting the slightly melted granola bar Jasper offered me.

Right now, at this singular moment, it didn’t feel like we were hunting my mother down. It didn’t feel like a demon was expecting my life if I didn’t return with her. None of this was important. We sat around the campfire, Beau rubbing his sore ribs and Merrick regaling us with funny stories from his childhood. We laughed, joked, and ate, enjoying each other’s company around the dying flames of the fire. But as the embers gave way to the night, one by one we filed into our tents, darkness surrounding us as we slept.

Chapter Three

It was like all of us woke up on another planet, so different from our lighthearted laughing the night before. Jasper took off on an early morning run before I was even able to comprehend what he was saying. He eventually came back grimacing and sweaty. Merrick was more quiet than normal, and even Beau’s smile seemed like he had to force it to be there.

Tensions grew as we hiked deeper into the forest, all of us silent. The only exceptions were the lone crack of a twig, or a boot scraping against a rock. Not even the birds made a sound. It was unnerving, leaving me hyperaware of all my surroundings. Something wasn’t right. Our presences were intruding on something we shouldn’t be, and it made me want to turn around and immediately run the other way. But I wouldn’t. There was a job that needed to be done, and I was going to make sure it got done.

Jasper brushed up behind me, making me shiver with the unexpected touch. I knew it was him and could sense him from a mile away. But I couldn’t stop the sensation from rushing through my body.

“Leave. Leave. Leave.” The words echoed through my head, but I shook them away. I met Jasper’s eyes over my shoulder, tipping my chin toward him. Just to know he was here, with me.

“Baby. You okay?” Even Jasper’s voice through the bond was a whisper, as if he didn’t want to break the silence we trekked through. We were walking on delicate eggshells, and so long as we didn’t disturb the environment around us, everything was going to be okay.

I attempted a weak smile, before it faltered and I frowned. “Something’s not right.”

“I know. I feel it too.” His voice was a caress, reassuring even in its acceptance we were headed somewhere dangerous.

“What do we do?” If anything, the trees seemed to have grown closer together in our short conversation, leaving the light limited. If it weren’t for the watch on my wrist, I wouldn’t be sure if it was noon or midnight. Ahead of me, I could barely make out the shadowy forms of Merrick and Beau.

“We keep walking. Turning around means giving up, and I refuse to do such a thing. Not with your life on the line.” Jasper’s gaze as it met mine was deadly in its certainty, leaving no room for arguments or disagreements.

“When do we stop?” I needed a line in the sand, something to tell me when to stop.

Jasper pressed his lips into a tight line. “When we find her.”

I was quiet. I didn’t know what to say. I had brought Merrick here, into what was potentially a dangerous wild goose chase, and now I didn’t know what I was leading him into. Darkness for one, but what dangers waited for us in the shadows? A chill raced down my spine, at the exact moment a cold wind whipped through the trees around us, blowing up T-shirts and whipping my braid over my shoulder. We all froze, Beau and Merrick coming back toward us to form a makeshift circle, the wind howling around us.

“What the hell is this?” Merrick asked, shouting to be heard over the wind.

“I’d like to say it’s just a spring storm.” I could barely hear Jasper, even as he stood right next to me. “But…” He trailed off. It didn’t matter. We all knew what he meant.

Something was here, with us. Something wasn’t right.

“Do you think it could be her?” Beau’s question was punctuated with a loud boom of thunder, a crack of lightning brightening the dark forest around us. I could see the flash of fear in Beau’s eyes, as quick as the blade of lightning.

Jasper shrugged, pulling me closer to his side. The wind was still howling, the lightning coming closer together. “I don’t know. What I do know is we have approximately five minutes to get these tents set up before we’re all going to get soaked.”

Another burst of lightning. We all nodded, our faces stark and pale in the artificial night. There was no more talking. Jasper and I lugged our tent to one side of the trail, bracing it between two trees for a bit more cover. Beau and Merrick did the same on the opposite side of the narrow trail. Tent pitched, I chucked my backpack inside and dove in. Jasper followed behind me, and I watched as Merrick and Beau did the same before Jasper zipped the tent closed. Another round of thunder, and then the rain came.

I watched it come down through the small mesh window, flooding the barely existent dirt trail we had been walking on. I could hardly see the orange tent across the way through the rain, even though we were close enough for us to touch hands if we both reached out.

“Fuck,” Jasper cursed to the side of me. I knew what he was thinking without him saying anything. None of us were very comfortable with where we were, but it was either wait out the storm, or make the long trek home with limited visibility. Even with the guys as wolves we would struggle if the whole forest was flooded out. Plus wolves didn’t do much as defense from lightning strikes.

I sighed, flopping over and using my backpack as a pillow. Discontent was heavy on my bones, telling me to get far away from this part of the forest as fast as I could. “Now what?”

Jasper laid his head on my stomach, and I ran my fingers through his hair restlessly. “Now we wait. At least until the worst part of the storm is over and we can travel safely.”

“To go back home, you mean.”

“No. To find Monica. I thought that much was clear. I’m not letting that bitch get away with this.”

I closed my eyes, listening to the rain come pouring down on the nylon of our tent. I hoped it would withstand the winds still whipping through the sides. The day hadn’t been cool, but now with the moisture and the wind, a chill was seeping inside of me. I wasn’t sure I would ever be rid of it. “Do you ever regret it?” I asked.

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