A good book... or not? (Part four)

You know the drill. Thanks!



4



When I next opened my eyes, I knew something was very wrong. Shadow was the only one I could see. He was holding a knife out in a defensive position. He had his eyes on something I couldn’t see. I was lying there on my back in the dirt and moldy leaves.
“Climb a tree. Slowly and carefully,” Shadow instructed
Where was everyone else?
“Where-” I began.
Shadow cut me off, “Up in those trees,” he gestured skyward
I glanced up and saw Karma in the tree directly above me. Her eyes were wide, looking at me. Dee and Jay were in the same tree. Jay was hanging onto Dee’s shoulders; he looked like he was terrified. Dee’s normally dark face was pale. They all looked scared.
“Why are they so freaked out?” I asked tersely
“Look around you,” he answered
His eyes never left… whatever it was he was looking at. I did look around. I couldn’t see anything unusual.
“That’s not important right now,” I said “I had a vision! We’re about to be attacked by wolves!”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” Shadow snapped back sarcastically
“You mean…”
“Yes,” Shadow hissed quietly
Now that I looked closer there was something different.
Glowing yellow-green eyes, half hidden in the trees.
I swore.
Shadow glanced at me, taking his eyes off the wolf for the first time.
I had something extremely important to say. “Uh…”
“Climb. A. Tree. Now!” Shadow answered.
Oh. Duh. I should have done that when he said everyone else was in a tree.
I started to get up. Shadow’s boot stopped me.
“Slowly,” he reminded me.
I stood up all the way.
“What about you?” I asked him
“I’ll be there when you are,” he said.
I could hear panic threatening to burst out of him at every word.
I opened my mouth.
“Go!” Shadow said without looking at me
This exchange took about thirty seconds, total.
I turned and fled up into the nearest tree.
I watched as Shadow turned and climbed a tree, still holding out his knife. He was faster than I expected.
Then I saw something that made my heart stop.
A wolf, a big furry brute with gleaming canines, leaped for Shadow.
“Shadow!” I screamed in horror.


* * *

I watched helplessly, as Shadow tried to fend off the wolf. He swiped at it with his knife.
What could I do! What could I do! I was stuck in a tree, and he was facing a rabid wolf, because he’d stayed on ground level to protect me!
“Your power!” I yelled, although it came out as more of a squeak because I was so freaked out.
Shadow heard, though, and he immediately began to fade from my sight.
I held my breath, and shut my eyes, feeling hopelessness seep into ever fiber in my being.
Shadow… what would I do if the worst had happened?
He might have gotten away, though, I thought, to tear my brain from that mind blowing thought. I mean, I’d lived with him for practically my whole life!
I opened my eyes slowly and glanced around at Dee, and the rest of them. To make sure that they, at least, were alright. Dee was even paler than she had been a minute ago. She was staring fixedly at the last spot Shadow had been visible. I closed my eyes again, and felt the tears start to come. I held them in as much as I could.
Shadow…
I felt something watching me, and my eyes snapped open as I turned, ready to fight whatever it was.
I had my third huge shock of the morning.
Shadow was sitting about an arm’s length away, on a slightly higher branch.
“Shadow!” I yelped, “You’re okay!”
I wanted to hug him, but I couldn’t risk it; he was too far away. I’d wait.
“Yeah, I guess…” his voice trailed off
I looked him over; he looked bad. His jeans were shredded from the knee down, with this large cut from the back of his knee, to his ankle. It seemed pretty nasty and painful. And deep. And he was kind of woozy, I think, like how you get when your blood sugar gets too high, or something.
“How’d you get up here like that?” I asked, pointing to his leg. “I barely got up here, and I wasn’t injured at all!”
“Adrenaline,” he answered, then grinned weakly “Normally I can’t climb at all,”
I could hear relived laughter coming from Dee. Jay was hanging onto her still, his face white. Dee tried to loosen Jay’s grip on her neck. He’d most likely been nearly choking her, but neither of them had noticed, because of Shadow. Jay moved until his arms were around her shoulders.
The wolf was still pacing around the tree, at the base of the trunk.
I could see carefully suppressed rage, and fear when Shadow looked at the wolf.
“It’s just his job; he can’t help being a wolf,” I told him quietly.
“I know,” Shadow sighed “But I can’t help being angry when I look at that… animal,”
“Me neither, what he did to you…” I said
We were silent for a while.
“Why was he alone anyway?” Shadow asked “Don’t wolves usually hunt in packs?”
“Maybe he’s a ’lone wolf’” I joked.
I kept watching him for a minute, then I turned away to look towards the others.
I called to Karma, about a yard away, and Jay and Dee, just slightly closer.
“We’re gonna sleep up here tonight, If the wolf doesn’t leave. Got it?”
I got a couple of tired nods, but that was about it.
Shadow bandaged his own leg, even though I begged him to rest, and let me do it for him.
He made his spot as cozy as he could under the circumstances.
I threw a blanket up to Shadow, out of my backpack.
Then I laughed. With absolutely no humor.
“What?” Shadow asked
“Nothing, it’s just that, we haven’t even had breakfast yet. We’ve been forced away from our home, we’ve rushed through the woods, we got about a mile in, and then I had my second vision of the day, we got attacked by wolves, and you got badly injured! And it’s not even noon! I mean, what else could possibly happen today!?”
Shadow lay down on the tree branch, and closed his eyes.
“We could fall out of the tree, and be killed, either by the wolf if he hasn’t left yet, or by the fall that could very likely break every single bone in our bodies. Twice,”
He answered flatly.
“Thanks,” I said, and gave another humorless laugh, “But that was rhetorical,”
“I know,” he said
We talked about a lot of stuff since we were pretty much stuck up there all day. It was mostly pointless jabber to pass the time. We fell asleep a couple of times, I think. I really only remember the afore mentioned conversation, and what Shadow and I said to each other before we fell asleep for the night.
The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky looked all purpley and kind of pinkish. It was really pretty. We wouldn’t have even seen it if not for that wolf. But still, I’m never again voluntarily sleeping in a tree. And I’ll never think of wolves in the same way. Like, even half way cute.
Shadow had just lain down.
“I’m --” I began
Shadow sat up again and looked at me tiredly.
“Gonna shut up now,” I finished
“That’s not what you were going to say,” he said “But thanks,”
“No problem,” I said
I glanced around once more, to make sure that no one was going to fall out of their trees.
Then I lay down and covered myself with a blanket.
At least it wasn’t winter yet.
“Good night,”
“’Night,”



Again, sooo...?
Hm. Gotta go feed the dogs now. Jeesh, it's cold out there. At least the cat will sit with me when I come back in, warm me up.


Bye,
-DarkHawk09