“Aren’t you freezing?” Steph’s surprising voice came from behind me.
I spun around, grabbing my chest.
“Geez Steph! You could have warned me,” I panted.
“Sorry,” she half smiled. “I just wanted to check if you needed a jacket. It’s pretty cold out here and you’re only wearing your sweatshirt.”
“Oh,” I stammered, when she stopped at my side. I hadn’t really noticed but outside of the light grey sweatshirt and worn down jeans, my body wasn’t really protected from the bitter chill that was apparently in the air. If Steph hadn’t said anything, I would have thought it was a perfect 70 degrees outside.
“A little bit, yeah,” was all I could say. “It’s not bad here in the sunlight.”
She eyed me for a second, somewhat skeptically and then started shaking her head. “You’re so weird Zoe, it’s freaking freezing out here!” she said with a slight chattering of her teeth. I looked her up and down for a moment before releasing a small giggle.
“What are you wearing? How many layers do you have on?”
Steph was bundled up in a heavy ski jacket, thick ski gloves and at least a combination of three sweatpants. Her normally athletically toned frame seemed to balloon in size from all of the clothes. Her face was almost completely covered by her hood jacket and a thick scarf.
“Just a few,” she said defensively. “What are you doing over here anyway?”
“Oh, just enjoying the view,” was the best I could come up with.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Steph said, with a slight frown. The tone of her voice was sad, as though something was missing from the trip.
“Is everything alright?” I asked.
“It’s Annie,” Steph muttered in a heartbeat. “I just don’t know what I did. She got so mad at me yesterday, and all I did was ask about Liam. Damien didn’t tell me what had happened so I was in the dark on it. Why’d she have to bite my head off?”
“You don’t know Annie like I do,” I said. “Everyone has their things. Mine is school, yours is exercise and Annie’s is guys. Liam was her first love, and he just dumped her with no explanation. She can get way too emotional, but it’s her thing. It will take some time for her to cool off.”
Steph stared back at the campsite for a second, and I turned with her to see what she was looking for. Annie was sitting on one of the logs by the campfire, absentmindedly poking at the wood in the fire with a stick. Steph turned back to me after a moment of watching her.
“Could you talk to her for me?” she asked hopefully. “I don’t know what else to do Zoe. Every time I come within ten feet of her, it’s as though I’m invisible. She’s been one of my best friends this semester, and I just hate having her mad at me. ”
I felt a lot of pity for her. It was the first time I had ever seen Steph so subdued and sad. It was actually quite depressing. Her normal flare and energy seemed to have been replaced by sadness.
“I don’t really know what I can do,” I started to say.
“She listens to you Zoe. We all know your opinion is the most important to her. Could you at least try?” she begged.
“Sure, I guess I can talk to her,” I replied.
Steph’s eyes lit up. She leaped towards me and pulled me into a rather powerful hug. “Oh thank you Zoe! You’re the best! I owe you one.”
I gave her a reassuring pat on the back. “Don’t worry about it,” I smiled back.
Steph then gave me one final smile and swept back towards the camp, with what looked more like a skip than a walk.
I stood in awe for a moment and finally looked back towards the mountain. The sun had fully set and darkness started to creep over the peaks. Even though Steph’s energy was amusing, I still felt uncomfortable. For some reason, my mood seemed to darken with the rapidly approaching night. Annie’s emotional state was like a teeter totter, and if she wasn’t ready to forgive Steph for her innocent queries, then my efforts would potentially get her and I back on rocky ground. On top of that, I was still uneasy over Annie’s safety and being out in the middle of the woods with no help made matters worse.
“Zoe!” I heard Annie yell from behind me.
I turned on the spot and saw her standing with a plate full of food next to the log. She motioned for me to come join her with a wave of her hand, and carrying all of my worries and fears with me, I headed off to dinner.
The campfire was ablaze and added a comforting light to the rapidly impeding darkness. Tyler, Chase and their two dates, Jaime and Audrey, were huddled close together on the log to our left. Sean and Emily were cuddling tightly to our right, while Damien and Steph were directly across the fire from us. It was an eerie scene to watch the two of them through the fire because it enhanced Damien’s creepiness. Hope, Annie and I shared a log, but were not as closely attached as the rest of the party. The steaks that Sean and Chase grilled up were extremely tasty, and while everyone else enjoyed some type of alcohol, my bottle of water complemented the meal perfectly.
Dinner went on for hours. There were conversations going on all over the place, most of which were coming from the other logs. Annie, who was still not happy, sat and stared at the fire for a majority of the time, only responding to comments from others with either a half smile or an almost inaudible chuckle. Hope was, well, Hope. She just gazed off innocently into the trees, and nobody really paid her much attention. Since I was also more of the quiet type, nobody really bothered including me in their conversations. Every now and then, Steph’s and my eyes would meet through the fire and she would give me an encouraging nod and turn back to a conversation with someone else. To make matters worse, there was an abnormal amount of alcohol scattered around the campsite. Tyler, Chase and their dates had been drunk for hours, and were more often than not singing random songs or theorizing about the stars instead of talking to everyone else. Damien and Steph, who had both been drinking, seemed to appear rather sober while they engaged in deep conversation with Sean and Emily.
As the night wore on, and most of the beer bottles were emptied, each person, or couple for that matter, started to head off towards their own tents. One by one, they stumbled towards their tents until it was just our log and Damien and Steph huddled around the campfire.
“Well, I’m exhausted,” Annie said, standing up after Sean and Emily headed off towards their tent.
At that moment, I looked over at Steph who was staring right at me. Her eyes opened a little wider and she jerked her head towards our tent, which was her best, non-obvious way, of telling me to get going.
“Yeah, me too,” I faked a yawn a stood up. “Hope? How about you?”
Hope looked across the fire at Damien and Steph. I followed her glance and noticed that Damien was staring a dark hole through Hope. As soon as Hope’s eyes met his, she immediately looked down at the ground.
“Yeah, I’m pretty tired,” she mumbled. She then stood up and slouched off towards our tent, followed closely by Annie.
The moment Hope and Annie turned their backs on the rest of us, Damien practically threw himself on Steph. Their over the top kissing did no help to my already anxious frame of mind. They were oblivious to everything around them that I stood up and left, feeling angry about Damien’s unnecessary use of fear to get rid of Hope.
Annie was already tucked into her sleeping bag and was staring at the ceiling when I entered. Hope had just finished changing and was getting into her bag.
“Can you believe those two?” Annie said disgustingly. “So gross! Especially Steph. She just has to flaunt her boyfriend in front of everyone!”
“Actually Ann,” I started. “I know this is really hurting her and she isn’t taking it well. Damien didn’t tell her what happened between you and Liam, so it was completely innocent.”
She sat up and rested on her elbows and stared right at me. “Is that what you two were talking about before dinner?” she asked, with more of a curious tone in her voice than anger.
“Yeah, she came to me and
was talking about how upset she’s been since yesterday. I think it’d go a long way if you rose above this and talked to her. She really wants you back, and I know how much it’d mean to her if you two worked through everything,” I finished.
Annie sat there for a moment and stared at door of the tent. She took a deep breath, exhaled and looked back at me. The look in her face was not what I expected.
“I didn’t know that,” she sighed. “I just assumed Liam told Damien and he told Steph. Maybe you’re right Zoe. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“She’ll be happy,” Hope chimed in suddenly. We both looked at her.
“What?” she added. “She’s been miserable since yesterday. I think you’re her best friend here.”
Annie smiled at Hope. “Really? I didn’t know that.”
Hope nodded. “She’s been crying since yesterday. It’ll be good for you guys to get past this.”
Annie seemed satisfied with her plan and lied back down in her sleeping bag. I was surprised how quickly Annie caved in. I fully expected her to get defensive and call me stupid for taking Steph’s side. But maybe the overwhelming emotions she’d experienced since Thanksgiving had finally caught up to her. Thinking about it all made me feel very tired.
Now that Annie’s issues with Steph were going to be resolved, my attention focused back to more pressing matters. It was hard to believe that my talk with Professor Woodward and Simi had occurred on that same day. Their fearful warning made me feel uneasy again. I started to wonder if we were being watched by one of Ignacious’ spies. The two of them seemed to think it was a strong possibility. But, there was nobody within miles of us that could be considered a threat. The only person that made me nervous was Damien, but even he was harmless. While my mind began to let go, the last thought that came through was Liam. I couldn’t help but think that it all added up to it being him. The same questions ran through my mind while my consciousness quickly faded out.
Was he the spy? Was he hiding in the darkness of the trees, ready to strike when my guard was down?
Chapter 17: Out of the Darkness
The howling wind outside of our tent woke me from a dreamless sleep. A faint light emanated our tent, slightly illuminating Hope and Annie’s sleeping figures. Feeling surprisingly refreshed, I sat up in my sleeping bag and grabbed my phone, which was right next to my pillow. It was already 9:00 and I felt wide awake, with the only drawback being the warning growls that came from my stomach. My eyes scanned the tent hopefully but found no food. I sighed lightly, knowing that the only other option was to go out into the fierce wind and find something in the campsite. I stood up carefully until I was fully hunched over and walked towards the door of the tent. When my hand finally pulled the zipper down, a sharp wind and wet white flakes quickly pelted my face. Dusting them off, I looked out and was stunned at the complete makeover that had occurred overnight.
Snow must have fallen throughout the night because our entire campsite was completely covered in powder. I glanced up towards the sky and found the sun to be hidden behind dark and threatening storm clouds. My mood slowly started to match the grayness in the sky while I reached back into the tent, grabbed my snow jacket and gloves, and threw them both on. The bitter cold engulfed me when I zipped up the door and stood out in the blizzard. I glanced around and predictably found nobody else to be awake. Outside of the crunching sound my feet made while I trudged through the shin deep snow, an eerie quiet encompassed the campsite.
When I reached the middle of the campsite, I found the fire pit, grill and cooler all half hidden under a blanket of snow. I bent down, opened the cooler and found, to my delight a few leftover steaks hidden behind some beer bottles. I turned around and dusted some snow off of one of the logs before sitting down and opening the tin foil that covered the meat. The shrill wind continued to blow the trees and tents wildly around while I sat there and ate.
The loneliness that surrounded me got my mind whirling again. My thoughts of Liam from the night before stayed with me. Seeing his truck parked in the parking lot had stirred up all of the bitter memories I had about him from the past few weeks. The mood swings and sudden departures were personality traits I had gotten used to. But Professor Woodward and Simi’s stern warning got me wondering where his loyalties truly lied. Keeping his distance while he knew that Annie’s and my life were both in danger didn’t help his cause.
Without warning, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps trampling through the snow. I gazed all around nervously, but saw nothing or no one. Slowly, I dropped my food and rose to my feet while my eyes continued to glare through the trees. Each second, the sound of crunching snow came closer and closer and yet nobody appeared. Something didn’t feel right about the situation. Whoever, or whatever was coming towards me was running fast, and that couldn’t mean good news. I frantically started looking around the fire pit, looking for anything that could used as a weapon. Then, I saw the butcher knife the guys had used the night before sitting next to the grill. I quickly reached down, picked it up and turned in the direction of my tent, where the sound of the footsteps got louder. Tentatively, I walked towards the trees behind our tent, holding the knife out in front of me. While I approached, the footsteps slowed and the trees behind our tent started to rustle with more force than the others around them. In almost an instant, I was standing between the tent and the trees with the butcher knife pointed directly into the brush.
“Put that away before you hurt yourself,” a familiar, but raspy voice panted.
“What the hell are you doing out there?” I demanded, as Damien’s lanky frame slowly emerged from the trees.
“Dude, put, the, knife, DOWN!” he demanded between breaths. Without even realizing it, the knife was pointing towards him, about six inches from his heart. His tired eyes were wide in fear.
“Oh, sorry,” I said, lowering the knife immediately.
I stood there and studied his appearance, wondering what he could have been doing out in the middle of the forest that early. He was bundled up in his snow gear, and had a long scarf wrapped around his neck. Outside of the rosy touch to his cheeks, his face was a complete disaster. Deep dark bags had formed under his eyes, and his normally spiked red hair looked more like a mop had been placed on his head. He was panting rather quickly while he bent over and pressed his hands against his knees.
“Again, what were you doing out there?” I asked, more accusatory than before.
“Oh,” he started to say, his breathing slowly returning to normal. “Steph and I wanted to go for a hike this morning. We started out a few hours ago and were on our way back to camp when she just challenged me to race her back.”
“Uh huh,” I replied skeptically. “Then where is she?”
I stood on my toes and looked over his shoulders, trying to find any sign of Steph. But, she was nowhere to be found and his story started to sound more and more suspicious. Who went for a hike in such nasty weather?
He looked around the campsite for a moment before his expression changed completely. A confused look spread across his face while the smoke from his breaths filled the air between us.
“She’s not back yet?” he asked puzzled.
“Not since I’ve been up,” I said.
In a heartbeat, he turned and hastily plowed through the snow towards their tent. I followed quickly behind, cautiously watching him. He seemed genuinely disturbed that Steph had not yet come back from their hike, but it was impossible to believe anything he said. An uneasy feeling started to build inside with the possibility of Steph being lost.
Damien zipped open the door of their tent in one fell swoop and poked his head inside. He let out an extremely loud expletive and came back out. He shook his head and slouched off towards the logs, where he plopped down and threw his head into his hands.
“When was the last time you saw her?” I asked, sitting down opposite from him and placing the knife back down next to the cooler.
“Not even five minutes ago.
She just yelled go and then bolted into the trees,” he said between his fingers. “I took off after her, but she just disappeared. Not knowing what else to do, I kept on the trail and that’s when I found you.”
Professor Woodward and Simi’s warning quickly came back into my head. They’d warned me to be on the lookout for anything suspicious, and Damien’s story was just that. I’d never trusted him before and the whole situation was becoming weirder by the minute.
“Why didn’t you guys ask any of us to come? “ I asked out of the blue. “Maybe if more of us were around, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Damien slowly raised his face from his hands, and his expression had gone from nerves to anger.
“Are you blaming me for this?” he spat back.
There wasn’t a better explanation.
“I don’t know, the whole story doesn’t make sense,” I said. “You want to go for a hike at 6:00 in a blizzard, don’t tell anyone and now Steph is just gone? What else am I supposed to think?”
“Look, Steph is missing. I don’t care if you blame me or not, but right now, we need to find her!”
At that moment, there was a commotion and voices coming from all of the tents. Then, one by one, people started to emerge from them.
“Everything alright out here?” Sean asked, while he and Emily stomped wearily through the snow towards the fire pit. “We heard some yelling and wanted to see if everyone is alright.”
“Actually-” I started to say, but Damien cut me off.
“Steph is gone.”
“Gone, where?” Emily said in a worried voice.
I kept my eyes glued squarely on Damien while he started to retell his tale to them and the others who slowly emerged from their tents and found seats on the logs. The last to come out were Annie and Hope. Right when Damien told them that Steph had disappeared in the woods, both of them looked scared.
“Wait, she just disappeared?” Annie shouted over the wind.
Common Ground (The Common Ground Trilogy Book 1) Page 32