It was sometime after noon when Rider stopped. “There is another scent.”
“Going in the same direction?” I asked.
“Two are going in the same direction,” Rider said.
“Can you tell how far behind we are?” Vincent asked.
“We are gaining ground, but we are almost a day behind Harry, and nine hours behind the new scent,” Rider said.
“We’ve gotta move faster then,” I said, adjusting the pack on my back.
Vincent gave each person a quick look. “No, if we go at this any harder, we’re not going to be able to keep going.”
“I can move quicker on my own,” Rider said. It wasn’t said in a mean way, but I could tell from the look on Ethan’s face that he didn’t appreciate the statement.
Even Vincent looked uneasy. “We still don’t know what we’re getting into. Grab some food out of your pack and we’ll eat on the go.”
Food sounded divine, but I begrudged the short stop to get the protein bars from the packs. Even when we were on the move again, the food tasted bland and the need to move faster started getting more intense.
My concentration was split between the ground and Rider, but I looked around the area when I was sure a tree root or stray rock wasn’t waiting to trip me up. There was nothing here that indicated people had come in this direction. There was undergrowth in the area, and occasionally a small animal trail connected with our own path, but there were no signs or sounds that people had ever been here.
Up ahead, Rider paused, and then dropped out of sight.
Despite the extreme fatigue setting into my muscles, I jogged ahead and called out, “Rider?”
I stopped at the edge of a rocky ravine. It looked as though a river or creek had pushed its way through eons ago, and left a hollowed-out area before it dried up. Rider looked troubled and was walking back and forth through the area. Vincent came up behind me and watched.
“What’s wrong?” Vincent asked.
“The new trail…the hunter, he stopped here last night,” Rider said.
“That’s good, right?” Vincent asked. “We’re catching up.”
“It is odd,” Rider said.
We waited for a follow-up, but none came.
“What’s odd?” I asked.
“There are two here,” Rider said.
“Two what?” I asked.
Once again, he didn’t answer, but kept walking relentlessly through the area.
“Rider, we’re in the dark here,” Vincent said.
The werewolf mumbled something, and I caught the word ‘light’ mixed up in the incoherent words.
Sighing, I dropped my bag and looked around. Ethan had already removed his and was leaning against a tree watching all three of us.
I felt worn to the bone and wasn’t in the mood to play word games or wait for answers. With my head filled with frustration, it is hard to move beyond it and reach the Path, but I managed the feat and looked around.
The flow of the Path around Rider showed the same two Paths I saw the day before. The one Rider could smell and the one he could not. Turning towards the way we came, I saw that the two had been together as we followed. I relayed the information to the others. If anything, Rider looked more upset than before.
“I’m not sure what this means,” Vincent said.
“Neither do I,” I said, and looked at Rider.
He shrugged, but he had stopped his pacing.
Vincent looked at the sky. “It’s not a bad place to stay for the night.”
“No!” Rider and I said together.
“Look,” I continued, “it’s too early to stop.”
“A break then,” Vincent said.
I looked at him and Ethan. They looked almost as worn as I felt. Rider, however, seemed as good as new.
Rider noticed me assessing him and knew he had an ally. “I do not need to rest.”
Biting my lip, I looked at the Path behind us and then ahead. On the other side of the ravine, I could see the two Paths exiting and moving on, following Harry’s trail.
“I have a compromise,” I said. “We stop and take a break here, but Rider scouts ahead.” Vincent looked like he was going to interrupt, but I rushed over to him. “He’s not going to get close to anyone, but Harry didn’t run cross country in a straight line. Maybe Rider can follow and find us a short cut?”
“Yes,” Rider said immediately.
It was evident Vincent didn’t think much of the idea, but he was stuck. Being a friend to a werewolf was tricky. Vincent and Rider may not have fully reached that stage yet, but suggesting the werewolf couldn’t do this, couldn’t do what he thought was his duty, would be a huge insult. I had put Vincent in a bad spot, and from the glare he was giving me, he knew it.
“Don’t get too close to anyone,” Vincent said.
Chapter 6
We moved to the other side of the ravine. Rider took food and water, but left his bag behind.
Sitting on the ground, leaning against my pack, I stared at the sky. It didn’t take long before the aches in my muscles really started to settle in and make themselves known. I stretched and looked at the others. Ethan had his eyes closed and was leaning against a tree. Vincent was taking in his surroundings, eyeing the terrain as though he thought someone might jump out at us at any moment. There was a pinched look around his eyes that made me rummage around in my bag.
Grabbing the pain reliever, I shook the bottle until Vincent looked my way, and then I tossed it over.
“Thanks.” Although he said the words, his voice didn’t convey the same meaning. He took the pills, and then looked in the direction Rider had left. “You shouldn’t have done that, you know.”
“We need to find a way to catch up,” I said.
“I know I’m only here to lend a hand,” Ethan said, without opening his eyes. “But it’s not a bad idea. That man can track better than anyone I’ve ever known.”
“Yes, but he has no backup,” Vincent said.
“You’ve rarely worked with a partner, at least until you came here,” I said.
“And here I do, so I’d like to keep him alive.” Vincent’s words had heat behind them. “In case you’ve forgotten, it was barely a week ago that he was lying in a hospital bed, bleeding to death.”
“You’re an ass,” I said, leaning forward. “I was there, too, but I also know Rider can do this, or have you forgotten that he can sneak up on anyone in the woods? He makes no noise.”
“He’s not invisible,” Vincent said, “and I’m pretty sure the guy we’re chasing isn’t packing fairy dust and pebbles.”
“He’ll be careful,” I argued.
“Like you are?” Vincent asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I yelled.
Vincent’s anger erupted and washed over me. My stomach twisted, trying to revolt.
“You know exactly what I mean,” Vincent said, his voice growing quiet and cold.
“No,” I said, getting to my feet.
Vincent mirrored me and rose to his feet as well.
“No,” I repeated, “I don’t think I do.” Vincent’s anger was fueling my own. Inside me, small shards of soul were becoming restless. They started rising and falling in waves, like turbulent seas.
“Did you even-”
“I think everyone needs to settle down,” Ethan said, stepping between the two of us.
I saw Vincent’s eyes grow black before he looked away. They had been clear while arguing with me, but when he looked at Ethan, they changed. Turning my back to the others, I took a few meditative breaths. No one could get under my skin like Vincent.
Once I was calmer, I thought it over. With Vincent and Rider being friends, I had been looking at it from Rider’s point of view, and at what it meant to him. It obviously meant a lot to Vincent as well.
“I’m sorry I put you in a tight spot,” I said, turning back to face him.
“You were right,” Vincent said. “We need to find the Lost as quickly
as we can.”
“Is it always like this?” Ethan asked, arms crossed and leaning against a tree again.
My smile was weak. “Not always.”
“Well, we should rest up and not waste energy arguing,” Ethan said.
I wanted to give Ethan a quick hug, but it felt awkward to do so with only the three of us there, so I sat back down against my pack again. The sunlight streaked through the trees and I closed my eyes, soaking up its warmth.
Voices woke me up. Rider was back and was talking with Vincent. It was hard to say how much time had passed. The sun was shining, but it looked lower on the horizon than I felt comfortable with. The pressure to move started to take center stage, so I got to my feet and tried to stretch the drowsiness away. How was it possible for me to be more exhausted than I had been before I slept?
“Rider found a way for us to make up some time,” Vincent said. “Ready to move?”
Being tired would have to wait. We had a bigfoot to save.
“Ready.” My muscles protested the moment I picked up the bag and slung it around to my back. “Can we catch up to them today?”
“I do not think so,” Rider said.
“We’ll try to get close tonight, but remain far enough back that we can’t be seen or heard,” Vincent said, as we got moving. “Hopefully, tomorrow we can overtake them.”
“What do we do then?” Ethan asked.
My brain must have still been asleep. “What do you mean?”
“You all aren’t officially on duty, right?” Ethan asked. “What do we do when we find this guy?”
“We don’t have to be on duty to stop him,” Vincent said.
“But stop him how? Are you making an arrest?” Ethan asked. “Does this guy know he’s hunting a person, and not an animal?”
“He knows what he’s hunting.” I tried not to sound defensive, but I was surprised by Ethan’s remarks.
“If he’s a hunter, he’s armed,” Ethan said. “If you all are arresting him, or them, since I’m still not clear on if we’re after one or two people, then we might want to discuss how to go about it.”
“It’s too early to tell,” Vincent said. “We’ll have to assume that if he knows he’s hunting an intelligent person, he’ll have no qualms with shooting us.”
My stomach dropped. I hated the idea of being shot at.
“That’s what I thought, too,” Ethan said.
“But we’re at the mercy of the terrain when deciding tactics,” Vincent added. “Cass and I have tracked hunters before with Logan. Coming at them from three sides worked well in that situation. It might be our best option here.”
“I’m not sure it worked ‘well’ before,” I said under my breath.
A ghost of a grin showed up on Vincent’s face, but he didn’t respond.
Weariness weighed heavy on everyone. I could see it on their faces. Even Rider was affected by the day’s effort. The insistent need to move farther, faster, drove me forward, but my pace grew gradually slower throughout the evening. Well before the sun went down, Vincent called a halt for the day.
“Maybe we should go a little farther,” I suggested.
“We could, but the more rest we get today, the better off we’ll be tomorrow when we catch up,” Vincent said. He came over and helped me out of the backpack when I fumbled with the clasp. “We’ll get him.”
Nodding, I sank to the ground and dug through my bag. My fatigue was so great that even the rough ground felt comfortable on my aching muscles. Ethan came over and sat next to me. When I leaned into his shoulder, he wrapped an arm around me.
“Today was quite the day,” Ethan said. “How are you holding up?”
“Tired,” I admitted without thinking, “how about you?
“It’s been a while since my military days, but this isn’t the first time I’ve been on my feet all day. From the looks of it, this isn’t the first time for your partners, either.”
Rider and Vincent were both slowly setting up camp. They appeared to be ignoring us, but I knew they could both hear.
“Maybe,” I said. Before we met Rider had spent a lot of time outdoors, I knew that, but little else. Vincent used to track people and creatures, sometimes for days, before taking them between the worlds. He didn’t talk about it, but I always pictured him battling the bad guys, disappearing with them, and then leaving them trapped in limbo. Sure, sometimes he took their souls, but I tried not to think about that.
“I’m sorry our vacation got derailed,” I said. Seeing the others at work forced me to my feet again.
“Don’t be,” Ethan said. “I’m with you, and we’re helping a bigfoot, of all things. I’m pretty sure there aren’t many people who can say they’ve ever done that.”
“Probably not,” I admitted.
After setting up camp and eating, Ethan hoisted our packs into the air again to discourage nighttime visitors digging into our food.
“Rider, are you okay for the first watch?” Vincent asked.
“I am,” Rider said.
“I’ll pick up where he leaves off,” Ethan said.
Vincent nodded. “I’ll take over and wake everyone early again.”
“What about me?” I asked, trying to stifle a yawn.
“Three watches will get us through the night,” Vincent said.
I put my hand on my hip and glared. “But with four, everyone gets more sleep.”
He looked frustrated, but was clearly too tired to argue. “I’ll wake you for your turn.”
Sleep came easy. The breeze rocked the hammock slightly and I was dead to the world before the sun went down.
When Vincent woke me, it was still dark and I only had vague recollections of dreams filled with distorted images. Even after the day we had yesterday, I was glad to be awake.
After handing over his gun and making sure I would wake everyone at the first sign of light, Vincent went back to bed, leaving me alone in the dark.
Flashlights would have ruined any night vision, not to mention light us up to anyone nearby, so I leaned against a tree and watched the shadows. What did the guys do when they were on watch? I guess I should have asked, but everyone else seemed instinctually to know what they were supposed to do. There was enough moonlight that I could look for moving shadows. That got old fast. Staring at shadows too long could have you thinking something was moving, even if it wasn’t.
Knowing that Vincent was nearly blind in the dark made me think of listening to the sounds. The trees creaked. The leaves rustled. A twig cracked.
My head jerked in the direction of the sound. There were lots of animals in the woods, right? It could be a rabbit or a raccoon or something. Crackling of leaves sounded behind me, hidden behind the tree. I didn’t move. When I heard the noise again, I looked around the tree and saw nothing. Snapping wood and what sounded like footsteps had me whirling around again. When I looked uphill, I saw it.
Outlined in the moonlight was the sleek fur of a large dog. I say dog because my mind couldn’t wrap itself around the word wolf. I like to hike, but I’m not what you would call outdoorsy. Wolf, coyote, dog…whatever it was, it was huge. It stood there and watched me.
Animals don’t attack people for no reason. Right?
The beast took a step towards me.
Typically, they probably wouldn’t attack unless provoked, But this was me.
Crap. I wasn’t going to shoot it. It wasn’t its fault that it thought of me as a weak link that needed to be killed. Plus, a gunshot wouldn’t be the smartest noise to make when tracking a killer. At least, not if we wanted to remain hidden.
It took a few more steps and bared its teeth.
Do I wake the guys or deal with this myself? Could I even make the thing back down now that it had targeted me?
Yesterday had been a long day. The least I could do was try to deal with this on my own.
It loped closer and I kept my eyes on it, while I opened the Path. When I saw the creature’s Path, I took a step back and reached automa
tically for my gun. It was the same Path that we had been following. It was an animal. That was certain, but its Path was bright, like a person’s. I had no idea what it meant, but I didn’t like it. The animal also wasn’t growling. It was baring its teeth and moving towards me, but wasn’t making a sound.
Moving slowly to one side, I went to Rider’s hammock and without looking away, I shook it. The dog stopped and cocked its head. Rider didn’t move. I pushed on the hammock again with no success. Turning around, I pulled the side of the bed back and shook Rider.
His arm shot and slammed into me, shoving me back several paces. He might as well have hit me with a brick. Dropping the gun, I clasped my hands to my chest. Rider twisted and fell out of his bed. When he jumped up, he issued a growl.
“Cass?” Vincent sounded worried, and I heard him get out of bed.
I was me. None of the soul shards had tried to take over so I was completely myself. Rider was my friend and he wouldn’t hurt me on purpose, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins told a different story. One that screamed at me to run away. Instead, I pointed to where the animal had been and fell to my knees, trying to get a grip on my breathing and the throbbing pain that radiated outward.
“Cass, what’s going on?” Vincent was at my side, putting an arm protectively around me.
Rider walked over, but he wasn’t paying attention to the woods, so I pointed again, unable to catch my voice. If it weren’t for the fact that Rider looked confused, I might have been worried about his approach.
“Cass, talk to me,” Vincent said.
Rider picked me up and set me back down on my feet. I coughed and tried to get more air into my burning lungs. Hunched over, one hand still on my chest, I pointed a shaky finger back into the woods again.
I managed to spit out, “There was a wolf.” Saying dog wouldn’t have sounded big enough for all this trouble.
Rider looked into the darkness. “There is nothing close to us. I would have smelled an animal.”
I coughed again, causing my chest to spasm further. While hugging my chest, I hunched over, wanting to curl up on the ground, but Vincent kept me standing until Rider nudged him out of the way.
Fury and worry exploded out of Vincent, and his voice was ice. “You need to tell me what’s going on, right now.”
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