Chapter 200
HANNAH
The jeep shook and bounced its way along the rocky dirt road. Once its front tyres caught in something- a large loose stone most probably- and then it continued on after a while, leaving a trail of dust hanging in the air like a haze.
I shifted a little and looked back. There was not much room since some students had joined us last minute making the jeep cramped, but I managed it anyway.
Behind us were several other jeeps and a truck. I could only see the jeep as the road was very narrow, allowing only one vehicle at a time.
Someone in the front seat of the car where I was was singing snatches of a popular rap song, and trying to convert it into a country song. Everyone was laughing at the singer or cheering him on. Everyone was looking forward to the camping trip and so was I.
Chase's hand fell on my arm, bringing my attention back to him. I smiled at him, telling him without actually saying the words that this was going well so far.
"We haven't really had time to talk, have we?" he said.
I shook my head. "No, you've been busy."
"Yeah. It takes some doing organizing this lot and yet you see we still have some latecomers. Anyway, How did the movie date with Chase go? Did you get to see Race 2?"
"Yup. It was the exact movie we saw."
"I knew it. Chase is a sucker for racing movies. Was it worth the hype?"
"Actually... yes," I admitted. "I honestly thought it wouldn't be but I was pleasantly surprised."
"Well, I'm glad you had a nice time."
"Uh-huh."
There was that mate bond thing again. Maybe he heard something in my voice because though he had begun to turn away, he suddenly looked at me sharply.
His voice sank as he asked, "Did something happen?"
I hesitated but only for a second. Chase would get the truth out of me anyway so I might just as well tell him.
The girl sitting beside me wore headphones. Her head bobbed in time with the music which I could hear faintly coming out of the device.
"When we were getting popcorn, I felt like someone was watching me," I said.
"Were there people around?"
"Yes. But they were a little far away though I could see them. None of them even paid attention to us. I felt the watcher was... close but when I turned around, there was no one there. It creeped me out."
"And inside the cinema?"
"Nothing," I said. "That was the only time."
Cade's hand slid along my shoulders and then he took my hand. "It's alright. I don't think anyone was watching you. I think you were scared because of the dream you had. I'll tell you again not to worry. Out here-
He looked out of the front windows of the car so brown and dusty now one could barely see out of it although some of the dust was settling.
"-I'm going to protect you," he finished. To the singer, he shouted, "Oh come on, man! My ears are bleeding here."
The boy laughed, went on singing in a high pitched completely off-key voice. A lot of the students had their hands clapped over their ears.
"Someone shut him up, please," a girl laughed. She glanced at the girl beside me. "I wish I had brought one of those."
"Yeah me too," I said.
I relaxed, tried to forget Asher, the dream and every other thing as I talked and joked with the rest of them.
Thirty minutes later, after going through another road just marginally better than the one we had been on, we got to the campsite. Cade helped me out of the vehicle. I looked around.
It was a beautiful spot. Mountains, carpeted by lush grass, rolled in the distance. The mountains surrounded us on all sides. A large area in the middle was level ground and it was where we would make camp.
Up ahead in the distance, a bird cawed. It suddenly swooped down and emerged carrying some small scurrying animal in it's beak.
"Beautiful, isn't it," Cade said, sliding one arm around my waist.
With the other hand, he shielded his face from the sun shining brightly overhead.
"Yes," I said.
And it was. I could understand why Cade had picked this particular spot. It was teeming with a lot of plant and animal life and in those mountains would be rare finds. I was sure of it.
Cade moved away to supervise the unloading of the sample collection equipment. I looked around some more, also noting that the site was as safe as could be.
Because if there was one thing I wasn't ready for: it was a surprise attack.
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