Chapter Seven

It was cold, too cold.

The weather had changed from bright blue to thick dark gray. Cory couldn’t understand what was going on. The house felt tight, he’d managed to escape from his father, and now, sitting behind the door, head buried in his knees, he didn’t know what to do. He cried. Crying was a worse option than any other course of action at this point.

The door banged open, hitting him hard. His father had heard him. Cory felt strong arms pulling at him, dragging him out from behind the kitchen door. He was flung halfway across the kitchen, landing on the hard tiles, tears pouring from his eyes.

There was a clatter.

Just a few centimeters from him was a butcher knife, glistening in the dim light. Cory reached for it. His father staggered heavily towards him, a bottle of alcohol in his left hand, and a belt on the other. He drank the remaining bit of alcohol and flung the bottle away. Cory waited, shivering. He was sweating.

He flew at the drunk man, arms flailing. He jumped on him and stabbed him in his neck repeatedly. The surprise was clearly written on his fathers face. He dropped to the  ground, cold and hard, his eyes looking into oblivion.

Cory staggered backwards, his face and hands were stained with blood. He ran out of the house and into the stormy weather with the rain beating him hard. He ran, unsure of where he was headed, anywhere was better than his home.

He tripped and fell right through the concrete into darkness.

A sudden jolt.

Cory looked around. He was surrounded by trees. Sam and the rest of the group slept on, undisturbed by anything. He took deep breaths, recovering from the nightmare he just had.

Standing up, he walked into the night, through the waist high bushes and thick mud towards the gushing sound of running water. There was a thick mist rising through the trees, the damp air carrying with it the smell of rotten leaves. Nothing was as it seemed, and yet, nothing was odd to Cory. Not even the moon that fell too close to the earth, staying just few centimeters above the top of the trees, following his every movement.

Through sleepy red eyes and heavy steps, Cory made his way to the river, washing his face. Just behind him, there was a rustle in the bushes. He payed no attention to it, looking deeply into the water. The moon shimmered in the water, sending silver ripples through the entire river. But there was something else.

He peered deeply into the water, there was someone or something standing behind him. Its reflection was made blurry by the forward movement of the river. Then a flicker of light from the figure. Cory froze. His entire body went numb. The flight or fight hormone in his body was activated, but at this point, running was not an option. The adrenaline took hold of him. He twisted, grabbing the figure by the arms and pulling it into the earth. The scream that came out from the figure told Cory that it was female. He pulled a 5.56 by 45milimeter caliber pistol from his khakis and pointed it at the object.

“Cory, it’s me.” It said.

He stayed, unmoving. How did it know his name? He grabbed the flash light that had fallen from the being and pointed it at the figure beneath him.

“Get that away from me!” she screamed.

Cory took a good look at her.

“Leigh?”

 “Yeah it’s me, now get that thing away from my face!” She pushed at his arm. “Before you kill me.”

“I’m so sorry.” He returned the gun into his khakis. “I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“Here, let me help you.” He offered her a hand to help her stand up.

“Thanks.” She said sarcastically.

“What are you doing here?” Cory asked the moment she was on her feet.

“I should be asking you that question. I saw you stand up and walk into these  bushes. I wondered where you were going to at this time of the night, so I decided to follow you.” She paused and looked around, as if suddenly remembering something. Her face twitched. “What were you doing bending over those bushes?”

“I was washing my face.”

Leigh looked at Cory, puzzled and surprised. “With what?”

“What do you mean with what?”

“I mean, what were you washing your face with?”

“With water from the river-” Cory turned to look at the river he’d just dipped his hands into. There was nothing there, the river had vanished. He staggered backwards, surprised and scared. He looked at Leigh and back at where the river had been. It had been replaced by waist high bushes. He was speechless as a result of the fear that had over whelmed him. “But-” He stammered. “I just-”

“Cory,” Leigh placed her right arm on his shoulder. “There’s nothing here. Come on.” She pulled him by the arm, leading him back to where the rest of the team slept. “You need some rest.”

There was the sound again, the gushing sound of running water. Cory looked back as Leigh pulled him. He saw it, just a few feet behind them, and then it was gone, hidden by trees and bushes as they reached their team.

She sat and watched him drift off to sleep. She was opposite him, and as she closed her eyes, sleep swept her away from reality.