Chapter three

The sun shines brightly on my face. I squinted my eyes before waking up. I never thought that I would wake up to these walls again. I stretched my body before waddling downstairs. 

As soon as my room door opened, the smell of bacon hit my nose. Dad must be cooking breakfast. I followed the smell towards the kitchen. He had already fixed a lot of different plates. Waffles. Pancakes. Bacon. And more. I took a deep yawn.

"Hey dad."

"Good morning honey."

"What's all of this?"

"I thought we could have a breakfast buffet since this would be the first time we ate breakfast together in a long time."

"I would like that."

"Good. Go ahead and fix your food. I had already set the dining table for us."

I walked to the refrigerator to grab some orange juice. Dad set up the table near the flat screen, so that we could watch tv while eating. 

I set my plate on the table and sat down on the other side. Dad was sitting on the side where he could watch tv. As he was flipping through channels, I buried my face in my phone. Searching up everything I could about the beast.

I would ask dad about it, but the angry he expressed from the phone call concerns me. I thought it was best not to speak to him about it. After breakfast, I went up to my room to relax on my bed. Upon passing my window, I saw something in the woods.

"Alex?"

I saw him leaning against a tree, looking at me. This would be the part where I would walk away from the window. I would ignore him and avoid him like I had planned to in the first place. Instead, I snuck downstairs and past my dad to reach the back door to meet him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you. But I didn't have a way of communicating with you on the phone. So I had to come here."

"It was dangerous. My dad will kill us both if he sees you here."

"He won't. Follow me."

"What?"

"Trust me."

I followed him deeper in the woods to a perfect place where we couldn't be seen. 

"So why did you come out of your way to see me."

"I just wanted to see you."

"Really? That's it."

"No. I was hoping that we could hang out later today. With just the two of us."

"Like a date?"

"Yeah. A date."

I could tell that he wasn't used to asking girls on a date. But he did it for me anyway. It made my heart beat faster.

"I would love to go on a date with you."

"Really."

"Yeah. I would love to."

"Great."

"So when should we go."

"I was thinking around seven. There's a beautiful spot I want to take you and it looks better at night. In my opinion."

"Then I'll see you at seven."

"Great."

"Oh. And Alex."

"Yeah?"

"Here."

I grab his phone to type in my phone number.

"Now we have a way to communicate."

"Thanks."

"Of course. I'll see you at seven."

"Yup."

I could feel him watching me as I walked back in the house. I turn around to watch him as the door closed behind me. 

"Emma."

I gasped and turn around to see dad.

"What are you doing?"

"I uh..I was just walking outside."

"Really? Why?"

"To get some fresh air. That's it."

"Oh. Okay."

I ran back upstairs and closed my door. At that moment, my phone ringed with an unknown number. That must be Alex. I sat on the bed texting him. I even found myself blushing through our conversations.

The clock eventually turned to seven. Lucky for me, dad had business with the Hunter Committee. Probably to talk about the beast. I waited until Alex texted me to leave the house.

I entered the passenger seat of his car as he turns on the car and drives away from the house. I turn towards him.

"So where are you taking me?"

"It’s a surprise."

"I'm very eager to see it."

"I'm glad."

I looked down and giggled. Alex glance towards me.

"What?"

"I was always a shy girl. I never saw myself falling for a guy I just met and going out with him to do daring things. Especially behind my dad's back. Now that I look back, I can hardly see myself as that girl who hides in her own shadow."

"Why?"

"I guess I'm just happy now. I'm enjoying myself and maybe there's a part of me that doesn't want to go back."

"You won't. As long as I'm by your side. You won't be alone anymore."

We soon arrived near the woods and parked.

"Where are we?"

"We're almost there."

Alex exit the car with a mischievous grin. I followed him as he walked near the woods.

"Close your eyes."

"What?"

"Trust me."

I sighed softly while closing my eyes. Alex used his hands to cover my eyes so I won't peaked. He then guided me as I walked through the woods.

"Where are we going?"

"Almost there."

"Alex."

"Now we've made it. Go ahead and open your eyes."

When I opened them, I saw a picnic near a view of the city in the woods. The stars in the night sky was our lighting as the city began to turn on its lights. It was breathtaking.

"I know it's not much, but I wanted to start small."

"It's beautiful. I love it."

"I didn't really know what you eat. I brought some sweet bread, fruits, sandwiches, and some juice."

"That sounds delicious."

I sat on the blanket to look through the basket. He did brough some more sweets, but lucky for him, I didn't know much about. I didn't know much about a lot of things. Alex joined me on the blanket as we dig to get our food.

"What made you think about a picnic as our first date?"

"I wanted to show you my safe heaven. Sometimes I come here to clear my mind and feel at peace. I thought it would be perfect for our first date. And the picnic would be starting us of small."

"It's a beautiful spot. How long have you been coming up here?"

"Not that long. I only use it for serious situations. Situations where I might feel safer here than at my own home."

"Why?"

"My life is just..different."

"Well I'm glad you feel safe enough to share it with me."

"I knew I could trust you when I felt that spark."

"Me too."

I looked away to eat my sandwich. We sat there in silence for a moment.

"What about you?"

"What?"

"You haven't told me much about you family. Your life."

"My life is much more boring than yours."

"Doesn't mean I'm not interested."

"Well, I just live with my dad now. Things are just that simple."

"What about your mom? You never talk about her."

"She..uh..she's dead. She died from a car crash."

"Emma."

"Please don't. It's okay. It's done and over with."

"If I had known-"

"Alex. It's okay, really. You don't need to feel sorry. There's nothing we can do now."

We was staring into each other's eyes in silence. I didn't realize that I had lean over and grabbed his hands until I felt the warmth of his fingers entangling mine. I pulled away with a bright blushing face.

"I'm sorry."

"Emma."

"I shouldn't have done that."

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No. Why would you ask that?"

"Every time you realize that we are getting closer with each other. You back away. Do I repulse you?"

"No. I'm just respecting your personal space."

"Emma."

He leans closer to me, almost inches away. My heart was shaking. I pulled back from him. 

"What are you doing?"

"Emma. When I first moved here, I made a deal with myself to not get to attach to people. To not let them get to close. But for some reason, I feel drawn to you. I can't push you away even if I wanted to."

"Alex, I'm drawn to you too. It's just complicated."

"You can trust me."

"I've never done this before."

"What?"

"I never been..this close to a guy before. I never kissed anybody before."

"Really. So you're new to..everything?"

"Yeah. Are you?"

"Not really."

I scoffed, "Great."

"Emma."

"Yeah."

"Trust me."

Alex leaned closer towards me. My skin hair started to stand as I felt his body warmth. My instinct was to pull away but I stood still. Trusting him.

He stopped inches away from my lips to look me in the eyes. I felt more at ease. I closed my eyes, feeling our lips brush against each other. His tongue slid softly against mine.

I couldn't believe that I was having my first kiss. It felt..natural and amazing. Something increased inside of me. I deepened the kiss. We then pulled away breathless.

"How was that?"

"I.."

We kissed again. He pulled me closer towards him. Everything was moving so fast. I rub my fingers through his hair and his hands were resting on my hips. The moon was beginning to shine on us.

We would take breaks, feeling breathless. My heart was leaping from my chest. I thought I knew how my first kiss would go, but this was better. I thought I would find some dull guy to be with, but Alex was different. I smiled at him.

"This was amazing."

"It was for me too."

"My first kiss was given to you."

"Do you regret it?"

"No. Not at all."

"And I'm glad you shared your first kiss with me."

"I am too."

I kissed him again. His hand suddenly grips my arms roughly.

"Emma."

"Alex? What's wrong?"

"I need to go."

"What's wrong?"

He suddenly pushed me to the ground. He showed strength that was unusual. Almost supernatural. He looked away from me while backing away.

"Alex. What's going on? Are you okay?"

"You should head home. I have to go."

"But-"

"Don't follow me!"

He ran into the dark without looking back. I sat there confused. Everything was fine until his mood suddenly change. Was it because of the kiss? Or me? I cleaned up the picnic area and walked home. But I couldn't get Alex out of my mind.

Why did he suddenly change? Not to mention that he just ran into the woods. Maybe I should have followed him, but he wanted to be left alone. Now I was walking home alone wondering what went wrong.

I used my key to unlock the front door. Hoping that dad would still be gone. But when I opened the front door, dad was in the living room waiting for me. I stood there embarrassed. 

"Hi dad."

"Where were you Emma?"

"I..uh..I went for a walk."

"A walk? This late and by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"And the picnic basket?"

"Uh..I was hungry."

"Emma. Stop lying to me. Where were you?"

"I was hanging out with somebody."

"This late? With who?"

"A guy I like." I blushed.

"What were you thinking Emma?"

"I'm sorry. You were with your Hunter group and I knew that if I had told you then I wouldn't have gone."

"Of course you wouldn't have. It's not safe out there Emma. We talked about this."

"I was careful."

"Even people who were careful eventually died to it."

"It? You mean the beast?"

"Yes."

"But nothing happened. I'm fine."

"That's not good enough. What if it did attacked? You wouldn't know if you were in trouble until it was already too late."

"Dad. What is this beast? Why are you so afraid of it?"

"I'm afraid to see my daughter killed by its vicious claws over some little boy she just met. Especially when she's suppose to stay away from them."

"Dad. What's going on? I still remember how angry you got with that unknown call you had in your office."

"You overheard me?"

"Some. But your behavior is more terrifying than it was before. Why?”

"Because what we were preparing for is now confirmed. The beast is back and we have to kill it before it takes more lives.”