A Forest Full Of Lies
APOV (Avery's Point Of View.).
Whoa. I didn't know that trees could spin that fast. My vision was becoming blurry, but I knew that I had to continue walking, no matter what.
I was in the middle on an unknown forest, somewhere near The Olympic Peninsula.
I just have to find someone. Anyone. If I passed out now, I would be lost forever. No one would ever find me. Not that that even mattered.
I was seeing black, and I felt numb. Pushing a bunch of ferns aside, I stumbled into a clearing. I could barely make out the tent on the rocky ledge, but I managed to crack a little smile. As the colors of the landscape blended together, I saw a flash of movement coming from next to the tent. Something sandy colored. Or was that just the color of the ground? I didn't know.
A low growling sound filled my ears, and I knew that I was about to slip into unconsciousness. There were black dots crowding my view, and a deep humming was surrounding me. I suddenly felt weak, my knees shaking, like they were about to collapse. I heard a shout come from directly in front of me, but the only response that I could manage was a soft moan.
"Ungh." My stomach lurched froward and I hit the cold, rock ground. Hard.
--
My eyelashes fluttered, and I moaned. Was I dead? There was no other explanation for it. I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't hear anything. I tried to wiggle my fingers, but nothing came. No feeling, no nothing. I lay on the ground, trying to make sense of my surroundings.
For one, I couldn't see. My head was pounding heavily. Everything was still spinning, making me nauseous with an incredible force. I was abnormaly dizzy, unable to open my eyes.
There was a strong pressure on my head, and I struggled to shake it away, violently moving my body.
"It's okay. Shh, shh." My eyes jerked open as I heard a voice, which wasn't a very good idea. I was immediatly limp, my body unable to move. I stubburnly tried to sit up, but realized that I wasn't lying down.
I was propped up against some sort of... soft cushion? No, that couldn't be it. I was lying against something incredibly warm, and it was then that I realized how incredibly cold I was. So incredibly freezing that I was shaking involuntarily, constantly slamming into the cushion.
Another voice spoke. It was panicked. "She's like ice."
The first guy spoke again, a lot calmer. "Just concentrate on warming her up."
"But her lips, their practically blue!"
The first guys sighed. "I can see that."
"When will she wake up?" The second guy was getting louder.
I'm awake! I wanted to shout, struggling against the unconsciousness that was holding me captive. I'm alive! But no sound came out of my mouth except for another agonized moan.
"She must have hit her head pretty hard, to create a gash like this." The first guy wondered out loud.
So that's what the strong pressure on my head was.
"But how?" The second guy asked. "It's not like it's normal for people to be exploring this deep into the forest."
"Perhaps she got injured while hiking, and was trying to find her way back. Yet there were no signs that she had brought any supplies with her." The first man paused, thinking. "She doesn't look like she's getting any warmer."
My senses suddenly flooded back to me in a quick instant, and I cried out. My head was throbbing so loudly that I could barely hear my own screaming. My body was shaking so violently that I had a hard time believing that the cause of it was the cold. My only comfort was that I could see quite clearly, even though I was still incredibly dizzy.
"She's awake!" The second guy pointed out. It was then that I realized what the cushion was. It was the second man. His arms were wrapped around my waist, pinning my arms to my sides. I discovered that no matter how hard I struggled, I could not free myself. Not being able to do anything but press against him, I discovered that he was unusually warm. And I was practically freezing to death.
"I know that you're cold." The first guy assured me. "But you'll soon be warm, okay? Just stay calm."
"Who are you?" I managed to ask, bewildered by where I was. The last place that I remembered being was lost in the forest.
The first guy chuckled. "I was about to ask you that very same question. My name is Edward Cullen. That's Jacob..." Edward tilted his head toward the guy who was holding me against my will. "And that's Bella." Edward motioned his head towards a girl who, until now, I hadn't even noticed. She was sitting next to Edward, their hands entwined. "And you are?"
I suddenly had a strange feeling of paranoia wash over me. I wasn't even sure if these strangers were telling the truth or not. I decided in a split second that it would be safer not to tell them anything.
"My name is Olivia." I lied.
A strange look of confusion appeared on Edward's face, and then disappeared. He quickly glanced at Jacob, and then Bella, with a look on frustration in his eyes. I pretended not to notice.
"So, Olivia, what were you doing so deep in the forest? Were you lost?"
"Yes." I lied again. "I was hiking by myself, and I must have been walking along the wrong trail." I was surprised at how easily I was able to lie to these people. They looked friendly, but I didn't want to take any chances.
Edward nodded thoughtfully. His lips pulled back into a brilliant smile, his incredibly white teeth showing. Edward had bronze colored hair, and white skin. His eyes were a golden brown, like pools of melted caramel. I caught myself gazing into them, and pulled my eyes away to look at Jacob. He still looked worried, his dark brown eyebrows pulled together.
I felt a lot warmer then I had a few minutes ago, so I narrowed my eyes at Jacob. "Do you mind?" I asked, motioning towards his arms tightly wrapped around me.
"Oh, sorry." Jacob replied, embarassed. He smoothly placed his hands at his sides.
The tent was quite crowded, and I had the sudden urge to get out of this over filled space. I fumbled with the zipper, but managed to get it open. I shakily stood up, and sighed when I felt two strong hands clutching my shoulders.
I slowly walked out of the tent, glaring at Jacob as he refused to let go of me. He seemed unsure to let me go off by myself.
"If you know what's good for you." I glowered at Jacob. "Then you will let go of me this instant." I resisted the urge to stomp my foot.
"Fine." Jacob rolled his eyes. "Whatever you want." He unclamped his hands, and I finally understood why he was taking such extreme precautions. Practically one second later, I found myself swaying around in the wind, my head spinning. I dizzily reached out for Jacob, but he stubbornly shoved his hands inside his pockets, smug. The colors were blending into a swirling pattern again, as they once had before, and my body felt weak. I was nauseous, and the black was quickly closing in on me, faster then it had before. I moaned in agony, and just as I was sure I was going to hit the hard, rock floor, a pair of hands caught me and pulled me close.
I didn't have any strength left as Jacob placed me firmly on the ground. He sat next to me, smiling. There was a third guy sitting right next to him.
"My name's Seth." The third guy said, extending his hand out to shake mine. His grip was firm.
"My name's Olivia." I told Seth, studying him. He looked a lot like a smaller version of Jacob.
"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Jacob was staring out towards the darkness of the sky. It was pretty early in the morning, and I felt overpoweringly tired.
"No, not at all." I figured that talking was the best way to stay awake.
"How did you manage to get lost? There are so many trails to follow."
This would really test my capability of lying. "I'm not really sure. I guess I'm pretty bad at following maps." I laughed out loud, but wasn't sure if Jacob could tell if my laugh was fake or not.
"Huh. How did you hurt your head?"
"I guess I just tripped. I'm pretty clumsy." Yeah, right.
"You sure are a lot like Bella, you know."
"Hmm, really?"
"Yeah. I mean, she's gotten lost in the forest before. And she is pretty clumsy herself." Jacob laughed, and it echoed down the mountains. "Talk about being a danger magnet." Jacob's expression was alarmed for a moment, as if he had just exposed some kind of secret that he wasn't supposed to tell anyone. But then his expression was friendly again.
A loud howl suddenly filled the air, and I spun my head around. My sight blurred for a moment, but then returned back to normal. "What was that?" I asked Jacob, wondering if I had heard the sound right. A loud howl filled the air a second time.