Christophe flew ahead and perched upon the branches of trees to await him patiently as Luke went deeper into the forest. Armed only with a flashlight to guide him in the darkness, he shone his light upon the forest floor, and found the bloody trail and footprints. He and (Name) were on the right track.
As they travelled deeper into the forest with Christophe to guide them ahead, Luke saw the distance between the footprints gradually shorten. For some time, Heather had been running, but judging from the footprints now, she had started to slow at this point. She was growing weaker. Whether from loss of energy to run or weakened from blood loss, he couldn't say.
More than ever before he is filled with anxiety about seeing Heather again. One way or another. Troublesome thoughts plagued his mind and heart.
What if she was dead? If she had become suicidal in prison, would she refuse any help in her current state? And if she was alive, what would happen to her? Would the predators of the forest pick up on the scent of her blood and make a meal of her after finishing her off if she was still alive?
"Hurry Luke! Hurry (Name)" Christophe hooted. To anyone else he was just another owl hooting. Thanks to the power of the twin moon necklace around his neck, only Luke understood what he was saying. "Each moment we delay, she grows weaker!"
Luke's legs began to move once more as if they had a will of their own. (Name) followed behind him. All around him the forest was silent, save for the rustle of bushes, the howl of wolves, the hooting of other owls, and other sounds of the forest creatures of the night.
But then, in the distance, Luke heard a new sound. "Shhh! Do you hear that (Name)?"
It was the sound of a woman crying. Luke knew it could only be Heather. He recognized the sound of her cries anywhere. He quickened the pace of his frantic footsteps as Christophe took flight once more. The wails and sniffles gradually grew louder as they went deeper into the forest. The trail of bloody footprints had become smeared. By this point she could barely walk. The footprints disappeared, though there was still a trail of blood on the ground.
At last they came to a large hollowed out rock in the middle of a small clearing. The opening wasn't large enough for someone to stand up to their full height, unless they were about four feet tall. Luke got down on his knees and shone his flashlight within.
With her back to the rear wall of the opening and hugging her knees to her chest, Heather Night was a pitiful sight, whimpering and wailing into the darkness around her. Her entire body is quivering like a bowl of jello. Her eyes were were tightly shut, yet failed to block the twin rivers of tears flowing down her cheeks. Dirt from the forest floor had painted her legs a light shade of brown. Small rivers of blood flow down her legs and arms. Though Luke had been long looking forward to seeing her again despite believing they would never see each other again, to see her in such a state was not what he had hoped for. He would have preferred seeing her in photographs or in videos.
Despite her shut eyes, Heather could sense the flashlight shining upon her. "Please," she pleaded through her sobs shaking her head, without opening her eyes. "Please don't come near me! Just leave me here! Please!"
Poor girl, Luke thought to himself. After everything she's endured, all the rejection, she doesn't want any company. I'm her only hope, if she'll trust me. I'm her friend. She's been trying to help me find her through one phone call and a selfie.
"Heather, it's me Luke!" he spoke gently, loud enough to be heard over her sobs. Almost immediately, Heather's wails grew silent and she slowly opened her eyes. She stared ahead of her at the sight before her. Luke saw her eyes widen and the lips of her mouth fall open ever so slightly.
"I'm coming in Heather!" Luke said. He crawled into the opening on his hands and feet towards where Heather sat about six feet ahead of him. Heather stared at him in astonishment as she released her arms from around her legs. As she spread them open and slowly rose onto her knees, Luke stopped in his place as if he had been glued to the dirt beneath him.
Now that her legs no longer blocked the frontal part of her body, Luke stared in horror at the sight his eyes saw. More rivers of blood flowed from her torso and her brassiere was ripped down the middle, the cups barely clinging to her chest. The straps hung loosely past her shoulders and down her upper arms.
"Heather, what happened to you?" he asked, concern flooding into his eyes.
She didn't answer. She only stared wide-eyed at him as if disbelieving that he was truly in front of her. As he inched closer, she fell back on her bottom and slowly backed away as far as she could before her back hit the rock wall. She shook her head as the tears flow once more.
"Heather, it's me Luke! Your friend. We met in Parkford. We went out on a date. Remember?"
Heather tilted her head to the side and tried to stare around him towards the opening as if wanting to escape. But she was trapped, cornered like a rat moments before being pounced upon by a large cat. She made no attempt to defend herself. No movements for casting any spells.
"Make it quick!" she whimpered. "Release me from my miserable existence!"
She's delirious! Luke thought to himself. She must think I'm someone else or a forest predator here to finish her off. She probably welcomes death. How can I prove to her that I'm really her friend, Luke Fernandez?
And then, like a bolt of lightning, it came to him. Climbing up to his knees, he reached into his pocket and took out the purple rose hair clip. The very same trinket Heather had given to him to remember her by. He held it out where she could see.
"Look! Heather, do you remember this? Remember when you gave it to me in Indiana? To remember you by? I've carried it with me always ever since!"
Heather gazed upon the hairclip for several silent moments before Luke saw a familiar twinkle in her eyes. The corners of her purple lips curved of a small smile. She pushed herself up onto her knees. With her palms upon the dirt, she crawled with deliberate pace towards him. She came to a stop in front of him and pushed herself with whatever strength she had left onto her knees. Before Luke could react she had thrown herself upon him and her arms around him, the hands hanging down past his neck. Something that had last happened in Indiana before she allowed herself to be arrested. For the third time, he felt the soft touch of her silky skin against his body, even as she clung as tightly as her weakened body allowed.
"Oh Luke!" she sobbed in joy and relief. "I'm so happy you found me!"
Luke allowed the hairclip and his flashlight to fall from his hands and he returned her embrace, one arm around her waist, both hands on her back. Without warning, he felt a sudden sharp pain in the palm of one hand as it touched something solid, and it wasn't human flesh. He removed that hand from her back and saw that it was now leaking blood from a fresh laceration. Looking down past the back of her neck, he saw that her backside was covered with rivers of blood flowing downward. Her skin was cold to the touch. It may have been a trick of the light shining upon them but something glinted in her wounds. He rested his hands upon clean patches of her skin upon her backside.
What would anyone think if they were to find them in this situation? A young man in a black leather jacket, a mauve shirt underneath with a gold skull with three stylized gold roses on the front, blue jeans, and a silver necklace tucked behind. Locked in an embrace with a young woman clad only in torn black undergarments with much of her bare skin covered in dust, dirt, and fresh blood flowing from nearly two dozen wounds across her body.
"Shhh, Heather, it's okay. I'm here."
Heather didn't reply, but merely sniffled. He felt her fingers dig into his skin beneath his clothing. Her body continued to quiver in his arms.
After they unlocked from each, Luke sat beside her. "Heather, I was so worried about you! "What happened to you?"
Heather told him about all her experiences since escaping from her demon captor. About all the people who either refused to help her or take advantage of her, including meeting her father (Luke knew about it, but didn't say anything) and how he cruelly rejected her. About her disappointment when Amelia August, a fellow Wiccan wanted nothing to do with her. About the confirmation that she had been blacklisted from every coven. And being banished from the Spring Break Party by many of the other girls. It was even worse than two college girls throwing rocks at her in Ohio, shouting at her to keep away from their boyfriends. When all she had done was come into view.
"What happened next?" he asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," she whimpered as she pulled her knees close to her chest again and hugged them. Her body continued to shiver. Luke gazed upon her with pity. More than anything, she needed him to comfort her.
"Heather, you probably already know this, but you're badly injured!" Luke draped the arm with his bleeding hand behind her and laid it over her opposite shoulder. "What are you doing in here? Why come here? In this state?"
"After all I've suffered, everything I've been through, this is where I can be alone. What better place to come to...die in peace."
What?
"Die? But why?"
"Because I just don't care anymore." She paused to wipe her face. "I give up. There is no place for me in this world. Society wants nothing to do with me. Even if I do make early parole, there is no future for me. All because of who and what I am. A wiccan. A witch. A killer. Nobody cares about me."
Luke gently laid his other hand on the shoulder nearest to him. "I do Heather. So does the rest of the team. We came looking for you and Morgana, but we've lost her trail. Not yours though."
Heather turned her head to gaze into his face. Her eyes are glistening yet again, the tears continuing to flow. She rested her head upon his shoulder. "Stay with me Luke," she pleaded, placing both hands upon his body, to confirm he was still with her. "Stay with me to the end. Now that you're here, I won't have to die alone. I can leave this mortal plane knowing that I did have someone who cared about me."
"I won't let you die Heather," Luke cried frantically as he wrapped his arms around her. "We can't have come all this way just to give up on you! What kind of friend do you think I am?"
At this point, her gaze was focusing towards an area around his neck. She touched her necklace dangling around his neck and stared up at him again with a question in her eyes.
"Mistress!" Christophe hooted as he flew into the opening and bounded inside further towards them until coming to a stop several feet away.
"Christophe?" Heather gasped. Luke removed the necklace around his neck and placed it around her own.
"Yes, it's me mistress Heather," the owl said. "Luke and the rest of his team have been searching for you as much as I have." To Luke, he was hearing nothing more than hooting, but thanks to the necklace, Heather understood her pet perfectly.
"I may be just an owl, but you are my master, owner, and friend. I will not abandon you even when the world does."
"Oh Christophe...," Heather sniffled. She reached out with one arm towards him. The owl gently perched on her arm, careful to choose a spot without blood or lacerations. With her other hand, she gently stroked the top of his head. "I could always rely on you my friend."
"And I will continue to support you all throughout the rest of my days."
Gazing upon Heather and her pet, Luke sensed the strength of the bond between the girl and the owl. Though he could no longer understand what Christophe was saying, Heather was comforted by his presence just as much as his own. His thoughts turned back to what Adam Oakley had told him sensing the strength of the bond between him and his Wiccan friend.
He remembered the letter he had written for her back in Michigan and had carried it with him in one pocket ever since Heather had been confirmed as the second inmate taken by demons. With his uninjured hand, he pulled it out and held it out to her. "Here Heather, I wrote this letter while you were in prison. I was going to mail it to you until I found out about your demonic abduction."
With a trembling hand Heather took the letter out of his grasp and gently unfolded it. Luke sat in silence as she read. For one minute, he waited patiently, recovering her hairclip and his flashlight. At last Heather looked up back at him. Though the tears are still flowing, she is smiling.
"Oh Luke," she sniffled. "I had no idea you cared that much!"
He held out one hand. "Heather, come with me. We'll take good care of you and nurse you back to health. After all, you're almost one of us now like the chief said."
Heather reached forward with one hand and joined together with him. The two reunited friends crawled out of the rock opening back into the forest clear. Christophe had flown out first, with Luke next, Heather following close behind him, still sniffling. If she was still crying, they were now tears of happiness.
Once they were back outside Luke stood fully erect while Christophe perched in a nearby tree waiting for them. Still holding his hand, Heather rose to her feet, revealing the full picture of the state of her wounded and dirtied body. But she had barely been standing for a second before she suddenly cried out in pain and collapsed like a tree that had been chopped down.
"Heather!" Luke shouted as he fell on his knees.
"I...I can't walk!" she cried, a pained look on her face as she sat once more on her bottom. She held the ankle of her right with both hands and rotated her foot to reveal that the underside together with the big toe was lacerated with blood flowing from it. It may had been a trick of the moonlight, but Luke saw something imbedded in the middle of her foot.
Luke knew he wasn't strong enough to carry Heather back to the RV on his own. He would need some help to get Heather back to camp. He removed the necklace from around her neck and put it back on. "Christophe, go back to the RV and get Ben!" He took off the necklace yet again and held it out to the owl as it nodded and swooped down towards him. Taking the necklace in its beak, Christophe flew off, leaving the two friends by themselves alone in the clearing, their only company being (Name) who had waited patiently outside all the time.
"Heather, everything's going to be all right," he assured her. "Christophe will bring back help. Until them, I'll be right here with you."
Heather sniffled. "Luke, I'm cold. Hold me." He obliged and embraced her, being careful to rest his hands on patches of uncut skin. He felt her quivering arms and hands upon him as she completed the hug. Even though his clothing, her skin was cold to the touch as if the chill of death permeated the area.
"I'm holding you," he gently assured her. He looked past her shoulder towards (Name). "Can you look around for more clues (Name) while we wait for Ben? I need to stay with Heather. She needs me."
By the time Ben arrived with Christophe flying ahead of him, (Name) had completed the search, finding some torn photographs and a document with Trevor Lightheart's name on it.
"Ah, you found her," Ben said, though his tone lacked any sign of relief. "But she's in very bad shape."
"It's better than finding her dead," said Luke. Though deep down, the conditions of their reunion were as bad as her being in custody for murder. As they release each other, Heather once more hugs her knees to her chest, the entire body continued to quiver.
"What is wrong with her Ben?" Luke asked, cold fear gripping his heart.
"It's Hypothermia," said Ben. "Exposure, exhaustion, hunger, and blood loss have taken their toll. She no longer has the energy to keep warm. Without medical attention, she will die."
Luke pulled off his jacket and placed it over Heather, covering her back and her shoulders. Heather gave him a grateful smile for the limited warmth it provided.
"Well what are we waiting for?" Luke shouted frantically. "We need to get her back to camp!"
"You don't need to tell me twice," said Ben as he bent down at Heather's side as she lay flat on her back. He slipped one muscular arm under her legs and the other under her back before he lifted her up effortlessly. "Stay calm Heather," he told her gently. The girl was breathing heavily as her body continued to shiver.
"Heather, it's all right," Luke said. "I'm still here." He held out his uninjured hand towards her in a reassuring manner. In response, Heather reached out with one hand of her own to join together with him.
"Oh Luke," she said, smiling in spite of the tears flowing.
With Ben carrying Heather, Luke still holding onto her hand, and Christophe flying ahead, the two Supernatural Hunters walked back to camp with hurried steps. Though they had found Heather, she was not out of danger yet.
Heather was crying softly in Ben's grasp as he maintained a gentle grip upon the wounded young woman. From now on, there would be no more running. Though this was the closest she could be to getting captured, she was in good hands now. And as long as Luke was nearby, she would be all right.