(This chapter is set three days after the full moon (one day after Liam goes to Harfire Hall))
Maddy watched the light dance between the trees; the golden, flickering rays of the sun grow ever longer. She had an empty, cold feeling in her. Happiness didn't seem to matter anymore. At the back of her mind was a tingle of fear, ever present, always there.
There was a rustle behind her as someone made their way through the sea of autumn leaves.
"Hi, Rhydian." She said as he sat down beside her. Rhydian drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, in the old familiar position Maddy was so used to.
"Hey, Mads." He replied. It was striking how pale his eyes were, the way they glinted in the afternoon sun. "Jana's gone to get some food."
"She can hunt better than I can." Maddy tried a small smile, but it slipped off her face.
"Yeah."
They were silent for a few minutes more. The shadows were getting longer, but they were also getting darker. Within a few hours they would be gone. Maddy, Jana and Rhydian all had decided to rest in a bit of forest, far away from humans. It was quiet and peaceful, but it only made Maddy feel more lost.
"How's your hand?" Rhydian asked, indicating to the bloodied bullet-wound wrapped in ripped T-shirt.
Maddy sighed. "It's getting better. Still hurts, though."
Rhydian frowned, the little scar on his forehead scrunching up.
"Just- Why'd he do that?" he said finally.
"Who, Liam?"
"Yeah! Why'd he have to go and shoot you in the paw?" He paused. "With a musket gun?"
Maddy shrugged. She'd turned this over and over in her mind, but she couldn't find an answer. "'Cause he's Liam?" she said at last. "He's a creepy wierdo, Rhydian. That's what creepy wierdos do."
"I hate him, Mads."
"I know."
"I can't believe he did that to you."
"I can't believe he filmed us." Maddy sighed, her brown hair drooping in front of her face. "I should've gone to the tunnels. This is my fault. I'm sorry."
Rhydian gripped her arm.
"Look at me, Mads." Maddy turned to face him. "It's not your fault. Don't you ever think that again, do you understand me?"
Maddy stared into those pale blue eyes, her own filling with tears. She leaned into Rhydian, who gave her a confused look before returning the hug.
"But it is my fault, Rhydian!" She sobbed. "If I hadn't transformed in Aern Hollow, If I hadn't jumped out at Liam when he went back to investigate the tunnels, If I hadn't stayed back in the woods last Full Moon- This is all my fault, Rhydian, don't you see?" Rhydian didn't say anything. "Now Mum and Dad have to leave, the whole world knows our secret and we didn't even say goodbye to Tom and Shannon. Liam's probably hunting us on some deluded heroic quest, too. It's just- I'm so sorry…"
Maddy sat back, wiping her eyes miserably. Rhydian was sad as well, the afternoon light only highlighting this. He was so handsome, so perfect…
"Look, some of it's my fault too." He said gently. "I should've made you go to the tunnels. I shouldn't have tried to bite Jimi." His tone got darker. "Really, it's all Liam's fault. He had a choice, Mads, and look what he chose to do!"
"Yeah. Liam the Werewolf Hunter."
Rhydian laughed, shaking his head. "Who would have thought?"
Maddy looked again at Rhydian, his pale hair, his blue eyes, the little scar in the centre of his forehead. A strand of dark hair fell in front of Maddy's eyes, but she didn't push it behind her ear. They were so close, the golden sunlight dancing around them, twinkling, a moment of beauty in a bleak and desperate future. They were so close, their noses almost touching. Close enough to kiss, Maddy thought dazedly. There was something in Rhydian's eyes, almost like fire, yet it was kind, not terrifying. A breath of wind stirred up strands of hair, bringing with it smells of forest and wilderness. Neither of them moved, frozen in time, so close…
The sound of breaking twigs and rustling leaves made them snap their heads around in alarm, but it was only Jana. She had an armful of herbs and animal carcases, stumbling back to the top of the hill where the two were sitting.
The sun sank over the hills, the shadows disappearing. The moment of golden peace was over.
The hollow, empty feeling returned to Maddy, as if it had never left. I'll always be here, forever and ever and ever, it seemed to whisper. Rhydian got up to help Jana with the food. Maddy tipped her head back to watch the light fading from the sky. It seemed, that like the sky, the light was fading from her life, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Shannon trudged through piles of leaves, fighting the hopeless feeling in her stomach. She was Shannon, and she would never give up.
"Come on, Tom!" she called in a false, cheery voice. "Follow the ivy!"
"Yeah, I think I'd rather trust a compass, Shan."
"Well, we don't have one, Tom."
Tom stumbled up to her. "It's night, Shannon. My flashlight's half dead-" he waved it around pathetically, the flickering light glinting off trees. "- not to mention I'm cold, I'm hungry and we're lost in the middle of a forest we know nothing about!"
Shannon stopped, glaring at him. "We're not lost!" she said angrily. She turned back, walking hurriedly on. She would find her friends. Just because she couldn't track someone with scent or use Eolas, didn't mean she couldn't find them.
All day long, and the two days before, Tom and Shannon had followed the chilling trail of dried blood, and when that failed, the several animal corpses that looked as though they'd been eaten by Wolfbloods. All the time, they'd been heading north, towards Jana's pack, though they had as much of an idea where that was as they did of their friends.
Five minutes later, they stumbled on a creek, the riverbanks wet, soggy mud from the rains from a few days before. It seemed like years ago.
Shannon crouched down. "Hey, Tom?" she called. Tom walked up behind her.
"I'm sorry, okay? I'm just worried-" he began, but Shannon wasn't listening.
"Do you think Maddy or the others could've made these tracks?" She pointed out the shoe-prints in the mud. They looked recent- and Shannon could've sworn Maddy had shoes with that exact print. She stood up, her heart thumping.
"It's a Wolfblood's, anyway." Tom said, jogging further down the riverbank. "They change to wolf-prints. There's some dead animal here- ew -and red hair. Jana's, probably."
Shannon followed him, shining her flashlight at the mud. The prints became more disfigured, until they evolved into wolf-prints. Peering more closely, Shannon could see that the prints indicated that Maddy's (if it was Maddy's paw-prints) right fore-foot was injured. She felt sick with worry. Shannon remembered the trail of dried blood she and Tom had followed, and felt even worse.
"They look recent." Shannon poked the tracks, wondering anxiously where her friends were now. Whether Maddy was okay. What had happened to her for those tracks to be like that.
"How do you know so much about tracking, anyway?" Tom asked, peering curiously at Shannon.
"I learnt how to track when I was obsessed with the Monster on the Moors." She paused. "I often spent the holidays tracking paw-prints for days on end."
"Oh." Tom said, then resumed following the tracks down the stream. "By the looks of it, Maddy, Jana and Rhydian went this way."
Shannon got up, going over to Tom. They jumped over the stream, where the mud ended and the piles of leaves began again.
"The tracks seemed pretty recent." Shannon said. "We're probably only a few hours behind them. Maybe half a day. Come on."
Tom grabbed her arm, gesturing to the star-filled sky.
"Shan? In case you didn't notice, it's the middle of the night. We've barely stopped."
Shannon sighed, knowing he was right.
"Fine. I've got matches in my rucksack. Couple of chocolate bars, too." She rummaged around while Tom hunted for firewood. After several minutes and a small squabble, they finally had a little fire going and were nibbling on chocolate bars.
"You've got everything in there." Tome remarked, indicating to the rucksack.
"Matches. Jumpers. Scarves. Snacks. Torches. Stuff like that."
"Except a compass." Tom said, grinning.
"Except a compass."
They were quiet, watching the warm glow of the fire. The tiredness Shannon had kept at bay for the past three days caught up with her.
"D'you think they'll send a search party out for us?" Tom asked suddenly. Shannon had been wondering about this too. It wouldn't be any good if a police-helicopter picked them up before they got to Maddy, Rhydian and Jana.
"Probably. They don't know where we are, though. We're a day ahead of them, at least."
Shannon leant against a tree trunk, feeling her bones ache with tiredness. Tom's eyes were drooping; he looked even more exhausted than her.
"Go to sleep, Tom." she said at last. "I'll keep watch over the fire."
The flames glowed and sparkled like jewels, lighting up the area. It was, she thought quietly, amoment of beauty, in a bleak and desperate future.
