Lucas frowned worriedly at his watch, as it cast an eerie green glow onto
the faces of the assembled teenagers.
'4 am' he muttered, eyes concerned, 'Ok enough's enough we've given him time, but letting him have some space and letting him wander around remote woods at four in the morning is not the same thing. I'm going to find him.'
Haley nodded, face pinched, eyes wide, where was Nathan, her heart pounded, he should have been back by now. She raised her arms up and hugged herself as the cold night air bit into her naked forearms. 'I'm going with you.'
Lucas looked at her sharply , 'That's not a good idea Hales.'
Peyton interrupted, 'Lucas, we wouldn't have gotton into this mess if Nathan hadn't decided to go walkabout on his own...'
'or if someone hadn't upset him!' Haley added, glaring at Brooke.
Peyton ignored the comment '..we're not going to let you do the same thing.' she told her boyfriend, linking her arm through his, '..we'll all go find him ok?'
Lucas sighed, 'fine'.
Tim walked away from them across the clearing and returned seconds later with a flashlight, 'let's go', he said determinedly, Nathan was his best friend, he wanted to find him as much as the rest of them.
As they all began to walk towards the woods, Brooke hung back, head pounding, the alcohol already impairing her senses. She watched the others stride ahead and realised she was being left behind. Sobering slightly, Brooke sighed deeply, why had she done that? Why had she started up that stupid game, they were right, they were all right, she was just a bad person.
She took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts, it wasn't that she set out to hurt people, or even to cause trouble, she just craved attention, always had done.
And the alcohol, well it must have been in the genes or something, Brooke's mother was an alcoholic, a popular student who had fallen for Brooke's father, a rich married man and the dean at her College. Her father had continued things for 3 years after Brooke's mother got pregnant, but by then he couldn't keep up with the demands of two families, he already had 3 kids and a wife of 20 years, who had no idea about his mistress, and he had walked out of their lives, the most Brooke had seen of her father in the last 15 years had been the support check he sent her mother every month.
So she could afford to buy rich clothes, an expensive car, she even lived in a huge house, but life wasn't so great most of the time.
Of course she never told anyone about her past. It was her way of protecting herself, if no-one knew the real Brooke Davis then she could pretend, pretend to be the easy cheerleader everyone thought she was.
Peyton knew differently, but even she didn't know the true awfulness of Brooke's childhood and what she faced every day when she came back from school. A drunken mother, she had to clean up and a garbage full of bottles for the trash.
If the truth ever came out Brooke knew it would kill her. Then her mind came across the mental image of Nathan's face as he'd walked away from them. Maybe he had the same kind of demons she had, Brooke shuddered, how would she have felt if someone had asked about her own shady past.
Stopping for a second she stared hard at the ground, hating herself and then she slowly turned over the flask and let the whisky fall to the ground.
'Hey Brooke, come on!'
Tim's voice startled her and she looked up to find the others waiting for her at the entrance to the woods. She didn't deserve them, she knew that but they were there for her and Brooke realised that she would be there for them, starting right now.
Blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears forming in her eyes, she threw the flask to the ground and ran to join the others.
Haley shuffled closer to Lucas as they waited for Brooke to catch up. Luke placed an arm through both her arm and Peyton's.
'Ok everyone ready?' He asked.
Tim linked an arm through Brookes'. 'Ready.'
Lucas nodded seeming to try and gather some courage, then they started into the woods.
'NATHAN?' Lucas shouted, before the others joined in.
Haley heard her voice shouting, only it didn't sound like hers, it was shaky and high-pitched. She was frightened, frightened for the others, frightened for Nathan and as much as she hated to admit it, frightened of the woods. As much as she tried to ignore it, her traitorous mind kept recalling all the blasted horror films she'd ever seen about kids in the woods. Squeezing Luke's arm tighter she tried to ignore the long, creeping branches illuminated by Tim's torchlight.
She hated the thought of Nathan in here alone somewhere.
But it hadn't surprised her that he'd run away, Nathan always did think with his heart rather than his head, he was a typical hothead, emotion ruled rational thinking.
Haley shivered as a cold tingle ran down her spine, she couldn't help feeling that something had happened to Nathan, she couldn't explain it, but it frightened her to the very core of her being. Nothing could ever happen to Nathan, she loved him far too much.
'NATHAN!' Lucas paused mid-stride as he heard his voice echo around the woods, this was freaky. He tried to put on a brave face for the girls but he wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of them all traipsing around woods at 4 in the morning.
And where the hell was Nathan?
Lucas felt a nagging feeling spread over him, he cursed silently to himself, if this was what being a sibling was about then he wanted out. He didn't like worrying so much about another person, again he found himself contemplating what had freaked Nathan out so much before. Nathan was his brother, for some reason Lucas found he was mad at himself for not knowing about these secrets in his life. Wasn't it his place as Nathan's only sibling to find out what was up with his life.
Oh he knew what was going on with him now to some extent, though he still felt that Nathan totally skirted the 'Dan' issue, but it was only now that he realised how little he knew of his brother's past.
Lucas vowed he would find out more about Nathan's life when he found his little brother.
A fluttering nearby suddenly had the whole gang jumping ten feet in the air.
'AHHH' shrieked the girls.
'What was that?' Tim yelled, and Lucas grinned slightly to see Tim hiding behind Brooke.
Haley and Peyton turned too and giggled softly at the two.
Brooke looked un-amused, 'Tim, you're such a jerk, I can't believe you just used me as a shield you jackass!'
Tim looked sheepish and coughed, 'ahem..I wasn't I heard a sound behind me and jumped that way to protect you!'
'Sure you did Tim'. Brooke muttered annoyed.
'I think it was just an owl or somethin' Lucas told them all reassuringly, sounding a lot braver than he thought he would considering his heart was practically leaping out of his chest. 'Come on lets keep moving.'
He started forward again, he had gone little more than three paces when he stumbled across what felt like a log.
Lucas pitched forward and was grabbed by Haley and Peyton, as he almost lost his balance.
Tim automatically shone the torch down, and there to their complete horror lay the still form of Nathan Scott.
'NATHAN!' Haley screamed, staring down in horror at the motionless form of her boyfriend.
Lucas was on his knees in a second, his hands gently turned Nathan onto his back, 'Bring the torch down here now Tim!' he shouted turning his face up towards Nathan's best friend. The light illuminated the fearful features on Lucas' face, his eyes were wide, and his mouth was drawn in a tight line.
Tim crouched down quickly as did Haley.
Lucas quickly brought shaky fingers up to Nathan's neck, feeling for a pulse, after a few terrifying seconds, where his heart literally stopped Lucas felt the beat that told him his little brother was still alive.
'He's got a pulse!' he shouted, eyes meeting a horrified Haley's as she kneeled on the other side of Nathan.
She nodded slowly and then gently let her fingers stroke the bloodied cut on Nathan's forehead.
Peyton and Brooke stood, faces pale, stunned expressions on their faces.
'We have to get him somewhere warm Luke.' Peyton spoke softly.
Lucas nodded, and looked back at Haley, 'alright Hales, we're gonna have to get him back to the campsite, so you're gonna have to move back ok?'
Haley stared at Nathan, frozen.
Lucas tried again, 'Hales?'
Haley looked up, her breathing ragged, 'ok.'
Lucas nodded, then shot a look at Tim, Tim quickly took Nathan's left arm and put it around his shoulder, Lucas did the same on his right and together they carried Nathan through the woods.
Brooke shone the torch ahead and soon enough they reached the clearing. Going past the bonfire they carried on hauling Nathan towards the tents, where they carefully lay him on the ground outside.
Lucas and Haley once again crouched at Nathan's sides, Peyton took charge, 'Tim, Brooke, get me some blankets now!'
They quickly ran to get them.
Peyton knelt down at Nathan's head, she had had a first aid training course once, she looked closely at the injury to his head. Then she took the flashlight from the ground and gently lifted Nathan's eye-lids back and shone it into them.
'Ok...' She said softly, 'he's got a nasty knock to the head, his pupils are pretty unresponsive.'
'What does that mean?' Haley asked, panicked as Lucas tore his eyes from his brother to Peyton.
'It means he's probably gonna be out cold for a while.'
Tim and Brooke quickly returned with blankets, which Lucas and Haley began wrapping around Nathan. Peyton carefully tucked one beneath his head.
Tim stood back shocked, 'what the hell happened to him?'
Lucas shook his head, 'I don't know....' he said fear making his voice come out in little more than a whisper, '...the only one that knows the answer to that is Nathan.'
Somewhere in Tree Hill......
Dan Scott hung up the phone with an oath.
His wife Deb turned to him, an eyebrow arched, 'Is that how you end every conversation, or just the good ones?'
Dan's eyes grew dark, 'That was certainly not good!'
Deb's forehead crinkled worriedly, 'bad news?'
'You could say that!'
'What is it?' Deb asked eyes becoming concerned, 'Nathan?'
'No' Dan dismissed her, 'I'm sure he's fine. No that was the police, it turns out Harry Jarvis has escaped!'
Deb felt her heart pound in her chest, 'Oh God, no Dan! He was supposed to be locked up for 20 years!'
'yeah well, he got paroled early and he skipped bail.'
Deb gripped the table for support and then slowly lowered herself into a chair, 'You don't think he'll come after you?'
Dan shook his head, 'No!' But he was certainly rattled.
In his freshman year at College Dan had been in the basketball team with Harry Jarvis, they'd been bitter opponents from the start, although on the same team, they both wanted to be number one. Of course Jarvis had more than a few screws loose and Dan was warned consistently not to cross him by the rest of the team, however being arrogant and assured and...well, Dan Scott, he hadn't listened. And one game he had sent a furious Jarvis flying and he had ripped a cord in the guy's back.
Unfortunately it left him unable to play professional basketball again. And Jarvis had a ruined career, an injured back, and a chip on his shoulder, the size of China.
That chip, had mounted into an attack on Dan after a game, Jarvis had turned a gun on a frightened auditorium full of people, determined to take Dan Scott to an early grave. Deb had been there and if it hadn't been for the Coach pushing Dan down, Jarvis would have been jailed for murder rather than attempted murder. He'd been sentenced to 20 years, and the psychological effect on Dan ruined his basketball prowess.
Every time he stood in the gym, his mind played over the gun pointed at his chest over and over, so he'd quit College, taken his newly pregnant girlfriend Deb back to Tree Hill and tried to forget it, until now.
Deb looked very nervous, 'I don't like the idea of the kids out camping, with this maniac on the loose,' she said softly, 'I'm going to ring Nathan and get him to come home, just to be on the safe side.'
Dan sighed, 'Deb, there's no need, they'll be fine!'
'Dan!' Deb shouted, her tone not to be messed with, 'this is our son we're talking about, and I want him back here where I can keep an eye.'
Dan shook his head silently, Deb picked up the phone to call Nathan's mobile. She had a bad feeling about this.
'Uggggggh' Nathan groaned as he became slowly aware. His head was throbbing, and he struggled to open his eyes, he became steadily more frightened when he couldn't awaken himself from the seemingly-eternal darkness.
He only stopped panicking when his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he realised it was night-time, hazy figures appeared above him and he smiled as his eyes focussed on Haley's anxious face. She really was beautiful, staring down at him, like an angel, eyes wide, lips slightly parted.
'Nate? Can you hear me?'
He tilted his head slightly and his brother's face came into focus, Nathan winced, 'Ah.ok Luke you don't need to yell!'
Lucas looked confused but relieved, 'I wasn't yelling little brother!'
Nathan frowned, his head was pounding like nothing on earth, he felt dizzy and slightly sick, carefully he attempted to sit up.
'Whoa!' Luke shouted gently helping him sit up, 'take it slow ok?'
Nathan sat upright and noticed everyone crouched around him, he raised a hand to his head, drew it back and was surprised to see blood, ow, no wonder it hurt.
Feeling panicked he looked where he always looked when he needed calming, at Haley.
He stared at her long and hard, and felt the panic slowly leave his body, as he stared into her eyes.
'Are you ok?' He asked her.
Haley stared at him tears welling up in her eyes, 'Hales? What? What did I say?' He asked worried he'd upset her.
She smiled slightly, 'Nathan we just found you lying on the ground in the middle of the woods, you've just been unconscious for the last fifteen minutes and you're asking if I'm ok?'
Nathan's eyes widened as he thought back.
'What happened Nate?' Tim asked, 'I mean you were out of it man.'
Nathan stared up at them, then he squeezed his eyes shut horrifed. He opened them again and noticed them all watching him, concerned.
'You ok bro?' Lucas asked.
Nathan wasn't entirely sure how to answer that one, he was pretty frightened, he glanced at Haley, wishing he could spare her this, then he slowly took a deep breath.
'You guys, when I was in the woods before, someone attacked me.'
Lucas stared at him, 'WHAT?'
'I don't know who the hell they were but one minute I was standing there getting some air and the next this person jumps me and starts strangling me, I hit him with a branch and he ran but not before hitting me real good.' He indicated the wound on his head.
Brooke and Peyton stared at him mouths frozen in silent, 'O's, Luke and Tim shared a frightened glance, Haley kept her eyes glued to Nathans', she looked horrified.
'Oh my God!' Brooke shrieked, 'what are we going to do? We have to get out of here!'
Lucas shook his head, trying not to panic at the idea that their was some psychotic assailant running around the woods, who'd just attacked his brother, 'the bus doesn't come back till Sunday Brooke you know that!'
'Then we'll ring our parents..' She replied, running a hand through her hair, 'they'll come get us.'
Tim nodded, eyes serious, 'she's right.'
Peyton looked around, 'hey,' she said softly, 'lets not panic ok, there's 6 of us ok, and one of them and as long as they have no weapon of any.....' She trailed off as Nathan looked up at her sharply.
Peyton looked at him for a second, the two had been out together for 2 years, she knew that look, it was Nathan's 'well actually..' Look.
'There's a weapon?'
Nathan nodded slowly, 'um....he had a knife.'
That's when Peyton, who was usually pretty together in life or death situations REALLY started to panic!
Deb slowly lowered the phone from her ear, she turned back towards Dan with a scared look, 'I can't get through to Nate.'
Dan suddenly became a little worried, he was mad with Nathan because of this new-found 'bond' he had with Lucas, and he'd been so annoyed he hadn't really thought about his son possibly being in danger, now he felt uneasy.
Deb lifted the phone again and keyed in a number.
'Who are you calling?' Dan asked frowning.
Deb gave Dan her 'you're not going to like this' look, and he knew just what she was going to say.
'Karen and Keith, they might have Lucas' mobile number, they're going to want to make sure the kids are ok too. And if we can't get through to Lucas, we're all going to have to drive up there!'
Dan squeezed his eyes shut tightly, uhhh this was all he needed, his wife, his ex-wife and his interfering older brother, well this was going to make one hell of an interesting road-trip!
next time,
the kids are scared witless,
the assailant strikes again
the parents are hot on the kids' trail
'4 am' he muttered, eyes concerned, 'Ok enough's enough we've given him time, but letting him have some space and letting him wander around remote woods at four in the morning is not the same thing. I'm going to find him.'
Haley nodded, face pinched, eyes wide, where was Nathan, her heart pounded, he should have been back by now. She raised her arms up and hugged herself as the cold night air bit into her naked forearms. 'I'm going with you.'
Lucas looked at her sharply , 'That's not a good idea Hales.'
Peyton interrupted, 'Lucas, we wouldn't have gotton into this mess if Nathan hadn't decided to go walkabout on his own...'
'or if someone hadn't upset him!' Haley added, glaring at Brooke.
Peyton ignored the comment '..we're not going to let you do the same thing.' she told her boyfriend, linking her arm through his, '..we'll all go find him ok?'
Lucas sighed, 'fine'.
Tim walked away from them across the clearing and returned seconds later with a flashlight, 'let's go', he said determinedly, Nathan was his best friend, he wanted to find him as much as the rest of them.
As they all began to walk towards the woods, Brooke hung back, head pounding, the alcohol already impairing her senses. She watched the others stride ahead and realised she was being left behind. Sobering slightly, Brooke sighed deeply, why had she done that? Why had she started up that stupid game, they were right, they were all right, she was just a bad person.
She took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts, it wasn't that she set out to hurt people, or even to cause trouble, she just craved attention, always had done.
And the alcohol, well it must have been in the genes or something, Brooke's mother was an alcoholic, a popular student who had fallen for Brooke's father, a rich married man and the dean at her College. Her father had continued things for 3 years after Brooke's mother got pregnant, but by then he couldn't keep up with the demands of two families, he already had 3 kids and a wife of 20 years, who had no idea about his mistress, and he had walked out of their lives, the most Brooke had seen of her father in the last 15 years had been the support check he sent her mother every month.
So she could afford to buy rich clothes, an expensive car, she even lived in a huge house, but life wasn't so great most of the time.
Of course she never told anyone about her past. It was her way of protecting herself, if no-one knew the real Brooke Davis then she could pretend, pretend to be the easy cheerleader everyone thought she was.
Peyton knew differently, but even she didn't know the true awfulness of Brooke's childhood and what she faced every day when she came back from school. A drunken mother, she had to clean up and a garbage full of bottles for the trash.
If the truth ever came out Brooke knew it would kill her. Then her mind came across the mental image of Nathan's face as he'd walked away from them. Maybe he had the same kind of demons she had, Brooke shuddered, how would she have felt if someone had asked about her own shady past.
Stopping for a second she stared hard at the ground, hating herself and then she slowly turned over the flask and let the whisky fall to the ground.
'Hey Brooke, come on!'
Tim's voice startled her and she looked up to find the others waiting for her at the entrance to the woods. She didn't deserve them, she knew that but they were there for her and Brooke realised that she would be there for them, starting right now.
Blinking rapidly to get rid of the tears forming in her eyes, she threw the flask to the ground and ran to join the others.
Haley shuffled closer to Lucas as they waited for Brooke to catch up. Luke placed an arm through both her arm and Peyton's.
'Ok everyone ready?' He asked.
Tim linked an arm through Brookes'. 'Ready.'
Lucas nodded seeming to try and gather some courage, then they started into the woods.
'NATHAN?' Lucas shouted, before the others joined in.
Haley heard her voice shouting, only it didn't sound like hers, it was shaky and high-pitched. She was frightened, frightened for the others, frightened for Nathan and as much as she hated to admit it, frightened of the woods. As much as she tried to ignore it, her traitorous mind kept recalling all the blasted horror films she'd ever seen about kids in the woods. Squeezing Luke's arm tighter she tried to ignore the long, creeping branches illuminated by Tim's torchlight.
She hated the thought of Nathan in here alone somewhere.
But it hadn't surprised her that he'd run away, Nathan always did think with his heart rather than his head, he was a typical hothead, emotion ruled rational thinking.
Haley shivered as a cold tingle ran down her spine, she couldn't help feeling that something had happened to Nathan, she couldn't explain it, but it frightened her to the very core of her being. Nothing could ever happen to Nathan, she loved him far too much.
'NATHAN!' Lucas paused mid-stride as he heard his voice echo around the woods, this was freaky. He tried to put on a brave face for the girls but he wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of them all traipsing around woods at 4 in the morning.
And where the hell was Nathan?
Lucas felt a nagging feeling spread over him, he cursed silently to himself, if this was what being a sibling was about then he wanted out. He didn't like worrying so much about another person, again he found himself contemplating what had freaked Nathan out so much before. Nathan was his brother, for some reason Lucas found he was mad at himself for not knowing about these secrets in his life. Wasn't it his place as Nathan's only sibling to find out what was up with his life.
Oh he knew what was going on with him now to some extent, though he still felt that Nathan totally skirted the 'Dan' issue, but it was only now that he realised how little he knew of his brother's past.
Lucas vowed he would find out more about Nathan's life when he found his little brother.
A fluttering nearby suddenly had the whole gang jumping ten feet in the air.
'AHHH' shrieked the girls.
'What was that?' Tim yelled, and Lucas grinned slightly to see Tim hiding behind Brooke.
Haley and Peyton turned too and giggled softly at the two.
Brooke looked un-amused, 'Tim, you're such a jerk, I can't believe you just used me as a shield you jackass!'
Tim looked sheepish and coughed, 'ahem..I wasn't I heard a sound behind me and jumped that way to protect you!'
'Sure you did Tim'. Brooke muttered annoyed.
'I think it was just an owl or somethin' Lucas told them all reassuringly, sounding a lot braver than he thought he would considering his heart was practically leaping out of his chest. 'Come on lets keep moving.'
He started forward again, he had gone little more than three paces when he stumbled across what felt like a log.
Lucas pitched forward and was grabbed by Haley and Peyton, as he almost lost his balance.
Tim automatically shone the torch down, and there to their complete horror lay the still form of Nathan Scott.
'NATHAN!' Haley screamed, staring down in horror at the motionless form of her boyfriend.
Lucas was on his knees in a second, his hands gently turned Nathan onto his back, 'Bring the torch down here now Tim!' he shouted turning his face up towards Nathan's best friend. The light illuminated the fearful features on Lucas' face, his eyes were wide, and his mouth was drawn in a tight line.
Tim crouched down quickly as did Haley.
Lucas quickly brought shaky fingers up to Nathan's neck, feeling for a pulse, after a few terrifying seconds, where his heart literally stopped Lucas felt the beat that told him his little brother was still alive.
'He's got a pulse!' he shouted, eyes meeting a horrified Haley's as she kneeled on the other side of Nathan.
She nodded slowly and then gently let her fingers stroke the bloodied cut on Nathan's forehead.
Peyton and Brooke stood, faces pale, stunned expressions on their faces.
'We have to get him somewhere warm Luke.' Peyton spoke softly.
Lucas nodded, and looked back at Haley, 'alright Hales, we're gonna have to get him back to the campsite, so you're gonna have to move back ok?'
Haley stared at Nathan, frozen.
Lucas tried again, 'Hales?'
Haley looked up, her breathing ragged, 'ok.'
Lucas nodded, then shot a look at Tim, Tim quickly took Nathan's left arm and put it around his shoulder, Lucas did the same on his right and together they carried Nathan through the woods.
Brooke shone the torch ahead and soon enough they reached the clearing. Going past the bonfire they carried on hauling Nathan towards the tents, where they carefully lay him on the ground outside.
Lucas and Haley once again crouched at Nathan's sides, Peyton took charge, 'Tim, Brooke, get me some blankets now!'
They quickly ran to get them.
Peyton knelt down at Nathan's head, she had had a first aid training course once, she looked closely at the injury to his head. Then she took the flashlight from the ground and gently lifted Nathan's eye-lids back and shone it into them.
'Ok...' She said softly, 'he's got a nasty knock to the head, his pupils are pretty unresponsive.'
'What does that mean?' Haley asked, panicked as Lucas tore his eyes from his brother to Peyton.
'It means he's probably gonna be out cold for a while.'
Tim and Brooke quickly returned with blankets, which Lucas and Haley began wrapping around Nathan. Peyton carefully tucked one beneath his head.
Tim stood back shocked, 'what the hell happened to him?'
Lucas shook his head, 'I don't know....' he said fear making his voice come out in little more than a whisper, '...the only one that knows the answer to that is Nathan.'
Somewhere in Tree Hill......
Dan Scott hung up the phone with an oath.
His wife Deb turned to him, an eyebrow arched, 'Is that how you end every conversation, or just the good ones?'
Dan's eyes grew dark, 'That was certainly not good!'
Deb's forehead crinkled worriedly, 'bad news?'
'You could say that!'
'What is it?' Deb asked eyes becoming concerned, 'Nathan?'
'No' Dan dismissed her, 'I'm sure he's fine. No that was the police, it turns out Harry Jarvis has escaped!'
Deb felt her heart pound in her chest, 'Oh God, no Dan! He was supposed to be locked up for 20 years!'
'yeah well, he got paroled early and he skipped bail.'
Deb gripped the table for support and then slowly lowered herself into a chair, 'You don't think he'll come after you?'
Dan shook his head, 'No!' But he was certainly rattled.
In his freshman year at College Dan had been in the basketball team with Harry Jarvis, they'd been bitter opponents from the start, although on the same team, they both wanted to be number one. Of course Jarvis had more than a few screws loose and Dan was warned consistently not to cross him by the rest of the team, however being arrogant and assured and...well, Dan Scott, he hadn't listened. And one game he had sent a furious Jarvis flying and he had ripped a cord in the guy's back.
Unfortunately it left him unable to play professional basketball again. And Jarvis had a ruined career, an injured back, and a chip on his shoulder, the size of China.
That chip, had mounted into an attack on Dan after a game, Jarvis had turned a gun on a frightened auditorium full of people, determined to take Dan Scott to an early grave. Deb had been there and if it hadn't been for the Coach pushing Dan down, Jarvis would have been jailed for murder rather than attempted murder. He'd been sentenced to 20 years, and the psychological effect on Dan ruined his basketball prowess.
Every time he stood in the gym, his mind played over the gun pointed at his chest over and over, so he'd quit College, taken his newly pregnant girlfriend Deb back to Tree Hill and tried to forget it, until now.
Deb looked very nervous, 'I don't like the idea of the kids out camping, with this maniac on the loose,' she said softly, 'I'm going to ring Nathan and get him to come home, just to be on the safe side.'
Dan sighed, 'Deb, there's no need, they'll be fine!'
'Dan!' Deb shouted, her tone not to be messed with, 'this is our son we're talking about, and I want him back here where I can keep an eye.'
Dan shook his head silently, Deb picked up the phone to call Nathan's mobile. She had a bad feeling about this.
'Uggggggh' Nathan groaned as he became slowly aware. His head was throbbing, and he struggled to open his eyes, he became steadily more frightened when he couldn't awaken himself from the seemingly-eternal darkness.
He only stopped panicking when his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he realised it was night-time, hazy figures appeared above him and he smiled as his eyes focussed on Haley's anxious face. She really was beautiful, staring down at him, like an angel, eyes wide, lips slightly parted.
'Nate? Can you hear me?'
He tilted his head slightly and his brother's face came into focus, Nathan winced, 'Ah.ok Luke you don't need to yell!'
Lucas looked confused but relieved, 'I wasn't yelling little brother!'
Nathan frowned, his head was pounding like nothing on earth, he felt dizzy and slightly sick, carefully he attempted to sit up.
'Whoa!' Luke shouted gently helping him sit up, 'take it slow ok?'
Nathan sat upright and noticed everyone crouched around him, he raised a hand to his head, drew it back and was surprised to see blood, ow, no wonder it hurt.
Feeling panicked he looked where he always looked when he needed calming, at Haley.
He stared at her long and hard, and felt the panic slowly leave his body, as he stared into her eyes.
'Are you ok?' He asked her.
Haley stared at him tears welling up in her eyes, 'Hales? What? What did I say?' He asked worried he'd upset her.
She smiled slightly, 'Nathan we just found you lying on the ground in the middle of the woods, you've just been unconscious for the last fifteen minutes and you're asking if I'm ok?'
Nathan's eyes widened as he thought back.
'What happened Nate?' Tim asked, 'I mean you were out of it man.'
Nathan stared up at them, then he squeezed his eyes shut horrifed. He opened them again and noticed them all watching him, concerned.
'You ok bro?' Lucas asked.
Nathan wasn't entirely sure how to answer that one, he was pretty frightened, he glanced at Haley, wishing he could spare her this, then he slowly took a deep breath.
'You guys, when I was in the woods before, someone attacked me.'
Lucas stared at him, 'WHAT?'
'I don't know who the hell they were but one minute I was standing there getting some air and the next this person jumps me and starts strangling me, I hit him with a branch and he ran but not before hitting me real good.' He indicated the wound on his head.
Brooke and Peyton stared at him mouths frozen in silent, 'O's, Luke and Tim shared a frightened glance, Haley kept her eyes glued to Nathans', she looked horrified.
'Oh my God!' Brooke shrieked, 'what are we going to do? We have to get out of here!'
Lucas shook his head, trying not to panic at the idea that their was some psychotic assailant running around the woods, who'd just attacked his brother, 'the bus doesn't come back till Sunday Brooke you know that!'
'Then we'll ring our parents..' She replied, running a hand through her hair, 'they'll come get us.'
Tim nodded, eyes serious, 'she's right.'
Peyton looked around, 'hey,' she said softly, 'lets not panic ok, there's 6 of us ok, and one of them and as long as they have no weapon of any.....' She trailed off as Nathan looked up at her sharply.
Peyton looked at him for a second, the two had been out together for 2 years, she knew that look, it was Nathan's 'well actually..' Look.
'There's a weapon?'
Nathan nodded slowly, 'um....he had a knife.'
That's when Peyton, who was usually pretty together in life or death situations REALLY started to panic!
Deb slowly lowered the phone from her ear, she turned back towards Dan with a scared look, 'I can't get through to Nate.'
Dan suddenly became a little worried, he was mad with Nathan because of this new-found 'bond' he had with Lucas, and he'd been so annoyed he hadn't really thought about his son possibly being in danger, now he felt uneasy.
Deb lifted the phone again and keyed in a number.
'Who are you calling?' Dan asked frowning.
Deb gave Dan her 'you're not going to like this' look, and he knew just what she was going to say.
'Karen and Keith, they might have Lucas' mobile number, they're going to want to make sure the kids are ok too. And if we can't get through to Lucas, we're all going to have to drive up there!'
Dan squeezed his eyes shut tightly, uhhh this was all he needed, his wife, his ex-wife and his interfering older brother, well this was going to make one hell of an interesting road-trip!
next time,
the kids are scared witless,
the assailant strikes again
the parents are hot on the kids' trail