Chapter 1

"Why did you even come here?"

"Why?"

"Yes, why!"

"Because…"

"Because!"

"Because I love you."

She opened her eyes, gasping for breath, as she lay on the bank of the creek, blood trickling down her face, getting in her eyes, her nose, and her mouth. She coughed, retching up the horrible, coppery liquid.

"Sully," she whispered, blinking, trying to rub the blood from her eyes. As the pain continued to throb on the side of her head, she placed her fingers there, feeling her hair drenched and caked with blood.

She tried to sit up, but the world was spinning around her, and her thoughts were becoming muddled. But as she touched the gash on the side of her head, she remembered that she had to stay awake. She couldn't sleep. She had to check to see if her pupils were dilated. There were no mirrors, and she couldn't move to see a clear reflection in the creek.

Moaning, she closing her eyes, wiping the blood from her eyes and crying out, but knowing that she had to stay quiet. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten there, but if someone or something had done this to her, they were likely to still be nearby, so she had to keep still.

Her eyes scanned the area around her, and she could see nothing but trees and grass for miles. Where was she? This wasn't home. Then her mind thought back to the word she'd uttered when she'd opened her eyes. Sully. What was a Sully…rather…who was Sully?

She closed her eyes again, hearing those declarations of love and seeing, as if looking through a foggy window, the image of a man and a woman on a train, holding one another. The woman ran away. He loved her, but she ran away. Why?

The pain was becoming so unbearable that tears sprung to her eyes, and she gasped for breath, clutching the sides of her head and curling into the fetal position.

"Help," she gasped. "Help!" But her voice was so weak, and each noise or movement she made caused for more pain to shoot through her head.

She coughed, and she groaned in pain, rolling to her back and looking up, seeing the sun filtering through the trees. It felt as if she was staring straight up into heaven, and if she could only close her eyes and drift off to sleep, she might wake up there. No! No, she couldn't fall asleep. She had to stay conscious, but she didn't know if she had the power to do that alone.

Pulling herself into a sitting position, she moved onto all fours and crawled down toward the water. She lost her balance, falling down into the cold water, but she didn't make a sound. She scooped water into her hands, scooping it into her hands to wet her dry throat. Next, she began to rub away the blood that was coming out of the wound on her head, but more blood continued to pour out of it. She began to wonder if she was going to bleed to death.

How on earth could she have gotten from Beacon Hill to this unfamiliar woods? Perhaps she had gone on a picnic, or…? She sighed, not remembering what she'd been doing when she'd arrived in these woods, but something told her she was far away from Boston. Perhaps she wasn't even in Massachusetts anymore. Perhaps something terrible had happened, and she'd blacked out. Well, obviously something terrible had happened, or she wouldn't be left alone in tattered, bloody clothes with a gaping gash on her temple.

After she'd cleaned the wound, she pulled herself out of the water, shivering. It was so cold, and she was growing delirious. She felt her forehead and knew she had a fever. She had to find help, but how?

"Good boy," Sully said to Wolf, as he crept through the trees and into the abandoned camp. He saw beads and various broken weapons, and he knew the Dog Soldiers had been there. When he stooped down at a doused fire to feel the ashes, he knew they hadn't been gone longer than an hour. "Michaela!" he called out, unable to stop himself, but he knew that if anybody had heard him, Michaela would be in danger. Wolf suddenly perked up, and he barked, pointing his nose in another direction. "Go, boy. Follow!" Wolf jetted off, and Sully rushed after him, stumbling through a maze of pine trees and large, jagged rocks. Wolf stopped for a moment, whining as he spotted a patch of dried blood in the leaves. Sully's stomach dropped, and he bent down, touching it index and middle finger. The blood was dry, but it was fresh, and he could tell by the color.

The sound of a babbling creek caused him to freeze, and he looked around, surveying the scene before him. Wolf barked again, and Sully watched him nose through leaves and rocks, and he had the feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong. It was too quiet. Either they were waiting for an ambush, or what he was about to find was something much more terrifying.

"Michaela!"

Wolf picked up the pace ahead, and Sully did too, but the closer he got to whatever it was that Wolf was onto, the more his stomach knotted up, and his fears escalated to staggering heights.

She heard him calling her name, but who was he? Who knew who she was? If this stranger knew her and was trying to find her, did she want to know him? Did she want him to find her? Fear began to build up in her chest, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Maybe he was the man who had done this for her. Maybe he was coming after her. If he thought she was dead, maybe she stood a chance. God, what could happen that was worse than what she'd already been through?

Lying down in the leaves, she turned onto her stomach, praying to God that she'd make it out of this alive. All she wanted was to go home and see her mother and her father.

She heard rustling footsteps nearby, and she tried to slow her breathing, but she nearly screamed out, when she felt something licking her face and the side of her head. She peered out of the corner of her eyes and saw the wolf standing over her. Her eyes widened in fear, and she couldn't find the voice to scream. This was it. This was how she was going to die.

"Michaela!" There was that voice again. She sat up, backing away from the wolf little by little, until her back hit firmly against a tree.

"It's alright," Michaela said softly to the wolf that sniffed around for traces of her captors. "Don't hurt me. Please…" The next thing she saw was a pair of striking blue eyes staring straight into hers with tears pouring forth from them.

"M…Michaela," he breathed, his breaths coming in shallow gasps, as he gulped in more air.

"Please, stay away!" she cried, shielding her face with her arms. "Don't come any closer! Don't hurt me! Please!" When he knelt down beside her, she screamed and began to struggle, and he didn't know what to do. "No! No! Don't! Please stop! Stop! Don't hurt me!"

"Michaela, I ain't gonna hurt ya!" he assured her, but he was sure his tone sounded far too rough after everything she'd been through.

"Stay away! Just get away!" He reached out for her, which proved to be a bad move, as she began clawing at him with all of her might, her eyes flashing wildly like a cougar.

"Michaela! It's me! It's Sully!"

"Sully…Sully…I…Sully." She shook her head, the pain growing more intense.

"Michaela, the Dog Soldiers! Where are they?"

"The who?" She looked at him, calming a little but keeping her defenses up.

"The Dog Soldiers. Where'd the go?"

"I don't know who they are," she said, shaking her head, and taking in the sight of him. He looked as if he'd been on the move for quite some time, and he looked so relieved to see her. But who was he? How did he know her? Was he the man on the train? Was she the woman? She studied him carefully, but the pain overtook her again, and she felt ill. Turning to the side, she slumped over, vomiting, as the pain caused the nausea. Sully quickly moved to pull her hair out of the way, and she coughed hoarsely.

"It's alright. You're safe now."

"Safe from whom?" she asked. Sully watched her curiously.

"Ya don't remember, do ya?"

"Remember?" She closed her eyes. "I need to get home. Father will take care of me." She looked at the blood on her hands. "He's a doctor, you know? Just like me." She suddenly realized she was pouring her heart out to him, and she didn't even know him, did she?

"Michaela, ya don't remember me at all?"

"Sully…you said your name was Sully. There was a train…"

"A train?" he asked, finding it increasingly harder to follow her. All he wanted was to hold her and protect her and let her know she was safe, but she wasn't letting him close enough, and he was terrified to press her for fear of making things worse.

"She said 'why did you come here?'" Sully's heart stopped for a moment, as he looked into those eyes, and he wanted to repeat word for word what came next, but somehow, he realized that would scare her, and he didn't want that.

"Ya remember that?"

"It was like a dream. I can't explain it. It's all fuzzy…" She closed her eyes. "I need to get to a hospital. I can't go to sleep."

"Alright," he said quietly, wanting badly to ask if they'd hurt her, but he knew she wouldn't have a clue what he was talking about. But judging by the way her clothes looked and the sores on her hands and feet, he knew she'd been hurt, even if it wasn't in the way he'd feared. "I'm here now, Michaela. You can trust me."

"How do you know my name?" she looked into his eyes, feeling more relief each time she looked into them. "Do we know one another?"

"It's a long, long story, but right now, that don't matter. All that matters is getting you to a doctor."

"My father…he lives on Beacon Hill."

"I'm afraid we're a long way from Boston," he said quietly, moving toward her. "Can ya walk?"

"I don't know," she breathed. "My feet hurt, and…"

"It's alright. I'll carry ya."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Sully sighed softly, and he took her hand in his, being careful of the scrapes and bruises.

"Ya might not know it now, but…we're good friends. I don't want ya to worry, alright? You're safe now." Michaela heard truth in those words, but she was still shaking with fright. "I'd never hurt ya, Michaela. And I don't wanna scare ya, but me getting you back safe means life or death for a whole tribe of people." Michaela's eyes widened.

"I don't understand."

"I know. But maybe…maybe ya will." Sully swallowed hard and picked her up in his arms, grateful when she didn't struggle any longer. "Just hold on tight. I think we're pretty close to Soda Springs, and I know they got a good doctor there." Michaela nodded, wondering where Soda Springs was, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, clinging tightly around his neck, as they began to ascent up the hill and toward help.

Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback so far! Please keep sending it in! I greatly appreciate any comments or criticisms! This is far from being my first fanfiction, but a writer always like to know what her readers think! Thanks so much!