Chapter 8 - Closer

It was pretty surreal watching Adrian die. I immediately hugged Ricky, who looked pretty emotionless, obviously in shock. While we were embraced, I could have sworn I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head, but I couldn't be sure.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Derek said quietly from behind us.

I turned my head around and gave him a small, sad smile, nodding my head. I turned my head back to Ricky and looked over his shoulder, where Adrian lied, cold and lifeless. I could hear Grace crying softly beside me, and I couldn't help but think about Ben.

Ben's death had been extremely gruesome, while Adrian's was slow and painful. Then again, I don't know how long Ben suffered but I imagined he was dead before he was dismembered. Well, that is what I hoped happened. But we would never know, and I was thankful for that.

"Come on." Ricky whispered suddenly in my ear, pulling us upright. "Do you know how far we are from the main road?" Ricky then asked Derek. I couldn't help but notice that Ricky had intertwined his fingers with mine.

"No, sorry. I think we should just keep moving North, we have to come across something." He replied. Ricky nodded his head, before looking back at Adrian.

"Sounds like a plan, but I don't want to leave Adrian here like this." Ricky said sadly. Derek nodded in understanding.

"We have a shovel back at the cabin, we could go get it for you." Derek suggested.

Ricky looked back at Adrian, for what seemed like the millionth time. "I would really appreciate it." Ricky then looked at me. "I'll come with you." He added.

My eyes pretty much bulged out of my head. No way in hell was he leaving me.

"No, you guys stay here. It's only about a half hour walk, at most. We won't be gone long." Derek said quickly.

Ricky sighed but nodded his head. "OK," He said in defeat. "and thanks. This means a lot." He added, gratitude filling his quiet voice.

"Your welcome." Derek said before he and the other two men turned around, walking away.

Ricky turned around, glancing at a teary-eyed Grace. He let go of my hand and walked over to Grace, wrapping her in a strong embrace.

"What are we going to do until they get back?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my eyes from looking at Adrian's glassy ones.

"We are going to stay put until the others get back." Ricky replied, while helping Grace up off the ground. "I can't leave Adrian here...Not like this." He added, his eyes making their way to Adrian sadly. I nodded my head in understanding before walking over to him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I meant what I said earlier." He whispered in my ear softly. "I love you." He added seriously, when he saw the confused look on my face.

He cradled my head in his hands, as I shook my head, tears slowly making their way down my face.

Before I could say anything his lips crashed onto mine. At first I resisted, but eventually gave in and kissed back, with as much -if not more- force.

"I love you, too." I whispered against his lips.

It really was a bittersweet moment, with Adrian dieing not even ten minutes ago, and Ben dieing about eleven hours ago.

I wrapped my arms around Ricky's neck tightly, burying my head in his shoulder, breathing in his scent. We stayed this way for a good five minutes before sitting down, my head resting on his shoulder, my eyelids involuntarily sliding closed. I yawned, as Ricky's arm wrapped around mine. "You guys should get some sleep." He said to Grace and I. I shook my head against his warm arm, opening my eyes quickly.

"I'm not tired." I said, fighting to keep my eye's open as I spoke. Grace nodded her head in agreement, looking into the dark tree's surrounding us with a shudder.

"It would help everyone involved if you guys got some sleep... Even if it's just a couple of minutes." Ricky tried to reason. I shook my head again, for what felt like the millionth time.

"Even if I wanted to go to sleep, I couldn't." I replied tiredly. "I don't even want to think about going to sleep until we get home." I added quietly.

Ricky sighed but nodded his head, his eye lids slowly falling. A couple of seconds later and his breathing slowed, as he fell asleep.

I nestled my head deeper into his shoulder as my own eye's fluttered closed, but I didn't sleep. Instead I listened to the wind rustle the tree leaves. The night was eerily quiet.

I forced my eyes back open, looking for Grace. My eyes roamed around me for all of three seconds until I saw her, laying down, her head nestled into her arm. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. The hairs on the back of my neck rose, something bad was going to happen....... and soon.


Sorry it took so long to update, I kind of dropped a TV on my foot the other day. It's alright, I got a big, ugly bruise on it though. This isn't my longest chapter by any means, but I'm hoping it's a good one. Next chapter is going to be in Grace's Pov! So look for that to be up in the next couple of days!

The song I listened to while writing this chapter was Closer by Burn Season. Give it a listen, it is such a great song! R&R!