Out in the Dark by Nicola Adams

Author:Nicola Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: 2016-05-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The images came in quick succession. It was overwhelming and made Jake’s head pound. He had never done anything this intense before. He was swimming upstream in a maelstrom of violence and hatred. Bodies, blood, images of combat and heart-wrenching sadness all mingled in a roiling flood. The undertow of buried emotions threatened to pull him under and only with a great effort was he able to disconnect from it.

“Shelley! Shelley, you OK? Let them go. Come back out of it.” Jake shook her hand and tried to free his from her tight grip. Using his other hand he reached over and shook her. She lay frozen, not from cold, as it was warm in their nest, but from the sensation of being stuck in the images of others. He knew what that was like because it had happened to him when his dad was first teaching him.

“Shelley!” he cried, but quickly stopped and listened. He thought he’d heard a branch crack underfoot outside their nest.

A deep gasp sounded next to him and he knew she was back. The hand he was holding started to shake and he could hear her teeth chattering again.

“Shelley, it’s OK, I’m here. You’re safe,” he lied, wondering what was out there stalking them. Would they be safe inside their nest or would they be discovered and gunned down without mercy, their bodies never to be found again? “Shhh, it’s all right,” he whispered, trying to keep her from making noise.

There! That cracking sound again, as if someone had stepped on a twig. Jake strained his ears to try and guess by the sound how heavy that someone was. He might be able to scare off a hungry wolf, if that was all that was out there.

A louder crack reverberated through the nest and dislodged bits of the blanket of snow covering them, sending little icy globs falling into their shelter.

Shelley tightened her grip on Jake’s hand. They lay there listening, trying to breathe as quietly as possible. Shelley’s heart beat furiously as she tried to calm her fears and recover from her bad viewing experience.

They could hear rustling noises and the sound of snuffling, like that of a big dog on a scent trail. So it was a wolf, not a human. Would a wolf bother digging through pine branches? Jake hoped that the strong scent of the pine sap would mask the scent of humans, confusing the predator enough to leave them alone.

It did, but not as much as Jake or Shelley would have hoped. And the wolf was not alone. It became apparent that there were two of them. They were seeking shelter from the snow and wind, like Jake and Shelley. And, just like them, the wolves chose the uprooted tree as the ideal place to spend the night.

Shelley squeezed Jake’s hand again when they heard the wolves digging near their heads. They appeared to be making a nest of their own, but so far they were not disturbing the one Jake had built.

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