Call me Luna

3 - Keep on running

Sunrays are playfully shining through the leaves, shimmering on my face, and waking me up. Man, when is the last time I woke up feeling so relaxed? Lazily I stretch until my body painfully reminds me that I’m not in a bed. For a moment I have no idea where I am and what I'm doing in the woods. Slowly, memories from the night before start to replay in my mind and I jerk upright. A soft moan behind me catches my attention and I turn around … facing a butt-naked man sleeping next to me. An incredibly gorgeous man with his tanned skin and blond hair, but still a strange, naked man.

Screaming bloody murder that sends birds scattering out of their nests, I push myself away on my hands and feet like a crab. The man jerks upright and looks worriedly at me as I still scream like there is no tomorrow.

“It’s okay,” the man says and holds his hand out to me, trying to calm me down. “I mean no harm.”

There is something familiar about his blue eyes, but I don't take the time to figure it out. I scurry to my feet and start running. Branches scratch me as I carelessly run in a direction. For a second it dawns on me that I might be running back to the shed. Sh*t, which way is which? The woods during the day looks nothing like woods during the night. Besides, it is not like I kept track last night of where I was going. I just wanted to get away. Even if I stand still and re-evaluate my situation, I still will not know where I should go, so I just keep running.

Out of nowhere, the wolf from last night jumps in front of me and I scream.

“You scared the sh*t out of me,” I complain as I drop to my knees, throwing my arms around his neck.

“Don’t ever leave me again,” I sob into its fur. Yeah, I know it is ridiculous. Wolves are not pets, but this is the second time this wolf has come to my rescue.

In the distance, I can hear people shouting. They sound angry. Panicking I look around. Somewhere there is a naked man and a shed. And now there are angry shouts in the distance. Also, I have no idea where I am. How am I supposed to get to safety through all of this? It was dark when I fled the scene and I have no idea how far I ran. What if I was running in circles or something? I could be closer to the shed than I realize. The wolf must have sensed my anguish, because he starts growling, looking towards the direction where the voices are coming from.

“Let’s go,” I whisper and get up to start running again, but the wolf nuzzles his snout against me. Gently his teeth get hold of the bottom of my shirt and pull me to go back. I look at the wolf and then to the right. If I follow the wolf, we are going to where I’ve last seen the naked man.

“I’m not going that way,” I shake my head. “Seeing a strange naked man once is enough. I don’t care how sexy he is.”

The wolf lets go of my shirt and starts walking in the direction I came from. So, I go straight. The wolf comes running to me and barks twice, trying to convince me to follow him.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as I rub behind his ear. “I’ve told you I’m not going that way. Don’t you want to come with me?”

The wolf just looks at me, whimpering.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go. You should go back to your family.” I say as the voices become louder and more worriedly; I investigate the direction. “Take care, wolf and thank you.”

Without looking back, I start running. I am disappointed to leave the wolf behind, but I must get the distance between me and the shed. It is disappointment or death.

It is way easier to run in daylight, but that also means they will catch up with me faster. If I only knew where I should run to. The logical thing would be to go back in the direction of the shed. From there I would be able to find a road or a highway or something.

Without thinking about it too much, I take a right to where I think the shed should be. Now and then I look behind me, trying to figure out if the angry people are getting closer. Hell, I do not even know if they are in the woods and what they are doing here. There is no reason for me to believe that they are after me.

I look back again … and trip. With a thud, I land on the ground. My head connects with something hard and then everything is black.

The Hunters

“Over here,” Emmet shouts and waves his party over. “Pluto has found something.”

Fuming with irritation, Felix and Wesley walk closer. They are still upset with Emmet’s attitude earlier. Ordering them around like they are mere bust boys and not the numbers two and three of the organization. Unfortunately, they do not have much choice. Pluto is Emmet’s dog, and they need him.

Pluto whimpers excitedly as he sniffs the ground, making his way forward and the men follow. At a tree, the dog goes berserk, running in circles and barking.

“Look, blood,” Emmet points out and inspects it closer. “It’s not a lot, just a speck. She must’ve pressed against the tree or fallen against it.”

Before they could really look at it, Pluto moves a few steps forward and go lay down.

“She must’ve slept here or something,” Emmet kneels by the dog, inspecting the ground. “This whole patch of ground is disturbed.”

“Not much of a hiding place,” Wesley frowns as he kneels behind the spot.

“She could’ve run into the tree, stammer back, and passed out,” Felix catches up with them from where he is inspecting the tree. “She didn’t intend to hide here.”

“Maybe, come on, Pluto’s moving.” Emmet gets up and starts following Pluto. Felix always thinks he knows best because he’s The Boss’ favorite.

Pluto runs off again and everyone follows him. Again, Pluto stops and starts sniffing the ground before he takes off in a different direction.

Finally, the dog comes to a halt. Sniffing the ground and whimpering. Around and around the dog goes, sniffing in a circle. He traces back and then follows the scent to where he just was.

“He lost the trail,” Emmet sighs as he walks to his dog and gives it a pat and a treat.

“How can he just lose the trail?” Wesley asks agitated as he walks to the spot where Pluto circled.

“And here’s more blood,” Felix walks to a rock and inspects it. “It’s fresh and still red. She has to be close.”

“The trail ends here with her blood, Felix,” Emmet snorts irritated. “If she walked from there, Pluto would’ve had a scent to follow.”

Intensely Felix inspects the ground, looking for any kind of footprint. “It’s an open clearing and a tree stump. The ground is soft and wet, there should be footprints. Maybe Pluto is mistaken.”

“No way,” Emmet argues aggressively. “If Pluto points to here, it means she’s been here.”

“For f*ck’s sake, man, she couldn’t just fly away. Your dog is mistaken,” Felix shouts irritated.

“Both of you, shut up,” Wesley sneers. “Look at this. The ground has been swept over. Any footprint or tire track has been wiped clean.”

“F*ck,” Felix screams as he looks up to the sky. “The Boss is going to be so p*ssed off.”

“It’s not our fault,” Emmet looks worried. Being on The Boss’ bad side is never a good thing. “Clearly she had some help.”

“Can’t Pluto pick up the new scent of whoever helped her?” Wesley asks hopefully. “We can start tracking them and still get the girl.”

“No,” Emmet shakes his head and goes sit in the dirt, feeling despondent. “The dog can smell things that we can’t see. If there’s more than one scent, Pluto will get confused. Besides, if they had the common sense to cover their tracks, they could have the sense to mask the scent with urine, pepper, or animal feces laying around. There are so many possibilities.”

“We can’t go back to The Boss with this,” Felix’s shoulders are slumping. He might be number two, but even he is not irreplaceable. They better produce a solution and fast.

“What are you thinking?” Wesley looks at Felix in anticipation of a solution. No way in hell is he going back empty-handed.

“We can go to the police and report her missing,” Emmet looks at them eagerly. “We tell them it’s my girlfriend or something. And that she got lost in the woods and we need help.”

“You know, Wesley,” Felix hisses without taking his eyes off Emmet. “We could always shoot this dumb f*ck and blame him.”

“I like that,” Wesley sneers, glaring at Emmet.

“Come on, guys,” Emmet takes a step back. “I’m just trying to help. It’s not like you’ve come up with any ideas.”

“No idea is better than you’re idi*tic rambling,” Felix shouts. “How the f.*ck do you think is it going to play out when you go to the police for help when you don’t even know what she looks like? Not even to mention that she’s been kid*apped. You’re going to put the organization on the police’s radar. Ever thought how much The Boss would love that?”

“I … I’ll look for her,” Emmet stutters. “I know these woods. She’s at least a hundred miles from the closest town. There’s only so many people close by that could’ve helped her.”

“You do that,” Felix sneers and watches Emmet run off to the shed for provisions for his mission.

“Why did you allow him to do that?” Wesley shakes his head. “There’s no way he’ll find her.”

“It’s either that or I’m burying him next to Rowan,” Felix snorts. “First we’re going to get that blood sample to your girlfriend for DNA analysis. If we spend too many resources on the wrong girl, it would be our heads. Then you and I are going to town and renting a helicopter. We tell them we want to do some sightseeing. With a map and an aerial view, we might get an idea of where to start looking.”