The Unexpected Mate

Chapter 7 : Ginny And Ross Are Missing!

Walking towards the fence shouldn't have been as scary as it felt. Elinor held Ginny's hand tightly as they walked over the dead leaves and tiny twigs. Crunching under their feet, it left a soft sound behind them. Elinor's shoulders lifted due to the cold. It wasn't as bad as the fire.

"I should have chosen the truth," Ginny whispered remorsefully, "You had to come with me too."

Elinor was the elder cousin so it felt wrong to see Ginny blaming herself. It was a game and it wasn't dangerous at all!

"Don't take it seriously. It's just walking over there and coming back. We'll be back in two minutes!" Elinor swung an arm around Ginny's shoulder to provide warmth and comfort.

Elinor touched the fence and turned. She waved at her friends who were watching them from their camp spot. It was to show that they went all the way. They were well hidden with the glimpse of fire every now and then being the only sign of their camp.

"Let's go, I'm scared," Ginny whispered in fear. It was late, so many campers extinguished their lamps and went inside. Night was scary in the woods and Elinor felt a strange air around them. Why was it so cold today? She wrapped Ginny in her arms and started walking back to her friends.

It was supposed to be a short walk back to the camp, but Elinor was also getting scared. Halfway through the walk, she heard a distant howl. It was faint but bone chilling. She recalled seeing a sign by the fence saying the forest had wild animals. Elinor sped up, also urging Ginny to walk faster.

They were almost in the small clearing when Elinor's eyes swept around her surroundings. Between trees and bushes, she saw a pair of glowing ruby-red eyes. The bright red eyes were even more noticeable surrounded by night.

Elinor's heart thumped loudly and her feet were caught in a jumble of twigs. She stumbled and Ginny exclaimed.

"Oh my god!" Ginny caught Elinor from falling, almost losing her own balance while doing so. In the end, both cousins were fine but scared. They ran all the way to the fire.

Elinor turned around and caught a glimpse of those red eyes again. The eyes blinked at her. They held mockery in them, laughing at her for trying to escape. Elinor forgot to breathe as she ran, her breath was caught in her chest, only releasing once she reached the camp with Ginny. Gia handed her and Ginny a bottle of water and a tissue to wipe the sweat on her face.

"Wow, were you scared of it a little dark?" Leo snickered at them for being cowards.

Ginny was about to cry already and Leo wasn't helping her at all. She burst out at him for being so insensitive,"Try it yourself if you are so brave!"

"Alright, chill," Leo gave her one of his cookies to calm down. Ginny was helpless in front of sweets. Her mouth watered, so she took it and avoided him. She inhaled the cookie even though she had many of them right before the dare.

"It's getting late, we should sleep," Ross said resolutely, "I don't want to get eaten by bugs all night here."

Gia hopped to agree, "Right, I am sleepy too."

It was decided then that everyone would get into their tents. They applied mosquito repellent, put out the fire and went back into their tents. Elinor and Ginny fit snugly into the small tent and covered themselves with a blanket to keep warm.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, Elinor thought about the red eyes again. As soon as she closed her eyes, they would appear in her mind. It was troubling her to the point she wasn't able to sleep.

"Did you see the red eyes too?" Elinor asked her quietly inside the tent. Ginny was almost asleep but was woken up by Elinor's strange question.

"What eyes?" Ginny mumbled. Elinor could see that Ginny wasn't fully awake yet, so she decided to let it go. Maybe it was an illusion born from her fear. It wasn't uncommon to see stuff when scared.

"Nothing. Go to sleep." Elinor faced the other side and snuggled the blanket. Her cold body needed a lot more warmth than this. It wasn't easy to fall asleep, it took an hour of effort to fall into slumber.

When the morning sun rose, the soft rays fell on Elinor's face. She saw red and opened her eyes in frustration. Her arms flung around to look for the blanket but all she grabbed was moist soil. The texture startled her and she woke up immediately.

Elinor's eyes went wide when she saw the countless trees around her. Their tents were nowhere in sight and there was no sign of the fire they built last night. Elinor was leaning against a tree on the ground. The red eyes in her memory left a shadow in her heart.

"Ginny?" Elinor called as she got up unsteady from the ground. She looked around and found Gia and Leo leaning against nearby trees. They were still sleeping in the shade. Elinor sighed relief, at least she wasn't alone. However, her panic wasn't gone completely. She couldn't find Ginny! Even Ross was gone!

Elinor quickly shook Gia and Leo until they woke up. They were in a deep sleep so it took a while to wake up completely.

"Wake up!!" Elinor exclaimed anxiously. Gia sensed the urgency in her voice and woke up seriously. Leo was half awake, holding his head as if it hurt.

"What is it?" Leo groaned.

"I can't find Ginny and Ross!! And what is this place?? How did we get here?!" Elinor spread her arms to bring the surroundings to their notice. Gia rubbed her eyes and noticed they weren't in their camping spot. Leo also got serious.

"We did not sleep walk, did we?" Leo asked.

"It's not the time to joke, Leo!" Elinor said hurriedly, "I can't find Ginny!"

Gia gulped and took a deep breath, "Alright, don't panic. Did you try calling her?"

Elinor realised it and patted her body for her phone. She found it in a pocket and quickly dialled Ginny's number. The phone kept ringing but no one picked up. She tried again and again, but everytime the call was unanswered. Eventually, a mechanical voice came, saying the phone was switched off.

"I can't get through," Elinor licked her dry lips and thought about it, "I-I will call Ross. Maybe they went somewhere together?"

Gia's expression froze for a second, "Ross isn't here?"

She just found out that Ross wasn't there as well and took out her own phone. It was past nine am. Ross had the habit of waking up before seven. It was possible that he had been going somewhere.

"Where are we?" Leo asked,"Maybe it's us who got lost and they are waiting for us at the camp. We should try to find our way back."

Gia, Leo and Elinor looked around, only to find endless trees all around them. Over them were branches filled with dense leaves, and under them was just muddled soil.

"We don't have a path to follow!" Gia cried in frustration.

Elinor couldn't connect to Ross either. She bit her lip anxiously. She was on the verge of crying because they couldn't get out of this place. What about Ginny? Elinor felt a pang in her heart every few seconds. She couldn't take care of her cousin.

"Look!" Leo pointed at the ground with various footsteps in the distance, "We can follow these footsteps!"

The footsteps were above each other but still recognisable. They followed the path of footsteps. It was their only chance. Even if they don't end up finding the camp, they might find people to ask for help. Seeing that they were not stuck for good, Elinor took a deep breath. She saw a glimmer of hope and followed.

Gia and Leo were walking in front of her, carefully analysing where the footsteps were changing. There were a bit too many prints, so it must be a normal route for those people.

There was a pretty good chance that they might be walking right into some shady person's trap, but at this point they were already lost. It was either taking this chance or getting completely lost in the woods and never finding their way out again. Elinor was willing to try out the possibility.

Silence was hard to ensure, so Elinor told them about what she saw, "I saw something scary last night."

Gia turned around briefly, "What?"

"When Ginny and I were coming back from the fence, I saw a pair of eyes peeking from the bushes. They were red. Very very red," Elinor emphasized the redness of those eyes because it was exactly like that.

"Was it an animal?" Leo asked. He skipped over a rock and helped Gia over it. Gia helped Elinor.

"No, definitely not. It was something else. It was very scary and looking straight at me. If it was an animal, why would it wait? Wouldn't it see me as a prey and just attack me?"

"True. But still, who else has red eyes?" Gia asked.

"I don't know. But it was too scary. The way it was looking at me. That's why I almost fell."

As she finished talking, Leo came to a stop. He sniffed the air and smiled, "Can y'all smell that? It's the scent of coffee."

Gia and Elinor also sniffed the air. Among the freshness of the forest was a faint scent of brewed coffee. Hope bloomed in their hearts. Someone was nearby!

They hurriedly followed the footprints, completely forgetting the conversation earlier. About a few minutes of walking later, they came across a huge gate. The metal gate stood a few feet above the size of an average gate. It was dark and scary. Around the gate was a stretch of dense trees which hid the high grey walls.

"Woah, is this a secret organization?" Leo marvelled over the ginormous gate.

"Maybe a private property?" Gia guessed.

"Excuse me?" A gruff voice came from behind. Elinor, Gia and Leo's shoulders stiffened simultaneously. They turned around to see a man with a buzz cut and muscles behind them. He looked rough at first glance, with scars all over his body and face. He was wearing cargo pants, a camouflage jacket over a black tshirt. He was also equipped with a gun on his waist and a mug of steaming coffee.

Leo, the caffeine addict, gulped at the sight of coffee. Gia was too scared to talk so she hid behind Elinor. Seeing that neither of her friends were reliable, Elinor had no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She held her hands together and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Sir, we are lost in the woods," Elinor explained briefly, "Can you show us the way to the camping site?"

The man frowned, "The camping site?"

"Yes, we were there last night but somehow ended up here in the morning. We were separated from our friends. We don't know what happened, please help us!" Elinor pleaded.

"Were you camping outside the fence last night?" The man asked in a scary voice. His voice was deep and rough, which made the three naturally submit.

"Y-Yes," Elinor felt like a middle school student who was caught cheating and had to admit her mistake in front of the teacher.

The scary looking man sighed and shook his head, "You should follow the rules. How many boards did she see, warning the campers not to cross the fence?"

Elinor and her friends hung their heads in shame, listening to his lecture. Just then, two more men came over in the same outfit. They greeted each other. The scary-looking man pointed at Elinor and her friends and said something to the other two who had not noticed her.

"Oh, I remember your face!" One of the guys said after taking a look at Leo, "Harrison said he found a group of bloodsuckers in the woods last night on his way back, so he saved a group of campers and left them by the border. I went over to help. What are you doing here?"

Elinor's heart dropped when she heard him. What bloodsuckers? And why were they the only ones saved? What about Ginny and Ross?!