Chapter IX
“I can’t help it – I’m still worried about him. Seth, Jacob. Could you two go out and look for Dark?” Maddie asked the two boys. She trusted them not to fool around and to just complete their assigned task without too much of a hassle.
Seth nodded. “Yeah, we’ll go find him. If we aren’t back by sundown then either we’ve gone too far to get back in time, or we got lost. In either case, just keep moving. We’ll head for the finish line if that happens and maybe we can meet up at some other point in the Game.”
Jacob punched Cassidy lightly on the shoulder. “See ya.” He grinned at her and walked off into the west, knowing that was the direction Dark had gone off in when the boy had left earlier. Seth tagged along at once, humming to himself.
The girls watched the two go off before turning to assess the remainder of their small group. “Well then, I suppose we best keep going in the same general direction we have been.” Maddie announced while clapping her hands together once.
Trevor stared off in the direction his friends had gone in in worry. He had a feeling that something had happened to Dark, something bad, and that the other two were heading into trouble. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling and he spooked himself when he accidentally stepped on a stick, breaking it in two with a loud snap. His cheeks staining red with embarrassment, the young teen hurried after the others.
-
Dark froze where he was, positive he had heard footsteps behind himself. But he couldn’t pick out any stray sounds so he moved forwards again. Several steps later and he froze once more. There it was again – that odd sound. It was almost like an echo, like someone was trying to move at the same time he was in order that they might hide the sound of their footfalls within his own. Maybe not someone though. Maybe it was something. Dark had no illusions about this place. The government was always messing around with genetic experimentation. Who knows what they could possibly have come up with to send after the contestants to make the Game more interesting?
At least that was his father’s theory. Peter was huge into conspiracy theories, especially when those theories were about the government and GMOs. Dark made fun of most of the theories, but there were still some that he found to be believable.
It was as if the forest was holding in its breath with him. Dark scarcely took in any air in an effort to keep completely quiet so that he might hear even a little bit better. He could just be going crazy. He was alone in a strange place after all. That was more than enough to send his already active imagination into overdrive.
Suddenly there was an explosion of sound from the direction Dark had been heading in. He turned his head quickly, knife raised to deflect any potential attack on himself – and stopped short as he saw Jacob lying flat on his face. “Jake?”
“You sound startled.” Jacob groaned and pushed himself up into a sitting position. “I keep tripping all over this place. Why’d you have to travel through so much undergrowth? There are plenty of open areas.” He complained.
It was the complaining that assured Dark that the other boy was alright. He cast a glance back over his shoulder but the feeling that something was behind him was gone. That didn’t stop him from thinking that something had indeed been there, after all the noise caused by Jacob had been from the wrong direction, but now that the presence was gone he wasn’t too worried.
The boy offered his hand to Jacob, who allowed Dark to pull him up. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Did you come alone?”
“Nah, Seth’s with me.” Jacob frowned. “I coulda swore he was right behind me…” Both looked back in the direction Jacob had come from. “Seth?” Jake shouted, expecting a reply.
But there was none.
“Seth, come on man. This ain’t funny!” Jacob continued, looking more concerned than annoyed. He went crashing back through the bushes with Dark close behind. When Jacob stopped suddenly Dark walked right into him. Jacob turned back to look at Dark. But before he could say anything a yelp stole whatever words he might have said away.
The boys took off running. That short cry of pain had sounded an awful lot like when Seth had stubbed his toe on a rock the other day.
Jacob was in front of Dark by a several meters so, when the boy suddenly vanished, Dark managed to skid to a stop. He looked down in horror to find he had almost run right off the side of the gorge.