| Chapter 10 Brian slowly opened his eyes and stretched. The sun was shining down through the trees into his face. He looked at his watch, it was 7:30 am. "Dang it, I wanted to be gone by now," he said to himself. He quickly got up and broke camp, making sure the fire was completely out before he made his way down the trial. As he walked he pulled a snack bar from his pack and ate it. He knew if he made good time he could reach the cave by dark. Brian took a deep breath as he walked, taking in the cold morning air. He was glad that Tara had been making him work out, it was paying off in the ease of the hike. As he walked, memories flooded his mind. He couldn't help but relive every moment he'd ever spent with Tara, the good and the bad. He caught himself laughing at something she'd done three months ago. He shook his head, "You always did know how to make me laugh." As he walked he noticed the sound of the river getting closer. He pulled his map out and checked to make sure he was still on the right trail. He'd never walked this way, and he didn't want to get lost. The map showed that the trail paralleled the river for a while, before breaking off again. As Brian rounded a corner, the trail split. He stood there, deciding that one lead down to the river and the other was the trail. He looked at his watch, he was making good time, so he decided to go down to the river and wash up a little before heading on. Brian took the smaller trail and in a few minutes he was standing at the edge of the river. He took a moment to look around, half taking in the view, and half checking for any wild animals. He then slid the pack off his shoulders and knelt down, reaching into the cold water. "Man that's cold," he said, taking some water in his hands and splashing it on his face. "If that don't wake you up, I don't know what will," he said, wiping his face with the sleeve of his coat. Brian started to get up, but stopped dead in his tracks. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see white paws not five feet away from him. He slowly lifted his head and was staring eye to eye with the wolf that had been following him. Brian didn't move, not wanting to provoke it. The wolf looked at him curiously, sniffing and nervously shifting it's weight from one front foot to the other. It took a step closer, stretching to smell Brian's pack. Brian watched as the wolf walked past the pack and closer to him. He knew he shouldn't be looking it directly in the eyes but he couldn't help it. It was almost as if the wolf was seeing through him, it's green eyes piercing into Brian's blues. Brian was shaking with fear as the wolf came closer, and he was about to lose his balance, not exactly standing or kneeling, but somewhere in between. The wolf walked right up to Brian, never breaking eye contact and started sniffing his hands. Then it raised it's head and sniffed his face. The wolf's nose was just millimeters from Brian's face, the hot breath of the animal warming his cheeks. Brian closed his eyes, not sure he wanted to see what was about to happen. He felt the pressure on his cheek, as the wolf licked him. Brian opened his eyes in surprise, just as he lost his balance and fell over. The wolf jumped back, and growled at him, then turned and ran back into the woods. Brian sat up and watched the wolf until it disappeared. He didn't know what to think about what had just happened. Surely it had to be a tame wolf that someone dumped out here, no wild animal would do that. But there was something familiar about it's eyes. Brian rubbed his face and calmed his breathing. He hadn't realized he was so shaken. He stood up and took a deep breath, picking up his pack, and making his way back up to the trial. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lyn waited as the phone rang. "Come on Nick, pick up," she said. "Hello," Nick said, breathless. "Hey, where were you?" Lyn asked. "Lyn, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice," Nick said. Lyn frowned, hearing something in his voice she didn't like, "Nick, is something wrong?" He was silent for a moment, trying to figure out the words that would best explain what he was feeling. "Nick?" Lyn said. "Lyn, Brian left," he said. "He left? To go where?" she asked. "We think back to where he met Tara," Nick said. "Well, I'm sure that he just wants to get away and be alone for a while," she said. "Lyn, he left a note. It didn't sound like he was planning on coming back," Nick said. "Oh Nick. Honey, what did he say to you when he left?" Lyn asked. Nick took a deep breath, "He didn't. He drugged me and left after I passed out." "What? He drugged you? With what?" Lyn asked, shocked and angry. "Lyn, he played me, and I fell for it. He was acting better, so we ordered pizza and watched some movies. You know, like we used to. We kept drinking, wait that's not right, I kept drinking. I thought he was to, but he was faking it. Anyway, when I was pretty out of it, he put some sleeping pills in my drink. He made a big deal about making a toast, and then when I didn't finish it, he bet me that I couldn't. Anyway, that's the last thing I remember before I woke up," Nick said. "Nick, are you OK? When did this happen?" Lyn asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just really hurt that he would do that instead of just telling me what he was gonna do," Nick said. "Honey, how long has he been gone?" Lyn asked. "Two days now. I would've called earlier, but I didn't wake up until the next day. Kevin said I'd been out for about twenty hours. And when I did wake up I was pretty hung over still, I'm just now getting rid of the headache," Nick said. "I'm coming down," Lyn said. "No, don't. There's nothing that you can do except wait to hear something," Nick said. "But honey, I want to be there for you," she said. Nick smiled, "I know you do, and I would like nothing more than for you to come. But your meetings aren't over with yet." "Screw the meetings Nick. You need me and I'm coming," Lyn said, almost angry. "Lyn, calm down and think about this. If you walk out on the meetings now, you'll never have another chance at taking the other hospital over. I'm fine, except for some hurt feelings, and I'll get over it. Honey, I love you to much to let you walk out on the one thing you've worked so hard on," Nick said. Lyn sat there thinking about what he'd just said. He was right, if she left the meetings, that was it. She'd never have another chance. "OK, I'll stay here and finish the meetings," she finally said. "That's my girl," Nick said, smiling. "Let me know if anything turns up," she said. "I will, and Lyn," Nick said. "Yeah?" "I love you," he finished. Lyn smiled, "I love you too." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian had been walking for most of the morning. It was about noon, and he debated on stopping for lunch, or just eating it as he walked. He decided on the latter. Every once in a while, he'd look behind him, making sure he wasn't being followed. The episode with the wolf that morning had really shaken him. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the animals eyes out of his head. Brian heard a car horn, and looked up. Through the trees he could see the cliff. He veered off the trail and walked out to the edge of the tree line, looking up at the cliff that had almost taken his life. He could see the ledge he'd fallen on, more than halfway up. He stood there leaning against a tree as the memory of that night came back. He'd been sitting on the edge next to the guard rail when Kevin drove up. He didn't know it was him at first, and started to go back to his car. Then Kevin yelled at him to stop, and he knew he was in for the lecture of all lectures, about leaving the house with no security and all. But then Kevin pulled a gun on him and backed him up to the rail. Brian remembered the wild and almost happy look on his face when he pulled the trigger. Brian shivered as the memory took him, falling over the rail and down the cliff, hitting the ledge hard, and passing out. Brian pulled himself back to reality. That was two years ago and it seemed just like yesterday. He looked back up at the cliff and smiled, "It's not far now." He adjusted the weight of the pack on his shoulders, and stepped back into the trees. Making his way down the trial once again. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin held the phone out as A.J.'s stream of expletives rang from the other end. Howie and Nick smiled at each other. "A.J. cool it for a sec," Kevin said. "Cool it? Are you kidding, what he did was inexcusable! What happened the trust of the �brothers'?" A.J. yelled. "I know, you're not saying anything that Nick hasn't already," Kevin said. "Yeah, he's just a little more colorful," Nick said under his breath. Howie laughed. Kevin glared at them, then went back to A.J. "Man, listen. If you want to it's fine, but all we can do is wait. They won't let us go and search ourselves, so we're just stuck here, waiting for the phone to ring," Kevin said. "That's just fine, I'm coming anyway. And Bri better pray that someone finds him, cause if something happens I'm gonna kill him," A.J. yelled, hanging up the phone. Kevin hung up, smiling, "Leave it to A.J. to put things in perspective." Howie shook his head and laughed, and Nick just sat there, smiling to himself. "So when's he getting here?" Howie asked. "Lord, who knows. I'm sure he'll show up madder than all hell," Kevin said. "Guys, let's eat," Kira called from the kitchen. They all got up and went to the kitchen. Kira and Kristin had cooked steaks and potatoes with all the trimmings. All the guys sat down, as Kristin and Kira grabbed some beers from the frig, handing one to Howie and Kevin. "Nick, what do you want?" Kira asked. Nick saw Kevin eyeing him. He smiled, "Tea's fine." "Are you sure?" Howie asked. "Shut up D," Nick said, as they all laughed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sun was starting to set, and Brian was beginning to wonder if he'd missed the cave. He pulled his map out and checked it for the hundredth time. He knew he had to be standing right in front of it, but he wasn't seeing it. He walked a few feet and stopped again, looking. There it was! The mouth of the cave had been overgrown with vines. Brian walked over and pulled the vines away, pulling his flash light out and stepping inside. This was it, he had finally made it. He walked around, looking to make sure he was the only one in the cave, before he started to set up camp. He went out and collected some fire wood for the night, coming back in and placing the fire near the mouth of the cave. He had unpacked some things, laying them out where they would be easy to use. The cave started to heat up with the fire, and Brian took his coat off, laying it to the side. He decided to have a hot meal for supper, and got the little cooking pot out to boil some water. Brian was so busy he didn't notice the eyes that were watching him from the corner of the cave. He sat down, finishing up his rice and thinking about what he should do next. Then he heard something that sent a chill down his spine. It was the slow deep growl of an animal, from inside the cave. Brian reached for his flashlight and slowly scanned the corners of the cave, looking for what made the noise. He found it. Sitting in the darkest corner was a mountain lion. It growled at him again, as Brian scrambled for something to protect himself with. The cat jumped down and circled around Brian, cutting him off from the mouth of the cave, and pushing him back until he had nowhere left to go. Brian closed his eyes as the cat poised to jump. Just make it fast, he thought, as the cat leapt. Chapter 11 |