I slumped on the kitchen sofa and stared out the window. The dark clouds had cleared up and it was fairly dry. I was bored and in desperate need of a distraction. All this thinking about Ryan surely was not good for my health. I grabbed my raincoat and told my mom where I was going, not that she listened. I shut the door behind me, and began for the forest. It was more, alive this time round. The birds in the trees were singing, and the rabbits on the ground were skipping. This automatically put me in a better mood. I smiled, and continued walking, completely ignorant to Ryans warning. Surely this animated forest couldnt so dangerous. After a while, I sat on the ground and leaned against a tree stump, relaxed. I hadn't realised I had started to doze off, when a loud bang boomed through the wood. In an instant, the whole scene had changed. The birds flew up to thier nests and hid, and the rabbits that were skipping for joy one minute, were now sprinting through the forest like thier lives were in danger. I was suddenly on full alert. Another bang shook the forest.
I was angry at the noise that ruined my perfect mood, and decided to follow it. I doubt anyone outside the forest heard, so it looks like I was going in alone. As I walked on, the boom had gotten louder, and so I knew I was close. I stopped. In front of me was a tree trunk, on the ground, broken in half. As I got closer, I realised that more and more broken tree trunks lay dead on the ground. I had almost decided to turn around and sprint home, because my cockiness had worn off and the voice in my head was telling me to run home, then I noticed something on the froest ground. I took one step at a time toward it. I managed to acknowledge that what ever was on the ground was too big to be an animal, so it must have been a person. I had never been put in this situation before. I didn't know weither to help whoever was on the ground, or just be smart, listen to my head and go home.
I decided that I would go and see if they were ok, that was it, and then go home. I walked slowly over to the person and looked closer to see if he was moving.
Suddenly, his arm moved, and I jumped back. He got up with his back turned to me, and shook off the leaves and small pieces of bark. I figured that he had something to do with the many broken tree trunks. I was afraid to move, so I stood there for a moment. From the back, I could tell he was tall, and of average muscular build. Then he turned around and I gasped. His clothes were severly torn, scars covered any exposed skin, and his complexion was extremley white, like a corpse. His eyes shocked me most. The iris in his eyes were crimson red, with black around the edges. He stared at me for a moment, sort of like the way Eric had stared at me the first time we met.

His eyes widend, like Eric's. Then I heard the footsteps of someone behind me, and turned slowly to see who it was. That's when my nightmare began.
Up until now, I was wide awake and fully consious. I knew that the man I had seen was no dream, that the boom in the forest was no dream, but now, I was questioning my level of consiousness. Standing in the middle of the wood, with his dirty hands by his side, was Ryan. The breath was knocked out of me, and I was completely speechless.
Maybe Ryan was as suprised as I was, but it didn't show. His face was blank, his expression was emotionless, and his eyes widend a little when he seen me.
I wanted to ask so many questions. What was he doing here? Did he know the red eyed man? Why was he dirty? What was the boom? A million thoughts were running through my head, but I was unable to get a single word out. I was frozen in place. I turned back around to see the red eyed man, not knowing if he was hurt. The last thing I remember was the man leaping toward me bearing his sharp teeth, and Ryan jumping in between us just a split second before I became mince meat. After that, I blacked out. I couldn't hear, or feel, or see anything. I must have fainted, or maybe Ryan was to late.

When I came around, the first thing I felt was warm bedsheets and a hot water bottle. It felt so good against my cold skin. Then I opened my eyes a little to see where I had ended up. It was a familiar room, with familiar people pacing the floor. I was able to see Tesse, sitting on a wooden rocking chair, and my mom,up and anxiously bitting her nails, something she never did. Tesse noticed me opening my eyes, and alerted my mother. She quickly walked over to the bed, and I sat up. There was an ache in my back the minute I did, and I groaned. There was also a pain in my arm, and when I looked down, there was a white cotton bandage from my wrist to my elbow.
''Hey, honey'', my mom whispered.
''Hi, mom'', I said. I hadn't realised how much my throat hurt or how hoarse I sounded until I spoke.

She sat on the edge of the bed and fixed the sheets.
"What happened?", I struggled to say. My mom looked behind her, and tesse stod up.
"Ryan brought you in", she said, "you fell in the woods and hit your head".
She said it like it was a fact. End of story. Even though thats what could have happened, the way she said it didn't convince me enough. I just wanted to sleep.
"Hey, mom, could I get some toast please?", I croaked.
She jumped up immediatly. "Sure", she said. Tesse got up too. "I'll make some tea", Tesse said as she walked out of the room.
I sighed, and collapsed into my pillow. I didn't expect to have the time of my life on this trip, but injuring myself was a bit much. This proved how accident prone I actually was, but I just couldn't shake the image of the man with the red eyes out of my mind. Maybe he had contacts or something, I thought, but when I seen him, he was lying on the ground, and looked hurt. Another thing entered my mind, why the hell was Ryan there. A shiver ran down my spine, and I was glad when I heard a faint knock on my door. A distraction.
"Come in", I groaned, snaping out of my pensive mood.
I was aching all over but managed to sit up against my pillow. I was glad I didnt have a mirror, because if I had seen the way I felt, it would have probably put me in a state of shock. I put my hair behind my ears, and turned my head toward the door. So much for a distraction. Ryan was standing in the doorway. The obvious disappointment on my face made him reluctant to enter.
I let out a breath, and faced the window, wanting him to go, but having a million questions unanswered. He shut the door softly, and from the corner of my eye, I seen him sit on the wooden chair opposite my bed. I sighed, and turned around to face him. His eyes were hard, and he looked upset over something. Before I could get a word out, he began to speak.
"I'm sorry, you shouldn't have been out there today, I'm sorry", he repeated. The sudden apology surprised me a little.
"Why are you sorry?", I said.
He gestured at my hurting body with his head. I couldn't unerstand how this was his fault, just because he was there doesn't make him responsible for my clumsiness, and I said "How is you're fault? I tripped".
I looked at his face and a corner of his mouth curled up. I was a little ofended when he chuckled.
"Is that what they told you?", he said.
It was no surprise that what Tesse told me wasn't true, she was not the most convincing liar.
"What really happened?", I said.
The aching in my back was not as bad since I had taken the painkillers, so I crawled to the end of my bed, and faced Ryan.
He was surprised at my sudden movement.
"You didn't fall", he started, " you were attacked''.

His voice was hard and cold, which starled me. I suddenly realised that I was right. Ryan didn't get to me in time, and the red eyed man did launch at me, but why was I sitting here, with just a few scrapes. I couldn't make sense of my miraculous outcome.
"What happend?", I asked again, this time, wanting details.
I looked in his eyes, and looked again. The last time I had noticed the colour of Ryan's eyes, the iris was emeraled, but now, they had changed to a deep, chesnut brown. Contacts must be big around here, I thought. His voice broke the silence.
" Are you okay to come outside?", he asked.
He was analysing my minor injuries.
"Sure", I said.
I got up slowly of the bed, and sudenly realised that I was in my PJ's. "I'll wait outside", he suggested, and shut the door behind him.
I threw on an old pair of jeans and a sweater, and brushed through my tangled hair swiftly, and gave one look at my little mirror to make sure I was half decent. I went down the stairs slowly, and grabbed my jacket. Ryan was leaning against a tree on the forest border. When he seen me, he smiled and made way into the wood. I followed behind like a little puppy. It was a while before he stopped somewhere in the heart of the forest. He turned to look at me. I walked toward him, and we were gazing into eachother's eyes, but it wasn't like some soopy romantic movie, it was like we were trying to figure eachother out. The inensity of the moment was to much and I had to look away.
Then something unexpected happened. It took me a minute to realise, anything. My eyes were closed, and I felt something cold on my lips. Then I had discovered what was happening. Ryan was kissing me. I wanted to push him away, but something in my head convinced me otherwise. I had never kissed a boy before, as I was not that 'smooth' with the opposite sex when it came to relationships. I was shy, and liked to keep to myself in school, obviously not as attractive as miniskirts that leave nothing to the imagination, or faces masked in make-up. Kissing Ryan was, amazing.
The ferocity of his cold lips against mine was intense. When he pulled away, I was dumbfounded, left wanting more. He, himself, looked surprised, although he probably had experience. When you are as beautiful as he is, you would probably have alot of expertiese in the relationship section, I assume.
I was soon back in reality, which meant I still had unanswered questions. I quickly gathered myself up again, and said "Are you going to tell me what happend?". He smiled, a kind of dark smile.
"You're quite stubborn", he laughed.

I felt slightly offended, but just replied "Well?".