GUYS!

Caught in Time got in 3rd place in The Ruby Awards 2nd Edition, Romance Category!!! WOHOOO! Thank you all for reading and supporting the story!

Love you all!

-Keegan-

Cara had been missing for days. There was not a trace or sign of her anywhere. Not a footprint or even a broken twig to tell where she had disappeared to. What caused the whole family more distress concerning her disappearance was that no one in the village had even seen Cara to begin with, if you did not count the priest and Jared. So, they had no one to turn to in order to ask if they had possibly seen her or the people who took her.

Keegan had spent his days searching for Cara in the woods and he had especially looked around the area where they had found her from the start. Since it was still a mystery why she had ended up where she did, then he figured that it could be possible that she could end up there again. From there he also checked the hole underneath the tree where she had sought refuge from Orla and him, but it was empty.

Jared had joined Keegan on every occasion he went to the woods but that was all he could help him with, he had not told his family or anyone else about the Ember's new addition, and therefore he could not do much more than help Keegan look for her.

Keegan was on his way back after searching the area where Orla had last seen Cara, as he had already done multiple times before. The rain poured down and he was soaked all over. Blackie trotted slowly next to his owner and seemed to be in an equally gloomy mood as Keegan was. The dog was usually very cheerful but now his head was lowered somewhat, and it felt like he knew something was not right.

He had brought the black beast with him to see if he could pick up Cara's scent from his coat, but the rain had washed away all hope there was to find her that way. Blackie searched the ground wherever Keegan pointed and he did it meticulously, but came up with nothing.

"She can't just disappear like this. Someone has to have seen something!" His mother exclaimed in desperate frustration when Keegan entered the house after the fourth day of coming home emptyhanded. His mother was standing by the door as he entered. When he shook his head to her unspoken question she walked over to the table and sat down on one of the chairs.

"No one knows she even exists, mother..." Orla mumbled from where she was standing, in the window; studying the storm raging outside the little rugged house.

Returning home alone, like all the other days, Keegan could not help but to feel defeated. He shrugged his shoulders in response to his mother's protest. The rain that poured down outside now drenched the floor beneath his feet when he took his coat off and hung it by the door.

"Maybe she did leave?" Flynn suggested sighing, sounding very sad. Keegan grimaced quickly but then buried his reaction deep down. The thought that Cara could have simply just left them by her free will caused him an indescribable sense of loss, and a strange pain spread throughout his body. A part of him had honestly believed that she would have stayed with them, for an indefinite period of time.

"I do not think so...." Keegan mumbled and shrugged his shoulders again. The cold water was making his clothes stick to his skin and it started to get very cold. "Judging from the tracks Orla found, someone took her." He continued and stepped out of his boots. "There is still no trace of her in the woods." He told his family.

A sniffle suddenly erupted, and they all turned to its origin. His mother sat with her face covered in her hands and it took him a couple of seconds to realize that it was indeed she who had sniffled.

Keegan threw his siblings a very uncomfortable look and they looked just as shocked as he felt. Their father exhaled heavily and from the sound of it he was not at all pleased with his wife's tears, and that he seldom witnessed them. The old man scratched his neck uncomfortably but then leaned over the table and stroked his wife's arm with affection.

Keegan couldn't recall ever having witnessed what was happening in front of him before. He had never seen his mother cry. She just didn't cry... screamed, yes. Cry? No.

"Mother... Are you alright?" He asked quietly and walked over to her. He placed his right arm around her shoulders and took the seat next to her. She shook her head and leaned into his embrace. This also surprised him immensely. His mother never showed any weakness, not even in front of her own children.

"No!" She sniffled. "What if she is hurt? What if whoever took her will sell her off to some horrible place or worse; a whorehouse!"

Keegan closed his eyes and hoped to all the Gods that Cara wasn't hurt, but they could not be sure if it.

"We do not know that..." He comforted his mother and squeezed her closer to him by using his arm. "It might be as Flynn said; She might have left... of her own free will." He did not believe a word of what he had just said. Or rather; he didn't want to believe it, but he had to say something to make his mother feel better.

His mother did not believe a single word that came out of him right now either, because she reacted to his words with an annoyed scoff and waved his words away.

"Where would she go?" She asked but with no intention of waiting for an answer. "She has nowhere to go! And you said it yourself; the tracks prove that she did not just wander off by herself."

"I do not know what else to tell you, mother." Keegan sighed and pulled his mother a little bit closer. "There is no sign of her, anywhere."

His mother sobbed and buried her hands again. He grimaced and noticed that his father exhaled rather heavily, again. Looking over he noticed that the old man was giving him an annoyed look that said: Did you really have to? She is already crying...

Keegan shrugged his shoulders tiredly and then stared towards the window where Orla stood. The rain poured down unforgivingly, and in the air he could sense the upcoming thunderstorm. No matter where Cara was, she would have to seek cover if she was to make it through the night without getting severely sick.

­-Cara-

She woke up from the roaring sound of thunder ripping through the air. The sound of it was so high that it made her ears hurt and she opened her eyes rapidly. Sitting up too fast, she fell down again instantly from a daze she could not shake off.

Her heart was beating so fast that it felt like she was going to die any minute.

Breathing felt like a challenge but she managed. Rapid small breaths were all she could accomplish from the very sudden and frightening awakening she had just experienced.

A second later she flinched when something wet hit her right eye, whatever it was settled without pain in her eye. She blinked multiple times and stared into the air above her while she stayed put, lying down.

Treetops swayed violently above her in the wind. A very heavy rainfall was coming at her and she protected her face as soon as she realized that it was rain which had hit her just a moment ago. Then she felt how cold she was, still. Her toes felt numb and her fingers were stiff and on the brink of being completely numb as well.

You must be freaking kidding me? She screamed internally and started hyperventilating when she realized that those bastards had indeed sent her back. Where the fuck, did I end up this time? She groaned to herself and slowly sat up.

The downside to this time was that she was completely alone... No Keegan that carried her and offered her protection from her nakedness, with his coat. Cara breathed out and felt overthrown by panic when she realized that she might not even find them again. There was no telling if she even ended up in an area even remotely close to where she ended up the first time.

Around her she saw nothing familiar. Nothing at all. Just trees, bushels and the occasional stone. She turned her head to the left and noticed something that looked like a small hill, made out of several large stones and boulders, rested next to her just a couple of meters away.

"It is a freaking miracle that I haven't been eaten yet." She whispered and continued study her surroundings. Not a living soul was in the vicinity and apart from the roaring thunderstorm above her and the smattering rain there were no sounds. Just her own panting.

Cara leaned her head back and felt hopelessness wash over her, accompanied by a large amount of anxiety as well. It felt like she was going to die right there, sitting in moss among bushes, trees and whatever small animals that lurked around her.

Looking down on herself she noticed that she was naked. Again.

"Come on!" She screamed out frustrated and placed her hands across her chest to protect herself from the rain. "You could have at least given me some underwear or just anything to cover myself up with!" She screamed louder, hoping that someone, who was involved in this disaster that was her life now, would hear her. But of course, no one was close by and she gained no answers.

Cara got up on and looked around her again; nothing but trees and rain. Thankfully. If it wasn't Keegan, Orla or Flynn she was thankful for being alone.

Well, I can't stay her all fucking day. She groaned and sighed heavily.

"I guess Keegan, Flynn and Orla aren't around to find me this time..." She mumbled in an attempt to make herself laugh, but it wasn't funny. She quietly prayed to all the Gods that if someone were to find her in this condition, then please let it be Orla.

Or Keegan... A small voice in her head whispered and she flinched from the thought. What? No...? I'm freaking naked.

The voice didn't reply.

-Keegan-

The storm did not faulter, not even during the night. Keegan laid sleepless in his own bed, which also felt a bit strange since it was where she had slept.

He stared up at the ceiling, wide awake and not being able to get even the slightest rest. There was a strange feeling resting in his stomach that something was wrong, even more so than it already was. A part of him wanted to return to the woods and look for her, again. It felt like she would be there this time...

Stop it, for the Gods' sake. He groaned internally and pressed his hands against his face. She is gone! Just accept it!

But he couldn't. His gut screamed at him to go back.

Keegan sat up in a rage caused by his own restlessness. With quick steps he walked over to the window and looked out; it was still early in the morning but normally the sun would be up now. However, the storm did not let any light down from the sky, so he was staring out on a field and the dark grey sky above it.

"Fuck it..." He growled, whistled on Blackie and got dressed before he left.

-------------------------

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it!

Stay safe and well!

Much love,

Jenny