Okaey my darlings, I am way too tired to proofread this chapter again. Sooo... please let me know if there are any errors (I am sure there are a lot) I do not take any offense, I am only grateful for the help! 

Enjoy!

-Keegan-

When he came around the house Cara was nowhere to be seen. The only person he saw was his mother, who was sitting on her knees in the middle of the vegetable garden. She was looking in the direction of the road leading into the village. 

Cara must have run past her in a hurry. Where the hell is she going?  He wondered and stopped to catch his breath. His mother immediately noticed his presence and turned to look at him. Her face expressed the very same confusion he himself was experiencing.

"Did Cara-" He began. 

"She just ran past me." His mother answered before he had the time to finish his sentence. "She looked like she was running from the devil himself." His mother pondered and her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "I think she was crying as well... What happened?" She asked curiously with a hint of concern in her voice as well. 

Really? She is asking what happened before she berates me? This is the first time she doesn't assume that I did something to her. He thought and felt relieved, but mostly shocked. 

"She just asked me some questions and... She started mumbling to herself and then she just ran off." He began. "I did not do anything disrespectful." 

I think.

"What kind of questions did she ask you?" His mother asked, incapable of waiting for him to explain. 

"She asked me about Tranmere, the kingdom and which year it was." He answered and frowned as he tried to go through what they had discussed. Then he looked at his mother again, whom didn't seem like she had become any wiser from his answer. "And then she panicked and ran away." He sighed.

"She asked which year it is?" His mother asked confused. He nodded and felt the same way. "The only ones who care about that are priests and travelers." She concluded. "And travelers only care because they need to keep track of how long they have been gone... Why would Cara care what year it is?" She asked but did not expect Keegan to answer her. It was more of a general wondering. 

I better go after her. He thought as his mother gave him a strange look.

"What is it?" He asked and tilted his head a bit when she did not stop looking at him like something was wrong. 

"Be careful, Keegan..." His mother told  him out of the blue.

"Careful? About what?" He asked, frowning slightly at her. Was she warning him? About what? About Cara? That would be ridiculous. 

His mother gave him with a look only a mother could give her child. In it he saw that she was deeply concerned about the things he had just told her. 

Maybe I should not have told mother about this... 

"About Cara." She answered reluctantly, like the words tasted bad in her mouth. 

"What about Cara makes you think that I should be careful?" He wondered and crossed his arms. "She has done nothing wrong." 

"I just want you to be careful, Keegan." His mother said quietly and lowered her eyes into the dirt beneath her. "We know nothing about the poor girl and-" 

"And what?" 

"Stop interrupting me. I am still your mother and you will speak when you are given permission!" She hissed. 

Keegan rolled his eyes mentally, but kept his locked with his mothers as he patiently waited for what she was going to say next. 

"Cara is different. You know this. You found her in the woods, in her bare skin, she did not speak the common tongue until we taught her... and she disappeared."

"What of it?" Keegan sighed. 

"She might be-" 

"She is not a witch, mother!" He snapped as soon as he thought that would be her next words. He felt his feelings surface rapidly and he felt offended on Cara's behalf. Was his mother truly going to suspect her of being a witch? Now? After they had taken her in and cared for her for so long? 

"I didn't say that she was one!" She exclaimed defensively. 

"Then what do I have to be careful about?" He snapped back and started walking towards the road. "Cara does not deserve this." He added. 

There came no answer from his mother. He did not dare look at her as he passed her. He might burst into flames if he did. He could not remember ever being so rude and disrespectful towards his mother than he had just been. 

"Your silence sure says more than your words..." He growled. "I am disappointed in you, mother. You were the one who decided that we should take her in. How can you-"

"I am only telling you to be careful, Keegan." She interrupted him with a cautioning tone to her voice. Letting him know that he was draining her patience with his rude behavior, but he did not feel like it was misplaced. "We know nothing about her." 

"There is nothing to be careful of. How many times do I have to say it? You and Orla were the ones who gave her a name! How can you... INCREDIBLE!" He raised his voice as his frustration took over. He walked towards the direction Cara had went. "Cara has not done anything to deserve your distrust in her!" 

"Where are you-"

"I am going to go and find her!" He interrupted his mother darkly. He felt how his tone challenged her and that it would not grant him anything else than punishment. If there was something that woman didn't tolerate, it was a smart mouth and disrespect. His punishment would be waiting for him when he came back... but he did not care at all. 

The only thing he cared about was to find Cara, and find out what the fell was going on. He might not know everything about her, or even a lot... but he sure as fuck knew she was not a witch. 

-Cara-

As Cara came to the village, her sudden presence was not unnoticed. Some stared confused at her as she ran past them, while others called after her. Who are you? What are you doing here?  She also heard someone ask another person if they had ever seen her before. 

Then it all came to a very sudden stop. She had crashed into someone. The impact made her fall back on her ass. 

"Cara?" She reacted to her name and stared up. It was Jared. 

He quickly helped her up on her feet and brushed some dirt off of her. 

"Are you alright?" He asked. "Where are you going in such a rush?" 

"Leave me alone." She breathed and ran past him.

"Hey! Cara!" 

"Jared!" A woman's voice called out. "Who is she?" 

"Mind your own business, you old hag!" He yelled back. 

Cara didn't look back to see if Jared went after her. Instead she ran out through the open gates to the village and across the fields towards the woods. 

The tall grass parted like an ocean as she made her way through it. Far back in her mind she was certain she had ripped her legs on something sharp. It felt like warm blood was running slowly down her left calf as a burning and stinging sensation tortured her right knee. 

Her eyes dropped quickly. Among the tall grass there grew patches of stinging nettles. She looked up and shook her head. 

Great. She thought but kept running. Her feet were already sore since she didn't have any shoes on. Small, sharp rocks had pricked little holes into the skin beneath her feet as she had bolted over the dirt roads. Her feet hurt so badly that tears streamed down the sides of her face when the pain from her feet combined with the burning sensation, from the nettles. It had spread from her knee to both of her legs. 

As she came closer to the edge of the woods she gained new energy and bolted towards it. Her lungs filled quickly and easily with new air, giving her strength to keep going. Normally, she would have been tired and probably slowing down, but now she had so much energy and she had no idea where it was coming from. Either way, she  guessed that it was due to the high level of panic she was experiencing, making her shiver and shake lake a leaf. 

The trees sheltered her from the afternoon sun as she entered the woods. The tree tops' protection left her in a cool shade as she tried to remember where she had come from last time she was here. The first time she had absolutely no memory of, at least not until she had woken up in Keegan's arms.

Unfortunately, Cara didn't have a clue of which direction she had come from last time either. It did not matter in which direction she went, they all looked the same. Hopelessness got her in a choke hold and she started hyperventilating after ten minutes of wandering about in between the trees around her. 

"What..." She breathed out with the last air she had in her lungs and then fell down onto a boulder. "Where... did I come from?" She raised her gaze and looked to her right and left after the slightest thing that would awaken a part of her memory. "No..." She whimpered as neither of the directions triggered anything in her memory. 

Her left hand grabbed a fist of her hair on the top of her head as she tried to force herself to remember something, but nothing. 

If she was never going to find a way home, was she doomed to stay here in this village for the rest of her life? Caught in a place where she did not belong? Caught in a period of time she had no idea of how to survive in? What if Keegan's family would turn her away? They lived of the land and did not have much to spare when it came to money or room in their small house. It would not be so strange if they would ask her to leave if she did not pull her weight or contribute in another way she could not think of. Perhaps they were just being kind but expected her to be on her way when she had time to rest?

"What the hell am I going to do?" Cara whispered and grabbed her head with both hands. "Fuck, my legs hurt!" She whimpered and looked down at them. They were red with rashes all over and they burned something terribly.

She glided down the boulder until she sat on the ground with her back against it. 

A while later, later she heard a voice calling for her in the distance. It was as male voice. 

Keegan. She thought and felt her heart lighten a bit. The panic attack she was in midst of melted away for a moment by the sound of his voice. 

A couple of minutes later he came running from the direction of the village. She noticed how his eyes were lowered to the ground. Out of the blue he dropped to this knees and touched the ground with his right hand. 

What is he doing? She wondered and studied him without disturbing him. Keegan's eyes seemed to follow something in the ground and they strictly searched it as he got to his feet again. Then his eyes found her feet. Is he seriously tracking me? She wondered, amazed, and tilted her head as she studied him. 

When his eyes lit up as he realized that he had found her, Cara concluded that he had indeed been tracking her. 

 He found me by the prints in the ground? She wondered and could not help but to be impressed.

"Cara! What are you doing on the ground?" Keegan asked out of breath and stopped next to a tree when he saw her. She sniffled when she could not construct an answer for him. He walked over to her as soon as he heard it. 

An uncontrollable desire to cry and crawl into his arms shocked her as he knelt beside her.

"Why did you run all the way out here?" He asked out of breath, a sign that he had probably sprinted after her. 

"How did you know-" 

"Jared." He answered her and tried to get her to look him in the eyes but she lowered her gaze. Her eyes were filling with tears and she felt ashamed. She was going to start bawling like a little kid if she looked at him right now. "What are you doing out here?"  

"I can't stay here." She mumbled. 

"What do you mean?" He wondered and frowned slightly. "Cara, tell me what is wrong and maybe I can help you." He breathed. "Is this my fault?" He asked and gestured towards their surroundings. "Did I say something wrong?" 

"No..." She sniffled. Using her hands she covered her face so he wouldn't see what was about to happen. Keegan groaned as she started crying silently. 

"Let's get you out of the dirt." He breathed and got up. He gently removed her hands away from her face and pulled her up. 

"I cannot stay here!" She whispered. Her tears made their way down her cheeks as she spoke.  "I need to go home." She whispered and lowered her gaze to the fabric of his shirt. 

"Where is that?" He asked and his eyes lit up for a moment. "Do you remember?" 

"No." Cara sniffled. "I just, I do not belong here, Keegan." He stared at her, quietly. "I... I do not belong in this..." 

"In this what?" He breathed. His chest growing very large as he filled his lungs to their full capacity. 

"In your time." Cara answered even though she still couldn't believe it herself. 

Keegan took another deep breath, blew his cheeks up and exhaled. 

What is he thinking?  Why does he look like that?  She wondered while Keegan's eyes turned to the ground and then flickered between her and a tree behind her. He was clearly going to ask her something, but it was also very obvious that he was extremely reluctant about asking the question. 

 "Cara, I will only ask you this once, and I want you to be honest." He mumbled and locked eyes with her. His were dead serious and it scared her a bit. "No matter what you answer, I will believe you. But you have to be honest." He told her sternly.

Now Cara was the one who frowned. 

"What is it?" She asked quietly and crossed her arms in anxiety.

"Mother is worried..." He began. "And I already know the answer to my question, but I have to ask so I can tell mother that she can drop it." 

Cara tilted her head. 

"Are you a witch?" He asked and rolled his eyes afterwards, like the question was ridiculous to him. 

"A what?" Cara asked, unable to answer his question even a little. "Am I a what?" She did not know what the word 'witch' meant. 

"A witch." He repeated himself. Cara searched her mind for the word but she could not remember having learnt it. 

"What is a witch?" She wondered when she had concluded that this word was not yet a part of her current vocabulary. 

"A woman who... How do I describe a witch...?" He mumbled to himself. "It is a woman who uhm... A witch is a woman, who... creates potions and casts spells on people." He explained best he could. Cara understood about every other word. "A witch is evil." He then added. 

"Are you asking me if I am evil?" Cara asked offended and took a step back. "What kind of question is that?" 

"No, well... yes in a sense I am." Keegan started stammering when he didn't know how to answer her. "I do not think that you are, I just..."

"I..." Cara stopped talking. "How..." 

"Perhaps I can ask your teacher to explain it to you." 

"Do whatever you want." Cara mumbled in English and could not help but to feel extremely hurt. 

"Are you cross with me?" He asked and looked like he felt bad. 

"What do you think?" She asked in return and shrugged her shoulders. "You just asked me if I am evil." 

"I do not think that you are evil." He said quietly. "I had to ask..." 

"Why do you have to ask if you do not-" 

"Because mother is wants to know." He answered very reluctantly and scratched his neck. 

"Miriam thinks I am evil?" Cara breathed and her heart broke a little. Why would Miriam think she was evil? She had been so nice to Cara... Nothing about her behavior suggested that she was afraid of her or that she disliked her. Where was this coming from? 

"No, she is just worried..." Keegan muttered. "She will be fine." 

"What is she worried about?" She asked. 

"About me." Keegan confessed and lowered his eyes for a second before he met her gaze again. 

"Why is she worried about you?" 

"Because she knows... that... or I think she knows about our... uhm..." Keegan turned quiet. Cara had stopped breathing after he had said the word 'our'.

"Our what?" She breathed. The air between them had suddenly changed and she could feel her whole body yearn for his. Where it came from she did not undestand, but she did not hate the way he made her feel. 

 "I cannot think straight whenever you are around, Cara." Keegan sounded a little frustrated as he told her that, but in a good way. He took a step closer to her. "You might not be a witch, but you have done something to me... be it by a spell or not. I cannot keep my thoughts in line or my hands to myself whenever you are close to me." His emerald green eyes glowed as he spoke. 

"I don't understand what that means." Cara whispered in a shiver as he lowered his face to hers. Keegan's left hand disappeared into her hair and grabbed her around her neck. She placed her hands against his chest and could feel how sweaty he had become from running after her. 

"It means that I want you, Cara." He moaned quietly and brushed his lips against hers. "I want all of you, and I do not care about what you are or are not." 

Cara lost her breath and felt her heart starting to beat faster and harder. Keegan's right hand drew her closer by her waist. 

His lips caressed hers, waiting for her to give him permission. With a twitch of her neck, she grazed his lips with her own, urging him to kiss her. And he did. The hand around her neck tensed at her go-signal and he pressed his lips to hers without hesitation. The kiss instantly grew deep and hungry as they tasted each other. 

All of the panic she had experienced a moment ago ran off her like water. It was almost like it had never happened. As soon as Keegan was this close to her, kissing her, there was no panic, no panic attacks or thoughts about her life. 

"You do not have to leave, Cara..." He breathed as they stopped for air. They both had their eyes closed and he was leaning his forehead against hers. "Even if you feel like you not belong here... It feels like you-" 

"... it feels like I belong with you." She interrupted him quietly. 

Keegan gave her a look of complete agreement and kissed her so hard she grabbed onto his shirt.

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

I hope you liked this part! 

Are they going back and forth? Yes.

Are we all annoyed by this? Yup. 

Will it get better? 

Hell yeah!

Was it cheesy? Yeah, a little... but hey, you gotta have some cheesiness! 

Much love, 

Jenny