Charlie POV

       We walked in silence for a long time, my fingers laced with Janes'.  We kept our eyes peeled as we trekked through the woods. 

       Loki loped next to us and I noticed there weren't any paths, just a never-ending twig and pine-needle littered dirt ground with the pine and scraggly oak trees standing tall above us in all directions.

      I looked up, the leaves on the oak trees had already started turning multiple colors of bursting reds, popping yellows, and fiery oranges. Looks like the sky is on fire, I thought to myself cynically.

      "I need to tell you all something." Jane broke the silence, her voice barely above a whisper but still managing to interrupt my thoughts. 

       She fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt, "The reason... the reason I got into that accident-" She took a deep breath, "It's still my fault regardless, but something- something caught my eye." She rubbed her temples with her small fingers, and Loki whined at her heel, "It was that man we saw," Jane admitted, "but I got a better look at him..."

       Tears had appeared in the corners of her big eyes before she hurriedly blinked them away, continuing, "He was faceless. Pure faceless. Nothing but white and-" she paused, considering something and finally said, "And he was in a suit. A black suit. And his arms and legs... they were nearly as long and narrow as his body..." She sounded confused like she didn't and couldn't believe it herself, even though she had seen it with her own eyes.

       "Doesn't matter what caused it, Jane. What matters is we're all okay," Lucy whispered, fidgeting with her septum ring.

       "I hope we're all okay," Jane mumbled, dragging a rough hand through her knotted chocolate brown hair.

       I glanced around at my friends, and then down at her, her normally very soft pink face etched with anxiety. I squeezed her hand, "It's okay. It's not your fault."

       I peeped a small, appreciative smile creep onto her lips before she tore her odd hazel eyes away from mine, our hands still clasped.

       The silence between the six of us fell again and I could hear the crunching as we snapped tiny twigs beneath our feet. Squirrels and other woodland creatures scampered through the brush and up tree-trunks that Loki thoroughly barked at, but never straying too far from us. I grumbled and scanned the trees, my eyes searching for the inhumanly tall, faceless man.

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       I gave my word to Jane that we'd look for Lucas, but I hadn't known that she would have wanted to search for most of the day. About two hours had gone by and Penelope, of course, was complaining.

       "He'll find his own way home," she muttered, kicking dirt as she walked behind the rest of us.

       Jane eyed her warily but chose to ignore her. We all ignored her, even Roger. He continued shouting out for Lucas, with no luck.

       The day had become hot again; it was almost as if Mother Nature was bipolar, flipping between the scorching morning, freezing mid-morning and now a baking afternoon. Even the flowers and trees looked like they were beginning to wilt from the heat.

       I ruffled a hand through my sweaty black hair, making it stick out at odd angles. Whatever, I thought as I peered around.

       Nothing, and no one. At least, no one we were currently searching for. Just the same pine needles at our feet. The tall, colorful, but dying and dropping leaves from the trees did little to save us from the blistering heat. 

       Loki panted and the huff and puffs of our breath were the only sound resonating around us. Not even a cool breeze to chill the beads of sweat that stuck to our skin.

       "What if we're looking the wrong way?" I asked, stopping in my tracks.

       Jane just looked at me, her delicious, yet odd, chocolatey eyes glittering gold in the sunlight.

       "Guys, look." Roger pointed at a figure who stood up ahead, about a hundred feet away, standing at the top of a small, grassy hill.

       "Lucas!" Jane shouted as Loki began barking at her feet, I gripped her hand before she could run towards the approaching person. It didn't feel right. He, whoever 'he' was, gave me an uncomfortable sensation.

       "Jane ..." I trailed off, my fingers still laced and squeezing her slender ones.

       She glanced back at me, "Who else could it be?"

       I narrowed my eyes, "Uh, who do you think? We've been seeing some strange dude ... if you could even call him that. Fuck, he's as tall as the trees, and that's gotta be, what? Like, eight feet? At least? And you said he had no face! No face!" 

       She stared at me. Her doe eyes gazed into mine for what seemed like forever.

       I sighed, "I just want you to be careful." I finally admitted, lowering my gaze to the ground below, listening as Loki emitted a low growl.

       She instantly softened as I brought my hand to her cheek, a small smile spreading across her lips. My eyes trailed up her slender frame and she closed the small space between us, bringing her petite body closer to mine. She reached up on her tiptoes, placed her delicate hand on the back of my neck and softly kissed my forehead.

       I melted under her touch, breathing in her vanilla scent. "I'm right here with you," I told her under my breath. With that, we turned to face the approaching person.

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Authors Note

We reached #178 in Paranormal on the 10th of February! 

We've gone back down since, but I'm hopeful that it'll go right back up!

Hope you enjoyed this part of chapter 8!

Thank you so much for reading! 😙

Thank you also if you decide to comment/vote!!