Trapped (Caged 2)

Wormsign.

Whatever.

Tria paused abruptly, and I ran right into her back.

“What?” I whisper-cried. “What is it? Is it a bear?”

Tria giggled.

“No, it’s a fire pit,” she said.

“A what?”

She took a few more steps forward, and the trees around us sank back into the deeper forest as we emerged into a small clearing with a large pile of rocks in the center, encircling burnt up bits of trees. The moon lit up the whole area, and there were all kinds of soft-looking moss and plants covering the ground. The whole place was totally surrounded by trees, and the scene looked like an ambush waiting to happen.

Did bears hunt in packs?

I shuddered.

“Come on, Tria,” I said. “Let’s go back.”

“In a minute,” she replied. Her voice was soft and calm but didn’t make me feel any better. She walked forward a little before pausing and turning her head in a wide arc to take in the view.

I glanced around and wondered what else was out here besides bears. Lions and tigers were pretty unlikely, but I wondered if there were other big cats, maybe cougars or mountain lions or something.

Or were those all the same thing?

There might have been other animals around as well, like wolves or coyotes. Weren’t there certain birds of prey that could be dangerous? For all I knew, there could even be pumas.

What the fuck was a puma, anyway?

I shuddered again.

“It’s so peaceful here,” Tria said softly.

Although her voice was subdued, it still startled me, and she looked over her shoulder when she felt me jump a bit.

“I’m going to have to agree to disagree with you there,” I told her.

“But it’s so quiet!” she said.

“Yeah,” I agreed. That was one of the things I liked the least.

“In the city there’s always noise—cars, buses, people yelling, and doors slamming—I still don’t think I’d be sleeping at all if it wasn’t for you. Here, the loudest sound you ever hear outside is the ocean.”

“That’s how you know where everyone is,” I said. “Because they make noise. That’s the way it should be.”

“You really don’t like it out here, do you?”

“Not much, no,” I admitted. “Have you had enough of a commune with nature? Because I would really like to get somewhere warm and dry.”

“If you like,” she said.

She turned around and brought her arms up around my neck.

“Thank you for being here with me,” she said. “And especially for behaving yourself. When you first said you were coming…well, I thought it was a horrible idea, but now I’m glad you are here.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” I said. “You know that asshole would have tried to make you stay if I wasn’t.”