Chapter 16: Losing.

"Ann?" I felt a heavy hand shake my shoulder. My eyes opened slowly to adjust to the sunlight. My head spun quickly with exhaustion, I looked around to find that I was leaning against the base of a tree trunk.

Nate squatted next to me and smiled gently; he had already put his blue contacts back on "Good morning." His smile grew wider "We have to get you back home. People are going to start to ask questions." Nate joked.

I ran my fingers through my hair "How long have I been asleep?" my hand reached down to my jeans to find that my cell phone wasn't there.

He laughed "About an hour." Nate grabbed onto my arm and helped me stand up.

I laughed "Oh well that's great." My voice was full of exhaustion. I dug through the back pocket of my pants but I couldn't find my cell phone. My eyes scanned the ground until I found it placed in the dirt.

I wiped it off and stuck it back into my pocket. "Come on." Nate said "It is really late; I need to get you out of here before the search party comes." We began to walk back into the trees.

My feet clumsily followed behind his "What if they find us?" I asked. My head was still spinning from practically sleeping on a tree. "We didn't do anything bad. And I mean, there really isn't anything dangerous in the woods."

"I wouldn't say that." Nate's voice was very tense, very serious. It was strange to hear the shift in his mood, he was laughing a moment ago.

I continued "I mean the wolves aren't here and they wouldn't hurt anyone, anyway so-"

Nate stopped "There are more dangerous things…" his back was still turned towards me. He began to walk again leaving it at that. I hated the fact that he decided when the conversations ended. I followed him.

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We neared the edge of the trees. I could see that the sun had just risen over the horizon. The sky was a yellowish orange color. Nate stopped right at the line of tall grass "Sorry, I was kind of harsh before. I was just trying to make a point…"

I crossed my arms "Okay…what is that point?"

His shocking blue eyes stared down at the ground for a moment "People who are driven to extreme measures will do extreme things, Ann." He looked back up at my bewildered face. He smiled "Just don't go into the woods with any other strange guys, please? In fact, don't go into the woods at all." His voice had a serious hint somewhere hidden behind his smile.

I nodded "Okay."

He leaned down to kiss me softly on the lips "Go home. I'll see you later." He said as he walked away from me. Nate slowly disappeared into the woods. I turned back to walk into my yard when I was stopped by a very tall body.

"Cameron!" I gasped "You scared me! What…" I stopped when I saw his angry face scowl down at me. Cameron breathed heavily, the way he did when he got into a fight with Stephen. I could feel my expression shift to confusion "Cameron, what are you doing here?"

Cameron shook his head as he laughed without humor "What am I doing here?" he asked "What am I doing here? Oh okay," he was smiling but again without humor "How about this; I'm looking for Autumn." He stopped smiling.

"What?" I asked.

"Autumn is gone, Ann!" Cameron shouted "Gone! Someone came into her room last night and took her. They took her from her own bed! And yet you go off and you play around in the woods with freak boy, Nate?" His handed pointed towards the area where Nate had walked off. I felt the tears well up behind my eyes.

"What is wrong with you?!" Cameron continued "Don't you understand what's going on, Ann? Don't you understand that we might never seen Autumn, again?!" his once cheerful voice shouted.

The tears began to fall down my cheeks "I-I didn't-"

Cameron swung his arms in the air "Really? You didn't think about it? Well, that's not shocking at all! Don't you know what would happen if you left?" his voice began to lower but I could still hear the anger in his tone "Do you know what would happen to your friends? To your family? What about your mom or your dad or Billy or…me?" I looked up to see his eden eyes full of pain "I cannot afford to lose both your sister….and you." His voice shook as he looked down at his hands.

"Oh, Cameron…" I walked closer to comfort him.

He slightly dodged me "No, go home Ann! Go home now!" he demanded "before anyone else in the 'search party' sees you." He walked away from me.

He left me alone, crying, scared, ashamed…