Chereads / The Lost Forest / Chapter 16 - Shadow in the woods

Chapter 16 - Shadow in the woods

When Serai woke up, it was just before dawn and she could hear breakfast being made. 'maybe I should help them,' Serai thought.

Serai got up and dressed and went out to go help the others cook. She had started to enjoy helping around the camp the past few weeks. Serai spent her morning helping the other female elves with cooking and other chores, just like every other morning. By the time she was done, it was a bit past noon, so she decided to go and visit her aunt, so after she told Lunar and Rose where she was going, she left for her aunts' place. As Serai was walking to the town, she kept thinking about the meeting the night before. 'I'm definitely not going there next time, I rather stay at camp alone.' She thought to herself, thought the thought of being alone at camp made her feel uneasy, but it still seemed better than going to the crowded meeting where everyone tries to talk to her. 'well, I still have a month before the next one anyway, so I shouldn't be thinking about it.' She tried to think of other things, to distract her, and before she knew it, she was at her aunts' house. But when Serai knocked on the door, no one answered, she knocked again, but still, no one came to the door. Seria pressed her ear up to the door, hoping to hear something, but it was silent. 'Maybe she's not home.' Serai thought. and she started to walk back to camp. but on the way back, she spotted something moving by the house her mom had bought. 'that's weird, nobody lives around here.' she thought. 'Maybe it was just an animal.' but something made her go and look, and to her surprise, it was her aunt in the garden.

"what are you doing here?" Serai asked in shock.

"Oh, hello Serai! I'm just doing some gardening. Your mom sent in some stuff for the house, and she wanted me to unpack it and put it where it needs to go. Could you help me?" She asked.

"Sure" Serai agreed, helping Sasha unpack. It was nice looking through her moms' stuff, Serai recognized most of it too. After Serai and Sasha unpacked everything, Sasha gave Serai a tour of the house. It was beautiful! It even had a balcony on the second floor, just by Serais' room. After the tour, Sash made some tea, for them both, and they sat and talked for a few hours. By the time Serai started to head back to camp, it was getting dark, and she could barely see.

"I should have headed back sooner. It's so creepy out here!" Serai mumbled. Serai felt as if she was being watched. Like there was someone following her, but every time she looked back, no one was there. Then, she heard footsteps. She stopped and listened, they were getting closer, trembling, Serai ran. Then, suddenly, she felt something grab her shoulder. eyes wide, she whipped her head back to see Lunar standing behind her with a confused look on his face.

"what are you doing here?!" Serai asked, still trembling.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was worried when you didn't come back, so I went out to look for you." Lunar explained.

"were you following me the whole time in the forest?" she asked, thinking that it was him watching her.

"No, I just saw you now when I came up to you. Why?" Lunar asked,

"oh, never mind, it's nothing." Serai felt sure that someone was following her, But she didn't want to worry Lunar, so she didn't tell him.

"Ok, let's head back to camp then. Have you eat yet?" he asked,

"No," Serai said, still looking back 'I swear there was someone following me!' Serai thought, when Serai looked back she could see a shadow move in the trees, she was sure it wasn't an animal, it looked just like a human, or an elf.

"Hey Lunar"

"Yea, what up?" Lunar asked

"Are there any patrols right now? Or any reason someone would be out this late?" Serai asked

"No, everyone is at camp, no one is out except you and me, why?" he asked

"Oh, no reason, I guess" Serai looked back, 'I swear I saw someone!' when they got to the camp Serai still felt uneasy.

"Hey Serai! You're finally back, what took you so long?" Rose asked

"I had to help my ant with some stuff, sorry"

"are you ok? you look really pale," Birk asked.

"Y-yea, I'm fine" Serai stuttered. Serai could tell that they didn't believe her.

"Well, let got to sleep if you already ate," Lunar said, taking Serai to the tent. Serai couldn't fall asleep, she kept thinking about her being followed 'I know someone was following me! I'm sure of it!' then it hit her, it was the same feeling she got when the elf from the gathering was staring at her! 'was it him?! Is he stalking me!' Serai wondered 'but why would he? Does he like me!?' the thought made her flustered 'no, why would he like me? with his looks, he could get any elf he wanted. Maby cause I'm a human? No, if he just entered the village I lived in he would have every girl jumping on him. Then why was he following me? does he not like that I'm a human, and I'm in his tribe?' Serai sighed, 'I don't know, many he wasn't following me. Maby it was just me, Maby nobody was following me,'

"Are you ok Serai? You keep sighing" Lunar asked,

"I'm fine," Serai replied. Lunar got out of his bet and walked over to Serai, carefully, so he doesn't wake up the others, and he laid down behind Serai.

"you don't sound ok," He said as he put his arm around Serai.

"I just really feel like someone was following me today," Serai mumbled

"It's ok, you were probably just imagining things." He reassured her

"No, I know someone was following me!" Serai said, turning towards Lunar.

"Ha, ok, if it makes you feel better, I can tell the morning patrol to check where you were being followed to see if there's any evidence of someone being there," Lunar said, swiping the har out of Serai face. 'If they would do that, at least I could put my mind at rest' Serai thought, 'no, I don't want to waste their time, Lunar was probably right, it was most likely nothing.'

"no, it's ok, your right, it was probably just nothing," Serai said.

"Ok, let's sleep now," Lunar said, still holding Serai. Serai still felt uneasy, but she felt a little better with Lunar next to her.

"Good night"