Alex tugged the laces of his hiking boots, pulling them tight. It seemed like forever since he had gone hiking. He tried to remember the last time, but his thoughts were filled with images of Ethan, the autopsy, and the impending sense of doom that loomed over everything as of late. Although he knew he was being paranoid, he thought he had just cause.
His shoelace snagged against the eyelet. A small-ish knot was blocking it from coming through all the way. He gave a sharp yank, and the shoelace came free. He looped it and tied it tight. Then, he moved onto his other boot.
He tried to focus on the motion of tying his shoes, the winding motion and the rabbit slipping down the hole, but his mind kept wandering. After his shoes were tied, and he had nothing to focus on, he started thinking about the reason they had all come out here in the first place: the business. He had wanted a calm, quiet space to generate ideas with his friends. Unfortunately, the night hadn't gone as planned.
He cast a glance over at the kitchen. Although it had been cleaned up, and looked inconspicuous, he imagined Ethan's bloated corpse exploding all over the place.
Dead or alive, Ethan was proof that something strange was happening.
After the previous night, he needed to be away from the house. A hike in nature, with his loving girlfriend, was exactly what the doctor ordered.
He looked over his shoulder at Debbie. She was sitting on the stairs, slipping on her boots. They were black with a pretty pink trim around the edges, and they matched her knee-length pants nicely. Her jacket and backpack, which she had filled with energy bars and a couple of full water bottles, sat at her feet. She gritted her teeth as she tried to pull on her shoe. Alex grinned, wondering if Cinderella ever had any trouble with her shoes.
Debbie caught him looking and returned his grin.
"Almost got it," she said. "I'll be fine."
As she said it, her boot slipped on easily, and she tied it off. She moved slowly, as if distracted. Something about the way her fingers moved, tying her laces once, twice, getting it right on the fourth time. When he tried to help her, she held up a hand and said, "I've got this." So, Alex hung back, slipped on his jacket, and shoulders his hiking backpack. He had clipped his canteen to his belt. The water inside of it sloshed with his movement.
Debbie stood up, slipped a red scrunchie off her wrist, and tied her hair up in a rough ponytail. Held her arms out wide and spun like a ballerina.
"How do I look?" she asked brightly, but with a slight catch in her throat.
Alex eyed her.
"Like a dream come true," he said. And he meant it. "Are you alright? You seem a little off."
Debbie gave a warm half-smile. God, it didn't take much for her to look beautiful.
"I'm fine," she said. Then, after a pause, "Just, I think Yvonne doesn't like me."
Alex's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Did she say, or do, something?"
Debbie shook her head. "We had a… confrontation in the kitchen this morning. Said some things in the heat of it all, you know?"
Alex nodded slowly. It had been a rough night for all of them. Tensions were at an all-time high, and he wanted to protect Debbie from any further danger.
He rested a hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek. The floral scent of her perfume warmed him.
"I'm sure it'll pass," he said hopefully. "We're all a little on edge."
"Yeah," Debbie said, pulling on her jacket. "I know I am, and I missed out on the fun!"
"Let's hope it stays that way," he said firmly. "I'm serious. I'm not having you throw yourself into danger to protect me."
Debbie cut him off with a kiss. Alex had to admit, that was a pretty good way of ending an uncomfortable conversation.
"I know, I know," she said when they broke apart. "My big, Grand Champion martial artist boyfriend wants to protect me. But maybe, just maybe, I've learned a trick or two." She winked, then moved past him to the door.
"Wait a minute," he said. "What does that mean?"
With her hand on the doorknob, Debbie turned back to look over her shoulder at him. She smiled coyly and said, "Well, wouldn't you like to know?" She opened the door and stepped out. Like a lovesick puppy, Alex followed, careful to shut the door behind him.
They pointedly chose a different direction to the one Ethan had come from. A trail of heavy footprints and scattered tree limbs made his path very clear. Alex looked at it, and a sense of dread hung over him like a heavy cloud. He looked up. The sky was a perfect blue. A few wispy white clouds here and there, but nothing to indicate rain. Even the forest was alight with life. Birds sang to each other, a bumblebee buzzed past, and a stray spider crawled up his leg.
Alex jerked, seeing the brown spider slowly climb up his leg. It itched a little, since he wore shorts, and his legs were bare. He reached down and scooped it up in both hands, then set it to rest on the ground where it scuttled away. Nature could be creepy, but that didn't mean there was no beauty in it.
Speaking of beauty, Debbie was calling to him. He jogged to catch up with her, then took her hand and the two began their much-needed, long-awaited hike.
Whenever she encountered an interesting bird or structure, Debbie made sure to point it out. She would bring Alex over, sometimes drag him by the arm, to make sure that he was really seeing whatever she wanted to show him. So far, they had encountered a couple of beautiful blue-plumed birds, a patch of flowers so colorful they would make a rainbow look dull, and a wild bunny rabbit. They watched it quietly, not wanting to frighten it off. A snapping twig somewhere behind them sent it running, its little white cottontail bobbing out of sight.
Every so often Alex would notice something moving out the corner of his eye. Whenever he turned toward it, it wasn't there. While he tried to ignore it, his old instincts flared up.
Although Debbie made sure to keep him occupied, Alex couldn't help but feel guilty. His mind was abuzz with everything but nature, and as much as he wanted to talk to Debbie, and hear the things she was saying, he couldn't.
Some boyfriend I am, he thought sadly. I can't even talk to her.
They reached the cliff in a little under an hour, and as promised, it was beautiful. Immediately, his negative thoughts faded away. The clifftop was a small heaven on earth. The trees opened out to a clearing full of bushes and flowers. The perfect spot for a mid-hike picnic.
Alex walked up, just a few feet away from the edge, and just let the feeling of gravity hold him. There he stood, at the top of the world, feeling weightless and out of control. A single push, or a strong gust of wind, and he would fly. He would also crash land, and be finished, but for his last moments he would fly.
Alex felt as if he were standing on top of the world, looking down and seeing average people live their lives. Well, there weren't any people down there, but he imagined that there were. He imagined that a clump of trees was a business district in Baltimore, full of bankers and clients looking for ways to make their money make more money. He imagined that the flock of gulls bathing in the lake were a family out for a weekend stroll.
He could have laughed.
He was spending time in nature and he immediately started making it more metropolitan? Yikes, he really needed a break.
"Told you it would be something," Debbie said, joining him. She placed a tender hand on the small of his back.
Alex turned to her, and for a moment, he wondered what it would be like if they had never met. He would be much worse off, with an empty feeling where his heart was. A darkness would have overtaken him, and he would have become like Lincoln. Worse, he might have ended up like Justin. So full of darkness that he would be willing to erase anyone who came his way.
Alex had had girlfriends before, but none of them were like Debbie. He looked at her, and then again over the cliff. He thought that if they had never met, he might not have been able to see the beauty in the landscape that lay beyond the cliff. Instead of emerald green trees and sparkling lakes, he would have seen obstacles getting in the way of his bank account. Debbie wasn't just beautiful, she was his gateway to seeing and understanding beauty. Her kind heart was more forgiving than he deserved, and more compassionate than she knew.
"Hey, Mr. Stoic," Debbie said. "Want to share what you're thinking?"
He stepped away from the cliff and turned around to look at her. She had her hand in her pockets, and her jacket was slightly open, revealing the gray shirt she wore underneath.
"Just thankful to have you in my life," he said. He checked his watch. "It's a little after lunch time. Shall we?" He pulled off his backpack and made a gesture toward it, as if it were a prize on a gameshow.
Debbie giggled. "A romantic, clifftop picnic."
"Nothing but the best for my lady," said Alex.
Debbie pulled a blanket out of her backpack and spread it across the ground. Then, they unpacked the food they had brought with them. Alex bit into a sandwich, and felt the tension ease.
"Thank you," he said, "for the hike. And the clifftop."
Debbie brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes, then pointed at her mouth. She had just taken a bite out of an energy bar and was having a particularly tough time chewing. Alex caught a glimpse of the wrapper and understood. That particular brand was very chewy, and worked the jaw muscles in a way nothing else could. She made a circular motion with her free hand, prompting him to continue.
"I'm really glad you're here with me," he continued. "I'm sorry, for being kind of hard on you, when you came back. Protective boyfriend instinct or something, I guess. Last night and yesterday were a little on the crazy side, and seeing you… I was paranoid yesterday and… Well, Louis isn't the only one who's been thinking of all the conspiracies lately."
Debbie finally swallowed the bite of the energy bar and took a gulp from her canteen.
"I see," she said, then coughed. Water sloshed out the top of the open canteen as she brought her arm up to cover it. She capped it, then set it to one side, and looked up at him. "Big, protective, conspiracy theorist Alex. I love it."
Alex shook his head. "I know," he said, "I know how I sound. But after everything. You remember why I started training in Martial Arts? Well, what if I need to be that person again? I'm a little worried that I have to unleash a part of myself that I've tried to push past."
Debbie laid a hand on his forearm. "You'd still be you, just a little more Bruce Lee."
Alex bit his lip. "I think I'd rather be Alex Ambrose."
Debbie rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. He put an arm around her and looked out over the clifftop, just breathing in her scent, the scent of nature, and the clear blue sky. Maybe it was the stillness, maybe it was simply the fact that he could feel Debbie beneath his arm, but for the first time in what felt like forever, the impending sense of doom disappeared.
It was… peaceful. Just being able to sit in the clearing, listening to his girlfriend's evenly-paced breathing, and not having to worry about whether he would see her again. Although he could hear the occasional thud and rustle of branches and leaves, there wasn't anything to set off his instincts.
Something moved out the corner of his eye. He snapped his head toward it but saw nothing.
"Hey!" Debbie said. His movement had disturbed her. "I was comfy!"
"Sorry," he said quickly, but he was distracted. He was staring directly at the bush. Debbie followed his line of sight and tensed up.
"Did you see something?" she asked in a low voice. "Hear something? I have a pocket knife in my backpack, I'll-"
Alex held up his hand and she went silent, understanding the motion. If someone, or something, was watching them, they had to remain silent. It could be nothing, but on the other hand, it could be the difference between success and failure, life and death. He kept his eyes trained on the bush.
The bush rustled in a breeze that blew by, but otherwise there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Something out the corner of his eye moved, and he followed it. He caught a glimpse of something moving. It could have been a bird, a fox, or even a wild bunny rabbit, but it set him on edge. He turned to Debbie, his shoulders tensing up.
"I'll be back," he said firmly. "Stay here. Get out that pen knife."
He didn't wait for her to answer. He just got up and pursued the movement as fast as he could.
******
As Alex disappeared into the forest, Debbie pulled out the pen knife. Her heart began to race as she stood up and turned in a wide circle. Alex didn't pursue anything for no reason. There had to be some kind of danger present, and she would be on the lookout for him. He liked to talk about protecting her, and even had on a few occasions, but today would be the day that she would protect herself, and finally prove that she could protect him.
There was a rustling behind her. She spun toward it, and her eyes locked on a bush at the edge of the forest. It shook with a little more force than wind could offer.
Suddenly, the bush parted, and a person stepped out. A curvy woman with curly hair. Debbie's jaw dropped in surprise as Yvonne started storming toward her.