Bound by Forever(13)

A Chapter by Tori

After her date with Tristen took a turn for the worst, Criss can't stop thinking about the wolf that rescued her...and Aydean. And with Aydean's parents watchng him 24/7, he finds it hard to have a moment with Criss...even if the mention of her name cause

All the tears, the lies, the hurt...It was all worth it in the end. Even though so many unthinkable things happened, they all brought me to her. Every tear I cried and every pain I caused, all led me to her arms. Every soul I shattered, every heart I broke...I do not regret it. I would break a thousand more just to see her smile. And...I would be broken a thousand times in return, just to be able to hold her close and tell her, "I love you." I would do it all again, just to be able to call her mine.

Aydeans POV.........

D****t!

Anger pulsed through my veins like blood.

D****t, D****t, D****T!

I pushed off from the ground and flew faster through the forest. The trees that I normally admired were now just a blur as I ran faster and faster.

Aydean, why did you do that? Why? You freakin risked your neck for some girl you barely know! You idiot!

It's true, I didn't know her. And what I did know only caused me pain. But...It was also true that I saved her.

And what was in it for you? Huh? Nothing! You did not benifet in the least!

But I had. I had been a given a great deal after saving her. I had been given a peace of mind. All my anger about almost exposing myself was quickly replaced with a new anger, the kind I felt before jumping the boy she called, Tristen.

That low-life! That b*****d! How dare he do that to her! How dare he touch her!

I had been running about in the forest, trying to calm myself. It only made me angrier.

God! He and I both are lucky I didn't kill him!

I was lucky. I had lost enough control to actually attack him, but I still had eough will power to stop myself from killing him.

I'm stronger than I thought. Any other time, I would've killed him!

No..any other time, if it was anyone else...any other girl...I would have just growled in disgust and continued about my buisness. There's something about her...Maybe...she was the one who kept me from killing him. If she hadn't been watching, who knows what would've happened. I did. I knew exactly what would've happened. I would kill him, and then I would be killed.

Killing a human in wolf form was against pack rules. Anyone who violated that law would be killed immediatley by the other memebers of the pack -yes, in wolf form- and then be either eaten, or dispossed of, depending on how bad the murder was and whoever saw. Anyone who discovered the secret of us being wolves was also sentenced to death. It was cruel, yes, but it was the way we worked.

Something else was bothering me. The girl (I was still too afraid to say her name) had talked to me...both her and the boy. They had spoken to me as if I was another boy, just standing there. But I had been in wolf form. There was no way they could've known, absolutley no way! Uneless...what If...no.

It was impossible. I pushed the thought out of my mind and continued to work on my second problem...I wanted to see her again.

I know what you're thinking, you wanna see her? Big deal, just go see her! Well, here's the problem. If my parents find out I was both sneaking out AND somebody knew about me, I would be killed at that very moment. But..I wanted to...I wanted to see her so bad. UHG! Get her out of your head! She's probally busy falling all over that Tristen b*****d. Or trying to stay away from him. I bet I don't even cross her mind. For me, however, I couldn't get her out of my head. She was like a song that you listen to and it's just stuck there, and it won't go away. I knew that in seeing her again, I risked being caught. By either my parents or her's.

She'ld probally get pissed at me if I just showed up and-

I collided with the ground and slid across the dirt. Sticks and rocks jabbed into my skin...skin? I looked at my hands-yup. I had changed back into human. What the-? Then it hit me. I collapsed aganist the earth and began gasping for air. I crawled over to a tree and curled into a ball against the trunk. The cold night air bit at my skin. I shivered. I had ran so much, that I got tired and turned back. I would have to sit and wait at least an hour before I could transform again. I started laughing. I sure hope no one's out hunting tonight. I beat I'm quite a sight. Now, I wasn't well educated on the things that went down in the south, but I was positive that A dirty, mud-covered, naked teenage boy sitting in the middle of a forest was NOT normal.

I was cold, tired, and ready to just die...and somehow, my mind still managed to drift over to her. I thought about the way she reacted when we met the other day. She was frightned, then she was angry, and hten she was laughing. Sadness swept over me in a hurry. She's just like him...They're both just alike. Same personality, same apperance(other than the gender, they looked strangley similar) and they even had the same damn name. I looked up at the sky. Stars tainted the sky. I had never seen so many stars in my life. It was as if someone had spilled salt over a black canvas.

"K...Kriss?" I said aloud. It was hard to say his name, but I managed to choke it out. "If...if you're listening...I miss you, bro. And...I need your help. I'm scared. I don't know what to do! Please, help me." I felt as if I was going to scream. So, I decided to try and lighten the mood. "Hey. You make a good looking girl!" I knew he would either appreciate the joke, or flip out and start cursing me. It wasn't helping me. So, I returned to being serious. "Kriss..." It was getting easier to say his name." Help me! Please! I'm afraid that...she..." Again. It ended up back to her. "She's just like you...and I'm afraid that I won't be able to handle it."

Silence was my only response. I bit my lip and stood up. I began walking through through the forest again. I kicked at every rock I came across and snapped every branch in my way. Then, without thinking, I broke into a run. My bare feet smacked the cold, moist earth. It felt great. The freedom...suddenly, my limbs stretched and fur sprouted from my skin. My nose elongated and my teeth sharpened. Soon, I was a wolf. I conitnued to run harder, faster. The sun would rise soon, and Mother and Father would check on me to make sure I was still put as soon as it did. Then, they would go to work. THAT"S IT!!! I thought, almost stopping. "They'll be at work tomorrow, and the rest of the week, and next week, and the next..it's perfect! I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier!

I burst from the trees and quickly made my way to my room. I went ahead and turned back into a human once I was on the roof so I could open the window faster. Once the window was back in place, I slipped my clothes on and layed down on my bed. Tomorrow...I'm gonna see her again! I don't care what happens!

Criss's POV.............

"D****t!"

I stood up, dripping wet.

"Where is it?"

My eyes scanned the water, seeing nothing but...well, water...and rocks. I let out an irratated groan and plopped onto the bank. I had been searching for hours, both up and downstream. I coudn't find my knife. If I was going to have a chance at protecting myself from Tristen, I was going to need some-sort of weapon. I wanted to kill myself for thinking this way, but I still found Tristen very good looking. It didn't matter what he did, he was hot. I completley cleared my mind and allowed any other thought to drift into my mind...

I wonder where he lives... I thought. Thinking of him was better than thinking of Tristen. Suddenly, I became intrested. I wonder...Will I ever see him again? I wasn't sure why I cared...but I did. I mean...he wasn't bad-looking. Not at all. In fact...he was kind of handsome. Huh...that's weird. Normally I thought a guy was either hot, or good-looking. But never handsome. Well...I thought HE was handsome. I thought bitterly. But eveyrone makes mistakes. (And no, I'm not talking about Tristen.)

"Aydean," I sighed.

"Who?" A strange voice called.

I gasped and spun around. Fear spread through me almost immeditaley. "Wh..what are you doing here?"

Aydeans POV............

I smiled. I felt bad for scaring her, but I just couldn't resist. She just stared at me. My eyes looked over every inch of her. She was soaking wet.

"Did you fall into the creek?" I asked, pretending to be naive. I knew exactly what she had been doing.

She pursed her lips and fire pratically flared from her nostrils. "What the hell are you doing here?"

I only smiled wider. It was about thrity minutes after my parents had left...and after I had recieved another beating...when I saw her cross her front yard and dissapear into the woods. Something overcame and I followed her. I felt as if I was slowly evolving into something more scarrier than a giant wolf...a stalker. I watched her as she quickly and quitley ran through past the trees. If I hadn't been looking staright at her, I wouldn't have even known that she was there. She was just like a wolf...quite and lethal. I had watched her when she dropped to her knees in the middle of the small brook and began frantically searching for something. I knew exactly what it was. I was planning to stay quite and not interact any way, shape, or form. But...something happened.

"You didn't answer my question," I pointed out. This only pissed her off even more.

"I aksed you first, and I a damn answer," she fummed.

I moved over to the side and sat down on a fallen log that stretched over the brook, making a bridge. It was fun to make her angry. "I'll answer your question when you answer mine." I beleive I crossed the line.

She reared back her fist and smacked it against my jaw. "You ain't gonna tell me what I am and what I ain't gonna do on my land!"

I didn't expect it to hurt as much as it did. I was used to being punched in the face, so I figured it wouldn't hurt at all. Boy was I wrong. I was about to snap at her when I rembered the way she had said my name moments ago. That's what had heppened that made me reveal myself. I was fool for doing it...but, I just couldn't help it. It had surprised me. Then something occured to me. Does that mean she was thinking of me, too?

"Alright, alright! Just calm down," I said, rubbing my sore jaw. There's another bruise to add to the collection. "I was in the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop by. Your turn."

"Fine," she growled. She sat down exactly where she was. "I feel in the creek. Ya' happy?" She lied. I found it kind of cute. She was going to actually try and lie to me.

"A little. Do you want to sit up here? I'll get on the gound," I offered, getting off of the log.

"No, no! Apparently, you're company, so I couldn't do that. And besides, I'd rather sit on the ground," she assured.

"Um...alright," I said, sitting on the ground. "But oh well."

"You are the most hard-headed b*****d I've ever met!" she chuckled.

"And you are the nicest young lady I've ever had the pleasure of meeting," I said sarcasticlly. I was surprised that she hadn't freaked out about me being here. "Where's your knife?"

Her eyes widened and then turned towards the ground. I had made a mistake. I had brought back the memory of the day before. I was about to apologize when I realized how stupid it might sound.

"I...um... lost it. Why?" she murmured.

"Oh. I was just wondering why you hadn't tried to stab me yet."

She looked up at me softly. "I wouldn't stab you."

I just stared back. Just like whenever I transformed, every atom in my body sparked. We sat there in silence, just looking at each other for a another five or six seconds. That was the best six seconds of my life...so far.

Finally, she shook her head and looked away. "Um...yeah. Killing you would mean I would have to dispose of your body, and while there are plenty of places to dump you, there isn't one place I could hide the body without someone finding it. I'm not kiding when I say even my little sister knows every inch of these woods."

"Criss?" a voice called through the trees.

"Holy s**t!" she cried, jumping to her feet. I as well was now standing up.

"Who's that?" I asked, my heart racing.

"My brother! Uh..." she looked around franticlly. "Come on!" she said, grabbing my hand. I stared down at our hands, which were now locked together. She jumped across the stream, still holding my hand. I followed her as she led me further into the forest.

"Criss?" the voice called again. It sounded closer and farther away at the same time.

We came to a stop in a small clearing. The stream had caught up with us, and disappered behind a tree. She looked around franticlly.

"Criss? Are you out here?" the voice was now only ten or twelve feet away.

"Uhh...come on!" she said, her voice full of panic. She dove into a small cave on the side of the bank. The water had eroded the dirt away, leaving a few roots poking out. I followed her. It was pitch black. I could see just fine though. "Here, follow me!" she said, grabbing my hand again. Suddenly, she stopped. She jerked me closer to her and pressed her finger against her lips. "Shhhhh!"

I did as I was told and remained quite. I looked at teh entrance part of the small hollowed out bank and gasped. The blonde haired boy-who assumed was her brother-was staring into the "cave." He was looking directly at us. I squeezed Criss's hand. She jerked her head around and looked at me. She fixed the bill of her hat and looked back at her brother.

"Criss? Criss come out!" he called.

Her breathing stopped. So did mine. He had seen us run inside the litlle hollow. He knew we were here. We had been caught.

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