Nev looked at him thoughtfully. “And that is how they did not see me back in your apartment, isn’t it?” she asked softly.
Wyatt nodded and said, “Yes.” He scanned her face for any hint as to how she was taking the revelation.
“I see,” she said, contemplating the implications of that.
“I can do other things, but I don’t generally do any of them often because of the headaches that come from it. And it tends to draw the wrong kind of attention. That said, I can do stuff besides make people unseen. Although I do think it is one of my more impressive feats. Especially considering that was the first time I had ever done it,” he said with a broad grin.
“What!” Nev looked up at him in shock.
“What? It worked, didn’t it?” he asked, looking quite pleased with himself.
Nev was about to argue with him when suddenly a strange feeling came over her. She instinctively placed her hand over Wyatt’s mouth to hush him. Scanning their surroundings, Nev noticed the frogs that had been happily croaking along the creek had fallen quiet, as had all the other fauna in the area. Nev strained her senses to pick up on the threat she knew was lurking nearby, but she couldn’t clearly sense anything.
A fog of nothingness had settled over her. Struggling, she focused her breathing and cleared her mind. With her right hand still on Wyatt’s mouth, she pulled her necklace out from under her shirt with her other hand. As she held it, the amulet began to glow with a faint purple light. “Show me,” she whispered.
Nev could hear her and Wyatt’s breathing, the water moving through the creek, and the hushed sounds of the surrounding animals. Suddenly, a menacing presence came into focus. He was still searching, but he was drawing closer. Nev opened her eyes and carefully put the amulet back under her shirt before turning her attention to Wyatt.
He hadn’t initially sensed what Nev had, but he’d taken her meaning to stay quiet all the same. What transpired while her hand still hushed him had left more questions than answers. All of that, however, would have to wait. Once again, they found themselves in danger. Fleeing from it was all that mattered.
Nev pointed at Wyatt and then herself before gesturing toward the woods that lay a short way across from the creek. She stood up quietly and began walking quickly and close to the ground. She only looked back once to see if Wyatt was following. The rain had returned with sudden ferocity and sheets of water poured from the clouds above. Through the storm and the woods, she could sense her pursuer. You again, she thought. She felt him drawing closer, and she quickened her pace in response.
Wyatt, not saying a word, followed Nev’s lead. She seemed to know which direction they needed to head, which was plenty good enough for him. He could sense the impending danger now, and there was a strange familiarity to it. He tried to shake the feeling. The more he tried to deny it, however, the more it felt certain. It was him. The prowler from Serenity Falls and his past was still pursuing them. I guess it was too much to hope he would just give up, he thought.
The prowler could sense his prey was close, and he quickened his pace. He felt his attention drawn to a large slab of rock near the creek. He hurried towards it as he felt the energy calling to him. Upon reaching the stone, he kneeled and removed the glove from his right hand. Eagerly, he placed his hand on the stone’s surface and closed his eyes. He drew upon the residual energy and grinned. “You are so close now,” he said, standing up and scanning his surroundings. In a few moments, he sensed his prey’s location and grinned before heading off towards the woods.
Nev’s mind was focused now. Quickly she assessed her options as she and Wyatt entered the forest’s edge. They could not merely outrun a prowler. Nor could they successfully deal with him face to face, even with Wyatt’s talents and her skills. Then she felt or heard something that drew her attention. It was the faint sound of water being drawn towards an opening and disappearing. The sound was muffled like it was underground. Yet, there was no mistaking it. “A cave,” she said quietly, focusing in on the direction of the sound. Having pinpointed the origin, she moved quickly towards it.
Wyatt could tell she was moving with a purpose. He really hoped she had some idea beyond fleeing deeper into the woods. Especially since he couldn’t shake the feeling that the prowler was gaining on them. As they fled, Wyatt did his best to keep the sounds they made muffled. He tried to focus on suppressing the sound produced by each step they took while directing other decoy sounds to grow in intensity. Perhaps Wyatt could at least slow or confuse their pursuer, but using his abilities while fleeing proved incredibly difficult. Suddenly, he saw Nev stop at the edge of a small body of water. The pond was expanding rapidly as the rain poured down.
“Can you swim?” Nev asked impatiently as she turned to look at Wyatt.
“I can,” he replied, sounding perplexed and apprehensive.
Nev nodded. She quickly unhooked a mid-sized coil of rope that had hung from her belt. She tied one end through a loop at her waist and then handed the other end to Wyatt. “Good. I need you to take a really deep breath and don’t let go. Promise, no matter what happens, you won’t let go,” she insisted as she started walking into the pond.
“I promise. I won’t let go,” Wyatt vowed. He felt a strange sense of weighty calmness fall over him as the words left his lips.
Nev nodded again before walking deeper into the water. “Remember, trust me and don’t let go,” she said,
