Fault Lines

Chapter 24 ~ Now

Chapter 24

May 30th - Now

My eyes blink open at the sound of frantic voices. I feel November's grip on me tighten, and I'm suddenly awake-- shifting my head to look around.

"--They're around here!" An unfamiliar voice shouts from a little far off, the direction unknown.

I jolt out of my spot, making November flinch at my sudden movement. I rest a hand on his shoulder to tell him I wasn't moving anywhere else.

"Voices," I croak, my voice barely readable. November sits up, his arms rigid and unmoving. We both stay silent as we wait for more voices.

My heart pounds heavily against my chest, a constant thrumming. I'm surprised November doesn't take note of it it's so loud. I feel myself drifting closer to November as the rustling of movement become louder. And suddenly all at once, I stop breathing.

A figure appears only a few feet from us, and a bright dazzling light that illuminates from their phone grazing my eyes-- making me squint my eyes. I crouch farther into his chest, my arms quivering in fear.

"We found them!" The stranger calls, a male voice. I suddenly become afraid, my stomach knotting painfully. Were they going to kidnap us?

November doesn't move from his place behind me, but holds me in his arms. I close my eyes, not wanting to know what was happening behind my back. More voices shout from farther off, and more bushes rumble and sway. Tears are on the verge of spilling out of my eyes, but I hold them and and suck in a needed breath of fresh air.

"--There's another boy--" I make out more voices.

"--Their condition-- call Mr. Bill--"

"Hazel--" The voice I knew so well makes me flinch. I whip my head around, immediately landing my eyes on a pair of hazel ones. The breath of air I had just consumed is taken from my body like a breeze, and I can't look away.

Derek looked down at me, tears also on the verge of falling down his face. He starts towards me, but notices when I flinch and crouch lower into November. A frown appears on his face, but it's immediately replaced with a smile.

"Hazel," He exhales, tears now falling down his face. "You're alive."

I look back up at him, and feel one single tear fall down my cheek.

"Derek--" Someone grabs my arm, and I shriek, but clamp my mouth shut as I realize it was just November pulling me up-- already on his feet.

My legs feel like jelly and I wobble slightly before finding my place on the ground. A blur of people jostle next to us as I follow the person ahead of us. I don't care to make out who's who until we make it out of the woods. A small trail takes us back to a small neighborhood, and I remember it as one of the neighborhoods my friend use to live in. My arms are tightly wrapped around November's, our hips almost glued to each other.

All the voices make my head spin and my heart pound rapidly against my chest. November flinched at every noise and every snap of twigs. He probably hadn't been around a group of others in 7 years.

As soon as the group in was huddled in breaks for the sidewalk, a large number of reporters shove their microphones in our faces.

"Hazel, what does it feel like to be out?"

"Who is your friend?"

"Who was the person that kidnapped you?"

It seemed like a million people were crowding around me, and I couldn't breathe. My instincts made me pull closer to November and I buried my face in his shoulder. I couldn't take all the people, it was driving me crazy.