The Woods At Night

Chapter 5

I wake up again in the middle of the night, sometime around 3 am really. I wonder why I keep waking up? Whatever, it doesn't really matter since it gives me the chance to go see Kai again. I open my window and climb out, I see someone else's light turn on as I get to the ground and start heading to the woods. As I walk aimlessly through the woods again I start to wonder even more. I wonder why he's out in these woods? Where did he go yesterday? Why do people think the woods are dangerous? I haven't even seen any raccoons around here and yet everyone is so sure they're all over the place. I wonder why nobody else has thought to search the woods or hunt the raccoons if there are so many? My thoughts keep wandering with me until I see him, the flicker of movement in the corner of my eye. As he's about to run right past me I grab his torn and dirty shirt from behind to stop him.
"Forget me already?" I ask, sarcastically.
"No, how could I forget you? You're the first friend I've made in years!" He replies, he sounds so excited to see me.
"Yeah well, apparently people are warned to stay out of the woods cause of the raccoons or whatever." I reply.
"Legends of rabid raccoons eating children in the woods have been told for forever around here to scare them into staying in town forever." He jokes back as we start walking toward the treehouse.
"How come you hang out in these woods, running around in the middle of the night like a creepy serial killer?" I ask him.
"Because I like the woods," he replies. "I'd rather live out here in the middle of the woods than in some town where people have parties and go to bed when the sun sets." He continues.
"How come I haven't seen you in the day? Do you just never leave the house before nightfall or something?" I ask.
"I don't live in town, that's why. I chose to get away from all that. I spend most of my days gathering supplies, hunting for food, and exploring the woods as much as I can. I literally live out here." He explains. I have more questions, but I decide I can ask them later.
"Its my turn to ask questions now," He says. "Where are you from?" He asks.
"I'm from a big city in another state, the type of place where stars don't really exist." I tell him.
"This must be pretty different for you then, huh? Do you like it here, or do you miss the city?" He asks.
"I like it here a lot better actually, it's nice to not have to deal with walking through crowds to get places and the house is bigger than my old apartment. Not to mention, I got to meet you by coming here." I tell him. I don't bother mentioning Nate and all his friends since I don't feel like explaining it all to him. We keep walking until we reach the treehouse and climb up. He goes in and I sit on the porch area watching the world go round. He comes back out a few minutes later with some kind of rodent cooked on an arrow. He offers me some and tells me that it's a squirrel, he says it's good too, so I try some to impress him cause that's what normal guys do to impress their crushes right? Its honestly not that bad. We hang out for a while talking and telling jokes like we're already best friends on the second day of knowing each other. Eventually I decide to tell him I gotta go home, if I'm not there multiple nights in a row my mom might start to worry or something. He walks me back to my house and I climb up to the window.
"Kai," I yell down to him as quietly as I can while still making sure he can hear me. "If you ever want to see me on the days when I don't leave the house, my window will always be unlocked, okay?" I tell him.
"And if you ever need me, I'll be out in the woods, just call my name and I'll be there." He replies. With that, I climb in the window and shut it, then climb into bed and fall asleep.