Faded Heart

X. The Letter

My heart raced as JJ pulled me through the woods, both of us still wet from our swim in the water. The blonde's hand was gripping mine as we made our way towards my parents office. I could tell he was as nervous as I was about making our way back here considering we could've got caught last time. Even though it sounded like an awful idea, we're going to take a second shot at trying to get in there. Neither of us had any idea what we would do if we ran into the two smugglers. We were just going into this blindly without a plan.

It was dark out, so I couldn't see anything on the path through the woods except for JJ leading the way in front of me. I was grateful for him being here or else I would've chickened out by now and went back home. It seemed like tonight had been all about letting my guard down around him.

The woods were as quiet as the beach had been earlier. The only thing I could hear was the sound of crickets and our footsteps on the leaves crunching below our feet. Being this deep into the woods at night made me feel like I was in a horror movie. Anything could've happened to us right now and no one would've known.

Despite how scared I was, one thing was for certain, I couldn't take my mind off of JJ. Tonight, it felt like something had changed between us. There was no more animosity or pretending to hate each other anymore. I actually felt like we were friends again. Being around him felt really natural and comfortable .

Oddly enough, I liked that his fingers were entangled in mine. It was quite comforting. I wonder if he even realized what he was doing. Sometimes he was oblivious, but could someone just be this oblivious to things. He was breaking down so many of my walls tonight, but I don't think he even realized it.

As we continued walking on the path, we were now in the same spot where JJ and I hid from the guys yesterday. We could clearly see my parent's office in the distance. Unlike last time though, the two guys were nowhere in sight. Instead, there was a black pick-up truck parked in the parking lot a few feet away from the building.

"Do you see that?" I whisper, pointing towards the truck in the parking lot. JJ had maneuvered us behind a tree so that we couldn't be seen by anyone in the distance. But, I could clearly see the building and the parking lot.

"Yeah. That's not the truck that I saw them in the other day." JJ says, his eyes locked on the scene unfolding in front of us. His eyes were glancing back and forth between me and the building.

I do the same, looking back and forth between him and the truck. Right now, I didn't see anyone there, but it looked as though the cap of the back of the truck was open. That certainly wasn't a car either of my parents would drive. "There must be someone else here, but that's not any car my parents own."

JJ nudged me and held his figure towards the entrance of the building, "Emerson, look." There was someone leaving the front entrance, but I couldn't make out who it was because their face was covered in a black hood. In their hands was a black duffle bag. The person did not seem to be in a hurry, they took their time getting to their truck.

I looked around for anyone else, but it seemed that this was the only person in sight, "Do you see anyone else?" I asked JJ, who had a better location than me and could spot someone easier.

"No, but look." He said pointing towards the man closing his trunk. For a brief second I could kind of make out an appearance, the man had a very familiar dark, scruffy beard. The same beard that belonged to one man on the island, Ward Cameron.

I shared a look with the boy standing next to me, both of us realizing who the person leaving the office was, "Oh my gosh, it's Ward Cameron."

"What would he be doing here?" JJ asks as we watch the truck pull out of the parking lot and make its way down the road.