Free Kindred Intentions by Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli

not use artificial lights. They’d be detected from
many miles away in the dark.”
    She would’ve liked to retort that, on the
other hand, this way they risked getting lost, but her instinct was telling her
that there was no such risk. Even in the darkness Mike gave the impression he
knew every inch of these places. After all, what sort of secret agent would he
have been, if a wood and a little darkness had been enough to stop him? She
laughed under her breath.
    “Now what is it?”
    “Nothing, nothing.” She felt a bit silly, more
than usual, yet she still couldn’t help giggling.
    At once he stopped.
    That made Amelia wince and she almost bumped
into him. Couldn’t one even laugh now? But then she hypothesised she hadn’t
been the cause of his reaction. She swallowed hard, her mouth dry again, in
spite of all the water that had fallen from the sky.
    “Wait for me here.”
    “What …” She attempted a shy protest, but then
heard a rustling and sensed an air stream, followed by the black outline of the
man walking away.
    No, fuck, where was he going? He could have
given her an explanation.
    She crouched down, feeling that she had to
hide, which was absurd because as the minutes passed it got darker and darker,
soon making her invisible.
    After a while that position became unbearable
and she decided to sit on the ground. She crossed her legs and waited. She had
nothing to fear. She repeated that to herself every five seconds. He’d told her
to wait for him; he would come back.
    At the beginning she could just hear her own
breath, but soon that started distressing her, so she forced herself to prick
up her ears so that she could detect other external noises. Yes, because a few
seconds were enough for her to realise that the silence wrapping her wasn’t silent
at all. It was all rustling, creaking, crawling, sounds caused by the breeze
amongst the fronds, or at least she hoped so, to which the chirping of crickets
and the occasional tweeting of the night birds was added.
    How could people go camping? She’d always
wondered that and the experience she was currently living now confirmed that it
really wasn’t her cup of tea. Her impression as a child, growing up in cotton
wool, proved correct.
    A sudden buzz started up by her right ear, and
she jumped to shoo it away. A strange sound, similar to a suction, burst on her
left. She turned with a jerk, her heart in her throat, but she didn’t see
anything. She couldn’t see anything, just shadows and silhouettes with a far
from reassuring appearance. As she turned to look forward, where Mike had
disappeared, she surprised two tiny lights, close to her, too close. Eyes? She
choked back a shout and retreated, scooting backwards by using her hands. And
the lights disappeared.
    Panting, she curled up, placing her legs
against her chest and holding them with her arms. Mike, Mike. Why didn’t he
come back?
    She felt someone covering her mouth with a
hand. Her blocked shouts turned into a moan of terror, as her eyes saw sparks
in the darkness and her struggling was made useless by an arm wrapping around
her shoulders and chest. She was about to pass out and found herself wishing it
would happen soon.
    “Ssshhh, calm down, it’s me.”
    Mike’s voice forced her away from that desire
and turned her fear to rage.
    “I’ll remove my hand now, don’t shout.”
    “What the fuck …” she exclaimed in a low
voice, as soon as her mouth was free. “You almost gave me a damn heart attack!”
    “Sorry.” She could guess the details of his
face which was partly lit by a faint glare reflected by the clouds. “I realised
you were upset and it was the only way to prevent you from making some noise.”
    She wanted to retort, by asking him how he
could have possibly noticed in the dark that she was upset, but it was a
pointless question. He wouldn’t answer anyway. “Where have you been? Never
leave me alone this way again!” She couldn’t help herself, even if she was