Secret Santa For HoL

[Lucian]

This story was not written by me. This tale will be told from two different points of view. This is a two parter, so the second part will be on the way. Happy Holidays!

From: Icee

I woke with a jolt, as my phone signaled that it was time for me to wake up. That had sure been a strange dream. I slid open my phone to check for new text messages. One from my mom…sigh…probably worried that I wouldn't be able to handle myself all alone for a week at the cabin. She needed to stop this. I'm 17 years old for crying out loud! I could be trusted not to destroy a log cabin in 7 days. I commanded my cell to open the text anyways.

This is important. There are bombing planes headed for Colorado. Get food, water, batteries, and go somewhere safe. I'm with Michael in Denver. They're not running the busses anymore, so there's no way for you to get down here. Keep your phone with you and text me when you're safe. I love you.

Crap. If she was right about this…I had less than 3 hours…that wasn't enough time to walk to town…and I couldn't drive yet…I'd have to walk to…somewhere safe…the only place I could think of offhand was the woods.

As I logged onto Facebook, the many panicked status updates from my friends shocked me. I glanced around the crowded café, making sure that no one was looking at me, then reached over and stole the remainder of a muffin, left on someone's table, and started nibbling on it. People said that we should all run away. Well, there was only one place I knew to run to. The woods. Slinging my guitar onto my back, I stuffed the remainder of the muffin into my mouth, and slammed my laptop shut. It was times like this when I wished I hadn't run away from home at 16. Times when I needed a car to hide in and my fingers wouldn't function enough to pick a lock. When I needed a shoulder to lean on. Giving a quiet sniffle of remorse, I picked up my bag, and headed for the hills.

I was scared. For the first time in a long while, I was really scared. I didn't want to die. There was so much more I wanted to do. Each step I took seemed to darken the skies even more. An endless pattern of moving, nothing different, no change in the greenery, or the sounds around me-…until I heard a series of notes floating through the trees. It sounded like a guitar. A song that sounded familiar to me…as I approached the noise apprehensively, the scent of smoke began to hit me. Who would be burning a fire out here? The guitar abruptly cut off, and I heard two objects rub together. "Who's there?? Show yourself!!" I dropped my bag, and put up my hands, stepping closer so the person could see me.

"Who are you? What do you want?" it was a young woman, about my age. Her hair was cut short; she wore a tight fitting leather jacket, jeans, and black boots. She was very pretty, but she had a dangerous air about her as well. There was no doubt in my mind that if she decided I posed a threat to her, she would kill me instantly with the knife she held in her hand.

"My name is Adrianna. I don't want anything, I just…heard the music…and smelled the smoke…I wanted to know who you were…"

"What's your last name?"

"Carter"

"Where do you come from? And what's in that bag?"

"I'm from Florissant…the bag has food, medicine, a flashlight, batteries, and an extra set of clothes."

"That's all? No weapons?"

"None" she looked at me suspiciously, and lowered her knife.

"Bring it over here. Come sit down by the fire. And don't try anything funny…" I picked up the backpack, and began making my way over to the flames.

I wasn't too sure about this girl, but she was very attractive. Her hair was short and brown, with a blue streak on her cheek-length bangs. I wanted to trust her…but I wasn't sure if I could. Everything about her made me want to accept her, bring her close to the fire, and let her stay with me until this was all over. Her next few moves would determine whether or not that would happen. I kept my knife in my hand, but lowered, as she walked carefully over to the fire. She set the pack gingerly on the ground beside me, and sat down, close to the fire. I put my knife back into the sheath on my boot, and sat down across from her, scooping the pack into my lap, I opened the biggest pocket, and pawed through the contents. She had food…it made my stomach grumble to see it…I wanted to take some of it, I'd had a lot of exercise today, and the only thing I'd had to eat was that little bit of muffin at the café earlier.

"Can I have one of these?" I asked, holding out one of the packs of ramen noodles she'd brought.

"Yeah, sure." She said, I gave her a tiny smile, and opened the plastic packing.

"So...what's your plan?" I asked her,

"i…don't really have one…thought I'd figure that out tomorrow…what about you? Do you even have a name?" I hesitated to tell her my name, I didn't trust her yet, but we were obviously going to be in this together, so I might as well

"its Ashlin." I told her, wondering if I should put my hand out to shake or not. "listen, its going to get cold pretty soon. I've got a sleeping bag we can both fit into…" I couldn't believe I was saying this…I'd always been a sucker for pretty girls…

"thank you…so much…" I smiled again, and then gave a slight wince…my head was pounding…

I was so grateful to be accepted by this wild girl. There was just something about her…something deadly, something mysterious, that made her remarkably sexy. I considered all this to myself as we settled down in the sleeping bag. Suddenly, a strong scent hit me, and my nose began to tickle. It smelled…heavenly…like some sort of perfume…I rolled over so I was facing away from her, Ashlin, and cupped my hands to my face.

"huh…t'chiew!!! Uh…heh-t'chOO!!" I felt her shift beside me, as I tried to prepare for another set of sneezes.

"are you ok?" I heard her ask, and I nodded shakily.

"its…i…heh-iSHIEW! Are you wearidg perfube? Huh…t'chiew!!!..."

"oh wow…yeah, I'm wearing cologne…listen, you take the sleeping bag, I'll bunk out under that tree…"

"you dod't…*sniff!* you dod't have to do that…I'b ok…"

"you can't speak clearly, you're so stuffed up…you're not ok…its just for one night, and I've done this millions of times before…"

When I woke in the morning, I knew sleeping outside of my sleeping bag had been a bad idea. My throat was raw, my head was pounding, and my nose was entirely stuffed up…sighing, I sat up and pulled a white hanky from my pocket, and attempted to clear my blocked passages. It was then that I looked over at the embers of the fire, and realized that she was gone. Adrianna. My sleeping bag and her backpack was still there, but she was nowhere to be found. Giving another raspy sigh, I crawled over to the smoldering coals in the make-shift fire pit, rebuilt the flames a bit, and wrapped myself up in the sleeping bag. Knowing I would have to eat soon, I reached for my knife. Oh no…the sense of fear really hit me as I found my sheath empty. I couldn't defend myself without the knife…had I really been that stupid as to trust that girl? The tickle in the back of my nose blossomed into a full blown itch, cupped my hands to my face "ha-Tchoo!!! AShoOO!! Huh…heh…uh-SHOO!!!". Life officially sucked.

I hoped she wouldn't be mad that I took her knife. I hoped she knew that I'd be back. That I hadn't abandoned her without any form of defense. But I was too chicken to retrace my steps looking for my allergy meds without it. I'd found them right away, and now I was on my way back. As I stepped into the clearing, though, I wasn't met with the sight I thought I would. She wasn't packing up to leave, she was huddled by the fire, the sleeping bag wrapped around her like a blanket. I wondered how close I could get without her noticing that I was there…she gave a slight gasp, and I saw her shoulders begin to shudder. I took another careful step towards her, just as her head snapped forward with a sharp "A-tschoo!!" sighing, I pulled the knife out of my pocket, and delibratly snapped a twig beneath my shoe. She turned to look at me as I sat down next to her.

"you look like shit…do you feel ok?" I asked, handing her back the knife. She took it from me very quickly, and tucked it in her boot. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her cheeks were flushed. Her voice sounded painful when she spoke:

"I'b fide…"

I smirked at her. Then, slowly, so she could tell what I was doing, I raised my hand to feel her forehead. "hun…you've got a fever…" I gave her a sympathetic look as she stifled two sneezes into her elbow "heh-Ngxxht!! Huh…huh…huh-XXGHT!! Ugh…*sniff*"

"you shouldn't hold them back like that…" I offered one of my benedryls, and as she reached out to take it, I saw her eyes flutter shut once more.

"shh…do…do you have a t…tissue? Heh…." I rummaged through my pockets, pulling out a travel pack of tissues, and extracting one just in time. I put my arm around her shoulders and pressed the soft paper to her nose

"wh…huh-Aishoo!! Heh-Choo!!!! Huh-TSCHOO!!! *sniff* …whad was thad?" I pinched the tissue around her nose, then crumpled it up and threw it in the fire.

"that was me…displaying affection…" I could feel myself blushing.

TBC

[Candy]

Adorable, I love this sneezy pair <3

[Lady Blessington]

Whooaaaa... buildups, stifles AND tissue-assistance... guh.

[High on Lullabies]

Okay, firstly I should say that, Icee, I'm so very sorry for not responding to this sooner. I've been on holiday between the 3rd and today so this is basically the first chance I've had to look at it.

Anyway, I like it very very much so far It's a really very interesting scenario and the girls are very sweet together. Thank you lots for writing it and can't wait to see where the 2nd part takes it

[Kiwifruit]

Oooh this is a very interesting story I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here!

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Hmmm... very lovely story. I'm quite curious to see where you take it.

and.... why bombing planes? *stares at screen hoping for more to appear*

[sneasons greetings]

Awesome!

Very into this. Waiting for more!