Rae guessed that it was past midnight and Keegan still hadn't returned. The problem with that was that she desperately had to go. She couldn't stand it anymore. She held it in all afternoon and the better part of the night and she couldn't hold on for much longer. Using the bathroom was out of the question because she never saw Keegan use it and anyway, the water was an issue. Also, her mess would have to be manually cleaned and she'd rather go outside. But where was he?She constantly looked out the windows but saw no trace of him. It was unbearable, so unbearable that she searched the caravan for a plastic bag at least. But the bag wasn't intact; it had multiple small holes in it and it'd leak everywhere. She was truly desperate, so desperate that she disobeyed his rule and went outside. The door was unlocked. He told her he'd lock it after she told him about the man but if he left it unlocked it was because he was aware that she could have an emergency. Anyway, she didn't have t
The tension in the caravan became thicker than ever. Rae couldn't figure out where she went wrong. She thought that by not forcing him to tell her the truth, she'd give him more space to reveal it all to her at his own pace. But he was acting strange and distant. He barely said a word to her. Three days had passed and she was nearing the week she had given herself. But she was nowhere near ready to face the wilderness on her own. She didn't win a single one of the fights and she scared a rabbit away two days ago. She expected Keegan to laugh at her as he said when she told him she was afraid of bugs but he said and did nothing. His silence was something she wasn't prepared for.She couldn't sit and wait for a decision to be made her for. Her future was in her hands. When he was cordial toward her, things seemed more simple and doable. Now that he barely looked at her, she felt it would be silly for her to hang around for too long. What would happen when he started badgering her abou
Keegan settled in his bed and stared at the roof of the caravan for the longest time without saying a word.Rae sat uncomfortably. Her bag was still on her back. She didn't want to put it down because she wanted him to understand that she would leave if his story didn't satisfy her. She wanted an explanation as to why he was treating her so badly lately. Why did he care if she was touched or not and what did it have to do with family laws? She didn't want to trust a liar. Nobody would. She didn't urge him on, though. She waited patiently. If his tactic was to not say a word, she would get tired and leave and there'd be no turning back. She wouldn't say anything because he was the one who ran after her and asked her to return. But she couldn't deny that she was getting tired of waiting for him to say something. It was beginning to exhaust her, the endless silence. She shifted uncomfortably and he looked at her as if he had just realized that she was sitting across from him. "Sorry,"
Keegan was seated at the table when Rae awoke.The sight of him startled her. He was nibbling on a piece of bread and watching her intently. He didn't even look away when she caught him staring. Now that she knew what his intentions were, she couldn't say that the staring made her totally comfortable."Morning," she said. She sat up to rub her eyes and he mumbled a greeting. She didn't know if she should give him her answer now or after breakfast. "So?" he asked. "What did you decide?" She wouldn't have to wait until later, at least. She said, "I'm going to stay for now. But when you invade StonePaw, I'll leave. I don't want to be part of any pack." Keegan looked like he wanted to disagree with her on that but there wasn't much that he could do. It was her decision. In the end, all he said was, "Alright. Until then."She nodded and looked away when she could no longer stand the intensity of his gaze. She knew he'd try to convince her to stay but changing her mind wouldn't be an eas
Rae sat up and waited for a few beats. The knocking started again. She knew that it wasn't Keegan. He would never knock. Her heart began beating a little faster and she held her breath for no particular reason. She sat in the dark for a long time contemplating her options. Should she answer the door or not? What if Keegan sent someone to give her a message or something like the other day when she was sick? But if whoever was outside had a message from him, wouldn't he have said it? Rae didn't want to take any chances. It was better to be safe than sorry in all instances. She wasn't sure how much time had passed but there was no more knocking. It made her feel better. She stood up and went to check the door and saw that it was locked. Good. She won't forget the night when she woke up and saw a stranger inside. It was good that Keegan was locking the door. She went back to bed and closed her eyes. She was still sleepy and so sleep came easily to her. She was awakened again by knocki
Words couldn't describe how anguished Rae felt.Keegan wasn't back and she had no clue what to do. Going outside was out of the question and anyway, she was locked in. She had been locked in the entire day with no news of him whatsoever. It was concerning because she had her necessities and her stomach was grumbling. Had the worst happened? If so, what would she do about it? Banging on the window and calling for help was a solution. She didn't see another way out of the caravan and she looked. She looked just to be sure because the camp appeared to be back to normal but he wasn't among them. Could it be that something bad happened to Keegan but nobody told her because they had forgotten about her? No, that wasn't possible. They all knew that she was in the caravan. She made eye contact with someone earlier, too. Perhaps they knew where Keegan was and he had warned them to leave her alone. That was a hypothesis. Maybe he'd come back later. The sun had set a few hours ago so she had
Rae was beyond herself with anger.She stood up quickly and stormed toward him. Her hands itched to hit him but she managed to control her emotions. Meanwhile, he stared at her with an expression she couldn't really read. He closed the door behind her and said, "First off, I want to apologize to you. I know it's been some time since I disappeared.""You've been gone for almost two days!" she exclaimed."I know," he said, putting his hands up. "I know. But it was for a good reason and I couldn't send word to you because I didn't want the others to know what I went to fetch. Here it is. This is what I came to get."Rae ran her hands through her hair in frustration. She couldn't even look at the suitcase he brought with him. At the same time, she was upset but there wasn't much that she could complain about. She was dependent on him for everything. If she wanted to talk then she would have to be prepared to leave and with everything that was happening, it was near impossible. "Rae," he s
Rae couldn't relax, not for a second. Keegan was in a complicated position and she could tell that he was anguished and worried, perhaps more than her. He kept the door constantly locked even when he was inside with her and the first night he was back, he didn't sleep a wink. She rolled to her side and saw him staring at the roof of the caravan in the dark. His breathing was normal but aggression emanated from him. She didn't say anything, she just watched him until her eyes felt droopy and she slept. She woke up to him banging a cabinet in the kitchen area. She sat up quickly and he apologized. “Sorry about that.”Rae rubbed her eyes. “Good morning.”“Morning,” he said. The circles around his eyes were dark and pronounced which indicated that he hadn’t slept a wink. She felt bad because she knew that she was the reason why he was so worried about Fred having the key. She couldn’t say that she wasn’t disturbed. It was clear that he was a freak and had the worst of intentions. What