{Chapter 8}

I stood trembling in the silence, hiding in the darkness my eyelids handed out, rather than cowering in fear. The palms of my hands were beginning to tingle, as my nails dug deeper into the skin that protected what was vital to me. I knew I had to loosen my grip, but the silence was smothering, deafening as it was all that reached my ears.Silence....Just moments before I had been surrounded by the noise of numerous motorbikes, now everything was silent? Had I just imagined it? Surely, I must have just imagined it, there was no way that all that noise could have been shut off in such a short space of time.Peeking from under my eyelids, I could see the light had faded considerably, only to be coming from where I had first noticed it. I turned my head slightly, my eyes opening wide as they focused on what had joined me between the wooden armies. A group of boys stood there, arms folded, smirking at me as they leaned on their bikes."What'cha doing here, love?" came the voice of the one in the center. It was deep, almost as deep as the rumbling his bike had made, he could have been in pain. I just stared at him. Fear had frozen me in place for so long it was like I was unable to move any part of me, even my jaw. My eyes quickly scanned over the group of boys - good, I was able to move them, at least. In the dim light, they seemed half the height of the trees around us, although I doubted they would be taller than seven foot. A voice met my ears again, and my eyes snapped back to the one who had spoken first. "Well, sweetheart?"He moved towards me, locking his eyes with mine, and raised his hand to stroke my cheek. "These woods can be dangerous, you know."His touch seered through my skin, anger bubbling in the pit of my stomach. Who was he? What made him so special to speak to me that way, touch me, when I didn't even know him? His sarcasm was of poor taste. I spat in his face, pulling away from his touch so I could see the whole group clearly. There were five of them. "If there that dangerous, a few guys behind you'll hardly protect you."A whisper started up behind him, as he chuckled quietly to himself - the sound seemed to echoe in the black sheet. "I'm safer than you darling, trust me on that one."One of the boys behind him grimaced at his friends words, as if he didn't want them to be true. I pretended not to notice, focussing on replying to the ass in front of me. "If anything here can hurt me, they can hurt you too. You're just another stereotypical guy. Not all girls are going to blush, cower, or whatever gives you your sick thrills when you look at them." I turned in an attempt to leave, when he grabbed my arm."Careful what you say love -"I pulled my arm out of his grip, and the shocked look on his face, on the whole groups face, showed that none of them had been expecting me to do that, let alone talk back to them. "Hey, asshole, I'm not scared of you. Get that into your thick skull." And with that, I walked away, leaving the boys in awe, staring after me, whispering amongst themselves. I was walking slowly, begging them to start their bikes and give chase. And, as they slowly regained their composure, they did exactly that. The bikes came back to life, dodging the trees in pursuit of me once more. My anger hadn't dyed down yet, and I smiled as one bike flew ahead of me, and blocked my exit into the sunlight. It was the one who had grimaced.I continued walking, without even glancing back to see where the other bikes were. I could hear them behind me, speeding from one army to the other, trusting in the one who was ahead of me.I smiled wider as I neared him, inviting any snide remark, any attempt to stop me leaving. He seemed out of sorts, not quite as focussed as the others, although his eyes never left mine.His voice rung out, a soft melody compared to the strained vocal chords of before. "Where you going sweetheart?"I couldn't help but laugh at his attempt to sound menacing. I knew he didn't want to be there as much as I did, I could see it in his eyes, his emerald green eyes. "Get out of my way." My voice surprised even myself, coming out as a hiss from between my teeth, and I watched in triumph as his eyes widened and he started his bike, heading off to meet his friends.I stepped out of the darkness happily, rejoicing in the sunlight, in what I had just accomplished.