Chapter 1

A shrill scream pierced the tranquil summer air and Annie felt her heart flutter and stomach clench as she looked for the source of the emergency. She relaxed when she saw Troy dancing in place, his face screwed up in disgust.

"There's a spider! A big, hairy spider! Ew, someone kill it!"

"Troy, we're in its natural habitat. It'd be wrong to kill a creature in its own home," Britta reasoned with him, but he pinned her with a glare.

"Yeah, I'm going to remind you of that when you almost lose your hand to a hundred-eyed monster."

Annie tuned out the bickering and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of air and tilting her head back to allow the sun to warm her face. The end of their sophomore year had been brutal, and Annie let the sunshine work at melting the tension from her body as she simply stood and enjoyed the heat.

"Remind me whose brilliant idea it was that we spend the day outside berry picking?"

The gruff voice speaking softly into her ear sent a shiver down her spine, but she kept her eyes closed and merely smiled.

"It's too beautiful a day to stay inside doing nothing, Jeff. And Shirley wants to bake pies, so it's a win/win."

"Except that every time we venture into the great outdoors we seem to have serious blow ups and ridiculous disasters. Not to mention you tend to get a sunburn."

She felt his fingertip tap her nose and she blinked in surprise, her stomach doing its usual flip-flop when she realized he was grinning at her.

"I brought extra sunscreen, but it's sweet of you to worry." She returned his grin, but like usual he broke the eye contact first and buried his hands in his pockets as he turned his grin into a smirk.

"Hey, I'm not worried. I just don't want to listen to you whining about peeling and the freckles that pop out when you get too much sun."

Annie sighed, the tension creeping back into her shoulders as she looked up at him, wishing he could, for once, admit that he did care about her, even if it wasn't the way she cared about him. She knew that he did, knew that he worried about her and would even risk his own safety if he thought she was in danger, but he just hadn't reached the point where he could actually admit these things out loud to her. Anytime they came close to having an honest moment he would suddenly pull away, breaking the moment with either a sarcastic quip or an abrupt farewell. Annie was used to it when it came to those moments when she knew he was thinking about kissing her, and as disappointing as it was when he would pull away then, it was worse when he would pull away from the emotional moments.

Annie shook her head, knowing that no matter how much wishful thinking she did, it wouldn't change him. Time and patience were what she needed for Jeff Winger to change. In the meantime, she just needed to keep herself positive and busy to distract herself from the constant disappointment.

"I think I remember some really full bushes further in the woods. I'm going to go see if I can find them," she said to no one in particular as she started to move deeper into the forest.

"Hey, be careful. I really don't want to get into a wrestling match with a bear today," Jeff called after her, and Annie turned back to give him a smile before making her way into the woods.

After a few minutes of walking Annie was surrounded by a hush; the voices of her friends were completely blocked by the sound of rustling leaves and birds calling to one another. She followed the deer path she knew led to the berry bushes she was seeking, occasionally plucking leaves from the foliage that grew around her. She reached a small fork and started to turn left, knowing the berry bushes were just a few feet away, but then she paused and turned to the right. She had never gone down this path, always feeling safer when she stayed in familiar territory. Today, however, she knew he friends were close and wouldn't have a hard time finding her if she did a little exploring. She bit her bottom lip, resisting the sudden urge to roam until it became overwhelming. Almost in a daze she started to walk down the path to her right, finding herself surrounded by denser foliage and cooler air. She kept walking, even though the path grew darker as the overhead cover became thicker, blocking out more of the sun's rays that she had delighted in earlier.

As she walked further along she felt the adventurous whim that had guided her to this point begin to fade, and apprehension started to tingle across her skin. The area she was in now was completely wild, and as she surveyed the rocky outcroppings and large fallen trees she began to think of the bears Jeff had joked about. Fear settled into her gut as she abruptly turned around and began to quickly retrace her steps. Suddenly a rabbit darted in front of her, making her scream and jump back in surprise. As she did, her feet tangled on a root and she felt herself pitch backwards, her basket of berries flying out of her hands as she reached to steady herself. Instead of ground, Annie found she was falling, her hands running against walls of dirt and stone as she seemed to drop forever, her screams echoing around her until, finally, her world went black.