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Here is the seventeenth chapter. Hope you like it. =)

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The midnight wind was howling and a light layer of fog rolled over the misty grass covered ground. The wrought iron gates of the compound rattled with the force of the wind. The whole area was dotted with several headstones erected from the land in a planned manner. The grave in front of me had a weeping stone angel statue standing near it with the eyes of the angel looking at the grave with profound sadness. Several more such statues could be seen from where I was sitting with breathe caught up in my lungs.

"A cemetery? That is so original," Daniel remarked humorously while trying to untie the rope that was wound lightly around his hands, which looked really difficult considering the fact that he still had a cast on his left wrist. A similar rope tied my hands together too but I was too frozen to get rid of it.

"Cemetery," I mumbled to myself. "A ceme...cemetery."

Earlier that night-

"Welcome to the tenth annual Senior Fugitive Night! May the force be with you and for the people too dumb to understand that reference, may the odds be in your favor," Mike announced standing on the cement platform in the middle of the school courtyard. "First of all, any queries?"

"Umm...just one." I raised my hand. "Who the hell elected you as the host?"

"Okay, let me rephrase it. Any important queries?" Mike asked moving his hand in air to address everyone present. I rolled my eyes in silence.

No one bothered to pay attention to anything Mike was saying, much less reply to him. The whole area was filled with a non rhythmic sound of people talking to each other. It was a rare case of seeing people looking actually happy about being in school. Well, maybe it was because of the night time.

The annual fugitive night event was held every year by the senior class of the school. And it was not just our school but it was organized in every school of the town, only the minor details and dates of the event varied. So one may say that it was more like a town event, but since the first fugitive night was planned by seniors of our school, or as we called them, 'The Originals', every student of Cassell High preferred to think that it was our school's tradition. 

"Well, aren't you such a popular speaker," I said to Mike smiling, after scanning the courtyard with my eyes.

"They're just excited, that's all. I got them all to come here, didn't I?" Mike reminded me smugly.

"They would've come here anyway. Illegal trespassing and law breaking. What's not to like?" I remarked sarcastically, sitting on the platform.

"Illegal trespassing and law breaking," Mike mimicked my tone. "Don't insult the sacred event of our school. Do you have any idea how many brave stories people out there have to tell the world of this night?"

"You done being dramatic?" I asked in a flat tone. "Now, since you've chosen yourself as the host, why don't you explain the rules to everyone?"

"Right, good idea." Mike took back his position on the raised platform and began by clapping his hands loudly. "Gather up everyone! It's time for rules."

The murmuring died down and all the heads turned towards Mike who looked pleased with the attention.

"Okay, so first thing first, there wouldn't be any sort of violence. We're just here to have fun, not to get the cops on our case, clear?"

Everyone nodded.

"Great so for those who aren't unfamiliar with the rules, there will be two not so lucky people chosen for the game, which will be referred to as the 'fugitives'," Mike air quoted the words fugitives and then continued, "So these fugitives will have their hands tied and will be taken to a random place with their eyes blind folded all the way so they can't tell their way to the location. The two fugitives will be left in the designated place and the rest of all the people, called 'hunters', will leave the area for around ten minutes, giving enough time for the fugitives to free themselves and run away. The objective of the two fugitives is to reach a pre decided destination while the rest of the people have to hunt them down by searching every part of the town. Everyone gets it?"

Another round of nodding heads went on.

So it was basically hide and seek just with a more grown up sounding name.

"Good, and for this year, we have chosen the school campus to be the destination. There will be a white flag that the fugitives have to reach to which will mark their victory. The searching will go on till midnight and if till then the fugitives are unable to get to the flag then they loose." Mike finished and jumped off the stage but then climbed back again to say something else.

"Yes, and another thing. Just to add another twist, this year the searching will not only be on foot but rather by the cars too," he declared gaining cheers from everyone.

"You doofus!" I shrieked in disbelief. "Who's gonna be responsible if there is an accident? Not to forget someone will call the cops because of all the noise of cars."

Rolling his eyes, Mike answered, "Oh relax! Grandma, everything will be fine."

"It's a stupid idea and pretty reckless," I commented shaking my head my friend.

He shrugged. "Well, you're young just once."

"But you can be immature forever," a new voice joined in our conversation, making me turn my head in its direction.

"What are you doing here? You've a broken hand," I said with a scolding look.

"I don't run with my hands," he answered giving me an innocent expression. "Liam's moodiness was depressing me so I decided to grace you all with my presence."

"Aw, Liam's not coming?" Mike inquired with a pout. "Shay just texted me that she won't make it either. Bummer!"

Daniel and I exchanged an awkward look at the mention of Shay.

"It's time for drawing of names!" Chad's voice called for everyone's attention towards him. He stuck his hand in the ballot box which had names of everyone present there.

"Oh, this is gonna be so easy." Chad smiled sinisterly and Mike mirrored his expression as he read from the paper slips held between Chad's fingers.

The feeling of anticipation quickly got replaced by horror as I noticed that both of them looking in mine and Daniel's direction.

'Uh-oh'

-

-

-

"A cemetery," I kept repeating like a broken tape. "Cemet..."

My continuous chanting caught Daniel's attention and he turned around. I was sitting motionless on the mildly wet grass with the rope still hanging around my wrists.

"What's wrong?" he asked worried. Kneeling in front of me, Daniel untied my hands without any real struggle.

"I can't...I can't," I tried to force some words out but was failing.

"You can't what?" He was now getting more worried, I could tell.

A loud clashing noise made me yelp and jump from my spot.

"Hey, relax. It's just the gates. Nothing to be scared," he explained but that wasn't enough to calm my jitters down.

I ran my eyes over the area once again. The graves, the statues, the dying trees.

Before I knew it, my breathing got hitched up and I felt in a lack of oxygen.

"Norah, hey, look at me." I felt Daniel's palms on my cheeks and they directed my eyes back to him. "Tell me what's happening?"

"I'm...I'm sca..."

'Come on, just one coherent sentence. You can do it,' I told myself.

"I'm...I can't bre..." I tried once again but my pep talk to myself was of no avail. And the frustration from my non-responsive state and the fear which had a tight hold on me, started to come out as tears.

Me and my stupid fear of cemeteries.

"No, no, don't cry," I heard Daniel say. He wiped my tears from his thumbs. I kept looking down, too embarrassed to do anything else.

"Close your eyes," he told me moving close to me.

I looked up to him with confusion.

"Close your eyes," he repeated his words with so much concern that I couldn't help but oblige.

As my eyelids ceased my vision, I felt Daniel's hands leave my face and then I was pulled closer to him. With my nose pressed against his shirt, I could take in a faint sweet smell from him. I couldn't pinpoint what it was of but it was soothing and I shifted my focus on it so as to divert my mind from being scared of being in a graveyard.

I screwed my eyes shut close even tighter as we started to move. The frightening sound of the wind still bothered me but I tried to plunge the fear down and instead tried to fix my thoughts on the warmth that I felt in contact with.

"Try to breathe," Daniel whispered in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. A part of me felt too embarrassed that I was acting like a little baby, scared by just a cemetery especially in front of someone, but another part, the one that just wanted to get the hell out of this place was happy that Daniel was there to help.

Still feeling stupid over my pointless fear, I nodded weakly and clung to his shirt tighter.

Sensing his much steadier breath, I tried to resonate mine with it and slowly they synchronised. My menacingly beating heart started to come down at its normal pace as well.

"We're almost there," he told me like he was talking to a little baby.

I stumbled as the grassy land was replaced by a solid road but Daniel's hold on me didn't let me fall. As I kept counting in my head, we were walking on the road for fifty five seconds before, we stopped.

"It's fine. You can open your eyes now," he told me softly.

Keeping my head low, I took a step back from him and instantly started to miss the warmth.

"I am so sorry for acting like such a baby. I have a fear of cemeteries. I didn't think they would leave us here." It was hard to keep my eyes up.

"It's okay. I get it. No need to feel embarrassed," he said giving my nose a light pinch. Flashing one of his rare dimpled smiles, he added, "I'll never bring up what just happened, kay? Now cheer up butterfly. We've a whole class of idiots to defeat."

I took a breath and pushed all the thought in the back of my head.

I could think about this later. It was time to get my head back into the game.

"Alright, let's do this," I said with confidence.

-

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We were on the main road that led to the town centre, careful to walk closer to the trees, hidden under the shadows.

"Are you sure, this is the right way?" I asked, shooting a glance at the silent woods.

"Trust me, I know where we are going," he answered, his hand holding mine. I am ashamed to admit that but I liked it, more than I should have.

The sound of a vehicle approaching got both of us alerted and we made a beeline towards a nearby tree.

"Run!" Daniel instructed and so I did.

Sheltered under the darkness, we sprinted across the woods, leaves making a crunching sound after being crushed under our foot.

After the amount of sneaking in and out of hospitals and houses that I had been doing for the past couple of days, you'd think that I would have grown tired of it, but as we blurred past the trees, a huge grin was plastered on my face all the time, like a kid in a candy shop.

The car moving on the road was following us and with the voices of people cheering and hollering, it was clear they were few of the 'hunters'.

I felt a pull on my left hand and then we changed course, now moving in a direction away from the road with the sound from the car fading in the background.

Soon, we came out of the woods in a residential area with almost all of the cookie cutter houses being two storyed, with well maintained gardens and wooden fences. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought I was on the set of 'Desperate Housewives'.

And how do I know what the set of that completely coo-koo show looked like? Well, you can blame my mother for that.

"That was exciting!" I exclaimed, trying to catch my breath. I heard Daniel laugh too. "Yeah, it was."

His blue eyes glimmered under the street lamps and his face shone with genuine happiness that he didn't show on many occasions.

Even with the slightly chilly temperature, the heat that all the running had brought was making me sweat.

"I swear I saw them coming here," a voice came from our left. As a reaction, my eyes went wide and as if our minds were working together, both of us lurched to hide behind a bush.

"Shit! Now what?" I peeked from the edge but Daniel pulled me back instantly.

"Now we wait," he answered calmly.

Sensing the voices getting closer, we started to crawl towards a house on our knees.

"Aaah!" Daniel whispered shouted.

I turned around at his sudden reaction and saw that I had my foot on his right palm. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry. Does it hurt?"

He shot me a glare. "No mam, I'm on local anaesthesia. Wanna have another go?"

"Can you try to keep your sarcasm for later?" I rolled my eyes and seeing that the coast was clear, I ran towards the picket fence that just reached up to my waist and jumped over to the other side.

"Well that was a heart felt apology," I heard him say. "Move."

We crouched to hide our selves better and I kept my eyes fixed on the voices coming from the street.

"You check this way," a voice ordered.

"Norah, stay still," Daniel told me in a voice that could be categorized as below than a whisper and while doing so his breath fanned the skin of my neck. To state it simply, it was distracting. Very distracting.

I squirmed a little, shifting on my position. "I said stay still not to do the opposite," he said with clenched teeth.

I tried to understand what Daniel was saying and not to over think about the lack of space between us and that's when my mined zoomed in on the growling sound coming from the backside of the yard.

Too stunned otherwise, I still rotated my head towards the sound of the growling and spotted a full grown German shepherd foaming from his mouth. As soon as the dog started to grit its not-so-pearly whites, I was ready to surrender and if it wasn't for Daniel's voice that made me realize that I needed to run for my life, I swear I would have become the dog's personal chew toy.

Horrifying mental images.

"On the count of three," he said keeping his eyes trained at the fuming dog. "One...two...three!"

And then we ran. Again.

"There they are!" The same voice from earlier yelled and then there were several pair of legs following us. A loud bark told us that the German Shepherd was on our trail too.

"This is freaking insane!" I yelled laughing, which I guess was a totally inappropriate reaction at the moment but with the adrenaline that was pumping through my veins, I didn't care.

Daniel chuckled at my over-ebullient state. "Come on, I know a short-cut."

The wind combed my hair which was now completely out of the pony tail, I had put it in earlier but the thought of how I looked didn't cross my mind even once. I guess I understood what the feeling of euphoria meant. The events of the cemetery felt like a happening of ages ago and as my legs took me from one place to another, I wished that I could be like this forever; free.

"You look way too happy." He chuckled

"I don't know. This is so much fun."

"Even more fun if we win."

Who cared about winning? I was just happy to feel alive. I didn't want anything else.

With the smile now almost looking that it had become permanent on my face, we reached near our school and I wouldn't lie that I wasn't even a little disappointed that the night was coming to an end but the battery of energy that was working inside me forbade me to feel down.

For just one night, I was not going to be sad at all. All the regrets, the loneliness, the anger could wait for me till the next day.

Tonight I was just going to be happy. Nothing else.

"Yes, we won!" I chirped happily, entering through the doors of the courtyard where the white flag waited for us to grab it.

"Yippy! Yippy! Yippy! We won," I sang, running around the courtyard, with the flag in my hand, like a little kid.

"Yup! It's official, you're definitely high tonight," Daniel said shaking his head but the amusement in his voice didn't go unnoticed by me.

"Yes, I'm high on happiness," I yelled making sure that my voice echoed in the courtyard. "And you're just jealous."

The doors opened again, letting a group of people in. My lips curled up in a smug smile as soon as I saw that one of them was Chad.

"This is gonna be so easy," I repeated his words in exactly the same manner as he had said them earlier. "Take that Jackass!"

My smile grew wider as Chad's expression became more agitated with his lips in an ugly scowl and his eyes narrowed sharply.

"And she swears too," Daniel made a sarcastic remark and pulled me away from the crowd. With my rubbing of our victory in their faces, I am sure I would have pissed some people off, so I think it was a good call by Daniel to keep me away from everyone.

"Well you know what they say. Nothing like a woman with a brilliant mind and dirty mouth," I quoted, still grinning happily.

"Great! Then you're just short of a brilliant mind."

I pouted. "Don't try to bring me down, Dan. It's not gonna work."

Along with another one of his dazzling smile, he shook his head. "I'm not trying to bring you down. It's nice to see you happy."

My smile faltered for a second, not because my joy level was coming down or something but because with my eyes completely mesmerized by his blue ones, my heart got a little twitch, releasing all sorts of questions for my brain to solve.

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So this was a light chapter. I thought that we all deserved a break from all the scary nightmares and secrets so I hope this chapter worked. =)

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Please. Pretty please. =))