"Where are we going?" I ask Daniel as we walk through the brush, about two miles from where he "found" me. I still don't believe him. He holds a finger to his lips and shushes me, with a mock scowl on his face.

"Do you want to wake the crazies?" He scolds playfully. "They're practically nocturnal... Doesn't that make them creepier to you?"

I stifle a laugh as a mental image of a person crawling around in the dark, acting like an animal runs through my head. Because really, it seems pretty absurd. Scary, but absurd.

"It's not funny," he says, smiling. "Getting killed is a very serious matter."

"Do people really do that here? You know, go 'hunting'?"

Daniels face morphs into a grimace.

"Yeah, they do. It's scary as hell for the rest of us who aren't like that."

I rest a hand on his arm, feeling warmth just from this one touch.

"What are you like then?" I ask quietly. He breathes out through his nose, and purses his perfect pink lips.

"I'll leave that for you to decide," he says lowly. The sunlight filters down from the bright green trees, illuminating Daniels face and also casting dark shadows across it. He slowly raises his hand and lightly touches my check. His eyes are so deep, green and hazel swirled together to create a gorgeous brown. Even flecks of blue are mixed in.

He truly is handsome.

Daniel opens his mouth to say something but were cut off by a person screaming. He clenches his eyes shut and mutters a curse. I stiffen and take a step out of our intimate embrace.

"What was that?" I whisper to him, looking around for the source of the scream. Daniel huffs before grabbing me by the arm and dragging me faster through the trees.

"Dammit. I knew we were going to slow."

"What do you mean?" I ask breathlessly, trying to match his fast pace without stumbling.

"It's starting." He says flatly. My heart just about stops completely. "And were too far away from where I camped out. We're going to have to climb a tree and stay there for the night."

"Are you crazy?" I exclaim. "We'll be sitting targets!"

"You got a better idea?" I open my mouth to answer, but he cuts me off. "Didn't think so." He stops running for a second and turns to look at me. "Look, either you follow whatever I say or we die. Got it?"

I nod dumbly.

"Now come on and help me look for a tall tree." He says already scouting the forest. He whips out a knife from a clip on his belt (how did I not see that before?!), and turns to give it to me. "Hold this, and try not to get killed."

I grab it from his hand cautiously, studying it's menacing beauty. One wicked foot of pure steel, looking sharp enough to rip through flesh as easy as tearing paper. It gleamed dangerously in the fading sunlight. A reminder that night was approaching quickly.

A echo of screeching travels through the woods, there's no way of telling the distance, but they can't be too far away. Daniel, with a sense of urgency, sprints to a tall oak ten feet away from us. I quickly follow, not wanting to be left behind.

He expertly begins to scale the tree, finding tiny nooks and crannies to place his hands and feet. Before long he disappears from my view. I grow anxious as the seconds tick by, feeling uncomfortable for the first time in Treason. Uncomfortable without Daniel near me. Damn that boy.

"Hahahhahah!" A definite female laugh comes echoing through the forest, much closer than before. Oh hell no. Either there are multiple psychos out or one is traveling fast, too fast.

The knife does nothing to reassure me. Sure I know how to use the weapon, but come on, we're talking about sane asylum people here. People who thirsted for carnage and blood, who get off on it. Not my kind of party people.

"Daniel?" I call out timidly, not wanting to be too loud and attract unwanted attention.

He doesn't respond.

Maybe he can't hear me or he's choosing to be a sick person by ignoring my call and leaving me to fend for myself in the frenzy, either way I am not going to be a damsel in distress. Putting the knife handle in between my teeth, I know not the smartest idea but whatever, I reach up and grab the closest knot of wood I can reach. After trying to pull myself up at least three times, I manage to do it. Oh if only I were a little taller, I could stretch out more to reach a branch or something. Thank god there's another knot and I keep climbing till I get to the first branch.

After heaving myself up through the branches about 30 feet above the ground, I stop and rest. Taking the knife out of my mouth to take deep breaths, I attempt to calm my heart beat down. So sue me if I'm not as athletic as Daniel, he's a monkey, it doesn't count.

I look up trying to find Daniel, he can't have gone that far up, when I hear whispers coming from below me.

My entire body goes rigid, I dare not even breathe.

"Do you think they went this way?" A surprisingly clear, strong voice said. Not at all the creepy tones I was expecting.

"Only one way to found out," a deeper, scratchier voice murmured. I prayed they wouldn't look up and see me, vulnerably alone.

A deranged feminine laugh rang out, sending shivers crawling down my spine. Three of them? Oh lord.

Too slowly for me, they eventually walk away. An occasional cackle coming from the female, she really was off her rocker.

I let out a huge breath of air, mostly in relief but partly just in resign. Daniel was right. No way would we have survived on the ground. They were clearly targeting us, how they even knew where we were beats me.

"Pssst," a whisper comes from above me, startling me so badly my foot slips from the branch. I reflexively grab the branch in front of me to keep me from falling a long way down.

"Damn it, Daniel! Where the hell were you? I could've died!" I cry out as fiercely as I can in a whisper. I look up to scold him, only to see him grinning at me.

"Wipe that damn smile off your face." I growled at him.

"You passed the test," he says happily.

"What test?" I all but snarl at him and his shit eating grin.

"Let's just call it my own initiation process. I left you alone to see if you were smart enough to get to safety on your own without someone babying you the entire way." Daniel's eyes sparkle and light up as his smiles grows larger. "And you passed! Congratulations! Not many people do."

I gasp, horrified.

"You mean people have died during your 'initiation process'?" I ask, astounded.

He waves a hand at me.

"Pshh, all the time! You'll get used to it, I swear," he says.

"I hope your joking." I say flatly.

"Sorry Newbie, I don't do joking," he says winking at me. I roll my eyes at his antics, still pissed off he left me to die.

"So, are we going sit up here all night and chit chat or are we going to do something useful?" I was still irritated.

Daniel softly laughs, a deep husky sound that sends my heart into a frenzy.

"You're full of sarcasm tonight, aren't you?" He smiles, shaking his head.

"It's not night yet," I emphasize, not sure if I'm ready to witness the horror that comes with night in Treason.

"Might as well be, packs are already out," he says just as a wolf howl rips it's way through the woods. "That one is named Henry. He thinks he's a werewolf."

I look at him warily.

"How do you know that? Do you know him?"

What if Daniel is a killer? And that's why he knows the wolf boy and dragged me up this tree only to push me off the edge. That would be simply splendid. Que sarcasm.

"I just do," Daniel says shortly. Automatically I sense I crossed some kind of barrier between us.

"That's a great answer." I mutter. I start to climb up past him, seeking higher ground. Only to be stopped by Daniel grabbing my arm. I don't look at him, though I can feel the intensity of his stare as he drills a hole into the side of my head.

"You can trust me, trust me," he says, seriously. I turn to look at him, seeing his beautiful eyes begging for trust. Like a puppy dog pouting.

"You've given me no reason to trust you," I say coolly.

He squeezes my arm.

"I have-" I protest, but he shushes me. "given you a reason to trust me. But I won't argue with you, so I will try to make you trust me. Starting with this," he envelops me and covers my ears as I begin to hear an agonized moaning coming from the ground, followed by evil laughter. There is little to no sunlight and the shadows make everything around me more frightening.

I hadn't even seen anyone on the ground below us, though I'm glad Daniel tried to cover my ears. I don't want to hear someone be killed viciously. I grip Daniel and bury my face in his shoulder, trying to block out the male yelling from below. More sounds join in and I wince from all the yelps and screams. Someone is getting tortured down there and I can't help but think of my mother.

"AHHHH-" a gut wrenching scream is cut off abruptly, and I can't imagine how they killed the poor victim. A tear escapes my eye as Daniel shushes me. He whispers very quietly into my ear, his hot breath sending a shiver down my spine even during the situation we're in.

"You have to be quiet. It'll be over soon."

He crushes me tighter to his chest, as if he needs comforting. I sniffle into his ripped t-shirt. Resting his chin on my head, I lean against him welcoming his warm, safe embrace. He rests against the tree for support, and I somehow manage to drift off to the orchestra of tortured screams and haunting laughs.

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A/N: Sooooo, did you like it?? Was it creepy enough for you? Or too freaky? Tell me in the comments, and don't forget to vote and follow! It makes my day. :D