Page 31 of Raw

I was trying to figure out what he meant by that, but my brain wouldn’t put the puzzle pieces together.

“I’m tired. Can we go back to camp?” I asked instead, taking his hand and shining the light into the direction I thought the camp was.

“Yeah, we can go back. Can I get a hug first? I almost had a heart attack seeing you out here on your own. Lucky you had a light on you.”

I quickly wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pressed myself against him to show him my affection.

“I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m sorry.”

He placed his arms around me, and I could feel the rabbit hanging down his hand, its dead body pressing against my back.

“I’ll have to keep my eyes on you from now on. I’ll keep you safe, I promise, Ves.”

I knew he would.

For now, and forever.

10

The tightness around my wrist was uncomfortable, and when I moved, it tightened even more.

I frowned before opening my eyes as I finally woke up to the sound of wood being chopped.

I wasn’t asleep anymore, but as hard as I tried to move my arm, it wouldn’t.

“Fen?” I called out.

Him and Papa had to be down there, and after I finally realized what was going on, I pushed myself up with my right hand to then see my left one tied to one of the wooden planks of the treehouse.

“Fennec?” I called again, and this time, the chopping stopped. “Fennec, what is going on?”

I heard him climb the ladder and sure enough, he was right there with me with a smile on his face.

“You’re awake. Finally. Sleep well, sweet girl?” he asked, moving closer and stopping right in front of me.

“Why am I tied?” I asked, looking back at my hand and tugging on it, but only tightening the rope around my wrist more.

“Didn’t want you to sleepwalk again. I was just making sure,” he told me, then he reached over while pulling out his knife and cutting through the rope to free me.

I would’ve told him that I didn’t sleepwalk, but what happened last night was still vivid in my mind, and the more I thought about it, the less realistic it seemed to have been.

It was strange, and it made me unsure about my own consciousness.

If I did follow him while I was sleepwalking, I had to somehow get down from the treehouse.

Not sure how that’s possible, or how well of a climber I was while sleeping, but no matter if I was awake or not…last night didn’t feel real.

“My wrist hurts, and the rope cut off my blood circulation,” I pointed out.

My hand was white and tingling from the blood flowing back into my fingers, but Fennec didn’t seem to care about it.

He reached for my hand and rubbed his thumbs against my palm, kneading it. “You should stop moving too much then. I didn’t tie it tightly.”

The frown between my brows made itself noticeable, but instead of talking back, I pulled my hand back and rubbed my wrist.

“Is Papa here?” I asked.

“He’s somewhere around camp looking for berries. I told him I picked most of them a few days ago, but he wouldn’t listen. He’s wasting his time.”

---