Late night at the woods

Chapter 11: Late night at the woods

"Did you meet Carlos?" Megan asked as she opened the refrigerator probably to look for food while still wearing her suit.

"The neighbor? Yeah. He's badly injured though." I said and threw my bag on the sofa.

"He is always injured. He says he's a bodyguard or something." Megan now holds a cold pizza in her hand. 

Isn't his injuries too extreme for a regular bodyguard? And do bodyguards get injured often? I bet he is in a secret organization where he always ends up in the hospital or is just a thug. Though I'm hoping he's not. I don't really want a thug as my neighbor, I've had one in the neighborhood before and it was bad. 

"How can a bodyguard get injured all the time? Why didn't you heat the pizza?" I grumbled and grabbed three pieces to put in the oven.

"I love my pizza cold." She replied and pour a lot of hot sauce into her pizza before biting. "I don't even know why. It's always like that since I came here. You'll get used to him."

I cringed at the amount of hot sauce that she poured. It's as if I can feel the spiciness on my tongue. I hate spicy foods but Megan has a thing for spicy foods and she can't go without eating spicy food for a week—a day actually. Not heating the pizza was probably a great choice with that amount of spice.

I don't understand why people love spicy foods. It just causes me pain and it numbs my taste that all I can feel is the pain and I can't appreciate the taste of the food. Appreciating the taste is what matters when eating and if you can't, why are you even eating?

I ate while Megan changed her clothes and is now watching a basketball match on television. I was sure that she will talk about the match with her father later. They love basketball so much that they can talk about it on the phone for hours—I was a witness to it last night.

When I was finished eating I washed our plates and grabbed the carton of the pizza and I was about to throw it when I noticed the state of the trash can.

"Why is our trash can full?" I complained when I opened the trash can.

It was full of trash and Megan did not even bother to organize it into biodegradable and not-biodegradable which is a big no for me. I was always the one who cleans the house when I was with my aunt and I developed the habit of sorting everything out—including the trash.

"It's not even that full. I'll throw it out tomorrow." She said.

"Nope. I'm throwing this out now. And we need to organize everything to have a smooth rolling life." I said as I look at the trash. From the looks of it, I won't be able to organize this messed up trash. I gave up with the thought and just tied the trash bag. 

"The trash bins are at the back of the building. It is numbered! Don't get lost." She teased.

I rolled my eyes at her before closing the door.

I didn't get lost. The layout of the building was pretty straightforward for anyone to get lost. There's also lots of signs all around the place, getting lost isn't really an option. There were some people outside who smiled at me when they saw me. I returned their smile with a sincere one.

The people here are nice, they smile at everyone though there are some that always looks pissed off. It's not crowded, which is probably a big point why everyone looks relaxed. There are lounges on every floor that is very cozy and green. Indoor plants are a thing in the dorm, I'm not even surprised to see a bunch of them everywhere.

It was not that dark outside. The moon and the stars are brightly shining above, illuminating the ground. The woods were dark but there was a streak of lights inside. It was a beautiful sight to see—something that I don't see in the city.

There was a black silhouette below the tall tree. I realized that it was a person in a cast.

Carlos.

I frowned as I squinted my eyes to get a better view of him coming out from the woods. He is still in a cast but I noticed that his purplish bruises are now lighter than before. How can a bruise heal that fast?

I turned and pretended to fix something on the trash bin when he was getting closer.

"Where did you come from?" I asked when he was about to go inside.

I was hoping that he would answer for me to feed my curiosity.

"I threw my trash." He said and smiled at me.

"At the woods?" 

His smile faltered as he stared at me. "I did not come from the woods. I was just looking at the woods after throwing my trash, the woods looks nice." He smiled again. 

I stared at him in confusion before smiling at him. "I guess I missed you. I have pretty bad eyesight." 

"That's probably it. Take care and goodnight." He said before finally going inside.

I stared at his retreating back before looking at the woods where he came from. Why would he lie? I clearly saw him walking out of the woods. What did he do in the dark woods? It's too dark and it doesn't look nice. In fact, it is scary.

I tried not to let my curiosity get to me—but it did. My curiosity always wins over me, even though there is possible danger lurking around. Really thankful I'm not a cat, I'm not dying for my curiosity. 

I will just sneak a peak, then I'll go.

I started walking towards the woods in a slow, careful step. I wouldn't want to wake any wild animals and have them jumping at me. Though I doubt there are any wild animals around the area. They would not irresponsibly place the dorm next to a forest with wild animals, right?

There was still light inside the dark forest. I stood beside a tree and held onto it as I squint my eyes and hope to get a better view of the forest and try to find out what business Carlos did inside.

It can't be a drug deal, right? He looks kind enough to not give me the impression that he was a bad person. Though I was just thinking that he could be thug, it was just a passing thought. 

The forest was silent and still. It was too still. It felt like the trees were not moving at all. But other than the strange stillness of the forest, everything seems normal. It just looks like a plain forest with mosses and green all around.

And then there was a movement behind a tree.

A small movement caught my attention because I suddenly felt angry. But it wasn't my anger. I was not angry. It was coming from the movement behind the tree. It was not the anger towards me it was the anger that I felt. It felt like I was angry but I was not. 

The anger was too much. I can feel the furry in my chest like it was gripping my heart and it wants to explode. I started to feel panic and my foot automatically walked towards the movement behind the woods. I was sure that it was coming from it.

It seems like it heard my movement because someone popped out behind the tree. A girl—a teenage girl who was wearing a brown oversized cloak. She was glaring at me and I swear I saw her eyes glow. It actually glowed.

"Who are you?!" She hissed at me.