Chapter 8 - Wolfy Got Stuck, And So Did The Girl.

Elliot climbed into the passenger seat. He placed a wooden board over the door, blocking the broken window. "It's not great," he said, "but it'll keep the cold out."

All three teens looked at him, shivering.

Keep the cold out my ass, Carson thought as she wrapped her coat tighter around her body.

"We can turn the car on now and then, but we can't keep it running all night," Elliot said, noticing how the kids were shaking.

There was a moment of silence and Carson leaned her head against the window, watching as the wind caressed the pine trees, making the pines fall on the white carpet surrounding them.

"How come you left mom?" Caleb asked, curiosity overpowering him.

Carson's head snapped up and turned towards Elliot's. She had asked herself many times why Elliot had left Karen, but this may be the time she finally got her answer.

"Caleb," Bradley said, annoyed and frustrated and a little mad at his brother for asking the question.

Elliot looked at Caleb for a moment before letting out a dry laugh. "Ah, em.. what did she say?" He asked, looking between his sons.

Caleb thought for a moment before answering. "Th– that you left because we were more mature than you."

As much as she knew this was a serious moment, Carson couldn't help but let out a laugh, because what Caleb had just said was very, very true.

The three Bakers turned towards her, all three with different expressions on their faces. Caleb looked at her with wide eyes, like she was crazy. Bradley looked at her with a very confused look, and, finally, Elliot looked at her with a look she couldn't quite place.

The blonde looked back and forth between all three males until she made up her mind. "Well," she said, putting emphasis on the entire word, "I don't want to interrupt family time, so..." she opened her car door and stepped out of the car, ignoring the Baker's protests for her to get back inside. She slammed the door shut and looked around for a bit, walking aimlessly around the area. She decided to check on the boys, hoping they would be done with their little conversation because, family time or not, the girl was freezing. She walked back to the car, opening her door.

"Hey are you guys done because it's a little co–"

"Shut it, Carson," Elliot said, mad that the girl had interrupted him.

Carson looked at him for a second before pressing her lips to a thin line and nodded her head, moving her torso out of the car. "I'll take that as a no." She shut the door and stepped back outside, into the freezing cold.

Once the door was closed, Bradley looked at his dad, anger ghosting over his features. "Why did you do that? It must be freezing out there, we can't just leave her–"

"She isn't involved in this conversation. Now, let me finish..."

There were two ways Carson could go. Back on the snow covered streets, or in the woods. Being her, she went with the stupidest decision.

After a few minutes of walking around aimlessly in the woods near the area where the car was, Carson decided she was bored out of her wits. And what better way to get rid of boredom than to walk around in woods you didn't know at night. She walked for about five minutes. And that's when she heard it. A whimper, coming from about five feet in front of her. The girl stopped in her tracks, frozen. Another whimper came. Then another. Carson started slowly walking towards it, hoping she would find the source of the noise. And she did.

In front of her, a wolf, no more than a few months old, had its tail caught in a toothed steel hunting trap.

Carson's breath hitched in her throat, but she slowly leaned down.

The animal tried to move away, but whimpered even louder when the tail stayed stuck.

Carson winced at the sight, but slowly brought her hand out. The wolf, knowing he couldn't move away, shrunk, trying to make itself smaller by flattening its stomach to the floor.

"Easy buddy. I'm not gonna hurt you," the girl said in a low voice, getting closer to the trap. She had no idea how the tail got stuck, considering the fact that this kind of trap was made for paws. Once you applied pressure in the middle of it, it was triggered, and the second you lifted your foot away, it snapped shut, its teeth snatching whatever was there. Luckily for the girl, whoever placed the trap there was stupid enough to place the small kind, the ones to catch smaller animals like squirrels or bunnies.

The wolf whimpered again, letting out a little bark.

"Shh," the girl said, getting the palm of her hands on the cold steel.

The wolf let out another bark, looking at the girl's right.

Carson felt a presence near her, and, ever so slowly, she raised her head. There, standing only two feet away from her, was a full grown grey wolf. The girl didn't move. Her eyes widened at the sight, but she managed to keep her breath under control.

The grown wolf didn't move, just stared at the girl with its piercing golden eyes.

Carson couldn't help but notice how her own eyes looked so much like the creature's. She didn't dwell on it, and slowly turned her head back to the trap. She locked the steel between her palm and her fingers, and started pulling. The trap was tight, but, being the smaller kind, it wasn't as hard as she'd expected it to be. Once she had enough space, she wriggled her fingers around the structure, making sure she placed them in the gaps and not on the sharp teeth of the object. She pulled with as much strength as she could muster, grunting with effort.

Once the wolf felt its tail was free from the grasp of the object it ran forward, scurrying away from it.

Carson speedily lifted her hands, and the trap snapped shut with a loud crack. The girl let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and looked towards where the larger wolf was, standing with its cub. The animal looked at her for a second before turning around, ushering the younger animal away. It turned to give Carson one more look, which the girl held, staring deep within the animal's golden eyes. Then it fled, disappearing into the darkness.

The girl stood there for a moment, stunned. "Well, that's an experience that would end up in a movie," she muttered to herself. She turned on her heals and started walking back towards the car at a slow pace. She looked around, taking in the beauty of the woods at night. Then, she heard a noise. Carson stopped in her tracks, catching her breath in her throat. She looked around, trying to figure out what it was. It must've been an animal or something, she thought to herself as she kept walking. The snap came again, and the girl whipped around. She saw an outline, a dark figure running away from her. She couldn't tell what it was, but it definitely freaked her out. She knew she couldn't run. Maybe the figure hadn't seen her and she would just make noise, so she started speed walking towards the car, her breath heavy and her feet swiftly moving across the snow.

After about thirty seconds, a yell filled the air, ringing in Carson's ears.

"Elliot?" She muttered. Another yell, and the blonde took off running, ignoring her earlier thought and wondering why in the world the man would be screaming like that.

She ran for about eight feet before she felt herself step onto something hard. Her eyes widened and she immediately realized what it was. But 'immediately' was too late. She threw her hands down, hoping she would be able to keep the trap open and not let it get to her ankle, but all that did was make it worse. She let out a small yell as the teeth of the trap dung into her palms, making her hands move closer to her leg. She grunted with effort, trying to keep the trap away from the skin, but the pain in her hands made the object scrape her jeans, making the teeth of the trap dig into her skin. And thats when she screamed. She screamed so loudly the people back home probably heard would've heard her. But she was in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, caught in a trap. She kept trying to keep the trap open, using all her strength to not make the blades get through to her muscle. She knew that would make the situation worse for her if she ever got out of the object. After a minute she felt like she was going to faint. She had lost plenty of blood already, both from her leg and from her hands. Tears stained her eyes, rolling down her cheeks and falling onto the snow, mixing with the red substance that was starting to pool around the trap.

◇

"Dad? Are you ok?" Bradley asked his father after he was done talking like a lunatic.

"No," Elliot answered. "Everything's gonna be alright."

And then he heard her scream.

◇

"Carson!"

The girl's head snapped up, looking around frantically for the source of the voice. Her eyes landed on a figure walking towards her.

"Carson are y– HOLY SHIT!" Bradley yelled, running in her direction and sliding down next to her. "How did you get stuck in this thing?" He asked, looking between her bloody hands and leg and her face, which was contorted in pain.

"How about we keep the questions for later, huh?" The girl snapped, gasping at the movement.

"Right, sorry," Bradley said.

"Where're Elliot and Caleb?" Carson asked, wondering why the man that was actually experienced in hunting wasn't there to help them.

"How about we keep the questions for later, huh?" The boy said, copying the girl's line. He grabbed the metal, pulling it away from the girl's legs as she did the same, the metal digging into her palm once again. She yelped in pain, letting the steel close around her leg again.

"Come on Carson, I know it hurts but you gotta help me out here, ok? Look, I'm gonna try and pull it open an you're gonna push it like you did before, and when you have enough space, jump forwards and I'll catch you, ok?" Bradley said, grabbing the steel once again.

Carson nodded, not finding the strength to say anything, and pushed. Both teenagers grunted at the effort, but they were able to make enough space for her leg to fit through.

"Ok, ready?" Bradley asked, ready to take his hands out of the trap as soon as the girl jumped.

Carson nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Ok. On three. One... two... three!"

Carson leaped forward, taking her hands away from the trap and jumping towards Bradley. She gripped onto his jacket and he immediately moved his hands away from the trap, catching her. Being crouched down, both teens slipped into the snow, Carson landing on top of Bradley and rolling off so she was next to him. She sat up, sitting in the snow and looking at the pool of red around the trap.

"Are you ok?" Bradley asked from beside her, sitting up as well.

Carson gulped, but nodded her head. Within two seconds she felt a pair of arms around her, bringing her closer to him. Without thinking about it, she reached out and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, and he brought his lips to her forehead before resting his chin on top of her head.

"Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack," he mumbled in her hair.

She let out a single laugh, pulling away from him and drying her eyes.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry. It's over," Bradley said, using his thumb to wipe her tears away.

Carson looked up at him. She hadn't realized how close they were. Just like when they were in the car earlier, her heartbeat picked up, her breath hitched in her throat and her face got heated. She thanked the lord it was dark so he couldn't see her crimson cheeks.

The two stayed in that position, inches away from each other, a weird feeling in both their stomachs.

Bradley was the one who broke it. "We, uh, we should probably get back to the car," he mumbled, but didn't look away from her eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, we should," the girl answered, not looking away either.

"Bradley! Carson! You out there?" Elliot called.

Bradley reluctantly looked down. "We're over here," he called, reaching out his arm so he could help Carson.

Elliot appeared from the trees, looking around until his eyes landed on his son and Carson. Bradley was helping the girl up, wrapping her arm around his shoulders for support.

"Shit, Carson," Elliot said, getting closer. He was about to take her other arm to help carry her but Bradley stopped him.

"It's fine, I got it."

Elliot looked at his son for a moment. "Just let me he–"

"Dad, I got her. It's fine." With that, Bradley walked away, Carson basically being carried by him all the way back to the car.

Elliot looked at his son carrying his daughter-figure away, and his eyes erupted with some sort of emotion, like his sanity was slowly crumpling to pieces at the sight of his kids growing up and at the thought of them leaving him forever.

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fluffy chapter who?