𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐬

. Chapter One .

"Isabelle!"

My throat was scratched raw from screaming. How had a summer camping trip gone so wrong?

Branches scraped my arms and legs, leaving blooming red marks as I carelessly stumbled through the suffocating dark. Panic flooded my body with each bruising beat of my heart. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to her.

Ren's light beamed past me, scanning the bushes as we pushed through the foliage. He was always in his element under pressure, his sun-tanned face set in an expression of intense focus.

His eyes, a deeper shade of blue in the shadows of the night, flashed to my clumsy, frantic form with worry. "Be careful. Stay close to me and watch your step; you can do nothing for Isabelle if you get yourself hurt."

I obeyed, falling back into step beside him. I could trust him more than myself in the state I was in. He was right.

The night was unusually cold for July. No moonlight could reach us past the heavy clouds that threatened rain. The surrounding trees only solidified that hopeless darkness. How could we find her like this?

I had a horrible, terrible feeling in my gut. I knew she was in trouble. But she wasn't calling for help. Nothing but the sound of our breathing filled my ears. I wished she would yell—would signal to us where she was. Somehow, I knew it was too late.

It didn't become real until we found her.

Half of her face was gone. Torn off by the claws of some animal. Her chest was ripped open, ribs broken outward, innards spilling onto the darkened, blood-brown grass. The half of her face I could see was stuck in an expression of pure terror.

I fell to my knees and vomited. Violent pain lanced through my stomach. Through my whole body.

"You really shouldn't frown—your face will get stuck like that." Isabelle tilted her head, glancing sidelong at me with her usual smile.

Nothing ever got her down for long. But me? I was a cry baby.

"If I'd been smart enough, I would've been able to go with you." My voice was tight. Though it made my stomach twist with embarrassment, tears stung my eyes.

When one rolled down my cheek, her hand was there to catch it.

"Four years. But we'll visit each other between then. And when I'm done, I'll come home again—I'll never leave you."

I'll never leave you.

I forced a wobbly smile. It only made the flow of tears stronger.

"Promise?"

Her almond eyes softened, the dark pools within open to me. She leaned forward until our foreheads touched.

"I promise."

My stomach was empty. I was screaming. Wailing with a sound that tore from my very soul. The deafening grief in the cry would've broken my own heart if the sight before me hadn't already obliterated it beyond repair.

Isabelle.

She was gone. Dead. Taken in such a brutal way.

She must have suffered.

Arms wrapped around my shoulders. I leaned into him, his dark hair tickling my cheeks. Ren didn't say anything. Hot drops dampened the top of my head.

And then, it started to rain.

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