Chapter fifteen: Simply Follow

                                    

                                          
Chapter fifteen
                          
Simply Follow
                          

                          
“I’m sorry about what happened.” I glanced across the booth at Chris and Katy. “I didn’t know he was going to do that.”
                          
Chris was resting his head on the back of the seat, holding his side. He didn’t look too good, and hadn’t eaten any of the food he ordered. 
                          
“It’s fine, Aden,” said Katy sharply. “It’s not your fault. That weird guy you invited, something’s not right with him. I mean, you saw what he did to Chris.” She leaned against her boyfriend's shoulder.
                          
I nodded and bowed my head. I had a nice black eye myself along with a bruised on my cheek. “Chris?”
                          
“Hmmm…” He lifted his head. “Whatever, just don’t bring that guy around again.”
                          
“I won’t,” I whispered. “Titus is just someone I met. I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was like that.”
                          
“It over with.” Chris stood and motioned for Katy. “Let’s go.”
                          
I sat alone, staring at my smoothie, as they left. I hadn’t eaten anything either. Glancing out the window, I watched them climb into Chris’s truck. Katy was saying something to him and looked my way. Bowing my head, I picked up my drink. I took a small sip. Gathering up the remains of the food, I threw it in the trash. 
                          
I don’t think our friendship was ever going to be the same, and that’s what hurt the most.
                          

                          
***
                          

                          
I hopped out of my dad’s truck and walked to the shed. He waved goodbye, but I didn’t respond. He drove off as I took out my supplies and went to the water pump. Carrying everything to the first restroom, I pushed open the door. 
                          
The floor was cleaned, and the garbage had been removed. I didn’t care though. I dipped my mop in the water and set to work re-cleaning. I was done with Titus. It was time I started doing this myself. 
                          
I heard footsteps outside.
                          
“Aden.”
                          
I kept mopping.
                          
“Aden, don’t ignore me.”
                          
“I’m busy.”
                          
“Seems kind of pointless when it’s already clean.”
                          
Exhaling sharply, I tossed the mop against the wall. “What do you want Titus?”
                          
“Don’t act stupid.” He kicked the bucket out of the way of the door and swung it shut.
                          
I backed up to the corner. “What are you doing?”
                          
Titus took a deep breath. “We need to talk.”
                          
“No.” I tried to walk around him, but Titus blocked the exit. “I don’t want to do this Titus.”
                          
“Why?”
                          
I bit my lip and glanced at his hand. “Look whatever happened the night, I want to forget. I think we all had too much to drink.”
                          
“You didn’t drink anything.”
                          
I searched for a way around him. “Can we go outside? The smell in here is horrible.”
                          
“Aden,” he said firmly, taking a step forward. 
                          
“Really Titus, it smells awful. At least, open the door.”
                          
He stepped to the side and opened it. I quickly slipped through before Titus could stop me. 
                          
“Aden!”
                          
I started walking toward the lake. 
                          
“Aden! Would you just listen?” He stopped in the trees above the shoreline. “What did you see that night?”
                          
I faced him and took a deep breath. “Nothing, I saw nothing. You and Chris got in a fight. He cut himself on the side of the pool. That’s it. There was nothing to see.” 
                          
“Aden.” He walked down the incline. “You need to be honest with me.”
                          
I thought back on everything that had happened the past month. Shaking my head, I started down the path along the side of the lake. “I didn’t see anything.”
                          
Titus jogged after me. Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me around in front of him. “I’m serious. You need to tell me the truth.” He tried to brush my bangs out of my eyes.
                          
I dodged his hand and attempted to yank my arm free. “I did. So please, let go.” My heart was starting to pound as I stared at his fingers. Would it happen again if I made him mad? Would Titus change? 
                          
“Aden, listen to me.”
                          
“I need to get back to work.”
                          
Titus grabbed my other wrist and pulled me close to him. I kept my head bowed as he tried to get me to look at him.
                          
“You’re putting yourself at risk by lying to me. I need to know everything you saw that night.”
                          
I stopped resisting, and he released me. My arms dropped to my sides, while my heart pounded against my ribcage. 
                          
“It’s just my imagination.” I clasped my forehead. “I-I saw…” I bit my lip. “It can’t be real though.” 
                          
Titus held up his hand and glanced toward the campers relaxing on the beach nearby. “We need to go somewhere else.”
                          
I shook my head. “I don’t want to. I don’t want to talk about it.” 
                          
Titus didn’t listen and grabbed my hand. “This way.” He led me down the path to the far side of the lake.
                          
I simply followed. I didn’t understand why this was so serious. Maybe those creatures were his pets, and he wanted to so me. Or he had eaten some weird plants that had some bad side effects. Whatever was going on with him, I didn’t want to know, yet I simply followed.