First published November 2015 Edited 6-14-2015

The mountain air is crisp and pleasant as I breathe it into my lungs. My eyes shut, my head falls back letting the sun's warm rays bathe my skin as the summer breeze whirls about my face and hair bringing the smell of cleanliness with it. It's intoxicating. Being outside. It's not till I hear the shuffling of feet that I snap back and continue walking, taking the middle path. The trees are big and the leafs are bright green. Birds are singing and a few squirrels tussle in the bushes. It's like I'm seeing everything for the first time.

"So, how are you doing?" Cameron asks as he falls instep beside me.

My eyes flicker over to him. He's staring straight ahead, hands shoved in the front pockets of his dark washed jeans.

"Fine." I reply half-heartily. The other three are quite, listening to us.

I feel a tingle of frustration laced with disappointment. It makes me stop in my tracks. My eyes lock onto Cameron's when he stops also and faces me. These emotions aren't mine, but his. It's a feather light touch. Barely there. I'm blocking always blocking. I'm completely walled off but the emotions whispers over me.

My head tilts, "Why do I feel you." I say more to myself then him. Wondering how this could be possible. Wanting to figure out the why so I can stop it.

His beautiful chocolate bar eyes widen and he stumbles back. Aden comes up behind him. I pay him a parting glance my attention back on Cameron.

Awe lights up Cameron's features causing ribbons to appear and whisper touches of emotions to flow to me. It's so light I could ignore it but I want it to stop completely.

He gulps afraid of something, "What do you......"

"Nick.Nicholas." A high pitched whine rings out interrupting Cameron and causing a groan to release from Nick.

A life size Barbie doll rounds the bend coming from the direction I'm heading. She tall with platinum blond hair and dark blue eyes. A halter top shows her midriff and a barley there Jean skirt covers her lower half. She's also bare footed.

Huh. A backwoods barbie.

Joy lights up her eyes. A whirlwind of pink hued in red ribbons surrounds her.

"Ah, Nick baby I found you." She sings out in a whiney voice. It rattles my ears.

She stops when her eyes latches on me. Bright red replace the pink. A sneer covers her inch thick make-up face. "Who's this?" She growls it out, hands on her boney hips.

These people spend way to much time around dogs.

Nick steps around me while the others stand close. ,"This is Avery. Jeff's niece."

She's bipolar. It's like a flip of a switch. She's back to the same girl who first walked out. All smiles and false sass.

"The looney one." She giggles out.

A fierce growls echoes out. Barbie stumbles back. Nick tenses up. It was Kayden. Even him growling like a demon dog causes those tingles to rush across my body more powerful than before. I'm really starting to hate this place. Maybe being free isn't worth all of this carp. It's turing into a never ending thing.

"Um... So where are you guys going?" Barbie asks softly. Eyes flickering around and on the ground. Kayden scared her.

I smirk, moving around her and Nick going into the bend. The lake should be close.I feel some of the tension loose it's strength on my body as I walk down the smooth path. I hear mumbles from behind. Hushed harsh whispers.

"Hey let's do something else." Nick suggests.

"Why?" Cameron stops causing the others to do the same. I keep moving.

"Yeah, Avery lets go back to the house." Cameron's nervous. I don't even need to look at him to know. His voice raised in a high pitch.

"No. You all go back. I didn't ask for you guys to come."

My feet hit the Sandy beach. The lakes more magical than I remembered. Stretching further than my eyes can see. The sun shining its rays on the muddy water. Maybe I'll go for a swim. Could my body handle it? Hope so.

Growls and yelps bring me to a stop. My head snaps to the far left. Further down the beach is a small crowd surrounding what looks like a dog fight. What's wrong with these people?

"Uh.Oh." Barbies whiney voices rings out behind me. She's excited. I can hear it in her tone.

My eyes never left the group. There's a tornado of ribbons popping in and out. So many colors. There's one in particular that catches my attention. It draws me forward like a bug to a light.

It's black and thick. There's more than one. I move closer watching the people part for me from the corner of my eyes. Never straying from the thick black ribbons. It's not a dog fight. It's a wolf fight. What kinda of place do these people to live at to have wolves.

A huge black one the size of a great dane, but wider with thick muscles. It's standing over top a much smaller grey wolf. It's the one with the thick black sledge like ribbons. It's in some serious pain and scared to death. Animals have ribbons. It's a first for me.

My eyes narrow as I step forward causing the black wolf to back up. A soft whine coming from pulled back lips.

Bending down, the grey wolfs gold eyes lock onto my face. I hold its stare but the ribbons draw me away. It's like my body hungers for them. My hand raises. My fingers wiggle and I watch as the many black ribbons slither to me like a snake.

They weave in and out between my fingers like a cool gel. I barely notice that the grey wolf's no longer whimpering. The ribbons have my full attention. They start to wrap around my wrist leaving a numb sensation on my fingers and hands. My eyes follow them as they twist around my arm, slithering higher. They spread out under my shirt across my chest. It's a cool sensation. I gasp as I feel a push through my skin, over my heart.

I fall to the ground, landing on my back. Withering around on the damp sand. My mouth open in a silent scream. My body absorbs them. One at a time.

The thick black ribbons, causing sever pain and pleasure at the same time. Tears leak from my eyes. I hear voices in the back round. I stopped moving gasping for air as the ribbons vanish in my skin, numbing my chest. I thought it was over. Whatever it was but i'm wrong. My body bends in a impossible way. My head going backwards toward my back digging in the sand. My torso raises off the ground bending out towards the sky as a burning hot cold stretches through every cell of my body. I hear something snapping as worried jade green eyes fills my vision as I pass out.