FireWatch

by Darkness Moon

Stalker

Sunset came out of the bathroom and started cleaning. She was about to go to the living room to sit down, but she had an unexpected surprise. The dazzlings had finished their homework, the room, the floor, the kitchen was clean too. The dishes were washed and the food stored. Even Sonata had made more snacks.

"Wow, do you really want to hear more of the story?" Sunset smiled. "I thought you thought it was boring"

"Shut up and sit down." Aria growled, opening a can of beer.

"Why did you say someone attacked you?" Sonata asked, jumping on the couch. "Was it those girls?!"

"Sonata stop that, and Sunset..." Adagio took his girlfriend's hand and sat her next to her. "Keep going."

"I'm surprised you're calm, after hearing that girl was interested in Sunset" Aria smiled.

"Right, and ask about her past, ask if she was single, and she was even drawing Sunny." Sonata smiled.

"I'm not jealous, Sunset loves me and I don't have to worry." Adagio smiled. "That camper? Compete against me? Please!"

"You're jealous. Do you remember last Christmas?" Aria said.

"And the new year?" continued Sonata.

"I don't know what you two are talking about." the siren defended herself.

"Girls, don't fight." said Sunset

"Sunset? Did you have anything with that girl? ” Sonata asked.

"Well..." glance at Adagio.

"If I were you I would think of the answer" Aria smiled.

"Yeah..." said Adagio.

"And you're not jealous, huh?" Sunet said.

"So what was Delilah like? She was cute?” Sonata asked.

"Sunny? Were you with her during the battle of the gangs? ” Adagio asked, a little serious.

"Y-you know what? I will let the past answer your questions.” Sunset took Onix and placed him on her lap. "I know you want to know about my relationship with Delilah, but what I'm going to tell you is where, in Aria's opinion, the story is no longer boring:"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were no more unexpected encounters, I have been two weeks in this forest, now I had many more books than before, the only thing in all those boxes. I finished my homework and went to lunch, I settled between some rocks, enjoying my food and watching the sun go down. Until Delilah called me.

Until Delilah call me.

”Hello Sunset, Having a nice afthermoon?”

“Well I was…”

“Ha ha. I'm paying for all the years that I treat my bosses badly. Uh… called with some bad news. Two young women. Chelsea Stevens and Lily Mclain were reported missing. They’ve got parents out in California who haven’t Heard from them in a weak. .They were supposed to meet an aunt in Cody. If they’re the girls from last weak then you’re probably the last person to have seen them.”

"I didn't do anything to them" I defended myself.

"What about the camp?"

“That wasn’t me. You know that" I knew where she wanted to go, and not say what he had in mind.

“Don't get defensive. Look, it’s not gonna be an issue. I mean, if they turn up dead. Then maybe. Should I just not say anything and save us the trouble?”

As much as I wanted that, I couldn't ignore this. I don't care about those girls, but I don't want them dead either.

“I…I think it’s worth mentioning something”

“Yeah. I’ll keep it vague. I really don’t want to talk to the cops.”

“Me neither.” another bad story.

“Alright Sunset, Thanks. Enjoy the sunset” she laughs.

“So funny"

That of the girls kept me a little uneasy. I did not sleep well for few nights. I hoped they weren't dead, not because I had done something to them, but because I would have to speak to the police.

I used to get into minor trouble, enough with the devil thing. I don't need some missing drugged girls. I had to stop thinking about it since Delilah told me that was a week ago.

Leaving that matter aside, my work continued normally, nothing new or strange, now I was checking the map to go to the supply area. We have been here for 1 month, the food is gone and I have to go and pick up what is due to me.

“Is it too much of a pain in the ass to bring supplies all the way up our towers?” I asked, looking at the compass, making sure it pointed north.

“Well, I get my stuff hand-delivered.”

“How’s THAT work?

“The perks of a decade of service. You’re hiking in 90 degree heat and I get to do crossword. Isn’t life miserably unfair?. Anyway, when you find the supply drop remember: it’s not just for you. Other lookouts, biologists, a few people get their food there and I don’t want to have to call in for more. There should be loads of good stuff though. Beans, prunes, jerky...”

And she started again, talking, talking and talking, about his sister, about prunes, at first it was interesting, but now it was getting irritating. I put the radio on my belt clip and kept walking.

Then she told me that a few months ago she was dating a guy named Javier; They dated for five years and she was obsessed, she wanted to marry him, but, her brother passed away, and she didn't come home, he took it well, doing it alone. When he return, said he leave her.

That's how she ended up here, she told her sister that Javier was sleeping with the neighbor, and also ... she lied to me. She acknowledged that I came here with a broken heart, not exactly like me, but she understood it that way. I did not bother to correct it, for not going into details.

“I figured you’ve told me so much about you, so, you know, there’s something about me. We both fucked up”

"Don't worry, I get it" calm her down.

It wasn't long before I got there, I climbed on the rocks. I just had to cross a small hill and I would get there. I could see Delilah's tower in the distance, I wondered if I could get there. A long, green box. I used the same code, and there they were, three boxes labeled for each zone, the one in the middle was mine.

Found the supplies” I report.

“Oh good. enjoy”

Like she said, not everything is for me, although I could take everything. But… “Alright, I got everything I need out of here. Time to chow down”

“Just yours, right?”

“Who do you think I am?” started walking back.

There was nothing more exciting until the following month, I no longer remembered how many days passed. 63? 64? I remember waking up after taking a nap. Delilah woke me up to watch a fire.

“You’ve got a front row seat for what might be the biggest fire of the year”

“Yeah, it’s really going.” it looked very pretty from where it was.

“I’m going to call it in. They’ll send in a hotshot crew for some suppression, but I bet we’ll be stuck with her for the rest of the summer. And she doesn’t have a name yet. I usally think of something funny, or something practical or a Little risque when coming up with them. But why don’t you do the honors”

“Uh, Delilah’s a nice name” why do I get nervous?

“Haha! No, you big dummy!”

“Ha, I was kidding” I was?

“Mm-mm. No you were not. You’re sweet. But we can’t call it ’the Delilah Fire’ ”

“Okay, what then?”

“How about my middle name, June?”

“The June fire. Even though it’s July.”

“I like it. So there’s this creek down the hill, and you know what my favorite thing to do this?”

“What’s that?” I leaned against the wood.

“I love to take a bottle of whatever I have on hand. Plunge it deep into the water, and let it chill in there all day. And then on nights like tonight, when it is so disgustingly hot, I have something nice and cool to drink.”

“I’ve have done too many bad experiences with tequila. I’m a little reticent to try again.”

“Well maybe you just need a new, good experience with it”

“Yeah, maybe” was that an invitation to drink? Like a date?

“I love how they look at night. During the day it’s just smoke, but when the sun is down you can just… get lost”

“Yeah” her voice was hoarse and dreamy, she felt very comfortable..

“I’m glad you here”

“Me too” it was not a mistake to come here.

“Good. I don’t talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you. Not in the same way. I know it’s probably been awhile since you’ve connected with someone the way we have. I don’t mean to get all heavy, but… it’s been really nice. I wish I was over there.

“I wish you were too.” I wish she were here? With me? I think so.

“We could sit outside, We could talk. Without these radios. We could, um… you know.”

“What? What could we do?” look at her tower with a smile.

“Well. Let me tell you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The story was interrupted by the sound of something loud. It was Adagio, pouring ice into his glass, but dropping it noisily.

"Are you okay, Dagi?" Sonata asked.

"Yes" Adagio replied. Dropping another ice. A very big one.

"Adagio, you don't have to be jel-" she stopped when she received a death glare from the siren.

"Sunset? Is something else going to happen to you and Delilah? " Aria asked.

“Actually… just me. I thought they would kill me ” Sunset replied.

"WHAT?!!" the sirens screamed.

"I explain:"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re going fishing without a license?” Delilah ask me.

“It’s ONE fish. And i’m sick of all the stuff I’ve got to eat”

“Ok. I won’t tell anyone you’re a poacher. That reminds me, I keep hearing from Fish & Game about a problem bear they’re trying to keep tabs on. Can you search around the lake for fresh tracks and just let me know what you find? There was a crew burning fire lines out to the east and um, you know, I think sometimes it riles the wildlife.”

“Problem bear? Fuck that. I’m of the opinions they are ALL problems”

“Come on. pleeease” she begged.

“Ugh! I can’t believe I’m going to leave this planet as a pile of bear shit. I growled walking to the lake.

“THANK YOU SUNSET!” I could feel the smile

“Yeah, yeah”

Looking for a bear, perfect. I wantes to die so badly that I can't even contain myself. I just wanted something different to eat, this is the last time I try to taste meat. Get to the lake and survey the area. No bear, but, there was a clipboard on a rock. I took it and read it… this made no sense.

“What the-? D, I found a clipboard down here and, I… there’s something strange going on”

“At the lake? What’s up?”

“Someone has written down what we said to each other. Have been saying” check the papers again.

“That doesn’t make any sense”

“I don’t talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you. Not in the same way.” I read the paper again, that was weeks ago.

“No way…”

Suddenly, I heard a noise. “Wait. Hold on. Something’s out here” went out to investigate.

“Sunset? I’m worried. You didn’t find and eat any mushrooms, did you? They can be butalso, you know, devasting. Regardless, just let me know, okay buckaroo? Oh god. I don’t know why i just called you that”

I walked through the bushes, and I found something when crossing the trunk to give access to the canyon.

“I found the walkie-talkie out here too” I bent down to pick up the walkie-talkie. It looked much worn and old compared to mine.

“Ugh…okay”

“It’s going shit.house….UGH!” I received a blow from the back, I tried to look at who it was, but it hit me again on the head.

“Sunset? Are you there?”

I heard Delilah's voice as she woke up, I checked her pocket. I was missing nothing, except the radio and the clipboard.

“What happen?! Sunset!”

“I… holy hell, i got hit in the head. Punched or something by someone” I got up and checked my head, no blood, fine.

“Are you serious?! What the hell is going on out there?”

“I don’t know! Shit!”

“Let me get this straight, you found a clipboard with, what, transcripts of our conversations? What else is on it?”

“I don’t know! It’s gone. Along with a radio of theirs. Somebody out here could’ve just killed me, Delilah.”

“What the fuck… what is going on?”

“What’s Wapiti Station?”

”I-I don’t know”

“I saw the name WapitIi Station right before I was cold-cocked. Does Wapiti Station mean anything to you?”

“Uhhh,, Wapiti Meadow. Maybe it’s Wapiti Meadown. It’s on our maps; it’s not too far from where you are right now. It’s north of the lake. It looks like there be a trail somewhere on the north of Jonesy Lake”

“I’ll start hiking that way now. Goddamn…my head…” I updated the map, and headed north.

“Are you sure you saw what you saw, Sunset? Maybe you pissed off somemore campers and they came back to sucker punch you.”

“Look, I know what I saw. It was our words, with initials for our names, S and D, clear as day”

“And you’ve feeling okay?”

“I feel fine.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I believe you. But that conversation was from TWO WEEKS AGO.”

“I know they were. So what’s tos ay they don’t have transcripts from three, four, five weeks ago?”

“Our entire relationship. Friendship. Our whole summer”

“Someone is out here with a walkie talkie taking notes and talking to God knows who” I went down some rocks. “What the hell do you think is going on at this place?”

“Uh, apparently a lot of following you around taking notes. Which is un-fucking-believable, Sunset”

“You’re telling me. Alright I’m on my way to Wapiti Meadow; I’ll let you know what I find.”

“Okay. There’s got to be a reasonable explanation. Also, I’m going to calla round and see if anyone has had anything weird happen to them or sem spooked. Ahh, I don’t want to make this bigger than it is, yet, you know?”

“Yeah, understood”

“Yeah, okay. Hike safe”

As soon as I got to the area, there was a huge metal fence. The area was impossible to access. Whoever did it, wanted to make sure that no one entered there.

“Wow, Delilah… there’s a big chain-link fence between me and the meadow. I don’t think I can get past it”

“Uh, a fence?”

“Yeah”

“How big?”

“Big. It goes off in both directions. Acres.” walk around, in different directions.

“What the fuck is going on out here?!”

“Whatever it is someone doesn’t want anyone to know about it”

“Sometimes biologists will cordon off a little área to study flora or whatever, but that’s only a few square feet, usally.”

“And the gate is locked up, obviously”

"Well, see if you can pass it"

“Yes, I've already tried to get in here. There is no way"

"Shit"

"I don't know how long I can be around without anyone seeing me"

“Damn, if you were a firefighter you would have knocked down the door with two hits. Hey ... the guys doing controlled burning. They can still help"

"Where are they?" I look the map.

"Across the river Ruby; there is a boy scout camp. They made a firewall a few days ago; you should be able to get there for him"

"Great"

"If they're still there, they'll probably help you get to the other side of the fence"

I went to the place, it was in the corner of the map. It would be a long journey. Through rocks and ropes to reach the destination. Delilah told me that everything was fine, nothing happened to the other observers. I suggested calling the police, but she told me it was crazy. I tried to convince her, but she liked her job and didn't want to lose it. As she walked the sun was setting in the distance, she just hoped to arrive before dark, and return. I arrived to the burned forest. I didn't see anyone nearby, I just found another box, with a book, more to collect. When I arrived to the camp, the bridge was broken, but there was a not so long descent so I could go down without problems. This place was very old, Delilah said it hadn't been used since the 50's. I found a note on a log, it seemed to be theirs.

“Yes, these guys are gone. I found where they were resting before they were picked up” I report.

"Shit"

At least not everything was bad, I found an ax that would help me to go through the brushes and the fence. I also found toilet paper.

“D, the note says that in the next few days… arrival of Thorofare,,, on behalf of Dr. Simmons from… Wapití Station. They have some labs here. He is worried about fires"

"Shit. Someone is writing down our conversations. And now we discover that there are some laboratories there that we did not know about? What are they investigating? "

"Us. They’re researching us" I saw a tree and started cutting it down to get out of here.

“You think they’re studying you and me.”

“I do, yeah. Maybe it’s about studying two strangers who talk every day”

“Like, if you put someone in solation with someone else, what they do. Well fuck THAT”

“Agreed” I finished cutting the tree and left the camp.

“I think we should allow for the possibility that this is all just a big misunderstanding but… if you saw what you did.. fuck Sunset”

“Yeah, I saw it”

I took a last look at the campground before heading out. I felt so unprotected. If someone attacked me from behind, they could do it again.

“Are you there? I had a thought.”

“Let’s hear it”

“You heard someone in the bushes.”

“Yeah…”

“Okay, so let’s asume we’re being tailed. Or you are, at least. Where are you right now?”

“Just on my way back. In and out of trees, in the middle of nowhere” I looked around and behind me. Carrying the ax in my hands.

“Do you see anybody?”

“No, definitely not.” Thanks to Celestia no.

“Alright, so tell me what you think of this-”

Suddenly, a male voice was heard, I think, and of pots or something falling.

“Did you just cough?” ask Delilah nervous.

“No, did you just cough?”

“No.”

“Oh FUCK…” We said both at the same time, and with the same feeling of fear.

“Um, there isn’t any way someone like another lookout could be on this line, is there?”

“No. Not without tapping our radios”

“What about when I heard you talking to someone else?”

“I just left your line open. That’s not what this is. Get in you tower. Shut the door. Don’t leave and don’t use your radio. I’ll call you. Understand? I will call you.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And before continuing I must go to the bathroom." Sunset got up from the couch.

"Again?" Aria said.

"I'll go shower, it's almost dinner time," she replied.

"It's true! I forgot it!" Sonata ran into the kitchen.

"Aria feed Onix, I'll go to the bathroom too" said Adagio, about to go up the stairs.

"Sunset said she would go first," Aria said.

"I know~~" smiled the mermaid.

"Come on Onix" took the animal. "This is going to take time"