The Secret Seekers Society and the Beast of Bladenboro

by J. Hickey

Chapter 16

  The Hunt

  Elly had given the scent to Trayer, and he sped off quickly into the forest, hot on the beast's trail. It took every ounce of Alistair and Hunter's strength to keep the large Cusith from running too far ahead of them. The beast had dragged Sebastian deep into the western side of forest, away from the small winding road the children had traveled to the mansion on. They had no idea how far back the mansion's property line stretched, but they were in the midst of a thick forest that seemed to never end.

  The children hiked through some extremely rough terrain. Trayer had no problem weaving in and out of the bushes and foliage; the children, however, were getting scratched and bruised with every step they took. There was no real trail to follow, just thick dense shrubs to maneuver through. The treetops were so thick that the little light the moon supplied was blacked out completely. Now the four of them pressed on in the eerie forest with only flashlights and Trayer's nose to guide them.

  "This is the creepiest wood I have ever seen," Alistair said softly.

  "Yeah, who knows what lives out here?" Liv added.

  "Look." Hunter pointed to a small flat leaf with a smear of red blood on it.

  "Sebastian's," Elly said sadly.

  "It's not much, so he's still okay. We're on the right track," Alistair added.

  The deeper they got into the forest, the darker and creepier it became. The children heard strange noises, foreign and completely terrifying to their young ears. Branches broke around them continuously, and they thought at one point the beast had somehow turned around and began stalking them. They pressed on though, unwavering in the darkened night.

  "Are we going to be able to find our way back?" Alistair was growing worried. They had been hiking through the forest for what seemed like hours.

  "We will just use Trayer's nose to get us back," Elly answered.

  "I'm tired… I need to rest," Liv stated. "Just for a second."

  "My legs burn." Alistair took a seat on a large smooth rock.

  "Okay, not for long though," Hunter said. "We don't know how long Sebastian will be safe for."

  "Agreed," Liv replied. She opened her backpack and pulled out a bag full of grapes. "I'm starving."

  "Do you hear that?" Elly stood up from beside Alistair. A low-pitched ringing noise echoed through the foliage.

  "Is that a phone," Liv asked.

  "It's over here." Hunter shined his flashlight into a nearby bush. Sebastian's cell phone was lit up and playing an obnoxious ringtone.

  "Answer it," said Elly. "Maybe they can help?"

  "Hunter flipped the phone open and the name "Declan" appeared on the screen. Hunter hit the "answer" key, but the phone suddenly died.

  "Battery just died." Hunter tossed the phone on the ground. "Someone named ‘Declan' was calling. Do we know a Declan?"

  "Not that I know of." Alistair took a long chug of water from his thermos.

  "C'mon, he must be close."

  The team readied themselves and pressed on deeper into the forest. It wasn't too long before Trayer led them into a small clearing. Before their eyes sat the darkest and dreariest cave the children had ever seen. The clearing allowed the bright light of the moon to shine down, but this just made the illusive cave even scarier.

  "Are you serious?" Elly asked. "No way am I going into that thing-you're crazy."

  "We have no choice," Hunter replied. "Look, Trayer knows the scent goes right into that thing."

  "He's right," Liv added. "I don't want to go in there either, but we have to."

  "We have Trayer to protect us-he's huge." Alistair started walking towards the cave's entrance.

  "He's just a puppy," Elly reminded the group.

  The entrance to the cave was quite large. Elly thought it looked like a giant mouth with jagged, sharp teeth waiting to swallow the group whole, never to be seen again. They entered it cautiously to find that it quickly sloped downwards deep into the earth. It was damp, cold, and beyond dark inside. Luckily, the children's flashlights had plenty of battery left as they descended into its depths.

  "I watch shows all the time about spelunking," Alistair said, breaking the eerie silence. He wasn't afraid of the cave; in fact, he was enjoying the turn of events.

  "Spe-whoing?" Elly asked as she carefully made her away around a large rock formation that seemed like an icicle growing from the ground up.

  "Spelunking," he explained. "That's what it's called when people explore caves. That big thing you just moved around is called a ‘stalagmite.' This cave must be made of limestone."

  "How do you know so much about caves?" Hunter was quite impressed.

  "Like I said before, I watch a lot of television. My favorite show is ‘Myth Hunters.' My dad and I watch it every Tuesday night."

  "What's that about?" inquired Liv.

  "A group of people go exploring in crazy out-of-this-world places looking for mythical creatures and treasures. They spend a lot of time in caves. The team is led by Jonathon Gates-he's awesome," explained Alistair. "I guess it's a lot like what our families do, except they do it on television."

  "It's getting cold," Elly said. "Do they ever find anything?"

  "Not usually. Once they found a big footprint in the Himalayas. Made national news too. That was cool, claimed it was from the Yeti."

  "Look!" Elly pointed.

  The cave opened up to a large underground lake. The children were awestruck by its beauty. It sat deep inside this cave, far away from the hands of man-undisturbed and unexplored. The lake top looked like glass. Alistair had seen underground lakes like these on the television show, but he could never have imagined how breathtaking the real thing was.

  "It's gorgeous! Liv's eyes were wide.

  "How deep do you think it goes?" Elly asked. "I don't see away across."

  "Let's find out." Hunter took a step into the lake. It was freezing cold. He waded about halfway out before stopping. "It gets deep quick, going to have to swim across," he called.

  "I can't swim!" Elly yelled back.

  "No problem," Alistair answered. "I have an idea."

  Liv and Alistair joined Hunter in the peaceful lake. Despite the bitter cold of the water, it was eerily calm. Elly, on the other hand, had to hold onto Trayer's large collar as he dog paddled his way across the lake in record time.

  "Look at him go!" Alistair yelled as Trayer left the group literally in his wake.

  The children were more than exhausted by the time they made it to the other side. Worse than that, their clothes were soaked with freezing water. They didn't have much time to think though because Trayer was still hot on the beast's trail. They followed in hot pursuit, pushing through the numbing cold that burned their fingertips and toes.

  It wasn't long before they once again found themselves walking into a large opening. Trayer sat and let out a small whimper.

  "This must be the place." Hunter signaled for the group to quiet down and hide behind a large rock.

  "Do you see it?" Liv asked.

  "The place is huge. I don't see anything," Elly told them.

  "Look." Hunter pointed is flashlight over towards the center of the clearing, and there they saw a large clump of what looked like clothes.

  "What is it?" Liv squinted her eyes to try and make out what it was, but she couldn't see.

  "Let me sneak over there and find out." Hunter crawled slowly over to the pile, taking his time so as to not make any sudden movements or noises. He felt his heart suddenly drop into his stomach; he wasn't expecting what he found. It was tattered clothing stained in blood. Underneath the clothes was a large rifle. Hunter had seen this same rifle before. Dominick had used it the day he and Elly were attacked by the beast. Hunter dug around the clothes a bit more and found a piece of the clothing that had "Agent Roberts" imprinted on it. Hunter dropped the clothes and ran back to his friends, foregoing any sort of stealth.

  "Hunter, stop running, be quiet!" Elly whispered his way.

  "What's wrong? What was it?"
Alistair asked.

  Hunter quickly ran back behind the large rock. It took him a minute to catch his breath. He was visibly terrified.

  "I think it was Agent Roberts' clothes." He paused and took a deep breath. "They were all torn up and stained with blood."

  "Oh no!" Liv frowned. "Did you see him anywhere out there?"

  "No, just his clothes," Hunter told the group.

  "Look over by those stones." Elly pointed. "It looks like a nest."

  There in the foreground was a large pile of rubbish. Broken sticks, leaves, and anything else the creature could rummage together to create a nesting area.

  "It's not here yet," Liv added. "We must have beaten it here somehow."

  The children slowly made their way out of their hiding spot and towards the center of the cave.

  "What do we do now?" Hunter asked. "Wait for it?"

  "We get the hell out of here," a raspy voice echoed from the far side, opposite the entrance. The sudden and strange voice shocked the children, and Elly let out a small scream.

  "Shut your mouths!" Dominick shined his flashlight on the children. "You wanna scare the beast off before it gets here?"

  "Uncle Dominick?" Liv smiled. "Thank God you're here!"

  "What in the hell are you kids doing here?"

  "We were trying to help find…"

  "Exactly!" Dominick interrupted. "You were disobeying orders and putting yourself into danger. You know how easy it would be for any of you kids to be killed down here!" His anger was boiling.

  "We're sorry. We were trying to help."

  "I have been camped out in this cave for two nights, waiting for that thing to come back. Now, you kids have probably mucked it all up."

  "Is Agent Roberts okay?" Alistair interrupted.

  "No." Dominick hid a frown. "He didn't make it."

  "Oh."

  "Shut up!" Dominick barked, and his head shot towards the entrance of the large opening. "Did you hear that?"

  "No," Hunter replied.

  "Quick, hide, and don't make a noise!" Dominick pointed the kids behind a series of rocks. "We have one shot, and we have to make it count."