by Keeley Smith
They ran, legs thrashing, hearts pounding, into the dark woods. It was either the woods or the cottages and they weren’t going to welcome whatever it was hunting them into the small hamlet. It would create complete chaos.
Their feet stomped hard against the wet leaves that were scattered on the ground. It wasn’t yet cold enough for the fallen leaves to have frozen so this meant the conditions under foot were treacherous. Stephen’s footing slipped proving his point. He righted his balance seconds before he had to jump over a large, decaying tree trunk that lay across his path.
A loud thud of feet behind him let him know that their pursuers were onto them. Quick, panicked gasps were sucked into Stephen’s already stalling lungs. He reined back the nervous energy that was threatening to render his legs useless and pushed every ounce of strength he could muster into them.
Trees forged a prison ahead of them, their distorted limbs loomed menacingly above as the darkness swiftly lurched towards him. One touch of its cold embrace made him grit his teeth as the warmth from his body dissipated. White clouds encased his head as he ran. Why was it suddenly noticeably colder?
Deyna and Phillip were keeping up with his break neck pace. Good, because he wasn’t slowing down. They couldn’t. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he heard the sound of a wolf howling.
Christ.
Was it a wolf that was running after them? He’d seen deep set crimson eyes and the puff of breath around midnight black fur but he’d thought it was some sort of feral dog. He pushed the pace to try and gain some distance, it didn’t make the least bit of difference even as he pushed his body to its limit, he felt the weight of something pounding hard on the ground behind him. They were faster than them, their human legs couldn’t carry them quickly enough.
He wouldn’t turn around because it was more than likely he would fall and then the wolf would have its dinner, he would make it too easy. Stephen’s pulse throbbed erratically in his neck, he feel each thrum pushing much needed blood and oxygen around his body. It picked up speed when he thought of sharp, elongated teeth puncturing his throat, thinking of the stench of rotting flesh trapped in its teeth as it puffed over his face. His stomach lurched.
When they stopped, because it was inevitable they would, how were they meant to fight the wolves? There had to be more than one, you never saw a lone wolf.
Whipping his head from side to side, Stephen looked around trying to find an escape route. The moon cast a stream of silver light but only flecks of it managed to reach the ground as most of it was obscured by the trees. Patches of light created a pale blue glow in areas but it wasn’t enough for them to see where they were going. It slowed them down as he tried to pick out all the obstacles. Why had they run into the woods in the first place? He was always the first to mock people in films who ran up the stairs at the first sign of danger.
A shimmering white light sped past him leaving a glittering trail of stars in its wake.
“This way!” Lester shouted over his shoulder.
Gritting his teeth in anger, Stephen ignored the ghost. The white light and the stars had been Lester and although he was impressed by such a sight, he wasn’t going to trust a ghost, one that was also a murderer according to Deyna and she often got things right.
He ran away from the white beacon, one that rather grudgingly guided the way through the darkness. Panting and jumping over yet another tree stump, he turned to warn the others of the obstacle and nearly stopped with shock. Deyna and Phillip were no longer behind him.
He looked around, his breath puffing out in front of him as panic twisted in his gut. The growl and excited yip of a wolf who knew dinner time was coming made him dig his feet into the ground and kick off at high speed.
He ran and, ignoring the many obstacles at his feet, he craned his neck around in every direction to see where his friends were. His eyes strained trying to search within the woods to look for them. He finally caught sight of them running with Lester. Stephen added his own growl to the ones already sending shivers down his spine. What were they doing? They were choosing to trust and follow a ghost, someone that may have murdered over him? Maybe they had been sucked in by the little sparkling firework display that Lester had left when he’d run ahead of them? They must have clearly lost their minds.
He expertly changed direction heading towards his friends. He didn’t know what he was going to say or do when he finally neared but he knew it wasn’t the time or the place to fight. Perhaps he would throw a few choice words at Lester.
He swiftly turned left and caught sight of the biggest tree he’d ever seen laying in his path. Pushing his hands out in front of him and keeping his pace, he slammed them onto the trunk and kicked his feet off the floor giving himself momentum as he flipped over it, luckily nothing penetrated his hand.
As he neared his friends he could see that Deyna was struggling to keep up with Phillip and the ghost. Sports day was not her idea of a fun day. She usually stayed at home pretending to have the newest disease to have hit Amblewood. Once Deyna had had the disease and recovered from it, others were free to use it as an excuse during the course of the year. He really couldn’t understand why she wasn’t popular because she was rather infamous for her diseases.
As he ran, he caught sight of a wolf, its fur was as black as the night with a striking silver streak running down its spine. It flickered in the moonlight as the angry animal kicked its paws into the dirt, hunched its hind legs and launched itself at Deyna. With a large wolf on her back she had no other option but to scream and fall under its heavy weight.
With his heart in his mouth, Stephen continued to run towards them but was forced to watch as the wolf pulled back its lips, revealing stained teeth that snapped at her vulnerable throat. She thrust her hands forward pushing at fur and screamed.
Before Stephen could tackle the wolf he was distracted by the bright light that suddenly exploded in the woods. He was abruptly plunged into complete darkness. For too many important seconds he was blind. Stopping, and no doubt putting his life at risk, he blinked and moved the black spots in his vision. It was at this point he was able to see that it was Lester who glowed.
Pure white fireworks shot out of his glowing body hitting the wolf. Stephen came to a stop next to Phillip and watched as Lester threw himself at the whimpering animal. Stephen cringed; it must feel like a thousand ice picks stabbing your entire body. The wolf howled and jumped off Deyna.
Stephen and Phillip grabbed Deyna and pulled her to safety. Panting with fright, they took several steps back. He realised there was no point in running, they would tire and become easy prey. Stephen could now see the other wolves closing rank. He swallowed feeling his mouth go extremely dry. Why had he searched for trouble? Some would say he was crazy, an adrenaline junkie but tonight was going to change this. He would never look for it again.
He nearly laughed when thinking of their situation, for once he agreed with Phillip about the need to stay at home.
“How about that DVD now, Phillip?” he joked nervously.
Phillip shot him a this-is-not-the-time glare. He grinned and stepped forward as Lester stood in front of them. He wasn’t sure what the ghost could do but at least he was still stood with them.
A wolf with russet fur and gleaming eyes charged towards them just as Lester launched more brilliant white sparks. They hit the wolf right in the nose, he watched as it dropped to the floor, whining whilst it pawed its nose like it was in pain. Obviously the sparks were as painful as touching the ghost, Stephen had only received a taste of this pain when they ghost had hovered too close to him.
Lester edged backwards which in turn made them move back, he wasn’t going to let Lester touch him. The wolves circled them with confident strides, ones that told Stephen they knew dinner time was coming. As he took another step back he felt the ground disappear from beneath his feet. He made an effort to grab a ho
ld of something but everything seemed to suddenly jump out of reach. They were plummeting too fast and there was nothing he could do to stop their descent.
A gasp left his lips as the air whistled past them. Deyna’s scream was the only thing they heard, it echoed in the enclosed space making his ears ring. Before he could make a conscious effort to stop his fall, his body hit hard earth. Unbearable pain exploded, his lips opened to scream but the sound never left them. Instead, he lost all conscious thought and fell into complete darkness.
j
CHAPTER FOUR
