Prologue
The
silver disc that was the crescent moon silently climbed its way into the night
sky as a whispering breeze beckoned through the mix of pines and oaks in the
autumn valley. The breeze soon grew to a
solid wind and the entity began to carry with it the dusting of leaves that had
collected on the soggy forest floor. The
wind swam through the trees as the decaying leaves smacked the sides of the trunks
and though they did their best, the forest eventually filtered out the leaves
as the lonesome wind slowly began to die out.
A
herd of ash-colored clouds began to huddle into the star-scattered sky as the
evening wore on, and the moon eventually became but a blot of light, dimmed and
blurred yet surprisingly out of place in the otherwise darkened valley. Far below the ominous heavens, a dirt path
that had collected pockets of mud cut a distinct path through the dampened
grasses and bushes that littered the forest debris. Somewhere along the path, headed gradually
downhill was a pair of young boys not much older than ten years of age. One was slightly taller than the other, yet
both were garbed in dirtied black and brown cloaks that allowed them to blend
in to the night.
Had
it not been for the lantern that the taller boy carried, the two would have
been completely invisible. Holstered
upon a long, frail pole rested a small, rectangular box that glowed yellow and
orange. With each step, the
Victorian-style lantern swung back and forth as the miniature flame within
flickered and danced wildly. Despite the
eerie silence of the night, the boys still couldn’t hear the flame as it silently
screamed and desperately tried to escape from its cage.
“How
much further is it?” the younger boy asked as a cloud of fog emanated from his
thin mouth as he spoke.
“Not
much,” the taller boy answered while he sniffed heavily and withdrew a wet
droplet that hung at the edge of his nostril back up into his sinus, “Maybe a
mile.”
“It’s
been dark for a while. You know we
shouldn’t be in the forest after dark,” the younger boy said.
“What,
are you afraid of the boogieman?” the
taller boy teased, poking the other boy’s ribs before laughing profusely.
“Stop
it, Nick, that isn’t funny” the shorter boy said sternly as his knees began to
shake and tremor.
“Don’t
tell me that you actually believe in any of that, Sam,” Nick replied,
“Grown-ups only tell us those things to scare us and make sure we eat our
vegetables and do our homework. None of
it is actually real.”
“But
my mom told me that a few years ago that a boy went missing near these woods,”
Sam refuted, lowering the hood on his cloak slightly.
“He
probably went off the trail or something,” Nick replied, “Just make sure you
don’t- fall off!”
With
that, the taller boy shoved the unsuspecting shorter boy off the trail and into
a patch of wet, dying bushes whose countless, tiny arms wrapped around and
clung to the boy.
Squirming
and thrashing about violently, Sam tore his clothing on the bushes as he screamed
and frantically tried to free himself from the lifeless grasp.
“Nick!
Help!!” he howled.
Nick
did nothing initially but cackle with laughter, barely holding onto the lantern
at times as he did.
Suddenly,
Nick saw a flash of red in the darkness where Sam struggled. His eyes widened and he immediately set the
lantern down, nearly breaking its cage.
“Sam,
calm down,” Nick told him as he tried setting his friend free from the thorns,
“Stop moving! It’s just a bush!”
With
Nick’s help, Sam slowly began to calm down and be set free from the plant’s
claws. As his breathing slowed, Sam rose
to his feet and began brushing himself off.
Nick noticed the tears in Sam’s clothing where the thorns had shredded
his cloaks and skin underneath. Sam
struggled to catch his breath in-between uncontrollable sobbing while Nick
helped dry his tears with his dirtied fingers.
“It’s
okay Sam, you’re okay,” Nick told him as he picked up the lantern once more and
noticed a slight crack in one of the glass panes, “I know you were scared, but
it wasn’t anything.”
“Why
would you do that?” Sam asked, wiping his eyes dry and finding his ability to
speak clearly once more.
Nick
pondered that question for a moment, staring out into space and getting lost in
his thoughts.
“Why
did I do that?” he thought to
himself, “Was it because I’m bigger? Was
it because I simply could?”
“I
don’t know,” Nick finally answered solemnly.
“I
was really scared, Nick,” Sam groaned as the two continued on their way once
more.
“There’s
nothing dangerous out here though,” Nick replied, “Nothing will hurt us.”
With
that, another wind suddenly pushed its way into the valley and through the
thick trees until it swept around the two boys.
The massive gale curled around their cloaks and tugged at their legs. The winds that blew over the valley also
pushed out the herds of blackened clouds overhead, bringing the full moon into
focus once more. The winds brought with
it a haunting howl that swam through the trees with ease. The haunting cry was immense and deep,
piercing the heavy cloaks of the boys and sending a lightning bolt of fear into
the core of the boys. They froze in
terror as the roar rose and fell like an alarm and as the blood rushed from
their veins. Their breathing halted as
the cold wind filled their lungs, and their skin quickly grew cold. With the last of the dying breeze, the
colossal howl ceased as well, yet an unsettling silence surrounded the duo.
“Run,”
Nick whispered, staring off into the darkness uphill where he sensed that the
danger originated.
Sam
suddenly took off, sprinting down the dirt path, further downhill into the
shadow yet Nick remained for a moment, holding the lantern with a shaky hand. Nick stood with his knees ready to buckle as
he peered into the distant darkness between the trees. He focused his attention to his ears which
perked up slightly as he heard a distant rustling.
The
blood dropped from his face and a flash of white came over him as the rustling
in the darkness swiftly grew closer and closer.
His legs and arms quivered while his impending doom ran closer towards
him. The sounds of rustling rose to a
fast-paced galloping mixed with a tearing apart of the bushes and small trees
until they suddenly stopped right before they came to Nick. There, in the midst of the fear and darkness
that Nick stood before were a pair of orange eyes that glowed with a furious,
bewitching glare that burned away at Nick’s mind. As his thoughts exited his mind, the pair of
orange gems narrowed as a frightening growl emanated from the darkness. The nearly invisible beast blew a thick smoke
from its lungs as it stared at the young boy who could do nothing but stare
back. Slowly, the beast stepped forward
from the darkness to reveal a gargantuan wolf with a slight humanoid physique. Though it stood on two legs, the beast seemed
to also use it’s two front arms topped with charcoal claws as support. It’s snout was curled and it’s dark nostrils
were flared. As the beast stepped closer
and closer towards Nick out of the darkness, it revealed more of it’s dark-grey
coat, littered with dirt and cuts.
Nick’s
shallow breathing had come to a full stop as the demon had come out of the brush
and onto the trail, it’s growling becoming more ferocious with each step. Nick stepped back as the monster suddenly
raised one of its claws to him. He took
a second step back and the colossal wolf roared as it swiped at the young
boy. The claws tore at his sleeve,
ripping cloth and flesh alike and sending the young boy spinning and flying to
the ground. As the boy fell, he lost
grip of the lantern which shattered upon impact with the ground.
The
candle within the lantern had finally escaped its cage and burst into a
miniature inferno before swiftly dying.
As the only light in the forest had died, only the bright, full moon
remained overhead, providing just enough light for Nick to see that the crimson
gushing from his arm had turned black.
Staring up at the beast that had come over him, the boy could see only
the silver outline of the demon’s fur, vaguely illuminated from the moonlight
and the pair of gems that rested in the beast’s eyes and that had grown bright
and piercing once more.
The
boy’s breathing halted once more as he clutched his wounded arm. With mouth agape in sheer terror, the boy
tightly closed his eyes.
“It’s
only a dream,” he told himself as he felt the thick arms of the brute grab him,
“It’s only a dream.”
Just
above the lacerations on his arm, Nick felt a fire tear into his shoulder as
the teeth sunk through his skin and into his flesh and bone. Screaming in agony, the boy had become
overwhelmed and his senses were lost.
His pain and terror seeped away and his mind became lost to the darkness
of his dreams.
