MIK

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I awoke in the forest. It seemed to be before dawn as pink and orange covered the sky. I looked around, the sky had caused an abnormal hue on the forest. It was beautiful yet sickly. Like those over-saturated TVs in electronics stores. The movement caused sharp pains in my neck which triggered a wince from me. It was like my neck had been hacked open.

I brought my hand up to my neck, it strangely bore no wounds with only caked-on dried blood and some intense muscle ache. I had no idea what had attacked me last night however I knew it didn't belong in the Australian bush. Though I didn't see what attacked me, I felt it. Bulging muscles covered in fur with huge fangs. Australia wasn't home to anything that matched that description. I scanned the ground for any signs of its tracks but the gum trees had shed so many leaves, twigs and bark in the strong winds last night, they covered any indentations in the earth.

I had been spared though, I didn't know why or how, I wasn't going to waste this second chance. I needed to get out before that monster returned for me.

Frustrated and fearful I stood up, my body shaking with the emotions. My clothes were covered in blood and mud. A horrid combination that reeked like something dead. It was almost me. I had almost died but I didn't... I needed to get home before my parents woke up. It felt like early morning but I was bad at judging the time by looking at the sun so I needed to get back home as fast as I could. I would be safer there too, with walls and fences. The only thing was, which way was home?

I turned around a few times trying to get my bearings but I hadn't explored the forest too often. The police had blocked it off for years after that boy died, but the only thing they found in it was wallabies and parrots. I had an awful feeling that the boy might have been killed by whatever attacked me. But why did it let me live? And why don't I have any scars? Hundreds of questions pounded on my brain like a headache. But all I needed was to get to the road. I would be safe there. My sense of hearing suddenly seemed sharper and I could hear the sound of a car. It sounded so detailed like I could hear every single part of the engine all at once, yet it was so far away. I ran towards it, despite what I went through last night I was really fast. I had just woken up after sleeping the night on the ground yet my body was able to snap into action. Quite strange, I wasn't really an athletic type. I did play a few sports or rather I tried, however I've never been very good at them. Still, the newfound speed was a blessing to get out of this forest. The trees were looking at me, watching and recording. As if they were going to tell the beast that attacked me my exact location. If I moved fast maybe they wouldn't be able to keep track.

I wondered if someone had spiked my drink last night but when I brought my hand to my neck the crust of the blood felt so real. It flaked off my skin and crumbled into dust in my hand. No illusion could fake that. Still, I'd never seen that much blood, that wasn't in a movie. And it was all mine.

Even though I kept running, my stomach flipped at that thought. It was hard to process, like everything in this situation.

Suddenly I broke through the forest onto my road. Thank god for that. It must have been maybe 6 am because there were no cars on the street but there was movement in the houses. Like a criminal, I kept low and dashed to my garden and slipped between the rose bushes trying not to step on the twin flowers that dotted the garden that my mum loves so much. I snuck up to the window and hid beneath the window sill. I couldn't just walk in the front door, that would be too obvious and it would wake my parents up. The back door would do. I squeezed through the bushes and their branches poked my face and flicked into my mouth. Disgusting. I made it out of the bushes and walked up to the back door silently spitting out leaves. I tried the handle. Unlocked.

I opened and closed the door quietly and slunk off to my room. First things first, I needed a shower, I reeked like a swamp hag.

In the mirror, I saw my clothes all torn and bloody but the flesh on my neck, as it had felt, had no sign of any kind of wound. Which is kind of strange because it hurt like I had one. I didn't have time to muse over it though, there was still mud covering my body.