The Tiger and the Moth

Chapter 22

They went out of the front door and around the side to the back of the Crescent. They stood and watched the rain fall down, and they saw the smoke trail that led to the sky coming from the woods behind the hotel.

"Donald is a weird guy," Michael said. "You both should go alone."

"You can talk to him. You used to be close," Delilah said.

"Yeah with his son. Now when he sees me, he can barely look at my face. I think I remind him of his son," Michael said. The events were just like the dream Emily had. The weather is rainy and misty, and just the overall feeling. They walked in the grass until they reached the forest.

"I don't see a gate," Delilah said. Michael was looking around.

"It's gotta be further," Emily said. They started walking towards the smoke.

"I haven't gone here in years," Michael said. They continued to walk back towards the forest.

"Look!" Delilah pointed to something near a tree. It was a post of iron, and a couple of links between them.

"This must of been the gate," Delilah said.

"Yeah, it must of been. I could of swore it was still all there last time," Emily said.

"Last time?" Delilah said.

"Last time I was here... With my parents when I was little. I'm pretty sure I stay at the Crescent now that I think about it," Emily lied.

She looked around. The woods were dark and they heard cracks off in the distance. It was getting darker. The trees were denser, creating less sun and more shadows. Small branches were constantly falling from trees in the woods because of the rain. This made Emily's head turn at each noise.

"Come on, that's Donald's light," Michael said, pointing. They saw a window with a light, and they walked quickly towards it.

"Not too fast," Michael said. They walked more slowly. The house finally appeared. Delilah walks up the stairs and is about to knock when she gets pale.

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," Delilah said. She sat down at the steps, then froze in her catatonic state.

"Oh no!" Emily said. "Delilah!" She touched Delilah's shoulder, and Delilah woke up from it suddenly.

"Did that happen again?" Delilah said.

"Yeah," Emily said. "But only for a few moments."

"It doesn't smell like anything is burning," Michael said. "We should knock on his door, then get back. If we need to evacuate, then we shouldn't waste any time" Michael said.

He helped Delilah up.

"How about I talk to him. Why don't the two of you go back to the hotel and make sure everything is ready in case we need to evacuate too?" Michael said.

"Okay," Delilah said. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Michael said. Emily and Delilah started walking back. Emily put her arm around Delilah. Delilah seemed tired, and a little weak. When Emily turned around, she saw on the side of the house Michael bending down, and looking at something yellow floating in a pool of water.

Emily gasped. 
"What's wrong," Delilah asked.

"I think I forgot something, sorry I didn't mean to scare you," Emily said. They walked back and Emily could only think about what was under that yellow coat.

***

They were still walking back. Snails were attaching themselves to Emily and Delilah's boots.

"Ugh," Delilah said, stomping her feet.

"This feels too long to be walking back," Emily said. "Did we get turned around?"

"No this is the way. We came from this side, and I see it's lighter ahead, so we must be getting towards the hotel," Delilah said.

"I'm not sure-" Emily began.

"Sh!" Delilah said, putting a finger over her mouth. They both listened. From above, it sounded like rocks clanging together. They both held onto each other, and the umbrella. It began to rain snail shells in a matter of seconds. They bounced off the umbrella and down into the puddles at their feet.

"Did you hear something in the rocks? Right before it rained those shells?" Emily said.

Delilah nodded her head.

When they turned around, they lost sight of it.

"Michael?" Emily called out. They looked for Michael but couldn't find him. The image passed by again.

"Was that a mountain lion?" Emily asked.

Delilah's teeth started chattering. Emily put her arms around Delilah. They looked around them and continued to back into the woods. They started running towards the direction of the hotel.

They heard some branches cracking towards the house and stopped again. They stood and listened together with their arms wrapped around each other. Out from the large ferns was not a mountain lion, but a tiger.

"What!," Delilah whispered. Emily grabbed Delilah.

"We need to make a loud noise," Delilah said. Delilah threw her arms up and tried to make the deepest and loudest voice she could to scare them off. She waves her hands and swung the box full of black salt too. Emily did also.

"It's not working," Delilah said. "We need to run." They started running the other direction, back towards the house. Emily would turn around and look at it, feeling like it should of caught up to them already, but yet they were still ahead. They encountered rocks to climb over. The woods were filled with these rocks and had small trees growing out of them. It was the only way across was to follow this trail. Emily and Delilah could hear cars driving by on the other side.

"Why there were tigers here?" Emily said.

"Maybe the zoo was flooded," Delilah said. "We need to leave here now! We have to go over these rocks!" They ran over the rocks and could see the tiger leaping on the rocks with little effort. When Emily turned around again, she did see it but she could hear rocks moving. Emily and Delilah continued to go up the rocks and down the hill on the other side until they were away from the woods. They got to the street and kept running down it.

"Where's Michael?" Delilah said.

"He must still be at Donald's!" Emily said. They continued to run until they were out of breath. When they felt like they weren't being chased anymore, they looked around them. The neighborhood on this road was unusually quiet. They were finally out of downtown and surrounded by farm houses.