ANEERAAH

Part 1

" Shit! Slow down man!" Liam's words slurred together as he leaned forward from the backseat, his breath heavy with alcohol.

Andrew looked at Liam smiled and then chuckled as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel, stepped on the gas as the car accelerated at a speed that was frightening for Liam. Their other two friends, John and Anna, were dead asleep and had no idea of what was happening. Andrew had completely lost it. It was like someone else was in control of him at the moment.

" I knew we shouldn't have crossed that sign board back there and it was so clear to not go beyond that point but you never listen Andrew, now we are in a forested area ," added Liam who at this time was running short on breathe being asthmatic. He rummaged through his bag, throwing everything on the car seat as he desperately searched for his inhaler.

“ I was just following the map on my phone and it says that the country club’s a few kilometers ahead.”

" I- Inha- Inhaler " uttered Liam struggling for his breathe.

" Hey, what's happening?" Andrew had come back to his senses only to find his friend desperately gasping for air but nothing was working. The man needed his inhaler immediately.

Panic surges through Andrew as he tried to hit the brakes but it seemed they had failed and the car was moving way too fast for him to even think of what to do.

"Ok man! If I can remember correctly it's either John or Anna who has your inhaler, they held it for you when you passed out at the club. So I need you to check both their bags while I try to stop this damn car," he added still trying to pull the brakes.

Liam reached for Anna's purse as fast as he could even though his vision was already getting blurry at this point. He was loosing consciousness. Luckily he managed to find his inhaler in Anna's purse and without wasting time immediately put it in his mouth and took two puffs. He finally was able to gasp some air in and was a bit relaxed but not for Andrew who on the other side was still trying to control his killer of a machine that wouldn't stop no matter what he did.

Suddenly, an unexplainable force that came from underneath threw the car off the road sending it flying across the air. It was suspended in the air for a few seconds, its tires spinning futilely as if trying to grasp the wind. The headlights blazed like twin beams of defiance against the darkening sky, illuminating the path of chaos it hard torn from the road below. In that brief moment of weightlessness, it seemed almost graceful until gravity asserted itself and with a shuddering lurch, the car descended, it's good aimed at a large tree looming ahead before finally colliding with it and turning into a whole wreckage.

The silence that followed was oppressive. Smoke billowed from the crumpled bonnet, shuttered glasses scattered all across the ground and tiny drops of blood. If one stumbled upon the scene would assume there wereno survivors but that wasn't the case.

The door to the driver's seat slowly opened as Andrew crawled out of the damaged car slowly.

" H-Help! L-Li-L..." Andrew then passed out on the cold ground.

*****
" Andrew! Andrew!" Anna called out giving him several soft slaps on his cheek with an attempt of waking him up and apparently it worked. The morning rays of the sun instantly struck his eyes enough for him to know it was daytime. He was up and about in a few seconds.

" W- What happened?" he asked trying to get a hold of himself before his eyes fell upon his wrecked car that lay below the large tree, " No- No- No-No! That car was still brand new I swear."

" Forget the car, where the hell are we?” Anna shot back directing her focus on Andrew who was the one who drove them there before getting into an accident.

" I don't know guys, something took over me and all I can remember is Liam having an asthmatic attack and the accident."

" And there is no cell reception here."

Liam came up to them, staring at he's hands and feet then the rest of his body. Confusion was etched all over his face and stared at his friends getting even more confused. " Why don't we have any scars yet we were just in a major accident?"

The others also checked themselves out and despite the wreckage, none of them had cuts or bruises.

As they stared at themselves they were suddenly stopped by a loud scream that they had to cover their ears with their hands. This went on for a few seconds before going silent again.

" What the heck was that?" asked Anna .

It was followed by what started as a faint vibration, like the murmur of a distant thunder but quickly grew into a resonant growl that seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at once. Whatever that was was something beyond their understanding. They couldn't comprehend what kind of animal could even make such a terrifying sound like that but all they knew was that they had to find their way out of there before nightfall.

“ I feel like we should just stay here and wait for any car to pass through,” said John getting up and standing on the roadside checking to see if he'll spot any cars.

“ It's useless! Don't bother because no car will pass by.” Liam crouched down before sitting to take a short rest.

“ And why say that?"

“ While both you and Anna were passed out and Andrew not in his right mind, we passed a sign. DANGER!! DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS POINT. And with the way Andy was speeding, that's now like a couple of kilometers from where we are.”

“Shit! Why did you even still go beyond that point if there was a warning?Well, we can't stay here after we've all heard that growl. Whatever animal that was seemed close and I'm not risking by staying here longer.”

Anna reached for her purse on the ground next to another large tree which had been thrown off the car during the impact. She opened it and was thoroughly searching for her phone which was nowhere to be found.

“Where the heck is it? I swear...” Her voice trailed off as she opened her eyes wide in fear and then it came again, the snapping of a twig or was it a branch. She shifted her gaze from her purse to the forest in time to catch a glimpse of something jump from one tree to another and disappear.

“ Guys! What the hell is that? She asked, her hand half buried into her purse as she froze just staring into the forest.

Andrew, John and Liam looking concerned all walked to where she stood and they too saw it and just stood there frozen, their hearts pounding. There in the forest amongst the trees stood a tall silhouette unnaturally still figure with no discernible features. The figure stood there for like a few seconds or so just staring at them before moving one step forward that brought the four friends back to their senses.

“ Oh Hell No!” Anna threw her purse down, pushed her friends out of her way and sprinted down the road.
The others were not far behind her. All four ran in the same direction, up the road hoping to come across the sign that Liam was talking about. The faster they run the more they felt that whatever that was back there was closing in on them .

“ Guys wait!” shouted Liam slowing down to catch a quick breath. He pulled out his inhaler and took a few puffs before been able to catch his breathe and talk properly.

“ What the heck was that thing?”

“ Well, we know for sure it isn't human or maybe someone's playing tricks on us,” answered Anna walking towards Liam,“ How far do you think we might be now from that sign?”

“ Not sure but let's keep moving.”

“ Is it me or was this road separating into two before we turned around to wait for Liam?" John stood there pointing to the road which had forked into two separate paths.

“ Impossible! I swear we didn't even make a single turn when coming here. The road was very straight,” answered Liam.

“ Shit?”'