The Scare

Chapter three: Darcy?

*JALEN’S POV*

I trudged through the woods with no fear just to prove to Darcy that I was not scared and to show The Scare that his actions would not get to my head. All the rumors were childish and I was not going to let their words that were smothered in terror pull me from my goal. I am determined and nothing is going to stop me. A loud sound snapped me from my thoughts and I was brought back to reality. I looked around me to try to find the cause and found that I was completely alone… at least that was what I thought. The sound rang through my ears again, this time sounding closer and louder.

I have heard this noise before but it was not something I would ever want to hear again. It sounded just like when my brother Tom fell through the window of our tree house and hit almost every branch below breaking three bones in his leg, fracturing a bone in his elbow and causing a four inch gash above his right eye. The sound was breaking branches and bones. Why was I hearing that in the middle of the woods? What if it was Darcy? I shuttered at the thought and looked around at the towering trees around me. I never should have let her out of my sight. I was supposed to protect her! I yelled her name to just hear my desperate voice echo through the woods. Just as I was about to break down and run to find my best friend, something slimy rolled down my face and landed on the tip of my boot. I slowly raised my throbbing head and released all the air I had been keeping captive in my lungs in the form of a scream. My voice failed me and stopped the deafening noise escaping my mouth before I could finish.

What I saw on the branch above was the one thing I convinced myself to not be fearful of but at that moment, it was the only thing I feared. The beast had webbed feet covered in matted hair and dirt. It had a body of a gorilla but resembled a human figure. Its claws gripped the branch like a bird perched on a thin twig trying to balance. When I finally found the courage to move, I slowly picked up my foot and took a step back. The beast’s face snapped up at the sound of the ground beneath my feet and I was able to see his face. The glow from the moon showed a filthy smirk plastered beneath two golden eyes. All his features were covered in dry mud and black fuzz. I opened my mouth to let out another ear piercing scream but nothing came out. I found it impossible to breath and began to panic. My hands rushed up to my throat and I took one more glance up at the evil figure on the branch. It let out a noise that resembled a laugh and slid off the tree with ease. At this moment, I knew that one of us would not walk away.

I was becoming dizzy from the lack of oxygen and the world around me began to blur so I took all my strength and took a swing at The Scare. My hand stopped in mid-air when I felt a sharp pain in my neck directly below my Adam’s apple. I pulled my hand that was still wrapped around my neck away to see my blood dripping from it. The last thing I saw before my vision went blank was the monster examining his sharp nails covered in my blood with a smile on his wicked face.