The Last Pureblood Erde

18. Fatal consequences (✔)

"Aah!" I screamed and stepped back, tripping over a stone but regained my balance before I could fall. I looked over the bushes where, now I knew, those birds hid. I picked up a stone at threw at the bushes. A huge group of them came out, echoing through the forest as their movement caused rustling. They flew over my head, only half a feet above. I bent on my knees and placed my hands over my head to protect myself.

As soon as they left, I heard the footsteps again. This time they were slow and laggard. I looked back for a moment and the next I was staring into a pair of silver orbs. For some reason, I didn't look back or ran, I stared right into them. I could not see the face of the person in the dark but the silver color was definitely making them stand out. I took a step to get closer and heard a snarl from the opposite direction. I looked and saw other silver eyes staring at me. It felt like they were trying to read me, penetrate me. I gulped as they proceeded further. They were predators but I wasn't ready to be their prey.

I ran towards in a safer direction. The trees were making it difficult to focus on one route. But on my mind, there was only one thing: save your life. Too much was happening and my mind was taking in nothing. I took out my phone again and called Brody, my footsteps never stopping. He didn't pick. "Shit," I cursed.

I looked back and breathed with relief on finding that those guys were not following me. Whoever they were, they were definitely creepy. I had to get out of here fast, but after finding those three. I slowed my pace and tried to call Mom but even she didn't pick. Now what had happened to her? I called the Millers and their phones were unreachable too.

I made a mistake, a terrible one by gluing my eyes to the phone and not looking ahead of me because the very next second I greeted the ground. I had lost counts of how many times I fell tonight. My body did not just stop when it made contact with the ground, rather it slipped. The forest got steep from here and gravity was pulling me. The ground seemed wet. The muddy soil stuck to my hands and my clothes. I clutched my phone tightly in one hand and placed the other on my pocket which now held the oeskas. My jaw was clenched tightly and I gritted my teeth to prevent any noise from the impact. If I screamed or shout, they would know and they would definitely find me again. I couldn't always run and hide.

My body came to a sudden halt before it was pushed again. Landing hard on my butt, I almost whimpered with the impact of force. This nightmare needed to end. Fast. The selfish part in me asked me to return and let them rot here but I knew better. They stood by me and I would stand by their side, no matter what. I was taught better than to leave my friends in danger.

I got up as I recovered from the shock and dusted off my clothes. I searched for any kind of injury and luckily there was none. What should I do now? I did not know the path and decided to walk straight ahead wherever the way led me to.

Although I had no injury, my body was still throbbing with pain. I took the support of the trees and moved very slowly. I didn't have much choice. I hoped that my ankle would not twist on the roots of the trees. I thought about climbing the tree and looking at the forest boundaries but dropped the idea when I saw its height and girth. It was impossible to climb that high with pain all over me. Besides, the idea was implausible and the darkness added to my problem.

Further, there was a canopy ahead of me. I breathed deep. What else did this forest hide? I had no enthusiasm for going in but I went after all I had no choice.

I stepped in and cringed a little when the leaves crunched loudly beneath, much louder than they did before. I kept walking. It was way too dark here. So, I turned on the flashlight of my phone – why did this idea not come before? – and hoped that I was not giving an open invitation to people to come and kill me. Suddenly I felt something drop down and go past my shoulder. I cursed but thanked my stars. Had it not fallen past my shoulder, I would be having another injury. I shrugged the thing off labeling it as an animal. But do animals or birds fall down the canopy like this? That was a pathetic thought.