The World Isn't Beautiful

Chapter 8 - Monsters

They continued driving down the road as Kon constantly looked behind them, making sure the shadow they had seen wasn't behind them. Kyu looked in her review mirror at the two children in the backseats of her car. A small smile formed on her lips as she continued driving.

Mei small hand held onto the sleeve on Kon's jacket, cherishing the comfort it gave her. Kon looked over to Mei, and looked into her eyes, giving a comforting smile, as if to say everything would be okay.

After driving for about five minutes, Kon saw a flash beside them, before calling out, "Look out!" Kyu swerved the car out of the way, to avoid whatever had jumped infringement of her car. They all screamed as they sharply turned, hitting a tree in the process.

Mei looked up, and saw the shadow. It looked like a man, but wasn't. He could have been nine feet tall, with long, lanky arms, but had defined muscles. She could see the long, staggering teeth that were in the creatures mouth. It was dripping blood and puss as it looked down at the car.

She took in the head of the creature. It wasn't a mans head, but a deer's skull, with long, pointy horns. Mei took in a breath, and let out a scream. She scrambled over to Konton, who wrapped his arms protectively around her.

Kyu looked at the creature in horror. Under her breath she whispered, "A-a wendigo?" Only having heard of the beast in the folklore her grandmother had told her as a child, Kyu had only thought the creature to be of fiction. A story told to keep children in line.

She frantically looked around for the children, relaxing a bit once she saw the two huddled together. She tensed up once again when she heard the high pitched, ear shattering scream of the giant beast before them, scrambling over to where the children were.

The Wendigo got down on all fours, sniffing the ground with it's boney head, as if it was tracking Kyu, Kon, and Mei. It creeped it way towards the car, gradually getting closer to where they hid.

As if fate was on their side, all of a sudden, a high pitched scream, similar to the shriek that the Wendigo let out just a moment ago, resounded throughout the woods. The Wendigo swiftly picked up it head, and turned towards the sound. A deep guttural scream came for the Wendigo's throat, as it turned to run off towards the other scream.

Konton turned to look at Mei, fear still in his eyes. Mei looked back at him, and looked as if she was about to cry. Kon tightened his arms around her, trying his best to comfort her.

Kyu turned her head towards the two children huddled into a corner of the car. Wiping off some sweat from her brow, and pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she crawled over to Kon and Mei, being careful not to step on any glass and cut her hand.

"A-are you ok guys? Nothing hurt? Bruised? Broken?" Kyu asked, checking over the kids for any injuries. Mei shook her head, insinuating that she was okay.

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit shaken up." Kon replied, trying to stand up on his somewhat shaky legs. He took hold of part of the chair, making himself sit upright in the seat, pulling up Mei in the process, still keeping him close to her.

"Ok then. Yeah. um. That was a bit crazy." Kyu said, shock evident in her voice.

"What should we do now?" Kon asked. Kyu just continued looking out the window, in the direction of where the Wendigo had run off. They all just sat in silence for a bit. No one speaking. No one daring to move. No one had anything to say anyway.

"I guess we should go to the next town? I mean, don't you guys have some parents to go home to? They must be worried sick right now. I mean, its just so late."

Kon and Mei locked eyes for a moment, frantically trying to come up with a valid story before Kyu caught on. Kyu looked back at the kids, almost confused.

"Well? You guys do have parents, right? Oh no! Don't tell me I picked up a bunch of juvenile delinquents! Was that some sort of trick that you just did? Are you gonna rob me now? Is that what this is?" Kyu began to rant.

"Nononono its nothing like that!" Kon exclaimed, shaking his head, "We... we ran away from home."

Kyu looked at the two, saying, "Why? I mean, you don't have to answer. I'm sure its for an important reason? It is for an important reason, right? I'm not harboring fugitives or anything?" Mei looked at her with a soft smile, shaking her head no. Kyu sighed, shaking her head.

"Well then," she said, "I guess we should get going?" Kyu smiled to the two teens in her back seat, turning around to be sitting forward in her car. "Hopefully the damn thing will still run" She muttered under her breath as she turned the key, starting the engine.

The engine roared to life, followed by the cheers of Kyu, "I knew nothing could kill this stupid car! I've been trying to find a reason to get rid of it for 2 years now!" Kon and Mei chuckled with her, as they pulled out, away from the tree they had previously rammed into.

As Kon, Mei, and Kyu drove off into the distance, Mei looked back at where they had been, not moments before. There stood two, tall, hunched over Wendigoes, snuffing the tree that they had crashed into. One of the Wendigo turned its head toward the retreating car, lifted it's head, and screamed so loud that Konton and Kyu heard it, and turned their heads toward the sound, eyes wide.

Without a word, Kyu pushed the accelerator, making the car go faster, increasing the distance between them and the monsters that stood behind them.