Jenna is reluctant to see us go, only feeling marginally better once we rest for a couple of days. The entire time we are there, she keeps us entertained. She seems to be thrilled over the prospect of me and Quinn being pregnant, often cooing when I let her feel my stomach whenever the baby is kicking. It's entertaining to say the least.
She tells us that we are half way to the safe haven, meaning that we should make it before I give birth. That's a huge relief, a weight being taken off of my shoulders. She reassures us that the place is completely isolated from outside threats, the people there welcoming, since they had all been runaways once. When asked how she knows all of this, she tells us about the time when she escaped from her own colony, once her older brother was arrested for teaching others about humans and their culture. After that, she had lost complete trust in her colony, and she had gotten out.
For a while she had stumbled around, not knowing where to go, but eventually, she had found Ariel. From there, she was able to make her way slowly to the safe haven, a place called Rays Park. This was only a few years ago, and I guess she still goes every once in a while to visit. I think all of us let out a collective sigh of relief at her words. It's been hard to find the mental strength to keep traveling to a place we don't even know.
Come early morning of our third day there, she hands us our freshly filled packs. She had put our now clean clothes that she has washed inside, along with more food and water. With one last hug, we leave, her watching us as we make our way back to the path, the rain drizzling as it has been doing since we started our journey.
Everything goes downhill from there.
At first, we hadn't thought too much of the sounds we heard in the forest around us. For the past month of traveling, nothing has come close to us on the trail, seeming to stay clear of our path. But really, we should have been paying more attention.
One minute, we are only hearing sounds of growling, and the next the creatures they belong to are upon us. The others are far ahead of us, Alex scouting out the trail ahead, while Braeden and Link just happen to be walking faster. I don't think they realized how far away they had gotten.
Quinn shrieks when something grabs his arm, and it is only my grip on his hand that keeps him from being pulled away completely.
Tightening my grip on him, I try not to let my fear over come me, and it is a hard feat. Because the creature trying to haul my best friend away is nothing I have ever seen before. Half of its face is gone, the skin sagging almost completely off. Its body is long, every limb seeming an impossible length, skin stretched tight over lean muscles. Its nails are digging into Quinn's arm, a growl slipping out of its lips as it gives him a vicious tug.
Both of us go stumbling, Quinn letting out a cry of pain as his shoulder threatens to pop from its socket.
"No, I got you," I say, and Quinn looks at me with fear in his eyes, tears streaming down his face.
The creature is fast and strong, something that it uses against us. Braeden manages to make it over to us, his arms wrapping around me, while Link tries to beat the creature with a dense stick. This just makes it angrier, and it snaps its arm at Link, catching him in the face. The wolf is thrown back a few feet, scratches going down the side of his face from the creature's claws.
"Oh god," Quinn cries, "Henley..."
"I got you," I repeat, my hand tightening around his. "I'm not letting you go."
The creature turns back to look over at us, its teeth bared. This time when it tugs on Quinn, Braeden loses his hold on me, and both me and Quinn are pulled off the path. The creature lets out a victorious snarl, before pulling us further into the trees.
I attempt to plant my feet into the ground, trying to stop the creature's progress, but it is to no avail. Branches slap me in my face, and I want nothing more to grab onto them. My fear that I would lose my grip on Quinn is too strong though, so I suffer the blows.
Our names are called, and I can hear the others chasing after us. Their voices become further away, though, as the creature drags us through the underbrush.
Quinn tries to rip his arm away but to no avail. Every time he tries, the beast just holds onto him tighter. Blood is starting to seep through his clawed up shirt, stains of dark red spreading over the fabric.
After what seems like forever- my heart pumping the entire time- the creature stops in front of a dark cave. It pushes us forward, before pulling something down over the front. A grid made of hard wood covers the entrance, trapping us inside. Quinn catches me as I stumble back, wrapping his arms around me as best he can as we watch the creature. It doesn't leave until there is a large pile of rocks sitting in front of the grating, making it impossible for us to push it out.
The creature lets out a satisfied huff before moving away, leaving us alone.
"Henley, what is that thing?" Quinn says, his breath leaving a white puff in the air.
Together we stumble to the ground, huddled together to try and fight the cold creeping under our torn jackets.
"I don't know." Looking around, I take in the cave we are trapped inside. "But we have to find a way out of here before it gets back."
Quinn gives a shaky nod of his head. It takes a lot of effort for me to stand up, now that I am closing in on thirty weeks pregnant. But I manage. The light streaming in from the entrance of the cave doesn't reach too far inside. With my hand on the wall, I walk further inside.
The stench back here is horrible, smelling like an over run sewer. Once I am about fifteen feet away from where Quinn is sitting, I reach the back wall. Something brushes across my face, making me startle in surprise. My hand reaches up, feeling my cheeks where the thing brushed me, a wetness spreading to my fingers.
The something comes back, hitting me square in the face this time, leaving behind the same wetness as before. Reaching out, I try to find whatever it is, and my fingers close around something hard, with a squish outside. Pulling it, I hear something crack before whatever is in my hand gives way.
Quickly I walk back over to the entrance so that I can see whatever I am holding better. Quinn startles when he sees me, using the wall to push himself up. On shaky legs he walks over to me, eyes wide as they sweep over my face.
"God, Henley, what did you do to yourself?" His hand comes up, brushing some of my hair away that is stuck to my face. "Did you run into something?"
"What?" I ask, confused by his questions. Quinn just steps closer, his hands running along my face.
My eyes fall down to the object in my hand, and I have to fight down the bile climbing up my throat. The thing drops from my hand, causing Quinn to follow my gaze.
"Is-is that a bone?" he says, voice climbing with fear.
Brushing my fingers across my face, I watch as they come away with blood, the stuff already started to cake to my skin.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," I say, a second before running over to the grating. My hands wrap around the thick wood as my stomach empties itself on the rocks outside, the copper stench of the blood on my skin only making it worse.
Quinn rubs my back, brushing my hair away from my face. Once my stomach is completely empty, he gently pulls me over to where he was sitting before. It is as far away as we can get from the stench of my sickness and the bone I had dropped.
"It- It's hunting us," I say, rubbing the back of my hand over my mouth. "There must be an entire skeleton with some flesh still attached hanging back there."
"Do you think it has been hunting us for a while?" he asks, his green eyes wide.
"Probably," I answer, using my jacket to rub the blood away from my face. "For at least a day or two. Waiting for us to get far enough behind the others so that it could take us easier. We're pregnant, clumsier, not as strong. Easy targets for the creature."
"Do you think the others are looking for us?" he asks finally collapsing against me.
"No doubt." I grab his hand with my own winding our fingers together. My other hand settles on my stomach, trying to comfort myself. "They'll come looking for us."
"What if they don't find us? Before that thing comes back?" he says, voice catching. "There is no way out of here, and we can't fight."
"I don't know," I whisper, hating those words. Never in my life have I liked not knowing the answer to a question, spending days at a time trying to find the truth behind the inquiry. But this time I really am not sure.
The creature had pulled us through the forest for hours, seeming to know its way through the trees. We, on the other hand, have been told to never wander off the path. It's too dangerous out here in the woods. Now, we are stuck in a cave, filled with bodies of the creature's past victims. There is no way for us to get out and a slim chance of the others finding us.
None of us know this forest. Who knows how long we will be stuck here? The creature hadn't seemed intent on feasting on us right away, and I hope it finds something else to eat while it is in the forest. Let it stay away from us for as long as possible.
"We're just gonna have to wait," I whisper.
Quinn whimpers against me, and I pull him closer. The air is getting colder, the wetness of our clothes becoming more uncomfortable as the adrenaline wears off. Winter is coming, quickly. Our clothes are torn to shreds from the creature's claws, and we have no way to stay warm.
Closing my eyes, I send out a silent prayer that the other will find us soon. Before we either die of hyperthermia or from the creature.
The skies outside crackle, thunder rolling closer as the rain starts to fall even harder. Let's just hope that the thunderstorm rolling in is not foreshadowing as to what is to come.