He glanced back over his shoulder; the woods didn’t seem all that scary. Not as scary as losing to Mary. He was just letting his imagination run away with him. And, really, it wouldn’t be an epic win if he didn’t hide in the woods. Mustering up his courage, he took a quick breath, ran down the path and burst into the gloomy shades of the forest.
He stopped a few feet in to let his eyes adjust to the loss of light. The tree canopy blocked out most of the afternoon sun and the dense foliage seemed to muffle any sounds. He listened and realized he could no longer hear Mary’s voice. Grinning, he turned back towards the pasture and teased, “Which is worse, the scary forest or Mary’s voice? Mary’s voice is the winner!”
Laughing at his own, self-proclaimed, brilliant sense of humor, he turned back to the forest and his laughter stopped. The forest was still all around him. No birds chirping. No bugs humming. No wind blowing through the trees. A thin, nearly indiscernible mist floated over the ground and seemed to motion to him. The forest was waiting…for him.
He nearly took a step backwards. He nearly turned and ran. He nearly let Mary catch him. Until he heard the scream and he knew he had to go forward.
Chapter Two
Was it an innate sense of duty, being the next in line of the four generations of O’Reilly’s who had served as officers of the law? Was it merely an instinctual reaction as the oldest brother of three siblings, when you heard a child scream you followed? Or were there other forces, forces Sean didn’t understand, that pushed him through the dense forest and towards the sound of distress?
She’d only screamed once, but somehow that scream created an internal compass in Sean and he ran steadily, knowing he was going in the right direction. The leaves of the trees and the branches of the bushes slapped against his face and arms. The roots of the trees and the rocks on the ground caught at him, trying to trip him up at every turn, but he ran ahead, avoiding their traps. Sweat began to trickle down his forehead and bloom on the front and back of his t-shirt. He wiped his forearm across his face and continued on.
He slowed, instinctively, as he neared his destination knowing he needed to have the element of surprise on his side. Placing his feet carefully, one in front of the other, slowly against the ground, so leaves didn’t rustle and twigs did not snap, he moved forward to the edge of the grove. He could hear movement, but the foliage in front of him blocked his vision. Reaching forward, he grabbed hold of the blanket of leaves and pushed them aside.
It must be an ancient bear, he thought, as he stared at the back of the huge beast. The hide was shiny in spots, like the fur had worn away, but in other areas tufts of brown, black and silver hair grew thick and long, like a lion’s mane. It was standing upright and the thick muscles in its back confirmed its power.
He moved past the shelter of the trees, stepped into the clearing and saw her. She was probably his age, only her build was far more slender and she was taller, several inches taller than he. Some of her long red hair, which fell down to her waist, was now caught in the branches of a low-hanging tree and as she twisted and turned, trying to escape, the beast came closer.
Looking around for a weapon, he knelt and picked up a large stone. He stepped forward quickly, thinking only of the girl and his need to help. His foot came down on a small twig. “SNAP!”
It shouldn’t have sounded so loud. It shouldn’t have echoed through the forest. It shouldn’t have turned all of the attention towards him. But it did.
The beast turned slowly and Sean froze for a moment. He had never seen anything like it. It was a creature that hid in the darkest corners of your nightmares. Its head had the girth of a bull, with a boar-like snout with glistening sabre teeth and yellow reptilian eyes that zeroed in on Sean. He whipped the stone through the air, aiming for its eyes, but the stone merely bounced off and he thought he actually heard the creature chuckle.
Panicked, he scanned wildly around and finally saw the large tree limb on the ground. He dove, but the creature, surprisingly agile on its feet, followed. Sean grabbed hold of the limb at the same time the creature, with its talon-like fingernails grabbed hold of Sean’s other arm.
Sean screamed as he felt his flesh being scraped away from his arm. Twisting he swung the branch against the creatures head. Over and over he pounded away as the beast shook him. For a moment he thought he might win. The limb was large enough to knock the creature’s head to the side with each new blow. Sean felt a strange surge of endorphins and he gritted his teeth and put all of his power into the strike.
This time, the creature lost its footing and stumbled sideways. Sean cried with triumph and was ready to strike again when he felt a pinch on his arm. He turned and watched in horror to see one of the talons open and a narrow translucent bone-like needle burying itself into his arm. He struggled to pull it away, but the hold was too great. Striking blindly with the tree limb in his other hand, he watched the creature’s bone darken as black liquid ran through its hollow core and flowed into his arm.
“No!” he screamed and tried once again to pull away,
