Immortal Creatures

At the corner of the lower marginal of the back door lied the splintered firewood. We three all had different tasks before we even began to go outside. Wesley went to go hunt for some comforters that were neatly stacked into the freshly cleaned closet that is located in the middle of the lower floor which divides the kitchen and living room. Layton cradled the wood into his chest heading out the back entry. I went into the living room where other unpacked boxes lied unoccupied onto the polished flooring. My Aunt April and Uncle Leon were spread out onto their air mattress, watching random movies on the portable DVD player. As April was hypnotized by the flashing images, Leon was the only one that spotted me ruffling around for my targeted item.

“What are you looking for sport?”

Opening the box that was labeled basement, I tried to spread out the piles of unnecessary junk.
“Hey Uncle Leo…have you seen that big flashlight you always use for whenever you are looking underneath your car? I’m trying to use it for outside to help set up a mini fire in the back.”
Floating his pointed finger, he aimed at the toolbox that sat isolated by the closet where Wesley grabbed the comforters. “It should be in the lower part of my toolbox.”

Eagerly to grasp onto the golden prize, I raced over unhooking the latch to open the bulky container.
“Go it!”

I dangled the flashlight on my side, letting the weight let it shift back and forth as I marched towards the black abyss. Shouting behind me my Uncle gave me a safe warning, “Don’t start a forest fire back there!”

As soon as I entered the dim sheet of nightfall, I was able to spot them both thanks to Wesley’s fair bright skin and reflecting golden strands. I pressed the rubber button with my thumb to give us a source of light to use so we can know exactly what we were doing. I aimed towards the old fire pit my Uncle had made years back and noticed it still good as new. The only thing that has changed was the green moss that latched on to the side of the faded red bricks. Layton stacked the firewood into a teepee formation, leading a piece of paper like a candle wick to give it a go. Lighting the end of the paper farthest away from the stacked planks, he started to feed it by adding more paper as the fire reached to the middle. We all shouted and jumped for joy as the flames started to dance wildly in a fast paced motion. The gray smoke started to fill up the skies, hiding the stars that disguised their selves as diamonds.

We were finally set around the camp fire with the thick cotton covers that covered our bottom half. Behind my home is the thick layer of trees that is spread hundreds of acres with wildlife. This small town is 75 percent forestry which makes it easy enough to get lost if you don’t know your way around. The cool air made the hairs stand on my soft skin as the wind started to blow; trying to make us retreat back inside. My entire body shuffled as the sharp cool chill traveled from head to toe, making me overlap my arms on top of each other across my chest. Layton noticed that the both of us light weight girls and stood up on the opposite side of the flames.

“We should explore the woods to warm up.”

Wesley and I both looked at each other in disbelief and aimed into Layton’s eyes as if he was crazy. I jolted up continuing to lock my arms together trying to keep my teeth from chattering from lack of body heat. “Are you nuts, its pitch black outside?”

“Oh come on, I think I’m big enough to protect you guys,” Layton said as he puffed out his muscular chest.

Picking up her body from the ground Wesley joined in my stubborn stance and began to laugh, “You…protect us…this I got to see.”

Offended by Wesley’s statement, he shoved his hands forcefully into his cargo short pockets turn towards the tall evergreen giants. “Fine, don’t come…I’ll just go by myself.”

I chewed the insides of my cheeks as I tried to call his bluff to hope he would turn around so we all could laugh about how stupid his idea was, but like always he wanted to be the stubborn one. He continued to pace until his body disappeared into the shadows. Wesley and I stood like statues as we waited for him to turn back for us. As I knew he was going to get what he wanted, my feet started to head towards the last visibility I had of him. Wesley quickly grabbed the inside of my arm pleading me not to go any further.

“You can’t be serious going after him are you, he’s just going to give you a scare…he’ll be back.”
I place my spare hand that was free from her gripped to release her hand from the opposite, “Stay here, it’ll be fine.”

Feeling hopeless, she surrendered herself walking backwards to the backdoor entryway. “Be careful Mona.”

I nod my head as the big gulp of air sat in my chest as I turned around to continue. The more I saw my shadow get weaker from the lack of light, the more my body started to tremble. For some reason this forest is making my skin crawl like never before. At the borderline of the forestry entry, I looked back at the scared Wesley from afar then slowly I picked one foot up and dropped it into the greenery. The crisp pine needles crunched underneath the rubber padding of my shoes as the only light I had left was the source of the silver light in the dark sky. As my eyes started to strain trying to look into the darkness for Layton, I started to get discourage. I haven’t even noticed that I have gotten deeper into the woods. Too busy trying to look for him, I wasn’t able to keep track of where I was going. Being in these woods frightened me as I stood in the middle of darkness. Even my heart wanted to try to escape from my body chamber. Tracing my fingers onto the pointy green needles, I started to hear rustling sounds coming from behind me. I sharply turned my head towards the source of the sound to only find nothing. Thick layers of spit clogged my throat as I repeatedly said in my head “It’s nothing” over and over again.

As my body started to calm down enough for me to start moving again, I began the way I was heading before I was alerted. Again, I slowly pointed out my leg to move a tiny step until I heard the noise again. This time it came all around as if what was making the sound was circling me. I felt like a helpless deer getting ready to get mauled by a mountain lion. Knowing I couldn’t take anymore more of listening to the frightening sounds, I bolted into god knows where. In my throat was a boulder that prevented for me to scream for help as I continued to run as hard as I could. Not aware of my surroundings, the front edges of my shoe caught onto a loose tree root. My knees fell hard to the ground which caused my knees to shoot up in pain. High pitch screams echoed into the middle of nowhere as I held myself on all for limbs. I tried to control my breathing since my ribs hurt from abusing my lungs from a long panicky run until I heard a crucial low growl. Picking my head up slowly, I see a huge animal eying me down like a piece of meat.

I couldn’t figure out what it exactly was since its form made no since to the sound it had made. It was as tall as a grizzly bear, but had wiry long silver fur. The growls reminded of a dog; or maybe a wolf. My heart dropped as the creature began to slowly approach me, drooling its slimy saliva on the sides of its mouth. I closed my eyes tight shut as I dug my fingers into the hard dirt, hoping my fear will die down a little for the creature to lose interest. My eyes didn’t see what was going on, but I could feel the creature walk beside me because the ground shook harder every step it made. Then, the footsteps stopped; the creature blew mucky hot air into the side of my face causing condensation to drip down my cheeks. It sniffed me for a good minute then, like I hoped, walked away without a sound.