Animals

“Just so you know, I am haunting you first if I die.”

“Again, you are not dying tonight.”

“How do you know? You’re not psychic.” Kennah stated from a few paces behind Noah.

They had been walking in the woods for ten minutes and Kennah still refused to let go of her best friend’s hand. She began sweating not long after they began their journey to god knows where. The temperature had dropped to 30 degrees and she was blaming her sweat on her major anxiety of being in the dark forest.

"How much longer are we going to walk? We have to be able to find our way back out." Kennah trusted Noah with her life but that never stopped her from questioning certain actions, he wasn't exactly the smartest when it came to planning.

"Not much further. I read online that they like to be deep in the woods. Something about being one with nature." Noah said with a shrug. His hand tightened over hers as they walked over fallen trees and through bushes.

"Are you sure that isn't about actual wolves?" Kennah questioned as she tripped over a branch. She collided with Noah's side and if he wasn't holding her hand then she probably would have fell.

Noah looked from the almost black trees to his shorter best friend as she straightened herself out. "I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you." He said with a smile as he moved their joined hands back and forth between each other.

Kennah wanted to say something sarcastic but stopped herself when she saw how close they actually were. He was half a foot taller than her but their mouths were only three inches apart due to her now standing on a branch. Kennah had never thought of Noah in a romantic way but she would never deny that he was attractive, anyone could tell he was. But even if she did eventually have those kind of feelings for him she would never act on them, mainly because she was not willing to lose the long lasting friendship the two had. That was one of the few things in her life that she would never want to lose.

Noah cleared his throat after a moment and looked back to the forest. "We should probably keep going." He said, looking back down at Kennah.

"I think this is far enough." Kennah turned around to face the direction that they had come from, only to see the same darkness that was surrounding them. "I swear to god if you can't get us back into town I will castrate you, Henderson."

Noah waved his hand at his best friend’s empty threat. His other hand released hers to wipe the sweat onto his dark jeans. "Jesus, Kennah, you sweat enough for five people."

"It's not my fault I'm in the woods on a cold October night looking for deadly creatures!"

Noah turned around to face his best friend, only to see a rather large figure moving behind her. He squinted his eyes to see if he could get a better look at the creature that was obviously not human. "Kennah, do you trust me?"

Kennah noticed the boy’s expression and almost started hyperventilating. "More than anyone else." She knew that if something or someone was about to attack them, he would do anything in his power to make sure that she was safe before he was.

"Then don't move a muscle until I say."

"I don't think I'll have a problem with that." Kennah mumbled before closing her eyes. She hoped that if she closed her eyes hard enough then it would just be a dream gone wrong and she would wake up in her warm bed.

"I probably should have gone to the bathroom before we left." Noah said as he watched the figure move closer to the female. He was scared for Kennah's safety, he was not even concerned about his own.

"I swear if that is your version of trying to get my mind off the situation it is not helping!" Kennah desperately wanted to turn around and see what was behind her but she knew that if she moved then that would most likely trigger an attack if it was an animal.

Noah creeped to his best friend slowly, careful not to make a sound as he moved in by inch, holding his hand out for her to grab. "Trust me when I say that I wasn't trying to be funny."

Kennah took Noah's hand and looked into his eyes, which mirrored the same fear that hers did. "We are going to make a run for it, okay?" He asked her in a gentle tone, as if speaking in his regular voice would break her. Noah waited for some kind of confirmation from Kennah, and once she nodded her head slowly, he took off.

Of course Kennah knew that Noah was going to run. She just didn't realize that he would break out into a full on sprint right away. It was difficult for her to keep up since his legs were longer than hers but the adrenaline pumping through her kept her going, no matter how much trouble she had breathing after a short amount of time.

Noah kept glancing behind him, partly to make sure that Kennah was still with him and to see how much space there was between her and the huge creature chasing them. Noah wasn't even sure where they were running, he just wanted to lose the animal and try to find civilization but he was almost positive that they were running in the opposite direction of town and he knew that this forest goes on for miles. He had never regretted not listening to his best friend more than now.

Kennah made the mistake of looking behind her to see what exactly was chasing them. She could tell it wasn't a natural creature, it looked like it was almost half the size of an elephant. It had black, mangled fur and its eyes were blood red. It was gaining on her fast, she could tell even when she looked forward. Its growls got louder and she swore she could feel its foul breath on her neck, she could definitely smell it.

Kennah tripped on a branch, causing her to fall and lose her grip on Noah's hand. Noah stopped soon after he felt her hand slip from his grasp, he turned around to run back to her but stopped when he saw the huge canine standing over Kennah. He was frozen in shock, he couldn't think of what to do. For once he couldn't think of how to get out of a situation.

Kennah tried her best to get up before the animal reached her but when she looked behind and saw that it was standing over her legs, she froze for a split second before scrambling to get back on her feet.

"Hey!" Noah called in the direction of the creature, trying to get its attention off of his best friend. When it lowered its head to bite Kennah, he tried again. "Hey! You don't want her! It's me you want. I have more meat on my bones, she probably tastes terrible!" If they weren't in that current situation Kennah probably would have rolled her eyes and smacked Noah on the arm.

Noah's attempt didn't work but Kennah was on her feet and running towards the teenage boy, only to be bitten on the calf by the animal. Kennah screamed in pain as she dropped to the forest floor. It didn't feel like a regular bite, it felt like a hundred daggers piercing her skin and it was only getting worse.

Noah shot forward to aid his best friend, not caring that the animal was now standing over Kennah, drooling all over her sweater and jeans. As soon as Noah reached her, another canine-like creature came out of the thick trees. It wasn't as large but that didn't stop it from leaping onto the creature over Kennah, knocking it off of her and into the tree a few feet away.

Noah was about to put Kennah's arm around his neck to help her out of the forest when a figure came from the same place as the canine. Although this one was obviously a human, Noah was still hurrying to get Kennah away from the animal fight that was occurring less than five yards away. Kennah was too focused on the excruciating pain in her leg to pay attention to anything else.

"C'mon Kennah, we gotta get out of here." Noah rushed as the figure was getting closer to them.

"Hey, bring her here. I can help her!"