Her Beast

Chapter 7: You're not real

"Don't make me wait too long,"

Zac whispered in her ear, causing chills to run up her spine. He stood up and returned to the apples while Amber sat back down next to Zoey. An all-knowing grin pulled at her lips.

Jen and Brady eventually came back. They switched places with them and went out to enjoy the carnival. The sun was setting now, and the lights hung up flashed on, creating an orange glow around the festival. Amber and Zoey split from Zac as he said he wanted to get some food from one of the booths. Zoey rolled her eyes as he started flirting with a group of girls.

Zoey's steps faultered as they passed a familiar group. They snickered and made comments, comments they've been making all year.

"Look it's the beast girl."

"I wonder if it'll just take her this year. Oh right she made it up."

Zoey shifted her eyes to the ground. She tried to ignore them, but their taunts were hard to ignore.

Amber took a step away from her subtly but zoey noticed. Tears pricked her eyes but she blinked them away.

She felt eyes on for the rest of the time. Instead of the haunting feeling she usually felt, it was the townspeople watching her. Zoey tried to enjoy the festival, but she just couldn't.

Amber looked down at her phone as the groups of people thinned. "Ready to go find the Beast?"

Zoey swore her heart stopped beating, and her hands started to tremble. She had been dreading this the whole day. She was practically offering herself to him. He won't even have to go to town to get her. She was going to him.

Zoey hid her hands behind her back and nodded to Amber. They all met up back together at the Ambers parent's booth. She said goodbye to them, and the group headed to her car.

By now, Zoey's heart was pounding out her chest. Amber drove away from the festival and headed towards the north side of the woods. Which was near Zoey's house. Amber stopped in front of a familiar spot. Zoey's hiking trail.

They climbed out of the car, and Zoey looked towards the deep dark path. "W-what are we doing here? Don't most people go to the west side of town to look for the Beast?"

"Yes, that's why we're over here. Why would it be over where the people are?"

Zoey took a deep breath to settle her nerves as they ventured into the dark woods. The full moon was their only source of light at that moment. Familiar memories filled her head, and Zoey pulled out her phone and turned on her flashlight to avoid being left behind again.

Cool air scraped against her skin bringing a shiver down her spine. She gripped the cape, pulling it to cover her arms. It did little to protect her from the wind.

She could hear Amber and Brady joking around, trying to scare Jen. Zoey stayed in the back of the group, looking everywhere around her. She expected something to jump out from the trees. She felt sick with fear, and every sound arose her panic.

Zac turned around, noticing Zoey was a couple steps behind. He slowed down and walked next to her. Zoey kept her head turned slightly from him and kept her eyes on the darkness. She could feel his eyes on her. Since it was dark, he would only be able to see a little of her face illuminated by the moon.

"We should go explore the forest. Just the two of us," Zac whispered and nudged her in the side.

"What? No, we should stick together."

"Why? Are you scared?"

He taunted, but Zoey nodded. She wasn't ashamed to admit that she was frightened.