The Darkness

The Chase

Chapter One

“Dude, chill! Nothing is gonna happen; or, are you scared of werewolves too?” Smirking, I teased Ted; who had been afraid of the dark, since his dad’s big incident.

“Man shut up!” Ted retorted nervously, “You’re too drunk to notice the trees around you, not to talk of noticing my fear.” He said as we walked through the woods “Douche bag!” he added more like an afterthought.

“Yeah right” I drawled sarcastically. “And you’re the douche bag!”

Ted ignored me. Tightening his arm around my side, he shrugged my arm around his shoulder. “I just don’t know why Mara had to throw the party at the beach.” He whined for the hundredth time. “It’s so far from the town; and I don’t understand why I just had to accept a stupid, drunk, IDIOT’S idea of gallivanting through Greenville’s deadliest woods, four hours till dawn.”

“Wow, now that you said it out loud; you sound more like the idiot.” I chuckled. “Seriously dude, calm down. Okay, you haven’t been to a real party in your life so I understand why you wouldn’t know that beach parties are the best. But in case you forgot, we don’t have a car, and if you haven't noticed we aren't that popular at school. So, the woods, is our only option if we want to get home. By the way, if you hadn’t followed me, you’d have lost the only friend you—” I hiccupped.

“This isn’t our only option! There’s a freaking highway; our mom’s café’s on it!” Ted scolded, pausing briefly to glare at me. “Know what, forget it. It’s of no use arguing with you. You’re stupidly drunk”

“Yeah.” I chuckled. 

Ted Osborn has been my only friend—and I guess that make him my best friend—since as far back as I can remember. He is a typical, textbook nerd. You can tell from just looking at him; from his dressing; his hair cut; the spontaneous brainy stuffs, he spontaneously talks about even when he knows you don’t understand—or give a damn about. Honestly, it was a miracle that I finally convinced him to switch his glasses for contacts.
I met Ted because, unfortunately, we both got our butts kicked regularly by Jeff Cluny, the bully. Yeah, that’s hard to believe right? The main character getting his butt kicked. Well believe it, that’s the cruel life of high school. I was a seventeen year old boy, who had a really hard time because of late puberty.  Ted’s family is a pretty messed up family but, they’re nice. Mrs. Osborn works with my mom at a café off Pinecreek road, and so did Molly Osborn before she disappeared. Ted’s older sister Molly can only be described as: smoking HOT!  Hence, she attracted a truck load of idiotic boys. So you should understand that it was hardly a surprise for anyone when she got knocked up in the eleventh grade. That’s how little Johnny joined humanity.  Molly eventually dropped out of school to raise her son; until one unforeseen afternoon; she left her son and disappeared from Greensville. Mr. Osborn on the other hand, has been the Greenville pariah since an upsetting incident six years ago. Back then, he’d claimed that he’d seen a werewolf in Greenpine woods.  No one believed him—but of course who would? It was ludicrous! (Great, I’m using Ted’s words.)—anyway, they all thought he was crazy; and immediately terminated any form of socialization with him. Mr. Osborn was instantly plunged into a world of mockery and disdain. His social life was disgraceful and now, he isolates himself to his house alone.

“Did you hear that?” Ted screamed clenching my arm tightly; his eyes darting in fear.

Of course I heard nothing. I was partially intoxicated. “Ted, calm down.” I said gently, trying to calm the scrawny little dude down.

Ted was such a wimp; he’d climb up a tree at the sound of ruffling leaves. Unfortunately for me, I needed his shoulder for support. I couldn’t let him have a panic attack over nothing; or I’d be left to stagger home alone.

“I bet it’s just some students making some very wrong choices; if you catch my drift.” I managed to smile, hoping my joke would ease his anxiety a bit. I had to admit though, the night was kinda spooky. I could vaguely hear the noise of animals, and I might have seen a pair of glowing eyes in a mass of untidy shrubbery. Then again, despite the glow of the moon, it was pretty dark; and my vision wasnt exactly perfect at the moment. I turned my head to Ted. He really was scared.
I could literally see the goose bumps on his grey, moon-colored, neck—or at least I think that’s what I saw. I sighed, bowing my head as he led me in the right direction. I was so exhausted, and sure wasn’t gonna give my stoned imagination the satisfaction of taunting me by looking around.

Ted went on about weird birds flying above us, the ominous looking full moon, and the sharp scent of fear in the air. At first I thought it was all a load of crap but then; I suddenly got a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Call it instincts, a hunch or accurate paranoia; but I felt that sudden tightening in my gut; something wasn’t right. Little did I know that, when this night expired, my life as I knew it, was going to end.  For some reason, even though my guts nagged me on some strange impending danger, I wasn’t afraid. Maybe it was because I was too high on booze to respond, or because I naturally hate being afraid. Ever since my dad was killed by a presumed wild animal in these very woods; I swore never to be scared again in order to protect my mom. Either way, Ted didn’t care. He was too frightened to notice my inappropriately calm demeanor.  

“I know you’re drunk but can you please step up a bit.” Ted whispered into my ear, still clenching my arm. “We need to get the hell out of this god-damn woods” At that moment my heart started pumping; maybe the fear oozing from Ted was finally rubbing off on me.  

“You’re right; but you’ve got to calm the hell down—”  

“M-m-iKe!” Ted trembled, his grip at my side and arm tightened. 

“God Ted! Put yourself together already!” I shouted a bit irritated now.

“L-l-look up!” Ted whispered. This time I was frustrated with him. I jerked my head up to see what was causing him to pee his pants, and froze. The creature lurking before us was one that I could have sworn only existed in movies.

“I really am drunk. I’m starting to see things.”

“ B-but I’m seeing it too.” Ted stuttered.

Instantly, I was truly aware of my situation; my senses seemed to clear too for I didn’t feel as exhausted and wonky as before. Ted let go of me and for the first time that night, I heard his voice loud and clear –

“Rrrrrruuuuuuunnnnnnn!!!!” I turned and ran for my life; Ted did the same, only much faster. Scared or not, adrenaline or not, I was still pretty intoxicated. As I ran, I noticed the beast behind me. I couldn’t make out its features because my vision was still a little hazy, but I was sure about one thing; its eyes glowed bright yellow. As I tried to escape my doom, I thought about my mom; the only person I love so much; about how I never lived my life because she would have died of devastation if anything bad happened to me. I thought about my sad social life; how I’d never even had sex or at least a girlfriend. As all these thoughts ran through my mind, I found myself, for the first time since my dad’s death, getting truly scared. My thoughts were interrupted abruptly as I tripped on a log. At first, it was all a blur, until my face hit the cold, hard, earth.  The pain that shot up my nose was excruciating but I managed to turn onto my back. Everything seemed to spin; the trees, the moon, even the birds Ted mentioned earlier. As I gradually drifted into unconsciousness, I felt the creature draw near. And as it touched me, my thought instantly changed –

“Crap, I’m dead!”

Author's note: hey guys,  here's another chapter. please read and comment. Thank you.