Unhuman

A red mantis

I'm not that good with fight scenes so bare with me :')

plus blood warning >:D

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Oh crabapples...

The red praying mantis raised its right front leg and slashed at me. I instinctively jumped backwards missing death in an inch.

I immediately turned around to dash away from the beast into the forest with my bag on my shoulder. I ran through the thick trees hoping that the giant praying mantis would loose track of me. But of course, not everything works in my way.

I was still getting chased until I noticed a fallen down tree that was hollow on the inside. I slid down so that I was almost touching the ground and slid across the muddy ground right into the hollow tree. I made sure I wasn't seen and watched the praying mantis confusingly trudge around the tree.

I got to think fast, it wouldn't be long until it figured out where I am. I quickly opened my bag in search of something that could help me in this unexpected situation. I wasn't sure if I expected that I had something to help myself out of this mess. I took out my tennis racket that I brought with me to school just today, before I came to this place, before I stole the music box. I seemed so long ago.

The loud sound of crunching brought me out of my intruding thoughts. Just a little to my left was the edge of a huge claw (?) of the very beast I was running from. I raised it's arm taking the dry bark and some gravel with it.

I grabbed my tennis racket, my left palm above my right gripping the  handle of the racket with my life, and I did the stupidest thing my brain could possibly come up with. I ran out of my shelter right at the mantis blindly with no plan what so ever. 

I hacked at the mantis's lower legs in hopes of it doing some damage, but it only made it more annoyed with me and started to swipe at me with its front legs. I was able to dodge the strikes, I was starting to get a little hopeful, until one of its strikes hit me right in the stomach. 

I rammed straight into a trunk of a tree leaving me winded out. It felt as if all my bones shattered at the impact, leaving me helpless and tired. But for some reason I was able to stand back up, some of my pain washed away, leaving me dumbfounded. But unknowingly to me, my eyes had flashed blue. 

I knew I didn't have the power to physically hurt it especially with a tennis racket. I looked at the tree I had crashed into only to be met with a face full of vines that have oh so conveniently have been hanging from the tree behind me. Until I got an idea.

Of course in almost all the stereotypical movies the hero uses a rope to wrap the beast to defeat it, but in this case a vine that looked sturdy enough to do the job. I smirked.

I gripped the racket with my left hand and wrapped the vine around my right palm and looked straight at the mantis. It seemed to be waiting for me, which unnerved me.

It jumped straight at me, just like I predicted and I ran aside when it was in midair, causing it to crash headfirst to the tree which surprisingly stood still undamaged.

I quickly ran at it and went between its four lower legs making sure that the vine had untangled with them. I sprinted away from it making the vine tighten and not allowing the praying mantis to move its legs.

I climbed the tree that the mantis had crashed onto and was still recovering from, I jumped down and managed to entangle the vine all six legs together and at last tied the vine to the tree, effectively trapping the praying mantis.

I stared at my work and watching the creature move around helplessly. I knew it wouldn't be long until it chopped itself free, so I quickly went back and got my belongings and sprinted as fast as I could away from the scene making sure to avoid any clearings and stuck with the trees that are growing close to each other.

By now my legs feel numb and my back is hurting like mad, I dropped to the ground a good few miles away from the creature. I laid on the cold ground finally feeling safe. That was until I felt the strange burning feeling again making me turn around to face the earth.

I then saw the blood. It was oozing out my arms out no open wound, I felt the taste of iron in my mouth. I started to breathe heavily as the blood was getting into my lungs. I started seeing black at the corners of my eyes.

Something told me that it didn't have to with me crashing into that tree. I tried to stay awake, I really did. But the darkness overwhelmed me. And then I blacked out.

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How many times was Anne unconscious in this story. I should stop doing that...  I:/

Edit : I forgot to change the title of this one