True Colors

Chapter 1: Carter

We were sitting around a fire, just the four of us. Well...three actually, because between Thomas and Holly, they had one complete brain. I mean seriously, those two are stupid. Jack, Thomas, Holly and I had came out here to the woods for the weekend, just to relax and get out of New York. We did this every year, just for the hell of it. No adult supervision, just a nice relaxing camping trip.Except this time, the forest seemed quieter. The only sounds were the laughter of my friends and the occasional snap of a twig as an animal walked through the woods. It was almost as if the woods were holding its breath, waiting for something. I mentioned this to Jack and he laughed, then said "Come on Carter, what are you scared of? I thought you came out here so you could have silence!" I gave him my best shut it look and went back to staring into the fire. The embers flew into the air, seemingly engulfed by the darkness of the woods, their quick appearance and even quicker dissapearance making me fidget on my chair. The contrast between the warm light of the fire in front of me and the cold darkness beyond did not help my nerves at all. Coming towards me at I gave him my best shut it look and went back to staring into the fire. The embers flew into the air, seemingly engulfed by the darkness of the woods, their quick appearance and even quicker dissapearance making me fidget on my chair. The contrast between the warm light of the fire in front of me and the cold darkness beyond did not help my nerves at all. Coming towards me at a request from Jack, Holly knelt down a little so she could be at the same height as me -she was short for a 13 year old- she asked what was wrong. When I didn't answer, she sighed and said "Why have you been so distant Carter? You used to always be bright and happy, but ever since that girl from school disappeared, you have been gloomy, as if there is a problem only you can see." She whispered in my ear "Look, I understand if you are worried about what happened to that girl, especially since you and her had been dating, and I understand if you are just worried about me instead, but don't you think you could enjoy yourself for just one night?" I shook my head yes and she left, without me having to say a single word. I decided to take her advice, so I looked up and said "Well, anyone want smore's?" Apparentaly that was the wrong thing to say, because just then, two embers from the fire floated up and stopped in place. At first, it wasn't that unsettling, but then I realized that everyone was looking at the "embers". Thats when I realized. "Uhhhhhhh......guys.......don't those look a lot like eyes?" I said slowly, with as little movement as possible. I instantly regretted opening my mouth, because as soon as I did, the temperature started rising, and our skin started steaming. Then the creature walked into the light of the fire. I saw it for only a moment, but that image was burned into my memory. Its skin was the color of the night itself, and its body was almost wolf-like, complete with the fur and everything. The only things that proved that it wasn't a wolf were its size, the horns on its head, and the eyes that seemed to radiate heat when they were pointed at you. My throat was swelling from the heat, and I barely had enough air in my lungs to squeeze out the word "RUN" loud enough for my companions to hear me. Since Holly was slow, I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder as Jack took off towards the edge of the woods, where a nice old couple lived. He must have had the same idea as me: get to the phone, call the police. As I started running after him, Holly started punching my back and yelling "Stop! Thomas needs our help!" I mentally cursed myself for being an idiot. Of course Holly would wait until we were all about to be killed by Clifford the Big Red Dog's psychotic brother to realize that she had feelings for Thomas. Even he knew that she had feelings for him, and he was usually the last person to figure out anything. So, once again cursing at myself, I turned around to see what kind of trouble Thomas was in. Oh boy, I'm so happy I did that! Ever seen your best friend swallowed whole by a demonic Fido? No? Well count yourself lucky. I took Holly off my shoulder and told her to run to find Jack. "But what about Thomas?" she cried. "Thomas is dead" I snapped at her. "Just like you will be if you don't leave." She looked me in the eyes and I could see the tears already flowing. "You are going to try and slow it down......aren't you....." she sobbed. I turned away from her and walked right up to the creature, who seemed to be watching us and smiling. I punched it in its big grinning snout and it reared back, looking shocked and amazed at the same time. Then it struck at me. Holly jumped in its way sending me and her sprawling as what appeared to be a small asteroid slammed into the creature, smashing it flatter than a pancake. Then I passed out. Things had gone far past my daily quota of wierd. Only later did I learn that the wierdness had just started.....

I woke up in a hospital room a while later. Standing above me was a guy in jeans, a dark red shirt, and a leather jacket. He was arguing with a nurse. I lifted my hand and the guy looked down at me. "Well, look who decided to wake the fuck up!" he said. I said something intelligent like "Hrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnghgggggggggg". He snickered and said "Yeah I agree with ya buddy. Whatever that thing was it did a fucking number on you." The nurse got tired of being ignored and walked out. Thats when the guy's face changed completely. Like, have you ever seen a bipolar mime? Yeah, that was the kind of vibe i was getting from him just then. He said "Why was it after you." Not as a question, as a statement. As if I new why the hell some insane ass dog had attacked me and my friends! "Never fucking mind," he said. "You probably can't really talk much right now. I sped up your healing a bit so we can get the fuck out of here sooner, but it uses some energy from the patient. I guess it took some energy from your vocal cords. You should be fine in close to two hours. I'll go check on your sister. Have the nurse come get me when you can talk. And do not say a word of what happened to anyone, you hear me?" He waited until I nodded my head, and then left.