The Twilight Zone

Chapter 34

 The Scratch picked up a massive, metal blade. He trailed into the night, crunching leaves thundering beneath his feet.

He had business to take care of.

He continued through the woods, running right through the heaps of tangled bushes and weeds. Finally, he arrived. He perched within the branches of a tree and carefully watched the camp below.

*****

Ellie laid awake, the steady rhythm of outside noises keeping her awake, yet calm. It was funny how this place, full of beasts and criminals all the same, could ever make her feel somewhat at home.

Crack!

The noise woke Amelie. "What was that?" She grabbed a sharp stick off the ground, ready to attack.

The two girls set off into the woods to encounter whatever the noise was. As they drew closer, the night seemed to grow colder. An abyss of darkness enclosed them until a small light lit up in the distance.

"The lamppost," Ellie whispered, remembering her first encounter at the lamp.

The two stood next to it. The light flickered on and off until it turned off for good. The two sensed the presence of another in the dark. A small, familiar voice peeped from the shadows.

"Hello?" The thing stepped out, and it seemed innocently fierce, its red hair long and down in a tangled mess that, when it stepped out, made it seem almost like a lion's child. There was no denying who it was, the accent tinged differently than any of the people in the Twilight Zone, almost like it belonged here.

"Alex?" Amelie asked, her own voice trembling.

"Amelie, Ellie?" The girl sobbed, and all of a sudden it was too much, too much. Ellie crumbled to the floor and tried her best to stay grounded, even though she knew that she couldn't. Her hands clasped and unclasped, clenching, and suddenly the world

Went

Black.