Fire

Chapter 3

I normally like forests; they're fun places to walk, they seem peaceful, and they can be great places to get away and relax. This forest on the other hand is the dark forest you see in every horror film. As the four of us walked deeper into the forest it got darker until it seemed like the sun was about to set. On top of all this it felt like something was out there, lurking just beyond our senses.

David was the first to speak since entering the forest. "So Anthony," he said in a mocking voice, "what's your plan to pass this test?"

"I plan to follow to creek until the forest ends," I respond with a smirk. David looked at me with an annoyed look and stayed silent.

Madison came to his defense. "Stop with your attitude Anthony! You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Come on guys," Alice pleaded. "We need to work together and not let the forest tear us apart." Already it seems as though we were separating into groups. Madison and David each had a natural distrust for everything while Alice seemed to have faith in me. I don't blame the others for being scared; what happened to each of us in the past couple of hours doesn't seem real.I'm not afraid to say that I'm scared and would like to get out of here as soon as freaking possible. This could be a long journey is we don't learn to trust on another.  

We walked on a little faster after our discussion. The silence of the group was magnified through the silence of the forest, which made every other sound become magnified as well. The creek babbled and popped and could care less about what the outside world was doing. It's funny how the four of us are worried about losing our lives in this forest when many of the animals that live here always live like that. Nature can be cruel to the unequipped and unskilled; I just hope that we aren't among the them. 

The sun fell quickly as we made our journey. Strangely enough we had walked without anything happening. Where's the danger? I thought to myself. We should have at least seen something besides trees. As soon as I thought that the forest decided to comply with my thoughts.

"Do you guys hear that?" Madison whispered. The three of us looked at her. Madison's eyes widen and she started shaking violently. Slowly she pointed to the other side of the creek. I heard a crackling of leaves and turned to look where Madison had pointed. In the shadows there was a figure and the only definite features that could be seen were its large body and eyes. The eyes were the worst; you looked into them and all you saw was its rage and desire to kill. Shadows lingered on the creature as it crept into the light. The creature that revealed itself had fur as black as the shadows it crept from that covered the wolf- like body it had. Every muscle in its body bulged and twitched as it took a step. A deep rumbled erupted from the beast as it came to a halt. 

The four of us were paralyzed with fear as the creature approached from the shadows. It stared at us individually and took its time observing its prey. First it glared at David, then Madison, then Alice, and lastly, me. As the creatures gazed shifted to me dread arose within myself. It sensed to be analyzing me, trying to determine how best to end my life. During this time I made a stupid decision: I tried talking to it.

"Um... Hi," I croaked with no attempt to mask my fear. "So, are you a friendly little guy?" Madison, David, and Alice all looked at me with shocked expressions and the creature tilted its head as though it understood me. The creature shook its head and began lowering its body.

I yelled, "Everyone move!" as I drove to the ground pushing Madison down with me. David and Alice had both drove to either side of the group and only a fraction of a second later the beast went soaring over my head. The beast turned back around as it slid in order to face me and Madison. Lasers from David's machine gun and Alice's pistol peppered the sides of the beast. It shrugged off the gunfire as though it was only a nuisance. The beast lowered its head again and prepared to charge.