Henry

Chapter 2

            “God damn it! There’re too many bugs out here!” Neil complained loud enough to echo around the clearing of trees we all resided in. His arms swatted here and there as he tried to prevent bugs from swarming his face.

            “Neil, I think it’s time you went to bed,” I said through gritted teeth, spooning some more sweet beans onto my plastic plate.

            “Why don’t we go to bed now, Neil darling? I’m pretty tired m’self,” Holly offered, standing up and holding her hand out to her husband.

            He rolled his eyes, took her hand, and followed her into the tent without even saying goodnight to Blake and me. I was praying that he would be in a better mood by tomorrow. Holly was going to make him go to my race that afternoon. Neither Neil nor Holly had ever watched me race on my horse. Neil had seen me a couple of times back on our parents’ farm but that wasn’t the NTRA. Apparently, they had never even seen me on TV, either.

            Blake got up and came next to me, placing his arm around my shoulders. “Beautiful and clear night, ain’t it?” he said as he stared up into the sky.

            “I haven’t gotten a damn chance to notice while dealing with all of Neil’s complainin’,” I whispered back, glancing at the four horses cuddled next to one another and eating the grass around them. “I swear to God… if Neil isn’t in a better mood by tomorrow, he can find his own way home while the rest of us get ready for my race.”

            “You should give him a break, doll,” Blake said. “He rarely loses a trial.”

            I rolled my eyes and played with a strand of my hair. “Hun, we see each other only once a year. He even refuses to meet on holidays! Pardon me for feeling a bit cheated when he shows up the one day a year we get to see each other and is grumpy. You know I have never met their daughter, Krystina? She was born before we even got together. I have no idea if she even knows I’m her aunt! They don’t even send pictures, so I have no idea how beautiful she is…”

            Blake was shaking his head in agreement. “I will admit that is pretty much the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. I’m gonna be her uncle soon, too. I can’t believe Holly hasn’t at least sent an up-to-date picture yet…

            “Alright, doll… I’m out of energy, I think. I’m gonna head into the tent. You comin’?”

            “I’ll be in in a few minutes. I think I’d like to just enjoy the silence and listen to the crickets chirp,” I whispered, taking the chance I had while I wasn’t afraid of the dark to enjoy some alone time.

            “Don’t be long, Aggie. You have a big day tomorrow and need your rest.” Blake climbed into the tent.

            The only sounds that I heard were the millions of crickets sounding all around the woods. Occasionally, I would hear a deer or elk purring and prancing past the campsite. But there was something that definitely caught my eye: not that far in the distance, there was something glowing—two somethings. They looked like eyes, but they were red. There was not an animal I knew that had red eyes. I was quick to assume it was just another camper a mile or so out.

            Instead of getting better, my situation only seemed to get eerier. Out of nowhere, the sound of the crickets completely ceased.  The woods became dead quiet. If someone were five miles away and called out for help, it could have been heard.

            I then, to my worst fear, heard a low growling that couldn’t have been that far away from the campsite. I looked around frantically and noticed that the two glowing red orbs had grown to a larger size, but had shrunk lower to the ground.