The Path Of The Righteous

Running with the Beast

She was darting through the woods like a wild animal. She was having fun but was scared at the same time, so she was laughing but screaming at the same time. Raven looked behind her and her eyes grew wide as the unknown creature was behind her.
She came ripping around the tree ahead and slammed into something, screeching. "Oh shit!... Damn it!" She turned around and was grabbed. Raven thrashed around and realized the person.
"Easy! What the hell are you doing?!"
"We gotta get going! Riley! Come on!" She urged, grabbing his hand and pulling. He could tell she was rattled by something. Raven had a sense of fear in her voice. "Riley! Please!" Her chest heaved.
She pulled and once he heard something blundering through the dead and decaying leaves on the forest floor, he followed pursuit. She jumped over a log and turned to look back. Raven saw Riley running as well. Knowing it was a safer place, she took her pocket knife out and dug it into a tree trunk. She made her way up the tree gracefully and perched herself on a thick branch. Still holding the knife, she looked below to see Riley hiding in an abandon fox den.
Raven decided it was time to stop running. "Riley, stay there!"
The creature made a noise. He called out "What?!
Raven stood on the branch, whistling. The creature whipped around. She snapped a branch off above her and started sharpening it. Once satisfied she jumped to the next tree over, right above her best friend. "Use this if you run." She dropped the sharpened stick. The tip looked like it could slice skin with one pass.
Raven dropped down onto the creature's back, it screeched like an injured boar. She grit her teeth and stabbed it's shoulder. Riley and Raven often caught themselves in this predicament. They were always in danger with some sort of creature after school. Today was no different.
Raven was flung off. Riley threatened the creature with his stick. Raven huffed, flipping her long black hair out of the way. She ran and jumped on its back, only to be flung off again. She scraped her arm pretty good on a tree root.
Riley got up and swung the stick, as it snapped in half. Raven saw her blade glimmering in the sunlight. She dusted herself off before giving a whistle.
"Hey you big ugly hag! Want fresh meat? Here I am!" She yelled. She stomped her feet and got its attention. "Ooh, you are an ugly thing, aren't you?" She looked into its fogged over eyes, it's sharp teeth were stained with blood and gunk. It's skin was slimy and sleek. You could visibly see it's bones protruding from under its dark green, scaly skin. Its claws weren't any better than its teeth. And its awful shriek was haunting.
It charged at Raven and she bolted to the left. Making it run into a huge circle, Raven finally jumped onto its back again. She latched onto it, jumping into a tree, snapping off another huge branch. She jumped down and swung, hitting the nasty creature in the muzzle. She let out a victory noise and jumped on its back, jamming the branch into its teeth. The creature was over top of Riley, thrashing around and swinging it's claws. Riley had been scratch across his chest. She made it rear up and backwards before she let go and dug her thumbs into its eyes, stunning it. She was furious.
She snagged her knife and got off. Raven cried out "Riley!"
"I'm okay! Look out!" He got up, holding his chest. She was charged. It rammed it's bloody skull into her diaphragm and she was mowed over. Falling back, she wheezed for air. Reaching up, Raven grabbed an old rotting stick that gave away. Falling back down she gathered herself. The creature came back for more. Only this time Raven was trying to get up. She leaned against a tree and then huffed a couple of times. Riley watched his best friend's expression change drastically. She was filled with anger.
"I'm gonna... Gonna... Gut you like a fish! You nasty son of a-" she was cut off when it charged again. Riley intervened this time and surprisingly he took it down.
"Raven! Just go! Run!" He yelled back at her.
"No!" She yelled back at her best friend.
His voice sounded deeper and more... Animalistic. "Just go... JUST GO!" He sounded as if he growled.
She was rather scared. "No! I am NOT leaving you behind! Not again!" She persisted.
"Just go home!"
"No!" She screamed out. The earth around seemed as if it was shaking.

"Raven! Raven!"
She shook even more.
"Raven! Wake up!"
"No!" She screamed out, shooting upright. Her breathing was ragged. Looking around frantically she realized she had been asleep. All of that was just a dream. Raven felt relief flood all over her. She looked into familiar emerald eyes. Riley.
Raven looked at the time to see it was only 4:30 p.m. "You're okay!" She sighed and held his face in her hands, looking him over.
"What? What are you talking about?" He asked. He was sitting on the edge of her bed.
She sputtered "The-the dream! Ugh! It was fun, but awful! There was this thing and it was an ugly thing! We were attacked and you told me to leave and I didn't... You sounded so different! You growled... If that's the word that fits..."
His heart fell because of what she said. In her dream he had growled. She rambled on and on. He couldn't tell her what he was. He kept it secret for so long. Suddenly she jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Catching her, he held her.
He could hear her rapid heart beat, drumming against her ribcage. He felt her chest rise and fall with every breath she took. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, as she did the same to him. "Raven, it's okay."
"I know... But it felt so real! I couldn't leave you behind even if you told me to because I don't want you to get hurt! And I like to hug you because you're the best!"
Both chuckled.
Riley had the biggest crush on her ever since he learned what love was. Nobody could shake it either. No matter how many boys she gushed about, or even dated, he still loved her. She never knew it. Raven was in her own world, far, far away from his world.
She was still hugging him and he smiled. "Riley? You'd tell me everything, right?" She sat back and looked at him.
"Yes, I will tell you everything that came to mind." Not everything.
Both teens were sitting across from each other, holding gazes. Her pale blue eyes looked silver in the dim light of her lamp. She broke the silence and his gaze when she jumped off the bed and ran down the hall. "Come get me!" She challenged.
He watched as she sat on the railing of the staircase and slid down to the front door. She loved a good chase. He darted after her when she opened the front door and flew out the door like a bat out of hell.
He caught her halfway down the sidewalk. He picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. She was laughing at him and he walked back inside to her house. She was set down carefully.
"I won't break, you know." She spoke.
Looking at her, he said "Oh I know." She smiled and as he sat down she stretched out over top of him. She made a noise of boredom, which sounded like a dying whale, and she fixed her black hair up into a simple pony tail. He asked "Are you okay there?"
"No. I am bored as hell." His emerald eyes flicked across the room and he had seen a PlayStation 3.
"No video games." She simply said, sitting up.
"Alright then, I will cross that off the list." He chuckled. She looked around the room as well. She saw her acoustic guitar sitting in a chair. Immediately she got up and grabbed it. "Let's play guitar!"
"Ah, I suck." He said.
"No, you have a voice of a star! Come on!" She held her guitar out for him. "Play something by... Hmm... In This Moment!"
"Ah I can't sing like a girl. You can do that. I'll play." He said, taking the guitar in his own hands.
"Scarlet is the song I want to play." She said.
And they played and sang for hours.