The Unknown

Chapter Eighteen

(Hunter's POV)
I'm just going to say this now.

I was terrified, and I could hardly control my shaking. I wanted to stop, and I wanted to see my mother's spirit again and apologize for letting my friends die. I let them down, just like I'd let her down. But I couldn't allow myself to show any of it. My pain was for me and only me to deal with, I wasn't going to give it to anyone else.

I wouldn't make anyone hurt like this. They were hurt enough without the responsibility of anyone else's safety. And no one else could take that responsibility on even if they tried. Kai was falling apart over Max's demise, and Kat was dealing with Kittai's sobbing. She was carrying her sister in one arm, holding her close, and dragging Kai along with the other as Kai cried and tried to get back to where we'd lost Max.

A part of me felt responsible for what had happened, I didn't watch enough and my friends suffered from it. But I couldn't show that.

I couldn't say anything about it, all I could say were little words to keep the others moving along with me.

This was the purest kind of torture, emotional turmoil was. I was struggling to prevent myself from breaking down, but I still had to keep an eye out for more danger.

And to make matters worse, as we walked I could hear low growls over Kittai's and Kai's crying. They never got closer, never got further away, they only stayed constant. The same distance from us, like the creature was stalking us.

It wanted us to be afraid. It wanted us to know it was there, it wasn't afraid of us but it knew that we were terrified of it.

It fed off of our fear, so it produced more of it through us.

As we walked, however, the trees began to thin out. There were less and less, until suddenly they opened up and stopped completely. I could see it ahead, but we weren't there yet.

The exit.

I sped up for only a second before I suddenly stopped with the others.

With the creature blocking it.