SpinTales

Hot On Our Tails

Chapter 2

The night air was filled with the different melodies of chirping crickets and croaking frogs. The bubbling stream near the small campsite added to the tranquility of the darkness, and though most of the small group that had settled down for rest was already floating in the dream world, there were still two that were wide awake. Thadd got up to stretch his legs and make his patrol in the area when he noticed Dane on his side, but his eyes were wide open staring into the flames."Hey there, kid. Why aren't you asleep?" Thadd whispered towards the boy. Dane sat up and said, " I feel alittle uneasy. Do you sense anything around the area?" Thadd quirk an eyebrow thinking ' So he felt something, too. ', but not wanting to scare his younger companion, he responsed, "I sense alot of wildlife all around. Nothing really that stands out." Slight muttering was all that was heard before he saw the boy lay back down. "Try to get some rest, Dane. We have a long way to travel tommorrow." And with that, Dane closed his eyes to attempt to sleep. Thadd, however, continued to walk away and around the camp with all his senses straining. He felt another presence when Brodie first began he tale, but had dismissed it since there was nothing threatening about it. They weren't too far from the city and thought maybe it was someone passing through. He felt that presence again but it seemed to be fading away and at some distance already. He then turned his thoughts back to his friends story. 'A traveling diety with magical items he gives out at random. I'm sure there is more to it than that.' He made his was back after walking around in the almost blackness and saw that the flames were reduced to burning coals. He went to get more wood for the fire, the stopped abruptly. The hairs on the back of his neck began to stand as he saw in the distance upon the stream stood a tall, blackened figure with pale white eyes. He yelled out "Everybody, wake up!!!" And then he saw a pale white smile beginning to spread across the figures' face. It spread out almost too big for the face itself. At that point, everybody was up in arms, ready to battle then they saw the figure hover over the stream and begin to fade. Within seconds, all that was left to be seen were the eyes and creepy smile that faded after the body disappeared. "What the hell was that?!?!" They almost all shouted in unison. Brodie said, "Alright everyone! Stay together here at camp. Lucian and Alley, grab a light and follow me." And with that they began to run in the direction were the figure was once standing. "What are they doing?!" Shouted Dane, clearly terrified of what he saw. He turn towards the others and saw that the group weren't scared like he was. They were all in a fighting stances with weapons in hand. "If you plan on traveling with us , kid, you'd better work on those reflexes of yours and not be a baby about stuff like this." The girl with short dark purple hair stated. "But, Vaya..." "There's no buts about it. You know full and well that we seek out the supernatural to expose them to the real world. We seek the truth of legends of mystical beings and monsters. There will be times where we have to fight, so you'd better get used to this or you'll be heading back home." With that, he fell silent and turned back in the direction where his friends headed off. The small group began to busy themselves with various tasks of packing and such, just in case they have to leave.
"So these things of nightmares real?" Dane said. Thadd turned to him and said, "Yes. We've long since believed in monsters and such, and want to learn more about them, too. It's not everyday that we have this opportunity to come face to face with something of this nature, so we need to learn how to respond quickly, especially if it's evil and wants to take us out." The two girls in the group finished up the packing and sat before the fire to bring it back to an acceptable size. The two older guys who were there continued to check out the area. It seemed only Dane was the only one who felt out of place and continued staring at the direction of the stream.

"Watch out!! Its over here to the right!!" Yelled out Alley as she spotted the shadowy figure reappear almost directly by her side. She stopped instantly with her blades raised and found she couldn't move any more than that!! She stared into the face of nothingness as it grinned at her. It was unlike anything she had ever seen, and it chilled her to the bone the closer it got to her face. She could hear her friends calling her and rushing up from behind, then a sudden stillness occured, no sounds could be heard except the beating of their hearts. The shadow seemed to just hoover slightly off the ground and floated somewhere behind her. Both Lucian and Brodie struggled to break free of the invisible binds that captured them to no avail, and saw the creature glide over from Alley to where the were. It seemed that it was sizing both boys up, then drifted slowly back to their friend. It looked more at her for a time then began to fade again. When the clouds moved away from covering the moon, light spilled over the area and nothing was left but the feeling of being watched. After a bit more time pass they felt the presence disappear along with the binds and hurried towards one another not saying anything until they were close together. "That was horrible. Couldn't even budge from where we were standing." Said Lucian. "Did you feel how much power was in its aura, and yet it didn't try to attack us." Alley responded, "Yeah, it's like it was curious about us and didn't completely go away until it was able to study us for a bit. I think it was enjoying us chasing after it. Just like we were playing tag." Brodie frowned down. "I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't scared, however, I don't recall it feeling malicious, but that was a bit on the terrifying side." Sighing "Let's start heading back to camp. I'm sure the others are worried." The friends all agreed and started to make their way back when Lucian noticed something sitting in the tall grass to the left of him. As he stooped down he said, " Seems it left us with a parting gift." The others turned around to see Lucian straightening up with his hand out stretched towards them. In the center of his palm he held what appeared to be a tiny, transparent sphere, with smaller ones inside gradually decreasing in size with the smallest one the size if an ant. It had a faint glow to it, similar to the creatures eyes. He passed the object around so everyone can take a look. When Alley held it, the light became dimmer and the color changed to a pale blue. When she passed it to Brodie, its light began to glow brighter and the color changed to green. It began to crackle and the colors inside started to swirl about along with the mini globes within. Then the ground began to sink, and his balance gave away as darkness started to engulf his being. Just before he passed out he heard his friends screaming his name, and then darkness.

(To be continued)