To Be Feared

01. || rocks

Tap. Tap. Tap.

In her bed, Lyra unwillingly opened her tired eyes as her slumber was cut off short.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She could hear the repetitive noise coming from her window, but she refused to investigate. She deducted that it was simply the wind shuddering her pane. Once again, she relaxed and shut her eyelids.

Thump!

Her heart suddenly stopped for a moment. That didn't sound like the wind. A heavy breath escaped her lips, and she gradually raised herself from her pillow. Shuffling out of her bed and pushing away the sheets, she made her way to the window. The blinds were closed, which made her feel even more uneasy since she was oblivious to what was outside. Her eyes glanced over to her phone on the drawer next to her. She slid her fingers to the "on" button. The bright screen light made her grimaced as she checked the time.

"1:25," she muttered inaudibly. "A.M."

Tap.

Lyra pinched one of the blind parts and lifted it to create a small opening for her eyes. Her pupils were in a frenzy as she desperately searched for the source of the sound. The trees were like statues. There wasn't any sign of movement. It seemed almost too muted outside. Perplexed, Lyra released her grip and backed away.

Thump!

Lyra paused and felt each individual hair on her arms stand. Once more, she lifted the parting and searched. It was different this time. She had a view of a person wearing a red hoodie, but she couldn't see their face.

Squinting her eyes, she adjusted her position until she saw a chin and a mouth. In addition, she was capable of seeing their arms. The thing she was most skeptical about, though, was their handful of rocks.

"Oh my God," Lyra mumbled. "Ace," she whispered to herself, almost irritated.

His face was in fine sight. Her longtime friend was probably paranoid over some article about monsters, again. Even though her tensions eased, she contained herself from rolling her eyes. It could have been worse, if she were to be honest. Her friend waved his arm in the air. She felt like she had no choice but to greet him outside. Grabbing her jacket and shoes, Lyra crept outside of her room.

Each footstep was almost silent. Her breath was held while she tiptoed past her parents' room and her aunt's room. The slightest sound could wake anyone up. Finally, after what felt like hours, she reached the stairs and made it to the front door.

Her careful fingers unlocked the latch. Her attempts to make as little noise as possible, to her surprise, were successful. Twisting the knob, Lyra slipped out of the house and gently closed the door behind her.

The night offered her a soft chill. She gasped for breath. Lyra took a few steps away from her house. Her raven hair blended well with the dark blue sky. The moon shone through the gray clouds who tried to block its light but failed. The night filled her mind with content and peace, oddly enough, instead of distress and fear. She had almost forgotten about the original plan to meet her friend.

"Boo."

Lyra's body froze for a spilt second until she realized Ace was cackling over her shoulder. Turning on her heels, Lyra furrowed her eyebrows at him. He was awfully cheerful at a time like this. Looking at his handful of rocks, her finger pointed at them.

"Oh, sorry. I was trying to get your attention, and my phone died, so I decided to throw some rocks up at your window," clarified a bouncy Ace. She couldn't tell if he was bouncing because of the cold or because he was completely overhyped. "I might have missed a few times."

Lyra blinked at him in confusion. "You couldn't have just waited until the morning at school?"

He shook his head. "Nope," he replied with his "p" popped. The corners of his mouth moved upwards to form a grin. It was clear that he wasn't sincerely apologetic for waking up Lyra.

"Are you high?" Lyra couldn't help but to ask.

He scoffed, "What? No."

She raised her eyebrows.

"Wh–Lyra, I'm not high. I'm never high," he reassured earnestly.

"Whatever," she sighed with a casual shrug and pouted lips.

Ace disregarded her obvious doubtfulness and proceeded to explain why he was in front of her house at 1am, as if there was a reasonable explanation.

"Okay, so I was researching online," Ace eagerly briefed.

"When are you not researching online," Lyra interrupted not so eagerly.

"Listen, there were these campers who stayed in the Valkrist Point woods, and one of them witnessed something, or someone, near their campsite." Ace said all this in a quick paced tone. His words were close together and his breaths in between were compressed. It was if he would die if he didn't construe.

"Okay, well, it could have been a bear. Calm down a little," Lyra frowned, concerned that Ace's obsession with the supernatural had gone overboard.

"No, no, no. It's different. This isn't some whack article," he promised. His hands were rapidly moving to explain furthermore. "Lyra, this article was on the Valkrist Point website. There is a whole investigation about it." Ace's excitement began to fade and his words unhurried. "Two out of the three campers are dead."

Taken aback, Lyra stared at Ace. Silence was shared between them. "Wait. You said that there is a whole investigation about it."

Ace ruffled his dark brown hair. "Yeah, like you implied, I'm always researching."

"Jokes aside. When did this happen?" she asked with a sense of anxiety. Part of her did not want to contain the answer, and the other part was too curious for her own good.

"Last night."

— —

1-07-17
a/n: hello friends thank you for reading the first chapter and not deciding to ditch the story after the first sentence!! i wrote over half of this and revised it late at night so sorry if there are any mistakes in spelling, grammar, or in general. also, i know the current cover is really bad i got inspired by teen wolf but it still needs some "oomph." for the time being though, i'll just stick to this one. anyway, i do hope you enjoy it so far and you continue reading whatever i have in store next. :^)
— nat