Middleton Woods {Ziall Horlik}

Chapter 1 {Screams}

A/N: All chapters will be in Zayn's point of view, unless otherwise stated :3 Enjoy!

Be aware this story is rated R and may be graphic.

I started slowly on my way down the path to the woods. I've been down this path so many times, I could lead you down it blindfolded.

This forest is my favorite place to go, when I'm upset, or need to clear my head. The birds are always chirping, and the sun slipping through the trees caresses my face gently, no matter how cold the temperature is.

But there has always been something slightly unsettling about this place. After sitting for a while, I can feel my skin start to crawl, a sixth sense most people have, alerting them something is wrong.

Gooseflesh claws its' way up my spine, causing me to shudder slightly. Usually it takes longer for this feeling to come. I've only been in the woods for a few minutes, not even to the clearing yet. I know that something odd lurks in the woods, and every time I come here, I get the creeps after a few hours.

I can usually sit here for long periods of time, sketching the trees and just letting the quiet envelope my senses. But today, I can tell something is wrong. Something bad is happening.

I can feel it.

Suddenly, I can feel eyes on my back, burning into me, looking into my soul. Nobody else knows of this place. I made sure I was alone before I came, nobody could have followed me.

Oh god.

I turn as quickly as possible, whipping around to face whatever is behind me.

Nothing.

The woods are completely empty, I am alone.

But I don't feel alone. That odd feeling is still there, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand. I take a few deep breaths and keep walking.

When I make it to the clearing I usually sit in, I can tell something is off. I look around as I approach the rock I sit on most days. When I get closer to the rock, something stops me dead in my tracks.

Bloody handprints, covering my rock. They form perfect imprints, all about the same size as my hand. I looks as though somebody is dying. There is too much blood, for this to just be from a trip on a root or a thorn caught in somebody's jeans. Something big, maybe a bear, caught a human. Jagged marks, made by a sharp object of some sort, almost like stab or slash marks are scattered around the prints. It looks like a knife of some sort, but I shake my head, telling myself it could be bear claw marks. That same shudder creeps up my spine again, and I stumble away from the rock, horror filling me up, and fear.

Fear, heavy like a lead in my veins, stops me in my tracks. This could be a murderer, and I am the first witness of evidence. This creepy scene reminds me of stories of haunted woods I was told as a child, the storytellers always said that when you go to the woods at dusk, the demons come for you.

As childish as it sounds, I am terrified. I am in the woods, just before dusk. The campfire stories seem to come alive, and I am trembling in fear.

I do not wait another moment, and before I can think, and am jogging down the path, not looking back. I am half way to the opening in the woods when the most terrifying sound I have ever heard reaches my ears.

A piercing scream of agony rips its way through the woods, echoing loudly, so loudly I think I can feel it rattling in my brain. The scream makes me freeze, my muscles tightening, my heart skipping a beat. I wait, tensing, for another sound to slash through the air.

Only a moment later, another high pitch wail comes from within the spot I was just near, followed by a low, terrorized moan. I feel every nerve in my body tensing, waiting for something horrible to jump out a rip me to shreds.