The Traveler

Chapter 2: The Moonlit Town

It was nearly midnight when Daniel and I left our old family home, old wooden chest in hand. The town was beautiful at night, if a bit eerie.

As Daniel and I were walking back to his manor, I noticed something quite odd, the thing that made the town seem so eerie at night. All the lights in the town were off. Not a single light was on, the moon the only thing to guide us on the cold winter night. A sense of unease began within me.

"Daniel, what's going on?" I whispered worriedly, my unease growing.

"I don't know, Alex," Daniel said, almost as if he was just as scared as I was. We looked above at the night sky, only to find the clouds moving, covering the moon and bathing the town in complete darkness. In the darkness, we saw something glowing. And the glowing almost looked like... eyes. My brother and I stilled, but my breath quickened. "Alex..."

"Yes Daniel?" I said, still clutching the old wooden chest close to me, attempting to slow my breathing.

"When I tell you to, I need you to run fast and far. Do you understand?" Daniel was still frozen, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his face. He looked worried. Terrified even. I'd never seen Daniel like that before, so I knew this had to be bad.

"But Dani-"

"Understood!?" Daniel interrupted in what sounded like a whisper yell. I nodded my head slightly in response. Daniel took a deep breath and slowly started walking around the beast, hoping it wouldn't hear his movements in the snow. I started to slowly make my way back towards our old home, hoping not to startle the wicked beast that stood mere feet from my current location. Then the beast moved. It moved so fast that I never saw it coming. I attempted to scream, but the sound was caught in my throat and all I could do was stand there, frozen in terror as the malicious beast made its way towards me. The beast was right on top of me, ready to eat me, its mouth foaming wildly. It moved its massive paw, claws at the ready.

I closed my eyes, not ready to witness my own demise through the bright red eyes of this monster. Then I heard a roar, and what I could only assume was Daniel grunting in pain. I snapped open my eyes, only to find Daniel covered in blood, the beast unmoving below him, as dead as the leaves of the winter trees. I dropped the wooden chest and ran over to him, hoping to stop him from falling into the cold, snowy ground below.

Blood, red as a fresh apple in the fall, spilled onto the ground where my brother stood, the beast at his feet, the crimson stark against the blinding white of the snow below. I couldn't tell whether or not the blood had come from the creature, or worse... my brother.

"Daniel? Are you alright?" I almost screamed in frustration and fear, so worried about my dear brother.

"I'm fin-" He coughed loudly, blood seeping through his teeth, dark in the night without a glimpse of light. " Don't worry about me, sweet sist-" Daniel coughed again, this time more blood escaping his lips as he fell heavily into my arms. The weight came so suddenly that I dropped him into the snow. I sank to my knees quickly and clutched him tightly.

"NO!" I exclaimed holding him as close as I could. "Don't close your eyes, Daniel, please! Please... please, I don't want to be alone. Not anymore." Tears trickled slowly down my cheeks, the tear drops falling and splashing lightly onto Daniel. As the tears came stronger than before (in a slow steady stream), I remembered the chest I had dropped earlier. I scrambled around in the snow wildly, digging my hands in to the snow to try and find it, but it was hopeless, as the snow was three feet deep now. So I tightened my grip on Daniel, for what was about to be the last time.

"It's alright Alex, really... I'm going to be fi-." Daniel trailed off lightly as he closed his eyes, the smallest of smiles left frozen on his face. My tears, dampening my cheeks, were swept away by the harsh wind that made my hair fly around crazily. I was ready to give up, until I saw it the chest atop the snow, mere feet from our current location. That damned chest! I laid Daniel in the snow as carefully as I could. I looked down at him for a brief moment, almost caught off guard at how... peaceful he looked. Almost as if he were sleeping. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts as I got up and ran to retrieve the chest I had dropped moments earlier. Once I had it, I opened it with all of my strength and ran back to Daniel.

I looked at Daniel, then back at the chest and what was inside. I reached in and pulled out a necklace. It wasn't a simple necklace by any means, for it held power beyond imagination, and for that reason I feared it. But Daniel had to survive. I couldn't be alone, not again. With shaky hands, I put the crimson necklace around Daniel's cold neck, hoping that this would work.

Suddenly, a beam of light shot up to the sky from the necklace. Stunned, I fell back into the snow. Everything went white. The moon shined brighter and the town shook from the force of the necklace's power.

Then everything went dark again, the only thing visible to me was the necklace around my brother's neck. I looked at in, scrambled back over to my brother. The tears stopped the moment I saw his face, his open eyes...

My eyes widened. He was alive again.