Nothing in the dark

Untitled Part 1

"There is nothing in the dark that isn't there in the light." Words of wisdom my grandmother told me as a kid. I found comfort in such simplicity. I love my grandmother dearly, but I disagree.

I was about seventeen at the time. A group of friends and I were sneaking into this park after dark. We were young, bored and restless. I don't know what we were doing that particular night, but it wasn't uncommon for us to do strange things.

Darius and Timmy were soldiers who were soon to deploy. Brenda and I were just kids, but we were in love. A love beyond our age, something poets scribe.

The parks darkness seemed to roll on forever. It wasn't the first time we entered the park after closing. Surrounding this park was acreage of woods in every direction. We stood in the center of the soccer field, one of many faculties of this huge, multi-purpose park. Above us was a network of stars, unlike anything I had ever seen. Every constellation imaginable was visible, mars too. Perhaps my memory is failing me, but I like to think we laid in the grass staring at them for hours.

A gentle breeze blew through the branches on the outskirts of the soccer field. The four of us talked about the future, speculating on things to come. A lot of big changes were coming our way, quickly. Graduation was around the corner, as was their deployment. Brenda was going on to college. Our lives were going in different directions, and we wanted to spend time together while we still could.

A noise erupted from a distance. We all shot up, looking at each other, terrified. Timmy and Darius leaped to their feet, defensively. It wasn't an everyday sound, not like a truck driving by or a dog barking. This, whatever this was, was louder and brasher. After the noise dissolved, even the crickets seemed to have run because the silence was biting.

"There's something out there," Darius whispered. His head was on a swivel, searching the woods. "That sounded like a growl, but it couldn't be." Hesitation riddled his voice.

Beyond the chain-link fence was a set of trees and his eyes stopped there, staring. My best friend froze, staring into the bushes. The hair on the back of my neck jolted, standing on end. Goosebumps raised on my arms as Darius stepped closer. The temperature on the soccer field seemed to drop ten degrees.

"We have to get out of here," Timmy added, suspending Darius with a hand across his chest.

Unlike the rest of the group, I didn't feel the same urgency. I couldn't see whatever was in the darkness. My girlfriend was quivering in my arms, afraid. It wasn't long before it moved positions, noisily. Leaves crushed under its feet, twigs snapped. The rest of the world seemed to be frozen. I couldn't hear the wind in the trees any longer.

"I lost it," Darius said. His eyes nervously bounced from one part of the woods to another.

"I don't know what that is, but it's best we go," my girlfriend added, pushing her way to the front of the group.

The soccer field seemed fifty times longer than it had when we walked to the center. Our group moved nervously, watching the trees, jumping at any noise. Our car in the parking lot seemed a million miles away. We walked slowly, stepping on the balls of our feet, nerves on fire.

Perhaps I was in a daze, but I didn't see anything and didn't know why we were running. In some ways, I wanted to stay behind, to confront whatever threat. I wouldn't pat myself on the back and call myself brave, just young and stupid.

There's something about being seventeen with a beautiful girl around. You feel invincible. I was at the back of the pack, staring into the woods, half walking, half waiting. I wanted to catch a glimpse of whatever it was. I wasn't going to run from it, or I didn't believe so at the moment. In that silly teenager brain, I thought I was going to slay the beast, like a fairy tale. Stubbornness and stupidity were going to prove something to Brenda. What, I wasn't sure.

When we returned to the car, they told me I was insane for walking slow. The backseat seemed smaller. The world outside seemed darker, everyone was terrified. Our hollow breaths were all I could make out in the stillness of the night.

"It could have eaten you," Brenda said.

"What?"

I couldn't deny the sounds, but I couldn't verify anything. Darius went on to tell me what he saw looked like a wolf, but bigger.

"Fierce, nasty teeth and dark eyes. It looked like something out of a horror movie," Darius told me.

"You should have seen it. That fucking thing was obnoxious. I'm surprised it didn't come onto the field," Timmy added. "I mean, it was only twen-"

"Shut up," Brenda shouted, nearly breaking my eardrum.

I hadn't noticed she was more shaken now than in the field. Her jaw was chattering, hands shaking. She was on the verge of puking or screaming, or both. She held me close, burying her face in my shoulder. When she pulled away, I noticed my shirt was wet. I held her, told her everything was alright.

We drove out as quickly as the car would go, not looking back. We laid rubber between that park and Darius's house.