Cursed Woods

Prologue

Dark Mountains Resort, Calgary.
Monday, June 19, 2014, 11:50 pm, seven hours until daylight.


Moonlight shone down as a lone figure walked down the path up towards the resort, mud squelched beneath their steel-toed boots as they trekked on. The man lifted his arm over his face to stop the wind from hitting his face. Why is this wind getting so violent all of a sudden? He thought to himself, removing his arm once the wind subsided. Little known to him that he was being watched by something.
The man zipped up his black jacket the rest of the way and adjusted his black Budweiser baseball cap, that held down his wavy brown hair. Good god, it's cold out. I wonder where Sarah and Sean went. Suddenly he tripped falling face first towards the ground. Sticking out his hands, he stopped his fall, but his knees hit the mud. Sighing he got to his feet and tried to rub the mud off his pair of jeans but to no avail. " Oh great", he muttered. "Sarah's going to have my head from this".
Suddenly off to his right a branch snapped. He jerked his head towards the sound and waited for a second. No one or animal appeared. That's funny, he thought. It was almost like something was watching him. He gave a shrug of his shoulders, before he continued down the trail. He jumped as another branch snapped. Get a hold of yourself, Justin, he told himself. There's nothing there. It's just the wind playing with the tree branches.
Suddenly an inhuman growl sounded in the forest beside him. Justin stiffened, his eyes scanning the shadowy forest. What the heck is that? That's not an animal I've heard before.
His blood froze in his veins as he spotted a pair of glowing red eyes. The moon light suddenly shone down on it and he wished that it hadn't. It was big, about three or four feet high and stood on two legs. It was pure black in color and it's glowing red eyes had nothing on the fangs that protruded from its mouth. That's a.... No it can't be. It was a wolf, but it resembled a human. Moonlight gleamed on its four inch claws.
Justin started to shake, as the beast locked gazes with him, but then a cloud covered the moon, surrounding it in darkness. Justin stood frozen as the moon shone down again and there was nothing there. He let a breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding. Was that a werewolf? He shook his head. You watch too many horror movies, he told himself. You let your imagination run away from you. It was probably a deer or a beer.
Shaking his head once more, Justin continued up the path towards the resort. Hopefully Sarah and Sean are already there. The pine trees cast shadows down on him as he walked. It felt like they were trying to hide him from something, but there wasn't any need to hide, was there?
He froze in his tracks as he heard what sounded like footsteps behind him. He turned around but there wasn't anything there. Seriously, he told himself. I need to cut back on the horror movies.
Shrugging his shoulders, he moved on. The sound of footsteps behind him continued. He broke into a run and so did the footsteps. Dodging tree branches and leaping over fallen logs, he raced into the forest, hoping to shake off his pursuer.
"Justin!" a female voice called. "I was just kidding! Come back!"
He stopped in his tracks and turned around. There stood his girlfriend. She was out of breath and her blond hair hung down past her face as she doubled over panting. I should have known, he told himself.
"What the hell, Sarah?" he demanded. "I thought someone was out to kill me. I thought that you and Sean went ahead."
Sarah straightened up. Her orange sweater stood out in the colors of brown and green surrounding them. Her gray pants had a little mud on them near her shoes, but other than that they were clean. Her blue eyes twinkled mischief.
"Oh, come on", she laughed. " Me, hurt you? Please. Sean and I did go ahead but when we realized that you were taking your dear sweet time. I came back to get you".
Justin rolled his eyes. "Next time, can you please not do that?"
Sarah smiled. "Fine. Chicken".
Justin sighed trying to get his heart rate back down. It wasn't good for his heart to be scared like that. I should have guessed that she'd come up with something to scare me since on the way here, I scared the life out of her on the way there. He'd told them that he was going ahead but instead hid in the forest while they were on their way up. When Sarah was about to pass his hiding spot, he jumped out at her and she screamed, before scolding him and telling him that she'd get him back.
A howl echoes through the forest. Oh great, wolves. What next? Tigers? Justin passed her and walked out on to the beaten path. Turning around, he watched as she stepped out of the woods. Her blond haired waved in the wind, even though most of it was in a messy ponytail.
"Brrr", she observed. "It's colder out here than it is in the woods".
"That's because the trees and fallen logs act like a wind breaker so most of the wind doesn't reach in too far".
"Look at you, Mr. Nature person", she mocked. " It's bad enough that I can't get you to go camping but when we go to the lodge you're so... What's the word I'm looking for? Knowledgeable."
Justin locked his blue eyes on her hers. "I love camping. You just never asked me if I wanted to go".
"Bullshit", she snapped. "I ask you all the time. You always say that camping at a friend's house or in our yard isn't something that interests you".
"That's because we're not really out in the woods", he stated. "We're in familiar territory. Woods like these are unfamiliar territory. I'd love to go camping in woods like these anytime".
"Alright then", she said. "Next time, we go camping we'll go out into the these so called "woods" that you speak of".
Justin shook his head at the thought. Taking her to the woods would be the biggest mistake that he'd ever make in his life. He wasn't the kind of idiot to take a city girl into the woods. That was just a disaster waiting to happen. Especially means that she was so attached to her phone and electronics.
"Come on. Let's go before Sean calls the police looking for us", Justin advised. Sarah gave a nod of her head, before she walked past him on her way up the trail. Oh stay mad at me all you like, he thought irritably. I'm so sick of that routine.
He started forward but stopped as several twigs snapped under something big. Is it a bear? He turned towards the woods and his eyes widened. A pair of red eyes started at him. It wasn't my imagination, he realized. It was real.
He took a step back as the eyes drew closer towards him. He gazed up the trail and realized that he could see Sarah walking. So it wasn't her. Sean was already up at the lodge so it wasn't him either. Oh shit, he thought as the eyes drew closer. Justin spun around and broke into a full out run. Branches snapping and mud sliding told him that whatever it was. It was in pursuit.
"RUN!" he shouted, drawing closer to her. "Sarah, run!"
Sarah took a look behind her and her eyes widened in fear before she started to sprint. He caught up to her with ease. He could hear her breath catching in her throat as whatever it was pursed them. What the hell is that thing? It looked like a cross between a wolf and a human. Was it a werewolf? He shook his head in exasperation at the thought. Now you really have been watching too many horror movies. This was real and it was a life or death situation. Not a movie that you watched from the comfort of your television screen at home.
Justin risked a glance behind him and realized that it had disappeared, but he wasn't taking any chances. He kept running with her at his side. The lights from the cabin came into view but not before a cry of agony echoed into the air. Justin skidded to a halt, he grabbed hold of Sarah's arm before she could fully make it to the cabin.
"What the hell are you doing?!" she demanded. "That thing is chasing us and the only safe spot is in the cabin".
"How do you know that it didn't already get in the cabin?" he questioned. "It's just you, me and Sean up here and if you're hard of hearing, didn't you hear that scream?"
Sarah's eyes flashed with anger. "I'm not hard of hearing. I heard it but I wish that I could have unheard it. Please, tell me that we're not going to investigate what it was?"
Justin gave a nod of his head. "That's exactly what we're going to do".
Sarah heaved a sigh. "I knew you were going to say that. Oh, alright. Let's get this over with".
Justin slowed walked to the side of the house and peeked around. Near the generator, a flashlight lay on the ground. Scanning the trees, he watched for whatever it was. It could be a trap, he told himself. What animal do you know of that's that smart? he asked himself.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he gripped Sarah's hand in his own and they made their way over to the generator. Sarah took one look, before turning her head away to vomit.
Blood spattered over generator and the lense of the flashlight but that wasn't the sick part. A pool of blood lay on the ground, turning the ground, brownish red. But what caught their attention the most was the blood coated piece of Sean's white coat that lay in the ground. A trail of blood lead away into the woods.
He stiffened as he heard a growl behind them. Spinning around, his heart jumped to his throat. There stood not one but at the very least three or four of the human wolf hybrids. A white one was coated in blood and a piece of Sean's white coat was caught between its razor sharp teeth.
So it was that one? he observed. It's not the one from earlier. The one he had seen earlier was black with red eyes not white with glowing yellow eyes.
Justin pulled Sarah close to him as the human-wolfs advanced. He closed his eyes for a moment. "What are we going to do, Justin?" Sarah's frightened voice asked.
There was only one option that he could think of and that would lead to certain death whichever way you looked at it. Make a run for it.
"Run for it", he said softly. Sarah looked at him like he was crazy but didn't complain. Justin gently tugged her arm, which told her to move. Letting go of her arm, she sprinted off. One of the hybrids moved closer and Justin blocked their way. He let out a grunt of pain as one of the human-wolfs sliced him across his arm. He could feel warm blood run down his arm. He risked a glance behind him and saw that she was gone. Spinning around, he bolted into the forest, leaping over logs and ducking to avoid tree branches. He could hear the branches snapping and inhuman growls and howls echoing behind him, telling him they were giving chase. Why the heck are the coming after us? He could stop to think about as he bolted. I hope Sarah's doing better with none of these things chasing her. No sooner had the thoughts crossed his mind that a piercing scream echoed through the woods that was quickly cut off. No, they found her.
Trees flashed by as he ran, his side started to throb as kept running. His breaths came out in pants as he pushed himself. Suddenly he tripped and he tumbled down the side of steep hill. Tree branches and rocks duck into his back as he tumbled head over heels. His breath was knocked out of him as his back hit a tree. Gasping for a breath, he came to a stop at the bottom. A dreadful howl sounded through the air. "Shit", he muttered, getting to his feet and taking off again but this time with a limp. That fall must have pulled a muscle or twisted it the wrong way, he thought.
Tree branches whipped against his face as the chase resumed. His battered body felt like lead but he wouldn't stop not until he was far enough away from them. Breaking through the trees, his heart stopped in his chest. A cliff and a 150 foot drop stood in front of him. "Oh great", he murmured. "As if I didn't want to get chewed on by whatever the hell those are and now my other option is a 150 foot cliff".
The tree branches behind him shivered and he spun around, clutching at his injured arm, that bleed profusely. They found me. I guess this is it. I'm sorry, mom, dad, Sean, my little bro, and I'm so sorry Sarah, that we couldn't have the life you had planned out for us.
His eyes widened in shock as a battered female figure stumbled out. Mud covered her face and her blond hair was in a mess with mud and twigs sticking out through it. Her bright orange sweater was nowhere in sight. Her white shirt was covered in blood and mud as were the knees on her pants. Her blue eyes were wide with fear and terror.
"Sarah", he said, walking towards her. She looked up and her eyes brightened a little, before she rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around him. He breathed in her sweet perfume, before he pulled away from her. "What happened? When you screamed. I thought they'd gotten you".
The haunted look in her eyes came back as she gazed towards him. He waited for her to answer but it was a full minute had passed and she said nothing. "Sarah, what happened?" he repeated.
She looked up at him, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "I found Sean's body", she whispered, before going on. "When I was running, I tripped over something. I turned around and the next thing I knew I was looking into Sean's eyes. I screamed He was still alive, but barely. I was going to take him with me even if he died while I was carrying him but then they showed up and I ran. I'm sorry".
Justin hung his head. I'm so sorry, little bro. I didn't want this to happen to you, especially means you had your whole life a head of you. He lifted his head and looked towards her. "It's okay."
The tree shivered all around them and growls and snarls sounded in front of them. A black human-wolf hybrid emerged first. It's blood red eyes stared at them as it bared it's teeth. Sarah grabbed hold of Justin's hand and moved behind him. Justin faced them, his free hand balled into a fist. Don't these things ever give up, he thought as a rain drop hit the back of his neck. Next second he knew it was down pouring. His clothes were plastered to his skin within seconds.
Four more of the things emerged making their way towards them. Behind him, he could hear Sarah taking steps backwards, when all of a sudden, he was dragged over the cliff. He caught hold of the cliff's ledge. He winced at the weight that his injured arm was holding. He could hear gunshots ring out and a howl or two of pain, before two shadowy figures leaned over the cliff trying to reach him. I'm not going to be able to pull that off, Justin thought. It's either I let go of Sarah and save myself or my grip slips and we both go over. Justin watched as the figured tried to lean closer to reach them but to no avail. His grip on the rock ledge started to slip as the rain pelted down. He let out an audible gasp as the rock crumbled beneath his fingers and they fell into nothingness.
***
Blood washed off the generator and flashlight as if someone had taken them and rinsed them clean. In the woods, Sean's body was dragged to a cave and into darkness. No trace of what had taken place remained. It was almost as if no one had stayed there other than the luggage still laying around the lodge.