Timore Animi

Part 3

As they approached the forest, Daniel slowed down just as he entered the opening into the forest. He did not know what he was getting himself, Caleb, and Andrew into, but all he knew was that he was not going to leave this place until that creature was dead. Daniel continued driving slowly through the forest looking for the creature, but he could not see anything except for the forest.

Daniel glanced back at Andrew and asked, "Are your senses kicking into gear, Andrew?"

Andrew continued looking deep past the trees in the forest trying to sense and feel the creature's presence, but he could not find anything either. "I can't feel it as much as I did last night, but I think it's here. It must be hiding."

"Maybe it can only come out at night?" asked Caleb. "The stories that we read said it feeds on its prey during the night when they are sleeping."

"Then we'll come back out here tonight," said Daniel.

Daniel did a U-turn in the middle of the forest and headed back towards the hotel. When they arrived at the hotel and got back into their room, Caleb and Andrew went back to doing more research about the monster they were dealing with so that they could find as much information as they could before Daniel went out to the forest again later that night. While Caleb and Andrew were doing research, Daniel sat on his bed, eating a sandwich, and made sure that his gun was fully loaded.

"Daniel, I really think that we should wait until we have more information about this thing before going out and shooting at it," said Caleb.

"Caleb, we need to know if this thing can be killed. Now," said Daniel.

"But-" Caleb started to say.

"And the only way for us to find that out is by going into that forest and shooting it," Daniel interrupted.

"Okay," said Caleb.

Caleb knew that this was not a good idea, but he also knew how stubborn Daniel was and that he was not going to be able to get through Daniel's thick skull. Caleb decided that it was best to just let Daniel go to the forest and see for himself how stupid he was acting and how dangerous it was to be going after that creature without knowing anything about it.

Later that night, Daniel grabbed his gun and started out the door of the hotel room towards his car.

"Daniel, wait," shouted Caleb.

Daniel glanced back over his shoulder without stopping and said, "What, Caleb? You can't stop me from going out there."

"Yeah, I know that, but I'm going with you so that you can have backup," said Caleb.

Daniel sighed and said, "Fine. Just don't get in my way."

Caleb, Daniel, and Andrew drove back out to the forest where Daniel would try to shoot the creature so that he could see if they could even kill it. When they cleared the cornfield before the forest, Daniel stopped the car. Caleb and Andrew quickly looked at Daniel and said at the Caleb time, "What are you doing?"

Daniel continued looking forward towards the forest and said, "I wanted to talk to you before going in there."

Caleb and Andrew continued staring at Daniel as they waited to hear what he wanted to say. Daniel looked at Caleb and Andrew and said, "No matter what happens in there, we are going to find a way to kill this thing. And if this thing ends up capturing me, then find a way to destroy it."

They all took a deep breath and started towards the opening in the forest. As they approached the opening, the creature was waiting for them. Daniel stopped the car a few feet away from the creature and laughed while he said, "Well that was easy. I've got a clear shot at it from right here."

Daniel started to roll down his window so that he could fire his gun at the creature without having to leave his car. He had rolled down his window about halfway when Caleb suddenly said, "Daniel, roll up the window."

Daniel ignored Caleb and continued rolling down his window. Daniel stuck his gun out of the window and aimed it towards the creature. He stared at the creature for the longest time before finally firing his gun. As soon as he fired his gun, the creature let out an ear-piercing scream when the bullet hit it.

Daniel shouted, "Yes! I got it, Caleb!"

Just as they thought they had harmed the creature, the monster started charging towards them at a speed faster than light. The creature pounced on top of the hood of the car and pushed his face up against the window trying to get inside the car. Daniel quickly rolled up the window and stepped on the gas pedal, speeding backwards out of the forest and through the cornfield.

The creature was still gripping onto the car as it continued trying to get in.

"What do we do now, Daniel?" Caleb shouted.

"Hang on tight," Daniel responded.

Just as Daniel had told Caleb and Andrew to hang on tight, we stomped on the brake, which sent the creature flying forward into the cornfield. Once the creature disappeared, Daniel quickly stomped on the gas, making his tires spin out of control, and sped out of the forest and back onto the main road.

"Where do we go from here?" Caleb asked.

Daniel stared at the road ahead of him and said, "I don't know, but clearly we can hurt it. Did you hear that thing scream?"

"Yeah," said Caleb. "I think the entire world heard that thing scream."

"Did you see if it bled when I shot it?" Daniel asked.

Caleb looked at Daniel with a disappointed look on his face and said, "No. It didn't bleed."

Daniel sighed and punched his hand against the steering wheel. He didn't know what he was supposed to do next, especially since he knew that the creature does not bleed.

"Well now what do we do, Caleb? You're the smart one," shouted Daniel, angrily.

Caleb sighed and put his face in his hands as he leaned forward in the passenger seat. "I don't know, Daniel, but I warned you that this was going to happen."

Daniel glared at Caleb because he knew that Caleb was right. Daniel hated admitting when he was wrong so he decided to just stay silent the entire drive back to the hotel.

"We're going to find a way to kill this thing. I know we will," Daniel said as he continued driving back towards the hotel. He never gave up in the past when he and Caleb came across a creature that they thought they could not kill, and he was not about to give up right now. He was not a quitter; he was a fighter.