Twenty One

            Throwing my worries about what Ethan was doing in the forest in the first place aside, I ran out from behind the cover of the tree and raced to his side.

            He looked up at me, his eyes full of horror and panic. “Heidi?” He sounded confused.

            “What’s wrong?!” I asked worriedly, getting onto my knees next to him and placing my hand on his shoulder. He was dripping with sweat, and his body was inhumanly hot to the touch. I pulled my hand away quickly, shocked. “You’re burning! What’s happening?!”

            “What are you doing here?” he yelled, squeezing his eyes shut as his body shook with tremors.

            “I followed you. Ethan, what’s wrong! What’s going on?!” I leaned forward to try and get a better look at his face, but he yanked his head in the opposite direction, turning away from me.

            “You need to leave Heidi, now,” he demanded, trying to keep his voice under control. I could tell he was struggling to hold back the pain from showing in his voice.

            “I can’t just leave you here! Something’s wrong with you!”

            “Heidi, just listen to me! Leave, right now! You can’t be here!” he growled. I winced at his harsh words, but didn’t back off. I moved in front of him and lifted his face in my hands.

            “What’s happening to you?” I whispered, searching his pain-filled eyes for answers.

            Before he could reply, a large tremor shook his body and he contorted in pain. My hands fell from his face as he let out a piercing cry and dropped his head low to the ground, taking quick, gasping breaths.

            My heart began to race and my stomach tightened in fear. What’s happening to him?

            “Ethan what can I do?” I asked desperately. I felt completely helpless.

            “You can leave,” he panted. “You can’t be here. You’re in danger. Leave now.”

            “I’m not leaving! You need help!”

            Ethan lifted his head and gave me a death stare. “No, Heidi, I don’t. I’ve been through this before, I can handle�"”

            Another tremor ripped through him, cutting him off. He squeezed his eyes shut against the pain and controlled his scream, letting nothing out but a desperate whimper.

            “This has happened before?!” Ignoring the heat emanating from his skin, I began rubbing his back, trying to comfort him in any way possible.

            “Yes, and you can’t be here!” I could tell he was losing patience with me, but I just couldn’t leave him in such a condition, all alone.

I took out my cell phone and was about to dial for an ambulance when Ethan reached up and wrapped his hand around mine. He grabbed my phone from me and crushed it in his hand. He literally crushed it. It fell to the ground in pieces.

            I stared at him open-mouthed. I couldn’t speak. How could he just have crushed it in his bare hand?!

            “Don’t call for help. Just don’t,” he growled, panting.

            “But�"”

            “No Heidi!”

            I cowered back slightly from the force of his words. His body began trembling, and he could no longer speak. His arms gave out from the force of it, and he fell to his elbows and knees.

            Suddenly a loud, unnatural-sounding crack came from within his body. He cried out, and my eyes shot to where I could see his spin pushing against his skin. I stared in horror as his spine cracked again. It contorted and straightened, causing Ethan’s head to shoot straight up, his face directed to the sky. His screams echoed through the towering trees.

            “Ethan!” I screamed. “What’s happening?!”

            He was past the point of being able to answer me. He fell onto his side and his body began stretching, cracking, and twisting in the most unnatural, impossible ways.

            I fell onto my behind and backed away from him, bumping into a tree. I cowered against the base of the tree, terrified, as I watched Ethan’s body change before my eyes.

            As he continued to cry out, I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t watch. I didn’t know what was happening, but it was too horrifying to witness.

            The noises continued. They were so grotesque, so disturbing, I couldn’t stop the tears that began to fall from my eyes. I was terrified for Ethan�"he sounded like he was dying�"he was in so much pain.

            Eventually, Ethan’s screams and the sounds of his bones crunching and shifting stopped. I forced myself to open my eyes, and I let out a whimper in reaction to what I saw. The spot where Ethan’s distorted body had been lying only a minute earlier was barren. The only thing I saw were Ethan’s clothes, lying crumpled in the spot where he’d taken them off.

            Waves of panic overcame me and I jumped to my feet, looking around to see where he could’ve gone. I couldn’t see him anywhere�"and it didn’t help that it was dark out. My only source of light was that from the full moon shining down through the trees. It brought with it a luminescent glow, giving my surroundings an eerie appearance. My heart accelerated even more as paranoia set in.

            I have to get out of here!

            I began running back the way I’d come. I pushed tree branches away, and ignored the pain as they flung backwards and slashed my face. I continued to run, certain something bad was about to happen.

            As soon as the thought entered my head, I was stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; what was standing not even ten feet in front of me.

            If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought the creature was a wolf. But I did know better�"wolves weren’t six feet tall.

            I stared in horror at the giant wolf-resembling creature standing before me. Its fur was a charcoal grey, its eyes a dull yellow. Its lips were curled back over its teeth, a low growl emanating from deep within its chest.

An icy chill ran from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes. I was frozen in place, like a deer in headlights.

            The wolf-creature’s instincts set in and it crouched into a pouncing position. Before I could even move a muscle, the creature launched itself forward and was on top of me in two strides. It toppled me over, and stood towering over me with its front paws on either side of my head. It brought its face down, its long nose nearly touching mine. I turned away from its bared teeth and said a silent prayer as its hot, steamy breath touched my sweaty skin.

            The creature opened its mouth and I knew it intended to bite me then. I got just a glimpse of its razor sharp incisors and suddenly the giant wolf was off of me.

I sat up in a panic and saw that a similar wolf-creature had attacked the charcoal one that had been on top of me. It was light brown, but that’s all I could see, because the two wolves were atop each other, jaws snapping, growling and yelping. Their hairy, overgrown selves were rolling all over the place as they lunged at each other. They hit a tree�"which made a deafening crack as it split in the middle�"but were unfazed by the force of their brawl and their surroundings.

I couldn’t waste another second�"I had to run. So I did. I turned around and ran as fast as I could through the trees, trying to find a path of some sort to guide me out of the frightening forest.

I ran and ran, but every tree looked the same, every shrub and every rock. I had no idea where I was, or where I was going. I was lost, cold and exhausted. Not to mention I felt insane, like I couldn’t be sure I had actually saw what I did. I was terrified and alone, and every little noise I heard made me jump, for fear the overgrown wolves had found me.

The overwhelming dizziness that overcame me caused me to bring my running to a halt. I grabbed on to the nearest tree and leaned against it for support, but it was no use. I felt my body go limp, and blackness engulfed me.