Chapter Two

Hunter is caught between a rock and a hard place, with a dead girl laying before him and a gun with a still smoking barrel what can he do? Hide the evidence and keep quiet? Or tell the cops the truth.

Hunter has been running for minutes, the screaming hasn't gotten louder since the camp. He was out of breath and the rising sun was beginning to beat down on his shirtless skin. Suddenly a sharp pain clashed into the back of his head, it was as if Babe Ruth just struck a home run against his skull. Hunter fell to his knees holding his head in his hands; the sky was flashing dark then bright again, like someone replaced the sun with a strobe light. His old house in the distance was twisting into a new shape, it resembled Aaron's house, and the light was on and extremely bright. The sky lit up once again, not from the sun, but from a lightning strike in the distance. Rain started to fall heavily, as if it's been raining for hours.

 

Hunter took a minute to stand up, taking in the scenery change with a puzzled look.” What was going on here? I'm nowhere near the camp site.” Hunter thought to himself, he turned around to look the way he came, seeing no footprints left or branches broken. It’s as if he was dropped from the sky in this spot. Then something caught his eye, a human shape on all fours moving as fast as a galloping horse. Its eyes were piercing through the night with an orange glow, hunter knew exactly what was coming up, he would run, and then be caught. He began to turn around and begin sprinting but something told him to stop and fight, and he knew where running would get him, face first in the mud.

Hunter reached into his pocket, pulling out the 9mm Beretta and pointing it at the creature, Hunter yelled out at the top of his lungs “Stay back! I will shoot!” his hands shook in fear, he wanted to pull the trigger but he has never shot anyone in his life, let alone point a gun at someone. He tried pulling the trigger once again but it was as if there was an unknown force fighting with his finger, hunter couldn't pull the trigger.

 

It was getting closer, the creature let out an ear shattering scream that shot right down Hunters spine. “Why can't I pull the trigger? It's not human!?” Hunter yelled out loudly, he was frustrated in his inability to pull the trigger. The next thing he knew the thing bound up in the air, pressing his feet off a fallen tree to get height on Hunter. It was going to land on him, just like in his dream... “No, not this time” Hunter thought as he shut his eyes, he exhaled a deep breath as he heard the gun go off, it was exhilarating. The concussion echoed through the air, making him deaf for a brief moment.

Hunter stood still, waiting to be pounced on, but it never happened. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around; he was no longer in the forest he was in his old house, with a body of a girl lying in front of him. Her eyes were open with an expression of fear, and she was bleeding out from her chest. The barrel still smoking from the gun shot.

 

 

Lilly jumped awake from her sleep, she heard a loud bang in the distance and the birds were flocking away, squawking louder then there normal chirps. Something was wrong, usually she wasn't the kind of person to go investigate but Hunter was not back inside the tent. Lilly threw on her shirt and left the tent, not taking the time to grab her shoes.

It was still early morning; the birds were passing over the camp as they fled from the loud sound that came from deeper in the forest. “Adrian! Adrian where are you!?” Surely if she yelled out his first name he would answer, Hunter hated his first name, but once again, there was silence.

 

Lilly sat beside the car, worried sick of what might have happened to her fiance. She twiddled her thumbs impatiently waiting for him to jump out and scare her, or walk back in to the clearing saying something like “Sorry baby, nature called” But it never happened. Finally Lilly remembered that Hunter was talking about his old cabin east from here, he talked about it often and probably went to see how well it’s aged or who owns it. “Yes that’s it, he’s just re-living old memories” Lilly announced to herself as if she just solved a puzzle. Lilly stood and started hiking East, hoping for the best but mind still set on the worst.

 

 

Hunter couldn't believe what he saw, the girl was dead, shot, and a smoking gun was in his hands. He shot her, and there was no other way to explain it. Hunter let the gun roll from his hand to the ground, the shakiness from this morning returned with ten times intensity. He looked around the room to see what he can do but there was nothing but rotting burnt wood. Hunter’s house burned down when he was younger and he was forced to move to the city, this place hasn't even had anyone step inside it for years, and now there’s an innocent girl lying in an expanding pool of crimson liquid. “There was no way I shot her… I would never shoot anyone…” Hunter mumbled under his breath, speaking his thoughts out loud. Hunter knew there was only one thing he can do, cover his tracks and make sure no one finds out. If they found out he would either be thrown in jail, or a mental institute.

 

He picked up the spent shell from his pistol and ripped off a piece of his pants, using it to wipe down the doorknob and open it to leave the cabin without leaving any prints. He took one last look at the cabin, feeling a deep despair growing in his stomach; he held back the vomit trying to escape his throat and ran back off into the woods towards the camp site.