I walked cautiously through the clearing, heading straight for the spread of towering trees ahead of me. From what I’d witnessed thus far, the forest was beyond average. It was quieter, and darker - much, much darker.

I started walking faster, only focusing on getting out of the forest as quickly as possible. I hadn’t seen Spencer for about four-and-a-half hours and I was starting to wonder if I’d ever see him. Shoot, knowing him, he was probably at home already, hiding under his blanket with his eyes closed and his ears plugged vowing never to go back. However, I didn’t blame him. Even I was starting to get a little unsettled with that place. It wasn’t just the silence and the darkness that was odd about it. Those were just two simple elements that made it so…frightening, even for me.

Soon, the only sound was the crunching of my footsteps as I walked through the fallen leaves, pushing low-hanging branches out of my path and stumbling on through the darkness. I couldn’t see a thing in that forest, and it was beginning to get colder.

A sudden ‘SNAP!’ came from the bushes up ahead. I froze, my muscles tensing. For the whole six hours I’d been wandering around the forest, I hadn’t once heard a single sound, apart from my trudging footsteps. I took a step back, straining my eyes to see in the bushes, but it was no use. I couldn’t see a thing in the pitch-black that consumed me.

“S-Spencer?” I called, but there was no reply. I took another step forward. “Spence?” Nothing. So I continued walking, thinking it was just my imagination again. But as I took another step I heard the bushes rustle, and then a pair of glowing red eyes appeared within them. I gasped as I realized the eyes were getting closer to me, and fast.

I turned and hit the ground running blindly into the darkness. I was panicking. I could hear the creature behind me and it was getting faster. I’m done for, I thought.

I stopped running and placed my hands on my knees, breathing deeply. I closed my eyes and awaited the painful impact. But just then, unexpectedly, something grabbed my ankle and pulled; I fell. My back slammed against the damp ground and whatever was clutching my leg pulled me farther into the darkness. I let out a shriek and clawed at my ankle. Then the pulling stopped and a cold, strong hand pressed against my mouth, silencing my outburst.

The beast ran past us in a shadowy blur and into the distant canopy of black. I turned to look at whom the hand covering my mouth belonged to. The moonlight shone on his face and I sighed silently to myself as I realized it was only Spencer, glaring at me warily.

“Are you alright?” He whispered, removing his hand from my mouth. I just glared at him wide-eyed and nodded. “Sorry about making you fall. I-it was gaining on you. I didn’t know what else to do.” I nodded again and stood, brushing off the mud on the back of my pants with my shaking hands. He stood too and quickly surveyed our surroundings.