Paying the Piper

Eighteen, Part 2: Ten Minutes

I had the sense of something other being in the woods with me. Not just with me, but hunting for me. My breath caught, and that was when I realized that hoarfrost had formed on the trees around me, sparkling on my coat and in my hair. My body felt too frozen to move. When I finally managed to exhale, my breath coalesced before me, lingering in the air like a frozen cloud.

A foul scent poisoned the air, a scent so strong and so sudden it had to be tangible. Then I became aware of the breathing. Something else was breathing besides me.

Something stood behind me. 

Even if I had been able to turn around, my fear would have kept me rooted to the spot. My eyes went wide, but I saw nothing in front of me; all of my senses focused on the area behind where I heard the crunch of a footstep toward me.

My breathing hitched, but I still couldn't move my feet. It was like one of those nightmares where you couldn't run no matter how desperately you needed to. 

"H-h-h-h," I managed. Inhaling the rotten air made my stomach roil, but I dragged in a sharp breath. Focusing all my energy, I made my lips form the proper shapes. "H-help!" But the sound was too soft to spread far. And the fire with the students had drifted so far away I couldn't even see the glow anymore. The world was made of frost and blackness and a predator walking slowly towards me.

"Help," I gasped to myself, the word itself my way of inhaling. 

It still crunched closer.

By concentrating, I could suck in more air, foul as it tasted. The nausea made my eyes spin, but at least then my lungs loosened their grip and my heart even eased a bit. But I still couldn't run away.

My fingers felt the chill down to the bone, and my body ached in the cold. My teeth began to chatter. From over my shoulder, I thought I could spy blackness moving against the trees. 

More than before, I concentrated on gathering together all my strength and all my energy. Squeezing my eyes shut against the horror, I focused my mind and gritted my teeth. Then, as I inhaled the burning cold air, I poured all the shards of my courage and warmth into the air. 

"HELP!" Someone! Anyone! My internal voice sobbed, begging to be heard. "Cale!"

I didn't know why I called his name instead of Ryland's or Hannah's or even any other person's who I knew should be close by. Maybe my subconscious understood that I was not exactly on the same hill I'd been on moments ago, and Cale was the only one who could help me get out of it. Maybe a part of me remembered his words (Call if you need me. I will always hear you if you call) even though the decision-making part of my brain was frozen.

But with my words, part of the snare had snapped, and I could finally turn around to face this night stalker. Instinctively, my hands curled into claws to launch some kind of physical attack. Yet, seeing the slippery darkness sinking into shadows, I froze anew. 

Some kind of shadow bull dripped darkness and drenched the world in ebony. But it was immense, about three times the size of a regular bull. It stepped closer, and my eyes locked on its eyes: they wavered in their light like the hot coals of a fire, mesmerizing as the red flickered across black coal.

It didn't belong in the forest. It didn't belong in this world.

But it had come for me. I read that plainly; an unquenchable hunger rose from it, surrounding me in the understanding much like the feeling of being loved could surround you in a dream. But this dream only convinced me that something evil hungered for me in a way I'd never felt before.

I tried backing away, but my frozen legs tripped. My butt slammed onto what felt like ice-rimmed blades of grass, my hands pricked by little icicles as I tangled myself into a thorny bush.