tijehi:


Blunders ke?

Nice story, but this one I just read now is sending serious horrors down my spine......will have to pass

Oh Come on.

Mayor Steve McLauren pulled out the newspaper from his drawer and slammed it on his table.

All the deputies were in his office. Kent and Patrick sat on the Chairs opposite his, while Larry, Donovan, and Brent stood at the back writing note.

The Mayor's secretary was also at the corner, taking notes, and for some reason, Larry Couldn't take his eyes off her.

"How the hell are we ever gonna recover from this mess?", He asked. "How?"

Kent lowered his gaze and read the headlines on the paper.


HORROR IN CHERRYWOOD VALLEY
Mangled body of 16 year old boy found in Local farm.

"It's on the front page", The balding man shouted. "My town is on the gaddamed front page".

The room was still silent.

"Just-Just listen to this", The Mayor said as he picked up the paper and held it up to his gaze. "Listen".

"There are also speculations of a connection between this case and the case of the three missing students from Johnson and Wales University whose Mangled bodies were found 24 hours earlier"

Then he dropped the paper back on the table like it was trash and glared at the people in his office for a while.

"Don't even get me started on the social media frenzy this is causing", the man said. "Facebook and...what's it called....Twinkler?"

"Twitter, sir", His secretary uttered.

"Thank you Daisy", He mumbled.

"Apparently", He said. "Hashtag, Cherry Beast is trending like crazy right now".

He saw Larry pull out his Phone from his pocket and began scanning immediately he had said those words.

"Our town has got to be the most popular town in the State right now because of this shit", The Mayor uttered as he began pacing from one side to the other. "Hell, maybe even in the entire country".

"..And to think that this year's J4 festivities are less that four weeks away", He hissed. "What the hell are we gonna do?"

The Mayor stopped moving and walked over to his window, and through his gaze outside, backing everyone for almost five minutes.

Then he spun, drew his chair out and sat, facing Kent and Patrick, with his fingers interlocked below his Jaw.


"I need solutions", He uttered. "..and I need them now".

Kent and Patrick glared at each other with Uncertainty.

The Mayor darted his eyes back and forth between Kent and Patrick and realised that they were as lost as he was in this entire situation.

"Parker", The man said face the zoo keeper. "What do we know about this....thing?".

Patrick stole another glance at the officer beside him, turned back to the Mayor and cleared his throat.

"Well-eh-", He started. "from what we've seen so far, you know, the time of the attacks, I think it's safe to say that the -eh- thing, is Nocturnal".


"What the hell does that mean?", The Mayor frowned.


Patrick sat up straight when he realised he had to explain further. "It's means that whatever it is", He Swallowed. "It's a night feeder. It's hunts at is only active at night, you know, like Owls and Bats".


The Mayor stared at Patrick for a while, Nodding his head slowly.


"Okay...Okay", He kept saying.


"So?", He said as he turned to Kent. "A curfew?".


Kent thought for a while an then raised his Shoulders in a slow shrug. "I guess", He said with a nod.


The Mayor saw the three deputies standing behind drop their shoulders in exhaustion as soon as Kent had agreed to his suggestion, because they knew a curfew meant they would have to patrol the town till late at night, making sure the curfew was being observed by everyone.


"Okay", The Mayor uttered as he slapped his desk. "Now we are getting somewhere. But ho do we kill it".


Patrick an Kent glance at each other again.

"Kill it sir?", Patrick said.


The Mayor nodded In response. "Mm-Hm?"

"But-but sir" Kent stuttered. "We don't even know what it is".


"Well a least we know it's not from outer space or something", the Mayor chuckled. "It's gotta be one of them critters from deep in those woods".


"That's the problem sir", Patrick said. "There are no Bears or Mountain Lions within at least Six miles from here. That's the reason why Cherrywood Valley is one of the safest places to camp in that state".


"But it's possible for one of them to wander down here, right?", The Mayor asked.


Patrick licked his lips and Swallowed, realising the possibility in McLauren's suggestion. "Yes sir", He answered.


McLauren stood from his chair and went over to his window again, with the air of silence in the room behind him.

"Get Dwane and his Boys on this", He said without looking back.


Patrick and Kent exchanged looks again. before Patrick sat up once more.

"With all due respect sir", He uttered. "I have a better Idea".

The spun to face the zoo keeper and raised his brows, and Patrick saw that as a signal to go on.

"I know someone whose the best at this", Patrick said. "He's studied Animals all his life and would probably smoke out this thing In a matter of days. He is station over in Africa and-".


Patrick stopped talking when he saw the Mayor raise his right palm to cut him off.


"We need people that know these woods,Parker", He said as he walked away from his window and moved towards the corner. "Someone who has stayed in Africa all his life may not know Shit about our forests".


"But sir-", Patrick Protested.


"Get Dwane and his Boys, Kent", The man ordered.


Patrick suddenly stood from his chair and leaned towards the Mayor's table.


"Sir, I have see those bodies, I have studied them", Patrick hissed. "The killing methods used by this animal are unlike anything I've ever seen before sir. This thing, whatever it is, it's vicious. It's ferocious".


McLauren walked back to stand behind his sit and stood there for a while, glaring at Patrick infront of him, with his hands behind him.


He then turned to Kent. "Get. Me. Dean. Now.", He said, before he walked past the officers.

"Gentlemen", He uttered with a curt nod as he made his way to the door, with Daisy, his secretary, hurry over behind him.

Kent turned back and faced Patrick.

The Zoo keeper stood still in his position, still leaning on the table with his jaws Clenched and his eyes closed.




Claire, Brent, Larry and Helen stood a few yards from Kent's office, observing from Kent's glass door. Five heavy set men stood in his office, along with one of them who sat opposite Kent, obviously discussing their reward options.


"What do you think there're talking about in there, Tactics?", Larry asked with his arms folded on his Chest.

"Who cares?", Helen sighed before taking a sip of her coffee. "As long as they end this shit".


Then she walked away, with Larry shifting his gaze to her backside, watching her as she left.


"Oh Come on man", Brent groaned. "When are gonna stop doing that, it's creepy".

Larry swiftly moved his head to face Brent. "Huh?"


"Stop staring at a woman's Ass in public man, that's disgusting", Brent said. "Ask her out if you want".


"I wasn't staring a-at her Ass", Larry stuttered as he tried, but failed to hide how nervous he was that Brent had called him out infront of Claire.

"I was just admiring her skirt", Larry said and then he looked over in Helens direction. "I really like her skirt".

Claire moved her eyes away from Kent's office and glared at Larry beside her.

The young Deputy turned and met her steely blue eyes and suddenly, the entire office became so hot. Larry became uneasy.


"I-I need to get a drink". He muttered, as he quickly walked away from the two people he was standing with.


Claire rolled her eyes and tilted her gaze back to Kent's office.

"Pervert".

She saw Brent watching her from the corner of her eye, but chose to ignore him.

"You Okay?", The deputy asked.

She turned to see the look of concern on the officer's face and then smiled.

"I'm fine, Brent", She sighed with lazy blinks.


"You sure?", He asked. "You look like you haven't eaten in days".

Claire rolled her eyes again and wondered why everyone was saying that.

Earlier that day, before she made her way to the station, Edith had placed the back of her palm on her forehead, saying she was checking if she had a fever.


"I'm a doctor Edith", Claire had said. "I think I would know if I had a fever".


"But look at you", Edith had said. "You look pale, and I haven't seen you eat anything in Twenty four hours".


Claire's grumbling belly pulled her out of her thoughts. She placed her hand on it and realised maybe she was actually starving.

After all the things she had seen in the past four days, it would be weird for her not to lose her appetite, hell, it would be weird for any normal human being.

She was about to turn to Brent and ask him what they had at their cafeteria, when suddenly, Kent's office door was pushed open.


Six huge guys stepped out of the office with Kent following them out and closing the door behind him.

Claire studied the men as the walked in the Direction of she and Brent.

"Who are these guys", Claire asked, as she studied them.

"The folks McLauren hired to-".

"No I know that", Claire hissed. "I mean, Where are they from? Who the hell are they?"

Brent shifted his gaze to the approaching men and Narrowed his eyes in thought for a while.

"Well, I know Manny", He said, point to a particular fat one. "..and Charlie over there, are Hunters, but the other four, I hear, are Ex marines that were stationed in Iraq".


Claire raised her brow and Nodded slowly, admitting the fact that, to an extent, She was impressed.


She then noticed one of the men staring at her as they approached. He looked like her had seen a ghost...or a celebrity. He was staring so hard, He slowed when eh got close the Brent and Claire.


"Why is that guy looking at me like that?", Claire asked.

"Dunno", Brent shrugged. "Maybe he knows you from somewhere?"

"I doubt that", She hissed.

As the men finally walked past them, the one staring at Claire came to a halt right infront of her with a smile on his face, like he was looking at an Angel or something.


"Hey Charlie", Brent uttered.


for the first time since he got there, the young man tore his eyes away from Claire and gave Brent a curt nod.

"How's it going Brent?", He said.


Then his gaze was back to Claire who was suddenly feeling defensive now.


"Can I help you", She glare at the man.


Charlie shook his head and chuckled, like he had just realised what he was doing.


"I-I-I'm so sorry", He stuttered. "I didn't mean to Stare like that".


Claire said nothing.


"You're Claire Hayes, Aren't you", Charlie asked.


Claire shot a look at Brent and then back at Charlie. "Yeah...yeah I am".


Charlie's smile the widened into a toothy smile.

"Sorry if I scared you", He chuckled. "It's just-well- My Daughter is a big fan of yours".


Claire shot him a Confused look and saw Brent give him one too from the corner of her eye. "Re-Really?".


"Yeah", He said and then he reached into the pocket of his Jacket and pulled out what seemed to be a picture.


He handed the picture to Claire and she took it and stared at a Pretty girl with Black hair and an Alice Band on her head, smiling up at her.


"Her name's Ruby. She's Thirteen", Charlie said.


Claire looked up and saw the pride in Charlie's eyes as he stared at the picture of his daughter in her hand.

Claire was thinking of a way to ask him why telling her all this. He had somehow touched a spot in heart now and she did want to sound like a scumbag.

"She wants to be a doctor like you", Charlie said with a smile. "Ever since she saw you at the Hospital the last time you visited, She has always admired you".


Claire raise her gaze to the man standing before, feeling a Lump form in her throat.


"We're-eh-getting Ten thousand dollars each, if we are able to catch whatever is out there", Charlie said, before he looked down at his feet, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "..and I'm gonna put mine in Ruby's College fund".


Claire smiled as she began to feel her eyes sting.


"Just to make sure my girl goes to Medical school", Charlie uttered and then he looked up at her and Claire's heart tightened when she saw his welling eyes as she was still smiling. "She's all I've got".


Claire involuntarily shot herself forward and pulled Charlie in for a hug, and felt him sobbing on her shoulders.


She pulled away and cupped the man's face in her palms.

"You do this?", She whispered to him, her face so Close, She could feel his breath. "..and I Promise you, Ruby will never stop Loving you. Never".


"Hey Charlie!", One of his colleagues Screamed from the station entrance. "Leave the lady alone, will ya".


The other laughed.


Charlie looked into Claire's blue eyes and Blinked rapidly while nodding quickly.


She handed him the Photo and watched as he walked over to his colleagues.


He stopped short and spun to face Claire.


"Thanks Doc",Charlie grinned at her.


Claire blew him a kiss that made his colleagues at the far end give loud 'whoas' and whistles as if they had seen a sexy lady pass by.


Charlie gave a shy smile and continued his stroll to the station Entrance as chief Kent tapped his Shoulder when they crossed paths.


"Hey Kent!", One of the boys shouted on his way out. "Start the fire, 'cos we're bringing home some meat tommorrow!"


Then they all Cheered.


"Yeah ...Yeah", Kent waved them away. "Whatever".


Claire still had her eyes on the entrance, even after the men had left, her thought revolving around Charlie and his daughter. Then she decided to ask Brent a question she forgot to ask Charlie.


"What about his wife? ", She uttered, eyes still on the door.


"She -eh- Died while giving birth to Ruby", Brent sighed.


Claire felt her stomach drop and tried to hold down the tears again.


"Brent", Kent called as he passed them by. "My Office, Now".


"Be right back", The Officer uttered as he followed Kent away.

Claire's eyes were still on the door. She closed her eyes and saw the smiling face that little girl she had seen in the photo some minutes ago.

"Ruby".


The doctor gave out the one prayer she had on her mind.


"God, Please bring him back.

Samantha sat on her bed, her legs stretched out before her as she watched a new music video on YouTube, with her laptop on her laps.

She caught something at the corner of her eye and looked up to see someone standing at her door.

"Oh my god", the girl uttered as she pulled off the earphones from her ears and rolled her eyes at Luke who was just standing there, grinning at her.


"What's up", the boy grinned as he began Moving towards her bed.


"What are you doing in my room?", Samantha asked in Surprise.


"That's no way to treat a guest", The boy said as his darted from one corner of the room to the other.

"Nice room by the way. It really suits you", Luke said as his eye settled on her. "You. know, Quiet, dark and miserable".

Samantha narrowed her eyes at the boy. Her jaws Clenched as she returned the earphones to her ears and dropped her gaze back to the screen before her.

Believe it or not, She had gotten use to these shenanigans of his for the past few days.

She remember the first words she heard coming out of his mouth towards her when they first spoke.

"You're a really bad Liar", looked had said.

"What are you talking about", Samantha said.

"When you said you didn't remember me", Luke had said. "That was a really bad lie".


"I don't remember you", Samantha kept saying.


Luke just chuckled and waved her off. "Whatever", He said.


Since that day, Luke became a constant visitor. He dropped by almost everyday, sometimes with his friends even.

Samantha got used to seeing him in the living room, Playing Video games with her little brother whenever she came down for lunch. What really pissed her off was the fact that everyone seemed to like him, including her Mum. He was her best friend's son after all.

Samantha remembered a certain day when her Mum was going to get groceries and decided to take she and Adam along.

As they walked out the house and moved to the car parked in the drive way, they caught sight of Luke strolling down towards them along with two other boys.

"Afternoon Mrs. Hayes", The boy had called.

Claire turned and waved at him with a smile.

Samantha tilted her gaze when she heard Adam yell. "Hey Luke!".

She saw the way he grinned while eyeing from a distance.

"Hey big guy!", The teen boy yelled back as he stretched out his hand for a high Five and then went over and gave Claire a hug.

Before Samantha knew it, he was making his way past her and she could not deny the fact that her heart was beginning to race.


"You're not that pretty", Luke gave a breathy whisper as he passed by behind her. A gesture that, for some reason, made the hairs at the back of her next stand.


She spun and glared at Him as he chuckled with his friends. walking farther away.



Luke slammed himself down on the Space beside Samantha, pulling her from her thought immediately.

"What you watching, Sam?", He said, stretching to get a better look at her screen.


"Only my friends call me Sam", Samantha scowled.


Luke shot her a Confused look. "So what?", He uttered. "I'm not your friend?"


The girl gave him a fake smile and a nod. "Exactly", She said.

Luke chuckled.

Samantha returned her attention to the screen, but when she saw Luke stretch forward, trying to get a look and intentionally pushing at her sides, She tilted the screen away from his view and gave him an incredulous look.


"Do you mind?", She uttered.


Luke sat up straight and looked at her with a Mischievous smirk on his face.


"You're boring", He said.


"Whatever", Samantha waved him away with her attention still on her laptop infront of her.

Luke then shifted his gaze to her phone beside her on the bed.

Samantha saw him from the corner of her eye and knew why was about to happen next.

She immediately reached out to grab the Phone, but wasn't fast enough.


"Hey!", She Yelled as Luke picked the phone and shot himself from the bed.


He swiped at the screen and widened his eyes feigning shock and disbelief.

"Well would you look at that", The boy teased. "Someone's a fan Wattpad Romance".


"Give me my phone you pervert", Samantha growled as she pulled the earphones from her ears and set the laptop to the side.


Luke ignored her as he raised the phone to his gaze, cleared his throat and began reading out loud.

"As Ernest held her Close, She could feel her heart beating against his hard chest", Luke read with an artistic gesture.


"You Asshole!", Samantha roared as she charged at him, but the boy was faster than she was.

Luke shot himself out of the girls room and stopped at the staircase.


Samantha stopped and the door way and glared at Him. "Luke, give me back my phone", She hissed.


Luke titled his gaze back to the phone and kept reading.

"Norma wanted this moment to last forever. She never ever wanted to leave the warmth of his strong arms".

When Luke saw the blonde girl shooting for him again, he darted himself down the stares with his eyes on the phone, reading out louder now.


"She reached up and raked Ernest's pitch black curls with her hand and looked into his piercing blue eyes".


"I'm gonna rip your heart out, Luke!", Samantha Screamed a few inches behind the boy as the both thundered down the stairs.

They made their way to the hall way and then look shot himself into the sitting room where Adam was sitting on the floor a few inches from the TV watching Spongbob-square pants. Luke ran round the three sitter Couch and stopped right behind the other Couch adjacent to it.

Samantha entered the living and stopped behind the three sitter Couch, Panting heavily.


"Luke," She warned. "I swear to God".


" "Kiss me", Norma groaned as she couldn't handle the tension the proximity of their bodies were causing any longer. Ernest leaned forward and pressed his soft lips on hers", Luke read and the chuckled when he saw Adam turn his gaze from the TV and face him with a grimace.


"What is that?", Adam scowled at Luke.


"Samantha's favourite wattpad story", Luke uttered , staring at Samantha with a Mischievous smirk on his face.


Adam slowly turned round to meet his sister's gaze, with disgust written all over his tender features. "Ewww", the little boy uttered.

"Oh shut up you little Twerp", Samantha fired at Adam. She then raised her Glare at Luke standing at the other end of the sitting room.


"Give. Me. My. Phone", The teenage girl hissed through gritted teeth, separating her words carefully.


"On One Condition", Like finally said something without looking into.the phone again.


Samantha gave an exhausting Sigh, rolled her eyes and raised her hands to rest on her waists. She knew he was about to ask her out again.

But just like the time he had invited her to a friend's party, to the Drive-In Movie screening of "The Shinning", the Lunch at a local diner, and the Karaoke party at a friend's place, She was going to give him the same answer.


"No".


"What?", She uttered.


"You go swimming with me on Saturday", Luke grinned.



"In your dreams", Samantha scoffed.



"Okay then", The boy said as he returned his attention to the phone held in his hand. "Where was I?.... oh, yeah".

"As their lips touched and rubbed against each other, Norma pushed herself against Ernest's hard body, letting out a soft moan".


At that Moment, Samantha saw her little brother raise his hands up and press his palms to his ears. "Ewww", The little boy groaned.


She thought Luke would stop, but he didn't.


"Ernest wrapped his strong arms around his mistress, Rubbing her back as let out another groan".


"Make it stop", Adam moaned with his palms still pressed to his ears.


Luke went on. "Norma felt Electricity pass through her body as she felt Ernest's strong hands move from her back and make its way up to the front, reaching under her Blouse and grabbing her bre-"


"Okay!", Samantha suddenly Screamed. "Alright".


Luke shifted his gaze from her phone to look at her with a smirk.


"Okay what?", The boy uttered.


"Okay, I'll go swimming with you", Samantha sighed.


Luke gave out a victorious smile. "Promise?", He asked.


She said nothing. She just narrowed her eyes at him, with her fists clenched by her sides.


"Yes I promise", She suddenly yelled when she saw the boy lift the phone up to his gaze again to keep reading.


Luke moved over to Samantha at the other end of the room in a practised dramatic stroll with a wide grin on his face and handed the phone out to her.


"I'll pick you up at Two-thirty", He muttered. "Bring your Hottest Bikini".


Samantha narrowed her eyes at him and snatched her phone away from him as he kept that smirk on his face.


"You have no idea how much I hate you right now", She hissed through gritted teeth.


Luke looked down and chuckled before looking up at her again.


"..And you have no idea how many effs I do not give", Luke uttered before he Backed away and went over to meet Adam.


She turned to move to the staircase when she heard Adam Scream. "Stop!".

She spun and saw Luke tickling the little boy hard as he kept rolling on the floor Laughing hysterically.

Samantha fought the Smile that was tugging on her lips. She fought the laughter that was building up in her belly at the sight before her.


She couldn't remember the last time she saw her brother laugh like this.


She stole a glance at Luke who was equally have fun, laughing away and wondered if she was being to hard on him.


He was probably the most annoying person she had ever met, but still, there was always this different side to him when ever she saw him with Adam, of Edith or her mum.


As Samantha stood there, watching her little brother Wrestle the teenage boy on the floor of the sitting room, She felt her stomach tighten. She felt she had to say something, and so she did.


"Where are we going swimming anyway?", She asked with a feigned look to make Luke believe she didn't care.

The boy looked up at her, struggling hard to keep himself from falling as Adam kept tugging at his shoulders, trying to pull him down.


"We-West Point", He uttered. "The lake there is Legit, you'll love it".


Samantha sighed and Nodded as she watched Luke lift her baby brother in the air with a playful roar. Adam laughing out loud hysterically.


Samantha spun away to the stairs immediately she found herself smiling uncontrollably.


She made her way up, smiling as thoughts she would normally deny, went through her mind.

Then she froze when she got her door way, remembering something.

"West point".

"Why did that name sound familiar?".


The she shrugged it off and entered her room.


"Guess I better get my bikini ready then", The Teenage girl said as she collapsed on her bed.

heniford2:
Dudu ur good

Thanks.

horlardipupo:
Interesting!!

Thanks. I'm glad you like it.

Claire turned the car away from the main road and drove into to green fields of the Wilson farm.

She parked the vehicle beside one of the police cars. She pulled out the keys from the ignition, undid her seat belt and made her way out of the car.

The first thing she noticed was the crowd gathered a few metres from what appeared to be a stable.

She walked closer to the scene, slowly, studying the expressions of the onlookers and immediately found one thing they all had in common, Shock.


Claire then heard the loud cry of a woman at the far Corner, She tilted her gaze and saw the farmers wife on her knees, on the floor. She was crying her eyes out as two women and a female police officer had her in their arms, trying, to avail, to console her.

Claire fought the urge to go over to her, as the sight of the old woman in obvious pain was beginning to get to her. She felt a lump in her throat as she watched the old woman.

She tore her gaze from the farmers wife and increased her pace towards the crowd.


At that Moment, Brent looked back casually and widened his eyes when he saw Claire approach.

He dropped his hands from his waste and started to jog over to the blonde woman.


"What the hell are you doing here?", The Officer uttered as he met up with her.


"What happened?", Claire asked without even looking at the Police officer before her. Her eyes were trained on the gathering down the field.

"Look Claire", Brent whispered heavy, throwing occasional glances at his boss in the distance. "You shouldn't be here".


When the news had reached them back at the morgue, Claire had said she wanted to come with them, but the Chief had refused.

"You've done your part Mrs. Hayes and we thank you", The chief had said. "We can take it from her now. You don't need to be involved anymore".


"Bullshit", Claire had told Brent when he had apologised to her.


She waited for the police convoy to move, before she got into her car and followed from a distance without any of them noticing.


"What happened Brent?", She asked again, her eyes still on the crowd.


"Jesus Claire I don't want you involved in this anymore", Brent groaned. "Just go home and I'll come over with Susan later and update you on the situation".


Claire's eyes then shot up to Brent's face in an icy Glare. She couldn't believe he was saying all this. She didn't know if she was feeling hurt or angry.

She pulled away from Brent and glared at him.

"Are you kidding me?", She scowled.

"Claire, Please listen, you-".

"No you listen, Mister-top secret-Classified Policeman", She cut him off with a hiss. "You woke me up at Seven thirty in the morning, dragged my Ass to a freaking morgue and had me examining two half eaten young people".


Brent sighed in frustration and licked his lips. He opened his mouth to say something, but Claire kept cutting him off.

"If you didn't want me involved, then you should have left me alone, you freaking jack Ass", She hissed as she threw punch at the officer's left shoulder.


"Ouch!", Brent moaned as he held his shoulder with his wide eyes on the angry blonde woman infront of him. "What the hell?"


"What. Happened.",. Claire hissed through gritted teeth.


Brent looked at her for a while and then sighed, dropping his shoulders. "It's Wilson's son", He uttered.


He watched as the look of rage on her face quickly dissolved into that of confusion.

Claire pushed passed him and began working towards the scene, completely ignoring the deputy who was calling her back.


She pushed her way through the crowd and saw it.


A body covered in white sheet, just like the ones she had seen earlier today at the morgue, except for.the fact that the white sheet on this body had a lot of red stains.

Claire kept her eyes on the body as she slowly made her way over.

"Poor Barney", She heard an onlooker whisper behind. "First his sheep, now this?"

"It's terrible".

"What is going on?"

"I heard it was a bear".

"I doubt that".

"I don't know, but the deputies better tell us something".


The speculative whispers went on and on behind Claire as she slowly made her way to the body, at the same time, immediately noticing the old man kneeling beside it.

"Ma'am", A police officer called as he came infront of her, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm Sorry ma'am, you can't be here, this is a crime scene".


Claire Clenched her jaws, glaring at the officer she had not really recognised. She then opened her mouth to spit Venom, when Brent immediately through himself between them.


"It's okay...it's fine", Brent said and then he turned to face her with a sigh. "She's with us".


Claire glared at Brent as she made her way passed him while the unfamiliar Officer shot confused glances at Claire and Brent.


Claire brought herself to a stop at the right hand side of the body, her breath beginning to quicken as a certain metallic smell filled the air.

The reality of the situation hit her hard as she stared at the body covered in blood soaked sheets.


"He was my Only son", The old farmer who was on his knees at the other side of the body whispered.


She slowly raised her eyes and saw the old man raise his sorrowful eyes to her. His eyes were bloodshot and welling with tears. He looked like he had been crying for hours. He looked really pale.


"He was my only Child", The old man said with a shaky Voice before he broke down into sobs.


Claire stared at him for a while, trying hard not to cry as she felt her eyes beginning to sting.


The blonde lady walked over to the other side and knelt down beside the old man, throwing her arms on his back.

"I've lost everything now", The old man sniffed. "It's all gone".

Claire leaned in beside the farmer, tightening her grip on his shoulders. "No you haven't Barney", She whispered heavily. "You haven't".

When he said nothing, his dull eyes fixated on his son's dead body, Claire looked over in the distance. His wife was calmer now, wrapped in a grey Blanket with a bottle of water in her hand and a group of Police officials gathered around her.

"Katherine still needs you", Claire whispered to the old man.


Barney Wilson raised his gaze and looked in the Direction of his wife. He shifted his gaze to his son's body again with uttering a word.


Claire licked her lips as she stared into space, thinking of what to say to the grieving old man beside her. She wasn't really good at consoling people, but she also couldn't imagine the pain Barney and his wife could be going through.

She knew how long the had stayed before the could have a child and how the entire town almost went into a celebration when they heard that Katherine Wilson was finally pregnant after so many years without a child.


But now, that child was gone.


Claire tilted her gaze again to the sobbing old man beside her and blinked back tears while observing him at the same time.


"Have you eaten Something today, Barney?", She asked.

When the farmer said nothing, Claire suddenly looked in Brent's direction. "Brent", She called.

The Officer spun away from a conversation he was having his colleagues and began walking over.


"He needs to eat something", Claire said as Brent reached them. "He shouldn't be here".


Brent nodded at her comments as he reached over to grab the old man up. "Come on Barney", Brent said with a wry smile. "Let's go get a bite".


"No", The old man pulled away from the deputy. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying with him. I'm staying with my son".


Claire gave a sigh and looked at Brent who also dropped his shoulders.


"Barney please", Claire began. "I mean, look at you, you're pale, and weak and you're probably dehydrated".

She then leaned closer and placed a palm on the old man's face, tilting his head so she could look into his Swollen red eyes.

"You need to eat something", She said.


With his eyes still looking into hers, the old man was silent, before he slowly returned his gaze to his son.

Claire looked up at Brent again and Nodded.


"Okay Barney", The deputies tried again, reaching for him. "Let's go".

The farmer was reluctant at first, but then he finally stood to his feet, his face contorted into an emotional pain as he began to cry while Brent was leading him away.


Claire turned away from them and faced the body before her, wiping the tears that had fallen down her Cheeks as she saw officer Larry approach with a look of concern on his face.


"You-you Okay Doc?", Larry uttered.


She sighed and looked up at him, blinking rapidly, with a smile on her face.


"I'm fine larry", She said.


looking down at the body before her, She reached over and held the top of the sheet, took a deep breath, before slowly peeling it off, preparing herself for whatever was beneath.


Claire Swallowed hard and gave out a trembling sigh as she stared at the Mangled body of Philip Wilson.

She saw Larry turn away and heard a few quiet gasps from onlookers in the distance when she raised the sheets. She could even hear a few women sobbing, She could hear a few 'Oh my god(s)'.

The blonde woman felt weak as she stared at the body. The Skull had been crushed, which caused the right side of his head to cave in.

She moved her eyes further down and noticed both his legs had been torn of completely from the hip ,with his torso still intact and his right arm bitten off below the elbow.


"S-Same Killer huh?", Larry stuttered.

At that point, Claire's gaze moved to the the boy's neck and she noticed what she had realised was the killers trademark.


"Massive tissue loss on the neck".


"Yep", Claire sighed. "The same killer".

She covered the body and pulled herself from the floor.


"He was just Sixteen years old you know", Larry said. "He never did anything to anyone".


Those words cut through Claire's heart like a knife.

"God, her daughter was Sixteen too".

She turned her eyes and caught Chief Kent and Patrick together, discussing something farther away from the scene.

She suddenly felt her stomach grumble, She didn't know if was anger or Hunger, but she knew she was Mad at the fact that the officials were keeping this away from the people of the town.


She suddenly left Larry with the body and began matching towards the two men.


Kent couldn't hide his surprise when her saw the blonde woman.


"Dr. Hayes, what are you-".



"Just how long do you think you're gonna keep this from the people of this town?", Claire cut him off, seething as she crossed her arms over a Chests.


Kent sighed and stood his ground. "Well", he began. "I would have said for as long as it took, but I don't think that's gonna be easy anymore". He then nodded in a direction behind Claire.


She spun and saw a group of report setting up their equipment beside their van, parked on the field.


Claire licked her lips and turned back to face the chief. She watched as Patrick left them and slowly walked away, farther away with his eyes on the woods in the distance, obviously lost in thought.


"Does the Mayor know?", Claire asked as she looked back at Kent.



"Well", The chief said. "If he doesn't watch the news tonight, He'll know by tomorrow morning".



Claire watched the police chief for a while and was surprised when she began to feel sorry for him. He looked pale and tired, just like Philip's father, the only difference was that he wasn't crying.



He obviously didn't feel like talking much.



"Please Excuse me Dr. Hayes", Kent said, before he walked away.


She would have ran after him for more answers, but she could tell, like everyone else, the boy's death had taken a toll on him.


Claire turned and glanced over at Patrick in the distance. His hand were in his pocket as he stared out into the large expanse, oblivious to what ever was going on behind him.



She walked over to him and stopped beside him.


Being in charge of the town's Zoo, Claire knew he knew more about the situation than any other person.



If she was going to trust anyone's opinion on this matter, it had to be Patrick Parker's.



The two of them stood there in Silence for sometime. The morning breeze tugging at their hair and clothing.



Claire turned to face Patrick, his eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed in thought.



"What do you think?", The words escaped her.


Patrick turned to her, his serious expression dissolved.


"What do I think?", He said, then he turned back to the view infront of him.


"I think Cherrywood Valley has got a big man-eating problem", The brown haired man sighed.

Hey. Please be sure to drop your comments on what you think.

I'm having trouble making posts here so if you are interested in more chapters from the book, you can inbox me your number and i'll add you to the "Ferocious" whatsapp group for daily posts.

Gracias!

Chapter Six

"Anyone gotten in touch with Victor yet?” Kent asked, his arms folded on his Chest, as he looked out his office window.

"Um-I have Sir", Larry uttered.

"And?"

"He's in Florida", Larry said.


Kent turned and to face his deputies who had gathered in his office.

"What the hell is he doing in Florida?", Kent asked.


"Well", Larry started. "He's there with his entire family, so i'm assuming, sir, that he's on vacation".


"Jesus christ", Kent hissed as he clenched his Jaw and punched his table.

He thought for a second, and then looked up at his team.

"So how the hell are we supposed to carry out an Autopsy on these Bodies, when our Coroner is on vacation?", The chief hissed.


Donovan's brows furrowed as he looked up at the chief. "An Autopsy?", He uttered.


"Is that necessary?", Helen asked.


"Of course it is", Kent said. "I'm gonna need to tell the Mayor something".


"You're gonna tell the Mayor?", Brent uttered.


"What?", Kent asked. "You want me to carry this whole shit on my shoulders? No way kid". He then spun back to face his window.


"Well, we don't have a Coroner for an Autopsy", Helen said. "So what do we do?".


"Send the Bodies to Denver I guess", Donovan shrugged.


"...And get the FBI involved?", Kent uttered, with his gaze still outside his window. "No way".


The room was quiet for a while, till Brent broke the silence.


"Well-eh", Brent uttered. "I guess I know someone who could help".


Kent didn't say anything. He was still looking outside his window and Brent saw that as a 'go on'.

Brent licked his lips and went on as everyone had their attention on him now.


"She's a doctor, a pathologist to be exact", He said. "She's in town with her kids for the summer. Dunno how long she's staying, but she could help".


Larry's brows furrowed in Confusion before he turned to face Brent who was standing behind him.

"Wait", He said. "Are you talking about Dr. Claire Hayes?"

"Yep".

Helen turned to face Brent beside her, her eyes wide as saucers. "Claire's in town?", She asked.


Brent turned and gave her a deadpan look. "I said that, didn't I?".


The room fell quiet as everyone turned to face the chief who was still backing them.

Kent then spun and faced his deputies.

"Well, what the hell are you waiting for ?" Kent said. "Call her up".






Leaning on the wall of the Morgue section of Cherrywood Memorial, Brent couldn't help but feel nervous as he watched Claire strutting down the hall towards him. She didn't look happy, She looked like she was going to whoop someone's Ass.

She looked like she was coming to kick his Ass for waking her up by Seven thirty in the morning. He remembered how reluctant she had been on the phone.


He blonde hair swaying down her shoulders as she moved. She wore nothing more than a white T-Shirt, blue jeans and a pair of flip flops, with her hand bag over her left shoulder.


"She wasn't kidding when she said she was on a vacation".


"I can't believe you brought me into this", Claire hissed as she met up with Brent.


"Claire, Just Relax, okay", Brent said.


"I'm on Vacation", The woman hissed, drawing her words. "Do you know what that means, Brent?"

"Look", Brent uttered. "It's just an Autopsy, five minutes and you're done".


"What the hell is this about anyway?", She asked. "You didn't say anything over the phone".


"I'm Sorry Claire", Brent Swallowed. "That's Classified".


She shot the Officer an incredulous look. "Classified? , Classif.. are you kidding me Brent?"


"Claire just be patient okay", He said, trying to calm her down. "You'll be briefed when we start okay, Come on, trust me here".


She looked at her best friend's husband, seething and resisting the urge to punch him with her fists clenched at her side.



Brent watched her for some seconds and read her mind quickly. "Yeah", He uttered. "You can kick my ass after the Autopsy".



She glared at Him for a while with her clenched jaw and then shifted her gaze down the hall and saw Chief Kent Hurry over with officers Larry and Donovan behind him.

She then narrowed her eyes and tried to get a better look at the last man in the convoy.

"Patrick Parker".

His face lit up as soon as he saw Claire while he was approaching.


"Claire?".


For the first time Claire entered that hospital, She smiled as she when in for a hug.


"Hey", Patrick said as he pulled her in for a hug. He then pulled away and stared at her. "How long have you been in town".


"A couple of weeks", She chuckled.


Patrick eyed her. "Wow, you look good".


Claire Chuckled again.


"Um- Claire?", Brent interrupted as he gestured towards Chief Kent. "This is Cherrywood's head of Police Chief Ben Kent".

He then turned to Kent. "Chief? , Dr. Claire Hayes".


He brought his hand out for a shake, ignoring the slightly surprised look on Claire's face.

Kent then cleared his throat and looked at everyone. "We don't have much time".

He then looked at Claire and gesture towards the door that was labelled 'morgue'. "After you Mrs. Hayes", He said Politely.






"Listen Dr. Hayes", Kent began. "We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused you, but our regular coroner is outta town, and we thought maybe you could be of help since you are experienced in this".

Claire Clenched her jaw and stole a Glare at Brent standing at the corner.

The entire room was quiet for a few seconds as she just stood there and thought for a while.


She then Deflated in defeat. "Okay, what am I looking at?", She sighed, throwing her hand up and bringing it down again.


"Larry?", Kent called out as he nodded towards Claire.


"Here you go Doc", Larry uttered, holding out a file to her.


She took the file from the young deputy while she watched a fat man in glasses and a white lab-coat rolled an aluminium platform into their midst. The body was covered in a white sheet on top of the platform.


Claire shifted her gaze from the body to the file in her hand as she opened up and began scanning.


It didn't take long before she realised she was about to carry out and Autopsy on two of the college students presumed missing.


She raised her wide eyes in Brent's direction and saw the young deputy looking at her with a smirk on his face.


Claire looked back down and stared at the picture of the handsome young man staring up at her with a one sided grin on his face.


"One of the missing college students", Claire realised as she felt her heart tighten at he reality of the situation.


She read his details and then slapped the file shut.


She turned to the female attendant beside her. "Gloves please", Claire uttered.


The girl hurried to the shelves at the corner, pulled out a pack while Claire was washing her hands in the sink nearby.


She put on the gloves for Claire and then stood and then pulled out what looked like a tiny microphone with a clip and clipped it to the doctor's collar.


"What the hell is this for?", Claire frowned at the girl.

Just then, Kent cleared his throat. "Record purposes Mrs. Hayes", He said.


She stopped herself from rolling her eyes and then she walked to the platform.


"Open it", She ordered.


As the fat man peeled the white sheet down to the bottom of the platform, Claire couldn't Hold her Gasp as she staggered backwards in shock, her eyes wide as saucers.


"Jesus", She heard Patrick whisper in a trembling voice.


Claire's breathing became heavy. She saw the young attendant lift a hand to cover her mouth from the corner of her eye.


"Claire?", Brent uttered in concern. "You okay?"


Claire looked up at the deputy, realising that she couldn't move. Realising that she was frozen in place.


"I'm...I'm fine", She stuttered.


She pulled off a Rubber band from her wrist and tied her blonde hair back neatly in a ponytail.


She Swallowed hard and reached for the file the attendant was holding out to her.


She moved towards the body, trying to comport herself, trying to steady her breathing at the sight before her.


She touched the microphone on her collar and began.

"This...This is an Autopsy conducted by Dr. Claire Rosemary Hayes on tuesday the...eh-"


"Sixteenth", Larry uttered.


"Sixteenth of...Um...June, Two thousand and fifteen", Claire uttered.


She Swallowed hard and licked her lips as she moved closer to the body.


"Victim's name is Michael Winston, early twenties, Caucasian male", She said.

She the leaned in Close and began to observe.


"Massive tissue loss on the neck of the victim so severe, the spinal bone is visible from the front". She then brought her gaze down, her brows furrowed in concentration.

"The Left arm has been completely severed from the shoulder region, while the right arm has been severed below the elbow, with tissue loss at the upper musculature".


Claire raised herself up and took a deep breath like a swimmer in a pool coming up for air.

She looked back down at the body and cleared her throat.

"The..Um...body...torso has been completely severed in half at the mid-thorax, with no major internal organs remaining", Claire's uttered, before she quickly moved back to the sink behind her and leaned towards it.


She felt Brent's arms suddenly rap around her back.


"It's okay", He Whispered. "We can stop if you want".


"No", She uttered in a trembling voice. "I'm fine".


She then back and face everyone.

"The next victim please", she called, moving her chin up.


The Fat guy covered up the body and rolled it out of sight, bringing another body covered in white sheet a few seconds later.

Claire walked up close to the body as the man peeled of the cover.

Her eyes just widened when she saw this particular body and she was actually surprised the Carnage before her didn't really trigger the same feeling the first body did.

She steadied herself ,opened the file again and began.


"Second victims name, Erica Burns, late teens, Caucasian female", she uttered as she leaned down towards the body, the serious look back to her features again.


"Like the first victim, there is also a massive tissue loss at the neck, but not as bad as the first. The right arm has be completely severed from the shoulder, but the left arm is still in tackle, with multiple tears on the skin".


Claire then walked over to the other side of the body.


"Massive...no...Excessive tissue loss on the Left side of the torso with the left limb completely severed from the hip, with the right leg severed below the knee and massive tissue loss on the thighs", she said.

Claire quickly went over to the sink, forced off the gloves from her hand and flung them.

She turned the tap and buried her face in the puddle of water formed in her cupped palms.


"Well done Doctor. Hayes", She heard Kent utter behind her.


The Fat man was about to roll the body away.

"Just a minute", Patrick said, as he moved closer to the body. Observing it closely.


Claire washed her hands and face and began drying them with a Towel the attendant handed to her.

She leaned on the wall, breathing heavily, like she had just finished a marathon race.

"God, I hate my job"

Brent walked over to her with a pleasant smile on his face. "You did good Claire", He said.

She glared at Him. "Oh shut up Brent", she scowled.


The officer chuckled.


"So", Kent said as he walked over to Brent and Claire and crossed his arms over his chests. "What do you think we've got?"

Claire stayed quiet for a while. Thinking. She stole a glance at Patrick. He was looking up at her now, grinning, probably thinking the same thing as she was.


Everyone had their attention on her now, including the female attendant and the fat morgue attendant.


She then looked at Brent, He looked expectant, waiting for an answer.


She thought of a better way to say it. A way to make it milder, but there was none.


The doctor then poured out her diagnosis the best way she could.



"Those kids were being eaten alive", She said and then her eyes darted to their faces and saw the shock on all of them. All of them except Patrick.



"Chief", A female officer walked into the room and called out.



Kent spun to face her without a word.



"We have a situation at the Wilson farm", She uttered.


Kent dropped his shoulders and gave an exhausting Sigh.


"Oh God", He groaned. "What now?"

Philip Wilson pushed his way out the net-screened door and walked out of the house. His mother had called for him to take the horses tied outside back into barn.

"We both know they ain't safe out there no more", She had said.

On a normal day, Philip would protest, but after seeing what happened to his father's sheep last week, He wondered why he had not thought of locking them in sooner.

The young boy walked across the field, past the shed and over to meet the horses where he had tied them to a fence in front of the stable earlier today.


"Hey guys", he said, as he reached out and rubbed his palms over the tight brown skin of one of the stallions.


The animal raised its head and leaned in to sniff at Philip's face and hair, before in brought it's head down again, nibbling at the short green grasses below, just like the other two beside it.


"It's time to tuck you guys in for the night", Philip signed, with his hand still on the horse.


One of the horses gave out a sort of grunting sound as its tail whipped around its bottom, shaking its head like a dog trying to shake the water out of its fur after a bath.


"What's that, Pluto?"


He leaned in beside the horse with his palm on its back, as if the horse was about to tell him something. "What?, You don't go to bed now?", Philip uttered.


When the Animal didn't make another sound, Philip patted raised himself up and patted it's back. "Yeah, I get it", He chuckled.


He then turned around, scanning the area around him to see if there anyone in sight.


No one.


He then inched forward, passed the horses and took a peek at the house in the distance.

It didn't look like anyone was going to be surprising him in a while.


With his eyes still darting at the vicinity around him, the boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metallic bottle.


"Hello baby", Philip cooed as he raised the bottle to his face with a mischievous smirk on his face.


He tore his gaze from the bottle in his hand and began darting his eyes around him again, making sure no one was watching, or coming.


He then turned to face the horses and smiled.


"You guys don't mind if I take a little break, do you?", The teenage boy whispered.


The horses still had their heads down to the grass below them, nibbling away.


Philip then turned away from them and walked a few yards down before dropping to the floor to have a sit.


He chuckled quietly as he began to open the bottle.


He had always waited for opportunities like these when he would be alone and be able to do what he wanted, which included gulping down half a bottle of Alcohol.


Philip twisted and faced the horses behind him with a smile as he raised the opened bottle in their direction. "Cheers boys", He uttered.


He spun back and took a gulp at the drink. The boy grimaced as he lowered the bottle from his lips.


"Damn"


Unlike the ones he had tasted the previous nights, this one was strong as hell.

He shook his head violently and then the Smile was back to his face. He twisted again and faces the horses with a Chuckle. "Hey Pluto, You've gotta try this", The boy yelled. "You'll love it".


He took another gulp and set the bottle down in front of him.


He then leaned back, supporting himself with his two hands behind him. He looked into the sky and gave a slow sigh.


He had seen this every single night, but he still could not get over how beautiful it was.


The sky was a beautiful shade of Black, Deep blue and Aquamarine. The Moon was nowhere in sight, but there were billions of tiny glittering dots scattered up there.


Philip always thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was like a scene from a magical sci-fi Movie, directed by Steven Spielberg.


The teen lowered his gaze from the sky to the earth around him.


Fire-flies; tiny, twinkling yellow lights floating about, just a few yards away from him. Many of them seemed to gather at a particular spot, travelling together, but all of them seemed to be avoiding what looked like a large black piece of rock yards away.

Philip shifted his gaze away from the spectacle and shot a look at his house in the distance, before taking another gulp of his booze.


Suddenly, he jumped when he heard one of the horses give a high pitched neigh.

He spun and saw the one he called Pluto, stomping his hooves about.


"What is it boy?", Philip called out.


The horse stopped it's noise, but was still restless.


Philip spun away, ignoring the horses.


"Probably that time of the year again".


Shaking his head, he opened the bottle and raised it, taking another gulp. A longer one.


He lowered it down with a grimace on his face in response to his burning chest that made him thing that maybe that last long gulp wasn't such a good idea.

He then blinked quickly, to get a clear view of the world and the darkness infront of him.


For some reason, his senses were beginning to act up.


He narrowed his eyes when he noticed that the large black Rock that was yards away from him had some how gotten a bit closer.


Philip took a look at the bottle in his hand and shook his head.


"I think I've had enough for the night", He muttered as he began screwing the cap of the bottle on.


He pulled himself up from the ground, wondering for a second, how he had gotten so heavy all of a sudden.


He held the bottle in one hand and moved the other to his backside, slapping the dust and dirt from the ground off his trouser.


He then stopped, faced the world before him again and sighed. The stars were still in the sky, but the fire-flies were gone.


Then Philip noticed something odd. The black Rock. It was closer now. Closer than before. He furrowed his brows in Confusion.

He also noticed how quiet everywhere had become. Except for the sound of car engines roaring past on the highway a few metres away from the farm, the silence around him was deafening.

Then he realised why.

The Crickets had stopped chirping.

At that point, there was no doubt the drink he had was beginning to kick in, or was it. Philip wasn't even sure of anything anymore.

Were there really Crickets chirping in the first place?


Was there even a rock on the field? , and was it moving?


Thanks to alcohol, Philip wasn't really sure of anything anymore.


The boy jumped in shock when he heard the loud, high-pitched neigh of the Horses. He spun and glared at them, and saw all three horses stomping, lifting their front legs in the air and hitting the ground, hard.


"Shhh", Philip hissed as he shot a glare in the direction of his house, quickly pushing the bottle in his pocket at the same time.


The horses didn't stop, they were beginning to get even worse.


Philip turned his wide eyes to the animals.


"Guys", He hissed. "What the hell?"



When he saw one of the horses tug so hard, it broke part of the wooden fence, Philip knew this wasn't a joke anymore. His look of confusion suddenly turned to that of fear.


The teen raised his hand slowly as he moved closer to the disturbed animals.


"Whoa", He uttered. "It's okay".


The horses still showed no signs of calm. They kept tugging and tugging on the fences, pulling, Screaming, stomping.

At this point, Philip knew he had to be careful as he got closer to the animals because he knew the damage a horses hooves could do to a person or anything else for that matter.


Philip managed to get to Pluto, placing his hand on his back and rubbing it gently to calm him. "It's okay boy", Philip said. "It's alright".

When the horse calmed a little, Philip suddenly reached for the Lasso that held it to the wooden fence, and was about to loose him free and take him to the stable, but then he froze when his eye caught something.


The black rock. It's had moved again. It was closer now.


Philip straightened himself up and narrowed his eyes.


He tried, but for some reason, he couldn't ignore the rock's new position in the grassy field, because the rock was presently on the spot where he was sitting some minutes ago.


Then he saw it.


Right infront of the boy's eyes, the rock began to move.


Philip felt his hands drop from Pluto's back when he saw the big black Rock getting taller....and taller.


"What the-?".


The boy felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand when the rock began to take an entirely different shape. He was confused. He didn't know what to do. He was just frozen in uncertainty and confusion.


Philip then saw that the large black shape was beginning to take a very familiar form, and it was when he saw the ears, the boy's heart dropped.


Philip's eyes went wide.


"Oh my God", The boy whispered in a trembling breath as he slowly began to back away from the horses, heading towards the house.


The large black figure began to move towards him, the muscles on its back moving up and down.

When Philip realised that the figure seemed to increase its pace, He had no choice.


The teenage boy quickly spun and began sprinting for the house up ahead, his breath heavy and fast.


As he ran, he didn't want to look behind him to see whether he was being chased or not, but he did anyway, and when he did, Philip was met with the scariest sight in his life.


The Boy let out a whimper when he saw the black figure charging behind him, less than a yard away. It looked even larger and bigger now.


He was faced with the grim reality that no matter what he did, He wasn't going to out run it, so he did the only thing that came to his mind.


"Help!", The boy Screamed till his throat ached. "Somebody help me!"


When he heard a growl, Philip stole a glance behind and saw that the black figure was just metres away from him.


He pulled out the bottle from his pocket and threw it at the figure.


It dodged it, with Lightening speed.


"Somebody Please!", Philip's Screamed had now turned into cries. "Help Me!"


He looked forward and saw that he was almost in the field of light produced by the security lamps.


He didn't know what was chasing him, but he knew that whatever it was, it probably didn't like that light.



"Come on Philip, you can make it". "Come on".



The frightened teen heard another growl just inches from him as he was about to step into the field of light.


Suddenly, white hot pain shot through the teenage boy's body, as what felt like four large knives tore down his back.

Philip let out a loud cry at the excruciating pain he felt as he finally staggered in to the light and fell.


He was in the lit up circle now. He was safe. He felt safe at least, until something pulled him by the ankle.


"No!", The boy Screamed, Scratching at the soil below him. "Mum!" "Dad!".


In a flash, the boy was tugged out and flung out back to the darkness like a piece of cloth.

Philip felt himself float in the air until he hit the the side of a metal water tank, hard.


He struggled to get up even though he was dizzy, blinded by the darkness and the pain in his body.


"Mum!", He kept screaming. "Dad!"


Then the four knives tore into him again, before the large creature towered over him.


The last thing Philip Wilson saw through his watery, tear filled eyes were those menacing yellow glares.


The boy was about to utter another word before the Creature lunged forward and grabbed his throat with its vice-like jaws, crushed Philip's neck in one single bite.



Mrs. Wilson came out of the house with a blanket in her hand, she moved to the side of the house and hung it on a line, pegged into on, before walking back.


Before she went into the house, She spun and looked out into into the night.


"Philip", She called. "How long is it gonna take you to take those horses in?"


There was no response.


"Just Hurry on up and come inside", She yelled.


She stood for a while, shaking her head. "Kids", She uttered.


Then, Mrs. Wilson turned and walked into the house, shutting the door behind her, while a large predator was tearing her only child to shreds a few yards away.

[center]Chapter Four[/center]

Kent stood there, staring at the shredded camp tent, trying to rap his head around what had happened here and were the three campers were.

He then glanced round at the police officer discussing, equally trying to rap their head around what was obviously the second crime scene in a week.

He glanced at an officer taking photos of tipped over cooler, the torn tents and the truck that the campers left behind.

He saw another officer in gloves who picked up what used to be some kind of music player and drop it into a transparent bag.

He raised his hands and rubbed his eyes. He had not gotten a good night sleep in days. The sun was high up and everywhere was really hot.

Kent rubbed the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hands as he moved away from the front of the tents, and headed towards the other end of the the site.

He raised the yellow police tape tied between two trees as he walked past and headed for Larry.


"The boys seen anything?", He called to the young deputy.


Larry quickly spun to face his boss. "N-No sir", He uttered.


"Didn't think so", Kent said as he strolled over to Larry's side.


The view from where they both stood was breathtaking. A complete sea of greenery spread for miles below them, with small patches of bare land that pin pointed the location of the Rangers stations and a few cabins for campers.


"It's weird, ain't it?", Kent uttered.


Larry spun to face his boss. "What is?", He muttered.

Kent's eyes were reduced to mere black slits under the brightness of the hot summer sun.

"That something so horrible could actually happen in a place like this", The chief sighed.


Larry said nothing. He just turned his gaze back to the view before him.


Kent raised his eyes to the clear blue skies that disappeared into the vast plain of greenery before him.

Except for a few scattered settlements, houses and farms, Kent could see the buildings of the busy town not too far away. He then shifted his gaze further off and saw farmer Wilson's farm. It was the closest human settlement to the Woods, well, as far as Kent could see.

Kent cringed at the thought of how Close this crime scene was to the town. He cringed at how vulnerable the people were down there, oblivious to the danger, what ever it was, as they went about their normal lives.

"What do you think happened to those kids Chief?", Larry asked, turning to his boss, squinting to the brightness of the sun overhead.

Kent looked at the young deputy, wishing he had an answer for him. Then he turned back and looked at the town in the distance. He wished he had an answer for them too when they started asking.


"God".


Kent lifted his hands to rub his neck again. It was as if the entire weight of the situation was on him. On that neck. He had sworn of smoking and had be clean for over three years now, but at this point, he felt his strength and principles beginning to shake.


Kent raised his head when he heard the cooing sounds of crows and ravens in the distance. The large black birds were high up in the air, flying in circles.


He couldn't count them, but he could tell they were at least twenty of them. Swirling around, forming a sort of funnel that ran from the air and disappeared in the green below.


Kent smiled and dug his hands in the pocket of his jacket. The sight made him remember his father. A real soldier of a man he was. He remember going hunting with him once as a teenager, and they had seen the same flock of large black birds, swirling overhead, forming a funnel that reached from the sky, down to the earth.

He called them the vultures of the woods. He said that when ever one saw the birds gathering in that manner, it only meant that there was probably a dead animal down there, or a dead-


Kent suddenly stiffened and pulled his hands out of his pocket, with his eyes widening at the funnel of Crows.


"Oh my god", the words slipped out of Kent's mouth.


Larry shot back and looked at the chief. "What is it?", the young man uttered.


"Get Donovan and Brent", the man ordered as he started to move, without even giving Larry a look, and his gaze fixed on the funnel of Crows in the distance. "Now!"


"Ye-Yes sir", Larry muttered.




Chief Ben Kent stood there in shock, a few yards from what he had found. His eyes wide open.

He had not realised it, but he hadn't blinked once for the entire six minutes he had been standing there.

He heard the multiple footsteps behind him as his deputies ran up to catch up with him.

Brent heard the loud gasp of a female officer behind him. His eyes still trained to the front.

"Oh-Oh my God", He heard the muffled cry of another officer. He didn't need to look back to know it was Donovan.


He heard somebody gagging, choking and coughing, along with the sound of liquid splashing to the floor, but even that wasn't enough to make Kent tear his eyes away from the horror in front of him.


"Ch-Chief?", Brent stuttered as he made his way to the side of his boss, never taking his eyes of the Carnage before him. "What do we do?"


Chief Kent opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Brent licked his lips and then spun to face the crew behind.

"Hey!", The officer called. "We need body-bags over here!"

[center]Chapter Three[/center]

"Did you know that one Hag-fish can produce enough mucus to fill a single bucket?", Adam uttered.

Edith gave a playful gasp. "No I didn't", She said. "That's fascinating".

"....and gross", Samantha grimaced with her eyes on her phone.

Claire hurried into the Kitchen and Hustled on some gloves, before moving to the oven and pulling out freshly baked turkey.

She set it on the table and turned to Samantha who was still concentrating on her phone.

"I called you to this kitchen for a reason", Claire seethed. "Didn't I?"

Samantha turned to face her mum, with a feigned look of confusion on her face. "Really?, I can't remember".

"Okay then", Claire said as she moved to the fridge an opened it. "Let me remind you".

Samantha saw a bowl of Carrots drop beside her.

"Start Chopping", Claire ordered.


Samantha's eyes widened. "Are you serious?".


Claire glared at the teenage girl.


"Oh Come on Mum". Samantha moaned. "There are like a thousand Carrots in here".


"Oh Darling, Over exaggeration isn't really your thing", Claire said while washing her hands in the sink. "now chop".


Samantha mumbled something under her breath as she dragged herself to the knife and reached for the Chopping board and placed them both on the Counter.


"Did you know that butterflies can taste with their feet?", Adam uttered with a Proud smile on his face.

"Nobody cares Adam!", Samantha yelled through gritted teeth.


The little boy's enthusiastic smile faded to one of confusion.

"I care honey", Claire said as she made her way beside Samantha with a bowl of washed spinach. "Go on".


Samantha scoffed.



The sharp ring of the doorbell suddenly cut through the house.


"I'll get it!", Adam yelled as he stood form the dining table and charged for door.


Claire waited for Adam to leave the Kitchen, before she started at Samantha. "You know, you should start showing your brother a little bit of respect".


"Yeah, well maybe I'll start when you start showing me some", Samantha hissed.


Claire dropped her knife and face her daughter. "You're seriously saying all this just because I told you to come help me in the Kitchen?"


Samantha turned and gave her mother a fake, passive-aggressive smile.


Claire suddenly turned to Edith who was quietly slicing some tomatoes at the corner.

"Edith?", Claire called. "How old were you when you started cooking?".

Edith looked up at the woman and her daughter. "Claire, please don't bring me into-"

"Twelve", Claire fired, cutting her mother-in-law off, as she faced her daughter. "Your grandmother was twelve years old when she started cooking".


Samantha coughed out a short laugh that immediately stopped as she dropped her knife and turned to face her mother, with her arms crossed on her chest.


"News flash Mum", Samantha hissed. "I am not grandma, and this, isn't Nineteen forty-five".


Claire's mouth dropped open as she glanced over at Edith who was trying very much to hold down a laugh.

She glanced back at the teenage girl in front of her.

"Chop!", She shouted so loud while pointing to the bowl of carrots, she startled Samantha and Edith.

Samantha narrowed her eyes at her mother as she picked the knife and slowly turned to face the carrots in front of her.


"Whoa" A woman uttered from the Kitchen door. "What is going on in here?"


Claire spun to face her, and the stern look on her face dissolved immediately.


"Susan!", Claire yelled.


"Claire!", The lady called.


The two women hurried over to each other, engulfing themselves in a warm hug with their voices screeching in excitement. They were like too teenage girls that had not seen each other since their high school graduation and had just bumped into each other at college.


They moved back and eyed each other.



"God", Susan uttered. "Look at you. What are you, Eighteen?".



Samantha rolled her eyes as Claire through her head back in laughter at the flattering remark.


"I should definitely say the same for you", Claire said as she eyed Susan. "You have got to give me your diet plan".



Susan Chuckled.



"Hey Doc", A man in Police Uniform called as he materialised from behind Susan.


Claire's face lit up again as she saw him.


"Brent", She called as she moved in for a hug. "Oh my god".


Brent moved away and began eyeing Claire. "Did Susan say Eighteen?, I think she meant Sixteen", the man said before he moved close again to kiss her cheek.


Everyone except Samantha burst out in Laughter.



"Oh my god", Claire said. "Y'all are gonna flatter me to death".


As Susan and her husband then moved past her to greet Edith and Samantha, Claire then glanced over and saw a young boy who was obviously in his teens. He had Curly black hair falling around his face, with his green eyes beaming at her.



"Hey Mrs. Hayes", The boy uttered.



"Hello", Claire uttered in Confusion, but then her eyes widened in realisation and she spun to face Susan.



"Wait", She uttered. "Is this-?".



Susan smiled at her. "Yep".



Claire turned back to the teenage boy whom she now realised, had his arms over Adams shoulders. His smiled was now a toothy grin.


"Luke?", Claire called out in disbelief and opened her arms to receive the boy in a warm hug.


She pushed him back and eyed him. "Oh my god, look at you. You're practically a man".


The boy gave a shy chuckle.



"How old are you?", Claire couldn't keep the question down.


"Eighteen", Luke uttered.


"..and preparing for college too", Susan added. "He graduated high school two months ago".


Hearing that, Claire suddenly pulled the boy in for another hug. "Oh that's beautiful. I'm so proud of you".


She then turned and faced her daughter who was fully concentrating on the carrots she was cutting, being very careful not to cut her finger. "Sam?".


The blonde girl suddenly looked up and saw her mother with her arms over a boy's shoulder.


"You remember Luke", Claire uttered. "Don't you?".


Samantha shifted a narrow gaze to the boy standing beside her mother.

As much as she hated to admit it, She did remember Luke. She remembered when she came to town for her dad's burial five years ago. Luke was the only one who had spoken to her and her brother right from the beginning of the occasion. Everyone concentrated on her mother. Nobody really cared how Samantha and her then five year old brother felt, because, well, they all thought they were just kids and that they were too young understand the grief of losing a loved one.


"Nope", Samantha uttered, feigning Confusion.


Claire's pleasant smile suddenly disappeared and then she pursed her lips at her daughter, giving her a deadpan look. "Really?".


Samantha shook her head, stole a glance at Luke who furrowed his brows at her before she faced the carrots again.


"I hope you all are staying for dinner", Edith uttered.


"Oh definitely", Susan said.


"Well, not me", Brent said. "I gotta get back to the station".


"So early?", Edith asked.


"Apparently", Brent began as he picked a piece of Tomato from the Edith's bowl. "Our little town has been heating up these past few days, and I ain't talking about the summer sun".


"Is it about farmer wilson's sheep?", Edith said and then she placed her palm on her chest and dropped her shoulders. "The poor man".


Claire Shook her head with a wry smile on her face. "It's terrible".



"That", Brent uttered. "...and the fact that three kids from a college in Denver have gone missing after camping over at West point last week".


Everyone in the kitchen froze in shock. Even Samantha stopped chopping and shot her head up to look at the policeman.


Brent had everyone's attention now.



"What?", Susan uttered.


Brent nodded his head with a wry smile. "Johnson and Wales University officials called us three days ago and told us that after an Ecology trip, three of the students who camped at West point never came back. No phone calls, no messages, nothing".



"Oh my god", Claire uttered as she raised her palm to her mouth. She glanced over at Edith, her palms were on her chest again, her mouth open.


"How come it wasn't on the news?", Susan uttered in Confusion. Then her Confusion dissolved into a stern look. "...and how come you didn't tell me?"


"Because the authorities don't want anyone to know", Brent said.


"Why?", Claire asked.


"Donno, to prevent Panic I guess", Brent shrugged.


"Oh that's Bullshit," Samantha fired ,and then raised her hand to her mouth and mellowed down when she realised what she had just said.


Everyone turned and gave her a stern look.


"So-Sorry", The blonde teen stuttered as her cheeks turned red when she saw Luke Chuckle from the side of her eye.


"That reminds me", Adam started as he turned and looked up at Luke. "I've got a special Scientific fact for you Luke".


"Sure", The boy said. "Let's hear it".



"Did you know my sister, Samantha Hayes, talks in her Sleep, like all the time?", Adam uttered innocently.


Luke shot his head up in Samantha's direction and met her wide eyes filled with rage, rising from the carrot bowl before her. Her grip tightening on the knife in her right hand.


"Uh...dude?", Luke turned back to the boy beside him and whispered.


Adam raised his face to Luke in Confusion. It was as if the little boy didn't feel like he had said anything bad. "Huh?"


"Run", Luke whispered.


"I'm gonna Kill you!!!", Samantha Screamed as she charged at her little brother with the knife in her hand.


Adam's eyes widened as he left Luke and shot himself away towards the stares. screaming at the top of his lungs.


"Mum!", The boy Screamed. "Help!".


Everyone, including Luke, was laughing as the two siblings raced out of the kitchen, into the hall way, and up the stares.


"Samantha Hayes!", Claire yelled. "You better not lay a finger on that boy!".


"Gotta run", Brent uttered as he hurried over, kissed the Claire and Edith on their cheeks and Susan on her lips, then hurried to the door, Rubbing Luke's hair as he passed. "Bye son".



"Bye Dad".


"Those poor kids," Edith moaned. Claire could tell that was what Edith had been thinking of ever since Brent gave the news. The Missing College Students. "I hope they find them".


"Yeah", Claire said. "I hope so too".

[center]Chapter Two[/center]

"Jesus Christ!", Chief Kent yelled immediately he entered his office. "Larry gaddammit!".


Another young man in Uniform suddenly made his way to the office, wide eyed and anxious. "Yes chief".


"What the hell is that thing doing on my table?".


Larry opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.


"What?", Kent hissed. "You can't talk now?"


A lady then pushed her way past Larry at the door way. Her eyes settled with relief when she saw what was on Kent's table.


"There you are Sassy", She cooed, as she quickly made her way over and picked up her cat from the table. "I've been looking all over for you".

Kent gave her an incredulous look as she made her way towards the door.


"Now Helen", Kent said. "We talked about bringing pets to the station".


"I know chief", Helen moaned as she moved close to him and tried to hide her surprise when he moved back a bit. "...But Rick is at work and the kids are at Camp, I can't just leave her at home all by herself".



She then raised the cat higher to her face and began rubbing her nose on its fur. "You're a good girl...goood girl", She cooed.



Kent watched her with an expression on his face. It was like she was trying to kiss a poisonous cobra right in front of him. He tried to hide his disgust as he grimaced.


"Get that thing outta my office, Helen", Kent waved.


Helen turned at gave him a deadpan look, pursing her lips and shaking her head at the same time, then she faced the cat in her arms and a smile returned to her face. "Oh Come on Sassy, let's go", She cooed, before she looked up to Kent sternly. "...before the mean old ogre eats you up".



"Ha-Ha", Kent uttered as he made his way to his desk. "Very funny".



She gave him a mischievous smirk as she headed out the door way, with cat held up to her chin.



Kent sat down and then realised Larry was still at the door way. "Larry".


The young man jumped and moved his gaze from Helen's back side to face the chief immediately.


"Sir?", Larry uttered.


"Coffee, Please", Kent said.


Larry gave a curt nod and disappeared, giving way for a female officer who made her way through Kent's door way.


"Chief?", the female officer called.


"Yep", Kent uttered, his eyes concentrating on a file infront of him.


"Brent and Donovan just called", She said. "They want you over at the old wilson's farm".


Kent shot up and gave her a surprised look.


"What the hell do they want me there for?", He Protested. "Wilson called me last night and I told Donovan and Brent to take a check this morning. Why the hell do they want me there?"


The woman shrugged with a wry smile. "They said you have to see this for yourself".


"Goddammit", He hissed as he slammed the file shut and then he waved at the female officer.


He sat and watched as she made her way out of his open office and back to her sit.


Larry walked in immediately with with a mug of coffee in his right hand. He moved towards Kent's table with a nervous grin on his face. "Here you go Ch-".


"Put it in a flask", Kent growled as he got up from his seat and grabbed his hat and and jacket and met Larry's wide, confused eyes. "You and me are going over to the Old Wilson farm".



Even from the distance, as Kent made his way out of the car, He saw the crowd and knew, whatever it was, it had to be something.


"Do I wait in the car sir", Larry asked.


Kent spun to face him. "Boy, get your ass outta that car", He hissed.


Larry quickly stepped out of the car without hesitation, jamming the door behind him and quickly walking over to catch up with Kent who was already making his way to the scene.


"You're a Police officer", Kent growled. "You don't stay in the car when you're supposed to be at a crime scene".


Larry said nothing. He just quickly nodded in response.



As the two officers got closer, the reality of whatever happened began to hit Kent hard. He stole a glance at an old woman, farmer wilson's wife, crying on the shoulders of her eldest son. He then shifted his gaze and saw farmer Wilson. He looked distraught, with his hands on his waists. Kent could tell he was oblivious to whatever questions the deputies were asking him.


"What the hell is going on?"


Donovan spun and saw Kent coming over and began to move towards him. Farmer Wilson followed the deputy's gaze and began to move towards Kent too.


"What's going -".


"I-I have nothing Left", The Old farmer sobbed as he went over and grabbed the collar of Kent's Uniform. "I have nothing left, they killed them all".


Kent stared into the bloodshot, tear filled eyes of the old man with Confusion.


"Ca-Calm down Steven", Kent uttered. "Calm down".


"They Killed them all", The old man sobbed as his words became shaky and then he Collapsed to his knees. "They killed them all".


Kent stared down at the crying old man beneath him in shock. He had known Steven Wilson for over forty-years, but he had never ever seen him like this. Broken. Crying.



Kent then moved his attention to the crowd ahead as Larry and Donovan bent down to the ground to console the old farmer.



As Kent got closer, her could make out three colours. Green, White....and Red stains.



Kent pushed his way through the small gathering and felt his heart leap as his eyes fixated on the heart crushing sight before him. He heard himself give out a low gasp.



"My God".



Pieces of what used to be a herd of Sheep, scattered all over the floor. Below him, blood stained shards of flesh scattered all around the green meadow.



Kent was so stunned, He didn't even know when he had moved closer to the shredded animal carcasses. He had to stop moving when he almost stepped on the severed head of a sheep, staring up at him with its wide eyes and it's tongue hanging out of its open mouth.



Kent cringed when he saw the the intestine of one of the animals dragged out at least half a meter from its decapitated body.



"Christ".


Growing up in a farming dependent town like Cherrywood, Kent was use to seeing Animals butchered for meat and all ,but this, this was barbaric, even for an animal. He looked at the scattered carcasses and wondered who, or what could have done this.

The Chief spun to look into the faces of the people standing behind him. They all had the same expression. The same look of Horror. The same look that Kent himself had. Kent recognised some of the onlookers. Some of them were butchers who sold meat at the local market, but they still had the same look everyone there had. The same look Kent had. The Look of disbelief.

Kent could tell that no one, not even the butchers had ever seen anything like this before in their lives.


Kent then noticed that there were two other Carcasses, half eaten, far away from the scene of the main Carnage.


He moved further down the meadow and found the severed leg of a sheep farther away and that was when he realised that the carcasses were all placed in form of a trail that led to the Woods beyond.



Kent gave a sharp sigh and swallowed hard.



"Brent!", He called out and then spun to see the officer running towards him.



"Chief?",Officer Brent called.



"Get Patrick down here now", Kent order.



"Sure", Brent said, then he hesitated a little. "Wh-What do you think it is Chief?".



Kent spun to him with his jaws clenched. "I don't know Brent, that's why I said for you to call Patrick here godammit", Kent hissed through gritted teeth.



Brent gave quick nods and scampered away.



As Brent ran off, Kent could see Larry hurrying over to meet him.



"I just got a call from Helen, Chief", The young officer mumbled as he managed to catch his breath.


"And?", Kent's eyes still on the severed leg.


"She said Colorado University officials called", Larry Swallowed. "Three of their students are missing".


"What the hell has that got to do with us?", Kent asked, still focused on the carcass.


"They were camping up at West Point Valley".


Kent immediately spun and faced Larry. He could not hide his shock.


"What?", He uttered.


"They were on an Ecological camping trip or something. All the students reported back, except the three that Camped up at West point", Larry said.


Kent said nothing. He slowly turned to face the large expanse of trees and hills in the distance. Larry Could tell he was lost in thought and didn't bother to utter another word.


Kent quickly spun to face Larry. "Get Donovan over here", He said.


Larry nodded and quickly ran back to the gathering of people.


Kent just stood there and slowly shifted his gaze to the hills and the large blankets of vegetation. The cold early morning breeze hitting his face.


The Mangled carcasses of a local farmer's herd of sheep was all over the floor below him. Decapitated. Slaughtered. Eaten. He didn't know how many sheep were killed, but he could swear they had to be more than ten from the looks of it.

Now, he was just being hit with the news of three College students going missing in his town. Three kids going missing after camping in a place that was not more than half a mile away from where he was standing.


A farmer's herd gutted and slaughtered.


A group of college kids missing.


These were two things that had not happened in Cherrywood Valley in thirty years. He was the town's Chief of Police, He would know, he had the records.


But here they were, happening on the same day.


"Jesus", Kent sighed as he raised his hands and rubbed his neck.


As he looked up at the large expanse of hills, trees and forests before him with the breeze hitting his face, he just couldn't shake the feeling that things in Cherrywood had just changed with these two occurrences, and that a dark Cloud may have just settled over his peaceful little town.

Chapter One

"Samantha Hayes," Claire called out. "for the fourth time, Please get your feet off my dashboard,"

The teenage girl on the passenger seat rolled her eyes and sighed as she brought her legs down.

"Thank You," Claire said.

"Are we there yet?" Adam moaned from the back seat. "I'm really hungry,"

"Oh Honey", Claire uttered with her attention on the road and her palms tightened on the steering wheel. Her tone was calm now. "We'll be there before you know it, okay?"

As Adam groaned and collapsed back on his seat, Samantha slowly spun and gave him a look with disgust written all over her features.

A Condescending sneer.


"What?," Adam frowned at her.

She slowly turned her attention from Adam to the trees flying by outside the car window on her right side.
Claire stole a glance at her daughter as she rested her head on the glass.


"You okay Honey?", She asked.

Samantha didn't respond and Claire knew her daughter well enough to say nothing more.
She just turned her attention back to the endless streak of tarred Road before her and licked her lips.

She wasn't going to start an argument with Samantha again; definitely not today.

She had been driving for over an hour and thirty minutes form the Airport and she was exhausted. She just wanted to get to her mother-in-law's place, take a shower and relax.

As much as she wanted to relax, She was also nervous. This was the second time she was visiting since her husband's death three years ago. The last time she was here, it was for his funeral and she found it hard to forget, because it was the worst day of her entire life.

Claire tightened her grip on the wheel as she shifted in her seat. She was well aware of the risk she was taking by going back to Cherrywoods Valley. She was well aware of the Psychological trauma she was likely going to face, being surrounded by everything and everybody that reminded her of her late husband.

The fact was, she had to go. Apart from the fact that she needed a summer vacation, Edith needed her.

Yes, She had lost her husband, but she knew nothing would compare to the pain a mother felt after losing her son.

Claire took peek at Adam from the rear view mirror and tried not imagine what it would feel like to lose him.


"I would die".


Just then, Adam sat up straight when he caught sight of a large billboard passing by.


"Wel-Welcome to Che--rrywood Va-Valley", The little boy stuttered as he narrowed his eyes, straining to see the word clearly. "Pop, fifty seven thousand".


Samantha suddenly burst out in Laughter as she spun to look at her little brother with a malicious smile on her face. "Pop?"
Claire immediately smacked Samantha on her laps, trying to hold down laughter herself. "Stop laughing at him", She hissed.


Samantha's laugh suddenly lessened into a chuckle. "Whatever", Samantha waved off.


Claire then remembered that he was stuttering and decided to ask the one question that came to mind after a sigh.


"Adam," She uttered, afraid to turn to face him herself. "Please tell me you're wearing your glasses".


"Um-", She heard Adam utter.


"Oh God Adam", Claire sighed as she threw her head back in frustration. "Do we have to go over this again?"


"I'm Sorry Mum", The boy said. "I'll wear it when we get to Grandma's".


"What's stopping you from wearing it now?"


"Oh Come on mum", Adam moaned. "It makes me look like a nerd".


Samantha spun and gave him a Mischievous smirk. "You are a Nerd, with or without your glasses. You can't escape it".


"I'm not a nerd", Adam growled.


"You are too".

"I'm not".

"Are too".

"I'm not!"

"Are too".

"I'm not!", Adam shouted in frustration. "Mum, make her stop!"


"I swear to god", Claire started. "If you two don't stop right now, I'll throw you both out of this car".


The car was suddenly quiet, with the only sound coming from Samantha's chuckles. The teen then reached forward and fiddled with the radio and then a certain song that made Samantha turn to Adam with widened eyes came on.

"Yes!", Adam shouted. "Turn it up!".


Samantha did as Adam said, and the two kids started bouncing to the rhythm of the song from the radio.


"If you love somebody,"
"better tell them while they're here 'cos"
"They just may run away from yoooou".


Claire felt a sting of Jealousy as she watched and heard her kids sing in unison at the top of their voices to a song that was obviously one of their favourites. She wanted to join them so bad. She wanted to be part of the fun.


"I'm On top of the world Hey!"
"I'm On top of the world Hey!"


Claire Chuckled as she saw her kids turn her car into a party. She would have reached forward and turned down the volume, but she didn't. There was something about this moment that made her wish it lasted forever.


As they coursed through the streets of Cherrywood, Claire was amazed at how things had Changed in just five years. The roads were now busier than ever, There were more buildings, Bigger, taller Buildings. Claire was almost as if more people had moved into the town.

Claire caught sight of a construction worker installing what looked like a CCTV camera to an electricity pole.

"Wow".

There was no doubt in Claire's mind that the Twenty-first Century had grabbed the little town by the balls.

They still had to make another five minutes’ drive as Edith lived at the outskirts, away from the hustle and bustle of the township.

Claire looked out the window and glanced at Cherrywood high school while trying to hold back the lump she felt in her throat as the memories of the first time she met the love of her life hit her.


"The nerdy biology genius and the incredibly hot Jock".


Till today, people still wondered what brought them together. People still wondered what she saw in Bradley Hayes and what Bradley Hayes saw in her.


"They would never understand".


Before they knew it, they were turning into Edith's drive way. The old woman had spotted them and a smile had started to grow on her face.


As soon as the car came to a stop, Claire heard Adams door jam shut.

"Grandma!! ” The little boy yelled as he ran from the car, past his mother and headed straight for the Old woman ,who was making her way down the balcony steps.


"Oh my!", She called out as she held the boy tight after he crashed into her. "Look at you".


She then bent over and cupped Adams tender smiling face in her palms. "Look how big you are".


Edith looked up and lifted her palms to her mouth as she glanced at Samantha who was walking gently towards her with a cheerful smile on her pretty face. It was almost as if Edith was about to cry as she eyed the teenage girl.


"My Princess", She uttered as she opened up her arms for a hug. "Look at you".

"Hey Grandma", Samantha said with a warm smile that Claire was almost surprised to see, as she came in for a hug.


Edith pulled away to get a good look at her grand-daughter with a smile on her face. "Your mum and I are sure going to have a hard time chasing the boys off you", She said.


Samantha gave a shy chuckle as her face began to redden.
Just then, a golden retriever made its way from inside the house, barking loudly as it charged straight for Adam.


"Ottie!", Adam shouted as he fell to his knees, arms wide open to receive the animal.


"Why, look at that", Edith Chuckled, as she stared at Adam with Ottie right on top of him, licking his face, his tail wagging. "I haven't seen him this excited since the last time you came".

"He's so big", Samantha said as she bent down and ruffled the dogs fur when it ran over to her.


Edith shifted a gaze from the kids and the dog to their mother who was standing beside the car, arms crossed on her chest. She had a grin on her face.


"Come here", Edith beckoned.


The two women met each other in a warm hug.


"How are you Edith?", Claire whispered.


Edith immediately pulled back and gave Claire a stern look. "You know, You didn't have to do this", She said.


Claire rolled her eyes.


"Hell, the kids would have been better off spending their summer in Disneyland or Something, instead of spending it with an old boring hag like me".


"Oh God Edith", Claire said with a grimace. "Just stop, okay. It was what we all wanted. It's what the kids wanted".


She then stole a glance at her children still playing with the dog.

"Besides, we're on a budget this year, Claire sighed. "...So no disneyland".


"I see", Edith uttered.

"Okay, Come on guys," Claire called out. "We've got to unpack".


"Oh Nonsense", Edith Scowled. "The Damned Luggage can wait. The poor things are probably exhausted"

Edith then turned to face the kids. "Hey, who's hungry? I've got freshly made Apple pie with mashed potatoes and turkey with your names on it".


"Yeah!", Adam yelled as he shot passed the women and made his way into the house with dog trotting behind him.


Edith chuckled as she watched the excited boy run into the house.



Samantha made her way up and kissed Edith on the Cheek and then moved past them towards the entrance, completely ignoring the other woman there.



Claire watched her daughter disappear into the house and then turned to catch Edith's gaze.



"What?", Claire uttered.



"Give her time", Edith said warmly as she flung her arms around Claire's back and Claire did the same. "She's a teenager you know, She is meant to be difficult at this age".



"Yeah, well, She probably hates me for bringing her here for the summer, but won't say it", Claire said.


"Nonsense", Edith waved her away."I for one, think this summer is gonna be one summer they will never forget".



Claire said nothing. She just smiled and held Edith tighter.



The two women just smiled at each other as they both walked into the house.

Please try and ignore the blunders and just enjoy the story, as this is the raw and un-edited version.


Thanks.

[center]Author's Note
This story is just a test publishing.
This particular prologue contains scenes with sex, strong language, slight gore and nudity.
Readers discretion is advised.
[/center]



[center]Prologue[/center]

"Jeez dude, It’s so Cold," Devin hissed, trembling, with his arms wrapped around himself as he settled down in front of the camp fire. "I'm freezing my ass off over here."

Unlike the hot humid summer afternoons, the nights up at the West point woods of the mountains were surprisingly cold and misty.

Everywhere smelt of green. The skies were clear with no Moon. The Owls hooted in the distance and the Crickets were chirping.

His friend, Michael rolled his eyes and faced him. "You complain a lot you know that, right?," He uttered, as he pulled out two beers from the cooler and threw one over to Devin, who even though unprepared, caught it in sharp reflex.


"Dude, it's summer," Devin scowled.


The tent behind them zipped open and a blond girl, Erica, emerged.

"Ugh," She uttered as she raised her right arm and kept slapping it with her other palm. "I swear, since the rain, the bugs out here have gotten worse."

"It's the moisture," Devin replied without looking at her as he reached into his pocket for his Phone. "Especially Mosquitoes, they love moisture."

"Yeah, well I can see that," Erica said as she made her way past him, waving and wiping her palms at the air around her till she settled down on a log at the opposite side of the fire.

Michael stole a lusty glance at her as he took a gulp of his beer. She saw him and replied with what looked like a seductive smile.

"Beer?" Michael offered with a smirk.

Erica nodded. She knew the beer was the excuse he had been looking for ever since.

"Of course," Devin uttered as he raised his Phone to the air and adjusted his glasses. "No fucking reception. Typical".

Michael made his way to Erica, sat down beside her and handed the beer can to her, his smirk never leaving his face. She was also smiling at him.

"Thanks," She uttered.

Their eyes never left each other even as Erica opened her can and took a sip.


Then the blonde girl suddenly squealed in excitement and jumped to her feet when the song "What's my name" by Rihanna started playing on the speaker at the corner.

"I love this song," Erica girl yelled as she moved to pick up the Portable speaker and turned up the Volume.


"Yes," Devin shouted, stood up and punched his fist into the air with his attention still on his phone above him. "One bar!, I got one bar!"


No one paid attention to him. Michael had his eyes on sexy Erica, swaying and grinding before him.

The way the cool night breeze tugged at her hair and her grey crop top.

The glow that the burning camp fire left on her olive skin.

There was something about the way she moved; so sensual, so inviting.

Michael could make out her nipples hidden under her Crop top and the way her jean bum-shorts hugged tight on her sexy hips and perfect ass.

The enticed young man took a gulp of his beer and tried to hold it all down, until Erica faced him and waved him over seductively with her finger.

"Oh yeah, here we go."

Michael raised himself from the log and moved slowly towards the blonde girl, flinging the empty can in the other direction.

She threw her arms over his broad shoulders and smiled up at him. Her eyes filled with a sort of Sexual mischief.

The two of them swayed to the music for a while as he grabbed her slender waists, with his hands travelling down to her Ass.

Erica then leaned close to Michael. So Close, that he could feel her warm breath on his right ear.

"I'm bored," Erica whispered seductively and ran her wet tongue over his ear, a gesture that sent electric currents flowing down Michael's body.


"Two bars!" Devin shouted from across. "Guys I got two bars!!" He seemed to be moving further and further away from Camp as it appeared phone signal were getting stronger.


Michael and Erica stole glances at him as he moved away and then faced each other with dirty grins.



"Um-Why don't you go further," Michael called out. "till -you know-you can get full reception,"

Erica giggled as Devin paused, dropped his phone and spun to face them. He looked confused at first, but after eyeing them for a while, a smirk appeared on his face and then he pursed his lips.


"Uh-huh, Yeah sure."

Devin turned back, raised his Phone and kept moving in his search for a better signal reception. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe that his friends were getting rid of him; Just because they wanted to have sex, but crazy enough, he was use to it.

Michael turned back to face Erica before she pulled him in for a kiss. The two of them shared a passionate, sloppy and long kiss while running their hands all over each other.

Erica unbuttoned Michael's shirt took it off and threw it to the side, while Michael pulled Erica's crop top over her head and threw it as well. He stopped to savour the sight of Erica's full breasts.


"Lord."


With a chuckle and a short kiss, Erica pulled him over towards the tent.

Michael threw a quick glance in Devin's direction.

He was gone.

He spun back and followed the Hot blonde in.


They shared a more intense kiss as they both groaned in response to what they were feeling. Michael ran his kiss from her soft lips to her neck and then down to her breasts.

He ran his tongue over Erica's nipples; feeling her body tense in response, before engulfing them with is mouth.


"Shit," She gasped.


She pulled away and took off her shorts, before she pulled him back for a kiss.

Erica moaned and ran her hand down his hard body, down to his belt and began unbuckling them.

He pulled away from her breasts and looked up at her with a Mischievous smirked. "Oh I'm so gonna Bleep you,” He hissed. He didn't know why, but everywhere felt hot all of a sudden.


"Yeah? ” Erica uttered with a chuckle before coming in for another kiss as she stroked his now exposed tool.


Responding with a dirty smile on her face, she pulled Michael down over her, their lips still locked in a kiss and then spread her legs.


Michael got up and completely pulled off his half drawn Jean trousers. He stood there, Glaring down at Erica's naked body below him with a psychotic smile.


"Bleep yeah,"


His Smile suddenly disappeared before he spun and moved quickly to unzip the tent just enough for him to peep through.

He looked out the tent and saw no one. Devin was still nowhere to be found and the music was still at the top of the Cooler were Erica had dropped it, Playing loudly.

"What's wrong," Erica frowned.

"I thought I heard something," Michael said as he looked back at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Like what?" Erica asked.

Michael said nothing. He just looked out the tent, and spun back to her again.

Then he shrugged.

"Look, it's probably Devin," Erica moaned as she reached out and pulled him back. "Come on baby,Come over here and Bleep me."

As Michael moved back to Erica, pressing his lips against hers, He started to think that maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. The Music was still playing, so how could he be sure he heard anything?

Michael became more and more consumed by the feeling he was getting from the sensation of his body pressing against against Erica's.

He leaned in and was about to slide in, but then, he heard it again.

Right outside the tent, and it was louder this time because even with the music, He could hear it.


"Did you hear that?" Michael whispered as he bolted up from Erica.


"Hear what?" Erica Sighed in frustration.


"How could you not hear that?" Michael uttered in Surprise as he walked over and zipped the tent open completely.

Erica narrowed her eyes at him and suddenly reached for her jean shorts.

She was seething. "If you didn't want have sex with me, you could have just said so," She hissed as she pulled the shorts up to her waist.

Michael spun to her and frowned.

"Oh Come on Eri-."


"KA-BAM!!!"


Michael stiffened and Erica almost jumped at the thundering crash that cut them off. He spun to meet Erica's wide eyes looking back at him, She was still.


He was even more terrified to notice that the music had stopped.


"Someone or Something is definitely out there."

"Devin?!," Michael called out.

Nothing.

Just Silence.


Michael had noticed how quiet everywhere was all of a sudden. Too quite.

The Owls had stopped hooting.

The Crickets had stopped chirping.


He stood still and slowly turned to face a Confused looking Erica, trying to deny the uneasiness that was creeping up on him.


Something was wrong.


He was about to move out of the tent to check, but suddenly recoiled when a shattered piece of what was left of the Music speaker was suddenly flung to the ground, to their view, right infront of the tent.


Then a menacing and Animalistic growl followed. Low and menacing.

Michael quickly zipped the tent Closed and turned to face Erica who was on her feet now. Trembling with her eyes wider than before and her arms wrapped around her half naked boy.


"Wha-What is that?" She stuttered in a shaking voice as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other.


I stopped here.


Michael faced her and slowly raised a finger to his lips as he moved closer to her. She immediately reached out and held him, pulling him close.


The two college students jumped when there was a Louder crash, and then the camp fire went out, plunging them all into Darkness.

"O-Oh my god," Erica uttered in sobs now. She started freaking out. She was shaking uncontrollably.

"Devin!," Michael yelled. "This isn't fucking funny!".

Even though he didn't want to admit it, deep down, Michael knew it wasn't Devin.

"Devin Never Played pranks, He hated Pranks."

Another growl, this time, low and lingering, sipped into the tent from outside.

"Oh God," Erica started to sob heavily. "Oh God Help us please." She was frightened as hell.

"Shhh," Michael whispered as he pulled her down low to the ground with him.

He then moved to the back and slowly opened his backpack to see if he had any flares. There were none.

"Shit."

They must be in Devin's backpack in his tent. He then searched on and then pulled out a flashlight.

"It-It's a bear right?," Erica spun to face him with her tear filled eyes. "It's a bear".

Michael cupped her face in his palms.

"Look," He Whispered. "I want you to stay here,okay?". "Whatever it is, I wanna see if I can scare it off...Alright?"

Erica Swallowed hard and gave quick nods.

As Michael moved passed her and slowly unzipped the tent, he knew she was scared, but he was more terrified than she was because he remembered the Rangers telling them that there were no bears or mountain lions in these parts.

He flicked on the flashlight, and disappeared into the darkness beyond.

Erica just sat there, trembling in the Silent Darkness of what had become of their camp site. Her Heart was beating so fast, she could swear she was going to Pass out.

Her eyes darted to every corner of the small tent, and then back to the unzipped front that moved to the gentle mountain breeze and held nothing but darkness beyond.

She shot forward, pulled the zip shut and sprang back to her spot. Trembling.

She sat there for a while reassuring herself that she was never going to go camping again after this. Not for school work, or Zoology and Ecology tours, or whatever the Bleep they were planning at her class.

"Never again."

She then moved back to Michael's back pack, remembering she had seen another flashlight in there somewhere.



Erica jumped and whimpered when she heard it.


A loud roar cut through the silent air like a sharp knife, followed by the Scream of someone from the distance. A boy's Scream.


"Open the tent!!" Michael Screamed at the top of his lungs. "Erica!! Open the tent!"


Erica began to cry. She began to shake. She felt Panic swallow her whole. She was so terrified, She couldn't move. she had never heard Michael Scream like that before. Hell, she had never heard anyone Scream like that before.

"Erica!!," Michael Screamed. "Open the tent!!". Michael's voice was getting closer now and there were quick and loud footsteps.

He was running towards the tent and something was chasing him.

"Erica!!," His Scream was louder now as he pulled on the tent entrance. "Open the fucking tent!!".

Erica managed to move herself forward and fumbled with trembling hands as she searched for the zip and began pulling it up. Michael didn't wait for the tent to be completely wide open before he forced his head through.

Erica quickly drew back and watched as the frightened young man was struggling to make his way in.

Michael had made his way in up to his waist level when suddenly, there was a bone crushing sound, which was followed by Michael screaming in agony.


"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Fuuuuuck!"


Erica was frozen. She was frightened stiff and unsure of what to do. She watched in Horror as Michael fought for his life against an unseen force that was jerking him side to side from outside the tent.

"Jesus."

"Help me!!", Michael screamed in Horror as he began spitting blood into the air with every word he uttered. His hands digging into the ground before him hoping to grab something. "Help me!!"


Erica suddenly found the Courage to shoot herself forward and grab him. She pulled on him so hard, but it was like half his body was in a vice.

Another bone crushing sound was heard and Michael suddenly spilled out blood from his mouth which splattered on Erica's face.

Erica Screamed in Horror and let go of Michael as she recoiled in panic. She rubbed her face and watched as Michael glared at her through bloodshot eyes filled with pain.


"Run," Michael uttered in a cold whisper.


Then like a flash of lightening, The boy was pulled out of the tent like a lifeless rag doll by the unseen force.


Erica moved further back, away from the entrance. Her eyes trained on the darkness outside the slit Michael had been pulled out of.

The blonde girl sat there, trembling. Frightened and terrified to even Move.

"O-Oh God please save me," She began to sob. "I don't wanna die , God please."

She then went quiet after a while, when she realised how quiet it was. She couldn't hear a thing.

She pulled out the flashlight and pointed it to the blood stained entrance.

Nothing.

She then decided she wasn't going anywhere. She was going to stay in here till morning. She was going to stay in here until whatever was out there was gone.

"Our Father," She began reciting the lord's prayer as she moved slowly towards the open slit to zip it closed completely. "Who harth in heaven, I know be thy name" .

"Thy kingdom come, Thy-Thy will be down on earth," She muttered as she got closer to the opening. "As it is in heaven".

By the time she had gotten to the slit, She reached out for the zip and began pulling it down slowly.

"Lead us not into temptation," She uttered. "But deliver us from Evil".


Suddenly, it tore through the entire front of the tent like paper and dug it's razor sharp teeth into Erica's Throat, crushing it with its jaws, like a lion to a gazelle.

She didn't get a chance to scream.

Then, Silence.

Moments later, the Crickets began to chirp again.