The full, Hunter’s moon hung like a heavy yellow globe. It’s eerie, pale light barely penetrated the dense forest and shone down dimly upon the ragged, teenaged boy who walked along the single-track trail through the undergrowth. Daron shivered heartily in the chill October air as he glanced upwards at the omen above him.

He laughed half-heartedly as he thought of the foolish old tales of werewolves and other stories of creatures that came out with the full moon. The minutes seemed to drag on as he trudged along the trail. He jumped at every shadow that moved of its own accord and jerked at every broken twig and snapped branch that he heard. He jumped at every noise an animal or insect made and forced a laugh when he realized it was nothing.

There was an impenetrable curtain of darkness surrounding him; he couldn’t make out his surroundings and could just barely make out the trail before him. He glanced up again and caught sight of clouds around the large moon. "Oh don’t you dare do this to me" He cursed loudly. Just a few more minutes he thought to himself, just a few minutes till I’m home. He berated himself for taking this shortcut through the forest. "It’ll cut ten minutes off though" He muttered to himself in a sarcastic, mocking tone.

A loud crash sent him three feet into the air in fright and a loud shriek escaped him. A branch, three feet across, lay across the trail in front of him. His heart still pounding a mile a minute, he looked down at the branch and was about to kick it when he noticed that something was off with it. "What the…" Daron trailed off as he examined the gnarled branch before him.

Deep slashes were gouged into the old wood; several were near the base which had severed the branches tie with the tree. Daron looked up at where the branch had fallen and saw two glowing red orbs shining in the still night air, the yellow orb behind them seemed to dim in comparison to the fire in those eyes. They hung suspended in a shadow, a mere forty or so feet above him.

There was no silhouette of a creature, no claws or fangs, just a shadow with those two burning eyes; it hung in midair, away from any tree’s. Daron stood petrified, too terrified to move. The eyes sat and watched him with a subtlety seductive intent for blood. The air around him held the palpable taste of fear, adrenaline, and murder.

Daron saw the lethal red eyes twitch slightly and his mind seemed to snap back into his body. He screamed loudly and launched into a sprint. The forest had suddenly gone deadly silent except for the sound of his footsteps padded by fallen leaves. It seemed as if all the insets and animals had fled from the suspended shadow. What the hell is that thing! He thought as he sprinted through the darkness.

The curtain of darkness surrounding him seemed to be enclosing in, growing smaller with every passing step. He glanced up and was shocked to see there were no orbs. He slackened his pace and he spared a glance behind him. The fiery eyes had descended several feet and now hung only thirty feet above, and behind him. He shrieked in terror and began running faster; the adrenaline fueling his feet.

The darkness began to encroach on his path now, obscuring his vision for more than a few feet in front of him. A root seemed to reach out from the darkness and he tripped, landing with a heavy thud on the rocky, studded ground.

Daron was up in a second, wincing in pain, and running off of pure adrenaline now. His legs began to burn with exhaustion and he knew he had to reach home before his body gave out on him.

He glanced behind once again, hoping to catch a glimpse of where the shadow was. The orbs had descended at an alarmingly rapid rate and were now only fifteen feet off the ground and fifteen feet behind him. He saw that clouds were beginning to gather closer to the moon and yelled in fear and anger. Please God! He prayed; don’t let the clouds cover the moon!

I just have to make it home

. The line ran through his head repeatedly; the only thing keeping him going. He thought about his mother and father, waiting to throw their arms around him and tell him everything would be alright. His little sister would bug him about what happened. A grin was forming on his lips from the fantasy when grim reality hit.

He knew that once the darkness engulfed him, he would be doomed. The red orbs had lowered so much that he didn’t have to look behind to see them anymore; they had advanced so far that they hovered maliciously in his peripheral vision. Never moving closer or farther from him when he paid attention but if he looked away for merely a second, they seemed to gain on him.

He looked ahead once again and let out a yelp of surprise as a large, round object took his legs out from under him. He looked back and let out a wail of despair. Through the darkness he could see the gnarled old branch which lay across the trail behind him. There was no escape.

It’s been chasing me in a circle this entire time

. He thought with hopelessness. The eyes began to move forward, silhouetted by the dark shadow. Daron lay on the ground, too weak to move. Clouds began to cover the moon and Daron was enshrouded in pitch darkness. He couldn’t see his hand less than a foot in front of him. The darkness was muffling his thoughts and he descended into a pit of despair, the impenetrable blackness fueling his dread and desolation. As dark as it was, he could still make out the demon before him.

It was darker than the inside of a coffin on a moonless night; its silhouette was visible even through the blackness that engulfed him. The foreboding gloom of the night seemed to weigh heavily on him. He tried to move his legs, then his arms, and found them like lead.

The demon was almost upon him; its crimson eye’s provided the only light. Its malevolent stare seemed to pierce his very soul. He tried one last, desperate, move that he hoped would affect it.

"You are not real!... Demons don’t exist" He said, trying to sound as commanding as possible but his voice cracked in fear halfway through. The demon shrieked in what can only be described as laughter; though it was no laughter any human had ever heard. Daron screamed with pain as the noise seemed about to puncture his very skull. He wanted to double over with the pain of it but found his body still immobile. The silhouette was now just above him.

The scarlet eyes afloat in a pool of darkness lowered till they were inches from his face. Rage erupted through him and filled him with strength. I can’t die like this! To this…thing! He shouted at himself. He managed to summon all his strength into his right arm and swung at the silhouette before him.

He watched in horror as his arm went into the demon and disappeared up to the middle of his forearm. He tried to pull it back but he couldn’t feel his hand; it looked at if it had just disappeared. Numbness engulfed his entire arm and slowly spread throughout his body. The blood drained from what he could see of his forearm and spread, turning the rest of his body pale as a sheet. "No…No!…NO!" His shout echoed around the silent forest and was cut off violently as the demon let out an inhuman, triumphant shriek.

Copyright 2007 Daron
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