Chapter 1

A Chapter by Aramey

Abbey Blair stood next to a bare thicket and ran her hands across the bark of the nearest tree. Her fingers moved with the cracks and crevices, lifting and pressing in at the rough break between. The texture made a dry scraping sound. A few pieces flaked off, teetering and whirling as they fell. She sighed and bent to lift a large piece of damp bark from the forest floor. There was still no sign of life anywhere that bordered the gravel trail. What had happened here?

As she moved down the path, she noted barren edges continued. It was a strange occurrence in an otherwise lush, green forest. Flicking her eyes about, she continued. There was no telltale sign of fire and frost would have taken more than just what was bordering the path. Curiously, the temperature hadn’t dropped below 50 since last winter. It wasn’t what you’d expect from North Carolina weather, near the mountains. Nor was the scenery typical. She’d walked these paths almost every day and she knew them probably better than anyone.

The air reeked of death, a pungent and putrid scent. She wrinkled her nose in disgust; turning it down to avoid the invasion of her strongest sense to no avail. Goose bumps rose, followed by a prickly feeling on the back of her neck. An overwhelming, eerie sensation became more intense with each careful step. The only sound was the grinding of the gravel beneath her favorite pair of black and white Sketchers.

Everything inside her begged her to turn around but her unfailing curiosity took center stage. Her attentive gaze followed the path of destruction stop and curve in a 90 degree angle to the right and into the forest. Motion caught her attention and she froze. Something was crouched behind a stack of twigs and branches… something with ragged breath and a wicked snarl. Her heart pumped like the quick beat of a low pitched tribal drum. The dead brush on the right side of stacked of wood rustled. Alert hazel eyes widened as instinct took over… breaking her fixed stance.

She backed up one slow step at a time so not to turn her back on whatever was hiding behind the wood. The scent of death became unbearably strong, stinging her lungs.

In the other direction a beautiful woman made her way out of the brush and stood motionless in Abby’s way, but was far down into the narrow section. She was statuesque, appearing as if she wasn’t even breathing. Once Abby got close she stepped before her, blocking her path and stared with a blank expression. The eye contact seemed more intense as she continued closer and Abby looked away breaking the gaze and moved to the left, but continued. Something that resembled blood red burning embers had overtaken where the glossy color should be around the pupils, matching her flaming red hair that hung down to her slender waist, setting off her pale skin. The red-head let out a screeching laugh that resembled the pitch and intensity of a scream. Abby flinched, covering her ears but they were already ringing, stopping her mid-step. A deafening onslaught of sound continued, knocking Abby to her knees.

Everything had gone silent besides the ringing sound. Abbey snapped up to see her adversary crouched, facing the left side of the forest line. She clutched her ears just in time to for a sharp hiss. The leaves rustled in a pattern leading up to the pathway as a huge black mass leapt from between the trees and onto the woman, pinning her to the ashen pavement. She noted the long black tail and sleek body. Moving with cat-like grace he turned his gaze to Abby with vibrant green pools. They locked glances for a moment and the expression of the animal softened. I should be running, she thought. There was something familiar about the majestic beast before her. His ebony fur shined like the reflection off of a black pool and he resembled a panther, but was at least double the size.

The woman on the ground somehow managed to break free an arm swiped jagged claws trailing the animal’s cheek.

The large cat-creature snarled, bearing his incisors and turning a glare on his prey as it pierced them into the offending arm and she screamed. Abby cringed, remembering the intensity of the shrieking all too well. The sound of ripping flesh came to a halt as she looked up towards the silence. A bloody slash on her face, the demon woman lie unconscious.

The big cat turned emerald eyes back to Abby. Something about the animal seemed dark, dangerous, and drew her soul into the deep green pools of color. A quick swish of the tail and one large paw pressed into pavement towards her and then another. The dirt moved as shaped around his mammoth feet. She backed away a few steps as it padded toward her with flawless balance and grace. Her heart dropped as she tripped and fell backwards on a large displaced rock. A loud bang and a flash of light is all she could grasp when her head hit the pavement.

She awoke with a start. Looking around she recognized her own bed sheets. Satisfied that this was indeed her bedroom she inhaled and exhaled with certain relief and a minor headache. The nightmare with big panther-like creatures and a shrieking, crazy banshee had been a bad dream.

In an attempt to run her fingers through her knotted hair, her hand was caught in the entanglement. “Ouch!” She winced and removed her hand.

She flopped one leg over the mattress, toes touching the cold wooden floor. Yawning was soon followed by a double take, aimed at her pillow. Small crimson pools stood out against the bright white pillow case. Shocked, a wide expression crossed her face as she shuffled her fingers around on her scalp.

Padding in quick strides across the floor to the mirror at the other end of the bedroom, her fears were confirmed. A deep gash glared back at her.

“S**t!” She almost never cursed but this was one such incident where it spat from her tongue without filter. Heading towards the bathroom, she skidded to a sudden stop. There was a man lounging in the chair by her window in her room. Her heart nearly fell out of her chest.

Frozen, mid step, and mid-lean with one arm forward… her jaw could’ve disconnected and dropped to the floor.

© 2013 Aramey

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VALORMORE DE PLUME

I like this. You build suspense and excitement with a steady hand on the pen. There are a couple typos but the confident pace overwhelms them. You have encountered the beast in many forms, yet capitulation is not an option. This will go far into the deapths of the readers fears. Well concieved and exicuted scene.