Chapter 6: A Horseback Ride of Horror

CHAPTER 6:

 

We were now at a seafood restaurant with Christian’s parents, apparently he was an only child. And right now, the air in the kids section was pretty dense.

On the other hand, my dad and Christian’s parents-Uncle Fred and Aunt Lily were all laughing together as they traded stories and lame jokes.

By the way, Uncle Fred Salazar was quite the impressive man. Apart from him having the same youthful look as my dad, he was also the president of a company which holds all branches of hotels.

 Aunt Lily was the same too. She was very pretty, as she had long, wavy black hair and her face! She had no blemishes present and she knew how to use make-up. (Unlike me.) Apart from that and her slim figure, Aunt Lily was vice president to a chain of spas. And those spas were in another country.

 

After taking a look at the happy adults, I picked on my left over pasta, trying to think of a way to escape this torture.

This is exactly the reason why I shouldn’t have come. Christian’s not even talking to me and unexpectedly, he and Skye get along well instead when playing Pokémon on their DS’s. I had one too but I never thought I’d have to use it.

I sighed to myself, thinking that my other conscience was right and I should’ve just faked a sickness or something.

For some reason, and I’m not trying to brag, but I can see things coming. It was on our field trip to the Dambana ng Kagitingan in Bataan and our trek to the top of the mountain was just going nicely.

 

But like every time I feel something’s going to happen, my heart started beating wildly like I was having some kind of panic attack.

Before I knew it, one of my classmates almost fell over the railings. But thankfully he avoided crushing his head in a long fall down to the cement floor at the bottom thanks to our class adviser who happened to be next to him.

Another time was when we were talking about the sports festival. They were talking about who would go in for the relay race as the last runner-the fastest one.

I did pride myself on being fast but if it meant winning for a class but then you end up failing them, that’s another thing. Right when they were taking votes, I felt my heart beat like a drum again for no apparent reason then bam!

“Cyreen! You’ll be the last runner!” our president shouted. “That’s it! Thanks for cooperating everyone!”

 

At that horrible memory, I shut my eyes and decided to go for a stroll outside. Or better yet, a horseback ride alone. Since, looking at the current situation, I was the only one finding this dinner absolutely boring.

Right when I was about to stand, a waiter sped towards me and I jumped, falling back to my seat in utter shock.

“Ah, miss, can I get you anything?” he asked his Italian accent all too strong.

The waiter seemed umm, how do I say this nicely?...weird.

He was of average height, wore the usual waitering clothes for the restaurant which were black pants, formal black shoes and a white button down shirt paired with a closed vest.

 

But this guy had large, bug like eyes, a moustache like Mario’s only his was red. As in red. And he also had thinning red hair.

In all my life, I could say I’ve never met a guy like him. I’m sure you’re saying he’s a simple foreigner working as a waiter. But, yeah I just can’t shake it. He’s freaking weird.

The waiter blinked at me and I blinked at him.

“Ah, umm…”

Skye and Christian glanced between me and the guy, obviously we were all thinking the same thing. (And for some reason, I had the urge to order a lobster meal.) But I pushed down that urge and quickly shook my head with the kindest smile I could muster.

“Ah, no….thanks.” I said with effort as I kept my eyes averted. This guy’s a good waiter! Just looking at his bug eyes, it’s like he’s forcing me to order expensive food.

 He quickly nodded once then scurried to my dad, popping his head up to him and making my dad jump at his closeness.

“Ah sir, anything else you need?” the waiter asked with a relaxed face as he stroked his moustache.

Dad was about to say something when he tensed and glanced up at the waiter once more. Suddenly, I felt the air go bad and before I knew it, dad was on his feet, the chair toppling to the floor.

“Is there a problem sir?” the waiter asked, looking oblivious to the looks the other customers were giving. Dad just stared at the waiter, his eyes wide as if he just saw a ghost.

“Rick.” Uncle Fred called, standing up as well while Aunt Lily looked at both men worriedly.

Honestly, the air was so thick right now, I couldn’t move an inch. It was like you were standing between two giant moose that are ready to tear you to shreds. (I’m not kidding. Moose are scary kinds of deer.)

As dad and the waiter stared at each other, the waiter was about to say something when another waiter came running, equally as weird as Mr. Italiano.

This time the new waiter had short, black crew cut hair and he wore black round rimmed glasses over his mask that was used for people who were sick.

“Ah, pardon sir.” He simply laughed and quickly whisked away Mr. Italiano into the kitchen with everyone’s confused eyes trailing after them.

“That was…” Christian trailed off.

“Weird.” Both me and Skye replied, staring at the kitchen doors saying back and forth. Well, now that that situation was done for, I stood up and walked to dad.

As I did, he still stared at the doors with a tense gaze as his hand clenched into a fist. Right then, I felt my heart beat in my ribcage. That’s the cue. Something bad’s gonna happen.

If there’s a reason for dad’s sudden bad aura, I have to cover it and take him out of this place. I don’t care about the reason, but right now the other customers are still staring at him along with uncle Fred and Aunt Lily. And speaking of them, they’re his business partners. He can’t keep acting like this and it’s time for me to take control.

With an inward sigh, I gave a cool smile.

“Dad, why don’t we go now?” I asked, trying to get dad’s attention. But he still won’t look at me.

What the hell is wrong with him? But I continued anyway. I can sense the others getting nervous. Or maybe it was just me.

 “I mean, we’re all finished eating anyway.” I smiled, turning to Christian’s parents. “Talking out in the cool breeze is a much better feeling.” I said with my best ‘negotiation voice’ I had. [Yes, I have that. It comes in handy when asking to trade gummy bears with Skye.]

Uncle Fred cleared his throat, looking impressed by my proposition and nodded, taking out the payment and standing up.

“You must be right.” he agreed and walked up to dad, heavily patting his shoulder. “Let’s go Rick. You should tour us around RoseWood anyway!” Uncle laughed, attempting to pull dad away.

Skye and the others stood up as well but I kept my eyes on dad who, despite agreeing to leave the restaurant still had a tense air around him.

“Let’s go kids.” Aunt Lily urged as she pushed me, Skye and Christian to the exit.

“Is uncle Rick okay?” Christian asked worriedly, looking down at his mom then at my dad.

Aunt Lily suddenly glanced at me, making me freeze up. Well, it was a given for her to do that since she only met dad today. I gave everyone an assured smile.

“I’m sure he just got startled.” I lied. “My dad does…act that way when he gets surprised sometimes.” I laughed. At those assuring words, Aunt Lily gave a grateful smile at me then sighed.

“You’re right.” her soprano voice agreed. “He must’ve eaten bad oysters.”

As Aunt Lily and Christian walked ahead of us and out into the darkening street, Skye stopped me, making me look back at him.

He was staring at dad who was now at the foot of the stairs with uncle Fred. It seemed as though they were talking about something important since dad had his brows knit up and Uncle Fred looked as serious as ever.

“I don’t like this.” Skye suddenly said, staring at dad with uneasiness I’ve never seen in him before. I blinked at his expression and scratched the back of my head, unsure as well.

I wanted to say something but…what was I gonna say? Dad’s reactions were at the point of weird now. And we’ve never seen him act like that before either.

“Ummm, whatever it is, I’m sure everything will be fine.” I said with a smile that shook.

Skye glanced down at me with eyes that didn’t believe a word I said. Well, I don’t believe my own words either. Skye sighed, hanging down his head.

“I hope you’re right.” he said and walked, catching up to Aunt Lily and Christian who were now at a surplus shop.

I stayed behind and waited for dad and uncle. They were still talking heavily right now. And soon, the conversation was starting to get heated. Since I was a distance from them, I only saw Uncle Fred point at my direction as he yelled something at dad, his face worried and uneasy. I blinked, stiffening.

Are they talking about me?

Dad seemed to yell something as well, looking annoyed and angry. He then turned, his back towards me as he ran his fingers through his hair-a gesture he does when he’s tired or worried.

I knit my brows and again, that heart beat warning started but even stronger.

Feeling my worry get stronger, I walked towards them but stopped in my tracks when uncle Fred looked up at me. Once he saw me, he looked as if he said something he shouldn’t have said and pursed his lips, mouthing something to dad. At the words, dad turned with wide eyes.

I blinked at them and stood straight, tilting my head a bit as my brows knit up so I looked a little annoyed. But only dad knew what this meant.

For my family, this look means; “What’s going on? Tell me now.”

Dad stared at me, looking as if he wanted to tell me but couldn’t.

I thought he would tell me anyway, but instead, he gave me a gentle smile and a thumbs up, saying he was okay. Uncle Fred stared at dad with traces of confusion but followed dad’s smile and gave me an assuring smile as well.

With those replies, I sighed heavily and turned my back on them. Once I did, my mood immediately turned black.

“I wasn’t asking if you were alright.” I growled to myself as I stomped towards Skye and the others, feeling my fist clenching.

 

Dad and uncle Fred were with us now but instead of bombarding dad with questions, we all forgot about the restaurant situation and they started talking about boring stuff like business deals from Hong Kong and the new hotel uncle Fred was putting up.

As we walked down the street passing by other families and groups of teens and foreigners, I kept my head turned away from dad’s direction as I kept my hands in my pockets and listened to Japanese metal rock music.

I’m just so annoyed that dad’s lying to me! I think he knows that I’m not dumb enough to believe that everything’s okay or that what I’m thinking is purely my imagination. But….who is that waiter? Why did dad suddenly burst out? Why is he keeping secrets now?!

It was all so annoying not knowing anything that I just decided to keep myself angry at him until I find out what’s going on.

In the middle of me thinking of curse words in my head, someone shook my shoulder, making me click my tongue in annoyance as I turned my head.

Once I did, I froze to see everyone staring at me, puzzled looks on their faces.

 I blinked, pulling my earphones out and asking; “What?”

Skye rolled his eyes as Christian snickered and the adults chuckled at me.

“They were asking if we wanted to go horseback riding.” Christian explained. I blinked at him and hummed, feeling the blush on my face while looking as if my anger wasn’t present at the moment.

“Umm, sure.” I simply replied and we continued on to the horse riding place.

 

After a few minutes, we got to an open area still filled with horses and their guides. Even with the setting sun, people were still hard at work even though taking a ride was free.

Beside us, there was an entrance to a forest filled with giant trees. I don’t exactly know what kind but they were practically giants and one tree could easily outweigh tons of elephants.

The first time I went here was probably the most embarrassing day of my life. I just remember seeing the trees and crying until dad said we’ll finally go home. Yes, I don’t like things that are bigger than me. But now, it seems quite comfortable in there actually.

As small crowds of people went into the forest, Skye immediately headed to the ice cream shop near the riding station.

“You don’t wanna ride?” dad asked as we all followed Skye with our eyes.

Skye gave dad a look then turned his head to the other side. Dad or the others didn’t see, but I surely did.

 

As he turned his head, my brother rolled his eyes, seemingly at dad. Yeah, my brother is no dimwit either when it comes to secrets.

In a second, Skye gave a large grin making Aunt Lily blush lightly at his ‘Refreshing boy next door’ smile (as he calls it.) I can practically see the flowery background behind him as I felt the cold sweat drop down my head.

“Nah, thanks but I’m…not really in the mood. I’ll just be walking around for now.” Skye lied before turning his back and walking into the ice cream shop with a satisfied grin on his face.

At those words, dad worriedly sighed and made an expression saying; “boy am I in trouble.”

Tch. Of course you are dad. After lying to us both like that? It’s obvious we’ll hate you till you say the things we want to hear.

“This guy…what an unbelievable actor.” I muttered under my breath.

No one was supposed to hear that but Christian glanced at me and I struggled not to flinch or look worried. Before he could ask, I marched to the horses and gave the adults a smile.

“We’ll be going then!” I yelled happily.

As I smiled and waved, one thought that whisked in my head was; “I should be an actress.”

“We’ll be at the coffee shop.” dad said, his voice loud but a little weak. As the adults went to the coffee shop, I sighed and rolled my eyes.

I growled to myself, a vein popping in my head as I stomped to the horses again, leaving Christian behind wondering helplessly at the angry me ahead of him.

Once I got to my favored horse, Christian startled me by effortlessly jumping on his own tall brown horse. I looked up at him and he smirked at me, making me pull up my brow with disbelief.

My competitiveness suddenly rose. Is he asking for a running match perhaps? If that was the case I’d beat him without a sweat.

 

Without the help of the guide next to me who was trying to get himself to help me up the tall horse, I climbed on the horse’s back on my own and pulled my chin up to Christian thinking; “Yeah, I can do that too.”

He grinned at me then pulled down his head, holding his hand out to the path leading into the forest.

“Ladies first.” he said politely.

I found myself smiling but I pulled down my smile and attempted my best to give a pose saying; “I’m cool. Yeah, I’m the horseback queen.” [Even though I’ve fallen off a horse before. By the way, don’t ask.]

 

Ahead was a wide path which was lined with giant tree trunks on both sides, there were also smaller trees but they were obviously outmatched by the excellence of the giants.

Once I passed the small fir tree-the sign that this was the start of the path, my heart suddenly beat fast. A warning.

I blinked, placing my palm on my chest and feeling nervous as my throat tightened.

What the? Surely nothing’s gonna happen? I mean, this is the forest. In the middle of a city. I blinked then turned to Christian who was effortlessly trotting his horse next to me.

“What is it?” he asked, blinking at me as his horse neighed. I blinked at him then took a shaky breath, not being able to shake my nervousness.

But instead of saying what I was feeling I simply smiled at Christian.

“Nothing. Just…be careful.”

Well, better to be cautious anyway. At my words, he smirked and nodded. “Alright then.” He said then nodded once more, motioning for me to go first. Gladly, I went ahead, leading the way.

 

“Why’d you say, and I quote, ‘this guy…is an unbelievable actor’?” Christian suddenly asked. Right now we were going up a hill which had a small worn out cottage at the side of the road, the wood filled moist with moss and other plants.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.” I simply said, nonchalantly looking around and admiring the giant trees surrounding us. Presently I feel like an ant but instead of fearing the trees, I’m absolutely loving this.

You must be saying I should be happy and excited being next to a cute guy. But thanks to the tightening in my throat and the continuous beating of my heart and my uneasiness, I can’t exactly feel excited.

Other than that, I keep looking out for sharp rocks, things my horse or his horse could trip on or even flying squirrels.

 Like I said, something’s gonna happen. I just don’t know what.

 

Christian sighed heavily at me. “Cyreen.” He called, making me look up at him with a raised brow. My brother says that when I do this, I look intimidating, but it doesn’t seem to work in this guy. He just snickered at me.

“What was your brother acting for?” he asked.

 As I stared at him, I finally realized. This guy isn’t just some basketball geek. He wasn’t all brawn and no brain. He also wanted to know why my dad freaked out. And he didn’t seem like the type that would put down the question either.

I sighed, giving up. “Y’know…we’re both pissed at my dad.” I said through my teeth, regaining my annoyance on dear father.

“Why?” Christian asked as we turned into a narrow corner.

“Dad’s not telling us why the thing that happened in the restaurant happened. He keeps lying to us.” I replied, bashing away a fir branch off my face and feeling annoyed.

Christian blinked at me then let me go first since the path was too narrow.

“How’d you know he’s lying?” he asked behind me. I stared ahead then chuckled to myself.

“My dad….is quite the open book. It’s easy for me and Skye to know when he’s lying or feeling worried or something else.” I replied. But then, the earlier situation popped in my head again.

“That waiter was creepy.” Christian said, speaking my thoughts.

“Exactly!” I said with slight glee, making him chuckle. Oh, look at that! I made him laugh.

 

 

Once we exited the narrow path, we entered a wide walkway that seemed to be where horses would just walk around in, my horse stopped on his own, making me c**k my head back in confusion. I looked down, thinking he was taking a toilet break. Well it wasn’t number one.

I turned my head farther. It wasn’t two either.

 

My horse snorted then stomped one hoof on the ground as his ears twitched and turned all over as if he were hearing something.

I knit my brows and felt my uneasiness rise like a roller coaster again. Well, you would feel uneasy too if an animal close to you acted scared in a forest full of super trees. Plus, it’s an animal. They know danger.

“Cyreen?” Christian called. “Why’re we stopping?” he asked. I blinked.

I got the same question in mind. Just then, I thought that maybe my horse wanted a little break. Or a snack.

“Maybe we should take a break.” I said.

At that, Christian nodded once, jumping off his horse and leading him to a patch full of grass on the side of the road.

With a tight breath, I was about to jump off my horse but before I could, Christian appeared at the side then boldly placed his hands around my waist.

As I was about to protest (and squeal with embarrassment), he effortlessly pulled me down from the horse and carefully placed me on my feet.

I instantly felt the blush on my cheeks and tried hard not to show my embarrassment by keeping my head held high.

“Ah, thank you.” I said with a too weak voice. Hey, no matter how tough a girl can be, well, we can break sometimes.

At my reaction, Christian seemed to chuckle, finding me amusing. I pursed my lips, feeling a teensy bit annoyed as I walked my horse to the patch of grass as well, tying up his reigns on the thankfully normal sized tree trunk.

Christian then gave a tired sigh, leaning on my horse.

“Ah, didn’t know it was this nice here.” he said, stretching his arms above his head.

As he relaxed, I felt even more tense than before. Even though we had a sweet moment just a second ago, those fluffy feelings disappeared like a cat running from a dog.

And now I couldn’t help but keep looking around us, making sure nothing pops out from the trees or bushes.

Suddenly, that feeling crept up on me again. Like the feeling I had back in school- the feeling that someone was watching us.

My horse then neighed again, nodding his head up and down in a distressed manner as he stomped on the ground again. But this time, his anxiety was truly visible as he started strutting around a bit, looking as if he can’t stop moving around as his large black eyes looked around the forest with his ears flicking back and forth.

“What’s wrong with him?” Christian asked, starting to look worried.

Once he asked this, my horse whinnied louder and I myself felt his uneasiness grow.

“M-maybe it’s a snake or something.” I trailed off, having a hard time speaking thanks to the thickness in the air.

Instantly, I felt my heart beat again. And this time, I know something’s gonna happen. I suddenly remembered something and this bit of information didn’t make me feel better at all.

I’ve read many books about animals and horses. And one of the things I’ve learned is that all the things my horse is doing are signs of either stress, worry or fear. Big fear.

“Um, Cyreen.” Christian called, already pulling me away from my horse. Once he did, we both jumped to hear Christian’s horse whinny.

 

We both whipped our heads to Christian’s horse and froze to see his horse was already speeding away.

Christian’s jaw fell and he turned to me, his face pale. “Umm. Cyreen…” he muttered, looking as if he were about to faint. He then started to pull on me.

“We’re gonna be in trouble if we don’t get him back!” he said.

When he was about to run off after his horse, I gasped and grabbed his arm, pulling him back to the safety of my horse and the big tree beside us.

“Hey! Cyreen!” he yelled, laughing a bit at my reaction. But there was still that huge worry in his eyes.

“Don’t! Something’s wrong…” I stuttered, my voice cracking as the panic finally set in. Christian flinched at my voice and panic and stared at me, worried.

 

Right then, my horse whinnied loudly and reared up on his hind legs, making me gasp as Christian yelled in alarm and pulled both me and himself away from the horse.

As we went a little father from the animal, both Christian and I tensed. I felt the air go colder and I froze to see the slight mist coming off from my mouth. It’s too cold. Looking around,

“Hey…what’s going on?” he asked. Looking up at Christian, I knew he was finally getting the same feeling I was having.

“We need to leave.” I finally said, bravely walking up to my horse and ignoring Christian’s yells telling me not to go near the horse. But I knew what I was doing.

 Once my horse pulled down to the ground again, I shushed him, talking in soothing tones as I carefully approached. When I finally got to him, I stoked the middle of his forehead, still talking in a quiet voice.

After a few strokes, he got a little calmer.

“Alright. Get on my horse.” I called, quickly untying my horse and jumping on his back before he goes nuts again. Whatever spooked him, it wasn’t a snake or something small. A reaction like this is too big to ignore.

 

Christian looked up at me, confused and really worried. If I didn’t know better he could be scared for all I care. In the middle of all this, I could hear the beating of my heart grow faster and louder like a continuous drum during sports festivals.

I gritted my teeth, trying desperately to calm myself but right then, Christian had to make me feel a lot more anxious as he asked in a slightly panicked tone:

“Cyreen, what is happening?”

Finally something snapped in me.

“Can’t you see?! Something bad is going to happen!” I shouted angrily, the panic setting in as my heart beat faster now. Christian stared at me, probably shocked I yelled at him but with all that’s happening, how can I not?

 

Before Christian can ask one more question, the air suddenly got colder again, and the forest started to seem like the sun had already set. I checked my watch. It was only 6:oo pm. And around this time, the sun’s still setting.

My horse started to get nervous again but I soothed it, petting his neck. As I did this, I froze, feeling my hands shake in fear as I actually saw the forest getting darker and darker by the second as mist started to appear around us.

“Christian.” I called in a whisper. “Get on right now!” I hissed.

But before Christian could even move, we both heard the scariest sound in our lives.

A howl.

And not of a normal dog. Or a wolf. A dog was a more logical explanation since a wolf wouldn’t be in the middle of a city. Also, the sound was horrifying.

It sounded far from us, but thanks to the trees, I felt like whatever was making that sound was only meters away and running around the place, toying with us. Suddenly, the image of the black dog with red eyes flashed in my head, making me gasp and shake again.

 

Right then, the sudden sound of crackling thunder shook the ground and along with it, a harsh string of lightning snaked towards a tree far ahead of us, once it made contact, the tree exploded into flames, making me shriek with fear.

I looked up again and once I did, I saw the thing I'd never thought of seeing in my entire life.

 

Right next to the flaming tree stood a humanoid wolf standing on its two, long hind legs, its red eyes glowing with hunger as its mouth foamed, the white stuff so unbelievably thick and heavy, I heard it plop to the mossy floor.

I’ve seen this before. It was my nightmare a few days ago.

At the realization, my eyes widened. Now I really do know what going to happen.

But I stared at the thing, wondering if all this was just my imagination gone wild again but, even with me blinking my eyes....the werewolf didn't disappear but instead, it's black, hairy and scarred body glowed thanks to the growing flames.

I wanted to think this wasn’t real at all. And maybe I was schizophrenic but Christian’s expression told me otherwise.

He stared at the creature too, his jaw fallen with his eyes as wide as ever while his face paled.

“W-what the hell…” he muttered as he staggered back, still not believing the thing ahead of us.

I wanted to take Christian and run off, but I just couldn’t move. The creature was too close for comfort. Right then, its red eyes flashed to me and I swear, at that one second, I could see myself getting killed in the bloodiest way.

Suddenly, the creature seemed to take a very deep breath.

 

And with a sudden powerful stomp of its clawed foot, it let loose a roar, which seemed more like the screech of a truck's tire.

Once the sound hit me, goose bumps filled my skin and my jaw fell as I felt my eyes get wet. From under my grip, my horse struggled, trying to run away himself when I didn’t let him.

With that, the wolf-like creature glared down at us and carefully placed itself on its four feet, growling and clawing at the ground, looking ready to pounce.

We’re gonna die.

My eyes widened and I immediately pulled on my horse’s reigns, hearing my heart beat like a drum as my hands shook crazily, the feel to stay alive pumping my blood.

"Hey, GET ON!!" I yelled as I pulled Christian up behind me. Once he was on the horse, we raced away from the creature.

 

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!!" he yelled from behind me while my horse galloped wildly through the darkening forest.

"How the heck should I know? And stop yelling!" I shouted back. Unexpectedly, he shut up and when I thought he was gonna stay quiet, he grabbed my shoulder, making me turn back to him.

Once I looked back, my heart stopped to see the creature was right behind us, galloping crazily with its mouth still foaming and the eyes as wide as apples like a crazed rabid dog.

 

Looking at its wide and crazy red eyes.....I'm starting to think those are the last things I'm ever gonna see.