Devoured by the Cursed Alpha Twins.

5. Petrified.

I never thought I would see a bear wounded lying down on the grass looking miserable. Half of it side is sliced open and bleeding out.

I wince at the gory site of his insides pushing against its paw. He bellows out in pain, my eyes continue down till I see its legs bent forward like it was snapped into two and nearly torn from the tendons, I gasp at the horror.

What manner of beast could have done this to the bear? It is insane how such a beast could be brought to his knees.

My heart is in my mouth. Whatever got to him must have really wanted the animal to suffer, wanted its pain to be intense.

The poor animal groans in pain, his eyes begging me for… is that mercy or just for a quick death to end the torment.

If I was bleeding out with my guts spilled on the floor I would also beg for a quick end to the pain. I am so distraught by the sight, I fight the urge to run for the hills but at the end of the day there is nothing much I can do because I do not have it in me to kill the animal.

My eyes scan the area. I am anxious, my heart is beating so fast I fear it will jump out of my throat. The monster that did this might still be tracking his prey, following the scent of his blood or even worse, the monster is already here and lurking in the bushes and watching us right now.

I consider the direction I am going to flee towards. I ran west and busted out here, perhaps I should go in the opposite directions, It would lead me home.

My nose lifts into the air, hoping to pick up another scent over the overpowering scent of red copper blood.

I freeze. My breathing stops and the only sound is the pained grunts coming from the animal on the floor panting and fighting unconsciousness.

I hear rustling coming from my left. The branches in the trees above my head sway back and forth, the wind picks up almost instantly. As if mother nature senses something unnatural in her depths.

Death. Fear. c*****e.

The three words hover around my head and wrap itself tightly around my chest, squeezing till I cannot breathe.

You ever get that weird nagging feeling that you are being watched. Carefully, I turn to my left, carefully checking in between the low bushes if I can spot anything strange.

I stop cold dead in my tracks.

Holy heavens.

My eyes turn wide as saucers and I gasp for air, cold dread clamps down hard on my chest and I swallow a terrified scream.

I should have ran all the way back home when I got Father’s herbs but I just had to be a wise ass and wander off to my death.

A pair of red glowing eyes, unlike anything I have ever seen before is staring me down. The bushes are tall enough to hide the body of the predator.

I stay very still. All the nerve endings on my body stand at attention. Goosebumps spread across my body.

I hear a menacing growl that sends the fear of God into me.

In all my life, I have never heard any growl as scary as that.

Just as I am contemplating fleeing for the hills and leaving the poor bear there to face his fate, hopefully the savage beast will not come after me.

As if my situation could not get any worse, I blink and another pair of glowing red eyes appear a few feet beside the other one.

What the actual f**k…? I whisper into the air.

I start to turn from side to side.

How many are out there?

Are we under attack? I must run back home and warn them.

Fear freezes my legs to one spot.

Both pairs of eyes watch me unblinkingly.

The second pair seem to be watching me with … rage.

The animal stands from its crouching and I finally see the biggest blackest werewolf I have ever seen. It looks like the beast of kid’s nightmares.

He takes one step towards me and that is when my senses rush back to me.

I spin around and run out of there.

I must have been running for ten minutes straight. Pushing through branches and bushes and running around big trees, just trying to follow the sound of the river back to the marshes.

Escape is so close. I pray to the goddess that they are too distracted by their former prey to follow me.

Finally, in what feels like forever I reach the marshes.

As soon as I spot the mangrove and trees, I drop into a dead faint.