MARKED

TWO

❰ Meliora ❱

"I still think this is a terrible idea," Ethan stated as he pulled a shirt over his head.

It was eight in the evening and Ethan had a bar-tending job at a local pub - one that he so desperately wanted to opt out of today. For obvious reasons, he wasn't too convinced with our idea of visiting Forestport tonight. I couldn't blame him since I wasn't too sure of my plans either.

Watching the news this evening, I had heard of a search party lead by the police and a possible shoot-at-sight order given to the huntsmen since the animal had already killed three people so far. Taking that into consideration, Casey and I planned to visit later at night so we could avoid any of the officials. Getting caught would entail at least a line of questionnaire if not more, and that was exactly what we were trying to avoid.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you updated," I assured him, a faint smile gracing my lips.

He did have a valid reason to worry since none of us had a clue about what we were doing, especially me. All I had figured so far was that we could find the crime scene (if you could even call it one) by finding the yellow tapes, and even that seemed dicey to me at this point. All I wanted was an assurance that I hadn't killed the boy.

With a brief sigh, Ethan nodded his head in acknowledgement and gave me a side hug before heading out the door. After watching him drive away, I messaged Casey to come over while I prepared a mini bag that contained the basics of what you'd need for a late night walk - flashlight, a bottle of water for hydration, a jacket in case the temperature dropped, and pepper spray. Okay, maybe not a late night walk. Nevertheless, I carried it with me along with the compass I stole from Ethan's drawer. I had also made sure my phone was on hundred percent battery so it couldn't die.

As soon as the clock hit Nine, Casey pulled up in front of the house in her jet black Rover and flashed her headlights as a signal for me to leave. Making sure I had what I needed, I locked the door behind me and rushed towards her car with my hands wrapped around my body; it was definitely colder outside.

We began our hour-long journey, both of us nervous. I could tell she was by looking at the way she gripped the steering wheel so tightly, focusing on the road, probably debating about the sanity of my plan. However, she did not utter a word against it. Casey hadn't even taken too long to agree to the plan even though she knew how dangerous it was. It wasn't easy heading into a densely forested area where a mysterious animal had already attacked three people, especially at night.

"What would you do if...you know, you were the one?" she asked with a strained voice. A frown settled on her forehead as if the question bothered her for too long.

Pausing for a moment, I wondered what I'd do if I was the killer. My entire life, I had never even touched a fly, and this was a human we were talking about. A sigh escaped my mouth as I came up with my answer.

"I'd do right by him, I'd turn myself in."

Processing my answer, Casey nodded slowly and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Well, you aren't the one, I know. And if you do not find anything tonight, promise me you'll confront Mr. Briggs." She glanced at me, a firm look on her face.

Mr. Briggs was our General Psychology professor whose research focused on Individual Differences and Behavioral Genetics. I recalled a discussion we had during one of his lectured where he spoke about Cognitive Theory of Dreams and the debate associated with it. Being a reputed psychologist, well experienced too, I had thought of confronting him at first. But what could I tell him? How could I explain that I dreamed of killing people? Saying it out loud sounded as deranged and wrong as dreaming about it. However, Casey was right, I had no other choice than to confront him if I failed tonight.

"Alright, but only if we fail to find evidence tonight," I replied with a new found determination, as if finding evidence in the middle of a forest was simple and as if we were already Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

Silence fell between us for a while and none of us did anything about it; Casey continued to suffocate the steering wheel with her grip and I resumed looking through the window, watching as the small town of Utica slowly faded away.

"I never said thank you," I muttered, my voice almost a whisper. A look of confusion crossed her face and she briefly glanced at me before focusing on the road again. "For everything you've done for me."

"Oh, Don't be ridiculous. You'd do the same for me," she said with a smile.

"Who said?" A smirk formed on my lips as I teased her. A hurtful expression took over her face as she dramatically placed one hand on her chest - something she did when she was faking it. Laughing out loud, I let myself enjoy the moment and let the tension between us ease so we could finally be ourselves.

An hour had passed and we had already hit the slip road that led to the North Lake. Glancing outside, I began questioning this plan of mine, the darkness surrounding us proof enough of our stupidity. There was no way we were going to find anything here and I suddenly wanted to turn around, head home, go to sleep, and never return. But something inside me urged me to move forward, my need of finding answers clouding my judgement.

"Here, park us by the bridge," I said to Casey and pointed towards the side of the road, right before the bridge.

One of the reports online mentioned that they found the body close to the river. Hence, we were going to begin our hike from the origin of Black River so we could spot the tapes sooner. Logical or not, that seemed like the only way to approach the situation.

Hesitating for a minute, I glanced at my best friend, looking for any signs of uncertainty in her eyes; there was none. Fear, sure, but no hesitation. During times like these, I was glad she was my friend. Casey gave me a reassuring smile that instantly calmed me and brought the lost determination back.

With a sigh, I prepared myself mentally and instructed my best friend on what we needed to do.

"Keep the headlights on, in case there is an animal, the lights will hopefully distract it." I let Ethan know of our whereabouts though a message before exiting the car.

Harsh cold winter breeze immediately blew past me as I stepped out; it sent shivers down my spine and rattled every bone underneath. It was definitely cold here, but more than I anticipated. The air here was as chilled and desolate as back in Canada; not that I had visited Canada recently.

As we neared the edge of the forest, I could hear the sound of water hitting rocks, loud and clear, where the river fell from the North Lake. By what I could see, it was a shallow river and anyone could pass it with only their knee soaking, that too in its deepest.

Looking down from the bridge, Casey's face twisted into a terrified expression. The river bank was a few steps down from the normal height of the road and the path was mushy - red mud mixed with water and the occasional green mosses forming by the roots of a nearby tree. The path undoubtedly looked dangerous and terrifying, however, we managed to hit the river bank with none of us slipping or twisting our ankles.

Flashlights in our hand, we immediately began following the river's curves with Casey pointing her flashlight to the opposite end, just in case the crime scene was on the other side of the river. Amidst the sounds of the river flowing, the cricket chirping, the owl hooting, and our feet colliding with the rough path, the only sound that was missing was ours. Both of us stayed silent and I thought it was because we were trying to be vigilant and not for the fact that I could be a killer.

Following the river for about thirty minutes rendered us no success in finding the yellow tape or even a sign of it being there. They surely had marked the area with one, I had seen it in one of the pictures online. Could they have taken it off so soon? I looked around to see if I was missing any part, but I truly wasn't. I had been rounding my flashlight for about thirty minutes non-stop to the point where my wrists began to hurt.

"Aren't we supposed to be making noises so the animal runs away from us?" Casey inquired, ironically in a whisper. There was a hint of fear in her voice, a consequence of the dark forest that only turned denser as we went further.

"One, we don't know what kind of animal it is and two, the hunters could still be out there," I informed her, mimicking her hushed voice.

"I don't want to be caught," she cried in a whisper.

Twirling my flashlight like I had been, I noticed something different about the area and stopped. There were several footprints engraved on the rusty riverbed, indicating that several people had visited this place. That couldn't be a co-incidence. My eyes landed on a muddy yellow ribbon that lay torn on the ground, looking like it had been walked on several times already.

"We're here," I announced, not that it was necessary since Casey had seen the same thing I had.

Pointing my flashlight to the ground, I tried finding any evidence of where the body could be, since they had only shown the area without the body. Casey did the same. I closed my eyes and tried visualizing my dream to find the exact spot where Matt lay, however, my brain kept bringing up a set of golden eyes I had seen just before I had woken up.

"I can't concentrate," I said in exasperation. Why did I see them? What did it mean? Why hadn't I seen them before?

My thoughts dismantled when Casey crouched down and pointed her flashlight to the ground. "I think I found the spot."

Watching her pick up a leaf, I walked closer to take a look; it had blood stain on it. They must've accidentally missed it while clearing the area. Even if the leaf must've gone astray, the crime scene was too close to the river, so much that the sound of flowing water was clear in the background. My forehead contorted as I realized I hadn't heard that in my dream; it was hard to miss the sound.

I tried focusing on my dream again and this time, I saw it, the kill. It wasn't as clear as it had been in my sleep, but clear enough for me to confirm that Matt wasn't killed here, he was killed much deeper into the forest.

An image abruptly flashed in front of my eyes and rattled me completely. What was that? My eyes flew open and my breath trembled as I tried processing what I had just seen. The image was a grayish blur, almost black and white, and the strangest thing was that it was of Casey and me standing exactly the way we were now. It felt as if I had seen myself, but from a distance, if that even made sense, which it didn't. It wasn't possible, unless you believed in the afterlife, right?

I whipped my head around to look in the direction of the source of the image - the woods - but I couldn't find anything; it was all dark and misty.

"Mel, what is it?" Casey asked, her voice overstrung. Taking an intentional pause, I debated on whether to tell her; it would surely freak her out.

"He was dragged," I said mindfully, skipping on the details of my vision completely.

"What?"

"The boy , he must've been dragged here after the kill because I remember him falling in a different place," I clarified while self-analyzing. If that was true, there certainly had to be drag marks or at least blood splattered at a different location.

As far as the reports stated, there was nothing about any drag marks. Perhaps the police couldn't find evidence of said marks, which in turn meant that this could be a human's doing. Of course, an animal couldn't cover its tracks and it certainly had no need to.

"Did you see him being dragged?" Casey inquired as I ruffled a few leaves to check the ground for any bloody drag marks. Distracted, I replied to her question.

"No, I just saw him being killed differently."

"Well, maybe your dream is just symbolically precognitive. Maybe that's proof enough that you didn't actually kill him," she opined.

"Or that I woke up before I could watch him being dragged," I pointed out, still searching the ground. Or I dragged him myself and couldn't remember it. 

Whirling like a tornado, my mind was all over the place. It couldn't grasp the thought of the dream being only precognitive; it felt nothing like that. What it felt like was a brutal and harrowing reality I had been forced to face. There were so many unprecedented theories running in my mind, however none came back with a definitive response.

With a sigh, I stopped my encyclopedic search and realized we were deep into the woods, the sound of water barely hitting my ears. Turning around, I saw that my best friend had blindly followed me with a troubled look on her face, her shallow breaths and slouched posture a clear indication of how tired she was. Feeling guilty of dragging her into this, I decided to continue the investigation on my own. 

"Let's go home." This wasn't over, nothing was proven, I was still a suspect.

Her eyes flickered as relief washed over her, then she nodded her head and took her phone out, possibly searching for a shorter way out. There was no way we were going the way we came; none of us had the energy to do so, especially not with the slimy path we had barely managed to get down from in one piece.

As I stood there patrolling our surroundings, I couldn't help but think of the vision I had earlier. How could I see myself like that? It was as if I was watching a video of myself after it was taken. Was it something I did that made me see that? My curiosity got the best of me and I found myself closing my eyes to concentrate, what on, I had no idea, but I tried focusing.

Another hazy vision flashed in front of my eyes and just like before, it left me discomposed. This time, I saw the image from an angle where I could see a part of Casey's back and myself; Casey was on the phone and my eyes were closed just like they had been a few seconds ago. My head snapped towards the probable source of the vision, and my confidence shook along with the ground underneath me when I saw something move like a shadow. My heart began to thump with an unmatched speed as fear slowly settled deep inside of me. There was definitely something a few feet away from us, I wasn't hallucinating.

A low gruff made it to my ears and Casey's too, causing her to look up at me in complete horror. I could see her skinny legs trembling underneath her thick jeans with every thump that was heard, and there were two with each move. From behind her, I noticed something big exit the bushes; it was tall and hefty, walking on all fours. My eyes widened as it came in full view, my flashlight reflecting the light in its eyes.

"Casey," I uttered, as calm as I could, my hands automatically raising midair as if I was balancing on a wire. "Don't panic. Just turn-turn around, okay?"

"Why? What's behind me?" She asked, her voice cracking with fear; she was on the verge of screaming or crying or maybe both.

"Just... Trust me."

Looking at her straight in the eye with a new found surge of confidence, I urged her to slowly turn around. She jumped as soon as she had seen it.

Standing there, barely ten feet away, was a tall, brown wolf of the size of a mammoth. When it walked, the ground shook for miles, his gruff resonating around us like a haunted melody. Its eyes instinctively narrowed and ears pulled themselves back as it gazed at us, occasionally growling. Even in a life-threatening situation like this, I couldn't help but think of how majestic the wolf looked, its bright yellow eyes reflecting against our flashlights. As much ferocious as it looked, the wolf stood its ground and so did we, none of us moving so much as a centimeter.

My instincts kicked in and I hurriedly threw the instructions at Casey. "Stand tall, don't move, and don't run."

Animal Behaviorists always said wolves could smell fear, and sadly, my beloved friend was reeking of it. Deep down, I was too. Away from the majestic facade, a wolf was extremely dangerous and I knew that. However, I was so caught up in the beauty of its eyes that I found myself drifting from the reality of the situation. The wolf extended its gaze towards me and I tried looking away, but I couldn't. Considering this as an act of defiance and a possible threat, the wolf immediately erected its ears and growled an earth-shattering growl, pulling its lips back to show its teeth - a warning. It sent a shiver down my spine and sent my knees trembling.

Against my instructions and following her own instincts, Casey cried out loud and ran past me, which consequently aggravated the wolf. Panic raised to form a bile in my stomach as I realized what Casey had just brought upon herself - a feverish hunt that could only end with her life. I watched in horror as the wolf crouched down, bending its front legs as it prepared to take a leap. I couldn't just stand there, I had to do something.

"No!"

Adrenaline spun through me as I staggered in front of the wolf in a feeble attempt to form a barrier between the wolf and Casey. As if standing in front of a wolf that was possibly taller than me, could stop it from chasing the life out of my best friend. Maybe it was the distance between the wolf and me or the fact that my action had thrown the wolf off, it landed on me, knocking me down on the ground. My head dashed onto the ground with an extensive force and everything looked hazy thereon.

The wolf stood on top of me, its paws on either side of my head. If it wanted to, it could crush my skull in an instance. However, it growled aggressively, baring its teeth once again as a sign of warning. Then, the wolf suddenly fell silent, its ears lowering down to its head, as it looked at me with curiosity, or at least that's what I thought. Its eyes flickered towards my neck and for a moment, I saw something familiar in its eyes. But that was before it swiped its paws through my bare neck.

Suddenly, I felt my whole body heat up to the point it felt like an inferno, an excruciating pain coursing through my entire body starting from the point where the wolf has just scratched me. My eyes rolled back and I yelled out in an attempt to ease some pain, however, it was way too much to handle. Everything around me felt hot and every movement my body made, hurt.

I could hear faint shrill voices, possibly belonging to Casey, however the pain kept me distracted. With a blow of a wind, or what I thought to be a blow of a wind, I felt the weight over my body lift but even though the wolf took off, it had left behind the pain and the burning sensation with me. What was happening to me?

"Mel!," I heard Casey yell as she fell on the ground next to me. "Are you alright? F**k!"

"Casey...take me...home," I managed to utter before a scream escaped my mouth.

With prior failed attempts, Casey finally managed to help me stand and we tried rushing towards the car. At first, the pain barely let me lift my leg, but the more I tried, the easier it got. A hot gush of thick matter dripped down from the back of my head and I couldn't tell if it was blood or my own sweat.

"Jesus, Meliora. You're burning," Casey said with worry as we kept walking.

By the time we reached the car, the pain had eased to a great extent, I could've even walked on my own if Casey hadn't insisted. However, the constant feeling of being in a blast furnace, vision clouded by haziness, they stayed. From my constant ins and outs, I could see a blurred Casey wrapping something around my head before everything went black. But not before I had seen those eyes flash in front of my eyes, one last time - hazel with a hint of gold.