Sign of the Creature

Chapter 1

"So why did we move here again?"

I was looking up at my father who was staring out at the crowd before us. We were gathered around an old dusty stage that had long since fallen into a desperate state of repair. I was surprised to even see it standing much less someone standing on it.

My father let out a heavy sigh at me and lightly places a hand on my shoulder. He tightly squeezes it and says, "Your mother wanted us to move here a long, long time ago Felicity." He replies as his green eyes turned down towards me. Once again I was shocked by how deep they were once you look into them. I quickly clamped my mouth closed and looked back at the stage.

Years ago my mother was killed in some freak accident involving a ladder and a hammer. I rather not go into details of what exactly happened but you get the picture right? It wasn't pretty I can tell you that much.

I blew a piece of white hair out of my face and crossed my arms over my chest. The mayor was currently talking about the yearly sacrifice of children to the dark being that roamed the forest. I couldn't have heard a much more crazier thing in my life. Who sends a bunch of kids to a forest to be taken by some creep roaming around there?

I flinched when my father squeezed my shoulder harder. I knew I was a too old to be given to the thing out there but my father still worried. There were so few children in this town and the sacrifice demanded ten children to be sent out. But as far as I could see that, sadly, there weren't that many. So this year they were sending out teenagers to be sacrificed. I don't know how these people get away with it but the government doesn't seem to notice.

But there is sort of an upside.

If you were to survive the night you would be free to go back to town and live out the rest of your life without worries about being sacrificed again. Of course that rarely happened.

I gripped my necklace around my neck and squeezed the charm around it. The cool metal rubbed against my sweaty palms some how comforting me. This necklace was given to me by my mother a long, long time ago. She had told me this would ward off evil and protect me from harm. I knew it couldn't do that but it did some how comfort me.

The necklace wasn't all too pretty to look at. It was a simple black metal necklace in the shape of a circle with an X through it. It really wasn't anything special or eye catching.

I flinched as the mic on stage let out a screech and closed my eyes with a sigh. 'Calm down, it's not going to happen to you.' I reassured myself as I slowly opened my eyes again. My heart leapt as I noticed that they had already drawn the names.

I swallowed dryly and waited as he called out the names one by one.

"Eric Larson,"

A young blond haired, blue eyed boy around eleven stepped forward and headed to the front of the crowd where he stood shaking.

"Nathalia Huntson,"

A dark skinned girl with pitch black hair and brown eyes stepped to the front of the crowd. She looked around thirteen or fourteen. She stood with a determined look on her face. Brave girl.

One by one names were called and soon the last name came and I held my breath.

"Felicity Larks."

My face paled and my heart dropped. A shuddered ran down my spine and I began walking forward. My father stopped me and whispered into my ear. "I'm sorry my daughter but this has to happen." I was shoved forward before I can ask him what he meant.

I looked nervously around for a moment then made my way to the front. I tried to keep on a calm face since I was the oldest one there, seventeen years old. I stood at the end and looked up at the mayor.

"Tonight these children will be sent into the woods to appease the beast that lives within. We must do this every year for if he is not happy he'll make sure no one is happy!" He turns to his attention to us and adds, "Please prepare for tonight. Bring whatever you think you might need for this night. Good luck to all of you."

With that the crowd broke up in chilly silence. Children returned to their parents but I just stood there looking at the ground. A gentle hand was placed on my shoulder and I turned my head expecting my father but much to my surprise there was no one around.

"Be strong my daughter. you must go deep into the woods and find a tree with a note on it. Collect eight of these and return to where you started. That is where you must face him."

I shuddered hard as my mother's whispery voice spoke into my ear. I gave a hard shudder and quickly looked around hoping to see my mother's familiar shape but once again… There was nothing.

I swallowed dryly and turned away from the stage. I quickly fixed my black coat and hurried off to prepare for the night ahead.

I looked up at the forest watching the sunset just above it's trees. It was growing dark fast and the woods became much more darker than that. I swallowed slightly and then looked around before looking at the other kids in the group. Most of them had a look of fear on their faces while others just stared silently forward waiting.

Suddenly the church bell sounded.

Ding,

Ding,

Ding,

Ding,

Ding.

I ran forward fast and jumped over a log before running into the woods as fast as I could. I could only see the kids for a moment before darkness swallowed them up, leaving me utterly alone.

I quickly slowed my pace and swallowed again before taking out my flashlight. I turned it on and began to look around me. Trees, trees, trees, and oh look! More trees. Not a page in sight. I sighed and moved on my trail hoping that I would find some soon.

I suddenly stopped when something white caught my eye and I blinked. I slowly walked towards it and snatched it off the tree with a small frown. On it was a tall slender being that looked like it was standing tall above the trees. My eyes slowly difted down to the bottom of the page and I froze.

'Don't look behind you.'

A cold chill ran up my spine and I quickly turned around.

End of Chapter 1