A/N: I wrote this one-shot for the prompt: "Bark At The Moon"
Okay, here's a horror story, in response to the pitch-perfect-spookfest Halloween prompt. I appreciate the mod's encouraging comments on my last submissions. XD I so hope my interpretation wasn't so far off this time. Check out my other stories.


MONSTER BLINKING TWICE

"BECA!"

Chloe let out a scream that resonated throughout the murky forest as she ran as fast as her legs could take her. How long she'd been running, she didn't know. Her exhaustion was catching up on her, her legs getting heavy, her sweat dripping from all pores, seeping through her soiled clothes.

She was looking for Beca, but there had yet to be a response. No sign that she was still alive.

No, she had to be; Chloe was sure about that. But dear God, why wouldn't she answer?

"BECA! ANSWER ME!"

She pushed into the forest, tears obscuring her sight, streaming down her cheeks. She swiveled her head around to face the direction she had come from and saw nothing but gloom between the trees. She was lost. Moonlight seeped through the forest's branches, yet everything was covered in darkness because of the thickly leaved treetops above.

"BECA! PLEASE…"

Her scrambling feet ventured ahead over the detritus. She stumbled, gripping a fistful as she forced herself up and continued walking forward. To keep going. She kept a direct course ahead, across rocks and stones, undergrowth, mossy ground, and knobby roots underfoot as she moved forward. Constantly alert to her surroundings and taking them in, watching out for the danger that was pursuing her. She had to shout for Beca, even at the risk of getting discovered.

She lost her flashlight as she fell and slipped down the steep hillside. Now she was entirely unprepared for any eventuality—no phone, no food, no useful items, or any means of self-defense, like a weapon.

Passing tree barks, scraping her arms and legs. Climbing over dead and fallen trees, brushing up against branches, clumps of bushes, and walking over boulders, twigs, and leaves. She was fleeing for her life from the wild creature chasing her, and branches were hitting her in the face as she went.

"BECA! GOD, BECA!"

She wiped her cheek, ignoring the fleeting sharp pain, and strained her ears for any sign that Beca was still alive and safe. Somewhere. Hoping her loud cries would carry out to her. But other than the noises of the forest's vegetation and nocturnal species and the rustling of the wind through the trees, there was nothing.

"Beca, where are you?" While taking a little break, Chloe broke down in tears. There seemed no way out of this woodland and back to the road. Not in this darkness, anyway.

Then there was a shuffling movement, like something was hastily making its way through the dark forest over the fallen leaves and branches before pausing. Growling. Chloe's heart slammed against her ribs, and she gasped for air.

A ferocious creature was pursuing her as it moved through its habitat, and she heard a howl somewhere. Given that it had materialized seemingly out of thin air, she had no way of knowing what kind of wild animal it was—if it was an animal at all. But what else could it be? A barking, whimpering sound, with its low and rumbling growl and its rapid velocity as it rushed through the woods. A wolf? No wolf was that fast. And bears don't howl.

The only thing she could see in the pitch black was the faint outline of trees and rocks in front of her, which was touched by the soft light of the full moon. Still, she was lost and disoriented and couldn't figure out how to get out of this place. Alive. And with Beca.

After her fall down the slope earlier, she had injuries to her legs, including scratches and scrapes, shredded clothing, and a bleeding arm. But her adrenaline rushing through her system was numbing the pain down. Her eyes were watering from the dripping perspiration on her forehead, burning her eyes. Or maybe it was blood, but she didn't know. The most important thing was to find Beca and get out of this hell.

"BECA! GOD, PLEASE! WHERE ARE YOU?" No response. "BECA!" Her voice was getting sore.

Chloe tried heading the opposite way, tears streaming down her face, but keeping a close eye on her surroundings and listening for any abnormal crackling sounds. At this time, that thing had disappeared. Except for the rustling leaves and branches, the unheard flapping of wings, and the chirping of insects, that godawful creature couldn't be heard anywhere. Perhaps the monster had moved on to another prey as the sound of its snarl faded in another direction.

She made a mistake by bringing Beca here in the first place. Beca had first opposed this kind of trip and camping in general. But Chloe had been persistent, and in the end, Beca came along—because she'd do anything for Chloe.

"BECA! WHERE ARE YOU?" she cried, stumbling forward, and holding herself up against a trunk. A bit quieter, she sobbed, "God, please, answer me. Beca…" She was overcome with so much guilt because this nightmare was all her fault. She wiped her wet cheeks, sniffing. "I'm so sorry, Beca. Please…"

Time passed, and Chloe kept moving as she tried to find her way back to their tent. Her hope was bristling as she could see almost nothing. As she plodded forward, one slow step after another, she could practically taste the earthy air, and the ground below her made it harder to walk. She slumped down, sobbing in her hands.

Then she heard the distant sound of a familiar voice.

"Chloe!" someone called. Chloe held her breath, ears perking up. "Chloe!"

"Beca?" She paid close attention. "Chloe!" She heard her name again, and this time she recognized it. Who else would be calling for her? It was Beca. "BECA! WHERE ARE YOU? BECA!"

She dashed in the direction of the voice, further and deeper into the forest, where the trees grew thicker.

"Chloe, I'm right here."

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

The voice drew her attention to a brighter source of light between the trees, and she went in that direction. Her last reserves depleted, she fell forward onto her arms and knees, looking everywhere. Still, Chloe kept crawling ahead. Until there was nothing left except the endless murkiness of the sky and the glimmering points of light that were the stars. And the moon's light shone down on everything, lighting its surroundings.

"BECA? ARE YOU HERE?"

But Beca was nowhere.

And she could hear the distant snarl of whatever was closing the gap behind her with slow, lumbering movements… From the deep woods behind her.

There was a distinct salty ocean smell around her. Chloe could make out the waves crashing from hundreds of feet below her. And she realized that she had reached a cliff.

Slowly, she inched her way nearer the edge that overlooked the pitch-black waterbed. She could jump. But even if she missed the water, the boulders a few feet below would be enough to kill her instantly. She had no way to escape.

In the end, that ferocious monster found her. It seemed as if it had heard her voice as it emerged from the cover of the woods, or it might have tracked her scent in the shadows. It was scurrying forward but not on four legs… it was walking upright.

"Beca… Oh God, help me," Chloe whispered, her voice cracking through her sobs as she gave up all prospect of making it out of there alive. She turned around behind her. Heart racing. Fear taking over, paralyzing her. Only when the moonlight hit the creature's statue did she recognize what had been following her.

That creature was not a wolf since it could walk upright and was much larger and indistinguishable from ordinary wolves. Despite being a veterinarian student, Chloe had never seen a wolf in real life. It was around the size of a bear, if not larger, as it walked on its hind legs. Its skull and muzzle were long; ears fully pointed forward. Red, blazing eyes darted toward Chloe aggressively.

"Oh my God, what…?" She'd never seen anything like that before.

As the monster inched closer to Chloe, she backed away carefully until there were only inches left behind her, and the ground started to crumble under her.

At that same time, she was considering her alternatives. Specifically, what would be the most painless way to die?

Enduring the terror of being crushed against the rocks by the ocean? Drowning? Or being ripped to shreds by this creature?

Then again: what was the fastest way to die?

Chloe was petrified as the creature stood a few feet before her. She stared up at its enormous mass, waiting for it to strike at her. With a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks, she pressed her eyes shut and waited for it to end.

But nothing happened.

Despite the approaching growl, moving closer. Even Chloe could hear the chomping sound right before her, almost breathing in her face as a whiff of wind carried its putrid stench toward her face. She peeked at the beast carefully, wondering why it didn't already shred her to pieces. She opened her eyes again and dared to look.

But then, it took a cautious step back, most likely preparing to launch a charge. Then it blinked its red, blood-filled eyes—twice, as if perplexed.

"Dude, you still watching?"

It was Beca's voice.

"What?" Chloe mouthed, no sound leaving her.

"Chloe," this monstrosity said, calling her name. Yes, it was moving its jaw, the muzzle twitching; it was speaking with Beca's voice, "I'm right here. Wake up."

It was as though this monster was really Beca dressed up in a costume, but the displayed incisors with sharp fangs were real. They were dripping with blood from this carnivorous monster's most recent prey, and it was mingled with saliva and mud. Then it spat something out.

Looking at it as it landed in front of Chloe, she realized it was bits of torn pieces of clothes from some human. It was soiled, but she noticed the checkered pattern that wasn't stained with blood.

Like the patterned kind Beca had worn. Before she had disappeared into the deep forest.

Her heart raced, and her breath hitched as she tried desperately to ignore the fact that it belonged to Beca, from whom she had been separated hours before due to her best friend's foolishness.

Their parting moments with one another flooded her consciousness like a dying person's last memories...

"Chloe," Beca said in a hushed voice, urging her to be quiet. "There's someone outside." There was a low growl, a crackle of leaves, and twigs breaking underneath heavy footsteps. "Grab the flashlight, but don't turn it on yet. We need to get out of here."

"What?" Rudely awakened from her sleep, Chloe felt the instant panic growing and looked at Beca's frightened expression. She heard the gnarling sound and low growls as something approached their tent. "That doesn't sound like a person. Sounds like a wild animal."

"Whatever it is," Beca said, "I'll try to distract it and lure it away. You have to run in the other direction. Get away from here."

"No. Are you insane? Why would you do that?" Chloe yelped, grabbing the brunette's arm. "What if it's a bear?"

"Then it will kill us both. Seriously, there's no time." She turned toward Chloe again, pecking her lips. "Head back to the road and wait for me there. Try to be quiet."

Beca then crawled out of the tent and ran away. A distance away from the tent, she began screaming like a maniac to get that creature's attention. Luring it away from Chloe.

"Chloe, wanna go to bed?" this monster spoke again, its massive claw scratching the back of its head, talking with Beca's voice in a nonchalant tone. Acting like Beca in a way.

Looking up at this monstrosity now, Chloe could verify it was real because of its rotting stench. She raised her head and took in the black, long fur, its massive arms, inward-pointing claws, and bent-in, crouching form. The growl was real, and the sound of it made her skin crawl.

"You're getting heavy, dude," this vile creature said. Again, it was Beca's voice.

And it was almost comical, had she not been frightened half to death.

Chloe stirred awake and found herself resting with her head on her best friend's chest.

"Beca?" she said cautiously. "Oh, God! I found you!"

"What are you talking about?"

Chloe touched her own face, examined her arms, and looked about her, relieved to see that she was otherwise unscathed. No blood, filth, or perspiration. Then back to the room. They were inside their apartment, safe. Most importantly, Beca was safe. They were sitting in their living room, watching a horror movie in which a werewolf tore a screaming woman to shreds, a dark forest in the background. Then she turned around, tears welling as she stretched out to hug Beca and kiss her. "Beca! I thought you died!"

"Hey, why are you kissing me?" Beca asked, looking mortified as she wiped her mouth. "What do you mean?"

"I was dreaming… we went camping, and a scary monster ambushed and attacked us," Chloe said, looking back at the TV as she recognized its appearance from her nightmare. "Like that one. Why are we watching that?"

"Are you kidding me?" Beca exclaimed in disbelief. "You forced me to watch it because 'it's Halloween,'" she mimicked Chloe's voice and drew quotation marks mid-air with her free hand.

"Yeah, I'm so sorry. We don't have to watch it." Chloe rested her head back down on her best friend's body. "Let's not go camping, Beca. Let's just go to the beach or anywhere you want."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. I want to go wherever you like." She pressed her face into Beca's chest, ignoring where she was lying.

Beca pushed at her. "Dude, that's my tits," she groaned, but Chloe remained resting there, hugging her tight and feeling close to tears. "Are you sure? You've been begging me to go camping with you for months. And suddenly, after one horror movie, you changed your mind?"

"Yes, I don't want you to get mauled by a werewolf, Beca," Chloe said, feeling the terror lingering in her veins. Her heart was still pounding hard.

"Yeah, because werewolves exist." Beca's sarcastic tone suggested that she was rolling her eyes. Chloe knew her too well, knew her best friend's habits. And loved them all. "You're so weird. You've been, like, calling my name…um… over and over… in your sleep. And you were crying… you okay, though?"

Chloe wiped the corner of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine now."

She glanced up at Beca, having crawled closer until their faces were nearly level, smiling happily. She inhaled this amazing woman's sweet scent and felt her warmth as she squished her hips between Beca's legs. As it turned out, she was indeed here with her, even though everything about that nightmare—her trepidation, her terror, her weeping, her fear of having lost Beca had been a startling degree of realism.

Beca blushed, trying to lean away and avert her eyes. She chuckled nervously as she ran her palm over the back of her neck. "Stop looking at me like that," she said.

"I love you, Beca," Chloe said gently, grinning. She had told this to her many times over the years, yet it was still a message that resonated deeply within her because she meant it. And she'd keep repeating it to Beca until her best friend was sick of hearing it. Right now, Beca was smiling.

"Huh?" she chuckled uneasily, squirming below her. "Dude, if watching scary movies makes you this nice to me, we should do it all the time."

"I'm always nice to you," Chloe remarked, smirking, as she grabbed Beca behind her neck and brought their lips together.

Beca hesitated for a moment, but then she returned the kiss with all the intensity it had been met with.

Chloe's skin felt strangely brushed by a breeze, and the earthy scent lingering in her nostrils was a little disconcerting. She could pick out the muffled sounds of the waves smashing against the cliffs, the jumbled noises of nocturnal rodents and insects, and the breathing sounds of the forest.

In the distance, a howl.

When she blinked and lifted her gaze slightly, she became aware that the enormous full moon was beaming directly on her face.

She had severe injuries and could barely maintain consciousness, and her breathing was painful. She saw Beca's smile flashing behind her eyelids and smiled at the memory.

Due to the lightning-fast speed with which the werewolf had launched its assault, it must have knocked her out instantly. And maybe it had just feasted on something, for it had spared her life.

In the end, neither she nor Beca had ever completely escaped the dense forest.


A/N: Let me know what you think. Check out my Tumblr for this story's GIF. (You must have an account there.)