Real
Chapter 2
EdwardWalker paced along the border of the village. Ivy had been absent for more than a day, he could only hope she was not lost, or worse. Images of his daughter drowning or laying in the woods with a grievous wound haunted his mind. No matter how hard the tried the disturbing thoughts were difficult to dispel.
He walked under one of the watch towers; small pieces of yellow cloth dangled from the sides of the roof. He looked at the border, at the strips of the safe color hanging there as well. When Ivy came back safe, how long would it be before others began to venture into the woods? What would happen when they saw no creatures? When they saw it was a fake? Something entered the corner of his vision, something red.
It came closer, it had an odd walk. Indeed it resembled the suits, but he never remembered making one that looked like that. He walked closer to the border and called out to it. Whoever it was, this was not a good time, not in the middle of the day. It came through the undergrowth, staring at him. It made no reply to his greeting. It came up right to the border, and stared at him. He took a step back, confusion overwhelming him. He looked at it more closely; when making the suits they had been sure to make the seams difficult to find, but a trained eye could see them. But this one had no seams, this was not a suit. It gazed at the border, at the yellow banners, then turned, and walked back into the shadows of the trees.
Ivy, he thought of her in the forests. They were real, the creatures were real. Ivy, what have I done? He almost ran back into the village. The skies were gray, and the rain had begun to fall. All of villagers made their way toward their houses. He saw a man, one of the elders about ten yards away. He ran up to the man, the panic evident in his voice.
"Assemble the elders, just the elders." He said, "We need to have a meeting, now."
Noah stared at the thing as it came slowly towards him. Half of him knew it was a suit, like what he wore, the other didn't know what to think. He thought about running away, but for some reason decided it would be best to go nearer. It did not seem to be very interested in him. Its back was turned and it did not even seem to notice him until he was an arm's length away.
It whirled around to face him. It stared at him for a long while, eyes pits of darkness in the face of what resembled a decayed ram. It sniffed the air around him, then focused on him again. Noah felt himself begin to panic, but he didn't know why. His legs wanted to run, to get him away as fast as he could, but instead he merely froze.
The thing raised it's clawed hand, reaching out toward him. It paused, claws just inches from his chest, undecided whether to slay him or not. Noah reached down for the knife, the one he was to use on Ivy. The creature's hand began to lower, it had decided to leave him be.
Then Noah pulled out the knife, and the creature changed its mind.