"Cliff?"

"Just what the h_ll are you doing out here?!" He demanded.

I looked away feeling a little guilty. Sure he'd yelled at me before but this was different. I really don't think I'd seen him this angry before.

"Don't you realize how big of a mistake you've just made?! What were you thinking?!"

I chewed on my lip. I was starting to think he was going to strike me. I had really done it this time.

"Well?!"

"... I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough you idiot! That thing is going to take you to who knows where and kill you and you just had to come out here into IT'S territory! You're a sitting duck out here!" He released me and stood.

I stayed where I was. "I… I just thought-"

"Thought what?! Whatever you thought was wrong! Now get up!" He ordered and I could feel tears starting to take form.

I slowly stood. I still refused to look at him.

"Now go back home." He growled.

"... Yes… brother…" I started walking.

I could feel his eyes on my back as walked away. I pushed aside the plant life as I walked on. I stopped and looked up when I almost ran into a tree. Looking back I found that I couldn't see my brother anymore. I sighed through my nose. I had really done it. He was so angry. Looking at the flashlight in my hand I finally decided to turn it on. I no longer had the camera but I guess that didn't matter. It wasn't like I could do anything with it. All I really needed was a flashlight and I would be fine. That old camera probably wouldn't be able to make out shapes very well in the dark anyway. Looking around I cursed myself. I had no clue where I was in this huge forest. No clue. I was alone out here with a creature thirsting for my blood in the dark and to add to my list of problems my brother was angry and I was lost. Yay… Fun… I guess the only thing I could do was walk. So that's what I did. I walked among the trees as I searched for something. Anything that could lead me back home. I practically leapt for joy when I saw what looked like a building beyond the trees. I ran out into the clearing only to be once again disappointed. This wasn't home. This looked to be an old building that had suffered from a fire. A rather large one at that. I looked at what looked to be sign and shone my flashlight on it. I approached but I still couldn't make out any of the words. It was covered in dirt and moss. I soon learned that wiping at it did nothing to help the old signs condition.

I looked up at the old building. Nothing but cracks and graffiti covered its walls. Should I…? I shook my head. Stupid. That it itself could be a death wish. Something could fall on me or break out from under me. I turned away from it and started walking. I looked back at it… What could be the harm? It was abandoned and I just had to be careful. Nothing was going to happen… right? I took a few steps toward it. No. No I couldn't. I told him I'd go back.

"I can't… He'll be mad at me if I…" I trailed off.

Looking up at the old building one last time I turned back. I was like a dog or something. Loyal to a fault. But he was my brother. My only brother and he care for me. He was one of the only people in my life that I could count on. Friends were never permanent so I couldn't count any of my current friends in that. We'd all go our separate ways one day. I pushed the branches out of the way. I swear all these trees look the same. Maybe I should get a sharp piece of metal from that building and start marking the trees or something. I looked back to the ground as my mind wandered back to when Cliff was yelling at me. I was jerked out of my thoughts when I walked into something. I landed hard on the ground.

"Ow…" I rubbed my face.

Looking up at the dark shape I frowned at it. I swore it hadn't been there before. I blinked as I realized that it looked a little odd. A little too thin maybe? I shined my light on it and my jaw dropped as I moved the beam up. Up. Up. Up, craning my neck almost to the point where it was painful, to see a blank canvas of a face. It tilted it head to the side like it had before when I saw it it the bedroom doorway. Once again looking like it was contemplating something. Did I dare speak to it? Did I dare move? Should I call for Cliff? No stop. Stay calm. You panic you die. If you panic you die. Panicking equals death. Focus. This thing was so tall. I moved slowly. Like any sudden movement would set it off. Maybe it would. How would I know? I stood and I lowered the light a bit thinking I'd probably be a little annoyed at a light being shined directly into my face. It would be blinding and then there'd be that spotty vision. Would it even have that problem? I didn't have any eyes by the look of it. How did it know where it was going?

I took a step back. What was I going to do? Another step back. I had to get back to the house. A third step back. Or at least where there were other people. A fourth. So just how would I do that? A fifth. I was Lost in here. With my luck that thing probably knew it. A sixth. And now I wished I had a camera. A seventh. If I was going to die than I could at least leave Some form of evidence. It wasn't moving though so maybe it really couldn't see me and went off hearing or something. So all I had to do was be silent… right? Well it was my best bet. I flinched as a stick snapped under my foot. You have got to be kidding me. I searched it for any changes. No…? Then how…? Screw it. Just walk. Don't look at it. Just walk. Logic. That's all I needed right now. It wasn't moving so now was a good time to leave. Since this path was blocked I'd have to go back and search for a worn path or something. That probably would have been a good idea before instead of walking blindly into a part of the wood I was unfamiliar with.

So I headed back. I glanced back and I gasped as I ducked. The flashlight hit the earth with a thunk. Just what the- What was that?! I ran as black streaks in the air seemed to come and vanish into the night. I ran back to the clearing with the burned down building. Without any hesitation I rushed into the building and ducked behind a corner. Flashlight now gone I put my back to the wall and waited for it to come around the corner. Straining to see anything in the darkness. Nothing happened. Sighing I slowly started down the hall in search of a back door. No doubt it was still out there. So a back door was my best bet. I looked in several of the destroyed rooms. Nothing but junk. No back door. Nothing could be heard was the sound of my footsteps on the old floor. I looked back several times on my unexpected detour. I was a little glad to see nothing but at the same time I was a little worried. If it wasn't behind me then it could be anywhere.

That whole I'm afraid there's something behind me thing was getting a little old but that didn't make it any less scary. Honestly I wasn't sure why I was scared I hadn't actually seen it in a while. I drew a breath of relief when I saw the forest. Sounds odd to Want to go out into the dark woods. So I exited. Once quick glance around confirmed that it wasn't here. At least at the moment. I was running once again. I if I ran straight I was bound to make it out of the woods at some point. There had to be an end. I yelped in surprise when I looked back to see it through the trees. I covered my mouth at the sound. Just wow. Did I really just do that? I stopped right before I ran into a rocky wall. I jumped a few times trying to reach the ledge that jutted out. Was I really this short? I knew it was close without even looking back. It was going to watch me squirm and panic before it killed me.

"Cliff!" I called without thinking.

I wasn't sure if he heard me or not but I guess that didn't matter. Either way I was going to die here. I was at the mercy of this thing and I was pretty sure it didn't have much of that. Well monsters were real and adults were liars. I slowly turned to face my fate. I could barely see it in the darkness but it was there. I strained to see just what exactly had made the black streaks that had just about pierced me several times. I saw a slight movement behind it and I squinted… Tentacles. It had tentacles. Not sure why but that just made it a little more scary. As I looked up at it I could have sworn there was a smirk somewhere on that blank canvas of a face. We stood there for a while. Silence. Deafening silence. Honestly I was getting a little upset now. It was going to kill me wasn't it?

"If you're going to kill me just do it already!" I snapped and I got no reaction.

I mean seriously. This wasn't even scary anymore. Now it was just ticking me off.

"Do it! I'm sick of playing cat and mouse with you!"

I gasped as I felt a solid grasp around my waist. I take it back. Its scary and we can go back to cat and mouse. I blinked a few times as I was now face to face with it. A loud crack sounded and echoed off and into the trees. The silence seemed to have amplified the sound. The creature looked back. Maybe it was just me but it seemed a little too calm. Wouldn't it be more I don't know… angry… aggravated… maybe?

"You let go of my brother!"

No Cliff! Don't do it! Yeah well I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Have fun roaming the archives. Next chapter will be up soon so long as I can skip a delayed birthday dinner from my half brothers father and my mothers other ex. Anyway... Where was I? Oh right. Don't do it! Don't throw your life away! Don't you know who you're dealing with?! Sweet and all but Don't you know Who you're dealing with?!