The Night Beast
Theodore was having a rough time sleeping. With so little supplies of food, he had been starving all day, and even now he hadn't had much for dinner. He woke to the sound of his own stomach growling.
"Belly be quiet, everyone else is asleep" he moaned rubbing his stomach. He rolled over to try and get comfortable again when he noticed something. Some nearby bushes rustled slightly, then another bush and another, getting slowly closer to the group. Theodore started to shiver and slowly rose to his feet. He tried to say something but no sound came from his voice. The rustling got closer and closer and now Theodore could just make out a dark shape amongst them. It was still very dark but the moonlight flooded down eerily from above. Suddenly the rustling stopped as whatever it was crawled through the bushes and was now on the river bed. It was still too dark to see, but a feature that Theodore stared at scared him even more, the large pair of yellow eyes staring back at him.
Unable to hold it anymore, Theodore screamed at the top of his lungs waking everyone.
"Theodore what's wrong?" asked Simon rubbing his head, but he stopped once he saw how petrified Theodore was.
He turned to see the dark creature stalking towards them and he uttered a startled cry as well. As the creature advanced on them, the six frightened Chipmunks darted from their camp site and rushed towards the edge of the river where the moonlight was the strongest. Theodore and Eleanor grabbed each other in a tight hug shivering in fear together. Simon grabbed Jeanette and forced her behind him as she trembled. Despite his weak state and his injuries, Alvin bravely stood in front of Brittany with his arms spread out shielding her from the creature. The beast drew closer and it stepped into the moonlight. The beast was a huge black panther with sharp claws and bared teeth growling at the group. Suddenly the panther howled and dived towards Simon and Jeanette. Simon quickly jumped aside pulling Jeanette with him, avoiding the panther by centimeters as it missed and splashed into the river. It hissed and started to rush towards them.
"Run!" Simon screamed, and the group fled towards the forest with the now angry Panther right behind them. In the dark and dense underbrush, no one could see a thing. The panther made another dive and landed in the middle of the six, causing them to split into groups running in every direction. The panther looked around the group and chose to follow Brittany and Alvin who were the closest pair, due to Alvin's injuries. It bounded after them, its hungry eyes watching their every move, struggling to get away. As Simon and Jeanette ran, Simon turned to watch as the panther changed direction and headed after his brother.
"Alvin, Brittany, look out!" he yelled and started to run after them. Jeanette turned to follow but he stopped her.
"No Jeanette, help Theodore and Eleanor. Find a tree and get to safety, I'll try and help these two!" he yelled.
"But I want to help you, you can't stop a panther by yourself!" she screamed back watching the black beast charging after Alvin and her sister.
"I'll be fine, help those two!" he commanded again. Tears came to Jeanette's eyes but she nodded. Before she left Simon pulled her into a fierce hug, which she returned. Then the two split, running as fast as they could to help their siblings and friends.
Alvin was in pain but he ignored it, running with as much force as he could muster. Although Brittany's outfit was already in tatters from the crash, what was left kept snatching onto trees, slowing her down as the beast sprinted towards them howling. It caught up to them and made a swipe with its claws, causing Brittany to scream as she was knocked to the ground.
"Brittany!" Alvin screamed as he turned to find her pinned to the ground by the horrifying cat. Without thinking he rushed towards the panther and smashed into its face with his shoulder. Immense pain flared through him, but he stood his ground. The cat fell to the forest floor howling. But in moments it was back up hissing, staring at Alvin with eyes filled with hatred.
"Run Alvin!" Brittany yelled trying to stand, watching as her friend stood in front of her again, shielding her from the monsters wrath. Suddenly the panther rushed at Alvin and swiped at him with its sharp claws, slicing them across his chest. He cried in pain as blood trickled from the claw mark, but he refused to move shielding Brittany with his full body.
"Run Brittany, I'll hold it off. Get to safety!" he shouted through grinding teeth trying to block out the overwhelming pain.
"I won't leave you!" she screamed trying to pull him away but even with his injuries, she wasn't strong enough to pull him aside.
The panther made another swipe this time with more force, causing Alvin to fall backwards howling in agony as more blood oozed from his chest. Satisfied that it had wounded Alvin, the panther turned its gaze to the terrified Brittany. She screamed as the beast stalked towards her hissing with triumph. Without warning Alvin leapt towards the panther and grabbed a hold of its neck trying to force its head down. The panther started to shake violently, howling with anger. It smashed Alvin into the side of a tree causing him to scream with pain.
"Run… Brittany!" he coughed as blood started to gush from his mouth. The panther swung violently and Alvin wasn't able to keep his grip. He flew from the panther's neck onto the ground with a sickening thud. He was paralyzed with pain, unable to move as the beast advanced towards him teeth bared, choosing to finish the pest off once and for all. It raised its claw for one final blow when a large rock collided with its face. The panther roared in pain as dark blood started to seep from its face. It wheeled around trying to find the culprit. As it turned, its angry eyes locked upon Simon who was already holding another rock ready to hurl.
"Back away from my brother and Brittany!" he yelled, throwing the rock, successfully hitting the panther on its right leg. It howled and started to walk towards him when another rock flew towards it, smacking into its ribs. The panther roared and turned to see that now Brittany, although still terrified was standing over Alvin with another rock in her hands, ready to defend herself and her friends. The panther growled at her, then saw that Simon was also prepared to throw another rock. Angrily the panther looked at them both then turned and fled, limping off into the darkness, choosing to find weaker prey for the night.
"Alvin!" Brittany cried crouching down next to the injured Chipmunk. Blood covered his chest and oozed from his mouth.
"Bri…ttany…" he tried to say before falling unconscious.
"Help me Simon we have to get him to safety!" she said in tears turning to find that the other Chipmunk was rushing to her side.
"We have to stop the bleeding or he will die from blood lose" said Simon nervously. He grabbed some large leaves and bandaged the wounds, placing pressure on them to ensure the blood stopped gushing out. Once he was sure that the blood had stopped he examined his brother more thoroughly. The bruises on his back were swelling up badly and were a mix of red, purple and black. His right arm was broken and he had a concussion on his head.
"We need to make a sling for his arm. Brittany can we use your cape?" asked Simon noticing that Brittany's hat was connected to what remained of her cape. With tears still in her eyes she nodded and removed the cape. Without the hat on, Brittany's hair looked worse than it had ever been in its life. Normally Brittany would have been screaming in rage that someone had seen her in such a state, but she was so upset she didn't care. She was too worried about Alvin. He had risked his life to save her, and she felt so guilty that he was now in this condition that she couldn't stop the tears gushing from her eyes. As Simon wrapped the broken arm in the cape he gently stuck his arms under his brother's.
"Brittany, we need to get him somewhere safe. Can you grab his legs? I could carry him myself but I don't want to risk hurting him by shifting him from a lying position" Simon asked readying himself to lift his injured brother. Brittany complied and lifted Alvin's legs from the ground. Simon led them back towards where he had seen Jeanette and the others, hoping that they were alright.
"Don't worry Alvin. We'll get you somewhere safe" whispered Brittany through her tears, as they silently trekked off into the darkness.
Dave sat on his bed with his hands over his face crying. He and Miss Miller had practically tore the ice cream parlor apart looking for some trace of the boys and the Chipettes. They asked everyone if they had seen them, but only the bar tender was able to give them an answer.
"Yeh I saw them here a few weeks ago. The one with the hat and the girl in the pink outfit were playing the around the world game. They got into some sort of argument over who would win a real race around the world if I remember correctly. Then some rich folks, by the names of Klaus and Claudia I think, offered to lend them the supplies to let them really race. I thought it was nonsense, but these people were really rich. They were betting a million bucks on each of the groups and they were saying the winners would get 100 grand" said the bartender shaking his head.
"Is that it? Do you know anything about those rich people? Did you hear the kids make any plans? Did they say what they were gonna do?" Dave had almost shouted at the man but it was no good. The bartender had never seen Klaus and Claudia before and hadn't seen them since. And after their conversation with them, the kids had simply run out of the store shouting that they were going to beat the opposing team.
Miss Miller entered the room. Dave had allowed her to stay while they looked for the kids. She too was crying.
"Wh… what are we… going to do… David?" she asked through sobs. Dave simply shook his head, tears still flowing from his eyes.
Alvin was always mischievous, but to actually fly around the world. How could he have been so irresponsible. He wished he knew who was looking after the Chipettes so he could ask them if they knew anything, but he didn't even know where the girls lived (this movie was set before the girls had moved in with Miss Miller).
"Maybe… maybe we should… call the police… see if… they could help us find Klaus and Claudia" said Miss Miler, calming down a little.
Dave nodded, then walked to her and pulled her into a hug, tears still dripping down his face.
"I wish my boys were here… I'm so worried… I love them…" he managed to say before he just broke down crying again. The tears returned to Miss Miller's eyes as she comforted him.
"We'll find them David. We will" she said, and with that she headed downstairs to the phone to call the police.
Jeanette sat on the branch of a large tree. After Simon had left she had caught up to Eleanor and Theodore who were scared out their minds. She had forced them to climb a large tree to safety and had been sitting with them since. At first the two continued to shiver in fear, but after a while they calmed down a little. Now they were fast asleep cuddled together on a large branch towards the top of the tree. Jeanette sighed and continued to stare down, hoping she would catch a glimpse of Brittany, Alvin or Simon.
"Jeanette, we're safe where are you?" a voice rang out through the darkness below.
"Simon!" Jeanette gasped before sliding down the truck of the tree to the forest ground. Moonlight could still be seen through gaps in the leaves and Jeanette was able to see something sparkle in the darkness.
"Simon I'm over here!" she cried after realizing what the sparkle was. The sparkle moved closer and finally Jeanette could see the moonlight reflecting off of Simon's worn glasses. He was walking towards her with something in his arms behind his back. She gasped when she realized that it was Alvin. She rushed to him and checked to see if he was alright.
"What happened!" Jeanette cried.
"Alvin and I were attacked by the panther. He… he… saved me. He stopped the panther attacking me by shielding me with his body. Then he jumped onto it and it hurt him very badly" said Brittany as fresh tears came to her eyes.
Jeanette looked up. She had even realized that Brittany was there. Forgetting that her sister was carrying Alvin, she wrapped her arms around her into a fierce hug.
"Oh Brittany I'm so glad your alright. I don't know what I would do if I lost you or Eleanor" she said not letting go of Brittany.
"Jeanette, can you give me a hand getting Alvin up the tree. Brittany needs to rest…" Simon began to say but Brittany cut him off.
"No, I'll help him. He saved me. I have to help him!" she cried through her tears.
"But Brittany…" Jeanette began.
"No!" Brittany shouted.
Simon and Jeanette looked at each other for a moment then sighing, allowed Brittany to help Alvin up the tree. It was a slow process. Simon would climb up to a branch and pull Alvin up while Brittany supported him from underneath. Jeanette tried to help, but Brittany kept pushing her back, refusing anyone to her help. Once they had reached a safe height they lay Alvin down onto the branch and propped him against the trunk. After watching Alvin for a moment Jeanette felt tears start to run from her eyes and she grabbed onto Simon.
"What are we going to do now? Alvin is hurt and we're lost in the middle of some jungle. We're never going to get home!" she cried burying her head into his chest.
Simon embraced her and started to gently stroke her back.
"We will find a way home Jeanette I promise. I don't know how, but we will find our way home. We'll think of a plan in the morning. For now let's get some rest" he said to her smiling.
She looked up at him and smiled as well before kissing him on the cheek and saying, "Thank you"
Simon started to blush but kept smiling. The two lay down together and fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.
Brittany sat next to Alvin. He hadn't moved since he fell unconscious and Brittany was very worried.
"Why did you do that Alvin? Why did you risk your life for me?" she whispered through tears.
Slowly she snuggled up against him and cried herself to sleep.
'Sorry this chapter is a bit short but I once I wrote the ending I couldn't think of a way to top it. I'll try and write double for my next chapter.'
