The moon was a redded one which was likely unusual. And it was a cold, windy evening. As the wind blew, it felt like a thousand knives being stabbed into one's skin. The trees which towered in the woods swayed and shushed sideways. Blue sighed as she trekked down the path way from the basketball court bouncing her ball as she walked on. Her sneakers responded with each stride she took. A thunder rumbled for the umpteenth time in the far east.
She stopped to grunt regrettably, wondering why she hadn't left for home earlier when the sky was still clear as blue. She turned down the crooked left path which led into the woods. It was creepy as hell walking there alone, it wasn't safe but it she knew it was a shorter route home.
She had heard of recent tales where some new animal had gone rogue tearing and rummaging through the woods.
Talk about what had happened to Hilda, the girl who lived down her street. She was seen struggling for breath, nestled in the pool of her blood.
The wild creature had almost slit down her throat.
Was the tale of the creature real? Nah, it couldn't be. They were probably just rumours.
But the basketball court had strangely been deserted after such news. No one barely took that path that led through the woods.
She heard a rustle behind her. She paused then swirled round to take a look. Her ball was pressed between her hip and arm as she studied the darkness around her.
"I knew you would walk this way," she heard the familiar voice of Tessy Blaire.
Tessy strolled out from behind a cashew tree, three others followed; two girls and a lanky, scrawny boy who was almost bald headed for his age. Blue studied their faces, they were not familiar to her.
Blue asked as they each circled her, "what do you want?"
"You should know why I'm here," Tessy started, "you went and reported something that could be overlooked," one of her foot tapped the ground as she rambled on.
Tessy had on a tight white top over a pink shorts. She was almost 6'1, same as Blue. Her hair was blonde, she was mostly called blondie.
Blue rolled her eyes. What was it with Tessy? Tessy doesn't scare her, not one tiny bit.
Blue shot at her, "why would you spite an innocent all cause she was better than you?"
Blaire laughed, "I did what I had to do. How could I have come this far only for you to disrupt my plans? Then, you replace Jasmine after I ousted her out," Tessy's voice echoed with her crooked laughter.
Blue's face bleached white, "It is just basketball, common!"
"You know how much I want to be in tomorrow's game. And you take that all away," Tessy laughed in a croaked kind of way.
Blue skidded one feet apart from the other as she placed her ball away. She folded her fists as her eyes skated across the unknown faces before her. Four against one, no problem, she thought. She didn't exude any kind of fear. One of the girls was surprised at how coordinated Blue was. She made a snarky remark about Blue that had the rest of them laughing at Blue.
"Just crush her ankle. I don't want her in the game tomorrow. Coach will definitely have me to replace her," Tessy said waving a hand frantically.
The boy walked closer to Blue and threw a punch. The punch brushed past Blue's face, she had dodged that. She didn't see the other girl who had a feet coming to sweep her off her feet. That startled Blue that she staggered, then the girl pushed Blue off her feet. Blue fell backwards, her hands fighting in the air desperately for balance. One of the other girl who was huge like a giant grabbed Blue's neck that it choked her.
"I want her feet crushed," Tessy repeated, watching them from a distance.
Blue's eyes bulged when the lanky boy pulled up one of her legs. She tried to push off the giant that sat on her. Blue screamed as she felt a sudden sharp pain rock her leg up to her spine. Tessy clapped both hands of hers, pleased at what was happening before her as she walked closer to them.
"What's going on here?"
No one had heard the sound of his footsteps. No one had even felt his presence. A dark figure was dressed in an unusual black hoodie, he had his hands pocketed. It was also difficult to see his face. Everyone had stopped to look at him.
"And who are you?" Blaire's brows narrowed questioningly.
The other lanky boy had let go of Blue's leg, pushing himself back up to walk up to face the stranger.
"Who really cares about who I am?" The stranger retorted rather calmly, his voice hoarse.
Tessy picked up a short plank close by, walked towards him while he wasn't noticing and hit the boy hard on the side of his face. Immediately, the lanky boy pushed him towards the ground and began to rain punches on his stomach. The intruder fell on his knees to the ground as he groaned in pain.
The girls had left Blue, circling the stranger now. They were already walking towards the new boy in hoodie. Blue crunched into a sitting position, cradling her sprained left foot. It was hurting her so bad that she couldn't pull herself up. She watched the scene played before her, wondering who was helping her out.
Instead of rescuing her, he was being beaten like her. Who was he? She clearly had no idea.
But something else was happening to the stranger, Blue noticed. While Tessy and the rest of her friends rained down punches on him, his body was growing quite rapidly into a massive build that his hoodie started to tear.
That was strange, Blue thought.
The stranger groaned as if in extreme pain. His hands which were splayed on ground had suddenly grown long, piercing fingers. Furs grew on his body slowly as the last shreds of his hoodie left his body. He was groaning in pain. His cries and groans slowly turned into a roar.
Tessy stopped her friends while they watched on. They didn't move, they just stared.
His head transformed to that of a wolf, fangs shot out from his mouth as he roared at them. One of his massive hand smacked the lanky boy that he flew to the far end of the road. Frightened, one of the girls turned to run, he reached out and grabbed the other girl who was too frozen to run then he threw her against a tree. A branch snapped as she hit a tree.
Blue held her breath. What was happening? Her head couldn't even process it at first.
She must do something! She must leave if she wanted her life intact. She tried to stand but her leg wouldn't bulge. Instead, a thousand pain shot through her body.
The monster had turned and roared again into Tessy's face as she stood, dazed for a while. She staggered backwards, slightly regained herself, and..... she took to her heels.
Blue gasped.
He heard it. He wrenched instantly towards her direction. Sweats ran down from every hair holes on Blue's body. She was scared to her bones but her feet won't carry her. Who was this monster? Her hands did the magic though, pushing her body to writhe across the ground like a snake. She heard his trudged steps racing behind her.
"Oh God, let it not come...close," she shut her eyes, trying to roll down the path. Her hands suddenly felt too heavy to comply.
Her mouth was seeking the refreshing thirst of water.
He picked her up, grabbed her by the neck and roared into her face. Her maimed hands clutched against his with a desperate strength as she pushed around his claws. He was choking her, strangling her to her very death. She could almost feel the last of her breath leaving her. A bulb of rain dropped. Another followed. In seconds, the rain was falling harder now, stinging the eyes and drumming against the ground.
He roared into the air, finally letting her go. Blue stared, wide-eyed, her blood freezing, her heart in her mouth as she watched him race into the woods, his tail wagging behind him as he ran.