The bear

The team cautiously ventured into the jungle, the leaves of the forest rustled beneath their feet as they gaited along the cleared path.

The air around them was thick with the scent of damp earth and lush vegetation, and the only sound that seems to be streaming was the birds song that filled the trees.

But they couldn't really shake the memory of the deep, rumbling roar that had filled the air only moments before.

Everyone now was more of a professional detective, since they heard the roar, they had been scanning the whole place over an hour now without saying a single statement.

However, the further they went, the more the hairs on the back of their necks stood on end.

They couldn't evade the feeling that they were being watched or maybe a beast was stalking on them or something.

The forest seemed to grow darker, and the shadows seemed to loom overhead as they continue deeper.

Just as they pushed their way through the dense foliage, they came upon a patch of bushes that seemed to be out of place.

The leaves were tinged with some rusty red, and a coppery scent that seems to hung in the air. Something about the scene made their stomachs turn.

"What's that?" Zilia whispered, her voice hushed, as she sniffed the scent of the bush.

"I don't know," Jonas replied, his eyes wide, as he scan around the bushes. "But it can't be anything good."

They exchanged nervous glances, unsure of what to do next. Weather they should venture closer to the strange bushes, or turn back and retrace their steps, was now like a puzzle to them.

However, they crept forward, their hearts still pounding in their chests. As they drew closer and closer to the bushes, they saw that the source of the coppery scent was actually a large bear, that seems to be lying motionless on the ground.

Blood somehow stained its fur, and there were marks on its body that looked like claw marks, that seems to had clawed it fur. It eyes were wide and staring, as it was frozen in the moment of it death.

The sight of it kind of sent a chill down their spines, and they couldn't help but imagine what kind of creature could have done such a thing.

Honestly, from the sight of it, it was a huge bear, and whatever must have done this, have to be a lot bigger.

Jonas, ever the brave and curious one, slowly crept forward, his eyes still scanning the jungle for any sign of movement or anything, perhaps the predator that did this, might still be lurking around.

He crouched down next to the bear's body, his heart pounding in his chest as he gaze at it. He swallowed hard, trying to quell the rising sense of dread that filled him.

There was no sign of any predator, but Jonas couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched or something. He looked around, his eyes still searching the dense foliage for any movement, any clue that might explain the bear's fate.

Zilia, ever the keen observer, crouched down next to Jonas, her eyes taking in every detail around the bear, it was as if she was being specialty in her skills (detective) now; she was actually studying to become one anyway.

She noticed the way the bear's body was positioned, and the marks on its fur. She noticed the way the bushes were bent and broken in a certain pattern that seems to be weird, and the way the leaves were crushed and trampled all this could only trace to one thing.

"Look," she said, pointing to the ground. "There are tracks here. They're big, bigger than a bear's. I think this bear was attacked by something else."

Jonas's eyes widened, and he looked around them again, his heart still racing, but he still had to keep that 'bold appearance face' on.

"See here?" Zilia said again, her voice low and intense as she pointed at particular place on the fur.

"These are claw marks, and they're bigger than any bear's claws and the claws even seems like wolves claw's, it actually mirrored it. I think a wolf did this, because this are very similar to one, only that they're kind of bigger."

"A wolf?" Serinal asked, her voice trembling slightly as he glance at the bear. "That's... that's impossible. I mean, wolves aren't this big, and they don't live in the ramazon jungle, the last time I checked, I heard there haven't been record of any wolves for some pass decades here."

"Did you Googled that?" Mike asked, farrowing his brows, as he turned to serinal in surprise.

"Yeap" serinal said, flushing, feeling a little bit embarrassed. "Actually, i just got too curious about the predators that you know, could be lurking around here, so I went to Google and get some vita information, you know, just Incase"

"Damn!" Mike exclaimed. "And you didn't tell me about that, what if I fell a victim to one of the predator or something?" He asked, trying hard to make a point, but of course, as usual–it was pointless.

"Maybe we could be wrong, maybe it isn't even a wolf, it might just be something else" Lily chimed in from behind them.

"But what else could have done this?" Zilia pressed. "There's no way a bear could have done this to itself right?"

They all looked at each other, their faces pale and their eyes wide as they pounder on the situation at hand. Whatever did this to the bear, be it a wolf or not, it had to be huge!

The still silence continue as all of them where still pondering on what could have done this.

Jerry finally break the silence, as he was clearly left with no options than to agree with their detective–zilia, his voice a little bit shaky.

"I think Zilia's right. The size and shape of those claw marks don't match anything else in this jungle. Even if wolves don't live here, it has to be something similar. Whatever it is, it's not natural. It's too big, too strong."

"You think it's some kind of... monster?" Mike said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Like the one we watched in the clip?"

"I think it's something we need to be very careful of," Zilia replied, her eyes flicking around, looking for any sign of movement of anything

"You know what, let's look if they could be any evidence," Zilia said, her tone becoming professional and analytical.

She tries to push the bear sideways, but she couldn't, due to it weight, so jonas joined her and assist her to position the dead bear sideways.

"Alright, we have a bear, killed by something we don't really know. There are claw marks that don't actually match any other animal in this jungle, well, except from wolves claw's." Zilia said, as she raised the dead bear hand to scrutinize it claw's.

"The size and strength of the creature is quite abnormal for this environment. We need to consider all the possibilities and rule out both the ones that don't make sense." Zilia said standing up from squatting.

"But what the hell are we dealing with?" Jerry asked, his eyes turning wide as she glared at zilia. "Some kind of mutant animal? A monster? Something supernatural?"