9.| A Ghost From The Past

Before The Fall

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RYAN'S POV

Ryan William gazed skyward, watching the clouds tumble and billow across the awakening moon that cast the forest into the deepest of shadows.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know there was another snowstorm brewing-that it'd be much easier to hunt whenever the snow was soft beneath his feet. It made less noise for him.

He inhaled some of the chilling air. Quite often, he thought.

Being out in nature often drowned out those screams in his mind—those pleading voices—the guilt that wore him down over the years until he was left as a sinner begging to be saved.

That thought made him tighten his grip on the groove of his hunting bow, knuckles turning white as he kept weaving between thick branches that wove in front of him and jabbed at his clothing.

Through squinted eyes, he observed a vague light that lit up the leaves by a nearby tree. Those damn school kids. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, was kids. They were whiny little brats. Weak. dependent. Always needing help.

The high school building was barely visible through the trees. It was tranquil around here, except for when teens lurked around egging his cabin. He just had to own a plot of land that was near the worst school in Arkum city.

Ryan shook his head.

A scream echoed over the howling winds and he whipped around with one hand, clicking on his flashlight attached to his bow, and the other retrieving an arrow.

This was ridiculous. No one ever came into these woods during this time of night. Not even those damn kids, he thought.

Something brushed against his leg, warm, and fuzzy. He spun around, throwing his arm up and aiming his bow downward. There in plain sight was his white pug Soozie wagging her tail happily.

"God damn it Soozie." His voice lowered as he drew his weapon back. Soozie barked with her teeth bared, snout low to the ground with her ears folded back.

"Calm down girl. What is it?" Ryan crouched, aiming the flashlight where she was barking. He caught the last movements of something big. A branch swayed.

There was a dark figure there, partially hidden by the bark of a tree. Maybe a kid got lost?

"You're trespassing! I'm going to have to countdown, and you're going to leave. Ya hear?!"

The figure stayed put, lowly snorting.

'God damn it. Always when I'm trying to find something good to eat.'

Jack rounded the tree. "Come on ya lil shit. Go hom-"

This wasn't a teen. It was a deer—no ordinary one. Its fur coat was matted with blood. Gashes and flesh had been torn away near the ribs.

He slowly moved back. Okay, okay, just run, go! His mind yelled at him.

Low growls came from the deer. It was ready to charge, but he knew he couldn't act rationally.

Foam pooled from its mouth. Jack's stomach dropped upon noticing half its jaw missing, leaving the animal with an eerie grin that curled upward. He reached for his bow, but right when he had, he'd been knocked down onto the cold soiled ground.

A yelp left his mouth as he shot his hands forward against the base of the deer's neck as it snapped, and snapped, jerking its head this way and that.

The animal wanted to eat him. He could see the hunger in its dark bloodshot eyes. Jack punched the deer repeatedly while trying to push it away with his other arm. Little good did that do. He had lost his weapon during the fall.

Tilting his head back, he felt a spark of hope course through his body when he saw that it hadn't landed too far away.

'I can't let my guard down!'

The deer tore its mouth wide open, from ear to ear, then black tar came squirting towards his face.

Ryan reacted quick and threw his arm up to take the blow. When it landed on the sleeve of his shirt, it sizzled, gnawing through the fabric as if it were acidic.

"What. The. Fuck!" He grunted out.

Desperately, his other hand slid across the grass until his fingers met a sharp stick. Not wasting any time, he jammed it right into the deer's left eye. It groaned, still coming forward, still snapping until Ryan reached one of his arrows.

With all his strength, he jabbed it through its other eye till it tore out the other end, oozing all over his fingers in sticky warm chunks. The deer fell lifeless against his chest with a thud.

Ryan wheezed from the weight.

"Thank goodness." He breathed out heavy, nearly gasping in relief. "Soozie. Soozie!"

Soozie came bounding around the corner, the small ball of her white tail wagging fiercely.

"Good to see you're okay." He chuckled, pushing the animal from his chest. That'll leave a bruise, he thought. Once Jack moved to his feet, he looked back towards the the high schools, seeing the lights flicker.

That wasn't normal. But there was a lot of things that wasn't normal four days ago. All the helicopters flying over head, the explosion he heard, and the occasional sirens. Ever since then, it had been silent. As quiet as a god damn mouse.

But it was none of his business.

Just turn around Ryan. Just turn around. This has nothing to do with you.

But it felt like it had. All those years ago, he could've saved those children, failing in the end. Not this time though.

Ryan began to head back but stopped in mid-walk. Damn it. He found himself turning around, running towards the a place he swore he wouldn't be caught dead at.

"Here we go again Soozie."

***

I have a nightmare about Jane.

She sprints down the school halls, her brown hair flying behind her as I chase after her. But I can't catch up no matter how fast I run.

"Jane!" I shout her name, but she ignores me.

She runs until she reaches the end of the hall and slips on a pool of blood, landing on her back.

Then I see something in the red backup lights. A shadowy figure on all fours. It looks like a human but twisted and deformed. I run faster, hoping to save her from the monster.

It leaps into the air and pounces on her, digging its jagged teeth and claws into her flesh. Jane screams in pain just as I reach her.

I try to pull the monster off her, but it turns to me and I freeze in horror. It has my face, my eyes, my mouth.

I'm one of them. I hunted Jane down. I killed her.

The monster version of me grins, chewing on Jane's ear that hangs from its mouth. "What's wrong Ian? You don't like the real you?"

I wake up with a gasp. My heart is beating fast and the sweat on my back makes me shiver in the cold tent. Everyone else is asleep. For that, I'm grateful. They'd know Jane's death is still weighing on me, and I don't need them to think I'm too weak to lead.

My fear is if I fall apart, they'll follow soon after.

Once I catch my breath, I crawl to the opening of the tent, careful not to wake them up, then slip out into the night.

The concrete is cold and hard under my bare feet as I walk to the roofs edge, wrapping my arms around myself for more warmth.

Another helicopter flies overhead, and thinking of Ivan and how low our food supply is, I lift my arms and wave, hoping for once they'd stop and save us. But they don't.

They keep flying north toward my fathers old workplace. We've been on the roof for four days now without anymore updates from the Emergency texts the president told us to keep an eye on.

I have only one bar and a half left. I've been saving the battery by turning my phone off and only using it when necessary. The last time I used it was to talk to Ivan yesterday night before I went to sleep.

He was worried and messaged me to see if I was still alive. I sent him a heart, he sent one back, then crashed before I did. I wonder what he would think if I stopped replying. If my phone died, or if something happened to me.

I shake the thought from my head and sit on the edge of the roof. It's bold of me to be so close to the edge. I look down at the street below, but I'm not afraid of falling. There are worse things out there than gravity.

Yesterday, Zeke said he thinks we're the only ones left in the building after we heard the gunshots three days ago. I believe him.

There's been no sounds from inside. We know Casey's still in there somewhere, but he's not the real threat. The real threat is the thing that tried to break into our classroom three days ago. Whatever it is, it's big. It took all of us just to close the door that day.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, startling me. I fish it from my pocket and see a text from an unknown number. That's strange.

I open the text and read it.

Don't go outside, don't trust anyone, and never go back to Biotech Breakthroughs Inc —Dad.

My heart stops as I stare at the text message, reading it over and over again until it finally sticks.

It can't be true. My fathers been missing for two years. No one ever says it, but we all thought he was dead. Now he's alive and texting me something that sounds similar to what he told me in my nightmare.

My hands shake. I don't reply. I don't know what to say. But then my phone vibrates again, and I see he's calling me.

Even though I don't want to answer, I can't help it. I press the green button and put the phone up to my ear.

"Ian?" My father's voice comes from the phone and my heart sinks. It's him. It's really him. He sounds the same as I remembered it. This isn't a prank or joke. This is real.

I swallow, feeling terrified and angry all at once. "Yes."

"Don't go outside, don't trust anyone, and never go back to Biotech Breakthroughs." He says in a flat tone before the line goes dead.

He didn't say anything else. No goodbye. No I'm sorry. No I love you's.

Just like that he's gone, like he's been for the past two years. I'm left with only one question: why?