Chapter II

Date - Saturday, 5th of October, 2018

Time - 14:03:07

Location - Outskirts of Armull and Tulamull, Co. Meath of the West, Ireland.

The trio continues walking. Following the barely visible path that is right before them.

Until...

"And we are here!" the father says, concluding the long walk.

"Here?" Jameson asks. He looks around. 'The only thing different about this place is all the flat land, its also bigger. If that's what dad was searching for, then we could have settled down somewhere a bit closer to the car park. Somewhere a bit closer to our car, our only way out,' Jameson thinks to himself. He turns around. 'I saw an awful lot of flat land back there...'.

"Alright, come on you two, we have to set up the tents and then we must go out to get some wood, water. Now, I know we may be a little bit far from our car. I purposely picked this exact location because there is a stream nearby. A stream with all the freshwater a person could possibly need," the father says.

"But where will we go if we need to - I don't know - pee or something?" Jameson asks.

His father chuckles at him. "Sure look around you. Trees upon trees surround us. I'm sure it won't hurt if we got the freedom to excrete just like dogs do, am I right?".

The confusion from his father's comment was visible across Jameson's face. The dad notices this.

"Also, it's beneficial to plants and the soil," his father adds. "The nitrogen cycle, that's what it's called, or so I think. Don't get bogged down over it, its something that you'll learn in your biology class.".

Jameson nods to his father's words, pretending that he understands what he just heard, when in fact, it was anything but that.

"Alright, let's begin, shall we?" the dad says, picking up the two tent bags and carrying them to a certain spot.

"Daddy! Daddy, wait!!" Isaac says.

"What? What happened, Isaac?..." he begins. Upon a raise of his left eyebrow, he proceeds onto ask, "do you have to go to pee?".

"Yes, I have to go to pee, daddy..." he replies.

"Alright. Jameson, do you want to wait for us here? We will be back very soon," the dad says.

"Sure..." Jameson replies.

"Also, can you begin building your tent.". With that said, the father turns around before taking Isaac's hand and begins to lead him to an appropriate place for him to do his business.

Jameson looks around him before lowering his gaze to the big bag in front of him. He kneeled down before beginning to unzip his bag.

He suddenly stops. Then, he proceeds on standing up slowly.

When on his legs, that's when he notices the fear that is swirling in the pit of his stomach.

Slowly, that fear, that sensation began to course throughout his whole body. His limbs grew colder as his hands and forehead began to sweat.

He turns around left and right, he looks around him...

'I feel like somebody is watching me...' Jameson thinks to himself.

He continues to look around himself, but all he can see are trees upon trees upon trees.

It's from all the tree trunks that surrounded him that the unsettled feeling he felt grew more and more within him.

Trees... Trees... Trees...

Tree trunks... Trees... Green... Trees... Camoglagues... Trees... Green... Hiding places...

Jameson looked around, trying to see if there is any sort of threat around him.

The feeling and the fear that somebody is watching him only intensified.

He kept on looking around him, hoping that he wouldn't see a dangerous predator hiding behind the thick trunks. A tall man in a long, black trench coat with a pitch-black hat, staring at him.

He had to be on his highest alert because he would never know when and where this scenario of his vivid imagination might come to life. It would be impossible for him to ever know this.

Crack... The sound echoed in his head. A branch broke behind him. He reacted by turning around.

Was it his father and Isaac?

Jameson's heart began to pound hard against his chest.

Just when he thought the timing couldn't get any worse, everything around him began to darken. And as everything darkened, the woods that surrounded him grew more ominous.

Cloud coverage. Thick clouds blocked the sunlight. The wind began to pick up, in turn causing the leaves above his to rustle. The sound echoed in his head, causing him to feel more and more unease.

His breathing slowed down. He could hear his heart beating fast.

Then... his eyes widened.

He feels it!!

Someone is moving towards him, someone is sneaking up on him. But where?

...

Thump, Thump...

...

Thump, Thump...

...

Thump, Thump...

...

"BOO!!!".

Jameson screams for his life, turning around and facing the voice.

Isaac...

Jameson rises up his gaze to the taller figure beside Isaac. His father.

Then, both his father and his brother look at each other before bursting into laughter.

"You should have seen the look in your face, Jameson!" His father laughs.

"I scared Jameson!! I scared him!!" Isaac says as he too continues laughing.

"I-its not funny!!" Jameson retorts. Although Isaac and his father are here right now, he still felt no relief.

The sensation that he is being stalked continues.

"You are right, you are right. Sorry, bud. I just couldn't not do it, if you get me..." the father says. He tries not to burst out into laughter, but fail only seconds later.

They both continue to laugh aloud.

All while Isaac and dad are laughing, Jameson's heart rate increased once more. His breathing became faster as a new wave of fear coursed throughout his body.

"Alright, let's begin setting up the campsite, shall we?" The father asks.

"Yes! Yes, daddy!!" Replies Isaac.

"Jameson?" his father calls out with a smile on his face. But that smirk began to recede when he noticed the worry on Jameson's face. "Jameson? Is everything okay?".

His father's voice causes him to come back to reality. "H-hmm?".

"Are you okay? You seem scared. Again.".

"Oh... it's... it's nothing..." he replies.

"You sure, bud?".

"Yes... yes dad.".

"Alright, bud... come and help us with the tents.".

Jameson replies with a nod before following his father.

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*A few hours later*

Current time - 17:09:10.

The fire is crackling away before them all. The sky is slowly but surely turning darker and darker. It's coming closer and closer to dusk.

The father looks around and stumbled upon the sight of scarce resources.

"Looks like we are running out of resources. Who wants to go with me to get some wood and water?" Their father asks. "And this time, I promise no scaring..." he adds, looking at Jameson, all while Jameson looked at him.

"I want to go with you, daddy..." Isaac says, standing up.

"Do you too want to go too, Jameson?".

"Nah, I'm fine..." he replies.

"You sure?" His father asks.

"Yeah, besides if I do get scared, I have the tents to hide in. Also, I have your hot spot, so I am sure someone will keep me company from my friends," Jameson answers.

"Alright..." the father replies before looking down at Isaac. "Shall we go now?".

"Yes! Yes! Yes!!".

"Alright, let's go!".

-----

Both Isaac and his father walk through the forest, picking up twigs and branches that will be useful for the fire. Then afterwards, they both go to the stream to get fresh water.

Isaac is running around while his father is gathering freshwater

Suddenly, Isaac saw the way his father suddenly stopped, he looked as if he froze in place.

'What was that?' the father asks himself. Just like Jameson, the father too began to look around him. He is beginning to feel paranoia.

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Isaac asks just as he walks over to his father.

"Oh... nothing. We should begin our way back now...".

"Okay, daddy!" Isaac says as he begins to lead the way.

"Wait up, Isaac. Slow down!" he shouts out. But before he began to run after Isaac, he took one more look around himself.

'What the fuck?...' he thinks to himself. 'Why do I feel like someone is watching me?'.

"D-d-daddy!?! Daddy!!!" Isaac cries out, immediately causing the father to panic.

"Isacc!!... Isaac!?!". He runs towards his child's voice, finding him only seconds later.

"D-daddy..." Isaac says. He couldn't get his eyes off the gruesome site right before him, and nor could his father. A deer, half-eaten. Its bones are exposed to the cool, October evening.

The very bloody scene was nauseating.

"I-is it dead?" Isaac asks.

His father swallows whatever is in his mouth before nodding. "L-looks like it...".

Then, Isaac's father notices something rather strange. 'The blood... it looks fresh. The animal itself is still bleeding.'. Then, the realisation hit in. 'I-if the blood is still fresh, that means... the animal has been killed very recently. Meaning the predator could still be around!'.

"Dadd-".

"Isaac, we must go, now..." His father speaks, picking Isaac up into his arms. The father's heart began beating harder and harder. His breath became faster.

"Where are we going, daddy?".

"Back to Jameson.".

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Relief flushes over the father when he sees their campfire. "Here we are...".

He lets Isaac down.

They both get closer to the tents.

"Jameson? Jameson, we are back!" His father says. "See, I kept my promise, no scaring...".

No reply.

"Jameson? Jameson?? Bud, are you in the tent?".

"Daddy, where is Jameson?" Isaac asks.

"I... I don't know..." his father begins, worry coursing throughout his body. He begins his way towards the tents. "H-he must be hiding from us now..." their father chuckles out nervously. Oddly, he felt like it wasn't that...

He kneels in front of the tent. His stomach spins nausea, in turns causing him to become dizzy ever so slightly.

He swallows whatever is in his mouth.

"Jameson, buddy??" he says, unzipping the tent.

He looks inside the tent. His eyes widen immediately.

"H-holy shit! Jameson!?!" He shouts. Jameson is lying in a pool of blood. The scene brings on further nausea when he sees that Jameson has been feasted upon. Something began to eat Jameson!

"D-d-daddy!!! Daddy!!!!" Isaac screams, immediately causing him to turn around. That is when he saw strange-looking creatures closing up upon them...

They looked almost corpse-like. There was six of them...

Screams and shouts echoed through the air...

With that... they attacked both Isaac and his father...