Chapter Five

A tail flicked back and forth in motion behind it as it sprung at her. It crouched in a four-legged position and leaned its back as it snarled at her with a fiery smirk. A gasp started coming of her when it lunged. A scream tore out of her as she started running through the woods after dodging the tents. She could hear its snarls chasing her while she continued to run, bending whenever a tree branch was in her way, or jumping over a fallen branch or rock.

Just as she was about to make it to another clearing, claws scratched through her tunic on her shoulder blade, the searing pain her scream in surprise and everything blacked out.

WITH THE CAMP-SITE

Everyone jolted awake when they heard multiple screams coming from the woods. Almost at once, the two males and Leah got up to their feet and had a candle lit up. Josh immediately looked concerned. "Leah, is Haley in there?" He asked her. Leah turned to look inside the tent really quick and turned around fearfully. "No, she's not in there." She said shakily.

Jake stood next to her carefully. Josh cursed. "That must have been Haley screaming then. We have to go find her." He said instantly. Jake looked at him like he was stupid. "Man, you're crazy. Whatever took her obviously isn't afraid of humans, since it literally snuck onto our camp site and snatched her. How do you know we can find her in a large forest?" His friend asked him.

Josh just shrugged. "We'll follow the tracks, all of her running through branches should be easy enough." He suggested. Jake just merely snorted at him. Josh glared at his friend. "Got any better ideas, hotshot?" He snarked at him. Jake just rolled his eyes. "Not exactly. We'll follow you into the woods then." He said, gesturing to Josh to take the lead.

Said man just scoffed a bit before walking into the branches. The woods were filled with old trees and scattered branches. It was pitch black at night, and only the candle in Josh's hand illuminate the way through.

It took them a bit to get through the scattered trail, but eventually, they managed to find a lump piled up in the clearing they had approached. Sensing something was wrong, Josh immediately made his to the lump figure. A gasp tore through his chest when he spotted the figure as Haley. Her shoulder was badly bleeding from the long thin like scratch marks on her back.

He bent down on the ground and leaned in close to check her breathing. A raspy gasp that repeated had him sighing in relief. He turned back to Jake and Leah at the entrance and waved at them. "It's okay, I found Haley. Come help me pick her up." He said loudly. The two immediately raced after him and wrapped Haley's arm around Josh's shoulder.

Jake took the other arm after handing Leah the candle. "Think you remember the way back, Leah?" Josh asked her. She looked at Haley worriedly but nodded. The girl walked in front of the guys while they tried their best to carry a wounded Haley back to camp. Josh heard Haley muttering while she was still unconscious. "Demon. Chasing. Running." The words had Jake looking at him worriedly. "Let's not worry about right now. We'll help Haley at the camp." He suggested, and his friend nodded.

THE NEXT MORNING

Haley slowly blinked her eyes open, only to find herself back at her tent, but when she tried to get up; pain on her body screamed. She cried out a bit before she muffled her noise, biting on her blanket. The entrance of her tent ruffled a bit until Josh came in with a worried frown.

"Haley, please don't try to get up. You're still a bit injured to move much." He helped her lay back down on her makeshift bed. Haley sighed a bit once the pain subsided a bit before she looked up at Josh. "What happened to me?" She whispered.

He looked at her kind of weird. "You don't remember?" He asked her. Haley thought to herself for a bit. She remembered waking up in the middle of the night, presumably to use the bathroom or something, but apparently, a noise had caught her attention and after that, her breath caught in her throat and she started wheezing a bit in panic.

Josh immediately gripped her hand and made her look at him. "Breathe, Haley, just breathe. You're safe for now, nothing is coming to get you. Now calmly speak about what happened." He suggested.

Haley gulped in a deep breath before she did what he asked and shakily said, "Can you bring in Leah and Jake?" She said before looking at Josh gravely. Josh wanted to be a bit scared, but he nodded. "Alright, this tent isn't made for four people, so here's what we'll do. You're going to lean on me, so I can support you as we walk." He said to her and she nodded.

She groaned a bit at the sharp pain in her body and immediately leaned her weight onto Josh. He wrapped an arm around her waist and hoisted her left arm over his shoulder before he carefully walked her out of the tent. Upon seeing her, Leah and Jake instantly made their way to her. "Should you even be moving around right now?" Jake asked her.

Josh just merely pushed him back to give her a bit of space. He led Haley toward the fire pit they created and gently lowered her down on a large log.

"Alright, Haley, time to tell us what you remember last night." With those words, both Jake and Leah sat down to listen when she did.