“Ally,” said Ben, choking back sobs, “Ally, your grip is too tight.”
“Huh? Oh, sorry.” I muttered back not wanting to distract myself from my task. Until then I hadn’t realized how tense my knuckles had become, adapting a pale look.
I went back to organize the knives all secured in place by my belt, handle up ready to pull them out in case something did happen.
“Ally, why do you have so many knives?” Ben said centering his gaze on the heavy belt.
“To protect us.”
“Protect us from what?”
“Just fall asleep.” I couldn’t tell Ben anything. He was to young, to naÏve to really understand anything that was happening. But I knew. I had been told to meet someone or something at this place at midnight, no explanation given. Having known not to trust anything, I silently stole some knives to protect us. Now concealed by the dark shadow the trees prevented, the weapons were barely visible.
Though my jacket was insulated it provided very little protection from the cold winds that blew from the west. Ben had eventually given up on the questions and was sleeping silently, his head resting on the log, drool coming out from his mouth. The little oil lamp was flickering plus the rain had started to come down harder. Gritting my teeth, I silently cursed and wished that this night would finish. No such luck.
The forest remained silent, except for the occasional weeping which I tried to hold back. Yet I knew better than this, I knew I had to be a good example for my brother. At only seven years old, he obviously had no idea what was happening and the only thing he cared about was his trucks aligned at the base of his bed at home. Home. What a strange word to mumble now. The place where I felt safe, unlike this cold hideous area.
“Allyson,” something called. It was approaching, its voice unmistakingly eerie, covered by the rustling leaves, so only I could hear it. Then I saw the thing. It emerged from apparently the far side of the woods, a place I hadn’t explored more. I squinted my eyes, wanting to get a glimpse at the peculiar creature. It looked like a hyena/lion hybrid. Except for the fact that it really wasn’t. It had long white fangs that stretched far from his chest. When it moved into the moonlight ray, I spotted red on its clear sharp teeth. Ketchup? Blood? Probably the latest. The odd look was completed by a huge jaw that didn’t close all the way thanks to its teeth.
“Allyson,” it called again in a low icy voice.
I had nothing to do. My clothes were cold, my nose was purple; besides, the little heat the lamp provided just wasn’t enough. Fleeing isn’t an option, I thought, catching a glimpse of its long, thin legs that could outrun Ben any minute. Ben. I looked back to find him snoring, his potion slightly changed.
Retrieving my knives I got ready for a fight. I had good aim, and now as the creature came closer I hurled the biggest knife I could find, lodging it deep in its torso. It fell back about 30 feet from us, still I wasn’t taking any chances, so before approaching to examine it, I threw another knife just to be sure.
The weapons, as I had realized, were precious in defense so the first thing I did was retrieve the two knives from the beast’s body. Examining it closer I realized it was covered by a long, spiky black fur, making it hard to see at night. So hard to see that the second attacker almost killed me before I was able to fight back.
As the second lay moaning on the floor, I had a weird superstition that more were to come. Grabbing Ben hard by the arm I led him to a high tree, where I motioned for him to climb. Sighing gratefully that he was slimb, I realized that all the hours spent at Aunt Mary’s house climbing trees were finally useful for something. Luckily Ben seemed to remember so combined with the adrenaline we were able to climb 75 feet in less than 5 minutes. I quickly tried to explain everything to Ben, giving him 5 knives so that he could fight also.
We had barely 10 min to rest when the next came. This time there were more- about 7- positioned in a v, moving gracefully through the packed dirt. They stopped to sniff the old log that we had sat on only minutes before, not only smashing at it angrily but also eating it. I nodded to Ben who threw his knife at my signal, killing one beast. I had underestimated the boy. Six creatures to go and 16 knives left. One by one they fell back; in addition somewhere in the middle of the fight Ben started howling and maxing these obnoxious noises at the beasts which scared them. I personally yelled at them cursing, which only got me weird looks from Ben.
“What?” I told him, over the howling the beasts started making, “if I’m going to die, I might as well get my opinions out first.” I said indifferently.
When all the beasts were dead, we decided that it was better to stay on the tree, at least until dawn made its reappearance. No longer had we had our first sigh of relief, when the third wave appeared. This time they came more menacingly, growling together while hitting their chests like gorillas with their front limbs. They started swatting at the tree; therefore Ben and I had no choice but to climb higher. As soon as I realized they weren’t trying to climb the tree, but bring down the tree I grabbed Ben lowering us. It was hard work, the tree was already unbalanced; in spite of that Ben and I safely made it to our old spot. From there knowing we only had a few seconds left before the tree came crashing down, we hugged whilst I told Ben that if we survived the fall he was to run as fast as he could whereas I would stand ground, defending him. It was me who brought him into the woods anyway. Nevertheless, I had no chance but to defend him. As soon as we fell the beasts all synched on me, ending me fast and ruthlessly.
I’m alive. I am...onversely, not entirely. I’ll call it half-alive. It’s confusing. That dark night in the woods I woke up over my dead, emaciated, bloody body. The beasts had entirely moved over me; furthermore they were attempting to bring down a tree. As I peered in closer, I realized Ben had climbed the tree, but this time higher. He was a good 90 feet over the air, his thin legs hanging over the small branch. It wasn’t going to hold up much longer. I removed a knife from my belt, slashing the beasts. Only I was slashing thin air. Unable to do anything, I referred to climbing to warn Ben. As I reached him I began talking fast, only apparently I was talking only to myself since Ben couldn’t hear. I tried waving my hands over his pale, blue eyes, in spite of that he didn’t flinch nor move a muscle. I was invisible. There was no way I could protect Ben, not only that but as the realization started to sink in I was aware of how stupid I had been. Bringing my brother to some woods, trusting whoever had sent me the letter. My errors ended up in my death….
And Ben’s.
As of today, I keep roaming the woods trying to find Ben’s soul. It’s never daytime, with that endless night that keeps repeating itself in my head, over and over. I haven’t found him, all the same, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop looking.
By: Antonia Escobar Hoyos, Step 9
