Chapter Ten: Something In The Woods

(Trouble In Paradise, Part 2)

***

At hearing the growl, Allison immediately sprang away from Nick as she hissed, "What the fuck was that?!"

"I don't know," Nick murmured, looking at the woods, the hand that was on her waist now holding it protectively.

"What should we do? Should we look?" Allison whispered.

"Maybe," Nick whispered back.

Giving each other unsure looks, Allison and Nick stood up, eyeing the shadowed woods around them, Allison cursing the limited vision they had with the moonlight. Bending down, she picked up a branch, holding it tight and again itching for her bow and arrows as Nick stood slightly in front of her protectively. His hand found hers, gripping it tight as they stayed near the log, hearing rustling and noise like an animal panting and snarling.

A very loud, very large animal.

Allison's grip on the branch tightened as together she and Nick stepped forward and—

Noise crashed from behind them and the couple whirled, seeing Sarah and Abi there, Sarah wielding her own branch.

"Holy shit! You're both okay!" Sarah yelled, relief bursting out with her in a loud pant.

Abi, who noticed their clasped hands, smiled. "Better than okay."

Allison, whose heartbeat settled down in her chest, narrowed them with a look. "Jesus Christ, it was you two who made that noise? Way to give me and Nick a heart attack!"

At that, the relief drained away from Sarah's face. "That noise wasn't us."

Like that, the irritation froze. "What?"

"We heard a growl, and then it disappeared and we... we thought it might be coming toward you," Abi revealed.

"We heard a growl, too," Nick divulged, him and Allison sharing a look before he continued, "We heard some more and..."

And the noise was still there—the animal was still there. It had never left despite the two new people bursting into the scene.

Fear chilling her, Allison, Nick, Abi and Sarah slowly turned around, facing the direction of the growling. Tentatively, they crept forward, heading deeper into the woods, following the growling. Allison's hand tightened on her branch as she held Nick's hand in a grip just as tight, fear tripping through her system, heart pumping erratically.

As they kept creeping forward, Abi whispered, "Is it another boar?"

Nick and Allison shook their heads.

"It's... too growly," Nick whispered.

"And too loud for a boar," Allison murmured.

Another growl, loud and guttural before a large shape darted through the shadows, sending another pulse of fear in Allison's system.

"Is it a bear?!" Abi fearfully whispered.

"It's too fast!"

"Is it..." Allison whispered, swallowing before whispering again, "Sarah is... is it a wolf?"

Sarah shook her head. "I don't know. If it is... where's the rest of the pack?"

That chilled Allison's blood.

They stood there, eyeing the shadows with fear, hearts pounding inside their chests so loud, the unknown animal must hear it. Allison's grip felt clammy on her branch and she moved closer to Nick, mouth dry with terror as every shadow was a creature, every dark shape a wolf, a whole pack surrounding them. Her heart beat louder and louder, and she wondered if she would just die from the fear and—

Yellow eyes amid a dark and definitely not human face, sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight, attached to a large, bristling form in the moonlight.

"RUN!" Nick yelled.

Allison didn't hesitate, bolting after Nick as Sarah and Abi did the same, running through the woods, trying to get away from the creature and back to the fire pit as fast as they could, and in the run she thought Nick was beside her, she thought he was still running.

She was proven wrong when a snarl and a scream that sounded like Nick cut through her like a knife.

Allison stopped and turned, eyes large and terrified at seeing the furry, dark shape on top of Nick, growling before it's teeth dug into Nick's leg, flesh tearing as Nick screamed in agony.

At the noise, at Nick's pained screams, something snapped in Allison.

"Hey motherfucker!" she screamed, charging forward as behind her Abi let loose a string of "Oh my God"s while Sarah held her, fear freezing them both, running toward the monster ripping its teeth in Nick's leg as she raised the branch and slammed it down on its shoulder as hard as she could.

The monster let out a pained yelp, letting go of Nick's leg. But it was now focused on Allison, yellow eyes gleaming at her as it growled, teeth and muzzle red with Nick's blood.

Holding the branch higher, Allison swallowed her fear as she yelled, "You want him, you have to go through me! You hear me, you son of a bitch? You have to go through me!"

The monster growled, jaws opening, fangs glinting red, but as it made to charge, a gunshot cracked through the night, striking the monster.

It let out another pained yelp, collapsing to its side as Abi and Sarah screamed. Allison was too stunned to let out a scream of her own.

But with the monster downed, Allison saw Nick. Saw the pained look on his face, saw him on the ground.

Saw the savage bite on his leg, blood staining his jeans, his shirt, even his face. Blood pouring out of his leg, turning the ground dark with it. Blood that filled the air with a metallic scent. Blood that was everywhere.

Blood that was still pouring out.

"NICK!" she screamed, rushing to his side, branch discarded as she held his face, his blood getting on her hands but Allison didn't care, terror—much worse than the boar, so much worse than the boar—coursing through her as she looked into his pain-fogged eyes.

"Nick, can you hear me? Nick, please, talk to me! Nick?" she pleaded, still holding him.

Nick looked at her, a spike of clarity piercing the fog. "Allison..."

Allison choked on a sob, still holding his face.

"We're gonna get you back," she promised. "We're gonna get you back to camp."

Looking over her shoulder, she screamed, "SARAH! ABI! HELP ME!"

They rushed forward, Abi grabbing Nick's non-injured leg while Allison held the injured one, blood covering her hands, turning them red, as Sarah held Nick's arms and Allison whispered, "I'm sorry, Nick, I'm sorry, we'll get you to camp and we'll fix this. Just stay awake, please."

Nick only grunted in pain, then moaned with it as they carried him through the woods, and Allison thought they could make it, they could make it, Nick had to stay awake a little longer, he had to stay awake, blood was all over her hands, there was so much blood—

"Allison, watch out!" Nick warned in a breathy voice.

It came too late, as something large and heavy tackled Allison, and in short succession knock Abi to the ground as well.

Allison's shoulder barked with pain as the monster was now on top of her, snarling as it looked at her with it's yellow eyes, claws digging into her, it's stinking breath making her want to gag, fur and yellow eyes and Nick's blood on it's fangs all she could see. She struggled, but its grip was too strong and its teeth were getting too close to her throat, oh God she was going to die, she was going to die—

"GET OFF OF HER!"

Sarah tackled the monster, her body colliding with its much larger one as the force knocked it off Allison. They tumbled, the monster growling and snapping its teeth as Sarah fended it off before its jaws clamped down on her shoulder and she screamed.

"SARAH!" Allison yelled, getting to her feet as she and Abi moved to help—but another gunshot came, making the monster fall off Sarah and run away on its hind legs as Sarah sat up, face ghost-white and screwed up in agony, her hand clutching her left shoulder as blood oozed down from the bite.

Abi ran to her while Allison returned to Nick's side, ready to drag him back. Blood was on her hands and probably smeared across her, but Allison hardly cared, she wanted to get them all out of here, with both Sarah and Nick hurt and in need of medical care.

But another gunshot came, and in the shadows, Allison saw a figure of a large man. A man holding a gun.

"Abi," she hissed, "get Sarah back to camp and get help. Get my bow and arrows if you can."

"Allison, what about Nick? And the monster?" Abi asked, voice tremulous with fear.

"I'll stay with Nick. Just go," Allison answered, not bothering to answer the question about the monster—not wanting to answer that question.

"But—"

"GO!" Allison screamed, giving Abi and Sarah a ferocious look.

This time, Abi listened, helping Sarah up as they ran into the darkness.

When they were gone, Allison ripped off a shred of her shirt and tied it above the bite on Nick's leg, a temporary tourniquet to slow the blood flow as she pressed her hands against the injury, blood and torn flesh and muscle squelching under her hands as Nick let out a pained grunt.

"You're gonna be okay. You and Sarah are gonna be okay. Help's coming soon," Allison promised, her mind running, compartmentalising as she put the fear and panic and animalistic desperation in one box as her doctor's instincts took full centre. Pressure—she was doing that right now. That would stop the bleeding along with the makeshift tourniquet. She didn't have anything to disinfect or clean the wound, nor any bandages unless she wanted to tear apart her cargo pants as well. The depth and size of the wound... with how much blood there was, Allison couldn't tell and she knew that injuries sometimes bled worse than they appeared to be, but this felt deep. Deep enough to need stitches.

Unless the monster had torn an artery in Nick's leg. If it had...

No. Allison couldn't think like that. When there was an injury, a situation that could mean life or death for the patient, her mind had to be focused on helping the patient, on fixing up the wound, on saving the patient's life, like her dad always said. There was no room for panic or fear or any sort of emotion, because once there was, focus was lost.

And so was the patient.

She had to see Nick as a patient who needed her help, not as the boy she loved. She had to see it like that.

The minute she didn't, she'd lose the patient. She'd lose Nick.

Keep putting pressure on, she thought. Don't stop. Stay calm. Keep pressure on until they get back. Don't think about anything else. Just keep putting pressure on it!

That was when a twig cracked and Allison saw the gun-wielding man again. And she lost her doctor's focus completely.

***

Pain.

That was all Sarah could feel, all that she was. Pain seared down her arm and across all over her body from the bite, leaving fire in its wake. Each jostle, each unintentional movement, made it burn hotter, made the pain sharper and Sarah had to keep from screaming as she clutched her shoulder, blood pouring down, coating her arm and her chest and her hand in red, so much blood, as much as Nick's.

Nick... Allison... the monster that had bitten her and Nick...

Just keep running, Sarah. Just keep running! Sarah told herself through the pain as she and Abi ran through the woods toward camp, outrunning the monster chasing behind them. Spots danced in her vision, threatening to black it out, but Sarah pushed through it, she and Abi had to make it, they had to get someone to help, they just had to keep running!

When a rock came in their path, Abi helped Sarah leap over it, Sarah hissing in pain as she leaned heavily on Abi. They paused as pain whited out Sarah's vision and made her whole body tremble, waiting until Sarah felt it die down and they could keep going, Sarah affirming it with a nod at Abi. They continued the run, whispers of breath leaving their lungs, blood spattering down, leaving a trail, but Sarah hardly cared, her world was just running, pain and blood.

They came to a stop above a small ditch, panting as fatigue weighed heavy on Sarah, the blood loss creeping in.

A howl from behind eradicated the fatigue and together they climbed down, panting.

"We... we can't..." Abi panted.

The crack and crash of branches came along with growls, and Sarah hissed, "We can if we want us and Nick and Allison to live. Now come on!"

Together, they sprinted, running as they heard the growls of the creature and climbing down rocks and ditches until they came to the last one. As they climbed down, Abi's ankle rolled and she yelped, barely able to maintain her grip on Sarah as they climbed down to stable ground, face screwed up in pain. Growling filled Sarah's ears as she and Abi looked around for a hiding spot, and Sarah's eyes landed on a pile of rocks.

"Over there," she croaked, pointing with her non-injured arm. Together, she and Abi crouched behind it—and just in time as the heavy thud of the monster and its growls sounded, alarmingly close. Sarah's heart pounded in her chest, and she held her breath and closed her eyes as the monster padded around, growling and sniffing the ground, searching for their scent—oh God, it was searching for their scent, searching for Sarah's from the blood that had dripped onto the floor.

If it caught their scent, made it's way to the boulders... if it found them...

Sarah clutched Abi tighter as they barely drew breath, hearing the monster snarl and sniff, searching above them, before it gave a frustrated snarl and padded away.

Cracking open her eyes, Sarah looked at the lip of the rocky ditch, seeing no sign of the monster, as the crashing and growling grew further and further away.

Letting loose a breath of relief, Sarah and Abi straightened, eyeing each other before making the final, limping dash to camp, Sarah's arm screaming, her whole body screaming.

Hold on guys. We're gonna get you help soon. Just hold on.

***

MWUAAHAHAHA

Yes, Sarah got bit along with Nick!! So the pool house scene is gonna be VERY fun >:)

Yeah, Allison literally charged the werewolf with a branch after seeing it bite Nick and she went into protective mode, and then went into doctor mode while trying very hard not to panic and freak out over losing the boy she loves (and then Bobby shows up...)

And yeah, Sarah is just in a world of pain and terror (well, not in pain for long once her werewolf healing kicks in) But yeah, she and Abi managed to escape without Abi also being bitten and are now on their way to camp—and give both Nora and Hayden collective heart attacks...

Also, since Abi didn't get bitten but Kaitlyn still said she was injured, I put in she rolled her ankle instead on that last ditch. So... yeah

Next chapter should be soon!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!