I heard the sound of leaves rustling on the floor. The thing moved. I had closed my eyes in fright.

Something encircled me once…twice…thrice, and came to stand before me.

I opened my eyes carefully.

A creature was standing in front of me. Yes, a creature, because it could no way be a human being.

The creature had a bipedal stance, but it had thick black hair all over its body. To my surprise, it was wearing a set of black trousers, belt and all.

The creature has big eyes which were quite like a human, but my mind refused to register the fact that the creature that had warded off the goons was something which was human.

I started backing off.

The creature stayed where it was, looking intently at me. I felt so vulnerable under its gaze.

I trembled and moved back another step.

There was only one thought in my mind.

WEREWOLF!

And it was all against my scientific principles. I looked up at the crescent moon peering occasionally through the clouds.
The presence of a werewolf in front of me contradicted all myths too.

I couldn’t think more. I suppressed my urge to scream.

Why did the silence prevail? Why couldn’t just I have Jayden telling me that everything was going to be okay?

I tried to close my eyes and imagine Jayden standing near me. I knew it would make me feel safe.

But all that I had were the eerie stillness and the strange werewolf.

I wanted to curl up into a ball. Fear of the unknown was making me numb.

Suddenly I heard a voice, “Paul, are you there?”

The voice was something I could recognize to the end of the world.

“Jayden,” I tried to whisper but the words were stuck in my throat.

“She’s here. I guess your friend doesn’t like to be left alone,” the creature spoke up in clear English, with a Spanish tone to his voice.

And then the bushes behind the creature moved apart, revealing a cute, round face, with black-rimmed spectacles.

“Jayden,” I screamed.

“You haven’t untied her yet,” Jayden sounded angry, and deftly moved forward to free me.

“She wouldn’t want to be touched by a creature like me,” he commented as I rubbed my sore hands.

“What are you,” I couldn’t hold back the question anymore.

A trilling laugh rang out, “A man for everyone, werewolf for the guilty, a friend for the educated, and a creature of the night for the illiterate.”

I stared at Jayden who had my arms now.

He looked into my eyes and said, “Paul is having this disease from birth. His family had rejected him as an evil omen. He is suffering from congenital hypertrichosis terminalis. Hypertrichosis means excessive hair growth on the body. His parents and the illiterate village had wanted to kill him at birth. Some kind neighbor has stolen him from his house and left him in the forests to fend for himself.”

“This is a rare genetic condition,” Paul replied, “It has no cure except maybe laser technique and stuff. Besides I have no money for any cosmetic surgery. So I had long since vanished from civilization. I had survived on raw animal meat as there was no food around. All was a struggle until I met Jayden. He made me understand how my condition was treatable. And then I started working towards trying to accept my fate.”

“I have nothing to say,’ I said in a small voice, “You really scared me.”

“Anna,” Jayden comforted me with an arm around me, “I sent Paul to search for you. I had met him in the previous hiking trip. He knows the area, so I sent him. Why did you just leave the tent?”

“To find you all. Where are the others?”

Jayden and Paul stared at each other and a silent communication played between them.

Then Jayden came forward and wrapped his arms around me, “Anna, I’m taking you back to the camp. You stay there till I bring the others.”

“No, tell me where they are,” I insisted, “Are they in danger? Where are they? Those men were searching for me. They were telling something about a sacrifice. What does it mean?"

“Tell her, she has right to know,” Paul moved a step towards us. Instinctively I cringed. I could see the hurt in his eyes.

“Fine,” Jayden sighed, “All our friends are in grave danger. They’ve been caught by the local superstitious villagers. They have seen Paul devour animals. They think what you thought first. They want to rid their land of the evil spirit. The oracle dictated that four teens must be sacrificed at the altar of the Goddess to ward off the darkness. They caught Judy, Tamara and Elliot. They shall be sacrificed by dawn tomorrow. But they needed another one. They had missed capturing you.”

I froze. Was that true? Still in the world of science, human sacrifices prevail?

“Oh! What shall we do,” I broke down.

“You needn’t accompany us. It’s dangerous,” Jayden asserted.
“It’s more dangerous for me to be at the campsite alone. What if they come back for me?”

Jayden grew thoughtful. Finally shaking his head, he gave my hand a tug. It was a clear indication that I was going with them, out into the unknown, into the forest where silence prevails.

901 words...
TO be continued...

Thanks KashishBelikov for being the best friend ever.