Leap of the Wounded Beast

Lee found himself paralysed, unable to move at the sight of that single glowing eye. Power leaked out of it, into the darkness, and out of the hut, forming long, feeling strands of energy, moving outwards towards the last of the sun's dying rays, and where Lee stood, frozen.

He couldn't move.

He couldn't breathe.

His mind screamed at his legs to do something. Anything!

His body shivered and shook, against the power of that eye, gazing out of the blackness.

The beast that it was attached to was unseen, obscured by dancing shadows that seemed to pour out of the small crack of the open door, reaching out of it, and writhing, as it climbed the outer walls of the hut, with nimble, spindly fingers made of black, crumbling bone, those appendages collapsing and reforming, further, and further away from their origin, and closer and closer, to Lee's helpless body.

A single caw of a raven, high up in the trees, somewhere behind Lee, shattered through the silent hush that had descended upon his mind and the forest glade.

It was all Lee needed to return back to his own body, seize control of his limbs, and force them to move.

He sprinted away from the hut towards right, running as fast as he could parallel to the river, while making his way slightly towards it with each and every step, moving diagonally and hoping for a chance to escape from the monster.

He needed to jump across to the other side of the river, for even a chance to get away from the creature.

His heart pounded in his ears, and the sound of every rustling bush, cracked stick, or creaking branch was amplified ten fold, filling his ears and drowning him in that cacophonous noise. He heard a loud slithering noise follow behind him, gradually becoming louder, and louder, until it was the only thing he could hear, the sound invading his mind and piercing his soul.

There were no footsteps.

The creature didn't have legs!

But, it was still faster than Lee, and he could see, from the corner of his eyes, creeping shadows beginning to engulf him.

Lee took another large gulp of air, and pushed his body further, through his limits. He felt as if he was going to collapse at any second. His limbs began to feel heavier and heavier, as if his heart was pumping lead into them.

It was as if all of the day's exhaustion had suddenly injected itself into Lee, and was now crooning in his ears, stroking over his hair, running its dirty, mangled fingers oddly brushing through his muddy tresses, slightly stuttering whenever segments of fingers fell on his scalp, quickly dissipating but still feeling deathly cold, all cooperating towards of the goal of telling Lee, pleading with him, that it was all alright.

That he could stop now.

That everything was going to be fine, as long as he stopped running away.

Lee felt tears prick the corners of his eyes, his body desperate for rest, but denied by his seemingly paranoid, and panicking mind.

His tendons felt as if they were about to snap, and his joints felt like they were suddenly liquifying. He felt light headed, and black spots began to fill Lee's vision.

Suddenly, he spotted his opportunity to escape, as the river began to sharply bended away from him, creating a narrower part, enough for him to jump.

Lee forced himself to run onto the sandier river bank, facing the small cliff jutting out on the other side, just before the bend properly asserted itself and flung the water in another direction.

If Lee could launch himself over to the other side where the river narrowed down, his heart knew that it could escape the slithering beast.

His body screeched at him, and threw the scenario of what would happen, if he fell in the river, into the forefront of his brain: His jump too short and weak, all his supplies ruined, and to stop himself from drowning, he would need to let everything go.

He imagined his lungs filling up with his own blood, his body slowly weighted down as he sunk towards the river bed, his body carried away, far, far from the village, to a place where nobody knew his name, his face, or his life. His sister hoping and believing that he was somewhere in the world, alive and well, travelling and doing everything that he ever wished for, all her efforts in vain, as he had died not even a day after she had given her goodbyes.

It would be so much easier if Lee stopped running and gave in. He could spend the rest of eternity in the forest, close to his sister.

Lee steadied himself for the only one chance he had of making the jump, on his starving and shaking legs.

He sharply turned to the right, towards the river, straightening his left leg with his first lunge, forcing his body to twist out of the direct path of the beast, keeping his eyes firmly on the prize on the other side of the river. Lee pushed all his weight onto his right leg, coiling it up before throwing his body across the rushing rapids of water, in the biggest leap of faith he had ever made.

Lee barely grasped onto the other side with his both his hands clutching the grasses, his legs falling into the water, and being pulled down stream, away from dry land, tearing his body into two. He desperately swung his body upwards, against the current, to reach the grass further up the bank. Lee hauled his aching, exhausted self up onto sturdier ground, finally, liberating his legs from the clutches of the river current. He gasped for air, greedily gulping it down as he managed to get all four of his limbs, safe and away from the monster.

Lee looked immediately back towards where he came, and saw nothing.

There was no trace of the beast's presence. No tracks left behind by its slithering, and no handprints courtesy of the way it had tried to grab at Lee, and alter his mind to its will.

He stumbled, standing up, leaning on a tree heavily, heaving over it, the adrenaline in his veins abruptly wearing off and disappearing, and leaving Lee an exhausted, gasping husk of a man, starving and bruised.

Lee looked once more behind him, towards the other side of the river, gazing back into the emptiness before he was struck by a sudden thought.

Lee let himself fall to the forest floor, unsure whether he was shaking from relief and weakness, or from a newfound terror. His chest was tight, and he was still breathing harshly. His heart was beating so hard and quickly that the individual beats were beginning to blur together, making him wonder if maybe, the true danger were his impending stress heart attacks all along.

Lee began to manically laugh, fully well knowing that he sounded like a hyena, and that he was alerting any possible predators to his presence.

There really were monsters in the world!

There really were monsters!

There really was a proper reason why people were forbidden to enter the forest at night time!

There really was a proper reason why his father had died when he went into the woods at night!

Hah!

If he travelled enough, he might find that stupid man's corpse, rotting away. Or maybe, just maybe, he would just find his skeleton, all the flesh picked clean off his bones, overlooked and left unidentifiable.

There really was a reason for that stupid rule!

There really were monsters in the forest!

Lee calmed down his laughter, silencing it by sealing his shaking hands over his mouth, and once more, the ever present guilt from running away reasserted itself. He probably wasn't the only one in the village who thought that the rule, banning people from entering the forest at night, was complete and utter horseshit.

Only now, he couldn't go back to tell anyone about the creature. Somebody else might just do what he did, and decide that they needed to enter the forest, only be caught and killed.

If he went back, he could potentially save somebody's life...

Lee picked himself up, and climbed the nearest tree to him, sequestering himself in the hard, knobbly cradle of its branches, uncaring that it was unsuitable for sleep. He pulled out his sleeping rug from his belongings and threw it over his head not bothering to cover the rest of his body. He pulled off his boots, and trousers, and slung them over the branches to dry, before curling himself up into a ball.

He kept his view of the bank on the other side of the river, refusing to tear his eyes off of it, and the trees behind it. He did not allow himself to think, only to stare.

If sleep claimed him, then so be it, but for as long as he could manage, Lee was determined to not squander his vigil. The sleeping rug was draped over his face, hiding his eyes in the comfort and darkness of the shadows.