Everything seemed to be going in slow motion as I whipped around the crashing time machine. The force threw me and Tye against the metallic walls. I could tell we were falling through a forest, thick with trees because I could hear the branches snap and scrape viciously against the side of the time machine. I tensed and gritted my teeth together as the vehicle comes into contact with the ground, the force hurled me against the wall and all the windows shattered, the small crystal like pieces of glass littered the vehicle. The time machine tore through the dirt and grass, leaving a deep trail in its wake.
Once the thing came to a complete stop I lifted my head and looked around the trashed vehicle. I struggle to lift my battered body from the floor. As I slowly get to my hands and knees, I look up and see Tye laying on the ground a few feet away. “You okay?” I asked as he attempted to get off the ground. He nodded after a moment, and slowly stood, brushing broken glass from his messy dark hair and clothes.
I rummaged through the time machine, trying to figure out what had caused us to crash. After checking the engine and the radiator I came to the conclusion that we were out of gas. I yanked at the lid, which had been dented inward from the crash, it finally came off and revealed the tank to be bone dry. I sighed in frustration and raked my shaking hands through my thick black hair. “Tye” I whined, “Where are we?” I followed up. I looked up and Tye stepped cautiously out of the time machine, he furrowed his eyebrows in question. “Why?” he asked nervously, “we are out of gas, so I need to know if we are in a time period where they actually have some” I respond, I little harsher than I needed to. He disappeared back into the machine, and it took him a while to return. “Tye?” I hollered, beginning to get anxious for an answer.
I walked into the time machine, tired of waiting for him. “What is taking so long?” I demand as I see him staring down at the little screen. He turned back to me, horror stricken. I began to feel nervous by his expression. “What?” I ask again, a little less demanding this time. “There’s something out there” he responded in a strained voice. A cold feeling washes over me at his words, “what do you mean?” I practically whisper. He pointed at the camera screen. The time machine is fully stocked with cameras inside and out to make it easier to get pictures of certain things from the time machine, all and all making it easier to document certain organisms or items from the past or future. This also seemed to be one of the last two working cameras on the vehicle.
I curiously made my way over the debris in the machine to where he stood in front of the screen. I looked down at the little camera screen and froze in terror at what I saw. The screen showed a large dark creature looming in the woods only a few feet away from the time machine. It was about the size of a bear, but I knew for a fact this wasn’t a bear. It stood perfectly still, just staring at the camera, its white eyes never once left the screen. I felt as though it could see me through the screen, as though it knew I was afraid and lost and confused. I was also frightened to look away from the screen like if I even blinked the thing would vanish. “What is that” I choked out, my eyes never once leaving its penetrating stare. It took a second for Tye to answer, “well, it’s not a bear…“he said in a hoarse voice, not letting his eyes leave the screen, “and, I don’t think it could possibly be a wolf…” he finished sounding bewildered at the question of what this thing could possibly be.
“Maybe it’s a panther?” I offered in a quiet voice, “we could be on a different continent” I suggested. He paused in thought, “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “It’s far too large to be a panther and the body structure is so… human like” he observed quietly. The thing still hadn’t moved an inch yet it seemed… closer. “Are my eyes tricking me or does it look like its closer now?” I noted, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end as the idea came to mind. Tye narrowed his eyes curiously at the screen. “I’m not sure” he responded, obviously perceiving the same thing.
Just then the screen began to fizz out, my breath hitched as the thing seemed to be closer every time the screen would fade back. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tye tense as the thing came closer to the screen. Suddenly it was within less than ten feet away, then the screen went white. I stare, dumbfounded, “usually the screen goes black when it dies” I said confused, “maybe it’s an interference?” Tye suggested, starting to calm down. “An interference with what?” I asked. He looked at me, realizing that there is nothing out here that could technologically interfere with our signal. “That means something white is covering the screen…” he said. I covered my mouth to keep from screaming as I jumped back from the screen. The creatures pale eye stared at us from the camera, it covered the entire screen, not blinking, not moving.
After what felt like an eternity of still silence, the camera fizzed out again before showing the trees again, the creature was gone. I felt the tears slide down my cheeks as I held back a sob of fear. Tye was there in an instant, hugging me reassuringly. “Where did it go?” I cried, “I just wanna go home” I wept. He didn’t say anything at first, then with a light sigh he said, “We’ll get home… I promise”. He hugged me tighter before letting me go. I whipped away my tears and shakily stood. “All we need to-“ Tye was cut off as an ear splitting screech echoed through the woods, followed by a piercing silence.
Not long after we heard something tearing recklessly through the woods, not knowing what to do we ran. Tye and I dashed through the trees with speed that only fear can provide. The creature was close on our heels as we charged through the deep forestry. The thing bellowed in frustration as we began to outrun it. Suddenly we tumbled out into a large clearing. As we struggled to catch ourselves we heard someone holler in anticipation, I looked up to see some sort of village just ahead. “Help!” I screamed, and to our gratitude the large wooden wall that surrounded the village slowly began to open at our arrival. Once we were behind the colossal wall, we noticed what kind of village this was. It was a Viking village, and the Vikings seemed rather interested in our appearance.
From what I had heard of Vikings they were mean, and ruthless, but they made no move to harm us. My curiosity began to slowly take over my fear as we all looked each other over in fascination. Suddenly a large Viking stepped forth. He had a thick reddish brownish beard and wore skins of various animals, some of which I couldn’t name. His kind brown eyes smiled at us in welcome. “Hello” he spoke in a deep thundering, yet gentle voice. “I am Holdar, leader of this village” he announced with pride. “I am Adrianna, and this is Tye” I spoke with small hesitation. He nodded approvingly, “I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to intrude” I apologized. “Anyone who means no harm is always welcome” Holdar said calmly. I smiled slightly, I was relieved at how friendly he was, I felt like a complete idiot for thinking they were mean when I hadn’t even met them. “Come, I’ll give you a tour” Holdar suggested. “That would be great” I said, curious to see the extent of his village.
After a few minutes we found ourselves atop the great wooden wall that bordered the village. Holdar pointed to the woods, “we keep this wall here to defend ourselves from Modi” he said with a hint of disgust in his voice. I looked to the woods, what did he mean? It was a mutant bear not a man. I thought in confusion. He noticed my confounded expression and smiled lightly before explaining; “he shape-shifts, from a human to a beast.” He began,
“You can hear his agonized screams at night,
they echo through the trees
as he forms into an unstoppable plight
and smells blood in the breeze
large claws and fangs to rip your flesh
and shred you upon sight
he lies in wait for victims fresh
a creature of the night…”
I was frozen in fear after holder finished reciting the sinister poem, “so, like a werewolf?” I asked curiously, he gave me a weird look, “a lycanthrope?” Tye corrected me, Holdar gave him an understanding look, “not exactly” he answered. “lycans cannot change on command as this creature can” he explained. “Do you think it could be a skin walker?” I asked, my mind began blossoming with the possible identities of this monster. “Holdar nodded, “seems an appropriate description” he agreed. “How are we going to get home?” I wondered aloud, Tye seemed uncomfortable at the subject, he came from an abusive family and so the word ‘home’ had never really meant much to him. “I mean, back to our time period” I corrected myself, giving Tye an apologetic look. He managed a small smile, yet I still saw the pain in his eyes. “We could use I diversion” holder suggested, breaking the awkward silence. Tye cleared his throat, “but we need something to fuel the time machine” Tye added. Holder gave him a questioning look. “It makes the time machine work” I explained. Holder nodded, seeming as though he understood, yet the confusion glimmered faintly on his features. “The extra tank!” Tye blurted randomly. I gave him a confused look. “A spare gas tank?” I asked, my hope slowly growing. “Yes” Tye answered, excitement and relief clear in his voice. Holder smiled at our relief and happiness, “I don’t know what you speak of, “he said, “but if it makes you happy, then it makes me happy as well.” He finished with a beaming smile.
Soon holder had gathered a small group of five warriors, Asger, Halvar, Ragnhild, Vidar, and Frey. Ragnhild is the only female in the group and she seemed to be a very strong and independent woman, I looked up to her in a way. The plan was for the group of warriors, including holder, would run into the woods and head into the opposite direction of the time machine, a short time after they do that, me and Tye will make our way into the woods toward the time machine, and hopefully be on our way home soon. Me and Tye watched from the entrance of the village as the group of warriors, led by Holdar, made their way into the woods.
Shortly after they left, we made our way back into the forest. I was shaking with nervousness and sweat soaked my forehead as we sprinted through the trees. I could hear the heroic cries of holder and his warriors off in the distance, I assumed they had found the horrid beast already. I began to slow as my legs grew tired and shaky, and my stomach ached with hunger “Tye” my voice cracked as I said his name. He turned and slowed as he saw me rapping my arms around my stomach in pain. I jogged over to me, his worried eyes locked with mine. “What’s wrong?” he asked, holding me up by my shoulders. “Nothing” I answered, “just hunger pain” he still seemed nervous, but he managed a small smile. “You and food just can’t be apart for even a couple hours huh?” he said, looking at me with his soft brown eyes. I couldn’t help but smile, the moment was ruined when we heard a low growl.
I froze in terror, Tye’s eyes were locked on something behind me, his posture stiffened as he stared at what I could only assume to be the beast standing behind me. I whimpered as I heard the thing moving behind me, “when I say ‘now’, run as fast as you can” Tye whispered, I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. Seconds passed before Tye muttered “now” and I bolted, I heard Tye close behind me as we ran from the monster. I could hear my heart beating in my ears as time seemed to slow, my every footfall rang through my ears like the thud of a drum. I felt weighted down, like I was running through water, and I couldn’t move fast enough. This was my nightmare.
My thoughts were interrupted by an agonized scream, I turned in time to see the beast’s jaws latched onto Tye’s shoulder, its white eyes glared hungrily at me as its glistening fangs sunk deeper into Tye’s shoulder. My head swam as I made a move to help Tye only to have the monster growl at me in defense of its prey. I could not believe this to be a man in anyway, the look in its pale eyes were animalistic. It simply seemed to be a monster thirsty for blood, not a man with supernatural powers.
“Run” Tye choked out, his own blood oozed from his lips as he struggled to talk. Tears streamed down my cheeks “run!” he snarled at me, I closed my eyes tight before fleeing from the horrific scene I had witnessed. As I came to the time machine I collapsed against the metallic hood and sobbed in fear for Tye. I soon became angry with myself, I could’ve done something, anything to help. Instead I ran, I ran and left Tye behind. I slammed my fist against the hood of the time machine in frustration.
As I grieved I paid no mind to my surroundings and I stiffened in surprise when I felt the figure looming behind me, its breath hot on the back of my neck.938Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXYVoXdwyP
