Chapter 4: Out of the Woods

Just as the hairy beasty creature slowly approaches Alicia, the moon disappears behind a blanket of dark gray clouds. Realizing the moon had disappeared behind the blanket of dark gray clouds, the creature moved at an accelerated speed. It moved faster than a human speed which made it invisible for Alicia’s naked eye to perceive its movement.

Alicia gave a sigh of relief and quickly rushed to check on Lucas. “Lucas!” she yelled. She quickly went on her knees and lifted Lucas by the shoulder. “Please stay with me!” she said.

Lucas’ breath is fading away and he is bleeding out really fast. She didn’t know where to begin in stopping the bleeding. At this time, Jack and Philip have regained consciousness. They both approached Alicia who at this time is covered in Lucas’ blood.

“Oh, my God!” Jack cried out. “What happened?” he added feeling tensed. He didn’t expect anyone to get hurt. He just wants to scare Lucas and nothing more. From what he has seen, Lucas’ bleeding isn’t a result of the accident. There must be a logical explanation for this.

“This is your fault, stay away from us!” Alicia cried out as a sob escaped her lips.

Jack might be a jackass but he isn’t a killer. He might be a bully but never wanted to stain his hands with blood. Philip rushed back to the truck and pulled out his cell phone from under the passenger’s seat.

He often keeps an emergency phone there in case he gets robbed. He quickly dialed 911.

There was a quick response from the service provider. They didn’t waste any time in responding to the emergency call. “This is 911, what’s your emergency?”

“We need an ambulance, my friend is hurt!” Philip cried out in a devastated tone. He’s damn scared of what will be the outcome of their actions. He advised Jack not to scare Lucas by forcing him to the truck.

‘It’s just a teenager plank,’ Jack replied insisting he wanted to put fear in Lucas by driving miles away from his home and then dropping him off at the nearest bus stop to his house. Philip however, disputed this but later gave in to Jack’s persuasion. Now the whole plank has gone wrong and there’s no way they will ever escape from this.

Jack draws closer to Alicia. He was still bleeding from his nose due to the rough crash on the tree. He bent down and said in a calm voice. “Help is on the way.”

“Just stay away from me.”

“I am truly sorry and never meant for all this to happen.”

“Can you just listen to yourself? Because of you, Lucas is fighting to stay alive. His breath is fading because you led us here for us to be attacked by a hairy beasty creature!”Another sob escaped her lips.

Jack was shocked on hearing they got attacked by ''a hairy beasty creature.'’ He didn’t know what to believe but he was confident that Lucas didn’t sustain his injuries because of the rough crash. He narrowed his gaze on Lucas and was able to pick up some deep scratches on his chest down to his abdomen. He glanced at Alicia frightfully and swallowed a lump and then spoke in a quivering voice. “Whatever attacked him might still be here, we need to go now.”

“I can’t leave if we are not going to save him.”

“There’s nothing we could do, just let him be. We need to get to safety, he’s already…”

“Will you shut your mouth?” Alicia rudely snapped back at Jack interrupting him from speaking further.“This happened because of you and you have the guts to voice out trash!”Alicia glanced at Jack with a scornful glare.

“You don’t understand, we…”

Jack’s words were pushed back to his dry throat by the sound of sirens. Finally, help has arrived. The police department just arrived at the scene with ambulances as they pulled over by the roadside and hastily made their way into the woods.

SOME HOURS LATER: ST LEO’S HOSPITAL

The doctors of St Leo’s Hospital, New Orleans were able to save the life of Lucas but he’s still unconscious. The minor injuries of Jack and Philip have been attended to but Detective White is really on their ass after gathering some reports from Alicia on what happened. He described the actions of Jack and Philip as a kidnapping case and he wants his department to press charges or he’s gonna do it personally as the father of the kidnapped victim.

Detective White was about to lead Jack and Philip out to proceed to his precinct for further questioning. As he was about to open the door of his car, Congressman Styles walks in on him, accompanied by Sergeant Shark and Captain Harris from Detective White’s precinct.

“Detective, I’m taking these two off your hands,” said Captain Harris. He’s the precinct commander of Detective White’s precinct.

Detective White weirdly stares at Congressman Styles. He knew this was his doing to get his son, Jack off the hook. He then switched his focus to the captain and spoke in a harsh voice. “And why would you do that?”

“Listen, Detective, this is a direct order.”

“Are you trying to drop this case just like that because he’s the son of a congressman, huh?”

“We are not dropping this case neither are we turning a blind eye to it. However, you will not be handling this case yourself to avoid your judgment being clouded because your son is the victim.” Captain Harris switched his gaze on Sergeant Shark and ordered him to take Jack and Philip away.

Detective White didn’t like Captain Harris' decision. He wants to get to the root of this himself since Alicia has given out her testimony as a witness to a crime committed by Jack Styles and Philip. As Sergeant Shark leads Jack and Philip to the congressman’s car instead of the police patrol car, Detective White is enraged. He approached his captain and confronted him in the presence of Congressman Styles. “What the fuck is this? They should be heading to the precinct for further interrogation and not going home with the congressman!”

“Watch the tone of your voice Detective, I can have your ass suspended!” said the Captain as he glances at Detective White with a stone face. He frowns at him although he knows the detective was speaking the plain truth. The captain wants to shield Jack and his friend because he’s the son of a congressman.

“Truth will never be hidden even if you suspend me! You have to take them to the…”

“Enough Detective!” Captain Harris slammed at Detective White and continued. “Are you dumb to notice it’s 4 in the morning and these two teenagers need some rest after what they went through and not interrogation? If I hear a word from you, I will suspend your sorry ass. They will be invited to the precinct for further questions when the day breaks.”

Congressman Styles glanced at Captian Harris.“Perhaps I should come in, Captain Harris," Congressman Styles said. He switched his attention to Detective White as he approached him, narrowing down his eyes at him. He puts up a fake smile and then opens his mouth to speak. “Your captain might have told you he would suspend you. But if you come after my son or his friend unlawfully, I will have your badge taken away from you. As your captain has said, you allow them to handle this case, you are off the case.”

“You want to protect your son and yet you want another man to abandon his son. If by one week, there are no positive actions taken, I will be pressing charges myself.” After Detective White has said this, he walks out on them heading back to check on his son.

Getting back inside, he saw Alicia seated at the reception with her head buried in between her legs. He slowly approached her and then quietly sat beside her. “Is he awake?” asked Detective White.

Alicia put up her head and spoke in a tiny little voice. “No sir,” she replied.

“Your parents will be worried now, let me take you home.”

“I need to stay and make sure he’s well before I leave.”

“Don’t worry, he will be alright. You can come back in the noon to check up on him but at first, you need to be home with your family and get some rest.”

“Do me a favor sir, would you?”

“Name it.”

“Let me know as soon as he’s awake.”

“Of course, I will.” Detective White assured.

He leads the way to his car. Even though he’s not happy with his captain’s decision, he still has Alicia’s testimony and can be able to use it to make a clean lawsuit. He opens the door of the car as Alicia slowly gets in. He shuts the door and moves towards the driver’s side.

LUCAS’ WARD:

Lucas inhales as air enters his lungs. Oxygen from the breathed air moves from his lungs to his blood as he quickly sits up. He stares around in total confusion only to realize he is in the hospital. The ventilator was slowly beeping which caught his attention to the intubation inserted into his nose. He didn’t waste any time pulling it out as he slid down on the bed. He was pressed and needed to take a leak. He stares around once more as he catches a glimpse of another door he believes to be the toilet. He teetered toward the door. Slowly he held the doorknob and twisted it. Given the door, a gentle push, he staggered like a wounded lion into the toilet. He wasn’t mistaken at all. Seems like he is certain as if he knows every corner of his ward.

After he has taken a leak, he moves closer to the mirror affixed to the wall of the toilet. He stares at himself through the mirror. He has never gotten injured to the point of having bandages around his chest down to his abdomen. He vividly remembered the attack but what amazed him was that he wasn’t feeling any pain unlike when he was attacked. He pressed his chest down to the lower abdomen but there was no sign of pain at all. There’s no way what happened to him in the woods was a dream, if not he wouldn’t be here at the hospital.

To be sure of what he was feeling if it was real or just another nightmare; he hit himself on the chest down to his abdomen like a gorilla and there was still no pain he felt. He wasn’t feeling the pain from the attack nor was he feeling any pain for hitting himself. His curiosity grew so strong that he slowly started removing the bandage to check his wounds. Some part of the bandage was still stained in his blood but he was surprised and curious when he realized there were no wounds on him. He wondered what the doctor would have injected in him to make him heal so fast. Even if he has been unconscious for a week, there would still be the mark of his wounds or a bit of his wound that is still left rather than heal completely without a trace of it.

He was eager to ask the doctor what type of injection he was injected with. He wasn’t feeling any pain nor was any wound still on his body. As he turned to leave, his eyes glowed blue. “Holy Moses!” he exclaimed. He brought his face closer to the mirror to know if what he saw was real or if he was hallucinating. He stares deep into the mirror and his glowing blue eyes terrify him. Terrified and astonished at the same time, he drew away from the mirror.

“What is wrong with me?” he spoke in a soft voice revealing his new fangs in place of teeth. Fangs have replaced his teeth which made him more terrified of himself. He noticed his fingers making a cracking sound only to realize his fingers had grown into claws. He fell to his ass more terrified than ever as he draws to the corner of the toilet shivering like a scared little puppy.