The darkness

Had we known what lurked behind the darkness, we wouldn’t have enjoyed the party as much as we did. The party was held in an abandoned mill in the forest outside Misenium city. It was amazing, the best party I had ever been to. The two storied structure stood proudly in between tall trees, its walls hidden by the green leaves of creeping plants. Blue lights lit up the inside while the white bulbs were hung over the trees. Loud music blasted from the speakers and over a hundred young men and women danced and drank.

Aaron grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the dancing crowd. I laughed out loud as I allowed him to lead me away. Sober me wouldn’t have gone anywhere with Aaron Smith but I was too drunk to care.

“Where are we going, Aaron?” I yelled over the music.

“What did you say?” he asked, stopping. He pulled me to himself and planted a short kiss on my lips. I giggled and pulled his head back. 

“Kiss me properly, Aaron.”

Aaron didn’t waste any time, he had been trying to ask me out for over a year but I always turned him down because he was not my type. Kissing Aaron was alright, nothing special. I pulled away after realising it was not what I wanted. I just wanted to have fun.

“Aaron, let’s go back and dance.”

“No, let’s just take a walk in the woods.”

Any sensible girl would say no to an invite like that, especially if it was coming from her workmate, who she didn't want to date. The fact that that Misenium forest was said to be very dangerous meant there was only one good choice I could have made. I used to be sensible, but on that day, the drinks had taken away all the sense I had. 

“Okay, let’s check this so called dangerous forest,” I said, laughing. “If it’s so dangerous, how come we’ve partied it for two hours and nothing has happened?”

“Right,” Aaron agreed.

We walked under the moonlight while talking about the party. Suddenly, I heard howling coming from a distance. I froze and grabbed Aaron’s wrist. “What’s that?”

Aaron chuckled. “You’re such a scared-y cat. It’s just a wolf.”

“Wolves kill people, don’t they?”

“I’m not sure but either way it sounds like its far.”

The howling increased, and it seemed to be coming from more than one wolf. My hearts started pounding against my chest. The howling was now coming from different directions, as if we were surrounded. My whole body started shaking. I glanced at Aaron’s handsome face. He did not seem so confident anymore. 

“Aaron, we need to go back.”

Aaron nodded, and we started walking back where we had come from, following the wide path. The howling seemed to be getting closer. Pulling my hand out of Aaron’s tight grasp, I started running. We had walked so far that we couldn’t see the party venue, but we could hear the music.

Suddenly, leaves moved from behind us. I didn’t dare look back until I heard a growl. I looked back and saw a big black wolf following us at walking speed. I started to run faster. My chest was aching, and it felt like my lungs were on fire. 

“Run faster,” I told Aaron who was behind me. 

“MAYA!” He cried out and I turned just to see the big black wolf lunging on him. Screaming, I turned on my hell and ran out of there as fast as my legs could carry me. I did not stop until I reached the mill. My screaming made some people turn heads. Before I could get to the main crowd, a man grabbed me aside and held me tight.

“Let me go,” I screamed out but he clasped his hand over my mouth. Four other men came surrounded me. Since I couldn’t scream or say anything, I couldn’t cry. No one else seemed to be paying attention as they were lost in the music, alcohol, and drugs.

“Promise not to scream,” the man said.

I thought of all the things those five burly men could do to me. The only chance of survival had would disappear if didn’t obey them.

I nodded. He withdrew his hand. “Okay, we won’t do anything to you. We want you to tell us everything. What happened in there?”

“My friend Aaron, I think a wolf ate him.”

The men did not seem surprised by what I said. 

“There are wolves in the woods, but they don’t eat people. Maybe you saw another animal. A bear, perhaps.”

I shook my head. “No, it was a wolf.”

“Listen here girl, it was dark, and you were confused. You probably confused a bear for a wolf. Your friend may be dead, and if he is, it wasn’t because of a wolf.”

“Why are you not going to check on him? He could be alive.”

“There’s a good reason why we said that anyone coming for the party should not go beyond this designated area. Which group did you come with?”

“Ahhhh,” I screamed out loud. This time people heard me because the music volume had reduced. People turned and just like that, the five men disappeared into the woods.

“They’re going to kill him,” I yelled. “Please help.”

I saw Aria Mann and Jace Killman walking towards me. 

“Aria, Jace. We have to check on Aaron. An animal attacked him.”

“Where did you go?” Jace asked.

“In the woods.”

Aria Mann stepped forward and slapped me. I gasped as the pain coursed through my cheek, my hand flying over to it.

“What the hell?”

“Let’s go,” Aria said. “Lead the way.”

Still shocked at the slap, I started walking, leading them to where Aaron and I had met the wolf. When we got there, there was nothing. Not even a single drop of blood or a sign that someone had been attacked there. It was so strange.

“What? This is where it happened.”

“We have to go back,” aria said.

“But what about Aaron?”

“The police will handle the rest.”

We were about to start walking away when we heard a deep animalistic grown. Aria and I glanced at each other, fear written in our eyes.