Chapter 2 – Chap 2

Sorry I haven’t updated sooner, but the past week has been insane!

Before I get to what happened next I wanted to answer a few questions that I was asked by some curious readers.

My mom taught me how to read and write. She was human, but died when I was 8. I realize that this means I am actually half-squatch, but I look like my dad, and developed his inability to “speak”. Sure, I can grunt, growl, and make other animal-like sounds (just like good ol’ dad), but nothing that sounds even remotely like human language.

Also, to those of you who were concerned that I would force feed my “guest” mushrooms, berries, and bugs, I just wanted to let you know that I would never offer anyone any bad mushrooms or berries. We Sasquatch can get sick and die from vacation eating bad stuff too. That’s actually how my little brother died. He ate a white mushroom that even bugs wouldn’t touch, but that’s a story for a different day.

Anyway, the girl just sat there calmly staring at me for several minutes. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper she said,

“Are you real?”

I nodded.

“Are you…will you…hurt me?”

I shook my head back and forth. Then, I offered her the phone, open to my previous post. She reads it looking up at me every few seconds with a strange look on her face like she’s expecting me to disappear if she looks away.

Next thing I know the girl drops the phone, and has her arms wrapped around my neck hard enough to choke me. She keeps saying the same thing over and over: “Thank you”

I wasn’t really sure what to do, so I just kinda sat there and tried to breathe while she held me in a sort of headlock.

Then, I felt dampness where she had buried her face in my fur. She was breathing kinda funny too. Like she was gasping and hiccuping at the same time.

Just when I was about to pass out she loosened her grip, and without letting go she looked up at me. The way she looked at me made me feel funny inside, like the time I accidentally swallowed a bunch of butterflies.

Her eyes were big and dark green. The dampness I felt in my fur was coming from them, and running down her face. Carefully, I used the back of my pointer finger to wipe the eye water off her cheeks.

After a few moments she took a deep breath, unwrapped her arms from around me, and began to speak.

“My name is Natasha, but everyone calls me Nat,” she began,

“The guy that brought me here, Jessie, I thought he was a good guy, but he’s not. He’s a very, very bad guy.”

She paused, taking another deep breath. Then, I saw a look in her eyes I recognized- Fear.

“Is he really…I mean, are you sure he’s…dead?”

I nodded. There’s no way he’s still alive. I literally put my fist through his face. Whether I meant to kill him or not, he was certainly dead.

The look in her eyes changed from fear to relief. However, the relief was momentary.

“We need to get rid of the body.” Nat said, worry etched on her face.

Nat stood up, and I followed suit.

“Take me back to the camp. I have a folding shovel in my trail pack. It’s not much, but it should do the trick. We can dig a hole deep enough to bury him. I just hope it’s not too late…”

Too late for what? I wondered.

Then, as if she could read my mind Nat answered,

“Jessie told me he was expecting friends to join us. I don’t know how true that was, because he said a lot of stuff that ended up apparently being lies.”

Nat scoffed, a short, bitter laugh escaping her,

“Would you believe that he told me that he wasn’t human anymore, but was apparently some kind of God-like being? He told me that the reason he lured me out here was to witness his ‘ascention’, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.”

Nat filled me in on Jessie, herself, and the events leading up to me saving her as she followed me back to her campsite.

Something made me stop at the edge of the treeline. The fur on the back of my neck stood on end. The air was too still, and felt tingly, like the air before a lightning storm.

All my senses screamed that something was very wrong.

I sniffed the air, and smelled something that I can only describe as wrong. It smelled like ozone, death, and something I can only describe as a sickening, flowery sweetness.

Sensing danger I turned around, picking Nat up, and putting her over my shoulder to make a quick escape back to my hut.

Before I could get us to safety deep, inhumane laughter rang out from the campsite.

“Na-TA-Sha…Where are you going, my sister?” a demonic voice snarled at us, freezing me in my tracks. I wanted to move, but I couldn’t. I tried to take a step, but it was as if my feet were glued to the ground.

“Oh, God, No…” Nat whimpered over my shoulder, “It…it can’t be…Todd, you said you killed him…”

“There you are, Nat. You know I can’t do this without you, sis!” Jessie said, his eyes glowing like dark red embers as he approached us.

“Hey, big guy, how about you put down my sister, and walk away, and I’ll let you live to serve me.” he growled at me with a sneer.

What the? NO! I screamed mentally, which came out as a wicked roar. I broke free from whatever force was holding me, and took off running at top speed, and believe me, for big critter I am fast!

As I fled with Nat, Jessie’s voice echoed behind us, “You can run, and you can hide, but I will find you…And when I catch you I will skin you and make you a rug!”