3 Nights Before
“There’s the truck, get in!” The man yells out. Just ahead parked on a dirt trail sits a beat up brown truck. The man swings the passenger door and jumps in sliding to the driver side, leaving the door open. Amy gets in first, then Becky. Jamming the key in, he cranks the vehicle as it roars to life. Without looking back he hits the gas and proceeds to zip down a bumpy dirt road.
Becky looks back and around, observing through every window for signs of the beast. She looks back to the man and says, “Thank you, sir.”
“Name’s Jack, and don’t thank me yet. We’re not out of the devil’s yard yet.”
He shifts gears and speeds up, the faded headlights barely spill enough light to see ahead of them. “Your friend, he said he had a feeling. What did he mean by that?” Amy asks.
Jack whinces at the thought of his friend being attacked, he fights back tears and continues. There was no time to show emotion, three lives were on the line. “Found some deer a few nights ago while out hunting, things look like they got tossed in a blender. Ain’t ever believed in monsters, but something told us there might be something out in the woods. We were out scoping the area not sure what to look for when we ran into y’all.”
Becky lets out a scream that causes Jack to turn his head. Parallel to the truck was the creature, still hard to get a good look at it in the dark, they see a gleam of its ruby red eyes. It charges to the left and slams into them with its broad shoulder causing him to swerve. The truck scrapes against a tree and knocks the side mirror off. Jack lets out a yell and tugs on the wheel to get back on the main road. Amy pushes herself out of her seat and onto him without fully realising at first. Becky can’t help but lock eye contact with the creature. It was muscular with thick patches of black, grayish fur matted across the body. Its snout extended outward like a wolfs, jaws swiftly opening with each snarl. Residue of blood clung to it’s lapping tongue and crooked fangs.
Jack grabs onto the wheel with one hand and pushes Amy off with his other hand while fumbling for his rifle. It had fallen on the floorboard during the impact. The wolf charges again making a loud booming sound this time, the truck lifts up on the right side and the rifle slides beneath his feet. It drops back down and causes everyone to slide apart in the seats. “F**k, grab the wheel, kid!” He lets go once Amy grips the rim of the wheel, barely able to hear what he had commanded over her screams.
The girls clamp their hands over their ears while the rifle hovers inches away from their faces. He pulls the trigger and fires a loud blast. The beast ducks avoiding it and perks it’s head back up, still running. With a quick swing it manages to grip onto the frame of the open window and pull back. The hinges snap off like brittle shells, exposing a now screaming Becky. She squirms towards Amy, holding her hands up like some sort of shield. It lunges in and paws the gun away as another shot goes off. Claws burrow into the headrest near Becky. With a swift motion the rest of it’s body becomes visible as it begins to crawl inside.
The lower body was still out of the truck, and with a reflex like reaction Jack swerves to the right and slams into a thick tree. The beast lets out a yelp of pain, but hangs on. The pelt on its back was shredded off in slices from the tough bark. It picks its head up and glares at them, at this point Becky and Amy had practically climbed into Jack’s lap.
He aims the rifle and gets a steady spot for a split second, it stretches its palm exposing its claws and punctures the front tire after letting go of the seat. A loud pop sounds off and Jack loses control, beginning to swerve left and right. “Hold on!” He screams, trying to regain balance. He begins to lose control as the road comes to the end reaching his cabin home. The truck flips over, spinning with fierce velocity. After a few rolls it sways to a stop and balances back out onto the yard. Jack groans and opens his eyes, blood from his nose was running up his forehead. He looks over to see Amy next to him, Becky wasn’t in the vehicle.
He unclips his seatbelt and pounds his already sore head onto the roof. Twisting his body sideways he grips the edge of the door, slicing his hands on the broken glass as he pulls himself out. He rotates around and then reaches in to pull Amy out. She had a wide laceration on her forehead and seemed unconscious. Sliding her out he places her over his shoulder, before looking around for any signs of Becky. Scanning around he looks up and sees the beast in all it’s glory. Under the basking moonlight he could see it’s narrow snout extended from a wolf like face. Its eyes blood red, staring right at him. The body was muscular and taught, it stood taller than any man he had ever encountered. Jack takes a step back and turns to run towards the cabin. The beast drops to all fours and begins to run, roaring the entire way.
Amy’s body begins to bob up and down, she opens her eyes to see grass and the back of two boots moving at a fast pace. Still in a half glazed state of mind, she picks her head up in time to see the beast charging towards her. She tries to scream as it begins to close in, but her throat was raw. Suddenly her vision switches to the inside of a cabin as she’s spun around. A door is slammed shut and locked, just before it shakes violently. The front wall of the cabin trembles in loud trebles, it was determined to come in.