Dark Survival by Ryan Casey

Author:Ryan Casey [Casey, Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Higher Bank Books
Published: 2019-12-20T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Harriet heard the growl and froze.

It was dark now. All she could see were the tall, black outlines of trees. The night sky above, peppered with stars. The crescent moon suffocated by the clouds.

And that growl, somewhere in the distance.

Her instinct was to grab Oscar. Pull him closer to her. She didn’t want to let him out of her grip. Didn’t want to let him out of her sight.

And at the same time, she wanted to protect him from that growling. He was a sensitive kid. She knew how he’d react to a noise like that. Especially with how much he knew about animals.

The monsters in the woods.

Stupid bitch for ever making him believe those stories, all to stop him running away from her.

But when she looked down at him, she realised right away she was already too late.

Oscar stared off into the darkness. Towards that growling. The whites of his eyes bulging in terror.

She pulled him close to her. Kissed his warm head, one of the only sources of warmth in this cold darkness. “Ssh. It’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”

She heard footsteps, then. Footsteps edging towards her. Towards Oscar.

The fear inside her intensified. She wanted to move. She wanted to run away. But she was frozen solid.

Another growl emerged from up ahead. It didn’t sound like any animal she’d ever heard. At least not in person, anyway.

The closest she’d heard to it?

The growl of a lion on countless nature documentaries.

She heard another growl. Couldn’t see anything in the darkness. Which added to her fear. It was that unknown that really got to her. That not knowing what was coming her way.

But she couldn’t just sit here.

She couldn’t just wait for whatever it was to reach her. To reach her son.

So she tightened her grip around Oscar’s hand and stood.

The second she stood, that growl stopped.

She froze. Stood there, legs shaking, knees wobbling. Maybe it’d gone. Maybe whatever it was had grown bored of her. Or maybe it’d been hunting something else. Maybe it’d walked by and left her and her son alone.

But then she heard that growl get louder.

And there was something about it that filled her with more fear than ever before.

The sound of that growl. Deep. Unlike anything she’d ever heard.

And then another sound.

Oscar’s scream.

She covered his mouth and picked him up. She knew there was no standing around here. No waiting. Not anymore.

She held him close, tight, and even though she had no strength left in her body, she ran into the darkness.

She ran as quickly as she could. She could barely move her legs. She wanted to look over her shoulder. She wanted to see what was racing after her.

But at the same time, she just wanted to get away.

She heard those growls getting louder. Heard heavy footsteps pounding against the ground. Whatever it was, it was bigger than her. It was quicker than her. And it wasn’t giving up the chase.

But she just kept her focus straight ahead.

She kept on manoeuvring past the trees.

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