"Why was I born into this world? What's my purpose in life?"
Suddenly my friend called out to me, snapping me off my thoughts. That's when I realized, we had reached our destination. You see, this is a story of when me and a couple of my friends went on a trip to North Carolina.
This was actually a method to relax our mind, that's what my friend said. We got down from the car and started walking towards the resort we were supposed to stay in, that's when I noticed my friends coming back. It was Zack, Henry, Jane and Zoe.
"Hey look who's finally out of his dream world." Zack said
"Hey come on cut him some slack, besides we just got here." Zoe said.
Zoe and Zack were both twins. Zack was the basketball player in our high school, while Zoe was the head of the science club. Zack is the jock of the group, always up to some mischief, teases you a lot but a very good sportsman. Zoe was very charismatic, supportive and most importantly the most cheerful person I have ever met.
"She's right, besides we couldn't even get a room here. Hey Jane, didn't you say your uncle had some sort of connection?" Henry asked.
"Well....you see, we came to the wrong place. The resort where my uncle has a connection is still...few kilometers away." She said.
"Are you kidding!?" The rest of them said in unison.
Henry was the smart guy in our group, he basically plans stuff and pretty much executes it that very way. Jane was the clumsy girl, forgetful, shy, innocent and sometimes dumb. But her clumsiness made her cute, which was something we all liked.
"Come on guys it's ok, besides it's just a few kilometers. We'll be there in no time and while we drive, we can see the true beauty of nature because that road passes by a forest." Sam said.
"I agree with Sam, let's go." I said.
This is Sam, my best friend. We were neighbors since we were children. We always studied and played together. He was always optimistic, stood by me whenever I was in trouble and helped me out countless times. Finally there is me, a quick thinker, a sportsman and bit selfless guy.
The drive from there to the resort was pretty smooth. The instant the car came to stop, we all got down to see the new resort. This one was Lagoon resort, one among the best resorts and much cooler than the one before. Jean's uncle had also informed the resort about our arrival, and the manager was waiting for us at the front door. He took us around, showing the facilities present there. Views, vehicles available for exploring the places nearby and all the activities we could do.
We quickly got our things out of the car and went to our rooms. Zack and Henry decided to take one of the rooms and rest of us took another room. By the time we settled down, it became night. Most of us were pretty tired so they decided to rest. I thought I was the only one awake, so to help myself I went to get some Cola, that's when I saw Zoe, looking out of the balcony. I gave her a Cola too and we both talked for a while about our future plans and how quickly we grew up. After that we both hugged each other and she went back to her room to sleep.
Just as I was walking back, I heard some kind of a sound, seemed to be coming from a distance. I turned around to see a shadow of something on the mountain. Something big, whatever it was, turned to me and I could see its eyes, shining in the darkness. Whatever that was terrified me so much that I couldn't even move.
"Kenny!!" Zoe called me.
"Huh?"
"I have been calling you for a while now and you weren't even moving, are you ok?"
I looked at her and then back at the mountain...there was nothing, that shadow was gone.
"Umm nothing, I was just, you know...in my thoughts." I lied.
"Ok well, I just wanted to say goodnight." She said.
"Yea...Goodnight." I said.
After that Zoe and I went back to our rooms. As soon as I got there, I just fell on to the bed. Whatever I just saw, it really disturbed me, but I was too tired to think about it and slowly drifted into my sleep.
The next day, we woke up pretty early because we had to go for hiking in the mountain nearby. During our hike we had some good time. We got to see animals, in their habitat, either playing or having food. We caught a few fishes from a stream nearby. We were all heading to top of the mountain but on our way, we heard the voice of a kid crying.
The instant me and Zack heard it, we looked at each other and ran towards the direction where the noise was coming from. In a matter of seconds we entered a clear area where there were no trees. We saw a little girl was crying amidst this place. I quickly rushed to her and checked if she was ok, but she had a deep cut on the side of her leg and a bunch of bruises all around her face. I had a medical kit back at the resort, and therefore I decided to take the girl to the resort.
After informing Zack about the girl's injuries I rushed down the mountain as quickly as I could. By the time I reached the resort, Zack was there with Zoe. We quickly took her into our room and patched her up. Zack and I were both in the football team and knew how to use the medical kit properly and in this time, Zoe tried to calm the kid and held her hand the whole time.
After we were done, we offered some food to her. The instant she saw the food, she started munching it down as if she hadn't eaten for days. In about an hour we saw the others were back, but they seemed a bit off. Jean just ran to the bathroom and started throwing up, Henry seemed like he was still trying to process what was going on and Sam...it was like somebody just ripped of all the positivity in him. I asked the guide what happened. The words that we three heard next, shocked us to the core.
Apparently after we left for the resort, they decided to further investigate the place. They found the same clear area and that's when they saw a few people on the ground and on the nearby trees, either dead or severely injured. They contacted the cops and the nearby hospital and waited for their arrival. That was the reason they took some time to get back.
We three were shocked when we heard about this. What happened to those people?
When I was trying to figure that out I remembered about the shadow I saw the previous night. I quickly ran towards the balcony and I noticed there was a clearing in the same area where I saw the shadow. I quickly ran to the others to inform them about what I saw the night before but none of them seemed to even believe it.
I tried my best to convince them but Sam started stating facts, he couldn't even believe what I said and started arguing with me. We both glared at each other for a moment...and before throwing punches at each other. This was the first time we actually fought with each and we wouldn't have stopped if it weren't for others.
Zoe dragged me out and asked me not to fight and suggested I should go and investigate. She proposed that I should take the mountain bikes provided by the hotel and check the place for clues.
Just when I was leaving, Sam stopped me. He apologized for what he did and decided to accompany me. He considered that if what I said was true then me going alone would be dangerous. So we both borrowed two motor bikes and went to the place. But by the time we got there, it had grown dark.
We both expected a few cops to be there investigating, so there might be a little light. We took out the torch that was attached to the bike and started looking around and that when we noticed cops on the floor motionless. I was worried that this thing was still around and couldn't even move from fear. That when Sam called me and showed me some bloody footprints which was going to the direction of the resort. He told me to get there quickly and warn the others and not wait for him.
After that I raced down the mountain and reached there as quick as possible. The second I got there, I didn't even park my bike and ran into the resort telling everyone to get out of the place. When I reached to my friends, I saw figure in front of them.
A man, in his thirties, was standing there. Blood dripping from his hand and face, he was just looking at the girl that we rescued and motioning her to go to him. I thought his concentration was on the girl and tried to get a jump on him, but he dodged me with ease. In an instant he glared at me. Madness and rage, those were the only things I could see in his eyes. He looked at us one last time before releasing a sort of smoke from his body.
I somehow managed to guide everyone through the smoke. When we made out of the smoke, the ground below started shaking. We all turned around to see a huge creature which could only be described as a Demonic Fox. It destroyed the resort in only a matter of seconds and started to move towards us. We all thought this was it, but suddenly a sort of fire substance hit the creature, causing it tremendous pain.
We all turned to see Sam holding a flare gun.
"Get out of here!! I'll distract him." He said and accelerated the bike creating a loud sound which caught the attention of the fox. It started moving towards him and he drove deep into the mountain. I helped the others to get to our car and told them to get to somewhere safe and not wait for anyone. I had to go help Sam, besides he is not too good at riding bikes in rough terrain. Just as I was going to go to take my bike someone held my hand.
"Where are you going?" I turned to see Zoe with a worried face.
"Sam can't handle that thing alone and there is no way I am leaving my best friend." I replied.
"You better come back in one piece, you heard that?" Zoe said.
"Yes I promise. Please take care of the girl. I trust you guys."
"Don't worry man. We'll take care of her. Now go!!" Zack said.
I quickly got to my bike and started going in the same direction as that of Sam. It took me sometime and it seemed like I got to him in the right time because that creature was literally getting close to him. I checked my bike and happened to get a flare gun from one of the pouches it had. I quickly fired it at the monster thus hurting it and giving Sam and me enough time to get as far as we could.
In matter of minutes we crossed the forest and the resort and entered the road. We thought we escaped and were a bit relieved...but we were wrong. The monster suddenly came dashing out from the forest and were after us. We had to get him off our tail that's when I noticed one of the roads led to valley nearby.
"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Sam asked.
"We have to take him there and either make him fall off the road." I replied.
"How do you propose we do that?"
"We can use the flare gun to do it."
"You sure about his?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"K let's do it."
We both raced through the road with the monster, right behind us. We still had a little more distance and monster was catching up to us. I quickly used my flare gun so that we could get some time. Luckily we did, and when we reached close to the curve, Sam fired his flare gun at the fox, blinding it. The monster unable to see ran past the curve and fell. It tried to hold on to the road but couldn't and fell deep into the valley.
"Yes!! We stopped a demon fox!!" Sam said and started celebrating.
That when the road under him started crumbling down into that valley, nearly taking him with it.
"SAM!!" I screamed and quickly reached for his hand. Luckily I caught him and barely managed to help him climb up.
"Whew, close one." He said and for some reason we started laughing.
After that we got onto our bikes and decided to get back to our friends. It took sometime but we managed to catch up to them. They parked the car by the roadside and rushed to us. At that time, I was glad to see that they were ok, and I was glad we made it out safely. That's when I realized, maybe this was why I was born...
"To protect the people I care about.
That was my purpose in life."
"Wow!! That was an amazing story dad!! Can you please read more?" my son requested.
"Okok kid, it's way past you bedtime. If mom finds out, we both are dead." I said.
"Come on dad, pleeease?" he pleaded.
"Let's save the next story for another day, I promise to tell you more ok?" I asked.
"Ok. Goodnight dad." he said and went to sleep.
"Goodnight son." I said.