*huff

*huff

*huff

IN THE MIDDLE of a silent and gloomy night, the only sound you can hear is the slow and careful breath of a lost lady.

Her attire— a muddy sneakers, neon orange tank top that peaks under a fleece jacket and a black leggings— indicates that she is a mountaineer.

She frantically move around the tall and imposing large trees.

"H-help... h-help..." she said in a hushed tone. She can't shout because if she do the monster will know where she is.

The woman whimpered thinking that this is her last minute on earth. She will not survive this ordeal. The monster won't let her escape.

Her silent sobs immediately stop when she heard a cracking of dried leaves near her. She covered her mouth and stop breathing harshly.

The sounds abruptly stopped.

Relief wash over her. She can't die here without spreading the news that the rumoured monster in Mount Lunar is actually true! An ugly and terrifying monster that wants to kill and eat humans!

The lady continue sobbing when she remembered her friends slayed by that heartless monster. She watched with her own eyes how that creature killed her friends by disassembling their body parts then hastily put those parts on it's wide scary mouth.

'I can't die here without leaving a proof that the monster is true. I need to tell the people that they need to go away on this cursed mountain!' with that thought in mind, she get her cellphone on her waistline with trembling hand.

She turn it on and went to voice recorder.

She tried to steady her breath first before talking to the device.

"H-help... the monster.... the m-monster is true. It killed my f-friends and eat them... It will do that to me too...h-help..." she sobs hysterically. And because she's busy recording she didn't notice the creature that stealthily approaching her.

*growl

"Aaaaaah....!" the women shout in surprise.

"Grrrrr...! Meat! Meat! Grrrrr....!" the terrifying monster approach her. It's bloody red eyes were unfocused. It blindly swayed it's long, large and clawed arms toward the poor lady.

"Aaaaahh—" the lady's screaming stop as it's clawed hands hit her face. She went flying towards the trunk of a sturdy tree. There's a blood coming out of the woman's mouth and she had difficulty in breathing. "Blugh... H-help...." is her last word before the monster go over her and hastily snatched her head away from her body.

Blood is everywhere but the monster didn't care. All it wants is to satisfy it's hunger for a certain kind of meat. A human meat...

After it's last intake of food it howls to the grimly dark sky...

"Awwwwoooooooohhh!!!"

~~~°°°~~~

"ARE YOU sure about this, Layla? You know that you can back out anytime," Jennifer, Layla's roommate and bestfriend for 10 years are now looking disapprovingly at her packing friend. She really doesn't want Layla to go and camp on that spooky mountain in the other side of their province. Why, there's a lot of reported cases of missing people and the last place that they were found is at the foot of that killer mountain!

"Jen, just relax okay? I've never been this so sure in my entire life! And you know that this is the break I've been waiting for in my three years working in the AcuRaMed right? I can't pass this opportunity. I want to be promoted into junior researcher, ASAP." Layla said without looking at her bestfriend. More like she doesn't want to look at her because she's afraid that she'll be easily swayed by Jennifer's look of persuasion.

"Layla..."

"Hush! You can't stop me now okay? Just be a supportive friend and share my joy." Layla said turning on her friend. She looked at the wall clock inside her room then smiled at the woman. "Great! We still have one and a half hour before the company's van take me. Let's go grab lunch in Mrs. Estrella's diner, it's my treat." She beamed.

Jennifer heaved a sigh then lock her arms on Layla's. "Let's go. I want spaghetti and burger for lunch. And a large coke."

"For a sexy lady, you sure eat a lot and doesn't have a care about carbs and calories," Layla commented.

"Just like you, girl friend. Just like you..."

~~~°°°~~~

THE ATMOSPHERE on the place around the Mount Lunar is gloomy. It didn't help that because the mountain are served as a shield to the weather, some part of it is raining and some part is not.

People treat it a mysterious work of the creature inside the foggy mountain. And this creature just victimized five mountain hikers last night.

"Grandpa, is it true that monsters are living in the Mount Lunar? Why they didn't hurt us?" Zen, a nine-year old boy asked his grandfather Celso. They are one of the families that lived near at the foot of the mountain.

Celso chuckled and ruffled that boy's hair. "Of course they won't hurt us! They're good monster!" he said with an easy smile at twinkling eyes. His fine laughlines are in full show over his kind-looking wrinkled face.

Zen's eyes widen in surprise and little bit of fright. "Monsters are real?!"

The elder man tap the child small shoulder. "You'll know it, Son. You'll know it very soon..." he absentmindedly said as he gazed through the top of the mysterious mountain.

He knew.

Those creatures living in that mountain were good nature.

He is sure that they are not the one who killed and eat the people that went inside the mountain. But he also didn't have idea who else do it.

'I know they are good. They can't kill...'