Sun was beginning to set and yet we still had found nothing, the river seemed to be endless.
It was going to be night soon so we decided to pick up our pace. We had already wasted some time eating and catching fish again so that we wouldn't end up running out of food at night.
One strange thing we both noticed was that even after walking for hours we weren't tired at all. Which was a good thing considering our situation, I decided not to give much thought to these occurrences right now, as we had limited time left. We started hurrying cause we won't be able to see clearly once the sun Is completely gone.
"Rayne, look over there", Zei pointed towards the opposite side of the river bank.
My eyes followed her gaze and finally after hours of travelling, we saw signs of human civilization.
"A watchtower" I said with excitement, it seemed to be covered with vines and moss indicating that it most likely had been abandoned for a long time.
It was nearly dark now so we decided to camp in the watchtower, which was much safer than camping in the woods.
We both crossed the river with ease as the water was not too deep and reached the watchtower. Its bottom half was completely covered with foliage. I looked up at the guard room, someone had to go and check if it was safe.
"I'll go" Zei volunteered to go up and check it out, while I cleared some plants out of the way.
A few moments went by.
"Zei, are you okay up there?" I asked from below
"It is quite spacious" She answered "But it's covered in dirt, we should be able to stay the night after some cleaning"
I heard her voice from above, everything was going good so far. After cleaning the area I climbed up to check it out as well.
Suddenly a strange noise coming from somewhere deep into the forest caught my attention, it was faint, maybe some wild animal I thought as I climbed the tower.
I reached the guard room. It was indeed quite spacious for the two of us. Zei had cleaned it a bit so that we could sleep here.
We spent some time talking and eating the last of our fish,before eventually deciding to sleep.
The moon's radiance and the glimmering stars accompanied us along with the eerie silence as I closed my eyes and drifted into slumber.
I woke up in the middle of the night, my gaze fell onto Zei's face illuminated in the moon's radiance, she was staring into the distance, her expression pale and stiff.
"Rayne…" she whispered, her voice trembling
"What's wrong Zei?" I sat up
She pointed her finger in the distance across the river."There…"
"What is it?" I tried to look but found nothing.
Then I heard it.
A soft melodic humming, like a woman's lullaby
The hair on my neck stood up.
Then I saw it
My blood ran cold.
Emerging from the vast forest was something that didn't resemble a human at all.
Its face smeared with blood, two hollow eye sockets as if someone had gouged out the eyes. Abnormally long limbs and bloodied claws that scraped the ground as it moved forward. However, the most horrifying thing was that the creature didn't have a lower body. Instead twisted branches sprouted out from its back as it crawled its way towards the river.
Its inhumanely large mouth was covered with sharp canine teeth. The singing grew louder with each step it took forward, I could hear It clearly in my ears.
Neither of us made a single sound, afraid that we might attract the creature's attention. We could only stare at it, coming closer and closer to the watchtower with each passing second
My thoughts scattered, I couldn't process what I was seeing. I could hear the singing becoming louder and louder—until it stopped.
For a second, I thought it was over.
Until the creature let out a bone chilling scream so sharp it pierced the night like shattered glass.
At that moment its hollow eyes locked onto mine. It smiled inhumanely gazing at us.
M-MYYY CCCCHHHHIIIIIIILLLLLDDDDD!!!!!
I covered my ears, crouching down praying that it doesn't cross the river. Pain seared through my head, my ears were bleeding.
I glanced at Zei, blood streamed down her ears and nose. She was bleeding as well. Her hands were trembling.
The screaming continued for what felt like an eternity, until it finally subsided. After a few moments of silence, I carefully took a peek to see if the creature was still there, however I saw nothing.
As if the creature had disappeared into thin air.
I suddenly felt a hand clutch mine tightly. Zei was still trembling from witnessing what just happened, tears running down her face. I embraced her tightly to calm her down.
"It's gone. It's over," I whispered "Everything is going to be okay don't worry I am here with you"
She buried her face onto my shoulder and slowly her trembling subsided. But neither of us let go of the other, afraid that something might happen ,amidst all of this one thing became clear to me.
This place….this couldn't be earth.
We held each other until the first light of dawn broke across the horizon. Neither of us dared to fall asleep.
Once morning arrived, I turned to her, "Are you alright? I asked
After a few seconds, she replied, "I'm scared"
I paused
"I know" I said "We'll get through this. Together"
"We should head down carefully to check for potential dangers", Zei hesitated, expressing her disagreement. However, we can't stay here forever, so I decided to head down first making no unnecessary sound as I made my way towards the river cautiously.
Everything seemed completely normal , I looked around only to find absolutely nothing… things seemed to have returned to how it was yesterday.
"Rayne, are you okay?" Zei called as she slowly made her way down towards the river.
"Everything seems to be normal…..for now at least", I murmured
"We should stay here for a few days before deciding to venture further", she suggested
I agreed it was too dangerous to roam around for now especially after what we witnessed. What if the creature comes back.
I didn't even want to think about what might happen to us.
We decided to wash up, after that I started preparing fire and grill the fish Zei had caught earlier.
"Rayne", suddenly Zei whispers in my ear from behind as I flinched
"W-What is it, don't freak me out like that" I said, startled by her action.
"Thank you…" She said, her voice soft "for last night" A faint smile painted on her radiant face as her faint blue eyes shone in the bright sunlight, no more words were needed.
I just smiled back at her, noticing a little flush of red on her face.