Predator

Part Twelve✔️

"Ethen?"

The little boy giggled and covered his mouth with his tiny hand, his green eyes seemed brighter, glowing almost. He removed his hand to let it fall to his side and stared at Grey with a small smile playing on his lips. He tilted his head to the side at her before he turned and darted off into the trees.

"Ethen!" Grey was up on her feet in seconds and running after the small boy.

Around and between trees he weaved, Grey hot on his tracks. Deeper and deeper the little boy ran and despite his small legs, it seemed as though she could never catch up to him, he was always just out of her reach. The sound of his laughter filled the forest and slowly drove Grey insane. She was calling his name, pleading with him to stop but he kept running. Deep down, she knew he was dead but if he was then how could she see him so clearly?

"Wait! Ethen, come back!"

The boy took a sharp turn and vanished completely behind a tree. There was no giggles, no little footsteps, nothing to indicate that he was ever even there. And everything grew silent despite the sound of Grey's ragged breaths, and she felt the heavy weight of loneliness settle in once again and she felt like breaking down. She was officially losing her mind, from hearing voices in the wind to seeing the dead, there was no way she was sane.

"Grey." A voice whispered in her ear and she spun around to find nothing but tall trees. "Grey." Again behind her but there was nothing.

"Stop it!" She screamed. "Leave me alone!"

"Grey?" Ethen was standing behind her, and slowly turning around she saw him standing there with his hands over his chest and eyes wide and sad. "What did you do to me?"

"What?" Grey stuttered over her words.

His little hands moved away from his body, covered in blood from the wounds on his chest that poured blood down his body. "Look at what you did to me." His little voice whined out the words and his lip was trembling in a pout, tears welling up in his big green eyes.

"No." She was shaking her head and stepping back.

"How could you, Grey? I thought we were friends?"

"It wasn't me! It was the beast!"

It was then his voice grew loud and deep, almost demonic. "You are the beast! You, Grey! You!" Grey was sobbing as the boys face morphed into something otherworldly, he was no longer an innocent but something straight out of nightmares. His eyes were pale white, no pupil, no color to the iris, just white and his face was scrunched up into a vicious glare.

"No! Leave me alone!"

Hands wrapped around Grey's torso and she fought as Ethen vanished into thin air. She kicked and screamed and clawed at the thick arms wound around her waist.

"Stop fighting me, woman." The chest against her back rumbled with every word, his voice all too familiar.

Her entire body froze as the arms loosened up enough to spin around and stare up at blue eyes.

"It's not real." He spoke so soft she had a hard time believing this was the same man who called himself the beast.

Despite all that he'd done, she took comfort in his warm embrace and fisted the thick shirt he wore and buried her face in it, eyes wet with tears.

"I wanna go home." She said.

After a moments pause. "You can't."

Grey pulled away as the mark on her neck began to burn. She put a good few feet between their bodies and her hand snapped up to her neck, his eyes following that hand.