Dwindling Twilight [M]

Alexis hid behind a tree, holding her bleeding arm from the last attack. She sat against the tree and inspected the wound. It was nothing serious, but it really hurt her when she moved it.

She looked around for any of the creatures that had attacked her as she walked through the strange little town, that she just recently stumbled upon. She figured it was abandoned, but apparently the monsters have taken up residence.

She tried to rest for a moment, but was quickly alerted to the sound of something making its way to the tree that she was hiding behind.

Alexis held her breath and gripped the knife she had found tightly, ready to fight for her life if she needed to.

A twig snapped. The sound of ragged breathing could be heard, and whatever it was was coming closer. It didn't seem too large, by the sound of it, but that didn't mean anything. Sometimes the smallest creatures were the deadliest.

The branches of the bush behind Alexis' tree rustled, and there was small crash as the creature tore through it.

Thud.

A small girl landed on the ground by Alexis' feet.

Alexis looked at the little girl and asked her, "What are you doing here?"

The girl looked up at her with wild, frightened eyes. She looked to be about nine or ten years old, dark skinned with curly brown hair and was extremely thin. She gasped out something unintelligible as she lay, panting, on the ground.

Alexis took a peak from behind the tree and then asked her, "Were you being chased?"

The girl nodded, but when she finally caught her breath, she gasped,

"I think I lost them." She cast a frightened glance back into the woods. "Hopefully."

"Well then, we need to keep moving. Do you know what happened to everyone here?"

"Where've you been for last two hundred years? This whole province is completely abandoned."

Alexis looked at her with confusion, "Two hundred years?"

"Well, yeah. You didn't know? How could you not know? It's all the government ever talks about."

"What are you talking about?"

The girl looked around as if scared that someone might hear her. Then she leaned in and whispered,

"The Outcasts."

"I still don't understand. What outcasts? Who?"

The girl held a finger to her lips.

"Shhh!" she exclaimed, looking around. "They say the very name is cursed. It's a cult. They were hounded by the government hundreds of years ago, this town used to be their base. When they were finally found, the government burned the place to the ground, and ever since it's been cursed."

"But the town looks fine. I don't see any evidence of a fire."

"About fifty years after the fire, some new settlers decided to rebuild the place. They set up the town, had a great lumber industry going, and for some thirty years, everything was fine. Then the first attacks started. Children were stolen from their beds at night, lumberjacks went into the woods and never returned," the girl said, eyes lighting up like any child telling a ghost story. "The townspeople put up a pretty good fight, but after ten years of increasingly horrible tragedies, eventually they all moved out. The town's been completely taken over by monsters now. Nobody knows what they are, but they all trace back to the Outcasts."

Alexis was curious as to the girl's knowledge of all these atrocities and asked, "How do you know all of this?"

"I read it in the papers. Apparently, the monsters are starting to spread. There was a recent attack in a nearby town, and the government is finally sending people to check it out."

"How long ago was this?"

"About a week ago. Why?"

"So there were people here a week ago?"

"A couple FBI agents." she shrugged. "They didn't stay long, only enough to get some evidence, collect some fur samples and whatnot."

"And do you know what those monsters are?"

"I don't. I only know what I've read and what I've seen."

"Well, it's not safe to stay here. We might alert them. Do you know of any place that's safe?"

"Well, the edge of town can't be too far from here, but, as I said, it's not exactly safe anymore…I wasn't really looking for a place to stay, I was too busy chasing after—" she stopped with a gasp. "Oh, no…"

Alexis was surprised and worried, "What's wrong?"

"My dog. I came in here chasing after my dog…Who knows what's happened to him now?" she buried her face in her hands.

"Don't cry. If you would like, I can help you look for him."

"But there are monsters out there! What if—" A twig snapped.