Chapter 1: Meet Emily

Thud. Thud. Thud. My heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest! I pumped my arms and willed myself to move faster. If only I was as fast as a hare! Sweat trickled down my spine under the gaze of the waning moon. Thump. Thump. It was getting closer!  Was this going to be the end? Is this how I was fated to die? Not knowing what else to do, I crouched down into a ball, closing in on myself. Covering my ears to drown out the noise, I waited for death to take me in its tight talons.

--Earlier That Day--

“I’m going to go hang out with Lucas!” I shouted, addressing my mother from the floor below.

“Alright honey! Remember, be careful! Watch out for animals, it’s a big world out there, you know!” she replied.

I chuckled to myself at the little joke as I walked out my exit to freedom. I took a deep breath breathing in the warm revitalizing summer air. A light breeze gently tousled my long brown hair causing me to push it out of my sparkling blue eyes. They twinkled in the sunlight as I started to move into the grass.

“Wait, wait, wait!” my mother called again from inside the house, “please take Cain with you, you know he loves playing with you, also it’d make my life loads easier without having to deal with him. Please honey?”

“Sure, mom,” I spoke trudging back into the house to retrieve my younger sibling. I found Cain lying about in his room, his messy brown hair spiking and covering his huge brown eyes.

“Cain, would you like to come with me and Lucas to the lake? We would love it if you came with us,” I said with a soft smile.

“Yes!” Cain said enthusiastically, jumping up and practically tripping over himself as he struggled to get to the door fast enough. I chuckled to myself. He sure was a sweetie.

We began the trek to the lake quite happily. Cain being overly excited about most anything like, “What type of bird was chirping?” or “Are there any grass hoppers around here?” or “How long do you think it takes a bunny to jump a mile?” his questions were things a normal person would’ve thought of as random, but I was very used to his inquisitive nature.

“How much farther is it?” Cain asked.

“Not far, just one more log to go… here, let me help you,” I said hoisting him up and over the log, “It isn’t much further, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worri—Lucas!” Cain yelled, startling me. Lucas was sitting on one of the boulders. His head was turned up to the sky, admiring its clear blue. Startled by Cain’s sudden outburst his eyes found us and a large goofy smile permeated his lips. His blue eyes sparkled as his long blond hair caressed his boyish face.

“Hey Em,” he said, “What took ya so long?”

“This little cutie,” I said grabbing the bubbly Cain and pinching his cheeks, “Mom wanted me to watch him for a bit while she does some work, is that alright?”

“Fine by me,” he replied. He jumped off the boulder expertly, and finished with a bow, “Thank you, thank you.”

“Ready little man?” I said to Cain, to which he nodded in anticipation.

“I never been to the lake before!” Cain said brightly at Lucas who had already started walking.

“Is that so? Then you’ll definitely love it, this will be today’s special treat!” Lucas beamed.

Talking and laughing, we began our march to the lake, enjoying ourselves as the day progressed. As we were walking Cain looked up at me randomly.

“Emily?” he asked looking at me inquisitively with his large brown eyes.

“Yea?”

“What’s making the scary rumbly noise?”

“What rumbly noi--“ then I heard it, “Shhhhh.”

It was soft, but you could definitely hear it, like it was far away. It was a rumbly sound, like and animal, but not. Something large perhaps? It sounded large enough to be crushing everything in its path. Wait, that’s what part of it was, the crushing of a bunch of rocks. What kind of thing could do that? It just wasn’t possible!

“Lucas, Cain and I should probably head home, you mind if we turn back?” I asked after the long silence.

“No problem, Em,” He said, “That might be for the best, I was thinking of heading back myself. Cain I hope you don’t mind, but we can see the lake any day, it’ll be fine. We’ll do it later.”

Cain nodded his head and clutched my leg. “Emmie, will you carry me? I don’t wanna walk,” he asked me timidly.

“Sure,” I told him. Although I was talking my thoughts were on an entirely different subject as we trekked home. What would have made that noise?