A Boy Among Wolves

Chapter 21

Theo-

"Hey, Adam," I say with a fake smile. He and I don't talk a lot outside of the Gender and Sexuality club, at least not since Danny and I started dating.

"You ok?" He asks quietly and looks concerned. He's carrying a bag from the local bookstore. So he's just Down here for fun.

"Ummm, kind of," I say and walk closer to him. "I got in a fight with my uncle. Went for a walk and saw that giant bear. I panicked and ran here."

Adam jumps on this information, "you saw the creature? Where?"

"I don't know street names, but back there," I say with a point down the road I ran down.

"Oh damn," he says, looking over my shoulder. "Uhh, we should go someplace. You can wait with me. My Mom should be here soon."

I nod and fall in line with Adam as he heads to Main Street.

"Was it scary?" asks Adam.

I nod, "it was big. I was like 20 feet from it."

"Wow," says Adam. "I'm glad I found you."

Just as I'm about to say I'm glad to, the power goes out. I turn back And see a power line fall over in the distance.

"Oh god. What was that?" Groans Adam.

He seems really nervous. The intersection lights are all flashing yellow, and the stores are emptying out.

Adam grabs his phone from his pocket. "Let me call my Mom. We need to leave."

"I'm sure someone just hit the pole," I say calmly.

Adam turns to me, and he looks like he's about to panic. Maybe the wind is stressing him out. "No. We need to go. My Mom texted me that the powers out at the house. I'm supposed to meet her by the Fort."

I nod and gesture, "lead the way."

As we head to the Main Street and make a left, I notice some of the crowd seems nervous, like Adam. They seem to be trying to get people back inside. Adam and I cross the street and head to the park entrance. He fidgeting like crazy.

"Adam, what's wrong?" I ask quietly.

"I'm nervous. That monster thing's killed like 9 people," he says and pushes his hair back off his face. The wind is really picking up. He looks at his phone, "Mom just left the house. She'll come down 15th street." He sighs and points to the other end of the park when I don't recognize the street.

We start walking on the pathway that cuts through the park. Well, it's a fort from years ago, part of their history. We aren't alone. A couple of other people are walking in our general direction.

He's looking around and causing me to get nervous. We're about halfway through the park when a lady ahead of us lets out a scream. The people around her look around and ask what's wrong, and all she does is point to the south end of the park.

It takes a second to see what she's pointing at, but suddenly the bear is there. Of course, it's not really a bear; it's standing on its hind legs, 8 feet tall, and has scary red eyes.

"Theo....run," shouts Adam, and he sprints away faster than Danny. I'm right behind him, but he dropped his bag, and I slip on the plastic. My good arm catches me, and just as I start to get up, I hear a loud howl that chills my body.

I know I shouldn't look...but I do.

The creature runs at me and is on me in under ten seconds. I close my eyes and hope for a quick death, but it just scopes me up and throws me over its shoulder.