Chapter 17 Pierre Pierre With everything that I had witnessed here, I had no desire to leave Merna too far. I consider myself a rational man. Nothing bothers me nor gets my heart pounding. Except the thought of Merna being in danger and not being able to see, what she does. I was about two meters into the woods when everything became chaotic. There are very few trackers that I know of that surpass me in my skills. Yet, I am at the top and can’t find a single sign to tell me where Markous is or what direction he went. I made it a point to make sure that I could always turn around and be able to see Markous’s tent and the rest of the group. I am beyond frustrated! “Nothing makes a lick of sense here!” My eyes darted off to the rustling of plant life. I could not shake the feeling that something or someone was watching me with great intent. I spun around, “Who is there?” I shouted. I waited for a response, but there was no reply. I focused my sight on the surroundings. My flashlight started to flicker with no logical cause; then my flashlight died. Grumbling my inner thoughts, I continued to move around. I did not need the bloody flashlight; I would use my other skills, just like my father had taught me when I was a child. I had stumbled over a tree root, I swear this place is testing my temper. “FUCK!” I hissed as I remembered everything that had happened in a short period. Things were spiralling out of control, and I don’t like it when events go this way; it just irritates me and brings out the worst in me. If Merna was here beside me, she would tell me to acknowledge what upset me, deal with it and keep moving. But, unfortunately, she sometimes doesn’t realize that there are things I will not accept with a grain of salt and continue to move forward. I need to punch something now. My fist connected with a tree trunk as my ears picked up the gigging of children. Merna has warned me several times in the past about situations like this. Children giggling … in the woods … night time! I may look white, but I am not that white! “Yeah … I don’t fucking think so!” I looked over my shoulder to see Merna doing her thing. She was always good at doing that. Even if she has a panic attack, she will push aside her feelings and focus. That was her coping mechanism. Deal with the issue at hand, pushing down the uncomfortable sensations. Not allowing it to grab hold of her and control her. Very few times do her attacks grab hold of her. But when the spell does, it is usually a bad one.I was going to head back to the group when I thought I had spotted Bronks. “Bronks!” I yelled What I thought was Bronks, he had glanced at me for a brief second. “Bronks, get over here!” I used the same tone that would have told him I was not joking. But the damn dog ignored me and continued further into the woods. “What is that damn dog up to!” I headed towards Bronks, thinking I could get a hold of him and bring him back with me if I got closer to him. However, when I strolled closer to the location, there were no tracks; it was as if someone had erased all tracks of my dog being there. “Bronks, where are you, boy?” I could hear nothing but the giggling again of the children. “Fuck this shit!” I turned around "This is how the hot ones died in the movies!" I walked in the same direction I came from, only to find out that the group and Markous’s tent were no longer there. “FUCK!” I spun around quickly when I heard a malicious laugh; it came from all directions, and I could not tell where the origin was. Merna warned me of situations like this. She told me the best thing to do was remain calm and not let fear take hold of me. Only so much a man can take, and I was at my end. I can handle the battlegrounds and being in the woods on my own. What I can’t handle is this situation, the beings I can not see; how Merna deals with this, I will never know. I grasped the charm that Merna had made me. "You are purposefully doing this!" I shouted out loud. “There is no god that will come and save you!” The voice of a male sounded all around me. I could not tell where he was. I motioned in all directions, searching for the son of a bitch. Yet I could not pinpoint him. I laughed dryly, “I know! But there is still Merna!” I pointed out. The black mist started to creep forward, and my mind was going wild with thoughts of how I would be killed. But then, Merna’s words popped into my mind, “Merna said we have until the moon is at high peak to get to the road.” Why did I say that? I have no idea. I am more than positive that this thing does not intend to let us leave here alive. The second we entered his thrust hold, that is when he decided that he was going to kill us. This is nothing but a game for him. The thrill of the hunt! A growl erupted from the mist. The force of it knocked me to the ground.The black mist stopped abruptly, “Tik tok tracker, tik tok!” I could hear a malicious laugh coming from the mist. I jumped to my feet! Dodging this tree and that shrub, sprinting as fast as my legs would allow. For only a moment I pause to allow my eyes to adjust to the surroundings. Once I saw Merna, I jogged the rest of the way, not stopping until Merna spotted me.