Tales To Make You Jump In The Dark

The crickets were chirping under a brilliant full moon and off in the distance a lone wolf could be heard howling in to the night. It was fall and while the trees still had some leaves on them and snow had not fallen, it was still bitter cold and the man sitting before his fire was grateful for the flickering flames. His long black hair was tied at his neck, away from his face and his long skinny arms were covered in a fleece black jacket that he'd had for forever. It was the camper's last night out in the wilderness before it would be time for him to pack up, head home and get out on tour with his band.

CC was a drummer for one of the best bands in the world and he loved his job very much, but it didn't come without a price. He was constantly on the road, out of town and not really able to hold down much of a relationship. CC loved to drum-always had and probably always would, but there was something else in his life that he loved and that was camping. Ever since CC was small, he and his father would go out camping during the early fall to have some bonding time. His father had since given up on the camping trips and so CC was currently camped out, alone, in the Oregon wilderness. Why Oregon? Because it was green and he could get his privacy.

None of the guys in his band knew about his love for camping and CC wanted to keep it that way. The guys were very fun, but their fun included lots of partying and drinking until the sun came up and they passed out cold. CC liked that stuff, but sometimes he just wanted to be alone...he just wanted to be one with nature. He had hiked out this way, walking for two days with all of his gear and CC had to admit that this was his favorite camping spot so far. Off to his right was a lake, the rippling water soothing as the wind passed over it. To his left was nothing but forest, trees and animals. CC sighed happily as he dumped out his water tin, moved to toss some ashes on the fire and then stood up.

It was time for bed and as CC looked around, he knew that it had still been a good choice not to tell the guys where he had been. They all thought he was holed up in his apartment and he would text them every few days to keep the guise going. Really he was out in the middle of nowhere, with no television, no radio, and hardly any cell reception. CC smirked as he thought about the one time he had mentioned camping to the guys and they had all given him a hard time. They had called him a hippie for weeks and so with that CC decided that maybe he ought to keep his passions to himself.

Quickly CC got in to his one man tent, zipping up the door behind him before tugging off his boots, then he began to crawl underneath his sleeping bag. When you camped you slept in your clothes with your boots nearby-just incase. CC had never been attacked while he was out in the middle of nowhere, but he had a gun stashed in his pack, just in case. There were many creatures roaming the woods-bears, raccoons, frogs, deer, opossum and even wolves. CC laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what it was going to be like once he got back home and on the road with the guys.

They were touring to finish supporting their second album and then it would be full time to get on with recording a third. CC was excited and as he laid there in his down feathered sleeping bag and began to drift, the drummer thought of nothing but the wind going through the trees. He was so relaxed and so at peace that soon enough CC found himself lightly snoring, not even hearing the crunch and crackle of breaking twigs right outside his door.

CC was sound asleep when the first crack and low growl woke him. His eyes were bleary and all he could see at first was the sky above him, but soon enough CC was wide awake and his heart was thumping in his chest. He had heard something-he had heard lots of things and as CC sat up and let the fabric of his sleeping bag fall away from his body, he could sense that something wasn't right. One of the reasons he had chosen this spot was because he could hear all of the sounds of the night playing out in stereo while he slept, but as CC sat there and looked around, he suddenly realized that he heard nothing.

There were no crickets chirping, no bats swooping around outside and no frogs bellowing to one another down by the lake. Pure silence. CC sat there, looking around himself silently and then he jumped as he heard a rustling and grabbed for his boots. The sound was coming from somewhere to his left and CC knew he should probably hunker back down in his sleeping bag and go to sleep, but he had always been a curious person. It was probably just a rabbit or a raccoon coming to seek out CC's leftovers and so with a smirk CC unzipped his tent and crawled out in to the misty night air.

He could see his breath as CC moved to stand up, brushing off the knees of his old hiking jeans before looking around him. The dying embers of the fire were glowing softly and as CC passed it he could feel their subtle warmth. The rustling had stopped and as CC looked around the back of his tent, flashlight in hand, he couldn't see anything. There were some broken twigs on the ground and it looked like something had tried to dig under the back of his tent, but there were no animals or tracks. CC turned to go back to bed, his hair sticking out and hanging in his face when suddenly there was a slight crackle of twigs behind him.

Spinning on his heel, CC saw something that would make his blood run cold. A pair of eyes, red eyes, staring at him through the trees. They were unblinking and CC could feel his heart beat quicken as he tried to walk backwards slowly. He had his gun in the band of his jeans, but he was too scared and frozen in place to even think about pulling it out. The eyes were slowly walking towards him and as they got to the end of the tree line, they stopped moving. Perhaps it was just some animal that was scared of him just as he was scared of it and CC found that that thought didn't give him as much comfort as he was hoping it would.


"Stay where you are!" CC shouted in to the night as he reached for his gun, but it was too late. The huge animal had taken a running leap towards him and CC did the only thing he could think to do.

He ran.


Branches scratched at him as he ran as fast as he could and CC felt breathless as he jumped over a log and kept going. He could hear the breaking of branches behind him and he knew he was running towards the road where he had parked his car, but that was a two mile walk and CC wasn't sure he was going to make it. He knew he shouldn't of come out here alone-he wished his father had been here with him. As he ran for his life, CC played out as many scenarios in his brain as he could of what would happen if he didn't reach his car or the road in time.

He would be eaten-that was the first and most possible thing that could happen right now. What was chasing him-it was huge and CC knew that a small hand gun probably wasn't going to hurt the thing all that much. Not only was the thing chasing him huge, but it was fast and at some points CC felt as if it was right top of him, it's hot breath on his neck before he would run a different way and throw it off for a few seconds. He ran for his life, but CC knew that there was a very good chance that his life could end out here in the woods.

The only other thing that could happen-it was a slim chance-would be that CC would make it to the road and either find his car or flag down a passing motorist at four in the morning. If he reached his car, CC could get in and lock himself inside while he started it-revving the engine and driving away as he never looked back. If he could flag down another vehicle, that person could give him some protection and drive him down to where his car was parked. CC didn't know what was going to happen, but he did know that he was never fucking going camping alone...ever again.

Headlights could be seen up ahead and CC's heart leapt in his chest as he realized that he had made it. He was breathless and sweaty from running but he had made it. He slowed down to a trot and as CC was about to break the tree line, he realized his mistake as a pair of paws pressed against his back and he fell to the ground and landed on his face. He stayed there, playing dead, but he could hear the vicious growling right above his left ear. Slowly CC turned over and his brown eyes grew wide as he looked into the face of the breast that was about to kill him.

It's eyes glowed a deep red and it's fangs were bared, dripping with saliva and CC cringed as some of it fell on to his cheek. This was it, this was how he was going to die-here in the woods, alone where they probably wouldn't find his body for weeks. The guys would be devastated, his family would be devastated and silently CC began to say goodbye to them all. The animal just continued to hover over him and as CC locked eyes with it, he noticed that the red had begun to change to a green color. He cried out in pain as the animal bit down on his left arm, ripping slightly as it pulled its teeth away from his flesh before running off in the direction the two of them just came from.

CC laid there on the ground, his arm bleeding and he could feel the muscles beginning to contract and throb. What had happened? Had something scared it away? CC didn't know and as he slowly tried to get himself up, he did know one thing.

He was a lucky son of a bitch.

Notes

Sorry this is late, but people didn't seem interested so I didn't feel the urgency to get it posted. If this doesn't get more reviews then this will be the last story-which sucks because I have some great ideas, but not many seem to really care much.

Reviews are always appreciated.