On The Moors

  Chapter Two

  'Damn thing,' Edward muttered to himself as he watched the lonely bar of signal on his phone disappear again. With one eye still glued to his phone screen he wandered over the uneven moor, his boots squelching in the mud as the rain continued to pour. Maybe he should just turn back. The storm wasn't doing anything to help him get signal out here, he thought, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of where the car had been parked. Perhaps they could wait until the storm had passed over to get someone out to take a look at the car.

  With a sigh Edward shoved the phone back into the pocket of his soaking jeans, rubbing his hands together in the hope that he could warm up at least one part of himself. Torch in hand, he turned back in the direction that he had come from. He had only taken a handful of steps when movement in the darkness to his right caught his eye.

  'David? Is that you?' he called, turning in the direction of the movement. Perhaps he had been walking in the direction. After all, it was so easy to get lost out here. Everything looked the same in the dark. 'I thought I said to wait with the car.'

  When David didn't reply he turned the torch on the moor, scanning it through the pouring rain for David where he had seen movement a moment ago. There was no one there. Shaking his head, Edward turned back in the direction he had been heading. It was probably just a cow that had wandered off or something, he thought. David would have brought the other torch with him if he had come looking for him anyway.

  For some reason the movement he had seen out of the corner of his eye still played on his mind. Surely a cow wouldn't have completely disappeared so soon, it wasn't as if he had paused before searching for the source of the movement. 'Whatever,' he muttered to himself but it did little to appease the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  With the back of his hand Edward wiped the rainwater away from his eyes as he splashed his way through the puddles, no longer caring that the cold water was filling his boots. His feet were already numb from the cold water that he barely even noticed.

  'David! What the hell are you doing?' Edward shouted as he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Turning the torch on the spot where he had seen the movement he realised that the thing he had seen wasn't David. Instead it was some sort of creature with piercing red eyes, what looked like black fur matted by the rain. Somehow the fur seemed to be a pure black darker than anything around it.

  Deep down in Edward's stomach the uneasy feeling knotted tightly. Run, every instinct told him but he found himself frozen to the spot, staring at the strange creature as it turned in his direction, a rumble like growl coming from it. Slowly Edward lowered the torch slightly so that it wasn't shining in the creatures eyes.

  As soon as the light dropped from the creatures face it growled louder, the red eyes narrowing before they bound towards him. Over the pouring rain he heard it splashing through the puddles as it charged towards him. Shaken from his intrigued state, Edward turned, running as fast as he could across the uneven moor. He knew he wasn't heading in the direction of the car anymore but something told him that he wasn't going to be able to get past that thing and find the car any time soon.

  Stumbling as one foot sank in the mud, Edward tumbled forwards, arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance. Suddenly the rain didn't seem to be making a sound as he heard a roar like growl right behind him. He had barely had a chance to realise what it was when something sharp tore at his left arm, ripping the torch from his hand as one of the claws snagged on his watch, snapping the strap. With a splash he collapsed into a huge puddle, the icy water pressing against his skin beneath his already soaked clothes.

  Scrambling through the puddle he turned to see where the creature had gone. A few feet to his right he spotted the torch lying on the ground, the light shining off the metal of his watch which was lying a foot or so away from it. With a growl the creature appeared again, one huge, bear like paw crushing the torch with a crack and plunging him into darkness.

  The only thing Edward could see as he lay on his back in the puddle were the blood red eyes of the creature staring him down as it crept closer warily. Perhaps it didn't realise that he couldn't see anything without the torch.

  Drawing closer, the creature seemed to grow in confidence as it snarled at him.

  With one bounding leap, it closed the distance between them, Edward screaming as it landed on his chest, the claws ripping at the thick raincoat he was wearing. Dissatisfied with the resistance that the coat was putting up the creature shuffled forwards until its eyes were level with Edward's. Growling, a wave of hot air passed over Edward's face, the foul smelling breath of the creature making him recoil instinctively. Pulling a paw back it seemed to poke at Edward's neck, testing the flesh to see if it would be able to penetrate it.

  Just as the creature was drawing back its paw, preparing to strike what Edward knew would be the final blow, it froze, its head twitching up as if it had heard something that Edward couldn't hear. With one final glance at him it jumped off of his chest, bounding off into the darkness.

  Stunned, Edward heard the creature splashing through the puddles over the sound of his own heavy breathing. He was alive, he thought, hardly able to grasp the fact as he lay in the puddle of rainwater shivering uncontrollably. The next thought that crossed his mind was that he had to get away from here in case the creature came back for him. Crawling out of the puddle on his hands and knees, Edward pushed himself back to his feet, running blindly into the darkness in the opposite direction of the creature.