Jakob’s stomach growled again, as he leaned back against the bark of a tree. The granola bar he’d eaten earlier barely counted as food, and the ache in his stomach was only growing worse. Waiting here wasn’t helping, either. Ezekiel was still off talking to Calvin, that muscle-bound loudmouth and Jakob didn’t trust that guy. He always looked like he was plotting something, even when he was just sitting around. No—especially then.

“Hey, Jakob.” A voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

He glanced up to see Jerissa and her brother strolling over. Jerissa gave a quick wave while Odin hung back, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets.

“Yo,” Jakob said, returning the wave before sliding his hands into his own pockets.

“You coming with?” Jerissa asked, stopping a few steps away.

“Yeah, just waiting for Zeke to get back,” Jakob replied, nodding toward the bench where Calvin and his lackeys were sitting.

“Speaking of, where is he?” she asked, craning her neck to look.

“Over there, with Beefy McRibs and his crew,” Jakob said dryly.

Jerissa snorted. “What’s wrong with Calvin? He seems like he just wants to help. You know, keep us all alive and stuff.”

Jakob shot her a sideways glance. “I don’t trust him. I overheard him talking to some women earlier—something about ‘making use of their free time later.’ Whatever the hell that means.”

“Word. I don’t trust him either,” Odin chimed in. “Big palooka.”

Jakob raised an eyebrow. “The hell’s a palooka?”

“Boxer,” Odin explained. “But, like, a suckass one. But in this case just an Oaf.”

Jakob couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Where’d you even learn a word like that?”

“Gramps,” Jerissa said with a grin. “He was always going on about how he used to box in underground rings back in New York. ‘Big Johnny,’ the undisputed heavyweight of the early 1900s.”

“According to him,” Odin added, his tone deadpan.

“Yeah, according to him,” Jerissa echoed with a laugh.

“Anyway,” Odin continued, his tone growing quiet and serious again, “I don’t like Calvin either. Something about him screams control freak. Hate those military types—and he definitely doesn’t seem like one of the good ones.”

“Exactly,” Jakob muttered, glancing toward Ezekiel, who was finally heading back their way. “And here he comes. Took him long enough. My man, my brother, what’s good?”

As Zeke approached, Jakob’s attention flicked to Calvin, who leaned back on the fallen log with his usual smug grin plastered across his face. Calvin flipped them off lazily, earning a round of laughter from his lackeys. Jakob’s jaw tightened.

Jerissa muttered, crossing her arms as she followed Jakob’s gaze. “What’s his deal? Seriously?”

“Everything,” Jakob grumbled. “Absolutely everything. I don’t like the way he talks to Zeke. He’s just trying his best, isn’t he?”

Ezekiel finally reached them, his expression unreadable, though the tight pull of his shoulders was unmistakable. Before Jakob could ask what the plan was, Jerissa turned to him with a curious look.

“So… what’s the story with you two?” she asked, gesturing between Jakob and Ezekiel. “You guys seem close. Brothers?”

“Brothers,” Jakob said after a beat, smiling.

“Acquaintances,” Ezekiel muttered.

“Ouch.” Jakob brushed his shoulder playfully, feigning offense. “It’s only for good luck, right?”

Jerissa’s brow furrowed. “Not brothers? Adopted, maybe? Or… mixed?”

“My mom’s Latina, if that’s what you’re asking,” Jakob replied.

Jerissa’s face flushed, and she laughed awkwardly. “I—uh. No, never mind. Forget I said anything.”

“God, you suck at this,” Odin groaned, shaking his head.

“Suck at what brother?” She said putting her hands on her hips.

“You know. Talking like a normal human being.” He said holding his head on his hands looking off into the vast desert dunes.

Jakob turned to Ezekiel, eager to change the subject. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Food, resources, and shelter,” Ezekiel said briskly, his voice cutting through the chilly air. “We also need firewood. Splitting up to gather it would be helpful.”

Jakob nodded. “We can handle that. Should only take two of us to get firewood. Who wants to come?” Jakob just wanted someone to talk to along the way to keep him occupied, fearful of walking into the woods alone.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“I’ll join,” Jerissa said, showing as much eagerness as he did.

“Ugh, this again.” Odin groaned, but Jerissa shot her hand up between their faces signaling she didn’t want to put up with his nonsense

“Great. Two groups, then. Let’s get to it,” Ezekiel said, sounding like he wanted the task over with as quickly as possible.

And so, Jakob and Jerissa walked forward into the treeline.

The coldness of the night sunk into their skin but it was still slightly bright due to the setting of the third sun. Trees stood ten to fifteen feet apart and the brush cut their knees as they walked. It was an open forest but it began to get darker with each and every minute. Giant flying insects buzzed around them and huge luminescent mothsflew around their faces

The woods felt colder than the clearing as they moved deeper among the trees. The faint scent of pine mingled with the damp earth beneath their boots, and the chirping of crickets provided a steady background hum. Jakob bent to gather dried branches, the chill biting through his jacket as he stuffed them into the crook of his arm.

“So, Jerissa,” Jakob said, breaking the silence looking away from the giant beautiful flying creatures and night creatures glowing out here. “tell me about yourself. You and Odin—how’d you end up here?”

She glanced over her shoulder, her arms already full of sticks and looked around her to see where they may be going. “What do you want to know, Jakob?”

“Anything,” he said, grabbing another branch. “What did you do before all this?”

“I was a college student,” she said, walking ahead. The dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy painted her jacket in flickering gold. “Studying social sciences. I wanted to help people, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Jakob said, crouching to pick up another bundle of kindling. “Never had the chance to go to school myself. I wish I could’ve.”

She paused, turning to look at him. “Why’s that?”

He hesitated, gripping the branches tighter. “Family couldn’t afford it,” he said simply, leaving out the full story. “I was planning on it eventually but I just got out of high school so I figured I could wait if anything.”

“That sucks,” she said softly, the nighttime churning into a deeper darker blackness. The chirping crickets fell silent, and the air seemed to hold its breath.

“Why is it so quiet?” she asked suddenly, she was getting scared, more scared than she had been before.

Jakob froze, listening. The chirping was gone, and a heavy, oppressive quiet settled around them. Only his heart made a noise in the silence.

“Maybe it’s nothing,” he said, though his grip on the bundle of sticks tightened.

“Maybe,” Jerissa said, though her eyes flicked nervously toward the shadows.

As Jakob reached for another branch, the air shifted. The damp, earthy scent of the woods turned into something more pungent, like the stench of a wet dog. His stomach twisted and felt like he was going to pike as he got closer to the smell. Ahead, a small blue blob peeked through the leaves.

Fur?

He crouched and picked it up, the foul odor clinging to his hands like an un-washable grease. The stench was sour and nauseating, like dying flesh. He held the scrap up to a dim beam of blue light filtering through the branches, inspecting it closely.

“Jakob, do you see that?” Jerissa’ said worredly.

“See what?” Jakob asked, turning to her.

“I… I thought I saw a pair of eyes in the distance.” Her voice cracked, brittle like dry leaves. “Maybe I’m imagining it, but…” She shook her head, clutching the kindling she’d gathered. “I think we should leave Jakob.”

Jakob swallowed, forcing calm into his voice. “It’s fine. We’re almost done. Just need a couple more sticks and we will go.”

It wasn’t fine. Every nerve in Jakob’s body screamed that something was here—or had been. He’d show the others the fur when they got back, but for now, he pushed forward, brushing past low branches, ducking under limbs.

Ahead, a cluster of sticks lay huddled together, practically begging to be picked up. Jakob tried to focus on that.

“Jackpot,” he said, glancing back at Jerissa. “This’ll be the last of it, promise. I want to get out of here as much as you do.”

She didn’t answer. Her face was pale, her shoulders stiff. Jakob just wanted to finish and get back. He hadn’t slept in so long, and he was damp from sweat and purely exhausted.

He knelt, fingers wrapping around one of the sticks. It didn’t budge.

“Rooted,” Jakob muttered under his breath, leaning in to pull harder. The stick still wouldn’t move. He squinted and yanked harder.

Then he saw it.

A worm wriggled on the stick’s end—blue and furry, with a large grey head.

No. Not a worm.

A finger?

A hand?!

Jakob stumbled back, his breath catching in his throat. His pulse hammered in his ears as the sick realization of what he’d found sank in.

“J-Jakob,” Jerissa’s voice trembled as she seen him fall backwards. “The eyes—they’re back.”

Jakob followed her gaze, still sitting down on his ass looking down and then up.

Two glowing eyes hovered in the darkness, unblinking and watching with a voyeuristic hunger. The rancid stench grew stronger, overwhelming him. Musk, sweat, fur. A low growl rippled through the silence, vibrating deep in his chest. Then the creature stepped closer, its yellow teeth glowing in the faint moonlight. Four sharp canines and a mist of white clouds coming from its mouth.

Every instinct screamed at Jakob to run, but his legs felt like lead.

“Run,” he hissed, turning around he grabbed Jerissa’s arm and shoved her ahead.

She hesitated for half a second—just half a second—but it was enough to make his chest seize with fear.

“Go!” he shouted, shoving her harder.

They moved.

It moved.

The forest erupted with noise—branches snapping underfoot, leaves clawing at Jakob’s face, the pounding of his heart like a drumbeat in his skull. Behind them, the growls grew louder, closer. Its pursuit was deafening, and every cold breath burned in Jakob’s chest.

He kept pushing Jerissa ahead, keeping her in his line of sight. Always protect the people who can’t protect themselves—that’s what his mother had told him, right? But where was she now? Nowhere. It was just Jakob and Jerissa. He had to help her and him survive this, there was no way they could fight a creature like that.

The clearing came into view, and Jakob pushed harder, ignoring the burning in his legs and the ache in his lungs. They burst out of the woods with a crash, and he stumbled, tumbling to the ground.

Jerissa fell with him, her breath coming in uneven gasps. Jakob grabbed her shoulders instinctively, his hands shaking from the adrenaline.

“You okay?” he asked, though his throat felt raw.

“I-I’m fine,” she stammered, her voice cracking. “We could’ve died. I’m glad you’re safe.”

Her cheeks flushed as she realized he was still holding her. She scrambled upright, brushing herself off. “I-I am too, but… what the hell was that?”

Jakob opened his mouth to answer, but the words wouldn’t come. His thoughts were tangled in what he’d seen—and what it meant for them. Were they really safe?

Before he could find his voice, the others swarmed them, shooting questions like arrows. Jerissa’s voice faded into the chatter around them, but Jakob’s mind stayed fixed on those eyes.

And the hand.

It hadn’t touched him, but he could still feel it—grabbing his wrist, dragging him into the woods. It hadn’t happened, but it had. He swore it had.

Jakob glanced down at his trembling fingers, the stink of musk and decay still clinging to them.

He hadn’t thought about anything but running. That was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? Could he have done anything else?