Rapid footsteps echoed frantically in the dark, carelessly squishing and slipping dangerously on the wet autumn pine needles. Rain poured in from the bare trees, allowing water to smack heavily on Evan, frequently dripping into his eyes and rendering his vision blurry.

Not that it mattered. Evan had no idea where he was even though he'd lived in this part of the woods for years.

Evan blindly ran through the condensed trees, hoping for any signs of life or a break in the action, but he knew it was a long time coming for either of those. He panted laboriously, his lungs begging for air, but he forced himself to keep running until they burned, he tasted iron on his tongue. He was unsure how long he'd be running for, only that he'd been running from something that clearly wasn't human.

Behind him, the footsteps fell to match his staggering pace.

When Evan stepped, the footsteps behind him would step. If Evan sped up, the ones behind him kept a steady pace behind. The only exception to these patterns was when Evan stopped and the footsteps would inch closer, anyway.

And Evan was getting tired.

He slipped and fell forward into one of the thick pine trees, smacking his head with a painful thud. He fell to the ground as he clutched his head, praying that this wouldn't be his end. Tears pricked the corners of his clenched eyes, but he pried them open to survey his surroundings.

The footsteps had stopped.

He strained his eyes to listen but struggled to hear anything over the heavy, sporadic hammering of his heart.

Did he lose it?

"Doesn't this remind you of how humans used to hunt their prey?" a voice called from nearby in the thicket, almost singing the words with a sickening glee.

Evan's breath hitched and the footsteps turned slightly as a cool breeze blew past carrying a dreadful silence. Too silent. He heard subtle sniffing.

Almost like someone was listening for him or tracking his scent.

Evan's arms pricked with goosebumps as he slid quietly up the side of the tree, angry splinters lodging themselves neatly under his skin.

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He fumbled around in his pocket, digging for the Swiss Army pocket knife his dad had given him when he turned 15. He wished that he had used it earlier, maybe even as early as when he first met the monster. But he could use it now.

"Think about it, animals are too fast for humans to catch on their own, so what can they do? How can they outwit their prey?" the voice asked rhetorically from Evans left, still searching. "It's very fortunate that the humans had something that the animals didn't: endurance."

Evan flicked the pocketknife, holding it up to the light of the moon to glare at his reflection. At his red, ruddy-cheeked face, at his hand that was clasped firmly over his mouth to cover his gasping. He hated it all. He hated seeing himself like this, desperate and afraid.

"Endurance, man's ever-lasting spirit! This was their savior. The humans could use it to tire out their prey and finally catch up. And then..."

Something fell onto Evans head, and he ducked furiously, dropping his knife to shield his head. When he patted the ground a moment later, however, it was no longer where he had left it.

"...they would eat them."

Half a heartbeat layer, something small and metal was being pressed against his Adams apple.

'My knife!' Evans head screamed in realization as he struggled uselessly to push off the arm that wrapped itself tightly around his neck.

The harder Evan struggled, the firmer the knife was pressed into Evans neck. He gurgled furiously.

"Aren't humans clever? But they seem to have forgotten that they're prey just as much as any other creature. Why do you think that is?" the beast whispered into his ear, pressing the knife deeper as he struggled. He felt a thin cut form where the knife was digging into his neck. His stomach twisted frighteningly.

"Arrogance? Sophistication? A false-sense of security, maybe?" it offered, Evan felt it's twisted smile curl against his ear whenever he grunted with a sudden burst of adrenaline.

Evan tried to scream, tried to remember why he had ever even decided to invite this devil onto his land.

But he couldn't remember.

A sob threatened to spill out as his hits and struggling weakened.

"You look tired, Evan." the being breathed, its nausea-inducing breath filled Evans lungs and head, making him feel light-headed and dizzy.

Everything around him swayed and had a chromatic glow to it. Like he was stuck inside a 70's television set. He knew he was about to pass out.

Before he did, he tried to get a glimpse of the unusual pale eyes his captor had, like a piece of the moon that was hidden in the night sky. He wanted to defy his fate, to show that even now he wasn't prey.

But he couldn't.

"What are you?" Evan choked out into the darkness, gagging as he felt blood rushing to his head.

The beast let out a low, drawn-out laugh. And didn't stop.

"Don't you recognize an old friend when you see one?" he heard as his eyes shut. And darkness prevailed.

As Evan drifted through the darkness in his head, everything became clear. He remembered now. And like he originally thought, things weren't going to be alright.

Where were Alex and Clay? His two other friends, were they still looking for him?

Or did this creature masquerading as a human already reach them?

Would they even go looking for Evan, after everything that's happened?