THE HIKER'S TRAIL

WITCHES VS WEREWOLVES

CHAPTER 11: THE HIKER’S TRAIL

Some early morning hikers were trotting down the pathways leading to the waterfall when one of the kids among them saw something that caught his eyes.

“Mum, look,” The child said pointing downstream but the mum just shrugged his hand and said,

“Let’s keep walking Simon. The faster we walk, the earlier we can get to Seattle.” The mother replied, having no time for his trickery. Simon saw that his mum wasn’t going to give him the benefit of the doubt so he did the next logical thing he could think of.

He bolted through the group heading for the downstream path as people saw him and started to shout. His mother turned and her face grew pale as she ran after him.

“Simon, get back here this instant.” She yelled but Simon was stubborn too, he kept on racing down. His mother had no choice but to follow him, so did the rest of the hikers. Simon quickly dropped his bag and ran to the stream trying to get in when the mum pulled him backwards and yelled in his ears.

“What are you doing? Don’t you know you can’t swim? Are you trying to kill yourself, huh? Is that it? Your dad being dead isn’t enough. You want me to lose you too?” His mum yelled as Simon shook his head and pointed.

“No mum look.” His mum stopped and looked when a scream erupted from her back.

“A BODY!” One of the younger female hiker yelled drawing the attention of everyone to the stream. The mother also known as Laura saw what was happening and fear and shock quickly covered her face. She pulled Simon behind her, as if trying to hide his view from the gruelsome sight but she knew that it was too late because Simon was the first to have seen the body in the first place. That was why he ran.

“He may be alive. Let’s drag him out of the water first.” One man said as he and two other guys dropped their bags at the river banks and ran inside the water, slowly reaching where the body was. They pulled him to the banks as everyone gathered except Laura who was trudging forward slowly trying to ignore the dread and bile that was slowly rising up her throat.

One of the female hikers there known as Tessa quickly got to work, checking if there was a heartbeat.

“He is barely alive. The wounds are long and vicious and he seems to be breathing. We need to take him with us, get him to a hospital. We can’t leave him behind. He is a victim of animal attack, a miracle he stayed this long. Laura can you tell the animal that did it due to the marks.” Tessa said facing Laura but Laura ignored her or didn’t hear her. She couldn’t hear anything. Her eyes were feasted on the man dying before her eyes, the man she had seen countless times before. A man she swore never to set her eyes on again.

Fate must be playing a cruel joke on her.

“Laura, wake up!” Tessa said shaking her as she blinked and was dragged back to reality. She turned to look at Tessa who was eyeing her oddly and replied,

“I don’t know what happened to him, or which animals attacked him, but I believe we shouldn’t take him with us.” She said deadpanned as everyone turned to look at her surprised.

“What do you mean by that?” Tessa said as Laura replied

“we are hiking through a forest full of wild wolves and bears and you want us to carry a man half dead covered in blood. Gee, why don’t we kill ourselves now?’ she said pissed off.

“I can’t believe you are saying something like this and especially in front of your son, but I don’t care what you think. I and the rest of the hikers have agreed to take him with us, and you can either help by helping up build a make shift stretcher or you can stay out of our way.” Tessa replied before turning back to face the rest of the hikers who were tying some poles of sticks together to use to carry him.

Simon was looking at his mother with big sourful eyes and his mum couldn’t help rolling her eyes. Her son was just 2 years old and it seemed like he could do things, other kids his age couldn’t do. He was special, his mum knew as such. The only thing she didn’t like was him using it.

“Fine, I guess we can help the man. But trust in days to come when you are grown, you will regret this moment. He will be the reason of your suffering. But we need to help.” She said as she walked over to where the almost dead man laid and started to draw something on his forehead. Luckily nobody was paying her much attention.

After a minute of incoherent incantations, the man’s eyes flew open a bit as he looked at the sky and slowly focused his gaze on the woman in front of him. And his panic turned to recognition and then confusion.

“Laura….” He said slowly but his eyes closed again, his soul drawn to another realm as the hikers came forward with the make shift stretcher and helped the man onto it.

“Well? What is your answer? Are you going to help us?” Tessa said facing Laura who heaved and replied,

“Once we get to town, my son and I leaves. We are not staying with the police or anything of that. I can help with the carrying of the stretcher alongside the others, but you are tasked with carrying my son. If he runs off….” Laura said allowing her words to hang unfinished.

“Nothing will happen to him, I promise.” Tessa said as she went to carry Simon with her.

Laura saw this and was satisfied. She faced the man in front of her and said,

“Well then Alpha Adam, let’s see how this ends for you.”