Something of a Kind - By Miranda Wheeler Page 0,67

she could be shoving Noah in harm’s way, or at least sensed the obvious.

It seemed so harmless.

As they cut across the brush to the nearest path, a large beast shadowed another as it retreated into the woods. The first was down on its arms, legs bent under as though it was crouching. The other was standing, bi-pedal, at full height.

It looked like something she would have seen on late-night Discovery documentaries from countries below the equator, with people like her father filming from the brush. A primate was strictly unnatural against the wooded North American backdrop.

The thing was at least eight and a half feet tall, even with its back was slumped. Long, disproportioned arms hung low at its sides. With a cone-shaped head, the forehead protruded, separate from the flat nose. Its black lips rolled back, baring yellow teeth packed into pale gums. Its massive size radiated aggression and strength, onyx eyes flashing.

Shivering, Aly froze in place. It was making a sound, but she couldn’t quite hear it. Wedging himself between Aly and the animal, Noah pulled on her hands. Unmoved, her feet seemed to fuse with the earth.

When the creature didn’t respond, he wrapped his arms around her, hauling her down the path until she ran at his side. Trying to keep pace with his athletic gate, hand in hand, was grueling. Aly didn’t dare let go, lest they get separated or one of them fall behind.

Crossing trail after trail, she struggled to avoid sticks and debris from the forest floor. Noah propelled her forward, his grip protective. He constantly looked over his shoulder, but she couldn’t. Her lungs burned, her calves cramping. When it felt like an eternity had befallen, the wood beast finally nowhere in sight, her fight-orflight response gave way to debilitating exhaustion. As though it was unthreatened, it hadn’t followed.

Converging with a main route, Noah steered her though a hoard of shrubs, onto a paved walkway.

Breathless, she offered, “Maybe… we’re out… of its territory.”

He nodded his head, gasping, leading her onto the porch of a cabin. Waterlogged neon papers were stapled to wooden pillars labeled the structure as the Quassitauck Campground Sign In. He let her go for the first time since they’d seen it, summoning the strength to bang on the door. A polite rasp turned into hammering blows before weakening to feeble thumps.

She trembled, immobile as he moved from window to window, peering in. He returned to the doors, testing the locks. Unwilling to descend the porch, Noah backed against the railing, collapsing. Aly dropped into his arms. Sitting between his legs, she drew her knees to her chest, finding safety in his solidity.

She buried her face, taking shelter from the world. Warmed against a throbbing heartbeat, she released a chilled shiver. Noah pulled the sides of his jacket around her with an embrace. He breathed into her hair, gasps calming as she offered hushed apologies. He whispered that it was okay, they were safe, and if not, he’d protect her.

Believing him, Aly closed her eyes to the woods.

CHAPTER 18 | NOAH

Noah stared into the shadows of the tree canopies. With ache crawling up his spine, it felt like they had been hiding forever, though he knew it couldn’t have been more than an hour. They were both still alert, but his nerves had calmed enough to hear things besides his own heartbeat. He could feel her shaking in his arms. They didn’t speak, but Aly clutched his shirt like her life depended on it.

On the land of humanized territory, he felt secure enough to try to put her at ease. As an arm rose with the intent to brush her cheek, he hissed, a gasp of pain sucked in through his teeth. Aly jumped as he clutched his shoulder. Panicked, she blurted, “Did that thing hurt you?”

Before he could protest, she was edging his jacket down his arm. Pulling his free arm through one hole, she removed his tee shirt with as much clearance to the wound as possible. Aside from peppered scrapes and a torn sleeve, it wasn’t bleeding. The relief was momentary.

A faint yellowed line stretched from his ribs to his neck, dark violet pooling around the clavicle and across his shoulder. It was visibly deformed, the ball of the joint protruding from a sickening angle. It had swollen, generally red and puffy, edges ending in discolored splotches. His neck tingled, the area beyond his elbow numb, even his hand feeling like deadweight. In between, intense pain seemed to