Page 9 of Primal Hunger
Aside from a flicker of light, which becomes clearer with every step I take, I haven’t seen or heard anything unusual. It’s just a quiet, peaceful night in the wilderness, with the town laying sleepily behind me.
If this were a typical will-o-the-wisp, it would move.
Feeling a little braver, I pick up my steps, my eyes glued to the slice of piercing light coming from the woods.
The closer I get, the more I can tell it’s farther in than I initially thought—at least fifteen yards or so. The light stretches and lengthens, until I’m able to make out an almost complete circle of white.
A ring, or what looks eerily like a portal.
Oh, my god. My heart skips a beat and I fumble with my camera, snapping several pictures and holding my breath. It’s beautiful, mesmerizing. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
I can already imagine posting these pictures toHooked on Spooksin the morning and the feral reactions they’ll get from the paranormal community. The clarity is startling, the proof irrefutable.
I’ve struck gold just by getting to this point, but I want more. I want to get just a little closer, to get a picture of this thing without all the tree trunks blocking portions of it. The night air is still and silent—there’s not even a hint of movement within the woods.
It can’t hurt to take a few more steps.
After all, I’ve come this far and nothing has happened. What’s a bit further?
With a deep, anxious breath, I take a step forward, a twig snapping beneath my tennis shoe as I enter the woods. I pause, waiting for something to jump out at me, but nothing does. After several seconds of my heart racing frantically, I take another step. Then another.
When I’m a couple of yards from the ring of light, I stop to marvel at it.
The white glow flickers silently, shifting like a candle flame but burning nothing around it. Inside the hole is more darkness, but I realize instantly that it doesn’t match the woods around it. Everything is a deeper, darker black, the trees through it twisted and gnarled. The ground looks sharper, sticking up at odd angles.
It’s a portal. It has to be. A gateway or an entrance from this world to another one.
I snap several pictures, not daring to get any closer. I’ve already risked so much by coming this far—I don’t want to disturb whatever force has caused this portal to open. I’m curious, but not greedy, and I’ll take what I can get in terms of evidence. I have at least fifty pictures; that will be more than enough for my subscribers.
“Holy shit,” I whisper, the sound barely audible to my own ears.
A prickle of nerves dances along the back of my neck, making my hairs stand on end, and warning bells sound in my head.
You’ve seen it, Erin. Now it’s time to go.
The voice in my head is adamant and logical. I need to head back to the car. I need to show Tyler these photos.
He isn’t going to believe that we found a real-life fucking portal. This has just rocked everything I thought I knew, and I’ve seen a lot of interesting shit over the last few years.
My hand curls around the strap of the camera and I tremble.
This is earth-shattering, and it’s my discovery. The discovery of a lifetime, the jackpot I’ve been waiting for.
And it’s mine.
Despite my curiosity reeling, I turn on my heel as my skin begins to crawl; the sudden need to get away shoots through me, and I focus on a clear path out of the trees. Despite the limited lighting, I can see a small piece of my car through the tree trunks, and Tyler’s ball cap peeking out over the top of it as he waits for me to return.
But I only make it a few steps before something shifts ahead of me.
Stepping out from a tree trunk on two legs, morphing itself from the darkness, is a looming figure, at least eight feet tall.Taller than the stories.
The words in my head flicker into existence with terrible clarity before disappearing behind a wall of sheer terror.
I swallow hard, breath stuttering, my senses struggling to catch up to my brain.
Icy chills seize my muscles, sinking down to my bones.
The figure is wide, a solid wall of charred skin and fur, with gangly, muscular limbs and long fingers tipped with sharp claws.
