The Plague

Looking ahead, Hall Randall could only see trees of many sizes and shapes. Some were straight, bent and twisted but all the stems were green with shaggy and slimy growth. It was raining heavily and the sky was extremely dark. Only a partial of the moon could be seen hanging in the sky, shining brightly. The rain was falling heavily, hiding any further view.

"Why am I here?" wondered Hall, searching around the dark forest. "How did I get here?"

Then he felt a white-hot pain knifed through the back of his right arm. His arm was wounded, covered in red thick blood and two-tooth marks, clearly seen on it.

"Must be some drat dingo hunting for food," complained Hall, clutching his injured arm. "It must have bitten me while I was unconscious. Must have thought that I was dinner."

Now Hall is lost somewhere deep in a forest, far away from civilization and help. Then Hall realized what had happened. It started ten hours ago; he was in a country station near London waiting for his daily train to the city. Hall sat in his favorite corner by the window, reading his fresh newspaper to the motion and noise of the train. Then tragedy struck. An engine on the left side of the train caught fire and blew up, destroying everything near it. Screams of people and a huge explosion were the only thing he could remember. Unfortunately, no other passengers were ever seen alive. Only Hall escaped when the blast threw his unconscious body away from the hot and murderous flames.

Hall continued limping through the dark forest, looking for any aid he could find. As he went forward, it seemed that the trees became taller and thicker than before. No sound was heard, except an interval drip of moisture falling through the green leaves. Carefully avoiding the many interlacing and writhing roots, he approached a thickly wooded area, latticed with tree thorns and covered with heavy growth of cattails. He then stumbled at the end of the forest, near a very peculiar house. It was a small, low-roofed mud house with tall thistles hemming in and shutting it on all sides.

"Finally, a house," said Hall. "Could call the ambulance from there."

He limped quietly to the house but without any warning, Hall felt excruciating pain on his injured right arm. It fells like it was going to blow up into many pieces. He tried not to scream, wanting to avoid scaring the people in the house. He could feel his face twist into an unadulterated horror through the raging rain and the area around his body was all blanketed in great pain. Then his limbs began to shake uncontrollably and he let out a terrible growling voice. His head and body lengthened into unnatural sizes. Hair began sprouting on his face and hands, which turn into clawed paws. Within minutes, a werewolf immediately replaced an innocent working man. It snapped its large, wet jaws, sniffing the air around him.

"I smell blood." He growled, sniffing the air again.

It was almost dinnertime, and the green forest was extremely beautiful at night but no sound of birds or any other animals could be heard. The rain gradually stopped and Remus exited his house towards the forest. Ever since he was born, Remus has always been fascinated by stories about the forest. He dreamed meeting a magical creature, any of them. Being a foolhardy as he is, Remus ignored his mother's warning. So he ventured into the dark forest alone bringing along only his cloak, since it was cold outside. Upon reaching the forest, there was no movement among the branches but he felt an uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched, but by what, he doesn't know. He could hear deep breathing of a dog around the corner of thick bushes. He felt scared of the forest for the first time in his life. The feeling steadily grew when a stealthy dark figure could be seen creeping from tree to tree. The bushes and leaves moved. Remus panicked and tried to run but it was too late. An enormous bear-like dog bounded forward on him. Remus stood, transfixed and shocked by the sight. He could only scream.

The End