The Wandering Gravestones and Beasts

The ground shook beneath his already unsteady feet, his balance was lost as he staggered, he was quickly flung down when something tugged at his feet violently. As he fell over, he could feel something metal and sharp wedge itself into his skull as his head hit the ground, forcing him to let out a loud scream that tragically couldn’t be heard over the sound of the ever approaching train. He tried to quickly get his hands firm on the ground to get himself back upright. His head was pulled away from the train track, and the metal piece slid out of the new gap made in his head and skull. His shaggy brown hair was now turning a dark red as blood trickled down his neck, and poured into his frightened jade green eyes.

He looked at the two lights ahead of him, gasping for breath, he knew there was nothing he could do. He was trapped there, trapped in the worst place he could be, a place he could not escape from his death. As the train was now a mere seconds away, his last thoughts were of how he got in this situation.

Friday 3:21 p.m. (The Day Before)

“Dude, that’s straight up suicidal!” Xander protested.

“Which is why you’re dying to join me,” Daniel responded with a smile to his friend. Standing above Xander, he had one hand on his hip, and one gesturing towards him. He knew he couldn’t resist an adventure like this.

“It’s literally called Thriller Forest for a reason! Not even you, my friend, could last 30 minutes in that forest,” Xander replied while leaning his head back on his hands. Xander loved toying with his friends, and daring them to do more sketchy things. He himself referred to it as, “the art of betting”.

“Ha! I think you forgot who you’re talking too! In this town I am literally known as the Thriller Seeker, and I have done so many crazy stunts that would laugh at this so called ‘dangerous forest’. I could go into that little forest, last hours in there, and then come out without a single scratch.” Daniel crossed his arms and let his signature smirk slide across his face. He was given that title a few years back when he got into his mid-teens and found out his love for adventure and thrills.

“You know how many people have died in there, right?” Xander said, eyebrows raised.

“Just because someone got lost in a forest, doesn’t mean they have died.”

“I’m sorry…” Xander replied after a second of confused silence. “Do you hear yourself when you speak?”

“C’mon Xander!” Daniel said, now sitting next to, and an arm around his friend. “Luckily for us, it’s only an hour drive away! Since you’re already over for the afternoon, we could go this evening! It would just be a quick look, we’d be back before 11 tonight. Please, I know that you love joining me on these adventures!” Xander let out a sigh between his lurking smile.

“You’re parents won’t be back until midnight right?” He asked. “They don’t really approve of your thrill seeking adventures.”

“They said midnight or after,” Daniel assured him. “Plus, they never ask what I’m doing when I’m out. Because I’m always with you, we’re not a super troubling duo are we?”

“Nah we aren’t.” Xander thought for a minute, then smiled as he looked right at his friend. “Alright, I’m in, what will we need?”

“Just the usual,” his friend said. “I’ll grab everything upstairs, could you grab the bag in the garage, and the flashlight in the brown drawer immediately next to the fridge please?” Daniel walked behind the wall that separated the living room and the stairs.

“Yeah I can do that,” Xander stood up from the couch and looked towards the garage door nearby.

“Hey, um, Daniel?” Xander said with a slightly nervous tone of voice.

“Yeah! Whats up?” Daniel responded, Xander could hear him immediately behind the wall.

“You sure we’ll be fine? Nothing bad will happen? I mean, the stories are a bit, well, scary.”

“Yeah I’m positive it’ll all be fine. We’ve done these kinds of things a lot, and the stories are just stories.” He laughed as he popped his head from behind the wall. “I mean, you really don’t believe in monsters and beasts do you?”

…

The night was cold, and the full moon made the nighttime forest even more bone chilling. The lurking shadows and calls of the nocturnal critters would cause the average person to stay far away from the forest. This one in particular seemed to have an even more frightening demeanor to it. The trees were taller and intimidating compared to the nearby forests, the green colors were darker shades then normal, and the calls of the animals seemed almost deadly to listen to. The appearance of the forest was definitely striking, it stood out from nearly every other habitat in the world. Not only did it have a more horror movie look to it, but the alarming stories behind it is what kept most people far away. For Daniel though, it was intriguing. He never believed in ghosts, fairies, monsters and dragons, he always said that there is logical reasoning behind every mystery.

They already were deep into the forest. The time was around 8 at night, they wanted to leave around 10 to make it back home in time. They both now had to use their flashlights as the darkness closed in around them, and Daniel seemed quite peppy as he was nearly skipping around the forest. He pointed out details to his friend, showing him cool unusual plants or critters they saw. Not only was Daniel a thrill seeker, but he was a nature enthusiast as well. It was his happy place, and he wouldn’t trade just 5 minutes of being in Mother Nature, for anything.

“We’re getting really deep,” Xander pointed out.

“And we can go even deeper!” Daniel responded enthusiastically. They continued down deeper into the forest, getting rather close to its center. Daniel saw an owl flying above, he elbowed his friend and gestured up. They both looked in awe as this smaller owl flew farther and farther away from them. Their flashlights no longer pointing at the ground, they stumbled a little over a few rocks, twigs, and roots sticking up out of the ground. They walked a few feet, a few more, still trying to follow the owl who was slowly disappearing out of sight. Then Daniel let out a quite, quick gasp as he quickly swung his arm, hitting Xander square in the chest, to stop him from moving. Daniel felt through under his shoes, something soft and squishy. His eyes widened slowly, as he moved the flashlight down, and pointed it at his feet.

There was a dead raccoon under his foot, but it’s body was placed in a strange, bizarre position. His head was practically off the body, hanging by a few strands of tissue. His eyes were missing, and one of his legs was gone as well. Xander shrieked at the sight and ran to the shrubbery to puke out his dinner. Daniel on the other hand immediately felt sorry for the critter, and moved it aside to under a bush to rest peacefully.

“What do you think would’ve done that?” Daniel asked, setting the raccoon down gently.

“I think a predator,” Xander replied in a slightly annoyed tone of voice as he stood up and wiped his dinner off his mouth. “And did you touch that thing??”

“I just put him under this bush here!” Daniel defensively said.

“Still, that is not sanitary!”

“Oh whatever! This creature just died in a gruesome way have some respect will ya? And plus, no predator living here would do this specifically. Look, his head is turned, which is odd by itself. Someone would’ve had to break and turn it, which could be done by a wolf, and wolves do enjoy a good raccoon snack. But it would be unlikely for them to turn the head at this exact angle. It could happen, but unlikely. Now look at it’s face-“

“I’m not looking at its face again! It made me throw up last time!” Xander glared at Daniel.

“As I was saying,” Daniel continued in an annoying tone. “The only thing wrong with the face, is the eyes are missing. The rest of his face is completely clean and normal looking. No bite marks or anything! Then look at his body, everything is normal except for the one missing leg. Which looks like it has been chopped off, not ripped off. Again, not a normal predator.”

“Look, I’ve seen enough! Can we leave now??” Xander pleaded. But before he could respond, a slight shrill noise came from behind them. They both quickly turned towards the noise, and saw a few dense trees with a small, foggy clearing behind it. They looked at each other, Xander eager to leave, but Daniel had curiosity tugging hard at his mind. He didn’t smile, but he quickly left Xander and made his way to the clearing. Xander didn’t like this at all, but he didn’t want to be alone or leave Daniel to be by himself. So reluctantly, he followed his friend to the clearing.

Now, right in front of them both, was a small, green clearing with a few black fences spread across the field, a few gravestones sticking out of the ground, and fog winding between it all. It was definitely odd and spooky, different and new. Daniel noticed the gravestones weren’t the usual shapes, and had no carvings in them. As if things were already as chilling as they were, a strange groan echoed ahead of them, loud but nearby. They could both feel chills going down their spines, Xander struck with terror.

“Daniel, we have to leave!” He whispered, desperately grabbing him by his arm and tugging him away from the graves.

“Yeah, yeah let’s go, we have to go,” Daniel turned and they both sprinted as fast as they could.

“You know how to get out of here right?” Xander asked, breathing heavily.

“Yes I was keeping track,” Daniel replied, talking as if he was standing still because of his athletic abilities. They ran for what felt a long time, they tripped often, sometimes even nearly hitting trees if they weren’t looking straight ahead. No matter how desperate they were to get out of this forest, they had to pause for a break. Neither of them could run for that long. Just walking they were an hour into the forest. After a minute of catching their breath they heard a twig snap behind them, the traditional “you’re not alone” alert in the forest. Holding their breaths, they turned to face the noise.

There, in front of them was a massive creature, creeping from behind a tree, it hid its body from the two boys. Slowly, it moved towards them, both of the boys couldn’t move, frozen in fear. As the creature emerged, the moon peaked down through the forest trees, creating little spots of light on the lurking monster.

Xander grabbed Daniel firmly, he wasn’t letting go anytime soon.

“It’s a beast!” He whined softly.

“No,” Daniel said peering ahead. “It’s a dragon.” And slowly but surely, a dragon showed himself, lowering his head to the boys. Its eyes were powerful, but gentle. They were a bright sapphire blue that seemed to glow in the dark of the night. Its unfolded green wings dragged along the forest floor, as if they were injured and in pain. Xander tried to step backwards, but Daniel made his way towards the dragon.

“What are you doing??” Xander whispered in sheer terror.

“Don’t you see?” A smile crept on his face. “He’s afraid, he’s scared, he’s hurt. We have to help him. I can’t believe dragons exist!”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I’m glad mythical creatures are real! But he’s not a nice dragon, we are going to die,” Xander said jerking towards Daniel, causing the creature to abruptly stop moving.

“We don’t know if they’re all real, but I can see him, I can see his pain right now. And don’t move, don’t scare him,” Daniel said, talking in a concerned, soft tone of voice. Xander at this point wanted to scream and run away from his delusional friend.

The dragon gently moved his head closer to Daniel, curious about this friendly, equally curious thing in front of him. It leaned closer, and closer to Daniel, not a flame sparking in his eyes.

Daniel, courage and pride filling up his lungs, reached towards this beautiful beast. This “beast” with a long tail that seemed to wave at passersby. His vibrant scales looked smooth to the touch, and his nose emitted a pleasant warm breeze when he breathed out the air almost gracefully.

What seemed to be a peaceful interaction, suddenly became life threatening as the dragon abruptly stood on his hind two legs and let out an ear piercing screech. At the same time, a shot was heard, a gunshot. It was very close, and was fired multiple times. Without hesitation, the dragon swung his head around, and came face to face with an army of humans. All with large louder guns, standing their ground in military outfits. All focus was on the dragon, who in a fit of rage stood his ground, and spit out fire at the soldiers. The fire was dangerously hot, burning off the skin of any body it touched. The yellow and red fire lit up the forest, casting great shadows into the unknown beyond. The men moved back from the giant beast avoiding the fire, but stood their ground as well.

Xander and Daniel took shelter as a full out war began. They hid behind a few large trees clustered together, the dragon and soldiers attacking each other was nearly burning down the forest. The shots fired were pointed at the dragon, but not all hit and the boys were afraid to get hurt or get killed.

After what seemed like an eternity, the dragon folded his wings out completely, revealing scars and cuts that no doubt came from past battles, and took off towards the moon.

Relieved it was over, but skeptical of the men that attacked the creature, Xander and David cautiously revealed themselves. The man who seemed to be the leader, saw them, and with a huge smile, came at them with his right hand extended out as a kind greeting. Xander was quick to trust them, but Daniel had his doubts.

“Thank you so much for scaring that horrid dragon off!” Xander said after the two introduced themselves. The man also introduced himself, telling them he was the leader of the troop and that he goes by Sergeant Smith.

“No problem! We try to keep all the beasts in check. And when we saw this dragon attacking you two young men, we had to step in,” the man relied with a large smile. His teeth were straight and seemingly perfect, and his voice was raspy but welcoming.

“How did you tow end up getting here anyhow?” He continued.

“My friend is a big thrill seeker, he’s always enjoyed a challenge. He always hikes off trails and searches for the unknown.” Xander replied while gesturing at Daniel.

“That’s amazing! You’re just like me,” the man’s focus shifted to Daniel. “I was just like you when I was your age! Now though I’m getting older, enjoy it while you can!” He chuckled at his own little joke.

“Thank you, um, Mr. Smith,” Daniel responded, still obviously skeptical of him. “May I ask, why do you hurt the dragons?”

“Well we have to protect ourselves and people like you, son!” He answered. “Sometimes it’s not in the most humane way, but none of these beasts really give us a choice at times.”

“I’m sorry, ‘these beasts’? There are more?”

“Yeah kid! We have many mythical creatures out here in these woods. For years me and my men have been keeping them in their place, and keeping them from getting out into the rest of the world. Where did you think the stories came from?”

“I always believed they were from someone’s imagination, sir,” Daniel said in all honesty.

“Not just from that, you’d be shocked at how many beasts roam these parts.”

“Are many of them friendly?” Daniel asked eyebrow raised. Sergeant Smiths demeanor changed a bit at this question.

“Well we can’t say for sure, but we can’t get into those details,” he replied with his arms crossed.

“So you are just killing innocent animals without hesitation?? Is that what you mean when you say ‘keeping them on check’??” Daniel took a few steps towards him.

“Listen kid!” His eyes now darkening. “These are not regular animals, they are beasts that will kill. If you aren’t going to take our help, then you can get out of this forest by yourself.”

“I’m not going to let you just kill them, and not all of them are beasts, you just present them that way!”

“You’re in my way,” Smith said now in fury. “Leave, and don’t tell anyone of what you have found.”

“I’m not leaving now, but when I do, you can be sure the whole world will know of your dirty secret. Killing animals that have done nothing wrong.”

“Listen,” the man sighed. “Who do you think the people in those graves you saw were?” This made Daniel stop and listen. “They were our people, and they were killed by these beasts in these forests. They were buried in memory of their honor and bravery.” Daniel thought of Smiths words for a minute. Then his eyes lit up as he looked back up at the man trying to intimidate him. Xander recognized that loom in Daniel’s eyes. It meant he had an idea, and was determined to go through with it.

“Then why were there no words written on the graves? Why were they not a usual gravestone shape with the name of the deceased carved in it?” Daniels questions made the man’s eyes widen, he had been caught. “I think some of these mythical animals are smarter than humans realize, and buried the people that were murdered, by you!”

“That’s a strong accusation, Daniel,” Xander said in a low voice moving closer beside his friend.

“Your friend’s right,” Sergeant Smith said. “You can’t be blaming me for something like that.”

“Well think about it,” Daniel directed to Xander but eyes not wandering from Smith’s. “These guys have devoted their lives to killing these mythical creatures in order to ‘keep them in check,” he said sarcastically, then continued. “They are obviously very devoted to it, and have already been threatening us. So who’s to say that they were the ones killing people all these years and pinning it on the creatures. Maybe they get money from the government when they supposedly ‘save mankind’ by getting rid of another ‘dangerous’ creature. But in reality, they are not dangerous. Now maybe that’s not the reason, I don’t know exactly why, but they will kill people, in order to keep killing these magnificent, beautiful mythical creatures. So, Mr. Smith, how accurate was that?” He thought about his options for a minute. Until a sinister smile crawled up his face.

“Not bad for a kid, but I’m afraid, you can’t tell anyone of this. I would let you pass, but you seem like a completely crazy lunatic who would actually tell everyone about this.”

“And what are you going to do about it?” Daniel protested while Xander started to become deathly afraid of this man.

“Well I can do this,” and with a flick of his wrist, Daniel felt a sudden prick on his neck. He immediately looked over at Xander, and saw a dart had been shot in his neck. With a feeling of dread, Daniel knew that prick was from a dat in his neck too. And with a last enraged glare at the tall man in front of them, he fell to the ground.

Present Day (Back At The Train)

Daniel’s anger flared as he recalled the way the men just shot at the beautiful dragon. He put the whole story together in the past few hours he’d been awake. He and Xander, wherever Xander was, were the next victim’s. They’d probably be buried by a creature in the forest, which made his heart sink. Why would anyone want to hurt an animal that cares for things they’ve never even met before?

Daniel had seen a few specks of light while he was conscious out in the distance, maybe they were fairies since according to the man, there were many mythical creatures that lived in Thriller forest. Even the thought of hurting a little fairy killed him. How could someone do such a thing? None of the animals in this forest were beasts. Maybe a few were predatory animals, or more territorial, but they should never be called ‘beasts’. This, he knew for sure. Maybe if someone was using it on a positive way, like “a magnificent beast”, but not in an evil, cold hearted way.

He was chained to the train tracks, and as the hours went on, he eventually felt the ground shaking. He knew he would die in minutes, and as of the forest wanted to say its farewells, he heard a dragon call in the distance and looked up to see its silhouette in the distance. And with a smile, he knew that this forest was filled with the soldiers of a war, and the gravestones of the ones brave enough to stand up to them. Soon enough his gravestone would be placed up as well. Even though he only stood up for the animals, compared to the others who might’ve tried to physically do something about it, he still felt proud for trying. Another brave kid wanting and trying to save beautiful, misunderstood creatures. And he would not have it any other way.

He could still feel the blood flowing down his back and neck now from his fall and clash with the train track. But, with a breath of courage, he managed to stand back up on the tracks, his ankle tightly chained to the tracks. And with his eyes closed and arms opened wide, he awaited his foreseen future. There was nothing he could do now.