Devon held Adira's hand as the two women nearly slipped into a small stream they had jumped over. Adira couldn't tell where they were or if anything seemed familiar to her. Granted, it was late at night and the flashlights Devon had flickered off every now and then.

"There," Devon pointed to a random spot in front of them, "I heard her behind me the whole time. I turned and she was gone. She could have strayed away at any point."

Adira looked behind them, shivering as the wind whispered through the leaves, "If she's going to do something to herself she'll go deeper. We have to backtrack and search for anything. Any clues."

Devon shook her head, looking around frantically, "We saw nothing on the way up here. It's not safe. We don't even have anything to protect us with."

Adira was close to refusing, but she realized that Devon was right. They had no form of protection and it was suicide to just be wandering like that in the darkness. Besides, she had someone else who needed her. Mitch was still missing. As cruel and as evil as it may have seemed-she understood why Devon had refused to help. At this point, there was nothing they could do.

"I'm sorry I brought you out like this, Devon. We should go back and do what we were going to do." Adira felt guilty, but she knew it was stupid to be out there now. If anything, authorities had to deal with it.

"It's starting to rain," Devon protested, wiping the fresh drops of rain off of her cheeks.

"What? It's not-" Adira shined her dying flashlight at Devon's face, freezing when she noticed a red, pigmented smear across the others face.

"What is it?" Devon asked fearfully, wiping yet another more larger drop of red from her eyebrow. Adira motioned for her to be quiet as she slowly lifted up the flashlight. Her shaky hands could barely keep still when she noticed a pair of feet dangling directly over them.

A woman- Miriam herself- was half eaten, in the clutches of a beast that was now disturbed from its dinner.

The monster that had attacked Adira earlier on looked down upon her, his eyes burning so bright she felt she would faint on the spot. He flung his meal aside and dropped to the floor.

Devon watched with horror as the creature grew taller, his broad shoulders and fierce posture sending the most awful feeling into her whole body. She opened her mouth and let out a shriek.

Adira grabbed Devon and the two of them went flying back down to their camp. They couldn't stop screaming, especially when one of them turned around and noticed how fast and unnatural the monster was moving.

"Somebody help!" Adira yelled, hoping her voice would travel and wake up the distant campers. Devon joined as well, which only made their pursuer even angrier. He roared as he jumped directly over them and landed in front of the two.

Adira crashed right into the beasts hard chest, immediately letting go of Devon so she wouldn't fall into the trap as well.

"No!" Devon shouted, unable to do anything as the attacker firmly gripped on to Adira and refused to let her go.

Adira knew it was over. She rotated her head to Devon with tears in her eyes and whispered a faint "Run".

The captured woman closed her eyes and accepted her fate, only death didn't come quickly. Her captor bolted away from Devon, leaving behind the screeching woman.

Adira tried as much as she could to wiggle free from the monster's grip, but he was too strong for her. She figured he was going to string her up in a tree and eat her like he ate that woman. She could feel the victims blood rubbing off on her face from his jacket, and the sensation made her whimper. The beast looked down at her rather quickly and stopped running. He let go, holding his prey a little roughly by her arms as she squirmed in silent fear. Adira was afraid the slightest noise would cause him to strike quicker, and therefore kept quiet.

"Please," Adira mustered up the courage to whisper when the silence and anxiety was too much to handle, "Please...whatever you are...if you understand me, I don't want you to hurt me. Please let me go. I beg of you."

The monster cocked his head, as if seemingly trying to understand what the hell she was saying. It was only when his grip loosened did Adira realize she might have a chance of escaping. She continued to whisper, hoping that somehow the sound was taming the beast, "I don't know if you understand what I'm saying...but I don't want to hurt you and I hope you don't want to hurt me." She slowly began to pull back, repeating herself as calmly as she could, "I'm only here to find someone. I'm just here for someone. Please don't hurt me or any of my companions...we are just here for our loved ones."

Loved ones.

Adira jumped, looking around frantically when the whispering trees repeated her words. She could hear the faint talking, forming actual sentences that were unfortunately undistinguishable at that point. Was it all in her head?

She let out a yelp when the beast pulled her in closer, deeply inhaling the scent of her hair.

That was it.

Her brain was going to be eaten first.

Adira choked out a cry, only to be grabbed by her wrist and forcefully dragged across the forest floor. She kicked and howled, but her killer didn't care. He angrily grunted every now and then, as if telling her to shut up but never did anything to actually hurt her.

It was only when they were at the entrance of some large cave did Adira finally stop. She noticed traces of bones around her, mixed with ripped clothes and stained leaves.

Gasping, Adira started to yell at her captor as he began to drag her into the dark den, "No! NO!". Her cries were futile as she dug her nails into the ground, ripping the tips of her fingers as she disappeared into the darkness.