The thought of someone going through such an experience made me swallow hard. Everything I was hearing was foreign, but the possibility of it happening made me continue asking
"Did your brother leave for Graven?"
"Yes, he left this morning."
"Why Graven, though, I heard Laydel was experiencing a surge in missing people, doesn't that make you curious?"
"It does, but Laydel has a smaller forest," I threw him a confused look. "Wendigos dwell mostly in thick forests. It's the perfect habitat for them; it's secretly isolated, making hunting better without risking losing their prey or being caught. This town and Graven fit that category but when it crossed over it ended up here and it knew we would hunt it so it couldn't stay, Graven on the other hand seems like the best option but to throw as off I assume it chose to take people from Laydel, it's alot of work but Laydel's forest is too small, it can't risk the exposure"
"So it's taking people from Laydel just to throw you off? But shouldn't it know you would at least suspect it was in Graven because of its nature of preferring thicker forests, the way you speak of it, it seems smart enough."
"That's the thing, Damian and I don't understand. We suspected that it perhaps wanted to stay closer to the crossover path, but even then, why would it want to go back to a world that it escaped from?"
"I heard you mention it was a boss."
"Yes, that's why it's smart enough to have stayed hidden for this long. Many types of creatures or beings have a rank. In the case of the wendigo's they're those at the very bottom, commonly known just as lesser wendigo; their strength is minimal, and they only survive on wild animals. Then there are the normal ones, they survive on animals or other creatures.
Next are the bosses, they're very few in number, we have only three in record, they survive on other creatures or beings, and even their kind. Still, to increase their power, they always seek a way to have human flesh, apparently, it levels them up in many ways. The bosses are the smartest, fastest, and strongest, They also have an ancient power that helps them mimic the voice of other beings and humans. They use it to lure their victims."
"What!" The last part caught me off guard, I had not expected such a vile thing to have such a handy power. "What do they look like?"
"They're tall, with a bony structure that ends in sharp claws, their faces are skeletal with hollow cheeks and sharp pointed teeth, their eyes are always sunken, except for the bosses who have glowing eyes and also have antlers."
"Bony with claws…glowing eyes." No, there was no way, that was just my imagination, there was no possible way, right?
Anson called to me, but his voice seemed so far away. I remembered the first time I saw those glowing eyes and thought I was hallucinating due to exhaustion then the second time after my exams, yet again I put it off but now I suspected I wasn't just imagining it all and that was a reality I wasn't sure I wanted to face but even so I asked, my voice shaking
"The eyes... what color?"
"The bosses? They have yellow glowing eyes."
I froze my fear, almost choking me, "no, no, no, no"
"Lyla, what's wrong? I need you to calm down, breathe, Lyla, breathe slowly in, then out, okay again."
Anson managed to calm me down and waited until I had finally collected myself before he said rather than asked, "You saw it"
"Twice," shock registered on his face before he ambushed me
"When? where?"
"The day we first met and the day I finished my exams. I saw it through my bedroom window, it was hidden in the shadows of my garden, but I'm sure it was looking up at me, I even saw its slender arm the second time."
Anson stayed quiet for a while, too deep in thought, before he got up and said we needed to leave. I didn't question him but settled on his back. I almost asked him to stay when he dropped me off at home, but he promised he'd be around to make sure nothing happened, and I believed him even as he pulled out of our driveway with his truck. He was apparently going to hide it away and return
That night, I did not dare sleep; I made sure to check that the security system was on and also checked that every door and window was closed. I settled into my bed, my bow and arrows next to me, thank the heavens for the many archery classes I took, I thought, at least if it decided to visit again, I wouldn't go down without a fight, and I'd also have something to defend my family with
There were moments I'd almost dozed off, but each time I went to the bathroom to wash off my face, I didn't know how long it would take to find and kill that thing, but I wouldn't be sleeping until then. I didn't bother watching or listening to anything since I was afraid that if I did, I'd miss any sound which could possibly mean the difference between life and death
I kept myself busy by massaging my ankle from time to time. I would hate for it to be a hindrance in my potential escape, and it helped considerably ease the swelling
Dusk broke, and I let out a sigh of relief. From what I had gathered, that thing wouldn't attack in broad daylight. I immediately headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower before leaving the house, after writing a brief note for my mother that I was headed to Brea's house
I spotted Anson's truck a few blocks away, but there didn't seem to be any sign of him, with my ankle doing far better, I was no longer limping, although my walking was slightly a bit off I decide to look around our property and found him sitting on a bench in our garden
"You do know it's weird that you're just sitting there this early in the morning, someone might be suspicious," I tried to joke
"Who even wakes up this early?" A small smile graced his face. "Didn't sleep, huh?"
"That obvious."
"You just look a bit tired."
"I couldn't sleep; the possibility of that thing returning wouldn't let me."
"I understand."
"Thanks for looking out for me and my family, really appreciate it."
"It's not a problem that thing is the whole reason I'm here after all."
"Hhmm, so do you have any plans on how we'll catch it?"
"We?"
"I mean, if there's a way I can help, I want to."
"Mmhm, well, I've summoned my brother, we'll know what to do when he gets here."
"Oh...did…did you tell him that I saw his aah…"
"Not yet, but I guess he'll find out soon."
"Right, that will be… something," I stated, unable to hide the nervousness in my voice
"He's not all that bad, you know, he's just a bit uptight, but he's a good guy."
"I'll have to take your word for it, I guess."
"Look at us now, you didn't like me at first, but I'd say we're friends now."
"I still find you a bit annoying."
"There, you said a bit. That's progress."
Before I could retort, his brother stood right in front of us, his head tilted, surveying me with a cold but curious look in his eyes