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THESE ARE THE RULES MAKE SURE YOU READ BEFORE PARTICIPATING.

PART ONE IS HERE

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For Those Who Follow. Part 2.

"Are you stupid? How could I forget..."

It was years ago now, but I still shutter whenever I think about it.

I had come out alone one night. It's allowed.. but definitely not encouraged, and there are consequences. You're always supposed to have at least one other member of the tribe with you when you come out to the woods, doesn't matter when.

But I loved the woods at night. Coming out by myself every now and then was always worth not eating for a night or the extra workload I'd have for the next week.

But that night.. that night was the only time I'd ever wished I had just stayed in.

There's a spot about a quarter field in... a few of us know about it, Lauren included. But it's my spot... nobody else loves it the way I do.

The only practical way to get there is through a small cave; dark, damp, and steep... you have to have a certain degree of agility to navigate it properly.

But once you do, and you come out on the other side... no matter how many times I visit, it still leaves me breathless.

A calm, serene field on the edge of a cliffside. A single tree, with branches strong enough to support your weight and wide enough to lay into. A small waterfall flows into a natural spring that never seems to go cold, no matter what time of year it is... the whole place is completely walled off from the rest of the forrest, it's own private space.

A world within a World. A dream you can have while awake.

And the moon... the moon is so big, so bright, so clear. No other spot does it Justice the way this one does.

But I haven't been there in a while... not since that night.

I had climbed up into the tree, enjoying the calmness of it all, the way I had what seemed like a million times before.

And then I saw it. It was... floating, on the water, still enough to not cause a single ripple on its surface.

I hadn't seen anything like it before, or since.

It was... black. Pitch black. And smooth. If the sky hadn't been so clear, I would have been blind to it.

And the way it moved... constantly shifting and morphing into itself, contracting and expanding while seamlessly maintaining its shape.

A living illusion.

It wasn't big, really... probably the size of a well fed squirrel. But the way it made me feel... I could have been face to face with an angry full grown grizzly bear, and it wouldn't have managed to make me as nervous as this thing did.

I was captivated by it. Mesmerized... but also, curious.

I watched it... for a long time. It just stayed in place, seemingly oblivious to my existence.

I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to see it up close.

I moved, slowly, the way I always did while stalking prey.

Down the tree, through the grass, light on my feet.

Inhale, exhale.

It had to have been aware of me. The grass wasn't very tall and the moon was bright enough for me to see it, so there's no way it didn't see me.

Any other animal would have run as soon as I had gotten out of the tree, if not before. But this thing.. this thing just stayed there.

I was so close to it, maybe 6 arms away if I'm being generous. It seemed to have no definable features, no eyes, no mouth, no nose... I didn't hear or see signs of breathing. Nothing.

It's like it wasn't even real, I started to question if it was alive.

And then, just like that, it was on my arm.

It all happened so fast, I didn't even get a chance to panic. I didn't even see it move, didn't even feel it make contact, but there it was, latched onto my arm and... squeezing, not clawing, not biting, but constricting, like a snake in the process of stealing the life from its prey.

I should have been terrified, I should have slammed this thing into the nearest rock or into the tree, but I just... stood there. Watched it. Panic never came, I was completely calm, like it was completely natural.

I watched it as it conformed around my arm, still shifting and moving in seemingly impossible ways. What appeared to be a single, red eye, faintly began to glow from its body... intensifying, brightening, until my entire field of vision was nothing but a deep, blinding red.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in my bed... the chief and Lauren looking over me.

"He's awake!" I faintly heard Lauren say "He's finally awake!"

"Thank the stars..." the chief muttered under his breath.

"We'll deal with this later" he said. "For now.. for now, he still needs rest."

I was sick for weeks. That was the worst part of it all. It wasn't the confusion I felt, or the questions I had... but the sickness. That was the hardest thing I ever had to go through. I was sure I was gonna die more times than I'd like to remember.

But, after what seemed like forever, I got better.

I wasn't allowed outside of the camp for a while after that... it probably would have been longer... but things were... different. And they never went back to being the same.

I was an okay marksman before it all happened, now I could shoot down a fly in motion if I felt like it. I was faster, more agile, more focused. Clearer. I couldn't explain it, I didn't know why. It didn't happen all at once, but I just seemed to... learn faster, faster than I ever did before, faster than everybody else.

Before I knew it, I was the best hunter in the tribe. Everybody noticed, they asked questions... I told them some of what happened, that my memory was hazy... but they didn't know the extent of it, not even Lauren. They could never understand what it felt like... how much it had changed me.

Or maybe I was scared of what would happen if they did.

It had been long enough.

I had to go back.

I had to find it again.

If only I...

"...Aiden?"

Lauren was right in front of me with a puzzled look on his face.

"You okay, man? You spaced out there for a little while..."

"Yeah.. yeah man, I'm fine, just thinking, is all..."

"Come back into the tribe with me, Aiden. Come out to the woods tomorrow, when it's daylight."

I looked over my shoulder, back into the woods. It was like it was calling me, compelling me to walk right into its gaping jaw, ready to swallow me whole.

"...Okay, tomorrow. Let's go back." I said to Lauren.

"Oh.. oh, good" he said with more relief than I think he wanted to let on.

"Now, lets get this deer strung up and back home. Man I can't wait to sink my teeth into..."

He froze.

"Hey... Aiden. The deer..."

I looked over at where it was...

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The Deer Was:

1. Floating.

2. Gone.

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TO ENTER, MAKE SURE YOU:

1. Follow me @iamjustincscott. (NOT necessary, but you will get updated about each new chapter quicker)

2. Re-steem the Chapter. (NOT necessary, but I will be paying attention to who does this and I will take it into consideration when picking winners)

3. Comment below explaining:

• What your choice is.
• Why you would like to see the story develop in that direction as opposed to any of the other options.
• What you think the consequences of that choice should be for the characters and their world, and why it should benefit, or hinder, their progress.
• One idea of your own that you think would make the story better.

AND THATS ALL. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE FULL RULES LINKED ABOVE AND AGAIN HERE.

THANK YOU FOR READING PART TWO!

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If you enjoyed this, you might enjoy some of my other work here:

• The Fog

• The Truth About Karma

• Your Limited Fucks

• Winter and Spring

• The Skyrim Comparison

• For Those Who Follow, Part 1 - An Interactive Series! WEEKLY CONTEST GIVING AWAY TOTAL SBD GENERATED FOR EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER!

• CALLING ALL WRITERS. LETS MAKE #WRITINGPROMPTS A THING.

• The Gym - A Place For Mental Clarity

• The Power of Words - A Visual Poem.