The dreaded nightfall.

nightfall

The woman who had threatened me with death maybe thirty minutes ago was now pacing around the room ranting to me about the insane situation I have been placed in. The most important things that I've learned in the past few hours are easy to summarize in a few sentences. First off, her name is Veronica, she's 19, and she made it here exploring the forest -which was a usual daily task for her-, she felt stuck and lost for weeks on end, until finally she realized what the situation was. The place we are in was once a camp where the government had some of their laboratories to test on animals and patients alike, when at some point it must've somehow been abandoned. Now, the only thing that still lives here aside from her is "The Rake', named by her. An animalistic creature, which only comes out at night, scared away by light and radar frequencies, that has attacked her countless nights. The only way she knows to escape is somehow through the laboratory, which she hasn't fully understood yet. Suddenly I was out of my daydreams, and the sun was setting. "We have to leave here, make it to one of two places. Do you trust me?" Veronica said to me, holing out her hand. I didn't take it, but I stood up, with a softened expression, almost a smile. "I do enough." I told her, and as she started walking out, I followed, holding my little container. In her hands were a knife, a strange device which I assumed was a radar, and bandages. I sighed through the fear and decided it was best not to fight against the feelings. I trotted along with her, looking around the frozen lands, now noticing how obvious it was that The Rake had been there. Random footprints, -some faded, some almost fresh,- scratch marks in the trees, shrubs torn to pieces, snow piles undone and made into a messy slosh. Suddenly, I heard a howling sound, that turned my blood cold. "Shit, we gotta hurry." Veronica said quietly, picking up her pace. In the fair distance was a tall tower, it was dark and looked unsafe, but it was definitely where we were headed. "How are we going to survive some insane creature in that rickety ass tower?" I said, mainly through fear, but my attitude was ripe. Veronica looked back at me with a scowl, and didn't respond. Once we'd arrived at the old tower, the sun was gone, and the moon was up, barely shedding any light. It was dark, and it was cold. "Go first." Veronica said to me, motioning the ladder. I shuddered in the cold, and gave her a look. "You think I can climb that? I'm gonna fall and die!" I proclaimed, feeling my weak and cold arms. I knew I couldn't support myself. 'Well I don't care, if you fall I'll catch you, I'll be right under you, now it's either die climbing this or die to some weird freak monster!!" Veronica howled at me, and I flinched at her loud voice, but she was right. I grabbed ahold of the first step, and it made a cracking sound. Then with such hesitation, the second, and third, and forth. Finally my feet got ahold of the first step. I was climbing, and I was going quickly. I felt like it had been forever when I reached the top, and I let my wrist scrape against the wood as I clawed onto the floorboards to get up. I got my way up, having to maneuver my thighs and knees onto the wood with me. I sat in the corner and watched Veronica perfectly latch herself on with ease. She stood up, looking down at me with a smirk. "Watch and learn, kid. I'm about to show you how it's done."