The Nightmare of Belton Lake

CHAPTER 9

For the next several minutes, the teenagers walked along the dark run down dirt trail that led to the main road of Belton Lake. Tall tree lines surrounded them from both sides, forcing them to stay on the somewhat clear dirt road. An eerie silence remained between the three despite the numerous loud crickets and hoots of the owls nearby. Often times, they would jump slightly or yank their heads to look behind them whenever they heard a strange noise. Some noises even sounded like they were directly behind them.
The rocks were sharp underneath their bare feet but no one complained. The tense cool air was cold against their skin. Their clothes which were still soaking wet didn't help. Savannah and Cassandra were in their bikini tops and pajama shorts. Garrett was wearing only sweatpants.
All of them were still scared that the monstrous beast that took the form of a horse would be behind them. Savannah silenced her cries and sniffles and looked on ahead in a gloomy look. Garrett kept his eyes fixed on the tall grass and the tree lines next to them.
Cassandra, meanwhile, kept looking behind her and listening carefully. Through the rocks and dirt that crunched underneath their feet, she strained her ears to listen for the sound of a snort or hoofbeats.
None of them want to say it but they wondered if they would get out of the restricted area in time before the monster found them again.
What if the monster keeps following us even if we're outside the restricted area? Cassandra thought. She dared not reveal her concern about this to the others. Perhaps this monster knew its boundaries and wouldn't dare go past the restricted area sign. If it had ever been so, then Lake Belton would be shut down and no one would possibly know why.
Cassandra once again thought about the death of Carlos and wondered if any other person had wandered into this area and had met the same fate.
"What are we going to tell the police?" Cassandra finally asked aloud.
"Keep your voice down," Garrett said in a warning tone. His eyes kept scanning the forest beside them.
"She's right though, Garrett. What are we going to tell them?" Savannah sad. "That's some muddy looking carnivorous horse drowned my boyfriend? They're never going to believe us and they'll think that we murdered him."
Cassandra looked at her with wide shocked eyes. "No they won't!"
"It would be more believable than saying a monster killed him," Savannah said. She stopped walking and looked at Garrett. Everyone else stopped and looked at her. Garrett continued to be silent. "I'm not saying to not tell the truth. People need to know about that thing. It's obvious that the lake isn't safe but it's obvious at the same time people are going to accuse us as crazy teenage murderers."
"Then what do we do then?" Cassandra asked realizing Savannah was making a good point. She had seen too many movies where bloodstained teens approached police officers to tell the tale of a serial killer in the woods. The teens instead were placed as the murderers and the serial killer continued to be free and kill anyone in his path.
Savannah gripped her shoulder slightly and thought for a moment. "Maybe.... maybe we should just blame it on alligators...," She said.
Cassandra looked at her with wide eyes in disbelief. "Are you sure?"
Savannah looked over at Cassandra. Her eyes held remorse but yet a seriousness to it. Cassandra realized she meant it.
"Yes, I'm sure," Savannah said and then looked over at garrett. "I loved Carlos too Garrett. He was just as my friend as he was yours. We should raise awareness that there are large alligators on the loose in Lake Belton. With luck, animal experts will find that monster and they'll destroy it."
Cassandra thought over Savannah's words. She didn't like it completely but this was a way to save themselves from being framed from murder or being framed as insane. How would anyone believe three teenagers that were drinking inside of a restricted area of Lake Belton?
"Then how do we explain the Jeep?" Garrett asked making a point.
Oof.
"We can say that the jeep was fine when we left. We'll just act like we don't know what happened when they ask about it," Cassandra suggested seemingly unsure of how to explain it.
What about our fingerprints? They'll be on the jeep!" Cassandra said.
"Of course they will be." Savannah said. "We were riding in the jeep to get here. They won't suspect anything otherwise."
"It's kinda sketchy in my opinion." Garrett finally commented. He rubbed the back of his neck.
Savannah shrugged with her one good arm. "It's better than nothing. We'll have to work on it a bit before we call 911."
Garrett sighed and then looked ahead. "All right. Let's blame it on alligators...," He said, agreeing to the plan. He then looked back at the girls. "But whenever we get back home, I think we should start looking into mythology articles. We need to find out what the hell that thing is and try to put a stop to it. This way, no one ever has to suffer like Carlos did ever again."
Savannah nodded
"I agree," Cassandra said.
With them all in agreement, they begin to walk again.
For the next several minutes, they walked in silence.
It was soon during this time that the cricket stopped turning and the owls stopped hooting. Everything went deadly silent to where it made Cassandra uncomfortable.
It was when she looked back behind them again that she finally heard it.
The distant sound of hoofbeats.
"Guys," She said, stopping in her tracks. She kept her head turned around behind them.
"What is it? Is it back?" Garrett asked quickly.
Cassandra strained her ears for a moment. It was easy due to the fact that everything around them was silent. She had read in a book that whenever animals had gone silent that means they were danger nearby. She should have noticed this earlier. She felt angry at herself for not realizing it sooner.
"It's coming!" Cassandra said.
"Get to the tree line! Now!" Garrett said. He herded the girls towards the nearby tree line.
Cassandra and Savannah hid behind a large tree while Garrett hidden behind the tree next to them. It was skinnier but it still hid his whole body frame.
Cassandra peeked out behind the tree. Sure enough the hoof beats were getting louder and louder. Soon, a black tall streak zoomed past them. Only getting a glimpse of it, Cassandra saw more of the horses body.
It was black and slimy looking. As well as wet. It's long once brown and white mane was now shorter and mixed with long strands of grass. It too was the color of midnight black. It's two long protruding fangs were bloodied and it's yellow eyes staring ahead of the trail.
It galloped wildly along the trail going past the teenagers and not stopping.
It must be thinking we're going to the top of the hill where the restricted area sign is. . Cassandra thought to herself.
As a hoof beats grew distant, the monster let out a large loud cry that echo throughout the forest. Cassandra shuttered up the sound.
As a hoof beats continued to faded away, Savannah whispered.
"What do we do now? We can't go back on the trail or it will find us."
"I think it might be following our scent. There's no other way it could have known we were coming up this trail." Garrett said in a loud whisper.
"Let's try walking through the forest. It's too cluttered in here and it can't follow us in here. Cassandra suggested.
The trees were growing close together. The small spaces between them had large scrubs and bushes. It was too cluttered and all too close together for it's horse like body to fit through here. But it was perfect for humans.
"Come on, before it comes back." Garrett said. He lead the way and the the girls followed.
Despite their new plan, it was easier said than done to walk along the treeline.
For starters, the forest was darker. While the moon had lit their path before, the moonlight barely got through the gaps of the trees.
Another problem was their feet. With the multiple attacks and decision making of the group, neither of them had thought to take their shoes or flip flops with them. They had been forgotten and left behind in the destroyed tent or the very damaged jeep. Walking in the forest provided as well to be painful and noisy.
Walking on dead leaves, twigs and acorns, it seemed the teens were better off walking in the wide open trail.
Cassandra huffed in annoyance after a few minutes of walking. The progress to get to the gate was slower than before and with the noise they were making, the monster horse would find them more easily.
Cassandra looked again at her surroundings. The trees, while offering cover, seemed terrifying more than ever. They loomed over her like threatening shadows. The twigs and broken leaves under her feet were painful to walk and stand on. Her feet were becoming sore. Cassandra could feel no breeze coming through the treeline. She only felt the tension and fear.
As she walked after Savannah and Garrett, a certain tree caught her eye.
At first, she thought it was a branch that had grown in a weird position. But as they teens passed it, she realized it was something else.
"Guys, hold on a minute," Cassandra said.
"What is it? Do you hear it coming back?" Savannah asked.
Cassandra shook her head and pointed to the tree next to her. "It's a sign. Look!"
She rubbed the wood, clearing it of the collected dust and debris. A long skinny wooden sign was nailed to the tree. A long line ran across the sign and then curved upwards. At the top of the curved line was an arrow.
"What does it mean?" Savannah said after a few moments of looking at it.
The sigh held no words and was obviously hand drawn. The black line was crooked and not completely straight in some places and the ink was beginning to fade.
"I think it's ..." Garrett said getting closer, and the. Looking further into the forest. "Pointing in deeper..."
"What?"
*This is great news!" Cassandra said smiling for the first time in all night. Once she looked over and saw the others confused expressions, she explained. "Guys, this means that there is someone else here and they know about the horse."
"First off, don't even call it that," Savannah said, "Secondly, we don't know anything. We don't even know who made this sign."
"It's obviously leading somewhere." Garrett said pointing with his finger. "I think I see another sign on one of the trees ahead."
Savannah shook her head and took a step back. "No. No way. This doesn't look or feel right to me."
"It might lead to someone who can help us. They might have some sort of landline or a first aid kit out here." Cassandra said, pointing to Savannah's shoulder.
"I think it's worth the risk. Besides, the hors-- monster can't follow us in here."
"We don't even know if these arrows lead anywhere." Savannah pleaded.
"Actually...." Garrett said. He walked behind the tree and parted a bunch of old leaves with his foot. Before him was a well beaten path. The grass hadn't grown there for some time. Cassandra stared down at the ground and sure enough saw a small dirt path leading further into the woods. It was man made and made by numerous trips on foot through the woods. Whoever did this hadn't walked through these woods in a while.
It was slightly concerning but yet, it still was a sign of hope for Cassandra. She had to know. She had to try.
Savannah gave a helpless look like she was outnumbered. "Why can't we just keep going to the exit?!"
There was suddenly a loud terrifying cry in the air. It was far away but hearing it, Cassandra knew it was from the monster.
It sounded angry.
Everyone turned their heads into the direction of the sound.
"I think it realized we never made it up the hill," Garrett said. Cassandra looked back at Savannah.
Savannah gulped and took a step forward towards the woods.
"I changed my mind. Let's go," she said.
Cassandra smiled slightly and followed. Garrett brought up the rear.
The walk in the woods was hard, but following the numerous arrow signs left on trees, the trail lead them through the thick woods. Going in deeper into the woods, it was darker than ever. The trees around thesave m seemed to be taller than the ones along the treeline. The crickets seemed right under their feet. Often times, they hear various hissing, sticks and distant fleeting noises.
Yet Cassandra knew it couldn't be the monster. There was no way it could reach them in this thick forest.
After what seemed like a solid fifteen minutes of walking, the trail began to descend down a steep hill.
The way down was a bit more clear of trees, rocks and large branches. The trail was more worn down and more visible. The moon which was now completely above them, shone down and lit the way.
As Cassandra focused on her footing and made care sure where she stepped was going to lead a sharp stick or rock in her foot, Savannah pointed at the bottom of the hill.
"Look!" She said, pointing.
Cassandra looked up and gaped slightly when she saw a small cabin sitting at the very bottom of the hill. The cabin was completely made from logs. A small cobblestone chimney sat on the corner of the roof. A small wooden porch clung to the left side of Cassandrasview. A broken porch swing sat idly on the porch.
There seemed to be no light coming from within nor any signs of life. Cassandra felt a sense of dread as it now seemed abandoned.
"Come on, they're probably asleep." Garrett said, using the girls forward. Despite the painful pinecones and sharp rocks under their feet, a new sense of hope made them seemingly fly down the hill. Once reaching the bottom of the hill and the steps of the porch the three teenagers paused.
Cassandra looked at her surroundings once more. Whoever lived here had a excellent view of the lake. Just a few yards away was a rocky shore of Lake Belton. Small waves slowly rolled in a rapid pace. Cassandra shuddered slightly at the sight and then looked back at the cabin.
Here goes nothing.
She let out a breath and slowly walked up the porch steps.