The Devil's Breath

The Devil's Breath by Geoff Mouritzen

THURSDAY EVENING

Thunder rumbled, as thick black clouds veiled the night sky.

Trees in the forest blended, forming an impassable barrier.

Snap!

While stepping over a log, her sandshoe slid through the thick gathering of autumn leaves on to a stout stick. Her foot continued to sink into the leaves until the stick broke. She was jumpy anyway, and breathed in the cold night air.

What the hell was she doing walking through the forest in the inky darkness of night, and how in God's name did she get there? Susan couldn't remember driving or walking into the forest – she had suddenly found herself surrounded by trees, holding onto a lantern. In fact, Susan was certain that she had gone to bed that evening and couldn't even begin to understand how she had transported herself from her bedroom to the wilderness.

Snap!

Susan spun around straining to see between the trees to her right, from where the new sound of a stick snapping had emanated, but could barely make out the bushes immediately in front of her, the light was so poor. Her gleaming green eyes tried desperately to see.

As if it might make a difference to her visibility, she tossed her shoulder length blonde hair out of her eyes, but it didn't. Whatever it was hiding beyond the curtain of night remained a mystery.

Susan looked at her hand shaking as it held the lantern – she was now very scared, as she realised she wasn't alone. Maybe, she thought hopefully, it had been an animal.

Even so, fear of the unknown threat began to work itself into her mind.

The kerosene lantern trembled in time with her hand, and the flame flickered, threatening to go out as she held it up over her head to see if it offered a better view, but the agitated flame was quite small and didn't penetrate the night that cloaked her. Susan lowered the lantern, disappointed that she still had no idea of what had broken the stick and continued walking.

With the possibility of another person in the forest, Susan didn't know what she should do, whether to stand still and wait for a confrontation or move on. Rightly or wrongly, she made her decision and carefully moved on, one foot after the other, negotiating the rough ground.

Snap!

This time the sound of the branch breaking came from her left.

Susan spun around, and for the second time in as many minutes searched the darkness trying to locate the source but once again the lack of light plagued her vision.

By now she was terrified and began to walk on, faster than before. Her lantern offered just enough light to traverse the rough ground safely, but she realised she was creating too much noise and forced herself to slow considerably and take far more care.

Running wildly like a frightened rabbit wasn't going to help her situation. To remain as safe as possible with the other unknown entities in the forest, she had to act smarter, had to be in a position to hear their progress as they stumbled through the dark, which would enable her to pinpoint their locations. Hearing only her own passage wasn't going to help the situation she was in.

Snap!

With her heart pounding, Susan spun around and saw the silhouette of a large man disappear into the thick black bush.

'Who are you?' she called hesitantly and spun sideways and again saw the figure of a man disappear behind a stand of trees.

She turned away from where she had seen the men and rushed into the forest, holding the lantern out at arms length so she could see the ground underfoot. Determined to get away, she jumped over crevices that were washed out of gentle slopes by heavy rains, and she weaved around bushes and under trees.