Something in the Woods

Chapter 2

"Katie, get up! You're gonna be late!" 
The sound of Ms. Doris shrill' voice jolted the teen awake. Katie groaned, knowing she had to start getting ready for school. Three weeks and seventh grade had already been a nightmare for her. Unfortunately, she couldn't just cut school and hide in the woods…. At least not yet. 
Reluctantly, she got up and put her blonde hair in twin braids. Then she put on her favorite green sweater, it was starting to get cooler in Claymore, plus it was easier to hide her scrawny body underneath something baggy. She walked downstairs to the kitchen where she saw eight year old Maríana and six year old Anthony eating cereal at the table. While the older woman was putting toast in the toaster. Katie never bothered to learn the age of her foster care parent, but with the amount of white hair she had, she knew she had to be in her mid fifties. 
"The bus is almost here." Ms. Doris said coldly. 
Katie sighed."I know." 
"You know I can't worry about you too when I have two younger kids to take care of." 
"I know." 
"You're not a little kid anymo-!"
"I get it!" Katie snapped. 
Ms. Doris' blue eyes gave Katie an icy glare.
Not wanting to deal with an argument, Katie grabbed her backpack and went for the door. "I better go before I miss the bus."
"But you didn't eat breakfast." Maríana called out. 
Katie didn't respond as she slammed the door and rushed to her bus stop. She hated growing up in a foster home, her whole life people told her that she would get adopted soon but now she's thirteen and no one came for her. Katie knew her chances of having a real family was slim to none, people preferred babies and little kids. She knew she was going to most likely get aged out of the system, she saw it happen to older kids that used to live with her. It was better to accept that she wouldn't ever have family. Ms. Doris won't help out when she turns eighteen, and Maríana and Anthony will get adopted before she ever does. 
She glanced passed the woods that loomed around this small town. Maybe it was best if Katie just ran away and lived in the woods. It's not like anyone would miss her if she disappeared. 
~~~~~
School, the only place Katie hated more than being home. She particularly hated math most of all. Not only was it a subject that was personally made to torture her, but Katie has to sit in a group with the two worst girls in school! 
Sarah Caballero; she is one of the popular girls. Her long brown hair and sweet brown eyes make her look like an innocent girl, but she is quick to tell Katie how stupid she is when no one is looking. 
Michelle Cabanas; a tall Portuguese girl who does basketball. Most of the teachers shower her with love and praise for being the poster child of a perfect student. What teachers don't know is that Michelle has already physically assaulted Katie multiple times. Katie can't even fight back because she is only four foot eleven and Michelle won't hesitate to throw her in a dumpster! 
The only person in the group that wasn't mean to Katie was Byssa Granite. Where most kids in the school had lived in Claymore most of their lives, Byssa moved her this summer from Florida. Teachers really hated her because she was known to get smart with them, so most of the time she wasn't in class to begin with. Katie had thought about being friends with her, but the new kids don't stick around once they find out that she is the outcast in the school. 
The class started like normal, after the bell rang, everyone took their seats. All except for Byssa, who was absent again. Mrs. Biggs told the class to take out their homework and she would collect it. Katie of course, forgot to do it. 
"Katie, this is the third day in a row." 
"I know, I'm sorry." 
"Is there anyone at home who can help you?" 
Katie glanced down. "Not really." 
The young blonde teacher sighed and shook her head. "Well, I hope you find the help before this year progresses further." 
Michelle and Sarah snickered after Mrs. Biggs walked away. 
"Aww, mommy and daddy can't help you." Sarah pouted.
"A little hard to help a kid no one wants." 
"Just leave me alone!" Katie begged. 
Michelle chuckled. "You mean like your parents did to you?" 
Katie rolled her brown eyes. They've been saying the same insults for years, she knew she shouldn't let it get to her but it always did! 
"Alright class, we're gonna go over the homework on the board since some of you didn't quite understand the problems." As Mrs. Biggs began writing equations on the board, the door opened. 
A young thirteen year old African-American girl with shoulder length dark brown hair walked in the room, sporting a black denim jacket and ripped up black jeans. 
"Glad you could show up, Byssa." Mrs. Biggs said sarcastically. 
"Didn't have much of a choice." Byssa muttered. 
The teacher either didn't hear her or didn't care enough to start an argument because she went back to writing on the board. Byssa walked towards her seat, her amber colored eyes trailed over to Katie. 
She often caught the new girl glancing over at her but she never understood why. Maybe Byssa just thought she looked weird or ugly, maybe she was planning to torment her too. Whatever the reason, it made Katie nervous. All she wanted to do was leave this prison, so she did the only thing she could do in this situation. Daydream. 
The teacher's voice turned into background noise and any glares that bore into her melted away as her mind took Katie into a better world where no one could hurt her. What if Katie had some sort of secret superpower and a wizard burst through the door right now to take her away and save the world? She would get whisked away from her awful life, get to fight villains, and no one would ever be able to push her around; in fact, they'd praise her for her heroism! 
"Katie!" 
Thrust back into reality, Katie looked around to see Mrs. Biggs with a marker held out for her to grab. She gave the teen an annoyed look, she probably called out to her two or three times before Katie realized. 
"Would you write the answer of number five on the board?" 
Katie gulped but nodded, knowing she didn't have a choice. She grabbed the marker and took shakey steps towards the board. The equation had to do with dividing fractions, but Katie had no idea how to even divide regular numbers, fractions were impossible! So all Katie could do is stand there with no answer, letting the entire class know she was an idiot. 
Mrs. Biggs sighed after a minute of no progress went by. "This is why you need to pay attention." 
Katie just sheepishly nodded. 
"Sit down and listen this time." 
She took the walk of shame back to her desk, and saw Sarah and Michelle giggling at her. 
"Dumbass." Sarah whispered. 
There was no argument there, Katie knew she was not smart at all. 
~~~~~
Katie stepped off of the bus and faced the small brown home. She knew Ms. Doris was going to chew her ear off the moment she walked through the door about this morning, just to top her bad day off with a crappy little bow! All Katie wanted to do is read her comic books in peace, was that so much to ask for life?! 
Looking out past the house was the woods. Katie remembered the blue light that shined in the distance back in June. Oh yeah, Katie never got the chance to find out why the lake glows every six months. Days after the light show, rumors started to spread that something was lurking in the woods. Some say it was a large and terrifying beast that waited for the right moment to gobble you up, others say it's the ghost of all the people that disappeared the previous decades watching your every move; could they be warning you to stay away from the lake, or could they be trying to lure you into the lake? 
These rumors were silly, but they were powerful enough to keep people from going too far into the woods, Ms. Doris especially made sure her foster kids didn't roam through the woods. Maybe the rumors were true, maybe they were false, but one thing Katie knew was that things couldn't get any worse if she stepped foot into the woods. 
Clutching the lavender straps of her backpack, Katie ran past her home and into the woods. The trees towered above her and covered the sky with autumn colored leaves. The wonder in her brown eyes twinkled as Katie ventured deeper in the forest, it felt like she had entered a different world where she was finally free to do as she pleased! 
With this newfound peace, Katie sat by a large tree and pulled out her favorite comic book series: Galactic Territories. A story about a regular girl named Jean who one day runs into an alien princess named Vix, who needs help saving her planet. The story is filled with action, adventure, and even romance! Normally, Katie couldn't read this story in public or home because kids would make fun of her or Ms. Doris would snap at her for reading something so childish, but now nothing is going to stop her from finishing this series! 
~~~~ 
The ground rumbled beneath Katie's feet. Was this an earthquake? No, the tremors would pause for a moment, like a rhythmic beat. Maybe it was the beast lurking around, looking for its next meal. The rumbles sounded like they were drawing near the lake. Katie stood up and walked towards the lake, leaving her backpack behind. She had always been curious about the rumors, time to find out whether or not they were true. 
The large blue body of water was in view. Nothing about it looked interesting but make no mistake, that lake has caused disappearance throughout history. The last one being in the year two-thousand. Maybe it had something to do with the azure lights that occur. 
The tremors slowly came to a halt. Katie used a tree to cover herself but she peaked out to see the beast. Her eyes widened as she spotted a creature that must have been fifty feet tall! The beast was covered in moss, but Katie could see it had humanoid limbs as it crouched by the lake and reached out with a hand. The beast scooped up water and splashed it on its face. Katie squinted her eyes trying to see what the creature's face looked like. She adjusted her glasses and leaned forward, without realizing she moved her foot over a twig causing it to loudly snap. 
The beast immediately stood up to its towering height and cocked its head towards Katie. 
The young girl wanted no time running back. But she could hear thunderous footsteps following behind her. Katie's heart pounded against her chest. She glanced back and saw enormous mud covered hands pushing past trees like they were nothing! She pushed herself to run faster than she ever thought she could, desperately trying to get as much distance as possible between her and the beast! But the thunderous footsteps grew louder behind her. Oh god, was she going to get eaten by this beast?! 
Finally she saw the familiar path that led to the town, Katie emerged from the woods and continued to run until she saw the small wooden house. With no hesitation Katie ran into the door and slammed it shut! She scrambled over to the nearest window and peered through the blinds, no monster in sight. Katie gave out a sigh in relief as she collapsed on the cold tiled floor. Never in her life did Katie think she'd ever be glad to be in this dump. 
"K-katie?" 
Katie looked up to see Maríana standing peaking into the kitchen with wide eyes. 
"Where have you been? And why are you so sweaty?" 
"I got chased by a monster." Katie breathed out. She couldn't believe it, the rumors were true! There was something in the woods.