Something in the Woods

Chapter 4

Katie led the two girls through the woods but their complaints were getting annoying. 
"Ugh, the mud is ruining my shoes!" Sarah shouted.
"Yeah, we need to hurry up so I can wash my jersey." 
"You guys need to be quiet, it'll hear you." Katie lurked around the trees, trying to avoid stepping on twigs. 
Michelle rolled her eyes. "Katie, it's getting dark, nothing is here!" 
"We just gotta get to the lake, then you'll see!" 
Michelle and Sarah rolled their eyes but continued to follow Katie deeper into the woods. A cold breeze brushed against the teens as they got closer to the lake. Katie pressed herself to the tree closest to the opening and motioned the other girls to do the same. 
Katie's heart pounded, part of her started to regret going into the woods, maybe she should turn back now. But if she didn't prove herself right, then she would forever be known as the crazy girl. So with a deep sigh, she peeked her head out from the tree. 
She was shocked to find absolutely nothing by the lake. 
Sarah put her hand on her hips. "Oh look, nothing!" 
Katie gulped. "Maybe it's just sleeping… we should go look for it's nest." 
"Oh no, I'm done following the little dork in the woods!" Michelle marched towards Katie with fire in her eyes. "You're gonna pay for wasting my time!" 
Instinctively Katie bolted into the woods. Normally running from Michelle would be futile but if she outran a giant monster then she could outrun a Basketball player right? However, the two bullies were tailing behind her, and the dim lighting made it hard for her to navigate where she was going. She sadly didn't see the ditch in front of her and so she tumbled down and landed on the muddy surface. Footsteps pounded on the ground and Katie quickly adjusted her glasses and sat up despite her aching body. Michelle and Sarah stared down at her with devious smiles painted on their faces. 
"Oh look, a little worm in her natural habitat." Michelle jumped down into the ditch. 
Katie tried to scramble out of the ditch but Michelle quickly pulled her back down and grabbed her by the back of her hair. 
Katie screamed out in pain as the taller girl easily overpowered her.
"Now be a good little worm and eat the dirt." Michelle started to shove Katie's head into the mud but Katie used all of her strength to resist getting a face full of mud. Unfortunately her strength was waning and slowly her face was brought closer and closer to the dirt. 
"Wait, Michelle!" Sarah called out. "Something's off about this ditch." 
Michelle stopped pushing on Katie's head but still kept her fingers wrapped around her hair. "What do you mean?" 
"It looks kind of shaped like… a shoe print." 
Katie stared at the ground and noticed a small little groove in the mud, then her eyes wandered further and she noticed the similar pattern evenly spaced out. "My god, she's right!" 
Michelle gave a cold glare and yanked the blonde girl's head up to hers. "Is this some sort of trick?" 
"N-no!" Katie screamed out. "Please just let me go!"
"HEY!" A young male's voice boomed above the teenagers, followed by the same familiar footsteps. 
Michelle's face grew pale. "You didn't say the beast could talk." 
"I didn't know…" 
The trees started to shift, causing the leaves the scatter around them. Then two gigantic hands emerged from the trees. 
Sarah shrieked in terror while Michelle quickly climbed out of the ditch, grabbed her best friend by the hand and ran off into the night, leaving Katie behind. 
Katie stumbled to her feet and scrambled out of the ditch. She tried following the path that Michelle and Sarah took but they were already gone! She couldn't believe it, they actually left her to die! The beast was gaining on her, Katie pushed herself to run faster than ever! She couldn't die here, she didn't want to die! 
But a tree root decided to reach out and grab onto Katie's foot, her glasses flew off her face as she tumbled onto the ground, getting scraped up by twigs. Katie sprawled her hands out in an attempt to find them but everything was a total blur, and the darkness kept them hidden. 
The footsteps faded to a stop as the world grew a little darker. She could feel the presence of the beast hovering over her. Katie just froze in place, keeping her head down. Her time was up. 
"Hey are you okay?" The beast asked. 
Was this some sort of trick to get Katie to drop her guard? Why bother? He could just tear her apart now, toying with his food would be pointless. "Whatever you're going to do, just get it over with already!" 
"Do you need help?" 
"I'm a blind girl crawling on the ground, of course I need freaking help!" Katie dug her fingers into the dirt as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "That doesn't mean I'm gonna get it." 
The beast remained silent as he shuffled around a little bit. Katie just sat there and waited for the beast to strike but then she felt something gently placed by her hands. 
"I think you dropped these." 
Katie felt them and quickly realized they were her glasses. Immediately she put them on and stared up at the beast she had been running from. 
He was actually pretty scrawny and not covered in moss, instead he wore brown cargo shorts with a beige button up shirt that had like several pockets on them. A mop of brown hair swept over his green eyes. There was even acne on his boyish face. The beast wasn't a beast, he was a giant boy!
"Y...you're just a teen." 
The boy chuckled. "So are you." 
Katie just stared up at him in shock. "You're not the same creature that chased me out yesterday."
He glanced away. "Actually that was… I started to cover myself in moss and leaves to keep you guys from finding out there's a giant in the woods." 
"That's… actually pretty smart." 
The giant couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, my dad taught me." 
Katie wasn't sure if she felt comforted or uneasy seeing him smile. He looked like he could go to school with her, but he was just so big, he could easily kill her with just his thumb. So why wasn't he?
"Oh, I should give you this before I forget." He dug into his breast pocket and pulled out Katie's lavender backpack. The straps were pinched between his thumb and index finger as he hovered it over her. "Sorry about chasing you away, yesterday. I guess I was just shocked that there was someone who was around my age living nearby."
Katie couldn't help but scramble back as his hand drew closer to her. She could feel her body shake as his hand lingered over her, he was just too close for comfort. 
"Oh, right. I get it." The boy placed the bag on the ground and backed away a little bit. 
Cautiously, Katie stood up and inched closer to her bag. She reached out with her leg and caught one of the straps with her foot, then dragged it over to her. She was surprised to see the bag was completely dry, he must've grabbed it before it rained. Katie looked up at him and gave a soft nod. "Thank you." 
"You're welcome." He crouched down to be more eye level with her. "So do you have a name?" 
"Um… Katie." 
 "Nice to meet you, I'm Barrett." He flashed her smile. 
"So what do you plan to do with me?" Katie didn't understand why a giant was being so friendly towards her, every story she ever heard that involved giants always had them killing and eating people. What made her so special? 
"Good question, I can't exactly have you telling the town about me." He chuckled.
Katie grew pale. Oh god, he was gonna keep her prisoner! "Please don't keep me here, I promise I won't tell anyone else!" 
Barrett raised an eyebrow. "Else?" 
"Well... I may have already t… told a few people, b...but no one believed me…" Katie rubbed the back of her neck. "Until Sarah and Michelle saw you." 
Barrett scrunched up his nose. "Oh yeah, those two. I hope you have better friends than them." 
"Do you want me to lure them back here, so you can… handle them?" Katie didn't really like the idea of sending two classmates to their possible deaths, but if it meant saving her own skin, then she might be willing to make an exception. 
"What, no!" Barrett exclaimed. "Can you just convince them to stay quiet?"
"I… I'll try." 
Barrett let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks." 
"I think… I should go now." Katie slowly started to back away. 
"Wait!" Barrett reached out to the small girl but quickly retracted his hand when he saw her flinch. "C… can I see you again tomorrow?" 
Katie's eyes widened. "Why?" 
"I just… haven't had anyone to talk to for over three months, you seem like you'd be nice company." 
Katie shot him a wearily look. No one has ever wanted to hang out with her before. All she ever wanted was a friend, but could she trust a giant to be her very first?" "I'll… think about." 
Barrett nodded and slowly backed away from Katie, giving her the space to walk away. She took a deep breath and started to head home, but she couldn't help but glance back to see if he was trying to follow her. Once he was out of eyesight, Katie took off, and she didn't stop running until she made it all the way home.