Page 2 of Uncaging the Monster

I don’t wait around. I turn and run. When I make it to the other side and step out into the moonlight, I realize I didn’t hear anything chasing me. Whatever that was, it definitely wasn’t something that was alive and aggressive, and I sort of feel dumb for running.

Glancing over my shoulder at Zach’s house, I can’t help but feel curious. Maybe I didn’t see anything at all. I don’t think it was a tree, but maybe it was something else entirely, something someone left out in the woods to screw with people.

For some inexplicable reason, I turn back. Slowly, I inch past the tree line, letting it swallow me. Once I’m back where the trees block the moonlight, I can see that whatever I came across before is still there, a tall shape amidst the trees.

I move toward it slowly. It doesn’t move. And then I’m close enough to get a good look and gasp, my body turning to stone. It is someone. Or something. In the dark, I can make out the shape of shoulders, long arms, a bowed head, and circling it all, two massive black wings.

I hold completely still, waiting to see if it’s going to move, if it’s going to attack me. This was such a stupid idea, but now I’m paralyzed with fear, and I can’t back out of the decision I made. When the thing still doesn’t move, I start to take a step back.

Maybe it’s dead. It’s definitely slumped over like it’s either dead or asleep.

But when my foot settles in the dry leaves, the form finally shifts. Its eyes open, its head tilting up toward me. And if I was afraid before, I’m terrified now.

Because its two eyes are yellow, glowing in the moonlight, the pupils just a vertical slit like a cat. And it’s looking right at me.

At first, I think maybe it can’t see me. Maybe it doesn’t see well in the dark or maybe it can’t see me if I’m not moving like a T-Rex. But then it blinks at me, and I can see the awareness in its eyes, the way it’s clearly looking at me and not just in my general direction.

But it still doesn’t move. It doesn’t pounce. It doesn’t even tense. It just… lowers its head.

I’m not sure how I know—maybe it’s the energy the creature is giving off, or maybe it’s something else entirely, some kind of intuition, a gut-feeling—but when the creature lowers its head, it feels like surrender, like it’s telling me I can do whatever I want because it’s given up.

All of the fear leaches out of my body. I’m not scared anymore. It doesn’t feel like this thing, whatever it is, is going to hurt me. It just feels like it wants to be left alone, if anything.

Putting my hands up to show I’m not a threat, even though it’s no longer looking at me, I walk slowly toward the creature, until I’m close enough to see that one of its wings is laying crumpled on the ground. The other is tucked tight against its body.

Slowly, I reach for my phone, turning it on and switching on the flashlight. When I do, the creature flinches but doesn’t try to move away.

“Sorry,” I whisper, realizing I haven’t tried to talk to it. I don’t even know if it can speak or understand me. I turn the flashlight toward the wing and realize it’s got a hole in it, blood crusted all around the wound.

“Oh god,” I gasp, dropping to my knees. “You’re hurt. Who did this to you?”

Even though I’m not really expecting an answer, I turn my face up toward the creature, now towering over me as I kneel before it. Its eyes are on me, but it doesn’t seem inclined to speak. It just watches me. But its eyes are soft, expressionless. Not angry, like it’s going to attack.

I reach out to touch the wing…

“Grace!”

The creature and I both jerk. I stand and whip around to see Zach rushing toward us in the dark. He looks like he’s rushing into a burning building.

“Zach, wait!” I say, my hands up, but he doesn’t stop. A train that can’t be halted.

“What the hell is that thing?” he shouts, his voice like raining bullets in the silence of the woods. “What the hell is that!”

“Just wait,” I say, trying to put myself between him and the creature. “Wait. It’s hurt.”

Even in the dark, I see his eyes widen. “It?” he shouts. “What the fuck is it?”

“I’m not sure.”

Zach already has his hands around my upper arms. He’s pulling me away from the creature. “You gotta get out of here.” He starts to push me in the direction of my dorm hall. “Go back home. I’ll deal with this.”

“What? No! I’m not just going to go. I have to⁠—”

Zach takes a step toward me, his voice low and commanding. “Get out of here. I’ll take care of it.”

I glance past Zach at the creature. It’s watching us, not giving any indication that it’s going to move. I look back to Zach. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he says, giving me a gentle shove. “Go. Don’t tell anyone about this, okay?”