Isaiah

An irregular, stuttering, clicking sound.

It sounded like fingernails on a wooden table, and it was moving.

It came from in front of us.

I was sure of it.

A steady click-clack-click filled my ears as we tried to gauge the distance.

It was drawing closer.

Click-clack-click.

It stopped.

I was glad for the first time in my life that I couldn't see what was waiting in the dark.

Perhaps that meant we were also hidden.

As my thoughts fired off in every direction, I gave the thing in the darkness the image of the cat-headed woman.

And it terrified me.

I was just waiting to hear that meow, but my ears were met with something else.

I tensed my throat and tried not to cry.

It said his name twice, and I cupped my hand over my mouth.

The horrible, scraping dialogue sounded a few steps away.

The words were said oddly, with no meaning behind them.

They were just sounds that this thing had picked up and was now using them to catch us out in the dark.

Chris let go of my hand and I heard his foot plant softly on the grass behind me as he prepared to run.

Don't you dare, I tried to project into his mind, don't you make a sound.