Chapter Three

It was dark, not a glimmer of light or shadow but still a sense that something’s watching. Something that can see in the dark. Something that can move in the dark, something that was moving now, getting closer, quietly closer. Breathing sounds, not panting, just regular breathing – in and out, in and out – getting closer, so close that now the air is gently disturbed and the breath can be felt. It’s pleasant, clean and minty like freshly brushed teeth.

Chapter Two

A week later and the media was in a frenzy.

Speculation ranged from the likelihood that the culprit was a large cat that had escaped from a traveling circus in the summer and was still on the loose, to that the urban myth about a cult of cannibals living in the mountains was true, and they had finally grown tired of hikers.