Once inside she slammed the door shut behind her and started laughing. That pond sure had her acting like a little girl. She was lucky she hadn't stepped on something sharp. She paced around for half a minute, then got dressed. Looking out through the windows she couldn't see anything suspicious. She tried putting the incident off as the result of an active imagination, but it wasn't that easy. Finally she decided she had to stop acting like a silly schoolgirl and go get her robe and boots. She did, and as far as she could tell there wasn't a soul around.

She spent most of the second day walking around in the forest nearby the cabin. She felt a bit like a little kid in a really big candy store. The majestic trees fascinated her. She would walk up to them, feeling the texture of their bark and inhaling their scent. She had no idea what the different types of trees were called, and she wished she had brought a botany book with her.

When she returned home it was way past dinnertime, and she was starving. After she had her dinner - canned goulash - she went to bed and slept soundly until the next morning.

And now it was the third day. Today she was going for a really long walk. She had prepared herself by eating a steady breakfast and packing a bunch of sandwiches and a thermos with coffee in her backpack.

She set out towards the mountains. She knew she wouldn't reach them, but she had to pick a direction.

It was an absolutely beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze. She was so happy and excited she bounced a little with every step she took. If she'd been any good at whistling she would probably have struck up a tune.

She found a narrow and fairly straight trail to follow, and walked on for almost two hours. She came to a large clearing where the trees gave way to a lovely pasture with grass and flowers. She was in fairly good shape and didn't feel tired yet but she decided on taking a break anyway. After finding a nice rock to sit on in the middle of the pasture she took out her thermos and a fried egg sandwich.

The coffee and sandwich seemed to taste better than usual, probably because her good mood and the long walk. When she was done eating she replaced the thermos in her backpack and started walking again. There were several trails leading away from the pasture, and she picked a broad and well-trodden one.

She walked and walked, never growing tired of the scenery around her, even though it all looked much the same. She passed a few forks in the trail, but didn't take much notice of them. She didn't stop walking again until she felt herself starting to get really hungry. There was no green pasture in sight this time, so she simply sat down next to the trail and unpacked her food. She ate all that was left and decided it was time to start heading back for home.

Emily started walking in the direction she'd just come from. She didn't get far. Ahead of her the trail split and went off in two different directions. She couldn't tell which one she'd been on just minutes earlier. "Uh-oh," a nervous little voice in her mind went. Now what? She walked slowly on the leftmost path for a couple of meters, intently studying the scenery on both sides. It looked familiar.

She brushed away her nervousness and started walking along the trail. She walked for several minutes, growing more and more anxious as she didn't see anything that she recognized clearly. After about ten minutes she decided she must have picked the wrong way. She stopped, pondering whether she should turn back and try the other way. She looked into the forest to her right and was relieved to discover that she could actually see the other branch of the trail from where she was standing. She took off towards it through the thick vegetation figuring the shortcut would save her at least twenty minutes.

Reaching the trail she started walking towards home. Pretty soon she got to a sharp turn which she was sure she hadn't passed in the other direction. She was starting to get really nervous by now. Coming to the conclusion that the leftmost fork must have been the right one after all, she turned to her left and again headed into the forest. Ten minutes of desperate searching for the other path and she knew she had made a big mistake. She was lost. She didn't even have a trail to follow. All the happy feelings she had felt an hour ago where all gone, replaced by fear.

Emily had no idea what to do; she just felt like crying. The closest thing to a plan she could come up with was trying to walk in a straight line away from the mountains. She did, or at least she tried to. When she was just about to give up her hope of ever finding her way back, she heard a familiar sound. It was the murmur of a brook. She remembered seeing one the day before, it wasn't at all far from the cabin. Immediately hope returned to her and she started walking towards the sound.

She couldn't find it. Whichever direction she walked the sound seemed to grow weaker and weaker. After a while she was beginning to think she was hallucinating. But she did find something else - a trail. "Something at least," she thought and started walking along it. She walked and walked . . .

Desperation was starting to well up inside of Emily. She looked up at the sky - it was getting darker. The sun was getting closer and closer to the horizon. Her legs were aching, her feet were killing her and she was getting hungry. This wasn't good at all. Why did she have to be so stubborn? Much as she hated to admit it, Dennis prediction had been right. Emily cursed herself and her pride.

She walked on - there was nothing else she could do. The trail she was walking on stopped abruptly and gave way to dense forest. She turned around to start backtracking when all of a sudden a sound caught her attention. It sounded much like a branch being broken. She stopped and listened. There were more sounds, coming from behind her, cracks a snaps and - was that heavy breathing? She turned in the direction of the sounds and tried to see its source, but all she saw was thick forest.

"Hello?" she called out in a low, broken voice. No response. "Is anyone there?" she tried, louder.

The snapping and cracking sounds stopped, but that terrible breathing noise was still there. Emily was scared. What if it was some big, dangerous animal? She started slowly backing away from the sound. Then she heard some sort of snarl. Emily let out a little yelp, turned around and ran for her life. She ran and ran, blindly, until her breath felt like fire in her lungs. She stumbled, scraping her elbows as she fell to the ground, gasping for air. She tried to get up, but her legs were like jelly; they couldn't carry her weight. Sobbing she crawled up against the trunk of a large tree and tried to make herself small and unnoticeable.

She lay still, breathing spasmodically, trying to listen. At first there was nothing. She didn't dare move an inch; she just lay there. Then she heard something. Steps. Emily couldn't help it, she began crying loudly, thinking her last moment had come. She didn't want to die like this.

"Hello?" a voice called.

A wave relief overcame Emily. She stood up on her jelly-legs and ran towards the voice, tears streaming down her face. Fifty or so meters down the trail stood a man in green camouflage pants and a red, checkered shirt, with a gun over his shoulder.

"Well, hello there miss, what . . ." he started to say, then Emily was clinging to him, sobbing loudly.

"Thank God, thank God, thank God! I thought you were . . . I'm lost! Oh, thank you!" Emily let out a stream of words and a stream of tears.

"Woo, calm down, you're okay, take it easy," the hunter said, patting Emily's shoulder, "What happened to you, miss?"

"I . . . I got lost, and then . . . I heard some . . . these sounds and, I started running . . ."

"Well, it's alright now, would you just calm down a little?"

"I'm s-sorry, I was so scared."

"It's okay. What's your name lady?"

"Emily Sanders."

"It's nice to meet you Emily, I'm Jack. Now, what in God's name are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I'm . . . I rent a cabin somewhere around here, I was just out on a walk, then I got lost."

"All alone?"

"Yes. Stupid, huh?"

"Well, this is no place for a lady to be walking around all by her lonesome," Jack said and started stroking Emily's back.

Emily had almost stopped sobbing now, and was starting to feel embarrassed about clinging on to this strange man. She let go of him and tried to take a step back, but Jack kept his arms around her.

"Thanks, I'm okay now," Emily said and again tried to take a step back.

"That's good, Emily," Jack answered and dropped his hands to her bottom and squeezed.

"Hey!" Emily exclaimed, put her hands on his chest and pushed herself away from him, "what are you doing?"

Jack looked to be about 45. He was big, at least 6 foot tall and probably weighing over 200 lbs.

Jack looked at her with a grin, showing his yellowish teeth, "Don't you think I'm entitled to a little feel after saving you like that?"

"Uh, no," Emily said and backed away another step from Jack.

"Well, I think I am. In fact, I think I'm entitled to a lot more than just a feel," he exclaimed, a hint of anger in his voice now. He took a quick step forward and bridged the distance Emily had just built up between them.

Emily tried to turn around, but Jack caught her in his arms. She struggled to get lose, to no avail, as he was far too strong for her. Her behind was mashed against his pelvis and she could feel the bulge of his penis pressing against her butt. "Nooo!" she whimpered as his hands found, and roughly kneaded, her breasts.

With a scream she stomped down on his foot and tore free from him. Knowing she couldn't outrun him, because of her stale legs, she turned around to face him just as he came storming at her. "Nooo!" she shrieked loudly this time, and kicked him hard, right in the groin.

Jack toppled over. Emily turned around. She staggered away from him, crying again. Her legs would barely carry her. And what if she could run away from him? She could never find her way back to the cabin without his help. She wondered why she hadn't just let him have his way with her. Now he was going to be furious, perhaps he would kill her. It was that bloody pride of hers; it was going to cost her her life.

She could hear him cursing behind her, "Fucking whore. I'm gonna kill you, you cunt!" Emily lost her footing. She fell to the ground, again scraping her elbows. She lay still, crying hard. Maybe he wouldn't hurt her if she gave herself to him? She didn't get a chance to think about that plan of action.

The air was pushed out of her lungs as a heavy kick landed on her side. She was rolled over by the force of it. Jack was standing over her, looking down at her with an expression of burning rage on his face.

"I'm gonna kill you, bitch, but first I'm gonna fuUUU!" With a roar something dark came flying through the air, hitting Jack and taking him with it along its path towards the closest tree. Jack and the dark shape collided with the trunk, making it shiver with the impact.

Emily looked up. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Over by the tree Jack was wrestling with a large, dark, furry creature, and it didn't look like Jack was winning. The furry beast was snarling and growling.

"Aahhhhhhhhh!" Jack's scream of terror was abruptly cut as the creature's head shot forward and back like a snake's. Again, and again, and again the head darted forth and back.

Emily was transfixed by the scene in front of her. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the sight of the creature sinking its teeth into Jack's face and body. Ropes of blood and tissue flew through the air every time its head pulled back, staining the trunk of the tree in crimson and making splashing noises as they landed on the ground.

Emily felt the blood start to rush from her head. Her field of vision was already narrowing as the creature stopped mutilating Jack's dead body, stood up - on its hind legs, like a human being - and turned towards her. She saw its bloodstained coat of fur, she saw its large, bloodied teeth, and she saw its eyes - bright blue, human eyes. "I know what this is," she thought, as she fell into darkness.