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“I dare you to…” Santi rubbed his jaw in an exaggerated way. “...to stand on the railing without holding onto anything.”
Travis laughed. “That's easy.”
Adam peered over the edge of the bridge, into the dark swirling river. He turned back to his friends. “You're totally going to fall off.”
“I won’t. Besides, it's just water.” Travis walked over to him confidently. He smirked at Adam and pulled himself onto the railing.
“Now let go of the beam.”
He shuffled around on the metal until he was facing them. Travis slowly removed his hand and wiggled his fingers around, laughing at how Adam cringed. “See?” He hopped down. “Okay, my turn,” Travis said while looking at him with a mischievous glint in his eye.
“I’m not gonna do anything too crazy.” Adam said, crossing his arms.
Travis looked around the pitchblack landscape. The only light was Santi’s lighter, radiating a barely noticeable brightness.
“Go across the bridge and into the outskirts alone, for ten minutes.”
Adam’s mouth dropped open. “No way! That place is creepy as hell at night. I can’t even see all the way over there.”
“You can take my lighter.” Santi extended it toward him.
“I’m still not doing that.”
Travis rolled his eyes. “C’mon, don’t be a wimp. The whole ‘monster in the woods’ thing isn’t real. Just a stupid story to scare kids.”
“I know, I just-” He huffed. “...alright, fine. Give me that stupid lighter.”
Adam started walking forward. He heard his friends jeering getting quieter and quieter. Soon he couldn't even see them anymore, completely obscured by the darkness. The minimal flame in his hands didn’t do much. It was only one puny spot of flame in a sea of darkness. Adam looked back one last time, when he was at the end. He felt completely alone.
And then he didn’t.
He spun around at the sound of something rustling in the bushes. Adam let the lighter go out, staying completely still. There was definitely something moving around. He set off down the path anxiously, attempting to reason with himself. Travis was right, it was just a silly kids story. But there could be a wolf, or a bear, or a serial killer…something that could get him. His fear was completely reasonable.
The trees scattered around the field cast eerie spindly shadows, branches extended over Adam. He stopped in the middle of the trail. He could probably wait here for the remainder. The feeling of being watched returned, something he couldn’t shake off, no matter how hard he tried. Adam felt like something was hiding, waiting for him to let his guard down. Hunting him.
There was another noise, and he tensed. That was real. Adam shakily looked around. Was it that unusually dark shadow, or the little dots of light behind a tree? The feeling of sharp things digging into his back sent shivers down his spine. He sprinted a safe distance away, down the path further, then looked behind him.
Nothing.
Adam could hear his ragged breaths. He spotted a shape moving around in the corner of his eye, standing behind a tree. There were things glowing, and branch-like things extending out of what he assumed was its head. It was staring at him. Then it disappeared.
He felt a rush of air behind him, and Adam spun around to see it. He was face-to-face with a…with something. It had at least three pairs of gleaming white eyes, and its vaguely humanoid body dripped with an inky black substance. Its mouth had rows and rows of teeth, like a shark. The ooze that it was made off protruded from its head like antlers and formed a loop at the top.
Something changed in its face, and it leapt at Adam, claws outstretched and mouth gaping open. He jumped backward and scrambled out of the way.
“Oh my god!” Adam gasped.
That got it to pause. The loop on the top of the thing's head swirled around, like a halo.
“Taking the Lord's name in vain.” A cool, commanding voice echoed across the field. “Shameful.”
He blinked. “What?”
It snarled and threw itself at him, chasing him in all fours as he ran.
Adam breathed heavily as he crashed through the bushes. It felt like every rock was trying to trip him, every hole in the ground trying to catch his foot. He could hear it catching up to him.
The bridge was in sight again. Adam was so close.
Just before he could step onto the rotting wood, something reached out and hooked his onto jacket. It yanked him backward. He saw the world spin as he slammed into a tree, crying out in pain.
Through a haze of tears, Adam saw it crawl over to him. He started to pull himself up, but it immediately pushed him back to the ground. The monster tore through the flesh on his arm, spraying blood onto the dirt. He tried to wrench it away. It just bit down harder. It kept him pinned, unable to escape, or even defend himself. He was utterly helpless.
Adam could feel himself draining away, the more it thrashed him around. He tried to kick it off of him. It paused.
“Romans 6:22 to 6:23.” The thing said with its gore-covered mouth.
He crawled backward, struggling to move. It pounced on him again, going straight for his neck.
As Adam watched his throat get torn out, he could faintly hear it still talking, between bites. His consciousness was fading. Adam could feel it getting weaker.
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” Its voice sounded more like a lullaby as it picked up his mangled body, holding him close. It rocked him back and forth, almost comfortingly. Adam closed his eyes.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”