by Neve

I’ve always been scared of the dark. The silence scares me. I am suspicious from dusk to dawn of any noises, movements or shadows in the twisting blackness that creeps into every corner of the world.
But now, it is my friend. The enemy of the enemy is my friend, right?
At least, I think so.
For in the forest tonight, the night lends me a hand, blanketing me in a concealment of shadows, yet I still hardly dare breath, as the silence is suffocating and I just want to scream, but if I do I will die. You wish to know what I mean?
It all started when I was out on a walk with my friend, Kimberley. She was humming along to her iPod, while I shifted from one foot to another, eyes darting nervously about. She caught my eye and rolled hers. “It’s not true, Casey! You know how boys try and scare you. Seriously, you’re so jumpy.” She eyed me as I squirmed, trying desperately to use my phone as a light.
“But it could be true!” I whined, relating to the far-fetched tales of a fiery hellcreature living in the woods in the area. Lucas Jackman had told me all about how it burns you to a crisp with flames as hot as hell… Thanks to him, I am now officially terrified of going alone, anywhere. Even out of the woods, which are ironically a few houses down from my house, at the end of the street…
“Hardly.” Kim said, going back to her iPod. She starting playing Thriller, just to annoy me. I was about to snap at her and point this out but suddenly, I heard a snap behind me. I froze like a statue and slowly turned around. Nothing.
“Kim…” I turned back around to face her, but she was gone.
“KIM! It isn’t funny…” I said nervously. I waited for her to step out of the bushes, grinning like a jester, but no annoying best friend came cajoling out of the undergrowth. Trees cast tall shadows across the dimly moonlit floor, and an owl hooted eerily and I held my breath.
A crackling noise sounded behind me. It sounded like cracking twigs, like rustling leaves. It sounded like fire. I spun around in terror, waiting for a huge flaming demon to be staring at me with demonic eyes of burning coals. But no, it was just a small fire in the bushes. Hang on a second… What could have started a fire? Oh, Kimberley, where are you?! I fretted. The fire started to grow, coating twigs in a black soot and devouring the charred wood in its raging flames. She fumbled for her phone and punched in 999.
“Hello, please state your emergency and the service you need.”
“Err… Hi… I need the fire service, there’s a fire in the woods near Willowbrook Road, Rochdale. It’s getting bigger, please hurry! Also, my friend is missing…”
“We’re sending a fire truck now, and a police car to find your friend. They will ask you some questions about the fire and where you saw you’re friend. Please remain calm, go for away from the fire, and alert anyone in danger.”
She nodded, before realising foolishly they couldn’t see the gesture. “Ok, thank you.” She shut off the phone and backed away from the fire, not before seeing a spooky resemblance to a face in the flames and running off to her house.