The Alakander: The Bridge

         Erin had no idea what happened those two days. Years ago, when she was young, she was afraid. It was an eternity of torture and somehow she came back young, barely two days older than she was when she was thirteen and playing around with her best friends in the Oregon forest.
         Katherine Katie Hernandez (KK Hernandez), the smart, funny, intelligent young girl in Erin's English class, was her best friend back then. Her parents owned a large property in the mountains a little more than a mile away from Erin's house, the property being the perfect place for KK and Erin to hang out with their friend, Lev Jacobsen.
         Lev was an interesting guy, the kind who was always in the principle's office for doing one thing or another wrong. He didn't like rules and he didn't like to listen when people told him not to do something, but he was still there for you when you needed him. Just like a true friend. Perhaps it was his reckless behavior that day when they all disappeared, but, upon many years of reflection, Erin began to wonder if it was what they had planned all along.
         On that day, wandering around and throwing rocks at random things as teenagers did, Erin, KK, and Lev stumbled on a bridge that went over the ravine that trailed over the property. It was old and looked like it could hold a small bird for about ten seconds before collapsing. Lev dropped the rock that was extended in his hand, which had been raised for a throw at a tree a few feet away.
         "Whoa!" he exclaimed, dashing over towards the area to get a better look, "I haven't seen this spot before!"
         Erin walked slowly to come to the same place that he was standing, studying the bridge carefully. It had gray, splintery boards, half-rotted by termites and any other creature that might have been chewing on the wood. "I know what you're thinking and the answer is no," she said, "but I also know that you're thinking about doing it anyway, right?"
         Lev grinned and looked at KK, who had stopped a few yards away when he'd spotted the bridge. "What do you think, KK?"
         KK's face was pale and she shook her head. "I think we should turn back before something happens. It's dangerous to even step on."
         Erin looked between KK and Lev and felt goosebumps rise on her skin. KK was right. This was a bad idea and they were better off to turn around before someone got hurt.
         Lev laughed from behind her and she turned around to see him on the bridge, stepping carefully to avoid falling out through the underbelly of the bridge. Erin moved to drag him off, but froze as KK let out a scream that curdled her blood.
         "Lev, get back here right now!"
         Lev turned around with a smirk on his face. He spread his arms out to show that he was alright. "Oh, c'mon, KK. I'm not dead yet."
         Erin heard KK mutter something cynical under her breath and she shoved her hands in her pockets, her amber eyes seeming to glow in the patch of sunlight she stood in. She shook her head stubbornly, giving up on scolding Lev out of it.
         Lev shrugged and began to walk across the rest of the bridge. "'Kay. C'mon, Erin, it'll be fun."
         Erin hovered between the differing opinions and decided to hang back with KK. She shook her head. "Lev, I think you should come back. KK should know her own property."
         Lev was already at the other end of the bridge, standing on the edge of it and looking at the ground of the other side, still smirking. "I'm fine, see." he set foot on the ground and turned to look at Erin.
         There wasn't anything wrong as far as he was concerned. The girls were just being big babies like they always were. He was about make a witty crack that would have made them laugh, but he suddenly felt cold, dead fingers grab his ankle. He screamed as it yanked him backwards, sending him face-down and dragging him face-first in the dirt away from the bridge.
         Erin and KK screamed his name and KK dashed over the bridge without so much as a second thought, Erin only feet behind her. Lev was getting farther away than they could run, but they followed the small ditch in the undergrowth he was making as he was dragged away screaming.
         "What's taking him?" Erin screamed through breaths as they leaped over rocks and ducked under low-hanging tree branches.
         KK replied with a nasty, hateful tone of voice that Erin had never heard before. "The Alakander!"
         Erin had no idea about what they were, but she still felt her blood run cold at the name. Lev's screams stopped and they saw his body skid to a halt about twenty yards ahead. They both pushed themselves to cover the distance more quickly and got to him a few seconds later.
         He was sprawled out on his back, breathing heavily with a huge scrape down his left arm and a fairly deep cut down his right cheek. Erin and KK plowed to a stop beside him on their knees, calling his name.
         "Lev," Erin said, "how do you feel? Are you okay? What happened?"
         Lev looked at both of them and began to sit up, putting a hand to his face silently as he checked himself to make sure he didn't have any broken bones. Erin looked at KK, who was on her knees, silently looking around and surveying the situation.
         "We need to leave," she said softly, her eyes fixed somewhere behind Erin. Her eyes widened and her face turned white, "now."
         Erin looked at Lev, who numbly looked at the same thing that KK was looking at. His face was whiter than hers. Erin felt a slow fear growing inside her and turned around.
         Her face drained of color and her heart stopped. That was a very viable reason behind KK's fears.