I was running-still running; running from my death. My tired lungs burned inside my chest. My legs wanted to give out but I knew that once I stopped, I’d be done for. He’d catch up and that’d be the end for me. I sprinted, faster than I’d ever gone before. Not knowing where my legs were taking me. I knew I shouldn’t have but I looked back to see how far away he was. Surprisingly, there was nothing. I smiled to myself and slowed to a jog. I then realized it was the worst choice I’d ever made for when I turned back around, there it stood. Big, dark black eyes staring back at me. Sharp claws tightened into fists; Shiny black fur standing up on every end. His expression filled with fury. A wide and vicious grin spread across his face, showing all of his bright, white teeth; rather large and sharp. My legs halted to a stop. I stood two feet from the ferocious thing. His previous warnings echoed in my mind.

“Nothing can escape an El Chupacabra,” he had said.
He began to make its way to me. My brain told my feet to run the other way, but they were frozen in their tracks. Panic crossed mind and my body began shaking in fear. Finally, my legs took off but it was too late. A sharp pain ran across my back as the creature knocked me to the ground and began shredding me to bits.

“No! Please!” I barely choked out but it wasn’t loud enough. He wouldn’t listen. This was it. I was done. I thought about my life -the good life I had lived- and all the wonderful things in it that I’d be leaving behind. The last thing I pictured was my beloved mother and her childish face; her baby blue eyes looking at me before I slowly sank into unconsciousness.
****************************************************************

“Miss Melano! It is not nap time!” I woke to the loud, crackling sound of Ms. Gruebalander’s ruler against my desk. I tried to remember the last topic we’d discussed but nothing came back to me.

“What is the equation used to find a cubic polynomial function, Miss Melano?” She asked again with a hint of irritation.

“I-I can’t remember.” I could feel the warmth of my blood rushing to my cheeks as I tried to answer the question. This was going to be a long Thursday.

“Well, if you were listening, we haven’t talked about it yet. Pay attention if you don’t want a detention.” As she walked away, I sighed and slid down into my seat and nearly underneath the desk to avoid every eye that focused on me. I looked over to my right and what I saw was my wonderful, gorgeous boyfriend, Michael Moore, sitting next to me. His shiny black hair spiked up to form what looked like tiny mountains. Although he laughed at my embarrassing moment, I didn’t care. Besides, his smile just blew me away; past the trees and over the seas. Every time I saw it, my worries disappeared. His teeth were so white that they were almost transparent. His black eyes sparkled in the light and they made him look even more handsome.
Whenever I gazed into his eyes, I saw my reflection in them. I noted my own hazel eyes as they connected with his. I noticed my chocolate brown, wavy hair as it rippled down my shoulder. Mike was someone I didn’t deserve. Yet, he was still mine.

“Yeah, Hannah. Stay awake,” Mike chuckled. He flashed me a grin. His soft voice sounded like an angel to me.

“I’ll make sure I do that,” I scowled at him. He laughed. For the rest of the period I tried to concentrate on the lesson we were learning. 12th grade calculus was complicated. It was maybe the toughest thing an 18 year old could learn. The harder I focused, the more confusing it got. Next, I had lunch and then I could give my brain a break and let it rest.

Finally, the bell rang. I hurried out the door with Mike along my side. In the cafeteria we met up with Amanda, my best friend since we were born, and a few other people including: Vince, Matt, and Sarah. During lunch, we were free; free from homework, free from classes, free from tough teachers. We could talk about anything we wanted and as much as we wanted. We could laugh and have fun. We could eat. Lunch was the best part of the day and everyone at my table agreed with me.

“Hey Amanda! Hey Vince!” I shouted as we neared the table.

“Hey you guys! Hannah, this is Jessi.” She pointed to the blond haired girl sitting next to her. I hadn’t noticed her until Amanda pointed her out to me.

“Hi Jessi. Nice to meet you.” I gave her a warm welcoming smile and gestured in his direction as I said, “This is Mike.”

“Howdy,” he greeted.

“Hello,” Jessi said shyly. I turned to Vince. I’d only met him last year and yet it felt like we had known each other forever. He was what you called a brotherly friend and we both felt comfortable acting like ourselves in front of one another; which including joking around and messing with each other’s heads.

“So Vince, what’s for lunch today? Shark?” I asked.

“No Hannah. It’s world’s finest ravioli. Better than any I’ve ever had.” He replied before he laughed lightly. I hoped he was right because I was starving and nothing would be more satisfying than good ravioli. Mike tapped me on the shoulder.

“Let’s get lunch!” He said. Then we ran to the lunch line to get our food and enjoy it with our friends.

Lunch went by quickly after that; as did English. There were only two periods left in the day. Right now, Mike and I were headed to Mythology. When we arrived to the classroom, Mr. Demato had already started. We entered the classroom and quickly headed to our seats. He glanced in our direction and said, “Thank you for joining us, you two.” Then he continued. “Today we will be working on a project. Before I begin to explain it, I’ll need you all to find a partner and sit next to them.”
I looked over to Mike and saw he was already making his way over to the seat next to me. The other students had also found their partners rather quickly. “For your projects, you’ll need to choose a mythical creature to research.” He began walking around the room, handing out a slip of paper as he continued. “Here are the requirements. You will need to have at least one full page of information about the creature; 12-font, Times New Roman and single spaced. There needs to be a minimum of two pictures; computer generated or hand made. You have until next Wednesday. That’s when you’ll be presenting them. Today, you’ll be brainstorming a list of creatures you want to do your report on and before the end of class you’ll need to have told me what you’re doing. One more thing,” he paused, “Don’t forget to be creative!” The entire class sighed with relief. “Begin.”

“So what should we do?” I asked Mike.

“Well, there’s an interesting creature I’ve heard about.”

“Really? What’s it called?”

“El Chupacabra.” The sound of it sent a cold shiver down my spine.

“What’s that?” I asked with curiosity.

“It’s a creature said to have been seen in Mexico and Puerto Rico and recently, more ‘sightings’ have been found in parts of the US and South America.” He made quotation marks in the air with his fingers. It was hard to imagine millions of people saying they’ve seen the same creature. This got me thinking.
“Wow. I wonder if anyone in our school has seen it.”
“Rumford High School is a very sophisticated school. No one here believes in that stuff, but there are people in other parts of Maine that claimed to have seen it.”
“Do you believe in it?” I couldn’t help asking.
“Yes, I actually do. It’s scary to think about but I don’t think that over a million people could lie about seeing the same monster. I have my suspicions.” I was stunned, but amused.
“What does it look like? Is it scary?”
“It has huge black eyes and sharp white teeth. It stands upright at 6’ 11”. Its fur almost shines-even when there’s no light. It hunts for blood. It lives on nothing else; only blood. This creature will shred its prey until they are not alive. It’s so quick that it’s impossible to escape from it.”
“Not even the fastest animal can escape it?”
“Not even the fastest animal. Nothing can escape an El Chupacabra.”
“Does it hunt humans?”
“Yes. It hunts humans, too; when one crosses its path.”
He’s got to be joking. I thought to myself.
“That’s not all. It can change into a human.” He went on.
“Hah! What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s basically a human trapped in a monster’s body. It’s still a human; but with a different look, different desires, better senses and better abilities. When it’s human, it acts like a human. It eats food, sleeps, and hangs out with people. It has human characteristics.”
“Can it change whenever it wants or is it uncontrolled?”
“If someone or something angers the human to a point where it can’t handle the rage, it begins to shake uncontrollably. Then each part of the body takes the shape of that of the El Chupacabra’s. The shaking can’t be stopped. After the transformation, it takes at least a day to gain the control to change back.”
“Could anyone be the monster?” Mike hesitated before he answered. His voice sounded as if he was trying to hide a nervous tone; as if he was beginning to regret telling me all of this. It looked like he was digging deep for an answer.
“You never know. Anyone in this world could be an El Chupacabra.”
“Can you kill it?”
“Nope. You see, it’s very smart. An El Chupacabra can reason. Also, it’s too fast and strong. No one, except its prey, can ever get close enough to even touch it. Anyone who tries becomes the prey.”
“I couldn’t imagine what I would do in a situation like that.” If there was a situation like that. I silently added. This was a lot of information for one person to know. “How do you know all this stuff about this El Chupacabra?” He froze as he searched for the answer.
“It’s possible that I read too many fictional books. I also go on the computer a lot.” I let out a light giggle and he showed his gorgeous smile.
“Attention!” yelled Mr. Demato, “Sorry to interrupt but I need to figure out which mythical creature each of you are doing. I’ll call your names and one person, please come up and tell me which creature you chose.” He began walking around the room, writing down the creature for each group. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Mike. He was still flashing his shiny teeth when Mr. Demato reached our table.
“Hannah and Mike, what did you choose?” he asked.
“El Chupacabra,” Mike responded.
“An El Chupacabra. That’s a good choice.” He wrote it down and then he moved on to the next desk to continue his rounds. Once the bell rang, I jumped up out of my seat and turned to Mike.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mike. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid tonight.”
“I promise. See you Hannah.” He chuckled as he left the room. Mike and I didn’t have the same class 12th period. I had English with Mr. Hartman and he had Civics with Mrs. Ringler. I’d have to wait until tomorrow to see him. After I went to my locker to get my English materials, I headed straight for class.
In the classroom I saw Vince and Amanda sitting at our island of desks. The new girl, Jessi, sat in the empty desk next to the one I usually sat at. I went to my seat and sat down.
“Hey Guys.” I sounded tired and I knew that. It had been a long day. It wasn’t my fault I had to sit through school all day. “What’s new?”
“Everything,” replied Amanda, “How was Mythology?”
“Fantastic! Mike told me about this creature called an El Chupacabra. He’s a very good story teller you know.” I was about to tell them more when I was interrupted by a loud holler.
“Alright everybody, listen up!” Mr. Hartman waited until everyone was quiet and then he began class.
12th period zoomed by with all the excitement bubbling up in my system. The day was finally over and I could go home. I planned on going straight home to eat dinner. Then I would head to the library to do some research on the El Chupacabra. I wanted information to write down and I wanted to find out more about the creature. Mike’s story sparked my interest.
The drive home was very quiet. I didn’t feel like putting on the radio. The peacefulness soothed me. I could relax in the silence. As I pulled up into the driveway of my lovely house, my mother ran outside. Her grin was a beautiful as a rainbow. Her hair was pulled back into a pony tail, with strands of hair sticking out that she needed to pull back. A clump of hair, apart from the rest, fell along her right cheek. She seemed really happy to see me home.
“Hey, mom!” I shouted. I hopped out of my car and made my way to her. We met up half way and I gave her a warm and loving hug. Her looming figure towered over mine. Even if I was 5’8”, standing next to my mother made me feel like a shrimp.
“How was school, Hannah? Anything exciting happened?” Everyday when I came home from school, she would ask about my day.
“School was boring as usual, mom.” We started walking towards the house. “Although in Mythology, we were assigned a project. We had to choose a mythical creature to do a report on. Mike and I are doing an El Chupacabra. He told me all about the thing. It was amazing how much he knew.”
“Oh that sounds fun. An El Chupacabra is a very interesting creature. How’s Mike doing?” That’s my mom; Always getting involved in my life.
“Mom, Mike’s fine. He’s always fine. There’s a new girl that hangs with us. Her name is Jessi. She’s in my English class. She seems nice but she’s shy.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“Of course I did; when I got to.”
We had reached inside the house now. My mom had made chicken and mash potatoes. I headed upstairs so I could chill. On my way up I called,
“Mom, can I go to the library after dinner to do some research for my project?”
“Sure. Don’t stay out too late”
“Okay. Thanks.”
When I reached my room, I put my bag down and sat on my bed. I pulled out my notebook and pencil, so I could leave right after dinner. I would need as much time as I could get. I took a deep breath and then started back downstairs.
“Ready for dinner?” My mom asked.
“Yep. I’ll get the drinks. Is dad still at work?”
“Yeah, he won’t be home until late tonight.” After that we sat down to eat the magnificent meal my dearest mother had cooked.
Dinner was delicious. I couldn’t imagine coming home to eat anything better. As soon as we were finished, I cleaned up and did the dishes. I grabbed my notebook and pencil and slid my phone into my purse. Then I said bye to my mom and headed out for the library.
I lived only three blocks from the library so I could walk. I decided to breathe in the fresh air instead of driving my car. I passed by the woods that lined along the end of my street. The green canopy covered about 8 miles of land. It was a nice place to think. I would walk in every now and then to read a book or take a nap. I wouldn’t go in deep because I didn’t know what lie beyond those trees.
I had only reached the third block when I saw Mike and one of his friends -one I didn’t know- standing near the edge of the woods. They seemed to be yelling at each other. I could hardly hear what they were screaming about, but I still attempted to listen to what I could hear.
“Don’t tell me how to run my life, Paul!” They hiked farther into the woods as they continued to yell and I secretly followed not realizing the danger I was walking into.
“Mike, you promised Hannah you wouldn’t fight!” I was confused why Mike would have to fight. Then I realized that Mike’s lip was swollen and he had a huge cut along the side of his face. Blood was even pouring out of his shoulder and staining his white t-shirt.
“I can run my own life! I can break a bottle if I want to!”
“You broke it on Jerome’s arm!!! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?!”
“The guy was getting on my nerves! He wouldn’t shut up about Hannah cheating on me! What was I to do? Just stand there and listen?!”
Mike thinks I’m cheating on him? He knows I wouldn’t do that. Stupid Jerome. He’s so jealous of me and Mike! I thought.
“She’s not cheating on you! He was saying that to get under your skin. Can’t you see that?”
Yes Paul, tell him, please. I could never do such a thing to Mike.
“I can’t trust her anymore! She lied to me! How could she?! Next time I see her, I’m going to give it to her! And I’ll bet she’s cheating with you!! You ignorant bastard!”
“Are you serious, man?! Why would I do that to you?! I’ve never even talked to her! You’re losing it! I can’t deal with you anymore! If something goes wrong, you always blame it on me! I get punished for no reason! I’m sick of it! Don’t bother talking to me anymore!” He shoved Mike and began to walk away.
Suddenly, Mike began shaking tremendously. His entire body was losing control. It wouldn’t stop. His fist began to rise in a position to strike Paul. Paul began to turn around to add something more; clueless about what was going on. I ran out to stop him but before I had taken a step Mike had made contact with Paul’s face. With a thunderous bang Paul’s body flew through the air and slammed into a tree. The sound of the deafening blow made me trip over a rock and fall to the hard, muddy ground. I looked up from my bloody scraped knees. Paul didn’t move. Lying on the ground was a dead corpse; Paul’s dead corpse. I twisted my head back to Mike. What I saw left me breathless. There before me stood a tall monster with big black eyes and shiny fur. I froze when his eyes caught mine. This couldn’t be happening.
Mike was the El Chupacabra!
“Mike?” His black, coal eyes flared in anger. I fell onto my back petrified from what I had just witnessed.
“You!” He pointed a hairy, ghastly finger at me as he creped nearer. This voice wasn’t the beautiful angel voice I had loved. It was now filled with hatred; hatred towards me. All I could manage to do was plea for my life.
“Please, Mike. Jerome was lying. Paul was telling the truth. I’m not cheating on you. I love you and will always love you.” I felt a tear trickle down my cheek as I plead for my life. It felt like everything we ever had meant nothing. All the laughs and good times were meaningless. Our relationship was being thrown away because of what some dork brain had said. A growl roared from within him as he made forward.
My heart stopped. He was going to kill me. I could feel my mouth as it dropped wide open. My loving Mike was gone. What replaced him now was a foul, repulsive, beast filled with rage; deadly enough that nothing could control it. I stood back up but before I could compose myself, he had lunged forward to attack me. Luckily, as I stepped back in horror, I tripped on a tree root and went tumbling to the floor…again. The big black thing flew over my head and into a tree. The strike sent the tree to the ground along with the dreadful monster. This was my chance to escape. I probably wouldn’t get very far but it was well worth a shot. That’s when I made up my mind to flee. Thus I darted away from everything I loved and into the mysterious woods.
I was running-still running; running from my death. My tired lungs burned inside my chest. My legs wanted to give out but I knew that once I stopped, I’d be done for. He’d catch up and that’d be the end for me. I sprinted, faster than I’d ever gone before. Not knowing where my legs were taking me. I knew I shouldn’t have but I looked back to see how far away he was. Surprisingly, there was nothing. I smiled to myself and slowed to a jog. I then realized it was the worst choice I’d ever made for when I turned back around, there it stood. Big, dark black eyes staring back at me. Sharp claws tightened into fists; Shiny black fur standing up on every end. His expression filler with fury. A wide and vicious grin spread across his face, showing all of his bright, white teeth; rather large and sharp. My legs halted to a stop. I stood two feet from the ferocious thing. His previous warnings echoed in my mind.

“Nothing can escape an El Chupacabra,” he had said.
He began to make its way to me. My brain told my feet to run the other way, but they were frozen in their tracks. Panic crossed mind and my body began shaking in fear. Finally, my legs took off but it was too late. A sharp pain ran across my back as the creature knocked me to the ground and began shredding me to bits.

“No! Please!” I barely choked out but it wasn’t loud enough. He wouldn’t listen. This was it. I was done. I thought about my life -the good life I had lived- and all the wonderful things in it that I’d be leaving behind. The last thing I pictured was my beloved mother and her childish face; her baby blue eyes looking at me before I slowly sank into unconsciousness.