After his final class of the day, Kyle found himself held up in the hall by his friend Zach Brady.

Zach had been Kyle's best friend since they'd met in first grade and had been on the same soccer team for years. Although Kyle was often disillusioned with the team, Zach was the only one he could tolerate. It also helped that Zach was the only one who shared the same feelings about it as Kyle too.

"Hey, I didn't see you at the party last night, man" Zach said, weakly punching his friends arm.

"That's cause I wasn't there" Kyle shrugged.

"No shit" Zach laughed, his dark skin shimmering under the fluorescent lights.

"I just didn't feel like celebrating a draw" He repeated his sentiments from the previous day. "It just didn't seem like a big deal to me".

"Well then you're about the only one!" Zach laughed, finally helping Kyle to crack a smile again too. "You, you seem distracted. The test?" Zach asked, his chocolate eyes falling onto Kyle's math textbook.

"I actually think I have it covered" Kyle answered, sounding as proud as he felt.

"Alright well since we've all been partying while you've had your head stuck in the books, the rest of the guys absolutely do not have it covered" Zach continued to laugh but now it was a nervous one. "We're about to have a study session in the library. Actually do some schoolwork, if you want to hang?"

Kyle thought about it for just a few seconds before nodding his head.

"You know what? Yeah, I'll do it. It'll be cool to hang out with you guys, since I missed the party".

"That's my man!" Zach said excitedly. "Man, this is going to be awesome!".

*

The school library was what Kyle imagined every school library was like. Dark, depressing and just smelling like old.

"This is totally not awesome" Danny stated.

Almost the entire soccer team were spread over a couple of desks, some staring blankly at the computer screens (About the only modern thing in the room besides the people), whilst the rest pretended to read their textbooks.

"Whose dumbass idea was this anyway?" Zach asked aloud.

"I thought it was yours" Smirked Kyle. Although he was confident on the test they were supposed to take in a few days, he accepted that there was no sense in taking any chances.

"Shut up" Zach snapped back.

"Ssssshhhhh!" Hissed the librarian, the otherwise silent room carried her message to the far corner where the team were hiding.

The fact they were even there in the first place showed how concerned they were with their test scores. The elderly librarian, Mrs. Reynolds, even did a double-take when they came strolling in, looking like a group of prisoners entering a courtroom that didn't want any press taking their pictures.

"What's her problem?" The teams' goalkeeper asked, noticeably quieter.

"Who gives a fuck, I'm gonna go and see if the nerds over there want to help" Danny sighed, getting up from his chair quicker than he moved out on the field. He must have been desperate.

"Like they'll help us. Assholes" One of the other team members groaned.

"Man, how do you get this stuff? This just looks like my little cousin's scribbles to me" Zach asked his best friend.

"Hey, I'm not a genius or anything" Kyle made clear. "I just keep reading it. If you force it on yourself enough, you don't have a choice but to remember it"

As the group watched Danny's efforts with "The nerds" fail spectacularly, Kyle spotted the outdated coffee machine by the door and got the overwhelming urge to get himself one. Math was tiring work after all.

"I'm going to get some caffeine in me. You guys want anything?" He asked the group, kind of thankful that they all said no. He didn't want to take multiple trips back and forth anyway.

Kyle left his team, passing a sullen faced Danny on the way, and began to use the machine. It was slower than anything he could possibly imagine (except maybe Mrs. Reynolds) and so he looked around the room whilst waiting an eternity for his plastic cup to fill up.

Seeing his team struggle like this made him want to help, but he was telling Zach the truth. Although he knew what to write, he didn't really understand it himself. It was like when someone asked him why he liked eighties rock music. He just did. Guiltily, he moved his attention to the window and watched across the playing fields as the sun began to set over the hilly horizon.

After a few moments of staring into space, he realised something. Someone was heading into the trees.

Squinting his eyes to take a closer look into the distance, Kyle spotted the same light blue backpack that Matt Maguire had been carrying earlier. Once again, the dark mass of hair on top of the being confirmed to him who it was.

Snorting and shaking his head, Kyle finished making his drink and headed back to the table.

"Any luck?" He asked Danny, already knowing the answer yet wanting to hear it anyway.

"What do you think?" Danny snapped. "Can't see why those dicks won't help those though"

"Probably because you beat that guy up last week" Suggested Kyle.

"I beat that kid up?" Danny asked doubtfully, although Kyle's nodding convinced him otherwise. "Huh. Why can't I remember that?" He asked, looking back at the boy but still having no memory of it.

"Does make sense" One of the other team members admitted.

"Which just means more studying" Zach sighed. As if it was some sort of study war cry, the whole team turned back to their computers and their books, leaving Kyle to watch them in amusement.

As entertaining as watching his friends' struggles was, Kyle soon found out that that particular brand of entertainment didn't last very long, and soon his mind was back on the weird kid, Matt. He must've been going to find that stupid monster again. Kyle couldn't help but laugh.

But then suddenly, his chuckles stopped and he somehow became curious.

Kyle turned to the computer that he'd been stationed at and opened up the internet and found a search engine before typing.

The Falls Peak Beast.

Clicking on the first article that came up, he began to read, making sure that no one busted him looking at this nonsense. What Kyle read wasn't anything new to him but he had to admit that it was a little intriguing.

The Falls Peak Beast was something he'd always thought his grandparents had made up to scare him when he was a kid, but as he got older, Kyle discovered that the creature was actually an old folk tale that was almost as old as the town itself.

The legend told of a dark looking beast, a hybrid of a bear and a gorilla, however unlike most "Bigfoot" creatures, this one was the size of a normal man. Over the years it had gained the name Gorgoya.There were various accounts describing it as a red eyed animal whilst some claimed its eyes were as black as the night it disappeared into. However they all agreed that it was something that shouldn't be messed with.

Initially it was discovered in the 1920's after a local farmer awoke one winter morning to find that his chicken coop had been ripped apart, with only a few stray feathers left as evidence. It was first thought to have been the work of unruly teenagers, but after more dead animals were discovered in the forest, the locals began whispering amongst themselves. The rumours then turned into actions when the men of the village ventured into the woods to bring justice to the creature. Apparently, not all of them came back.

No one ever brought back a body of the beast; only tales of sightings, sometimes in the bushes, sometimes in the trees and even some sightings at the waterfall in the hills from which the town originally got its name. However, anyone who tried to kill or injure it, always ended up on the receiving end of that fate instead.

As time passed, sightings became scarce and many believed the beast to be dead, having succumbed to the elements on its own. But every so often, there were resurgences and the tales became passed on to the next generation. Some even went so far as to say that the creature roamed the forest as a protector of the town, rather than the menace that it had been portrayed as. But Kyle didn't see it that way.

He saw it in the same way that he saw things like the Loch Ness Monster and Sasquatch. Just something that people made up in the olden days because they were bored. He wasn't even aware that anyone legitimately believed in it, never mind wanted to find it. Matt Maguire was the first he'd come across in that regard.

Kyle closed the browser, realising how hokey the whole thing sounded.

"What a waste of valuable study time" He thought to himself.

A thought that was probably just as rare as the monster.

*

After the study session came to a rather limp conclusion, all the players made their way home with intentions to study again at home, although they all knew it was pretty unlikely that it was going to happen.

As Kyle came to the last block before his house, he spotted a car much better than his own pulling up outside Jess' house and a short haired woman step out of the driver's seat.

Before he could even logically think about what he was doing, he'd hastily parked his car and doubled back on foot, finding himself approaching her.

"Hey, Mrs. Martin!" He called to the woman, startling her.

"Oh! Hello Kyle, I didn't see you there with the sun" She laughed, using her hand as a visor as she looked at him. "How are you doing?" She asked.

"Pretty good thanks. How's Jess? I noticed that she wasn't at school today" He knew this was a strange question. He hadn't spoken to Jess in years. In fact, he spoke to her mother more than her.

"Jess wasn't feeling well today" Mrs. Martin answered far too quickly. "I think something must be going around town"

"Yeah I guess" Kyle replied, deciding not to reveal that he'd been spying on her daughter the night before, where she'd seemed in reasonably good health. "Will she be back tomorrow? Mr Scott was asking" He added in the lie at the end so that his interrogation seemed a little less random.

"Umm . . . I'm not sure yet" She said. "She's been in bed all day and she doesn't have any energy at all". Kyle nodded his understanding, figuring that this was as much information as he was likely to get from his neighbour. "But if she's off for much longer then I'm sure you'd be able to bring us any school work she needs to catch up on, right?" She asked, sounding more cheerful now.

"Sure thing, Mrs. Martin" Kyle lied again before saying his goodbyes and heading to his own home.

Once again, Kyle was greeted at the door by his canine companion, Oscar.

"Hey boy! Why you so excited to see me, huh?" Kyle asked whilst patting him down, much to the dog's pleasure.

After the dog was satisfied with his attention, he waddled back through to the living room as Kyle called out for his parents to tell them that he was home, but he was only met with silence.

"Helloooo?" He cried again, still receiving no reaction.

He walked through to the kitchen and found a note addressed to him on the freshly cleaned counter.

Kyle,

You're dad and I have gone out for dinner.

Please walk Oscar.

Love, Mom

So that explained it.

"Are you serious?" He hissed, crumpling the note in his balled fist.

As Kyle turned round, he found Oscar sitting, mere inches in front of him, looking up with that happy, pleading face that only dogs can have.

"No. No way" He told the dog as clearly as he could.

If the whine that he gave out was any indication, then Oscar completely understood what Kyle was saying.

*

After fixing himself something to eat, Kyle retreated to his room again, leaving the agitated dog in the back yard so he didn't bother him. He was trying to cram more studies in, but for some reason he was unable to concentrate.

Perhaps it was the heat of the evening, or maybe it was the slight guilt he was feeling about not taking Oscar out. Maybe it was his frustration with Danny or maybe even Matt's failing search. Whatever it was, Kyle wasn't able to break free from the clouded haze that filled his head.

He slammed his book shut in frustration and threw his pen across his room before dropping his head into his hands.

Maybe he was just tired?

Although he couldn't explain why, Kyle found this was the comfiest position that he'd been sat in for what felt like weeks. He pressed his head further into his palms, feeling the sweat trading places as he drifted away into his own personal nirvana, leaving the real world behind him.

SLAM!

A loud thumping sound brought him back to earth quicker than he'd left.

He looked around his room, bewildered. Only a minute had passed according to the clock in the bottom corner of his laptop screen. Nothing was out of place and there were no further sounds accompanying the initial bang.

With nowhere else to look, Kyle stepped up to his window again, finding his gaze searched Jess' property before anyone else's; however this seemed like a good thing for once.

It was clear enough for anyone to see. Jess had stormed out of her house and was walking at a brisk pace down the deserted street.

"Well, well, well" Kyle said aloud, telling Jess off from afar. "Someone's feeling better" He sniggered.

And then it happened.

Just like earlier on with Jess' mother, Kyle found himself acting out a plan he hadn't even thought of yet. He grabbed his black hoody and white trainers and then darted down the stairs.

It looked like Oscar would be getting that walk after all.

https://youtu.be/spXMnZKKIaE

___________________________________________________________________________

Alrighty! After maybe a slow start, we're kinda picking up a bit of pace now right? What do you guys think of the direction the story is taking?

Is following Jess really a good idea for Kyle?

I also added in a bit of music to add to the pace which you may or may not have listened to. It's "Next 2 You" by a band called Buckcherry and I felt it was the perfect song for Kyle's mission. I hope you guys like it cause it's been stuck in my head all day!

This chapter (although it was a nightmare to edit!) was a lot of fun to write. The main reason for this is because I finally got to create a little story about the famous "Beast".

A little fun fact about this, is that it's based off a real story. Kinda. A friend and I were on holiday in Slovenia in 2016 and one day when in the park, we noticed a few signs dotted about with an animal on it that none of us recognised. Naturally, all the writing on the posters was in Slovenian so we had no idea what it was about. From there we got just made up our own story about it and here we are!

I've always been fascinated by mythical creatures but I've never felt confident enough to write about them. Now, that's changed .

So I want to know what you're favourite "Monster stories and legends" are, or do you think that Sea monsters, Big Foot, Loch Ness and lizard men are all just people's imagination?

Thanks so much for reading, and as usual any votes or comments are much appreciated, and I try to respond to every one!