Have you heard of the Moongazer? (Part 2)

I''ve  finally emerged from my chrysalis to  bring you another story!  This one is a collab with two other authors on r/NoSleep, so part 1 is linked at the beginning. Part 2 is below or on Reddit!
Part 1
I shouldn’t have turned around after Naomi told us to run. I thought she was just messing with us, the same way I had been messing with Emelia. Moongazer wasn’t real - the figure on the path had to be some kind of prop, right? A gimmick to mess with dumb tourists like us.

I stumbled mid-turn and nearly fell to my knees, my swollen, twisted ankle throbbing beneath my weight. I froze where I stood; the figure’s blank face had turned toward me, and even without eyes, I could feel the weight of his cold, empty stare. Moongazer extended one of his long, pale legs and stepped forward, halving the distance between us in one stride.

Not real. My mind screamed at me. It can’t be real!

​A hand on my shoulder yanked me back to reality. Emelia forcibly turned my body around and began pushing me down the path. I lost sight of Naomi, who had bolted into the trees when the creature started moving.

“Gwen, c’mon, run!”

Emelia shoved me forward, and I forced myself to put weight on my injured ankle. The joint screamed in agony with every footfall, but adrenaline and terror helped me push it to the back of my mind. There was a small maintenance shed near the end of the path, where the resort property met the beach, that we could hide in if we could break into it. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I forced myself to go faster. I could hear Moongazer’s heavy steps thundering on the path behind us. 

“Hurry, Em, up ahead!”

“I see it!”

The ground vibrated beneath our feet as Moongazer got closer, and I heard Emelia cry out in alarm. Even with my busted ankle, I somehow reached the shed first. There was a rusted chain looped around the handles, but I could pull the weathered doors open just enough to squeeze inside. I turned around to help Emelia through the gap only to realize she was no longer right behind me. 

I spotted her on the ground several yards back, crawling on her belly, blood pouring out of her mouth. Moongazer loomed behind her, tall, pale limbs glowing in the moonlight, head cocked to one side as though examining his handiwork. He lifted one giant foot into the air above Emelia’s back, and I clamped my hands over my mouth to hold in a scream as he brought it down with a sickening crack. 

I tightened my hands over my mouth to muffle a whimper. Emelia had gone still, only the slightest rise and fall of her back letting me know that she was still breathing, shallow and weak.

Tears streamed down my face as I stared at the limp body of one of my best friends. Movement from Moongazer drew my attention, and for one heart-stopping moment I thought he was looking right at me. Before I could scramble further into the darkness of the shed and whatever artificial sense of security it offered, Moongazer’s head snapped to the left. He turned his back to me - and the path - to stare intently into the trees surrounding the resort. Slowly, he began to move away toward the treeline.

I considered my options. I could stay in the shed and wait it out until morning, but I was certain Moongazer knew I was in there, and he wouldn’t even break a sweat destroying the plywood shack to get to me. I could try to make a run for Emelia and drag her to safety, but she wasn’t moving, and with my bad ankle I didn’t think I could support us both and move quickly enough to escape if Moongazer decided to turn around.

That left option C - make a run for it.

I’m sorry, Em, I thought, heart lurching in my chest as I decided to leave my friend behind. I gripped the rusted chain to keep it from rattling, took a deep breath to steel my nerves and, with one last glance to make sure Moongazer was still moving away from me, shoved my way back out of the shed. Sharp pain sliced into my side as I squeezed back through the worn, wooden doors, a loose nail or splinter ripping through fabric and skin, but I didn’t let it stop me. I ran past Moongazer’s retreating form, past Emelia’s battered body, and booked it back toward the resort. I sent up a silent prayer that whatever had drawn Moongazer’s attention, it wasn’t Naomi, and that she had found a place to hide. I sent up another that Moongazer hadn’t heard me escape and decided to follow me instead. 

I slammed into the plexiglass doors to the hotel lobby, but they didn’t budge. I lost my balance, failing to bite back a scream as I rolled my twisted ankle. I grabbed the handles and shook violently, but the doors were firmly locked. I slumped against the cool surface and sobbed.

“Help! I need help, please!” I cried out, slamming my open palms into the glass, rattling the doors in their frame. There was no response. I checked behind me to see if Moongazer had been drawn by my screams, but the path was empty. I risked trying one more time. 

“Is anybody there? Please, I’m hurt, and there’s something chasing me!”

Still no response. The lobby was deserted, and nobody came out of their rooms to see what the commotion was all about. An eerie silence had settled over the property. 

Where is everybody?

I caught a flash of movement in the corner of my eye, back down the path toward the maintenance shed. I didn’t wait to see who - or what - it was. I pushed myself back to my feet and hobbled quickly in the opposite direction of where I’d last seen Moongazer heading. There was another hotel entrance around back, and I figured I could make it if I stuck close to the building.

As I turned the corner, I walked right into another figure coming from the other side. They pushed me against the side of the building and clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle my startled cry.

“Gwen!” Naomi exclaimed. She dropped her hand and pulled me into a tight hug. “Oh, thank god you’re okay!”

Trembling, I brought my arms up to hug her back. “Emelia is…” I choked on the words. “He got her, Naomi. She’s gone.”

Naomi pulled back, hands clasping my upper arms. “No,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “Are you sure? We have to go back for her!”

A vivid image flashed in my mind - Emelia, body broken and limp, the quick, shallow rise - inhale - and fall - exhale - of her back. I pushed down the shame crawling up the back of my throat.

“It’s no use, Naomi. She’s dead,” I insisted. 

Naomi let out a shuddering breath. “Oh god, poor Em. Okay.” She grabbed my hand and started to pull me toward the front of the building. “We have to get help.”

I dug my heels in and pulled Naomi back toward me. “The lobby is locked, and I saw something moving on the path, we can’t go back that way.”

“The lobby is locked?” Naomi’s voice wavered, thin with panic. “The back entrance is too. What the hell is going on?”

“I don’t know, but we have to keep moving.” My mind reeled at the revelation that the back entrance was locked as well, goosebumps rising on the back of my neck. Something was very wrong. 

“Where do we go? How do we get away from this thing?” Naomi was growing frantic. I pulled her away from the hotel toward the trees. We were on the opposite side of the building to where I last saw Moongazer. I prayed we had a good enough head start to look for a hiding place. 

“I wish I’d paid more attention when Em was telling us about the stupid legend,” I muttered, eyes scanning through the trees for pale limbs. “Do we just need to make it until morning?”

“He only comes out at the full moon, so I assume so,” Naomi replied, slightly breathless as we jogged away from the hotel. “Maybe we can go to the village? Find somebody to let us inside?”

The village was in the opposite direction, the last place I had seen Moongazer. It wasn’t a bad plan, necessarily, but I wasn’t eager to go back toward the danger. I also wasn’t sure how much longer I would be able to keep walking on my ruined ankle, and my shirt was warm and wet against my side, which had just started to burn with pain. The adrenaline was starting to recede, and I could feel my body crashing. 

“Not an option,” I finally said, limping further into the trees. “The airport is this way, right? It’s closer; we should look for help there.”

Naomi stopped moving. I turned to face her and saw that she was frowning. “The airport? Gwen, it’s sure to be closed by now, as small as it is, and there’s nobody between here and there. What will we do if he catches up to us?”

“I don’t know!” I snapped. Naomi flinched, something hard flashing through her eyes for a split second before it was gone. “I don’t know,” I repeated more softly, “but I won’t be able to make it back to the village in this state, and surely there’s somebody on staff this late - small or not, it’s still an airport, right? There has to be air traffic controllers, cops, something!”

Naomi looked away, and I thought I saw a look of annoyance twist her features. 

“I think this is a really bad plan, Gwen.” 

“Do you have a better one?” 

“Yes, the village,” Naomi replied, arms crossed.

“I like my plan better,” I sniped back. Why is she fighting me on this? 

“Yeah, well, you would.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“It was your big plan to taunt a fucking mythological monster and get us into this mess in the first place, is what I mean.” 

My blood turned to ice. Naomi’s voice was dripping with hateful sarcasm. I’d never heard her like this before.

“How was I supposed to know it was real, Naomi? How?” I demanded. I took a step toward her and my ankle, pushed well past its limits, finally gave out. Naomi caught me as I sunk to the ground and helped me sit on a fallen log. 

“I didn’t know,” I whispered.

“I know you didn’t, Gwen,” Naomi replied, voice devoid of emotion. When I glanced up at her, though, Naomi was smiling kindly - sadly - at me. “I know. And Emelia knew that too.”

Guilt stabbed through me again at the mention of Emelia. Naomi carded her fingers through my hair, soothing. 

“I’m going back to the hotel to see if I can get in and find something to patch you up.”

“Wait, no, Naomi -”

“It’s like you said, Gwen,” Naomi shrugged. “You can’t make it much further like this. Let’s patch you up and head for the village. I know it’s the right thing to do.”

I looked up at Naomi’s face. Her expression was earnest, but something wasn’t right about her eyes. For a moment, I was reminded of Moongazer’s empty, featureless face. I thought of the empty, locked hotel lobby, the deserted beach. I thought of how Naomi had disappeared while Emelia and I ran for our lives. Hadn’t it been Naomi’s idea to go to the beach tonight? 

I made a decision.

“Okay,” I conceded, and Naomi smiled. Was it encouraging, or self-satisfied? “Okay, I’ll wait here.”

“I won’t be long,” Naomi promised, backing away from me. “I’ll be back for you!”

I waved her off and allowed myself a few moments to rest. When I was sure she was gone, I braced my hands on the log and pushed myself slowly back to my feet, testing my ankle. The airport was a few miles away, and it would definitely be a miracle if I made it that far, but I had to try. Whatever Naomi was up to - was she working with Moongazer, somehow? - I figured I could still get myself a decent head start. 

What if you’re wrong? A voice whispered in the back of my head. What if Naomi is as innocent as you, as innocent as Emelia? Are you really going to leave another of your friends to die?

If Moongazer goes after Naomi, another voice whispered, you’ll really have plenty of time to get to the airport.

I shoved my doubt and guilt into a lockbox deep in my mind. Those were feelings to examine later, if ever. None of this was my fault, I reassured myself. How could I know the monster was real? How could I know if Emelia and I could have escaped together? How could I know whether or not Naomi was on my side?  

For now, I only had one goal: survive, no matter the cost.