Every day Kyle would wander outside in his backyard and explore. He had discovered a gate far out in the woods, which was the only way to get past the fence that stretched for miles. He would always walk down each side of it trying to find its end, but it just went on forever. He could never another way around or through it. It reached almost to the top of the trees, and was made of concrete, super flat and smooth. There was no way under it, around it, or over it. Barbed wire covered the top of it, preventing anything from climbing over, although that wasn’t even an option.

Kyle always went into the woods after school to try and find out more about the strange barrier spread throughout the woods. He always wanted to travel beyond it, to find out what was really in the rest of the woods. He had asked people at his school, and different people all around town. Most of them said they didn’t know, but many of them told him to stay away from it. They said never to enter the woods or go through the gate, and if he did than he would regret it. Kyle never believed anything they told him though. He was terrible at listening, and usually followed his own rules.
He wasn’t the best student either. Cs and Ds mostly filled his report cards, and he was often reported to the councilor’s office after being seen bullying younger students. He was in seventh grade, but felt like he was the best kid around. Always ignoring others’ advice, never following rules, and frequently getting into trouble, he proved to be one of the worst students at his school. Not many other kids liked him, and those that did were also jerks who felt the same way. They all felt like nothing could stand in their way, and they could do whatever they wanted.
Unfortunately, their confidence had always ended them up in deep trouble, especially when it came to the gate. Kyle had ventured out to it again after school, dumping his homework in his room and completely forgetting about it. He slipped on his shoes, called some of his friends, and met up with them back near the gate. They knew where it was as well, but Kyle was the most fascinated by it. He left his house, ran out into the woods behind his yard, and took the path that he did every day, until he arrived in front of the gate.
The gate was a large door that was made of vertical bars, but a tinted glass wall connected on the other side prevented anyone from being able to see through them. Kyle arrived at the gate and waited for his friends to get there. Within only minutes, three other kids arrived and met up with him. Like Kyle, they all had brown hair and eyes. Kyle’s first friend was Johnny. He still had his pocket knife which he always carried around with him, and a couple scratches and scars covered his hands from poorly handling the knife.
The tallest of the group was the biggest trouble maker, Matt. He was a bit wider than everyone else, and much a lot stronger than them as well. Although he would cause the most trouble, he was able to get away with things, unlike Kyle and Johnny. Next to him stood a small kid who was much smaller than the rest of them and looked weak and scrawny. His hair was a bit lighter than the rest of theirs and freckles covered his cheeks. He had a worried expression on his face and looked at the gate as they stood in front of it.
“This is Nick.” said Matt, violently slapping his shoulder. Nick was so weak and small that he almost fell to the ground. He clearly wasn’t their friend, but a kid who they liked to pick on. “He’s gonna be coming with us, just in case.” said Matt. “Just in case what?” asked Johnny, slicing the bark of a tree with his knife. “I don’t know, in case he needs to test stuff out. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not going through that gate until we know what’s on the other side, and Nick here will see for us.” With that he pushed Nick up to the gate as the three of them backed up and stood behind him watching. “Go on, open it.” Matt said.
Nick stared up at it. The latch was shut, and almost out of his reach since he was so small. He reached up as high as he could and pulled it open, then backing up as the large gate started to swing back. The hinges creaked and it moved slowly as it opened, revealing the rest of the woods. The four boys looked in and studied what they saw. It looked just like the rest of the woods, and nothing looked suspicious at all. They stared in, mouths hanging open and eyes opened wide.
“It doesn’t really look any different.” Matt said. “Yeah, what’s behind there that’s so special anyway?” Johnny asked. Kyle stepped up to the gate and took a step into the woods. It was completely quiet as he did so. He waited, but nothing happened. “Looks like it’s safe. Let’s go,” he said. Kyle and Johnny walked in as Matt followed behind them, dragging Nick along. As they got deeper into the forest though, they saw that it was much stranger than they thought.
Moss hang from every tree, filling the air with a rotten smell. The ground eventually became nothing but thick mud, and trees were toppled over. Strange noises that sounded like dying animals surrounded the boys, and thorns and roots scratched at their legs as they kept walking.The sky was dark and the trees were much taller, showing off rotting bark and green vines. As they kept walking, they came to a clearing in the forest. All of the trees in the area had collapsed and the misty, dark sky was visible through the opening.
As they approached the area though, Nick gasped and the three boys turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?” Kyle asked. “Are you scared? What a wimp,” he said, turning back around and trudging though the mud. Matt looked in the direction that Nick was staring in and his mouth fell open. “Kyle, look!” he said, pointing to the clearing. Kyle and Johnny looked at the ground, to notice a giant footprint, smack in the middle of the mud. It looked just like a T-Rex’s footprint, and the four of them ran up to it.
“Whoa, what is that thing?” Kyle asked. “It looks like something you’d see on that dinosaur show on TV,” Matt said. Johnny leaned down and looked closer. “This is awesome, where do you guys think this thing went?” he asked, looking up at the two of them. Nick was crouched behind Matt, staring at the footprint. He wanted to leave and get out of there, but Matt wouldn’t let him go. As he looked around cautiously, he noticed something moving in the bushes. “Guys,” he said. “Shut up, we’re trying to figure something out.” Johnny snapped, not even looking at him.
“Guys, look” Nick stuttered, staring off into the woods. “Will you just be quiet?” Johnny said. “I’m serious, guys, just look!” Nick shouted, pointing off into the trees. The three of them turned and followed the direction that his finger was pointing. It led to a couple trees that stood taller than the others. Dark green moss hung down in between them, but it looked like something was moving behind it. The four of them looked closer, trying to figure out what was there. Before they had time to say anything though, a creature darted out from behind the trees and sprinted towards them. It looked like it was a raptor and an octopus mixed into one. It’s legs carried it across the mud with ease, and it’s arms hung at its side as it ran.
All of the boys screamed and started running back the way they came. The mud slowed them down and made it difficult to move, but none of them stopped. They ran as fast as they could, ducking under branches, dodging trees, and jumping over logs. Nick was the fastest out of the four of them, and led the way back to the gate. Johnny and Kyle followed close behind him, but Matt had a difficult time keeping up. As he sprinted to catch up with them, he held his side and panted like a dog. “Guys, wait up! I can’t… I can’t keep up,” he said, desperately trying to call to them. Although he was far behind, none of them slowed down. They kept running and a minute later heard him scream. Nick kept running, but Kyle and Johnny turned around. Matt was gone. Completely gone. They knew that they had gotten much farther ahead of him, but they couldn’t even see him in the distance.
“Matt?” Kyle called. Nothing. The two stood there and looked around. Nick had already sprinted off and they were left alone in the silence. A second later though, branches were torn from trees as the creature shot out from the dark, behind a row of logs. They screamed and turned around to keep running. Kyle was in front and quickly ran ahead. Johnny followed him, and looked back. He could see the monster clearer now. It had the body of a raptor and eight arms all over its body. Its legs were long and it had large claws on the end of its toes, while its tail reached out far behind it. It also had the head of a raptor, but looked much more sinister and frightening, especially in person.
It easily leaped over logs and ditches that the boys had a hard time getting over, and eventually caught up to Johnny. He kept running and turned around, noticing that it was right behind him. After tripping on a root, he lay in the mud on his back and desperately reached for his pocket knife. Kyle turned around and saw him lying on the ground. Before he could do anything though, he tripped himself and fell in the deep mud. Lifting himself out of a ditch, he was now covered in mud from neck and down. He stood up, almost slipping and falling over again, and turned to look behind him. Both the creature and Johnny were gone.
Frightened, he continued running as fast as he could. He regretted coming in here. He hated himself for not listening to anyone, and was scared out of his mind. Tears flowed down his cheeks, leaving small clean paths in the mud on his face as the mud just got deeper and deeper. It felt like roots and vines were grabbing onto his legs as he hopelessly tried to keep his balance and move forward. Nick was completely out of sight and he had no idea what even happened to him. He continued to make his way back until the gate was visible. He smiled as he saw it and ran even fasting, thinking that he would make it back.
The ground was becoming stiffer and easier to walk on, allowing him to run faster. Hope filled his mind as he shook the mud off of him, still running for the exit. He had almost reached it, until something grabbed his foot and he face planted into the ground. Breathing faster than he ever had before, he turned his shaking head to see that roots and vines were wrapped around his leg. Surely enough, his thought was real. They were grabbing onto him. He reached down and tried to pull them off, but they seemed to latch on even tighter the more he tried.
His hands shaking and his heart thumping, he desperately tried to free himself, but it was too late. The creature was now standing in front of him, staring him down. As he looked up and noticed its razor sharp teeth, he almost whimpered as tears flowed from his eyes. A second later, a scream was heard throughout the whole neighborhood, so shrilling that it caused people to shudder.
The gate, which was still a ways from where Kyle was, still stood open, before Nick scrambled through it and pulled it shut with all his might, before falling onto the ground panting for breath. He closed his eyes and lay in the grass, looking out into the rest of the woods in front of him. It was silent, except for the sound of birds whistling and leaves rustling against each other in the wind. Nick turned and looked up at the gate, realizing why people had always said to stay away from it, and never enter. Sweat was rushing down his face, and he wiped it away as he sat up. He had never been so scared in his life, and upon hearing the screams of the other boys, was never going to go anywhere close to the gate again. He took a couple deep breaths to calm himself down, and stood up, running away from the large barrier. Little did he know, that he forgot to shut the latch.