The cool morning breeze flowed around Jaquavion, the leader of the New Jersey geese flock. He was a fairly strong, black-spotted white goose with a lean silhouette and hazel eyes. Last summer things seemed perfect for a while up north, until bad weather hit and the flock needed to migrate down south. On the way, they had lost their former leader, Tyrone and struggled a lot in their new home. But now, Jaquavion was determined to rebuild the flock and start a new chapter of their lives on a strong note. 

“Good morning, everyone!” Jaquavion called as he strolled around camp. 

“Good morning, Jaquavion!” A few geese called back.

As Jaquavion called everyone to the center of the clearing, he did a quick roll call. Jeff, Delta, Charlie, Joe, Demetrius, Bartholomew, Jamal, Francois, Farquad,  Bob, Billy, Alpha, and Johnny were all there, but Dally was missing. 

“Where’s Dally?” Someone asked.

“Dunno. I haven’t seen him since yesterday,” replied Charlie. 

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Jaquavion said. “Besides, right now we’ve got an important matter on our hands. This is a great place and all, but we don’t have a definite place we go to to get food. It’s all scrambled everywhere, and we don’t know what we’ll get where and when. Our goal for the next few days is to find that reliable food source so we know where to hunt. Otherwise, we may as well all be dead. Got it?” Even though he may feel a little detached after the mission, Dally was one of the strongest in the flock, and Jaquavion knew he could handle a lot on his own. 

“Got it” everyone said in unison.

“Great, here’s the plan: Johnny, you take Jeff, Delta, Joe, Demetrius, Bartholomew, and Jamal out west and search that area. Everyone else will follow me and search farther east. ” With that, he gave a little honk, and everyone took off. 

As they soared above the treetops, Jaquavion couldn’t help but grin a little as he took a look at the surrounding view. The trees sparkled an emerald green, and the pools of occasional water glistened bright blue in the sun. Animals roamed everywhere. Everything about the place was spectacular. Bob gasped as he took in the view as well. There was such an impact on all of the geese as they flew, who were now entirely disregarding anything other than the picturesque view.

“Alright, enough sightseeing. Let’s get to work” Jaquavion said. He led everyone closer above the trees to look for clearings, bugs, and other animals which could be used for food. At first, there wasn’t much, but as they went a bit farther they found a small opening in the forest which looked to be a decent spot for food. The opening contained a few logs, bird nests, and many bugs which were a perfect meal for the geese. Everyone grinned. The place wasn’t too far away from camp, which made it easily accessible, and there would be food for all the geese in the flock easily, with leftovers every day. Jaquavion’s mouth watered as his discipline only just overcame the urge to pick out every single bug and feast on them, So, they marked the spot, congratulating each other on the find, and made their way back to camp.

As they entered their own clearing, the geese found camp to be empty. Jaquavion frowned.

“That’s weird. It’s been quite a while since we headed out. What’s going on?” wondered Jaquavion.

“What if something happened to them?” Johnny fretted.

“Stay here,” Jaquavion replied. “I'll go out to look for them and come back every few hours. For now, it’s better if less geese go, since it’s probably nothing.” Billy opened his mouth to interfere, but soon gave into conformity and shut it as he thought about the decision a bit more. So, Jaquavion soared out on his own, the sun slowly setting behind him. We set out in the morning. Maybe they just didn’t find anything and want to look a little more. Thought the goose, trying to reassure himself. He went flying for miles, but none of the geese were in sight. It was almost dark, and Jaquavion’s wings were starting to ache. His mind was almost detached from his body as he swiveled his head from left to right repeatedly. Muscle memory almost drove the motion, and at last, Jaquavion gave up. Eyes drooping, he turned around and prepared for the long way back. But then, wingbeats sounded behind him!

“JAQUAVION! HELP!” Jamal screeched desperately. His eyes were wild, and every aspect of the bird was bedraggled. His usually well-groomed feathers were a complete mess, and something seemed very off.

“Jamal… what happened?” Jaquavion said, bewildered. His wings were starting to hurt, and all he wanted to do was go back home. Surely it couldn’t be so urgent. 

“It’s Johnny… he’s dead!” Jamal gasped.

“WHAT?!!!!!!” Jaquavion yelled. “How?”

“We got separated from the others. There’s no time to explain. Come quick!” Jamal managed to breathe out before he darted off to lead Jaquavion to the body. 

Darkness engulfed the forest as the sun fully set and the moon came up, and the two landed in a small opening. The moonlight shined through the trees, and it landed on the dead body of Johnny. The sight was horrendous. Johnny’s head was brutally twisted away from the rest of him, and a huge gash covered the right side of his body in dark red blood. His beak was completely ripped off too, and his eyes wide open in horror. A rope was pulled taut around his legs. Whoever did this was a total monster.

“Who could have done this?” Jaquavion gasped aloud. But when he turned around, there was no response. Instead, there was a slight rustling in the trees. Jaquavion looked around wildly, trembling. “J-jamal?” he whimpered out, his voice barely audible. Leaves cracked, yet he couldn’t see anything around him other than the forest. But then, he could see something far worse.

“AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Jaquavion yelled in agony. Claws gripped his throat, dragging him down into the ground. Talons sliced through his left flank as bright red blood spurted out. Cold air breathed down his neck, and as Jaquavion turned around, all he found was a big smile of teeth stained in blood. He could hear the grinding of them as the figure came even closer to his face. It lowered its head so its glowing red eyes met Jaquavion’s terrified ones. 

“To answer your question, I did this, The creature hissed in a serpentine voice, still grinning.

At that moment, an ocean of black engulfed Jaquavion’s world.