She Woke Up In The Woods
She Woke Up In The Woods
She woke up in the woods. There were trees all around her. They grew closer together than in the parts of the woods she knew. Darkness enveloped her like a fog, but at least that part was normal -- she came to the woods often with her friends; to drink, to fuck, mostly to smoke weed... But always these things under the cover of night. No, the dark didn't bother her. What bothered her most was that she couldn't remember how she'd gotten here.
"Where am I?" she asked. And when no one replied she tried, "Is anyone out there?"
This was not good. Not good at all. She could just hear her parents now. What were you doing out after curfew? Are you trying to get yourself killed? They still haven't found the others, you know. Do you want to wind up like them? Well, what had she been doing out after curfew? You don't need to tell me, she thought. I know I fucked this one up. I fucked it good. She thought about those others who had gone missing the past few weeks. Devon had gone first, and she felt bad about that one. He'd broken up with her just before that. She felt responsible for that -- knew she was responsible for that -- and then he'd gone and vanished. She couldn't help feeling like it had something to do with her.
Don't act so unsure, she thought. You know why this happened. Don't you remember why he broke up with you? Don't tell me you already forgot the look on his face. You know, the look he had when he walked in on you two? She'd always remember that look. His mouth hanging open, his eyes wide... So wide that she actually noticed the glassy stare of his false eye. How was it that she never noticed it before then? The way he'd looked at her, she couldn't focus on anything but that false eye. She'd been afraid it was going to roll out and shatter on the floor. And how was he supposed to stay friends with Josh after that? The more she thought about it, the more she knew it had been all her fault. Josh had vanished too, only days later, all but confirming her suspicions. Everyone in town knew it too.
Either way, that made her out of two boyfriends in the span of two weeks. It had raised warning bells all over town, but no one could find any signs of the missing boys. That had been the reason for the curfew in the first place. She spent a lot of time after that with her friend Jessica, and sure enough Jessica had been the next to go. Her parents, already concerned, really hadn't been happy about that one. They rarely took their eyes off her anymore.
That's why she'd been alone last night.
She'd meant to smoke a bowl. With all the stress, both her friends and her fuckbuddies vanishing, the gauzy comfort of pot had been her only retreat. She'd left the house and crept to the treeline to smoke in peace.
She remembered. The thing she'd smelled...
A high and heavy stench, sour like spoiled meat, had filled her nostrils. It was an animal smell and rank with the depths of the woods. And then, emerging from the bushes, running across the driveway, it had come. It ran on huge and horrible legs, elongated, and it made its way right towards her. She saw it for only a second, and then--
She couldn't remember anything past that. She shook her head.
"That's impossible. You didn't see shit. All you saw was someone running towards you."
It had been dark, hadn't it? Darkness and moonlight had a tendency to make things look bigger, longer, more vicious. Of course, it still meant that someone had taken her. If that was true, where was he now? And it couldn't possibly have been Devon, could it?
Her hands and feet were unbound. She thought that was a blessing, but it also meant that her captor was close by. Wouldn't want to leave an unbound victim for too long, would you? She tried getting to her feet now. The moment she felt pressure on her ankle she cried out and fell.
"Shit," she said, breathing in quick gasps.
The ankle felt broken.
"Oh shit. You idiot. You complete idiot, you let yourself get fucking kidnapped. Your friends have been disappearing and somehow you thought you'd be okay. Somehow you thought... And he broke your fucking ankle!"
The worst part was she knew she'd been out when she shouldn't. She knew that it was her fault. Isn't that what they always told kidnapping victims? That it was their fault? This time it felt like she might actually be responsible.
"All right, let's try this again," she said, stroking the swollen ankle. She winced, and tried again to stand. The leg buckled in an instant.
"Damn it!" she cried. She'd need a crutch if she was going to manage this. The cluttered floor was thick with fallen limbs. She crawled on hands and knees to the nearest of these and braced herself with the branch. "On three," she mumbled; her ankle felt like fire, throbbing with a pulse of its own. "One... Two..." She hoisted herself on three, crying out with the tremendous effort. Her leg flared and she nearly fell, but the branch held. She stood like that until the pain had subsided a little. Let's hope this works. The branch supported her although the going was slow. She thought, Anywhere but here. Any place but this. I've got to get away from this creep. She began to move forward into the woods.
Then she stopped in her tracks. It was back.
The smell.
"Jesus," she mumbled. "This can't be real."
Two eyes had appeared in the bushes before her. A snarl rose in volume like low thunder rolling, louder and louder till she could hear nothing else. The thing rose up out of the leaves and branches and started towards her.
"Oh Christ."
She fell on the leg again, crying out. The thing bellowed loudly in time with her. She screamed. It screamed in return, a loud and piercing howl; and finally she fell silent. The thing advanced slowly, taking its time, during which she managed to hobble back to her feet. The thing didn't bother to increase its pace, even as she staggered away. Is it playing with me? She knew cats sometimes toyed with their prey. This thing was no cat, but maybe all sorts of predators shared this sadistic affinity. What the fuck was it?
"Leave me alone," she screamed. Snarl in its throat, the thing paced behind her.
She realized maybe it wasn't playing with her. Maybe it's guiding you somewhere. Well, perhaps guiding wasn't the right word. She was being driven deeper into the woods. And towards what? A whole pack of those things? She tried to imagine coming across three or four of them at once, and her mind filled with visions of glimmering eyes and hot breath, gnashing jaws signalling her end.
Onward it drove her.
"Please let me go," she said. "I don't want to be here."
And what a stupid thought that had been. Nobody would want to be here. Do you think Jessica wanted to be here? How about Josh, or Devon? She couldn't fool herself any longer. This thing had killed and eaten them. At least she knew this vindicated Devon, who so many of her friends had gossiped about. She hated to hear them talk about him. Did they really think he could've done the things they said?
Further she was ushered, and the thing had begun to growl and snap at her. She hastened forward, coming into a clearing where the trees thinned. The growling had stopped, and she thought maybe it was safe to stop and catch her breath. The thing wasn't behind her anymore. But something else was here.
Someone else.
"Hello?" she called. "Is someone out there?"
"H-Hello? Who's there?" came the frenzied reply. "Help! I need help!"
Her breath caught in her throat. She recognized that voice. Josh.
"Josh?" she called. "Where are you?"
"Thank Christ! Whitney, he's got me chained to a tree! He's making me wear a fucking collar!"
"Who? Where are you?"
Another voice cut through the silence. She recognized this one too, and her heart fluttered. Jessica.
"Whitney, is that you? You've got to help me, please! I am so fucking scared, Whitney, please!"
The smell had returned, and she saw the thing bound into the woods ahead of her. She heard chains rattling.
"Jesus, Whitney, it's coming right at me!" Josh cried. "Jesus Christ it's coming! Help me! Fucking help me! Oh fuck--"
The voice cut off with a scream, and her skin felt like it was shrinking around her. She heard the emergence of new and terrible sounds, slobbering and slurping, popping and crunching.Josh's screams finally silenced, but Jessica still wailed. She stumbled blindly into the woods, looking for her friend, but still couldn't see where the girl had been chained. Soon she didn't need to.
"No, no, no! Help me! HELP oh JESUS, HELP ME-"
It only took a moment for her screams to stop, then the slurping, crunching noises continued. Then there was nothing but silence.
"No more," she said. "You killed all of them. Why can't you leave me alone?"
Out of the darkness it came, and she began to breathe quickly. It no longer walked on four legs but on two. The thing reached out towards her, something in its hands. She tried to turn away, to shut her eyes, but it pressed forward. She felt something wet as it was dragged across her face; she heard the thing whining. She kept her eyes shut, but the slimy object was once more dragged across her face. She relented, and looked.
When she opened her eyes she saw it holding wet bones, slick with morsels of flesh, the scraps still clinging.
"Jesus Christ!" she screamed; and though she wouldn't have believed it possible, the thing smiled. The gangling hairy beast fucking smiled, and she realized that it really was playing with her. It looked down at her smiling, and then she noticed. She saw the way the one eye was very still, the way it seemed loose in the beast's head, like it was ready to pop out and roll to the floor. She froze.
"Devon?"
The bones clattered to the ground and a whine emerged from its lips anew. The thing lowered itself and pressed its whining face between her feet, slobbering and crying. She felt the weight of it and the heat of it. The branch on which she was leaning snapped, and she fell. The thing was above her now, all hot breath and heaving, all dripping and panting, all bloody and snapping and huge.