Tree: part 3
#3 of Trees
-The following morning-
Running, The forest moving, I was surrounded, I tried to scream, tried to call for help but it was too late. I awoke from this horrible dream, swallowing back some bile from the beers last night. I felt disoriented and when I stood up from the chair, I sat down again immediatly as blood rushed into my head.
"Ow. I should never drink." I whinned, looking at a wall clock, it read 6:34 A.M. I had slept the entire night. "The entire night and your family left unprotected." The thought shot into my mind and I was instantly dragging myself off the chair and up the nearby stairs, risking a glance out the window and seeing that the tree's had fallen back, it looked like the normal field like it was before, "Maybe they decided to lay off." I said to myself, "Or maybe they're just regrouping." Said a voice in my head.
I was already up the flight of stair before I skidded to a halt, nearly crashing into my surprised wife, making her way down the stairs for a cup of coffee.
"Oh! Robert. There you are." She said, abit wide-eyed from almost getting run over. I took a quick glance in Kevin's room, he was fast asleep but, like the night before, there was a tree at the window, "Probably a scout?" I thought to myself.
"Are you alright?" Samantha asked, a hint of concern on her voice. I barely heard it and she had to repeat herself before I nodded, not taking my eyes off the tree.
Samantha shrugged and walked down the steps. She was half-way there before I turned around. "Oh, Samantha. Quick question." I whispered so I wouldn't wake Kevin.
"What do you want, dear?" She asked, turning around, in the better light I could see she didn't get much slip last night. "Have you noticed anything strange lately?" Her ear's twitched, "Nothing real strange, Robert." She continued down the stairs and into the kitchen. She may not know about it but I saw it, a slight twitch in her ear. I've know her long enough to know that her ears twitch when she is nervous or.. or... "Afraid?" Said the voice in my head "Yes, she's afraid, you know it, Robert. You know that she's probably seen the things you've seen, maybe even worst."
I shut out the voice in my head, with a nervous laugh, that only came out as a soft chuckle and headed downstairs, I needed some some coffee, pronto.
Sitting down at the kitchen table, I watched Samantha, she walked from place to place, getting cups, preparing the coffee, the usual stuff. Having nothing to do, my eyes wandered the kitchen, The wall's were lined with, shelves, two sinks, marble counter tops, a gas stoove, fridge, microwave, all the modern stuff you would find in kitchen.
A few things you wouldn't find was a dream catcher being used as a switch for the ceiling fan and salt and pepper shakers, made to look like Cherokee Indians. The coffee, finally, perked and Samantha handed me a cup.
As I poured my coffee, Kevin walked into the kitchen, "Good morning mom, mornin dad." He said, cheerfully, sitting on a chair. I poured my coffee and took a sip. Sitting down next to Kevin, Samantha put a bowl. milk, and Kevin's favorite cereal, Breakfast Bricks. on the table next to the bowl and milk.
We ate breakfast and drank coffee in silence, I could tell something was wrong but decided it would be bad to mention anythiing. A few minutes later, I was outside my house, curiosity had gotten the best of me and I went out too look at the tree that grew, "stood" the voice in my mind told me, by Kevin's window.
Looking through a shed in the back of the house I found a small hatchet, left by the previous owner. I thought it seemed foolish but I wanted to try something. Walking over the large tree, it looked like a Pine tree or something, I lifted the axe above my head and swung it down, hard on the tree's trunk. The sharpened blade easily pierced into the tree but nothing happened, "Nothing was suppose to happen. What was I expecting for it to move, scream, even bleed!?" I thought to myself, hitting the tree gave me some satisfaction so I did it again. And again, I hacked off some tree branches and chipped away bark, by the time I was down, I was sweaty and my fur was sticky with sap.
The tree was badly damaged, many of the branches I could reach were chopped off and now layed at my feet. For the first time in awhile, I felt calmed, I was relaxed, giving the tree one final chop, I left the hatchet buried in the tree's trunk, walking inside for a quick shower. Standing by the entrance of our house was my wife, a look of absolute horror on her face.
What have you done!?" She yelled, I could see by her watery eyes that she was crying.
"Wha-?" Was I could say before I ran over to comfort her, she had broken down into tears, sitting on the ground. After a brief moment of crying, and a lot of me trying to calm her down, she finally told me what she saw, the night I had fallen asleep, drunk on the chair.
She had waited quite awhile for me to come into the bedroom, finally she had walked down the stairs to find me, seeing me asleep with a beer bottle in my hand, she was getting ready to yell at me 'till my tail was tucked between my legs and probably continue yelling, untill something caught her eye.
"I thought it was a robber or something-" She said still laying on the ground "-so I looked out the window." She was on the edge of more tears by now. " And I saw the..... the trees! Robert I saw the trees and they were moving, not just swaying but actually walking around. I could of sworn they saw me so... I ran. I ran up the stairs and hid in my covers like a scared cub."
I sat, half listening, half not, I had this horrible feeling, like thousands of eyes were watching me and Samantha right now, all I wanted to do was go inside. Finally, after another brief spell of crying, Samantha got herself under control and we went back into the house. The rest of the day went by as it usually would, Samantha cooked in the kitchen while Kevin helped out, I sat and watched some TV but lost interest pretty quickly.
-Later that night-
The night was silent, I laid in bed, wide awake, Samantha was asleep beside me. The memory of me, cutting and destroying the tree kept playing over and over in my mind. FInally the night was broken as I heard glass shatter, followed by a scream, Kevin's scream. Jumping to my feet I ran, out the door, Samantha a few paces behind me. I didn't turn the handle on Kevin's door, but slammed my shoulder into it, it burst open and I couldn''t comprehend what I was seeing, Kevin's window had shattered, and the tree was reaching into Kevin's room, vines and branches were snaking there way along the ground to where Kevin sat, in the corner of the room, to the right of me.
Kevin was shaking badly but jumped to his feet when he saw me and Samantha, running over and slipping out the space inbetween us. We both stared at the tree, fascinated and scared into shock, I kept yelling at my legs to move but they didn't budge. The tree, growled at us, a sound, deep and horrifying,it's trunk expanding and contracting, as it breathed. I felt a vine slide over my foot and that got me and Samantha running.
We ran downstairs to where Kevin was, he had left the door to the closet open and was huddled there, I knew the closet wasn't going to work, the walls seemed as thin as paper
"Kevin! Get in the basement!" I yelled, only now remembering the basement from my walk-thru the house when I first got here. He nodded and, running faster then I have ever seen him run, shot out of the closet and down the throught the kitchen, where the basement doors were located.
"That goes for you too, Samantha." I told her, but she shook her head.
"We need some kind of weapon, I'll get some of the Kitchen knives!" I almost laughed.
"Knives? these are trees! Samantha! Trees! Knives won't do any good!"
"Well do you have a better idea!?" She yelled back, she had a point. I was freash out of ideas. Not waiting for an answear, Samantha ran into the kitchen, I ran after her. There was pounding all around, I took a brief, very brief, glimpse out the window, nothing but tree's instead of a field, it looked like our house was built right in the forest.
"Good god what have I dont?" I asked, the vison of me killing the tree by Kevin's window. We had no weapons, I thought about getting the hatchet but there were too many tree's out there, I wouldn't of made it two steps. Looking around the kitchen, I emptied out drawers, taking, knives of all kinds, also some bug spray, and a lighter, apparently Samantha had take up smoking 'cause I found a pack of Cigerettes with the lighter.
I saw Samantha, grabbing at some knives in a wooden knife holder, right near a window. Before I could act, I saw a branch break through the window.
"Samantha! Watch out!" Samantha wasn't able to react in time, she turned to fled but the branch went right through her, stabbing her through the middle and wrapping itself around her waist like a snake. She only gasped, her eyes wide with pain and anguish. I was speechless. I jumped grabbing for her paws, arms, anything to pull her off the branch but before I could reach her, the branch yanked her out the window. I landed on a heap of glass, felt the sharp slivers pierce my flesh but it didn't matter.
Looking over to the base meant door, I could see it was too late there as well, vines, snaked along the closed door, trying to get in. I tried to get up, but a large piece of glass had jammed itself in my leg. I sat there, the branche banging on the house, more windows were breaking, it was total chaos. I knew I had to do something, so, without realling thinking, I reached behind the stove, the closest thing I was too, and tugged at a scew on the gas pipe.
It took awhile but age had made the pipe easy to come off. The rooms suddenly had a gassy smell but I welcomed it, coughing a few times. Blood had stained my clothes, apparently more then just a few large bits of glass had got me. Reaching over, almost in slow-motion, I picked up the lighter.
I looked at it, there was a picture of me and Samantha on it, the picture was of our first date, I remembered it so vividly. With that memory still in my mind, I flicked the lighters wheel, a spark, flicked it again, finally the spark ignited and then.. blackness.
-Epilogue-
The gas ignited an explosion was heard for a few miles. The resulting explosion set the forest ablaze. Many of the trees struggled to get away but since so many were near the house they quickly caught on fire. The blast was heard for a few miles but the screams of the tree's, they were heard for ten miles, long and horrid, like the shriek of a dying bat.
The sound awoke many of the residents, who stood on there porches, starring into the night. The fire was out of control. This summer was the dryest summer ever recorded and the fire spread fast. Methane gas from a swamp not far from the house exploded, later on investigators will find numerous bones and bodies of missing people of various ages, sucked dry of blood and covered in roots.
It took fire fighters hours before they were ordered to let the fire burn itself out, the forest wasn't close to the town but they did manage to get the burning house to stop. Whle investgating the wreckage, they'll find a fox/cat cub, age 12, badly burnt but still very alive, crying and wanting his mom and dad.
The fire raged on for several days, by the time it was over, a large percentage of the tree's were destroyed. Many others will be destroyed as well as Police dig up the tree's revealing more and more bodies,
No one really know's what happened in that house, but the real question is. Do we want to know?