by Glenn Rolfe
His ankles were bound in barbed wire. He thought something awful like gangrene would get him for sure. His mother’s aunt had suffered a bad break in her leg from a car accident. She’d lost the leg a week and a half later when it started to smell. She’d nearly died.They’d left his hands and arms free. He tried to release his ankles, but the twisted ends wouldn’t budge, and without anything to cut the metal wire with, it was useless.
The same two always came in. One would hold him in place while they messed with him. He felt their tongues on his flesh, their greasy hair on his face, and their clawed fingers on his–
He shivered.
He listened to the rain attack the metal roof above him. The room was cold, but bearable.
He was lucky it was only October.
His hand trembled as he stretched out his arm in search of the tin bowl, a dog bowl presumably, in which they gave him water. He bumped it and had to grab the edge to prevent it from spilling whatever was left onto the dirt floor. He settled the bowl and dipped a finger in to see how much he’d lost.
He whimpered. The water only came up to the first knuckle of his finger. He didn’t bother to sit up. He pulled the dish over, brought it to his cracked lips, and sipped what precious little remained. He brought the bowl down and set it on his chest. It was cold. The water tasted like it came straight from a puddle, but it was better than nothing.
Someone would come. The house wasn’t that far from the road. He had to be in some unfinished room, or some poorly constructed shed, and on the backside of the property. He thought again of his mother. He closed his good eye and cried.
***
Heather sat up and rubbed her tired eyes. Mike had left. The trailer was empty. She didn’t have to get up to know this. She knew the sounds of her family. If Derek were here, she’d hear the TV down the hall.
She needed to take a shower. She thought of Mike. She was no better than her husband. Maybe worse. Mike was their friend. Whomever Derek had slept with was a stranger, at least to her.
She went in the bathroom and started the shower.
She gazed at the stranger in the mirror over the sink. Red eyes stared into a sallow face. Acne covered her right cheek. Stress. She only ever had outbreaks when the world was coming down on her. Even her breasts looked like they’d given up. A rat’s nest puffed out the side of her head like a furry tumor. She’d lost track of the days. When had she last showered? In a strange way, Derek’s affair offered a lifeline. Without Jesse, she couldn’t think or feel. Derek’s confession gave her an anger to hang all of her pain on.
She climbed into the warm steam and hot spray and tried not to think.
***
Luke heard the voices. Little high pitched grunts and squeals like pigs. His body tensed. What did they want? Maybe they would bring something to eat. He’d slept three times since the last scraps they’d brought. The uncooked meat had been fresh and tender. His stomach refused to worry about what it was or where it had come from–he’d eat anything.
Across the room, the slightest ray of light seeped in beneath the entrance. Like a candle on the other side of the moon he could almost feel its warmth. He tried to lie still. He’d rather they think he was asleep. Last time he’d taken the chance to talk to them. He vowed never to repeat the episode. They’d taunted him, poked him with a pipe, pulled at his pants, and clawed at his dick.
The barrier lifted inward. The yellow flickered. Two small shadows distorted into one another on the ground.
“Boy…”
“mmm, mmm.”
Oh God.
It was worse when they spoke. Worse than the animal sounds. Their voices were screechy, high-pitched, and yet filled with grit. There was something unnatural, something wrong with how they talked, like they had only recently been given the ability.
He aimed his face to the ceiling. He tried to sneak a peek at them coming in, but his view of the doorway was blocked by his nose. He didn’t want them to see him awake.
One of them made loud smacking sounds with their mouth as they dragged something into the room. It was hard to tell over the rain hitting the roof if what they had with them was dripping.
“Boy,” it said again. He couldn’t tell the sex.
One of them kicked him.
He held steady. He tried to focus on his breathing, like he would do when his mother tried to wake him for school and he played sick.
Their gift slapped the ground next to his head and splattered something thick and gooey against his ear.
“Wake him.”
He opened his eye just a slit. He saw the outline of the frizzy mop of hair drop down and simultaneously felt the clawed fingers and the sharp teeth dig into his exposed shin. He jerked and screamed from the dagger-like teeth attached to his leg and from the pain of the barbs dancing in his tender ankles.
The other one laughed while its counterpart continued to gnaw on him like a starved child with a buttered ear of corn.
He shot bolt upright and swung at the creature on his leg.
The other one jumped behind him and wrapped its wiry arms around his arms and chest. It wrapped its strong legs around his waist.
The one with his flesh clenched between its teeth crawled forward, tucked its hands beneath the legs of the one wrapped around him, and plunged into the waste of his shorts.
“No, no… please.”
He was too weak to fight them.
He felt the nails of the one at his crotch puncture his hips. He felt its tongue on him. One of its hands slid under his buttocks. A sharp finger penetrated his rectum. His body betrayed him as his penis grew erect.
His scream was cut off by a handful of what felt like mud, but tasted far worse.
The thing behind him laughed as he gagged.
The grunt from the large silhouette in the doorway froze all activity.
“Out!”
The one on his back released him, scurried around to the one violating him, and dragged it off.
They hurried toward the figure in the doorway and picked up the candle.
They both yelped as they were smacked while they filed out of the room. The person in the doorway brought the barrier down and returned him to his private hell.
He spat the nastiness from his mouth.
He grabbed his shorts and pulled them up as he lay down.
His iron will felt dented.
Chapter Eleven
“This is it,” Mike said.
Melody pulled up behind a red escort.
“There’s his bike.”
“What the hell’s he doing out here?”
Mike got out into the rain. Despite the deluge, there were people making out on the lawn. The two groups on the porch watched their approach.
“Hi, there,” Mike said. “We’re looking for our friend. He would have come in on that bike.” He pointed back toward the van that blocked the view of Mike’s motorcycle.
“Yeah, he was here.”
“Was?” Melody said. She stepped up under the small porch roof, arms crossed over her chest. Her long-sleeved shirt was soaked through.
“He blew me off to chase after two dudes in the woods.”
Mike stepped next to Melody who stared daggers at the half-dressed punk girl with the curly hair. “Which way did they go?”
“Follow me,” the girl said.
Music blared from an old boom box stacked on top of a guitar cabinet. He wasn’t familiar with punk rock. It sounded like the Ramones, but with a much gruffer singer. Young people. He laughed at the term his brain chose for them, he was only forty-two.The punks moshed around, sang along with the radio and danced near the band gear. One guy with a matted beard sat behind the drums pulling on a big, green bong. On the other side of the loft-like room, couples were tangled together on a series of mattresses lined up end-to-end. There were more on the couches. Others stood, wrapped up in loud conversations.
He followed Melody and their guide out through a back door.
“They went th
at way. Didn’t notice they weren’t back yet.”
If she was concerned it didn’t show.
“How long ago?” Mike said.
“Not sure, like I said, I didn’t know they were still gone.”
“Thanks.”
The girl brushed past them and headed back to the party. “Whatever.”
“Bitch,” Melody muttered. The rain drowned her out.
“You ready?” Mike said.
“I guess we haven’t got a choice.”
***
“What if it’s another one of those big bastards?” Derek said.
Connor loathed the thought that there were more mountain men out here. He’d always assumed movies like Wrong Turn made a mockery of backwoods people, but now, he wasn’t so sure.
“I say we assume that it is another one. That maybe, there are even more of them. Better safe than sorry,” Connor said.
“Fuck, man. I can’t make it down there.” Ian slammed his makeshift crutch in the ground.
“No. You’re better off going back for help. Get to your cell in the van. Call the police. Those crust punks probably won’t invite us back for another gig, but fuck ’em,” Connor said.
“All right, man, and in case you didn’t already know, this is the last show we play in East Bumfuck.”
Connor turned to Derek. “You and I are going to try and sneak down there.”
Derek looked nervous, but nodded.
“Go on, man. Be careful.”
“You, too.”
Ian set his crutch under his arm and started past them.
“Connor?”
“What, man?”
“If Jack’s… I mean, if you can’t help him… come back.”
“I will.”
Connor watched Ian hobble away.
“I don’t know how we’re going to be able to get down there without being seen,” Derek said.
“I don’t give a fuck. That’s one of my friends down there.” He glanced around. To their right, there was more coverage. One of the trees leaned over the edge. Its branches stretched out like an awning. “There,” he pointed. “We’ll just have to get as close as we can and after that, hope we can make it the rest of the way before the shit gets fucked. This nasty weather should help us out.”
They backed out to the path and veered off to the right. They found the spot and began their descent.
***
“What do you think that bitch meant about Derek blowing her off. She looked pissed.”
Mike stayed at her side. He didn’t like these woods. Never had. He wasn’t in the mood for a conversation on jealousy, but anything was better than the silence in the dark. Melody lit their way with the flashlight app on her iPhone. He remembered he had the same app on his phone, but when he patted his pocket he came up empty. He’d left his cell in the car. It probably fell out while he was slouched in the passenger seat. The ride over already seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Do you really care?”
“I shouldn’t, but I can’t help it. Derek’s…well, he’s been so good to me.”
And a shitbag to his wife.
Mike kept the comment to himself. “Yeah, well, we know why he was out this way. It wasn’t to get laid. He probably got stuck here because of the rain.” He didn’t know what else to say. Apparently, neither did she.
They walked on. Her phone made a blee-deep noise.
“Shit, I never charged it. I usually plug it in when I get to work. Dammit.”
“Power it down.”
She looked at him.
“In case we need it, you know, if something has happened.” He didn’t like the sound of his fears out loud.
“All right.”
She killed the light.
His skin crawled.
“Shh. Listen,” he said.
They stopped. Footsteps.
“Should we hide?” she whispered.
“It’s got to be them.” He knew he didn’t sound as sure as he intended.
“Call out to him,” she said.
He didn’t know why, but he didn’t think that was such a good idea.
“Come here,” he tugged her over to the closest tree. “Shh.”
He ushered her in front of him placing her between the tree and his chest. He glanced over her shoulder and around the tree. The footsteps were off. Whoever was coming was walking funny.
Mike squinted as the person neared the tree. It was a guy with a limp. Or…he was using a crutch.
When he was almost to the tree, Mike spoke up. “Derek?”
“Holy fuckin’ shit. Who’s there?”
It wasn’t Derek.
“Stay here,” Mike whispered.
He stepped out with his hands raised.
“Hey, not looking for any trouble. Just looking for a friend who came out this way.”
“Derek?”
“Yes.”
“He’s back there. Listen, man, do you have a phone?”
“I do.” Melody stepped out next to Mike.
“Call the fuckin’ police. Now.”
“What happened? Where’d Derek go?” she said.
“Listen. If you don’t call the cops right now, you might not fuckin’ see him again.”
“What do you mean?” she said.
“Just do it, Melody. I don’t like this.”
She turned the phone on. It began its slow power up initiation.
“What’s happened? Is Derek okay? Are you?” Mike said.
“We were attacked. Me, my friend Connor, and your guy. This fuckin’ psycho, a big fucker, called out to us. We were searchin’ for our other friend, and this fuckin’ guy, this, this this creep, he calls out for help.”
“We thought our bud was hurt. We got up to him and it wasn’t him.”
“Got it,” Melody said. “What’s the number?” She answered before they could shout at her. “I mean do I call the local department or 9-1-1?”
A thick branch snapped to their left.
Mike saw the shadow of the object before it hit the crippled guy in the back of the head. The sound made a wet crack. The guy fell at their feet.
Melody screamed.
Mike grabbed her and pulled her away. The light from the iPhone’s screen dropped to the ground. He hadn’t seen whoever just struck the guy on the path, but he wasn’t waiting to get a visual.
“Run!”
They had barely gotten turned around when he felt the heavy chain slam into the back of his calves. He cried out and tumbled to the ground.
“Go, go, go!”
“Oh my God, Mike!”
“Get out of here. Get help!”
She screamed and fled.
Mike put his hands down on the wet ground and started to get up.
“Uhhh….” A sharp pain burst through his spine. Part of his mind knew he was pinned to the ground. The other part ran his death reel. Memories of Heather, Derek, his mom and dad, and his dog Snoopy.
He watched the large shape take off in a run.
“Run…” he wheezed.
He took another breath and no more.
Chapter Twelve
“Who’s there?” Jack sensed the presence before he saw it.
He craned his head back to see. The large shadow fell over him. Hands snatched his arms. The heat in his elbow and collarbone flared to life.
“Arrrggghh!”
He was flung over the shoulder of this mammoth.
“Heh, heh, heh, heh.”
“Ah fuck, ahhh fuck, my arm.” His arms dangled toward the ground. One hung normal, but the other was cockeyed. He felt his collarbone tenting under his skin beside his neck. His elbow blossomed with pain. The excruciating wave burst like a supernova, over and over with each step the big guy took.
His lightheadedness returned. His flesh went cold. His stomach flipped. He couldn’t fight the nausea. His vomit slapped the ground. A trail for the kids to follow.
He was fading into the abyss, and after a few more steps, he lost consciou
sness.
***
“Come on, hurry up!” Connor burst out from under the branch. Rocks scattered and rolled toward the stream. Derek stood, unmoving.
“Fuck you then, stay there.”
Connor scurried down the hill.
“Wait, I’m coming.”
He didn’t look back. Jack was alive. For how long, he had no idea. All he knew was that he couldn’t lose him. He didn’t know these woods at all. He could lose them at any turn.
***
Derek tried to keep up with Connor. The guy didn’t know where he was going. Hell, Derek wasn’t sure where they were headed. He figured maybe these guys, whatever these monsters classified as, were attached to the Cobb house. But that was in the other direction. They were headed for the deep part of the woods, toward the mountains.
“Wait up, man. You don’t know where this guy’s taking us.”
Connor didn’t respond. He just kept going.
Derek hurried and caught up to him. He could see the guy up ahead.
“He knows we’re following him,” Connor finally said.
“How can you tell?”
“I saw him look back twice already.”
“Shit. Maybe we should fall back.”
Connor broke into a run.
Fucking crazy asshole.
“Hey, you’re gonna get us all killed.”
Connor either didn’t hear him or didn’t care.
“Fuck.”
He tried to catch up to the guy again. He couldn’t shake the feeling clenched around him that they were headed into some kind of trap.
***
Melody could see the bitch with the miniskirt. She was out on the back porch. The rain had stopped.
She tried to scream.
The rope dropped past her gaze and looped under her chin, jerking her off her feet. The world flew upward. She came down hard on her back and whimpered. Her breath flushed from her lungs. The rope around her neck tightened. The slim light from the cabin dimmed as it moved farther and farther away. She clutched at the rope around her throat. She couldn’t get her fingers under it. Her eyes bulged from their sockets. She reached over her head and found the rope. She grabbed it and pulled as hard as she could. She gained just enough slack to pull in a few slim breaths.