Horror in the Woods

by Mountford, Lee

  Henry then got to work, pulling great chains across Craig's body, chains that looped through metal rungs around the table's perimeter. While the monster worked, Craig took further note of the small, circular holes in the stone, holes that were roughly the size of a penny. The only purpose he could see for them was to drain fluid from the table's surface.

  Which meant things were going to get messy.

  Once Henry had finished restraining Craig, he leaned in close, so that Craig could smell his rotten breath.

  'Just one little taste,' Henry whispered, salivating. Craig then screamed as Henry's stubby teeth sank into his shoulder. They cut through his flesh, and pulled away, tearing away skin and meat as they did.

  Henry sighed contentedly as he chewed. The monster then waved, with a blood-stained smile, turned, and left. The sound of his booming footsteps soon grew distant, leaving Craig in terrible pain.

  All alone.

  Just waiting to die.

  He wept.

  21

  'How can he be gone?' Kim asked. 'He was dead. We saw it.'

  That was the question troubling Ashley. 'Maybe there are more of them out here. Maybe they took him?' Ashley whispered.

  'Shit,' Kim said. 'Remember what Tim said, that there was, what, eight of them? Does that mean there could be more running around out here?'

  It certainly seemed that way to Ashley. She looked around, letting the beam from her torch penetrate the darkness, fully expecting to see something hiding in the black.

  She found nothing.

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, checking the signal.

  Nothing.

  She'd been making a habit of checking it since the shit had hit the fan, but this place seemed like a dead zone.

  'Okay,' Ashley said, 'this doesn't change anything.'

  'I agree,' Kim said, putting away her phone. 'We still need to move, regardless.'

  Just as they were about to run, Ashley heard something. The squeak of a small animal. Ashley wasn't an expert by any stretch, but it didn't seem like the normal noise of everyday animal life. This seemed somehow distressed. Before she could ignore it out of hand, she heard it again.

  'What is that?' Kim asked.

  They heard a wet, sloppy, crunching sound as the squeaks were cut off. The noise had come from a tree up ahead, one with a thick trunk that Ashley recognised. The trail they were on led up past it, but not too close.

  'Doesn't matter,' Ashley whispered, not wanting to investigate. 'We just keep going.'

  Kim nodded her agreement and they set off again, slowly this time. The wet noise, which Ashley realised was some kind of chewing, persisted.

  Something was feeding.

  Her hope was that it was just an animal eating another, less-fortunate creature. Things like that happened in the wild, it was the natural order of things, so as long as the predator showed no interest in them, then hopefully they could just carry on.

  It had occurred to Ashley that, as little noise as they were making whilst moving, most animals had highly tuned hearing, and would probably have heard their footsteps no matter how quiet they tried to be.

  Which meant that whatever was currently feasting didn't care enough about them to stop.

  Ashley kept her eyes on the tree as she moved, careful not to shine her light on it directly, for fear of drawing attention. They slowly circled the wide trunk, making as little noise as possible, and Ashley braced herself for what she would see.

  It was dark, but she could just make something out, sitting against the base of the tree.

  It was no animal.

  It was distinctly human.

  'What is it?' Kim whispered, evidently looking as well.

  Ashley couldn't help herself, she slowly brought her flashlight up, needing to see what, or who, it was.

  What she saw wasn't possible.

  Couldn't be.

  Kim let out a gasp. It was this noise, rather than the light from the flashlight, that drew the thing's attention.

  The thing that should be dead.

  The faceless man.

  It was an impossibility, but there he was, sitting against the tree, gnawing on what appeared to be a half-eaten squirrel. Half of the animal's chewed body hung from the man's chomping mouth as he looked over in their direction, alerted by Kim's gasp.

  Slowly, he got to his feet, and half of the mangled squirrel fell to the floor.

  Ashley wanted to scream, but suppressed the urge. There was something slightly different about the man now. When they had found him earlier, seemingly dead on the floor, they could clearly see his skull on display, covered by a smattering of flesh. Now, however, the meat had somehow grown thicker, covering the bone beneath completely.

  And that made about as much sense as him still being alive after what Tim had done to him. And yet, Ashley's eyes were not deceiving her. Kim was seeing exactly the same thing.

  'That's impossible,' her friend whispered. Ashley had to agree, but they were seeing the impossible. The man began walking towards them, and Ashley put a hand on Kim's shoulder and tugged.

  'Let's go,' she said, wanting to be free of these woods now more than ever.

  What the hell was he? How was his flesh growing back like that?

  No one could survive what he'd been through, let alone be up and walking around already.

  The girls turned and began to run, making more noise, but not caring. They just needed to get away from him. Their movement seemed to excite the man, and he made a high-pitched noise, something like a giggle, and ran forward himself. However, regardless of the red flesh that had grown back, it was clear to Ashley his eyes had not yet regenerated, and he tripped and stumbled to the ground.

  He let out an agitated roar into the night sky, but Ashley and Kim just ran, as fast as they could, away from him. Again and again he yelled as they left him behind.

  Something clicked in Ashley's mind as she remembered how this grotesque man had attacked them earlier. What they had mistaken for fear and instinct was, in fact, aggression. It was clear to her that he wasn't friendly, and never had been. This man, she knew, somehow belonged to the demented clan that took residence in these woods.

  The same family Tim had told them about. But it wasn't an urban legend at all, it was his life, and Tim was one of them.

  Part of the Webb family.

  Her mind ran back to Tim’s story. What else had he said about them? That they served something, something greater than them, something that gave them... what was the word? Power? Abilities?

  Could that be the reason the faceless man was able to live, despite all that had been done to him? His screams continued to echo into the night.

  'He's pissed,' Kim said, panting. Ashley was about to agree, when a thought struck her. Maybe he wasn't angry at all, maybe he was calling out to someone.

  Altering them.

  'We need to speed up,' Ashley said.

  'What is it?' Kim asked, casting a look around as they raced along the trail.

  'I think he's calling to them, the others.'

  'Calling to them?'

  'His family,' Ashley said. 'Don't you see, Kim? He's one of them.'

  It took a moment to make sense to Kim. 'Holy shit,' she eventually said.

  'And he's letting them know where we are.'

  They both gave an extra burst of speed, reaching down inside for the extra energy, to that place in all of us reserved only for the most desperate of times. Trees flew by quickly as they sprinted. Now that they were on the relatively level footing of the dirt track, they were progressing much quicker than before. The beam of the flashlight bounced manically as they ran, shaking this way and that. Ashley tried to keep it steady as best she could, but seeing what was up ahead was secondary to moving quickly.

  'Do you think they're close?' Kim asked between breaths.

  'Maybe,' Ashley said. 'If they heard our friend back there, then they won't be far behind.'

  'Fuck.'

  'Bu
t that just means we need to be quicker than them.'

  'Agreed,' Kim said, then added, 'How far until you think we're out of the woods?'

  Out of the woods?

  That idiom had now taken on a very literal meaning to them both. 'I don't know,' Ashley said. 'Hopefully not long.'

  'Good,' Kim said, practically wheezing, 'because I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up.'

  'You have to,' Ashley said. 'You told me we needed to fight. Well, this is part of it. You need to push.'

  'I'm trying,' Kim said, but she now sounded desperate. Her panting was erratic and heavy, like someone having an asthma attack. It was clear she couldn't go on much longer, not enough to get clear of the woods, but if they stopped, that would only allow the things chasing them to get even closer. Ashley had a feeling those things wouldn't need to stop to catch their breaths, either.

  Ashley was also aware that if Kim kept pushing, eventually she would hit a point where she could go no farther, and just collapse.

  Then what?

  Was Ashley supposed to leave another friend behind?

  No, that wasn't an option. She would be damned before she did that. Ashley slowed to a stop, and Kim followed suit, instantly dropping to her knees. The girl laid her hands flat on the dirt and began to dry heave.

  Then she vomited.

  'It's okay,' Ashley said, rubbing her back. She watched the trees behind them whilst comforting her friend, concentrating for movement in the shadows. Her friend clearly needed time, but they also needed to get moving again, and quickly. Kim heaved a few more times, before finally beginning to settle.

  'Better?' Ashley asked. Kim just nodded in response, spitting saliva to the floor. 'Okay,' Ashley went on, 'then we need to move again.'

  Kim groaned in protest, but got to her feet. Ashley could see her friend's complexion had paled considerably, and she was drenched with sweat. Ashley considered the idea of shedding layers in order to keep their body temperature down as they ran, so as not to overheat, but knew they would need their coats and packs if they got clear of the woods. It was still a hell of a hike back through the wilderness, out in the open, where the temperature would drop even further. Chances were, these things would follow them for as long as they could, for as far as they could, but that was something they would just have to deal with. Maybe they would have a better chance of survival out in the open.

  Just as they were about to set off again, Ashley realised that the faceless man's howling had ceased.

  'He's gone quiet,' she said.

  'Why?' Kim asked, still panting.

  'I don't know. Either he's just given up, or...'

  'Or he's alerted whoever he needed to.'

  That meant the two Webb's that were chasing them had made up a hell of a lot of ground. If they were that quick in closing the gap, what chance did the two of them have to make it out of here?

  Not much.

  Ashley clenched her jaw. Some hope, no matter how small, was better than none. And until she had breathed her last, she resolved that she wouldn't give up, that she would keep on trying.

  Kim was right, they needed to fight. No matter what.

  She grabbed her friend, pulled her forward again, and broke into a run, but Kim quickly fell behind.

  'This is killing me,' she said.

  'No,' Ashley replied, 'this isn't killing you. But if we stop, then the people chasing us will.'

  'Okay,' Kim said, 'I get it. I’m fine. Let's keep going.'

  Despite her words to the contrary, Ashley didn't know how much more Kim had left.

  22

  Ted and Claudia had followed the trail from the shadows, amongst the trees, right up to the first clearing from the house. In past hunts their prey often stopped here, the thinking being that the small, open area would give them a better chance of seeing their pursuers coming. That might have been the case, but it never made a difference. More often than not, this ended up being the place of their final stand.

  So, Ted was a little surprised to find the two girls hadn't stopped here. Surprised, and, if he was honest, relieved. He didn't want the chase to be over just yet.

  He was having far too much fun.

  However, though the girls weren't here, he and his sister did find someone else. The voice that called to them was unclear and incoherent, but it was Claudia who had recognised it first.

  'That's David,' she'd said.

  Upon reaching the clearing, Ted found that she was right.

  Their older brother was sitting in the clearing, on the dirt floor, screaming up at the moon, like a baying wolf. Ted could see that he was still missing his face, though things had slowly started to reform. However, the gory hole in the back of his head would take some healing.

  He looked pathetic.

  Ted couldn't help but snort a laugh.

  'David?' Claudia asked as they approached. The blind man turned, his head following the sound. 'Everyone's been looking for you.'

  'And what the hell happened to your face? Did Henry do that to you? You must've really pissed him off.'

  David got to his feet, grunting angrily, but unable to talk.

  'It looks like it hurts like a mother fucker,' Ted said with a chuckle. 'What the hell did you do to piss him off so much?'

  'Think his jaw is out of its socket,' Claudia said. 'That'll take a bit to heal up,'

  'So will the hole in his head. And his face,' Ted replied. 'Still, he never was a looker. This might be an improvement.'

  David clenched his fists and started to stomp over to them.

  'Oh,' Ted said, 'I think he's angry.'

  'I think he just might be,' his sister agreed. 'Come on, David, what are you really gonna do to us like that?'

  David drew closer and began swinging his fists in wide arcs, though they weren't close to hitting either of them. Claudia quickly sidestepped one of his swings and, in one fluid motion, pulled out her gleaming knife and plunged it into David's gut. He moaned in pain and sunk to a knee. Claudia then, shrieking with laughter, pulled the blade upwards as hard she could, opening him up.

  David's intestines bubbled out from his stomach and, despite trying to catch them and push them back, slipped though his hands like wet, red spaghetti. His insides spilled to the dirt floor, and David slumped forward on top of them, his impact giving off a loud squelch.

  Ted doubled over in laughter. 'Man, I almost feel sorry for you. You've had one shitty day, brother. If you don't get your shit together, you might not even make the feast tonight.'

  David just moaned from his position, face down, on the ground.

  'Ah, that'd be a shame,' Claudia said, kicking him in the head. Ted saw something grey dislodge and roll from the opening. 'Guess we'll have to take his share.'

  'Not a bad plan, sis,' Ted said. 'Speaking of which, I think we should stop fucking about here and go get us our dinner. What do ya' say?'

  Claudia smiled and licked the smear of blood from her knife. 'I think that's a fine idea, brother. But you gotta try and keep up.'

  They both set off at full sprint, leaving their other brother behind.

  23

  Kim felt like she was dying.

  The exhaustion her body was enduring was now at an intensity she'd never experienced. She had never run this fast, for this long, in her life, and her lungs felt like they would give up the ghost at any minute.

  Her lack of physical fitness had already slowed their progress twice, forcing them to stop so she could recover. After all her talk of fighting through what lay ahead and not giving up, it looked like she was going to be undone by nothing more than physical exertion.

  Yet Ashley ploughed on, unwavering, like a machine.

  So, Kim forced herself to keep going, to dig deeper. She couldn't be the reason they were caught.

  She had been given a great incentive when they’d both heard a horrible belly laugh in the distance. Their pursuers weren't far behind.

  That spurred her on a little, and the extra adrenaline he
lped her fight through the pain, despite every deep, wheezing breath feeling like she was drawing fire into her lungs.

  The trail then started up a gentle incline, causing her legs and muscles to strain in protest. Then, to top it off, she felt a sudden, severe pain erupt in her calf, almost like she had been stabbed.

  'Ow,' she said, reducing her run to a hop. Then she realised what it was; she hadn't been stabbed, it was simply a cramp. She could feel her calf knotting up, causing the sharp sting to trickle out through her muscle.

  'What happened?' Ashley asked as she stopped and turned around. Kim set off again, trying to ignore the pain. It was more of a shuffle and a hop than a run.

  'Just a cramp,' she said, 'keep going.'

  And they did, but it took Kim a while to get into full flow again and, even when the worst of the cramp finally abated, her leg still felt sore as hell. Every footfall was painful.

  'Keep going,' Ashley called back to her, encouraging her on.

  She was about to answer and assure her friend she had no intention of stopping, when something to her left caught her eye.

  Some kind of movement, from deep within the trees. Instinctively, she flashed her torch over in that direction, hoping to see what it was. It seemed the movement also caught Ashley's attention as well, and she, too, pointed her beam in the same direction.

  'What is it?' she asked.

  'I thought I saw something,' Kim replied.

  Then their beams picked up what it was, illuminating it fully, and Kim's blood ran cold.

  It was the thin man, the one who had been chasing them.

  The one known as Ted.

  He moved through the trees with such speed and fluidity it was scary. And the fact he could do so without looking ahead, only looking directly at them like a wolf eyeing its prey, unnerved her even more. His giddy, almost deranged smile was almost enough to tip her over the edge.

  Realising he had been seen, the man's response was to simply laugh.

  'Run,' Kim screamed, and Ashley sped up.

  'Fuck, fuck, fuck,' Ashley said, again and again, panic in her voice.

  'Found em, sis,' the man shouted. 'Time to take em down.'