Horror in the Woods

by Mountford, Lee

  He laughed again, a high-pitched cackle.

  Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  Kim couldn't see the girl he was talking to, despite flicking her torch around. She would have expected this sister to be close to him, but could see nothing.

  Too late, Kim realised where she was.

  'On it,' she heard a female voice say from the other side of the trail. A blur of movement sprung from those trees ahead, and crashed into Ashley.

  Kim heard her friend yell in shock. Ashley was lifted from her feet and thrown to the ground by the girl, who fell on top of her, cackling like an excited witch.

  In that instant, Kim knew she had a choice to make. An idea popped into her head, one she wasn't proud of.

  While Ashley struggled with the wild woman, who began punching and striking, Kim saw an opportunity. If she were to keep going, then maybe both of the pursuers would focus on Ashley, giving her chance to escape. It was a shameful thought, and worse, one that was realised as Kim continued on past her friend.

  'Kim,' Ashley yelled. After a few strides, Kim stopped and turned back.

  What the hell am I doing?

  The wild woman had pinned Ashley's arms to her sides, and Ashley looked over to Kim with unbelieving, pleading eyes, astounded that her friend was about to abandoned her.

  'I'm sorry,' Kim said, still not certain of what she would do. Was this an apology for a past action, or for one yet to come?

  As it turned out, she didn't get the chance to decide. The man leapt from the trees, shoulder first, and knocked Kim painfully to the floor. She cried out as the torch slipped from her grasp and rolled away. She felt the man's heavy weight drop onto her and could smell his putrid, sour stench.

  'Made that easy for us,' he said as he overpowered her. 'One day, one of you people will give us a good hunt.'

  Kim writhed and fought, trying to pull her arms free to lash out, but it was no good, she was completely outmatched. The man held something up, just below her chin, and Kim felt a hard, cold point press into her skin.

  She knew what it was.

  The blade then moved, lower, and angled itself to lie across her throat. The man raised his eyebrows in expectation. Kim understood the order, and fully believed he would carry out his implied threat and slice open her throat, so she stopped her struggling.

  Keeping the long knife in place, the man unraveled something from around his waist with his free hand. He held up a length of rope.

  'Fucking bitch,' Kim heard. The voice was that of the woman wrestling with Ashley, who still hadn't given up. Looking over, Kim saw the girl was holding her nose, which was dripping with blood. Some of it had smeared on Ashley's forehead.

  Had Ashley head-butted her?

  'Having trouble, sis?' the man called over, his tone more amused than concerned.

  'I got it,' the girl snapped, angrily. She then began punching Ashley, again and again, and clawing at her face. 'You keep still or I'll claw your fucking eyes out.'

  But Ashley didn't listen.

  The man sighed and pressed the blade harder against Kim's throat, drawing her attention back to him. 'You,' he said, 'be good. And roll over.'

  He moved off her and turned Kim over himself, not giving her a chance to disobey. She then felt him go to work, wrapping her hands tightly together as her face was pressed into the ground. Once her hands were secured, the length of rope was pulled down, and her legs pulled up. Soon, she was completely hog-tied. Then the man got to his feet and walked over to help his sister, who was still struggling with Ashley.

  Ashley's face was heavily bloodied, but that didn't seem to slow her. Hell, given the way she was fighting, Kim thought she might just have a chance at escape, if it weren't for the man walking over to aid his sister, doubling the odds against Ashley.

  Together, the siblings were able to completely overpower her, roll her over, and tie her up the same as Kim. When they were done, the young woman let loose with a fierce kick to Ashley's ribs.

  'Some fight in this one,' the man said, looking down at Ashley. 'Gotta say, that's a surprise. I heard them call her the mouse, and thought she would be the easiest to break.'

  The woman held her nose, which was still dribbling blood. 'She will fucking break. I'm gonna see to that. Bitch fucked my nose.'

  She kicked Ashley again, who let out a groan.

  While this was going on, Ashley never once looked up to her captors, she just stared angrily back at Kim. Despite being terrified for her life, Kim couldn't help but feel absolutely ashamed with herself.

  Would she really have left her friend, given the chance? They'd both abandoned Craig quickly enough. Would she have done the same thing again, had she not been stopped?

  It was a question she didn't know the answer to.

  Then man approached her again. 'Right, my little friend, time to get going. We have somewhere to be. You and your friend are the guests of honour.'

  He reached down and heaved her up, first pulling her to sitting position, then lifting her up onto his shoulder. Kim heard him strain a little, but his hold seemed strong. She found herself looking down the length of his back, where she could see his knobbly spine poke through the thin, dirty cotton of his tank top. She could also see that, under the top, his skin was littered with small, weeping sores. It was a disgusting sight, but rather that than having to face Ashley's accusing eyes.

  'Can you carry that one, sis?' the man asked. 'Or do you wanna take mine? She's a bit smaller?'

  'I got her,' the woman called back, angrily. Kim heard her strain and heave. 'See,' the girl said, her voice shaking with exertion.

  'Don't look like you got her,' the man said. 'Here, let's swap.'

  'I said I got it,' the girl snapped. 'Now come on, let's go.'

  'If you say so,' the man said, and they began walking.

  Kim knew they were on their way back to the house, back to that horrible family, and she knew they would end up like all those other people who hung from the ceiling of the basement: desecrated, feasted upon, and quite dead. The thought of her body hanging there, in that room, as her final resting place, was terrifying. She would be forever trapped in that place of evil, and her family would never know what had become of her.

  Though maybe that was a good thing.

  Regardless, Kim began to weep.

  The man carrying her heard her sobs and began to chuckle. 'There, there,' he whispered. 'I know it's scary. But try to look on the bright side. You get to see your friend again, back at the house. You know, the one you left behind. The family will have him ready by now and he'll be waiting for you. I'm sure he's eager to see you both again. Isn't that nice?'

  'Let me go,' Kim whispered.

  'And when we're back,' he went on, ignoring her, 'and you see your friend again, and you're all reunited as one happy family, you two girls get to watch. You get to watch as we eat him. As we cut him up while he's still alive and squirming. Fair warning though, the family all have big appetites, so it tends to get a little... messy.'

  'Please,' Kim pleaded, but still he ignored her.

  'And then,' he said, 'then it'll be your turn. We'll strap you down and decide which piece of you we want to cut off first. It'll hurt, and you'll be helpless to do anything, only watch as we start to eat you alive. Oh, and I think Henry has a bit a soft spot for you as well, so he might want first go. You have nice eyes, you see, and that's Henry's thing. He finds eyes delicious. I'm not much of a fan, myself, they're surprisingly hard, and the juice from them when they pop doesn't have much flavour. So, I'll let my little brother have them. I'm more of a leg man, myself.'

  It was all too much. His cruel description of the events to come finally pushed Kim over the edge.

  She began to scream, hysterically.

  The man just laughed, clearly pleased with himself.

  24

  Craig's shoulder still ran with blood, and felt like it was on fire. He kept looking at the open wound, at the chunk of flesh that had been taken from him.

&n
bsp; A small taste of what was to come.

  He could see the exposed shoulder bone poking through the wet meat, and the pain of the wound, coupled with that of his back and ribs, was unbearable. There was no way to find even a moment's respite from its constant torment.

  He heard footsteps return. Not just the heavy stomps of Henry, but others too. And voices as well, murmurs, that increased in volume the closer they got, until the family revealed themselves to him once again.

  The man with the beard was first, followed by the woman Craig presumed was his wife, then Tim, who had changed from his hiking gear into dirtied jeans and a loose shirt, and finally Henry. The large freak pushed his bulbous frame through the door opening.

  Tim waved at Craig. 'How you doing?'

  'Tim,' Craig begged, 'please help.'

  Tim just laughed, then ignored him and turned back to the others. 'You know,' he said to them, 'Ted and Claudia won't be happy with us starting without them. Neither will David.'

  'Well,' the older man said, 'Ted and Claudia should have been back by now. They'll probably be fucking around with the two girls anyway, so let them have their fun. Besides, there'll be plenty to go around. After first helping we can go and fetch David, make sure he gets something too.'

  'He can have the scraps,' Tim said. 'I eat properly this time, Da, you promised.'

  Craig noticed the man and woman give each other a look. The man's brows knitted into frown. 'Look, son,' he said, 'you can't have too much.'

  'But you said,' Tim shouted, suddenly, like an indignant child.

  'We need you how you are, Tim. You know that,' the mother said.

  'You'll still get to eat,' the man added. 'But we can't give you too much. We can't have you going through any kind of change. We need you how you are.'

  'I'm sick of this,' Tim yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. 'It's always next time, always another excuse. I'm sick of it, sick of being the runt. I want what I'm owed.'

  'In time,' the mother said. 'But we can't feed if we don't have people to feed on.'

  'Exactly,' the father agreed. 'It's not like any of us can get people back here, looking like we do. We don't blend in. You still do. We need that.'

  'But then I'll never have enough. I'll never get stronger.'

  'You will, I promise. But the more you have, the more you crave, and after you have too much, you change. There's no going back from that. We need to keep you at a certain level. Need to make sure we keep things in balance.'

  'You're lying,' Tim shouted. Henry chuckled, seemingly amused. 'Fuck you, fatty,' Tim said.

  'Runt,' Henry replied, still laughing.

  'Please, Timothy,' the mother said. 'We'll figure this out, I promise. But right now, we need you to do what's right for the family.'

  'I'm part of this family, too,' Tim said, 'and nothing we do is ever right by me.'

  The older man stepped forward and swung his arm, cracking Tim on the side of the face with the back of his hand, knocking Tim backwards a few steps.

  'Enough,' the man yelled, and struck his son again. 'This is how it has to be. You are part of this family and you will do as you're fucking told.'

  'But-'

  'But nothing,' the man said. His mouth then formed into a sneer. 'If you won't listen to us, there is another option, you know.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'If you think you have it so bad, I can take you down there. We can go see Grandpa. See what he thinks of all this. What do you say?'

  The suggestion sounded exactly like a threat, and after the man said it, Craig saw Tim's face turn white.

  'No,' he said, quickly. 'No, not that.'

  'You sure?' the man asked, rubbing a hand through his beard. 'That would sure resolve things, don't you think?'

  'I'm sure,' Tim said. 'It's just frustrating, Da, that's all. But I know what I gotta do, for the good of the family. I do. And I won't let you down.'

  The older man looked at Tim, considering his plea. He finally nodded, pleased with the answer. 'Good,' he said. 'Now let that be the end of it.' He grabbed his son and pulled him into an embrace.

  'I'm sorry,' Tim said, his voice muffled by his father's shoulder.

  'That's okay,' the man said, stroking Tim's hair. 'Just remember, we're a family, so we gotta do what's right for each other. Always put the family first, that's the most important thing.'

  'I will.'

  'Good boy,' the man said, and released Tim. The bearded man then walked over to Craig and looked down at him. Then he noticed the wound on Craig's shoulder, and his face screwed up in confusion. 'What the fuck is this?' He looked up to Henry, who took a step back, hanging his head like a scolded dog. 'What did you do?'

  'I got a little hungry,' the giant said.

  'A little hungry? You took a chunk clean out of him.'

  'He's on the table,' Henry said, 'so nothing's getting wasted.'

  'Did you hear what I just said to your brother? About putting the family first and making sacrifices? Here I am trying to keep things in order and you can't keep your damn stomach under control for a little while longer. Damn it, Henry.'

  'I'm sorry, Da,' Henry said.

  'I don't want to hear it,' the man said, holding up a hand. 'You shouldn't have done it, so that means you don't get to eat until Ted and Claudia bring back the next course.'

  'What?' Henry asked, incredulous. 'That ain't fair.' His already high-pitched voice went up a few octaves.

  'Oh come on now, honey,' the mother said. 'You can't do that to him, it's just cruel.'

  'I can,' the man said, defiantly. 'Tim has had to eat scraps all these years and this fat fuck can wait a little longer for his supper.'

  'Don't call me that,' Henry said in a whiny voice.

  'Benjamin,' the woman said, seemingly appalled. 'How can you say that to him? That's horrible.'

  'Don't take his side, woman,' the man said. 'He's like this because he always gets his own way and doesn't know any control.'

  'That isn't true,' she argued.

  'Then what about David? This big idiot left one of our own all busted up and out in the open.'

  'Oh,' she said, 'David will be fine. He's been through worse.'

  'That's not the point. These people,' he pointed to Craig, 'found him. If it weren't for Tim, everything could have gone to hell.'

  'You're being dramatic,' the woman said, having none of it. Craig always assumed parents weren't supposed to play favourites, but that clearly didn't apply to this woman.

  'You're doing it again, Adela. Letting him off the hook.'

  'Well someone needs to cut him a little slack,' she spat back. 'You have him chained up in the basement every chance you get, for the littlest thing. All he has to do is breathe wrong and you throw him down there. It isn't healthy for a boy.'

  Craig's mind was swimming. The whole scene was farcical.

  He'd seen his fair share of family disputes, but even the most fucked up ones on national television didn't compare to this. They were talking about what could be considered normal family issues; how to raise and discipline a child, but all of it was borne from the act of... eating people. They were murderers, psychopaths, and cannibals, and here they were bickering about how best to raise a child.

  A child that was bigger than any human Craig had ever seen.

  If he hadn't been in so much agony, the whole thing would have been funny.

  'It's what he needs,' the man said.

  'Do I really have to wait?' the hulk asked, looking at his mother with puppy dog eyes.

  She walked over and gently rubbed his massive arm. 'Of course you don't, sweetie. Daddy was just upset that you started a little early.'

  'Damn it, Adela,’ the man yelled.

  Overruled, Craig thought.

  'Just promise you'll try and control yourself in the future,' she said to him.

  'I will, I swear,' Henry said, now smiling.

  'Why the hell do I bother?' the father said. 'Fucking waste of time.'

  'It'
s sorted now,' the mother said. 'So stop going on about it.'

  'He'll never learn if you keep babying him. Look at him, Adela, he ain't no fucking child. Hell, he ain't even the youngest any more. You don't treat Timothy that way.'

  'Timothy knows I love him,' the woman said, still looking up at Henry, still stroking his arm. Craig looked over to Tim, who was scowling. Clearly he wasn't as assured of his mother's love as she thought he was.

  The father let out a sigh and shook his head. 'Fine,' he said, 'but he can put himself to use. Henry, go and get the stuff.'

  Before obeying the command, the giant looked to his mother first, who smiled and nodded. He then walked over to the corner of the room, to the old wooden crate Craig had noticed earlier. He flipped open the lid and pulled something out. When the monster stood, Craig saw that whatever he was holding was wrapped up in a dirtied bundle of cloth. Henry slammed down the lid of the crate and made his way back over, handing the bundle to his father.

  The father then set the bundle down on the small table to the side of Craig, and unravelled it.

  Craig began to squirm when he saw the glistening, metallic objects reveal themselves. Large knives, cleavers, hammers, and other carving equipment were laid out. There was even a small hand axe, and something Craig had seen on medical programs for prying open rib cages.

  The father plucked up a large cleaver and smiled down at Craig.

  'So,' he said, licking his lips, 'who wants a leg?'

  25

  The woman carrying Ashley was struggling.

  Even though she seemed amazingly strong for her lithe build, she had been carrying Ashley for quite a distance now, and Ashley could hear her breathing begin to falter. Her steps, too, became wobbly and uneven.

  And if she was weakening, did that reveal an opportunity to Ashley?

  If it did, she knew she needed to act quickly, because the man carrying Kim was directly behind them and would see everything. As odds went, they were pretty slim, but Ashley would take slim over hopeless right now.

  But, if by some fluke of circumstance she did manage to get free and have a chance at escape, one issue remained.