Horror in the Woods

by Mountford, Lee

  Regardless, the chances of the redhead joining them now were effectively finished. She was on her way down to where he lived and, where Grandpa was concerned, there were very specific rules. The chief of which was that no outsider went down there without a member of the family escorting them.

  He was quite insistent on that. And he was going to be pissed.

  Heads would roll, probably literally.

  He prayed it wouldn't be his own.

  No matter how much he tried to dig around the frame of the grate, to create an opening that could perhaps pull the whole thing free, it was useless. The earth was just too thick, and the frame was set in too deep.

  He needed another way.

  He swivelled around, looking for something, anything, that would help. He saw Henry holding the Asian girl's head. Her jaw moved up and down a couple of times; an automated motor response, a hangover from life. Red tendrils fell from what remained of her neck and, through them, he saw a small length of spine.

  The mouth stopped moving.

  Henry studied the head, like it was a curiosity, and stared into the girl's eyes as her life drained away. He then tossed the head carelessly to his side. It bounced once and rolled from Ted's view.

  'Ted,' his mother snapped, moving next to him. 'What are you waiting for? Keep digging. We need to get down there, now.'

  But digging was pointless. Father stumbled about, trying to bark out orders, but was unable to speak. He only succeeded in covering the area with his still running blood. If things weren't so tense and urgent, it might have even been funny.

  'Quiet down, you,' Mother said to him, a seething anger in her tone. 'This is all your fucking fault. How could you let one of them get the better of you like that? This has turned into one big fuck up.'

  Father tried to say something, but it was pointless. He couldn't speak and Mother wasn't listening. Ted was more than a little relieved Mother saw things his way, seemingly blaming only one person for all of this.

  He looked back to the grate, then to Henry, and an idea formed.

  'Keep going,' Mother said, and slapped him painfully around the head.

  'I'm not getting anywhere,' he shot back, 'but there might be another way.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'Henry,' he shouted over to his brother, who walked over to them. 'Need your help here, buddy. Up for a challenge?'

  Henry laughed and clapped his hands. 'Always,' he said. 'What is it?'

  'Need you to test your strength. There's no digging through this. So, do you think you'd be able to rip it open for us?'

  Henry studied the grate, cocking his head to one side. 'Yeah,' he said. 'I think I can do that.'

  Ted and his mother moved aside, giving Henry space to work. The giant reached down to the grate and took hold, setting himself and taking a deep breath.

  He then heaved and let out a long, strained groan, pulling with everything he had. Small veins formed on his forehead and popped from his neck. He was pulling so hard his whole body was shaking.

  'Careful you don't shit yourself,' Timothy said, smiling to himself.

  'Shut up, boy,' Mother snapped, lashing out at him.

  Henry was straining, desperately, but Ted heard a small creak from the metal, and saw the frame slowly begin to bend.

  'Keep going, brother,' Ted said, giving encouragement. 'You're doing it. You're actually doing it. It's starting to give.'

  Henry stopped and took a breath, his face beet red and sweating. He smiled and nodded at Ted, then set himself again. He drew in a few quick breaths and heaved once more. Ted again heard the sound of straining metal, louder this time. The thick iron frame bent and twisted in front of his eyes. Henry stopped again to get his breath.

  'That's a good boy,' Mother said, rubbing Henry on the arm. 'Such a strong boy. You're doing me proud. One more, just one more and you might have it.'

  Henry gritted his teeth together, his face a picture of determination. He gave an almighty roar and pulled again.

  The lock broke.

  Metal splintered with a squeal and the lid swung open, so fast the squatting Henry lost his balance and fell to his back, his legs sticking up in the air like a stuck turtle.

  Mother cheered.

  'Well done, Henry' she said, then pushed at Ted. 'Move. Get down there, after her.'

  'You hear that, you fucking bitch,' Timothy yelled loudly into the hole. 'We're coming for you now. You're fucking dead.'

  There was a lot of anger in Timothy, more so than usual, but Ted soon figured out why. Only moments ago, he'd been given hope that another member would come in to the family, one that would be ranked beneath him and take over his duties. And that would give him the chance to move up, and he would finally be able to feed fully.

  With Fathers fuck up, all of that hope had been yanked away.

  Ted pushed him aside and dropped into the hole. His feet hit the floor and he dove forward onto his stomach, and began to crawl forward into the tunnel as quickly as he could. He heard someone else drop in behind him.

  The tunnel was small, but easy enough to navigate through. He did wonder if Henry would be able to squeeze his bulk through it, though. His much larger brother hadn't been down here since he had been turned all those years ago. Henry had been big then, but nothing like what he'd become.

  Ted felt a vibration through the ground beneath him and heard a dull, heavy thud. He also heard his giant brother let out an oomf as he hit the floor. Clearly, Henry was going to try his luck.

  Ted just hoped he didn't get stuck in the tunnel, as it was the only way in or out. If he got wedged in good, then they'd have to cut their way through him to get back up.

  Something, he supposed, that could be fun.

  But first, they had work to do.

  That redheaded bitch needed to die.

  32

  Ashley made her way through the tunnel on all fours as quickly as she could. The space was big enough for her, but it was pitch black and the air was starting to thin. The only thing she had to light the way was her phone, the thing that had been almost useless until now. She was using its torch feature, shining a light up ahead, but it had been days since its last charge and, even though it had been used sparsely, the battery was close to dead.

  The tunnel itself seemed to be a natural one. It wasn't a perfect circle, not even close, so she doubted it had been purposefully dug. Clumps of dirt and rock surrounded her and her palms and knees pressed painfully into stones and rocks as she moved. The decline was steadily increasing, and it had begun to put a strain on her wrists as she used them to stop her body weight from slipping forward. If the slope increased much more she wouldn't need to crawl, she would simply slide down the tunnel.

  Her face still stung from where the younger woman had knifed her earlier. Other cuts and bruises also sung for attention. Ashley was hurt and physically exhausted.

  She thought of Kim.

  Whatever had happened over these last few hours, the only thing she could think of now was her friend's last, selfless act. And the words she had mouthed as those monstrous hands grabbed her.

  I'm sorry.

  Her sacrifice had given Ashley the opportunity to escape, so it didn't matter how tired she was, how much pain she was in, she had to keep going.

  She owed it to her friend.

  The sound of the family's bickering, and Tim's furious taunts, faded more as she put further distance between them. And she was happy to let it drown out.

  But then she heard something that spurred her on faster. A loud, metal screech, and more shouting from Tim. She couldn't be sure what he said, but she knew that somehow they were through, and they were after her.

  Ashley knew how quickly they could move, especially in these kinds of environments. It was almost inhuman. It meant they would gain on her, there was no question of that.

  Her only hope was if she'd already put enough distance between them to get to the end of this tunnel before they caught up with her.

  T
he knife Kim had dropped for her was wedged into the back of Ashley's trousers, and she could feel the blade cut against the skin of her buttocks as she crawled. Regardless, she didn't move it, and she didn't adjust. Instead, she used the constant stinging as motivation to move faster.

  The key for the grate was also tucked into her pocket as well, but she knew it was useless now.

  She heard more yelling and excited chatter from the tunnel behind her, and it was growing louder. It was still a distance away, but closer than she would have liked. Still the tunnel went on, and even when she shone the light from her phone ahead every now and again, hoping to catch sight of the end, the way forward just extended out like a never-ending path.

  Her muscles ached and the lack of air also made things difficult. Outside, in the woods, she could suck in as much of it as her body needed, but down here, under layers and layers of earth, it was more difficult.

  She tried to push herself on as quickly as she could, but Ashley was also mindful of what could be waiting at the other end. She knew things wouldn't be straight forward. After all, they had been wanting to bring her down here themselves, so it obviously didn't lead to civilisation, or a place where help would be waiting.

  Once out of the narrow passageway, she knew there would still be work to do.

  Someone else was down here. Someone the Webb family spoke of with fear and reverence.

  Grandpa.

  Ashley had no idea what to expect from him, so there was no real way to prepare herself. She just knew that she needed to be alert and ready to act. She was thankful for the knife Kim had gifted her, at the cost of the girl's own life. It may not do any good when all was said and done, but Ashley was glad to have a weapon all the same.

  The voices were beginning to grow steadily louder, and closer, and her breathing had turned short and shallow. She tried to keep calm and move faster, working her arms and legs as hard as she could, trying to keep everything in a steady rhythm.

  The tunnel ahead then began to close up, threatening to block off the way ahead. Ashley felt an increasing sense of claustrophobia as the walls closed in the farther she crawled.

  Was it a dead end?

  She had visions of getting stuck and being able to do nothing but wait until the family reached her and flayed her.

  Thankfully, almost as soon as it had narrowed, the tunnel soon began to open up again, allowing her to crawl faster.

  Then, as she checked up ahead again with the light, she saw it; an end to the never ending. The end of this fucking tunnel.

  Ashley could see the space open out, but also a steady blue glow that grew a little brighter the closer she got to the end. She wasn't sure of the source of the light, but right now she didn't care.

  She flicked the light off from her phone, not wanting to draw the attention of anyone who may be ahead.

  She used the strange glow at the end of the tunnel as her guiding light; a point of focus to press on towards. The stings and scrapes of stone and rock against her skin, and the poke of the blade into her flesh, now mattered little. In fact, they motivated her more. Ashley worked her body quickly, pushing harder and harder.

  Soon, she was out, through the opening, and into a staggeringly large space.

  It didn't take her long to realise she was in a huge underground cave system of some kind. Stalagmites rose up from the ground, and stalactites dropped from the rocky ceiling above. Looking up, Ashley found the source of the blue glow she had seen from the tunnel.

  The entirety of the rock ceiling above was lined with thin, rope-like objects that hung down. These writhing things gave off a fluorescent glow, and there were so many that it acted as a light source. The worm-like creatures were not still; they moved, slowly, twisting and curling.

  There seemed to be thousands upon thousands of them.

  Ashley couldn't be sure what they were, and they initially looked alien to her. The unnatural hue they radiated gave the cave an otherworldly feel.

  An idea as to what they might be soon popped into her head; glowworms.

  Ashley was still aware of the approaching danger from behind, and saw a clear way forward, a wide pathway that funnelled between the large rock formations and stalagmites that sprung from the ground.

  In different circumstances, the whole area could have been considered quite striking and beautiful, if a little oppressive. Right now, though, it was dangerous. On top of that, the thought of one of those worms above dropping down onto her caused goosebumps to crawl along her flesh.

  She shook off the notion and began to run forward, following the only trail she could. Hopefully, it would keep going, and led to a way out.

  If it didn't, and there was no other exit, Ashley was going to be stuck down here with them. And, as big as this place seemed, she couldn't hide forever.

  As she ran, a sound caught her attention.

  Thought it wasn't quite clear enough to pinpoint or recognise, Ashley could have sworn it sounded like a whisper.

  Impossible.

  She had to keep going and not get distracted. Not let her mind run away with itself. She needed to keep her wits about her.

  The she heard it again, clearer this time.

  Now there was no doubt.

  It was a whisper, and it formed a word she recognised.

  The whisper had called her name.

  Ashley.

  She stopped dead, listening intently, her blood running cold. The words seemed to come from everywhere, and nowhere, at the same time.

  She could hear her pursuers growing in volume from behind; their sounds were starting to echo around the stone surface of the cave. But she tried to hear beyond that.

  Ashley, it said again.

  'Who's there?' she asked out loud, disappointed at herself for the fear she heard in her own voice. After all she had been through, what did she really have to be scared of anymore?

  Yet she was scared.

  Terrified.

  Something about all of this just felt wrong, worse than what she had encountered up above with those cannibals. She couldn't explain it, but she could feel a profound sense of dread creeping its way up from her gut, spreading its icy tendrils through her body.

  However she also knew that, regardless of whatever was down here, she needed to keep going. Standing here wasn't going to help her in the slightest.

  Again she began to run, determined not to stop again unless she was physically made to. She heard that whisper again and couldn't be sure where it was coming from, but ignored it as best she could.

  The single word the voice uttered carried weight and menace with it. Hearing it seemed to set off waves of foreboding and unease inside of her.

  Then something clicked.

  There was a reason Ashley couldn't pinpoint where the sound was coming from. It was because it wasn't coming from anywhere.

  Not really.

  She had been hearing it inside her own head.

  Already terrified for her life, the realisation that something was in her head scared Ashley on a new level. Had her mind snapped? Was she crazy?

  If not, then what in the hell was speaking to her?

  Another sound, but no longer a whisper, this time a mad tittering. It was like nothing she'd ever heard before.

  This can't be real, she thought to herself. It's happened. My mind broke. This isn't real.

  To her horror, she received a response to her own thoughts.

  It is very real.

  More mocking laughter as she ran, growing louder and louder and impossible to ignore. Ashley wanted to clamp her hands over her ears to drown it out, but knew that would do no good.

  'There she is,' she heard another voice call, this one very much real and outside of her own mind. It was a voice she could place too.

  It was Ted.

  As she rounded a large boulder, she looked back and saw him sprinting towards her. He had closed on her quicker than expected.

  The escape, it seemed, was over. Potentially so close to free
dom, too.

  No escape for you, little thing. You stay here with me.

  Ashley's heart was beating faster than she thought was possible. She felt her legs wobble as she ran.

  Keep going, keep going, keep going, she thought to herself.

  Yes, keep coming. Come see me, lowly thing.

  She tried to ignore it and concentrated purely on pushing forward.

  As she sprinted round another curve in the path, she saw it.

  Ashley stopped dead.

  The thing up ahead was impossible. Something so horrific that her mind struggled to process it.

  It wasn't of this world.

  Couldn't be.

  But Ashley knew instantly who this was.

  Her voice was shaky as she spoke, unable to hide her fear. 'Grandpa?'

  The thing smiled at her. She saw that it had too many teeth for its mouth.

  33

  It made no sense, this thing before her.

  It couldn't be human, at least not anymore, but Ashley got the vague impression that perhaps it once was.

  Its form was still vaguely human-like, though somehow it had completely melded into a large expanse of rock.

  No, that wasn't right. The wall this thing was fused to was not rock, at least not the same as the rest of the cave. It was black and wet, with small, thin, white veins running from the thing to the wall's outer reaches. The black surface slowly moved and pulsed.

  The form at the centre of it all, the thing smiling at her, was of roughly humanoid shape, but its head, and most of its body, had been painfully elongated and twisted, partially melted into a deformed shape. Its bloated, yellowed skin was split and torn, revealing blackened insides beneath. The face still had a mouth, one that was the full width of the head, and it had large sockets that may or may not have contained eyes. One corner of its top lip curled up, giving the mouth a natural scowl, but kept going and met an opening where a nose should have been. A feature she had seen on others in the Webb family.

  The torso of this monster was unnaturally long and thin, and its ribcage actually sat outside of the skin. Arms splayed out to its side, but instead of hands, the arms ended with writhing tendrils that broke off at the wrists. Its waist simply sunk back into the pulsating wall behind, hiding its lower half.