by Romi Hart
“This is my dream and I’m going to see it through.” At twenty-three, I wasn’t a hell of a lot older than my younger siblings, but I was still the big sister. “Mom and Dad lived their dream.”
“And it killed them,” East reminded me. “Being volcano photographers wasn’t a safe dream.”
“Neither is hunting down killer mythical creatures,” Chris added as he flipped through my notebook. He turned the picture I’d sketched of the Wendigo around so East could see. “This is what our big sister wants to find out there in the wilderness. Some sort of a mix between a man and a buck – antlers and all. I wouldn’t want to find this thing anywhere, much less out in the middle of nowhere with no one around to hear me scream for help.”
“That’s why they live out there, dufus. So no one can hear their victims scream,” Zoe told him as she closed the back doors of the van. “And we are set to go, Val. If you can kiss the kids and start saying your long as shit goodbyes, we can get on the road. I’ll drive.”
My chest heaved as my heart beat fast. I didn’t like leaving them home alone. We’d been alone for three years now. We all should’ve been used to living by ourselves in the house we’d grown up in by now, but we weren’t.
Ontario, Canada had been good to us after our parents’ deaths. Our neighbors watched out for us all. And I knew my siblings would be just fine while I went away for a while.
Still, I worried. Christmas was only twenty-one. He’d been thinking about going to college somewhere but hadn’t figured out where yet. In the meantime, he worked as a computer tech at the library near our home.
Easter was nineteen and she’d gone to work at a graphic design studio after winning an apprenticeship at her high school before she’d graduated.
They had things to do, money to keep them afloat, and didn’t need me sitting at home to watch over them. But it was always hard to leave them when I went out to search for mysterious creatures.
Our parents had named us after the holiday we’d been born closest to. They weren’t your typical parents. Our home wasn’t typical either. The three-story home was well over a hundred years old and huge. I was pretty sure there were hidden rooms we hadn’t even found yet. Dad had inherited it from his father, who’d inherited it from his father, who’d inherited it from his father. That was as far back as it went. But that was plenty far. And each generation had added more to the home that was a modge podge of rooms, hallways, and closets.
East grabbed me, hugging me tightly. “Don’t stay gone forever like you did last time.”
“Going all the way to Texas to find Bigfoot takes a while.” I hugged her back. “The Lake of the Woods isn’t nearly that far, just a little over an hour from here. I’m sure it won’t take but a week, maybe two, to find the Wendigo. I’ve got some great research on the creature.”
Chris made a sputtering sound with his mouth that told me he was more than just a little skeptical. “Well, let’s just say that you do find him. Your notes here say that this thing has the ability to bite someone and suck out their bones, leaving an empty shell behind. That’s just sick and it sounds pretty dang painful too. I don’t want to think about you laying out there in the forest with no bones, sis. If you do see this thing, then take the video as you’re running in the opposite direction. That’ll be enough to satisfy the weirdos who subscribe to your whack -ass channel.”
Zoe huffed as she got into the driver’s side. “That whack-ass channel is making enough to fully support both me and your sister. Plus, it pays for this van, the insurance on it, the gas that goes in it. You do get what I’m saying, right? We’re kind of a big deal on the internet. It would be nice if the two of you could appreciate us for the scientists we are. Our fans do. Why can’t you?”
The way East rolled her eyes told me she thought we were just crazy. “Scientists? Neither of you has a degree in anything. You’ve self-taught yourselves using the internet. That’s not much of an education.”
Zoe got right back out of the van as her integrity as a self-made scientist had been attacked and she hated when that happened. “Okay, little imp. I shall educate you on the legend of the Wendigo. This is no new legend. Tribes for many, many years have told tales of the fearsome thing. I say, thing because no one is certain that it’s a creature or if it’s a malevolent spirit. The Algonquian, Innu, Naskapi, Saulteaux, and both the Eastern and Westmain Swampy Cree tribes have intricate tales about the Wendigo. In the tribal tales, it’s not bones it sucks out of people. In their tales, these things are cannibals who eat the whole person. The Wendigo is beyond gaunt. Nothing more than tortured flesh and bones, it’s appetite is insatiable.”
My bother and sister looked at Zoe with wide eyes. I couldn’t let her go on or they’d never let me leave. “Okay, anyway, there are lots of different stories. And like we found with the Bigfoot stories in Texas, everyone has their own story to tell, yet no one has any real evidence.”
“Some say the Wendigo is the size of a very tall man,” Zoe went on. “While others say he’s two or three times the height of a tall man. But all agree that it kills people to eat them in one way or another – either whole, piece by piece, or just their bones. Frankly, I can’t see it being able to suck out only bones from a victim. But that’s just me.”
East nodded. “Yeah, me too. But if it has something in its saliva when it makes the bite on the victim that can dissolve bone, then this could be true. You know, like a spider’s venom does to the insects that it eats. This also happens when they bite humans. Have you ever seen the wound from a spider bite? It’s pretty obvious that the tissue around the bite melts away.”
“But nothing has teeth that are like straws,” Chris said. “Vampire bats were long thought to have teeth that could suck up the blood of their prey. But it turns out that they make a bite and there’s something in their saliva that makes the blood thin and pour out of the wound, making a puddle of blood that the bat then laps up.”
“There’s an enzyme in the bat’s saliva called, desmoteplase that makes the blood flow easier by thinning it.” I smiled at Chris as I felt proud of his knowledge. “You’re right, Christmas.”
“Why would this Wendigo-thingy want to eat bones in the first place?” East asked as she leaned up against the van. “I mean, what can bones do for an animal? If this is an animal and not some sort of a ghostly thing. Which leads me to another question. Can ghosts even eat at all? Can they bite?”
“Poltergeists can bite,” Zoe said as she crossed her arms over her chest and began pacing. “The Wendigo could be something of that nature. The real mission here is to get some type of evidence to his existence. I don’t really think we’ll catch footage of the creature. But I do think we can find evidence of its victims.”
Chris laughed as he looked at me. “You do know that the natural decomposition of any dead animal makes it look as if their bones have dissolved, right? You’ll have to dig into the dead thing to find out if it has bones left in it or not. That’s got to be disgusting. Think you’ve got the stomach for that, sis? I know that I don’t.”
Unlike Zoe, I thought there might be a chance to see the Wendigo. “I’m not going to dig through dead forest animals. If Zoe wants to do that, that’s her deal – not mine. I am looking for the real thing.” I had wild ideas. Everyone had told me that. “See, I want to find something – at least one thing – that are the subject of legends. If tales have been told forever and have come from all over the world that have the same basis, I think there has to be some truth to at least some of them. That’s why I’m doing this. It’s not for money. It’s not so that it can be written down in the history books that I found something that no one else could. It’s for my own peace of mind.”
Something has to be out there; I just know it.
“Well, I am in it for the notoriety,” Zoe said as she once again climbed into the driver’s seat. “To see my name in a history or science book would be the piece de resistance for me. Zoe Kaplan – finder of the legendary Wendigo –
coming up next. Can’t you just see me walking on stage to sit down with some talk show host to answer questions about things no one else has the answers for?”
“Delusions of grandeur,” I whispered to my siblings. “Anyway, for now, we’re out there, scouting out things to send video back to our subscribers. Even if all we get is some awesome footage of the gorgeous forest that surrounds Lake of the Woods, then so be it. At least we’ll be able to show some people a part of the world they might never get to see on their own.”
East’s brows rose as she thought of something. “Will you be going to the American side of the forest?”
“If we have to, then yes.” I did wish we could find the creature on the Canadian side though. “I’ll do my best to make it a Canadian find if at all possible.”
With a short laugh, my brother shook his head. “Try to run it over to the American side if you can. I’d rather the Wendigo not get the Canadian stamp if you don’t mind. The Americans can have that nasty thing.”
“I agree,” Zoe called out. “And I hate to break up this long as shit goodbye, but we need to go, Val. I’d like to get to a campsite and get things set up before it gets dark. The forest is full of things that like to eat people. Or, at the very least, take a snap at them. Getting lights up before it gets dark keeps those things at bay.”
“She’s right.” My heart sped up as I looked back and forth at my brother and sister. “Look, I’ll be back as soon as I can. You know there won’t be any cell phone service out there, so don’t worry if you can’t call me. Every time I get signal, I’ll check in with you both, sending you each a text.”
Gulping, Chris looked a bit more worried than usual. “How many days are we supposed to let go by without hearing from you before we alert the authorities?”
His question was valid. We’d waited three days without hearing from our parents when word came to us that we’d lost them. We’d all said that we wished we’d called someone to go looking for them instead of waiting to get a call.
“Well, let’s see.” I wasn’t sure about my answer at all. “Let me get there and see how bad the cell phone reception actually is before I give you a set amount of time. I don’t want you to have the forest rangers looking for us if it’s not one hundred percent necessary. Mostly because I know that they’ll give us a hard time. I don’t need to be teased by some manly men who think they know everything about the forest and everything that lives in it.”
“Me neither,” Zoe chimed in. “You kids just do you and let us do us, got it? We’ve camped out where Bigfoot was said to roam and went unscathed. We’ve slept under the Nevada stars, watching for UFO’s and no aliens abducted us. We’ve traversed the dark waters of Loch Ness and never a serpent, we saw. I think we’ll be fine this close to home.”
Shrugging, Chris said, “They say that something like ninety percent of people die close to home – or something like that.”
My eyes begged him to think positively. “Come on, Christmas, let’s be real here. Nothing is going to happen to us in a place that thousands of people camp at each year. Plus, the Wendigo is primarily a winter eater, and this is summer.”
Easter’s eyes went to the sky. “It’s not that thing that I’m worried about. It’s the real monsters in the forest that scare me. Mom, Dad – please keep an eye on your oldest child while she chases her dreams. Amen.”
“I don’t think you’re supposed to say, amen after talking to dead people, kid,” Zoe put in her two cents. “Only after talking to the Almighty.”
Hugging and kissing each of them one more time, I finally got into the van and closed the door, rolling down the window to wave. “Goodbye. I love you both. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Zoe started the van and began driving away. “They’ll be fine, Val. Roll the damn window up. I swear to God, I’ve never seen people who take so damn long to say goodbye.”
When you don’t get to say goodbye to your parents who left and never came back, it makes it hard to leave.
3
Twilight
With full bellies, Mist and I lay on our backs as we looked up at the night sky. Stars twinkled, crickets sang, and peace resonated in the forest.
“Argh…”
Cocking our heads as we looked at one another, I asked, “What do you suppose that was?”
“Whooo…”
Mist looked mystified. “An owl?”
“Didn’t sound much like an owl.” Keening my ears, I listened harder, sure another sound would come.
“Rowl…”
“It’s getting closer.” Mist stood on all fours as he sniffed the air. “It’s faint, but I smell death.”
Sniffing, I got up and transformed into my human form. “Me too. Something isn’t right. And that something is heading our way.”
Shifting from fox to man, Mist nodded. “You’re right. What should we do?”
“Hide.” I looked around for the best place to do that.
“Maybe being in our fox forms would be better.” Mist had a point.
But foxes could become prey where humans stood a better chance with certain animals. “Let’s stay humans. We can always shift if need be.”
Snapping of tree limbs fractured the otherwise silent night. “Roo…”
“What is that thing?” My skin crawled with the sinister sound. “I’ve honestly never heard anything like that.”
Mist watched the area the sounds came from. “It’s sort of like it’s trying to make sounds other animals make.”
Frozen with fear, my mouth would let the word come out that my brain came up with. “Wind – day – go, go, go…” Searching frantically for a place to hide, more branches splintered as something large came through the forest, heading right for us. “Run!”
Mist and I had opposite ideas of where to flee and ended up bumping into one another. The slamming action landed us both on our asses. “Shit!” Mist leapt up at the same time I did. “This way!”
Stumbling upon an old picnic area, a cement picnic table crumbled in the middle of the clearing. “There,” I pointed out. “We can hide underneath the picnic table until it passes us by.”
“Great idea, Twi.” Sliding into the clearing, he dove underneath the table.
I did the same. Huffing and puffing, we both realized how much noise we made and quickly got quiet as the thing made a horrible howl, “Growly- ahh…”
“Take the shot!” a female voice rang out in the night air. “Take the damn shot, Zoe!”
“Not yet,” another female voice called out. “I can’t see it head-on.”
“Some girls are trying to kill something,” Mist guessed.
“But why?” I had to ask. “And what the hell are they trying to kill?”
“Ruff – roar – hurumph,” went the poor animal the girls were after.
My brain would no longer be ignored as my mouth opened and one word whispered out of it, “Wendigo.”
The color drained out of Mist’s face. “No way.”
“What else tries to imitate the sounds of other animals?” I knew of only one thing that did that. “And the way the tree limbs are being snapped isn’t something just anything can do either.”
Suddenly, a tall, dark shadow came into the clearing, running fast. Being so dark, it was impossible to make it out. But then someone came running out of the trees behind it, shining a flashlight on it.
Mist hissed, “A wendigo. I cannot believe I’m seeing it in the flesh.”
“What is left of its flesh,” I corrected as I saw the thin creature’s tattered skin hanging from its bones. “Not an ounce of fat on it.”
“Not an ounce of meat on it,” Mist added. “The antlers are enormous. It’s so much taller than I thought it would be too. It’s got to be nearly fourteen feet tall.”
While the one woman with the flashlight ran behind it, another came out of the woods, into the clearing. She held something in her hand as she booked it, trying to catch up to the other girl. “I can’t run much f
urther,” she huffed as her speed slowed.
“I’m not going to let it get away,” the other girl shouted.
“We’ve got to intervene,” I let my cousin know.
“No,” he whispered. “No way in hell, Twi. That thing is a killer.”
“Look, it’s a mythical beast much like we are. We can’t let them kill it.” I couldn’t understand his lack of compassion for the poor thing.
“It ate one of my friends, Twilight,” he brought up. “Well, it ate his bones. Anyway, it killed my friend. And I don’t want to help it.”
“Wasn’t that like a hundred years ago?” I asked as I tried to recall the story he’d told me once or twice. “And are you sure it was the Wendigo that killed him?”
“The man’s bones were gone,” he carried on. “Gone, Twi! I don’t know what else does that except a Wendigo.”
“Well, how do you know if it was this particular one or not?” I didn’t know if there was only one - or many of these things.
“It was in these woods where the incident occurred. I’m not sure if it was this one or not. But it was a Wendigo, of that I am sure.”
“Rowlarf,” came another odd yelp.
“What if it turns on those girls?” Mist might not have cared about the life of the creature he perceived as somewhat evil. But what about human life?
“Why are they chasing it in the first place?” He had a good point. “What if they turn away from it and come after us? Ever think of that?”
“They’re a couple of girls, Mist. What’s to be afraid of?” I moved out from under the table as the area was clear once again as the threesome had run right through it. “Plus, if we do this Wendigo a solid, then sometime, it might return the favor. As shifters, you never know when we might need a favor.”