by J. L. Hickey
“Oh god,” Haylee gasped.
“Jeanie,” Lydia’s face was void of emotion. She stepped away from the group. She looked at the grey sky. She took a deep breath, held it for as long as she could.
Jeanie was dead.
So young, so much potential. Now she was dead.
There was nothing more that could be said or done. It was her fault; she hadn’t understood the severity of the situation. How could she be so reckless?
No, how could she have known? She’d never experienced a case like Haylee. It didn’t matter, no excuses. Jeanie was dead because of her. She would carry this burden until the day she joined her.
“I’m so sorry,” Lydia let the words escape her pursed lips. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Haylee,” Lydia called her over. “We need to leave. Now.”
“Yes,” Pike answered. “We got a mess on our hands. The three of you go home. We will be in touch. Aaron, I will need to get your statement later. For now, let us do our job. Take care of yourselves and Lydia…” Pike frowned, his words soft. “Sorry for your friend. We will get the bastard who did this.”
“Please do,” she replied. “Aaron, Haylee, come on.” She opened the driver’s door, entered the vehicle.
Haylee and Aaron said nothing. They followed—Haylee in the passenger seat, Aaron in the back. Haylee wouldn’t argue. She wanted nothing to do with her old home.
“I’m so sorry, Lydia,” said Haylee.
“Don’t be,” Lydia replied. “It’s not your fault.”
“Are you OK?” asked Aaron.
“I will be,” Lydia backed out onto Orr Road. She shifted the car into drive.
“Where are we going?” Aaron asked. “Please tell me home. I need a shower; I’m mentally fucked right now. Too much, too fucking much.”
“No, this ends tonight,” Lydia looked back at Aaron. “Either you come with us, or you get out and walk. We can’t afford to lose any time. It’s close. Very close.”
“Jesus,” frustration spilled over Aaron’s face. “What’s the plan? What exactly are we finishing?”
“We confront the thing,” Lydia turned to Haylee. “You are the only one who can do this.”
“Do what?” Haylee asked. “What do I have to do?
“Let’s hope we figure that out when we get there,” Lydia sped down the road.
“Five-mile radius,” she explained. “You heard them, right? That means they will have the roads blocked off. We drive far enough down, pull over. We’re going for an evening hike.”
“A hike?” asked Aaron. “I’m not built for hikes. I just want to crash in my bed. I can’t deal with what I have seen. Guys, seriously? This is not a good idea. We’re all exhausted, mentally, and physically, right?”
“We know it’s in the woods,” Lydia ignored Aaron. “We know its home is close to here. Even if they get Gary, the deaths won’t end. There will be another Gary, another puppet, and the cycle will just continue. You feel it, don’t you, Haylee? Because I do. I can still sense its energy from the woods. It killed Jeanie. It killer her, not you, not I. It did. We confront it. We end it.”
“That sounds stupid,” Aaron protested. “Good way to get us killed, lady. I mean it, Haylee. This sounds like a god-damned fucked up terrible idea.”
“Aaron, this thing kills for food. It also kills to keep Haylee depressed, miserable. It hunts people she loves; she cares about. It feeds off her misery, her depression. Its why it took over Robbie, its why it killed her sister, its why it killed Dennis, and Nora. Its why it tried to kill you. You will never be safe. It will hunt you forever. Or worse, it will take you over, as it did with Robbie and Gary. You’ll do the killing for it. You will be a monster, craving human flesh, that’s why the bodies were cannibalized. Look at the big picture.”
“Fuck,” Aaron shook his head. He was trying everything in his power not to freak out. “I don’t even understand what the fuck is happening.”
“The creature from my dreams, it’s connected to me. It’s a part of me. It won’t stop,” Haylee’s words were strong, confident. “No more, it ends tonight. I’m with Lydia.”
“Damn it,” Aaron frowned. “Okay, let’s do this.”
So, they drove down the road. Haylee stayed silent. Her mind stuck, muddled with the thought of that night in the woods. The blackout. After Lydia explained to her what had happened, it was like waking from a bad dream. She remembered it. Crawling into the woods, the pain, the blood. Suddenly this strange creature was crawling out from between her legs. The horror, it had struck her mad. She dug and dug, buried it in the earth the best she could. She then turned on herself, slashing her wrists with her already bleeding fingernails, digging her own grave. She couldn’t finish burying herself before she passed out from the loss of blood.
The creature must have crawled out of its grave, fled into the woods. Then she was found. Half buried in the earth, bleeding from between her legs and her wrists.
“Here,” Lydia pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. “Small clearing. We can enter there,” she pointed to a break in the forest.
“And go where?” asked Aaron.
“Into the Woods,” Haylee answered.
“It’s going to be dark in like an hour, should we wait till morning?” he asked.
“No,” Lydia opened the driver seat. “We do it now.”
“Fuck,” Aaron exited. He grabbed his cane; his head was still pounding from the head injury from his assault. His winter jacket was stained and stunk of his stomach bile.
“How do we know where to go?” he followed.
“It knows Haylee. The connection will bring them together,” Lydia explained. “It’s connected to her conscious. Its why she gets the visions. We need to follow that connection. I think it knows she wants to kill it. It kept its distance for a reason. It worked better from the shadows. So, I am not sure how it’s going to react, knowing she knows what it is. Maybe it runs from us, but I feel like it will be drawn to her. It wants your love, your affection. You are its mother.”
“Yes,” Haylee replied. A lump formed in her throat. This thing, no matter what it was, it was her child. The darkness of the woods, her child. She wondered what it thought of her, burying it in the earth. Maybe that’s why it wanted to destroy her, keep her miserable. She had turned her back on her child.
Haylee sighed. Shrugged the thoughts aside. She made her way through the forest, leading the others now. She was drawn to it. She could hear its heartbeat in her head. It grew louder as they went deeper into the darkness.
“The connection is there,” Lydia followed.
“Fuck me,” Aaron frowned. “We’re really doing this?”
Again, they ignored him.
The group walked for what seemed like miles, through the thicket, dense foliage. The sun was setting now, the air growing ever more chilled as it hid behind the trees in the distance. A soft orange hue stretched across the Michigan sky. The snow was still deep from the multiple severe winter storms over the past week. It made the trip difficult. The snow still fresh, untouched. White and pure, knee-deep in some parts where the wind caused snowdrifts.
Aaron’s body ached; his cane hardly helped to navigate through the thick forest. His lousy leg throbbed. His chest heavy, lungs burned.
“We’re lost,” said Aaron. “How are we getting back?”
“We’re getting closer,” Lydia said.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“We are,” Haylee answered. “I can sense it. It’s mad, like…I can feel its anger. It’s making me dizzy.”
“Yes,” said Lydia. “It’s close to us now. I feel i
t too. Be careful, Haylee. It may overpower you.”
“What do we do? How do we fight this thing?” asked Aaron.
“I don’t know,” said Lydia.
“We have no plan? Like, literally zero ideas?” Aaron was beside himself.
“I have an idea,” Haylee said. “But I don’t know if it will work.”
“What is it?” asked Lydia.
They heard a noise before she could explain—a loud rustling from a grove of pine trees. Aaron jumped, the startle caused him to lose his footing. He fell to his knees in the snow. A shadowed figure emerged with its arms raised forward, pointing something towards the group. A gunshot rang out. It echoed through the forest.
Aaron screamed in pain as the bullet tore through his shoulder. It was a clean shot, exiting out his back. Blood sprayed out his body into the snow. His body swung backward from the force. He fell unto his back, buried in the snow.
His blood sprayed onto Haylee’s face. She screamed. She grabbed the top of her head, covering herself in fear of another shot.
“Shit!” Aaron screamed. His voice frantic, shaky. “I’m shot! I’m shot! Fuck, I’m gonna die!”
Haylee crawled to Aaron’s side. Lydia ducked behind a tree, taking further cover.
“Quiet,” Haylee reached to him, grabbing his hand.
“Hello,” Vanessa’s voice broke through the silence of the forest. Her firearm still raised. “Move so that I can taste him. I want to taste him alive. I earned my feast. The last one was taken from me.”
“Vanessa?” Haylee frowned. She walked out from the shadows and into their view.
“I’m not allowed to hurt you,” Vanessa’s voice was calm. “We are one and the same. Please move.” She spoke to Haylee.
“Haylee, stay calm, don’t give in to emotion,” Lydia whispered from behind the tree.
“Mother is here too,” said Vanessa. “She is back there. Behind me, we heard you calling. She wanted to see you. You left her, your own child, to die. Out here in the woods. Why? You made her sad. She wept here in the woods for a long time. Weak, dying. Until she met that man, Robbie.”
“Shut up!” Haylee yelled. She shielded Aaron with her body, holding both her hands firmly against his wound.
“Vanessa shot me?” Aaron winced in pain, holding his shoulder. “Why did she shoot me?”
“It’s not her,” Haylee answered.
“Mother!” Vanessa yelled into the forest. “She is here.”
From the darkness of the wood, the creature’s eyes broke. They glowed red, just like in her dreams. Haylee stood up, lost in them.
“Haylee, be careful! Don’t look at its eyes,” Lydia whispered.
“Go, see her,” Vanessa pointed back to the woods.
Haylee said nothing. There was no fear in her body, no anger. There in the woods, the glowing red eyes called to her. The monster, the wicked thing that has ruined her life. It came from her; she carried it in her womb, gave birth to it in the woods. Her child. Somewhere, despite everything, there was only love for it. She left the side of Aaron, releasing the pressure on his wounds. She moved towards the eyes, to her grotesque child.
“What are you doing? Don’t leave me!” Aaron begged.
Haylee ignored him. Motherhood, she felt the warmth of it for the first time. The unconditional love for a child, the yearning be with it, was all empowering. She thought of her own mother. She thought of her father, as well. His stubbornness, his unrelenting love despite everything that had happened to their family. She wanted to see her child. To hold it, to cradle it in her arm.
Vanessa said nothing. As soon as Haylee moved off Aaron, she darted towards him. She met with Haylee halfway through the clearing. She did not stop her pursuit of Aaron.
“Haylee, please!” Lydia watched in horror. “Don’t let it take you!”
“Haylee, come back, please!” Aaron begged.
Vanessa’s crazed eyes centered on him. She was a few yards away. Her mouth already salivating at the thought of her first taste of human flesh.
Aaron closed his eyes; the warmth of urine soak his pants. He’d pissed himself. Awaiting death, he began to pray.
FIFTY-TWO
Time slowed.
Haylee couldn’t break the gaze of the creature.
There was a connection with it immediately, beyond what any words could fathom. Haylee had known love before, with Robbie, before he cheated on her back in Ohio, perhaps even after, although it was different. This, the connection with the creature, her child, it was a different kind of love. Not physical, but spiritual. The vision of her mother’s brilliant smile came to her mind, her vibrant laugh. Was this what Haylee’s mother experienced the first time she set eyes on her? This mixture of unfiltered joy, pride, an overwhelming and unwavering unconditional love?
Haylee stopped a yard or so before the thicket of the woods. She knew it was there, her child hidden behind the sizeable thick pine trees. She could hear Aaron screams for help, begging her not to leave him. She listened to his feint prayers. She ignored it all.
Vanessa hadn’t made it to him yet. She would be there soon, ripping into his flesh, eating him alive. Lydia wouldn’t stand a chance to save him. Haylee understood this, yet did nothing.
The creature made the first move. It stepped out into the clearing. In all its repugnant glory, it stood before her to see. Its dreadful, putrid body, decayed, deathly. There was no fear. She was not disgusted by its appearance. Nor was she off put by the putrid smell of death that settled in her nose. She only felt love. A single lone tear rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
Haylee heard the struggle behind her, Vanessa made contact with Aaron. She’d gone on the attack. Haylee pulled her firearm from her purse, held it in her hand. The gift from her dad. The same gun she used to end the life of her fiancé, Robbie. Sweet Robbie, a puppet of her own evil. Camille, Dennis, Nora, and now Vanessa, maybe even Aaron. Victims of her, victims of her child born from her disease, her unfiltered emotions. She raised her hand. Her lips wrapped around the cold barrel. She realized what she had to do.
Kill the source. Kill the creator.
The creature knew it as well. Its eyes gave it away. Haylee peered deep into them, and for a fleeting moment, she saw the first real emotion the creature would ever know.
Fear.
Haylee pulled the trigger.
A flash exploded in her head. A loud bang thundered in her ears.
Her head snapped back, the bullet exited out the posterior of her lower head. She fell, tumbled over.
The creature mimicked Haylee’s body. Its head exploded out the back of its skull. A murky liquid, thick like tar, sprayed across the towering pine trees. It stammered for a second, it’s knee’s weakened, it fell backward, limp. A massive pool of maggots spewed from the creature gaping hole in its head. They quickly overtook the creature’s body, devouring its flesh, growing fat on its death—a feeding frenzy. The insects were making quick work on the monster, stripping it bare and fast.
Vanessa’s body immediately went limp. The minute the trigger was pulled and the bullet ripped through Haylee’s head, causing the creature’s head to be blown half off as well, the bond between the beast and Vanessa was broken.
“Fuck me,” Aaron cried. Lydia ran to his aid. Vanessa was dead weight atop of him.
“Did she get you?” she asked. She helped pull her body off of him.
“A little,” Aaron’s forearm bled where Vanessa bit down during the attack. “I managed to fend her, off mostly.”
“Thank god,” Lydia helped him sit up. He swore, grasping at th
e gunshot wound.
“Is she dead?” asked Aaron staring at the motionless Vanessa. “What happened who shot the gun? Where’s Haylee?”
“Haylee shot the gun,” Lydia said, pointing to her lifeless body.
“My God, what happened?” His voice trembled.
“Save your strength, you were shot,” Lydia stood up, “We’re miles away from anyone out here. You need to just sit and relax. Vanessa shouldn’t be a threat anymore.”
“Haylee? Is she?...”
Lydia did not answer. She made her way over to Haylee’s body. Blood collected around her head, the snow melting from the warmth of it. She looked at the long skinny body of the creature, or rather the little of what was left of it. The maggots made quick work of its body, feasting on its carcass faster than anything she’d ever seen. Like piranha’s in the wild, shredding their prey. The maggot-like insects already consumed half its body, straight down to the bones, and even those were getting devoured. She’d never seen anything like it.
She looked down again to Haylee.
She wasn’t moving.
“What happened?” Vanessa lifted her head from the snow. Her body weak, like she hadn’t eaten anything for days. Shaky, light-headed, she couldn’t catch her bearings. Her vision blurred; her head pounded loudly with every racing beat of her heart. She thought it would burst from her chest at any moment.
“Don’t eat me, you fuckin’ freak,” Aaron tried to kick at her head.
“What?” Vanessa rolled to her back. She sucked in the cold air, long and hard. “What happened?” her voice was shallow, soft.
“Are you, you?” Arron winced, scuttling away from her. He held his open wound with his good hand. He was losing blood, feeling faint himself.
“I think she is dead,” Lydia returned. She kneeled, applying pressure to Aaron’s wounds once again. “You are bleeding bad.”
“Haylee?” Aaron’s voice shook. “Dead?”
“I think so, yes. Or close to it.”