This is going to be a long story, so I guess I should start with some background. My name is Thomas and my girlfriend, Kelly, and I recently graduated from college. As avid hikers and nature enthusiasts, we decided to plan an outdoor activity to celebrate our graduation. We would take a trip to our favorite national park, renowned as one of the most beautiful in the country. We would enjoy hiking trails and camping out in our happy place for an entire weekend. We had been out that way plenty of times so were familiar with the area, but this time, there was a catch. See, there was a restricted area in this park, somewhere considered off limits, so to speak. Before, we had always obeyed the letter of the law, avoiding this large but forbidden place, content to wander in the areas open to the general public. This time, however, we would be doing something more exciting than ever before. We would be entering the unknown, the area hesitantly referred to by those in the know as the Darker Woods. So there we were, unloading our backpacks from the car at the park entrance. Kelly and I made our final checks and set off into the woods.
We hiked several miles on our first day in the park, passing several other parties of equally prepared tourists. The weather was perfect. It had left the cold of winter behind but had not yet submitted to the blistering heat of summer. The sounds of birds and small mammals filled the air and large trees towered over us, the density of the forest slowly increasing the deeper we hiked. The trek wasn’t what you’d consider flat, as the paths rose and fell over many small hills, but we were not in a mountainous region by any means either. As time passed, we saw less and less of other people, but sighted more of the different types of animals the park had to offer.
A couple hours later, we finally reached the edge of the Darker Woods. A chain link fence, about eight feet tall was visible from the trail. The point of no return was marked by a white wooden sign painted with the red letters “Federal Property - Keep Out”. My girlfriend and I hoisted our backpacks over the fence and clambered to the other side. No alarm sounded, and no attack dogs or soldiers appeared, like one might have expected. Instead, the other side of the fence was surprisingly similar to everything else we had seen so far. No longer with a clear path to follow, we trudged into the thick of the Darker Woods.
The first change I noticed came in the vegetation. The trees seemed to twist out of the ground and a thin layer of dull green moss coated most of the trunks. The canopy of the forest seemingly grew thicker, but through the trees, I could tell that the weather was turning. A cover of gray clouds loomed in the sky above. I turned to my girlfriend. “I didn’t know that the Darker Woods was such a literal name.”
“Are you getting nervous out here hun?” She joked.
“Honestly. I’m a little disappointed. I thought we might be walking into Area 51 out here. How much further do you want to go today?”
“Let’s at least keep moving until sundown. If that sounds good to you.”
“Sure, sounds fine by -.”
We halted immediately. Kelly had I had found ourselves wandering into a clearing. The area was nearly circular in shape and large, I would guess about a hundred feet from one side to the other. To the left and opposite from us, a cluster of boulders jutted from the earth, forming a small stone wall. That, however, was far from the most notable feature in the area. Dominating the clearing, taking up more than three-quarters of the land was a round, yawning pit. The ground around its rim turned to hard stone and sloped downward into the earth. The inky blackness below was seemingly bottomless. Something about the whole scene created a deep sense of unease within me.
“Wow!” Kelly said, “I wouldn’t have expected to find a cave out here.”
“That must be why they don’t want tourists coming out this way.”, I responded.
“Have you noticed?” She paused. “How quiet is it out here?”
“Now you’re the one who’s nervous.”
“No really, when’s the last time you heard a bird or anything else for that matter?”
It was my turn to pause.
Suddenly, Kelly jumped back in surprise. She raised her hand and pointed towards the trees on the other side of the clearing.
“Thomas, there’s someone behind that tree. I just saw them!” She hissed.
I felt a slight panic well up inside me, like a deer in headlights, but I quickly composed myself, wrapping my arm around my girlfriend’s shoulder.
“There’s no way that anyone’s out here. It was probably just an animal.”
“I’m telling you they were just peeking out from behind that tree.” She said, still staring into the woods. “Someone’s watching us.”
That gave me chills. I looked carefully and could tell which tree she was talking about. The dark wood and warped trunk were like the others but it stood out as noticeably wider, definitely capable of hiding somebody who didn’t want to be seen. Suddenly, movement drew my eyes into the air, and I detected a disturbance among the limbs of that same tree. Within an instant, it was gone, and the branches slowly rocked back into position. I squinted, scanning the forest canopy. Again, something caught my eye, this time a few trees to the right my first sighting. Something darted past a gap in the leaves, causing the branches to sway as if disturbed by a strong gale of wind.
I took a step back.
“What the…”
I hesitated, unsure of exactly what I was witnessing. Then I realized - something was up there and it was making its way right towards us, moving through the trees on the right edge of the clearing.
“Run!” I yelled.
Kelly and I sprinted into the forest. We stumbled over sticks and fallen branches, leaves crunching under our feet. I chanced a look behind and felt my anxiety rise. Our pursuer had abandoned all pretenses of a stealthy approach. I could make out a dark shape moving through the branches, causing them to bounce violently under its weight. ‘We’ve got to go faster, or it’s going to catch us’, I thought. Our backpacks were dragging us down, but that thing in the trees was moving quickly and closing fast. A distinct thud shook me as something impacted in the dirt behind us. No longer willing to look back, I could now hear heavy footfalls on the earth as it bounded after us through the twisted trees.
“Drop your backpack!” I shouted.
“What??” Kelly choked through gasps of air.
Without another moment of hesitation, I threw my pack off backwards and Kelly followed my lead. Whatever was on our trail didn’t seem to be interested in our belongings as I could still hear them tearing after us with reckless abandon.
Then - *Clang*
A loud metallic ring echoed through the madness. The sound of church bells was unmistakable. What kind of church would be located out here in the middle of these woods? I didn’t have time to question it. The bell sounded twice more. Kelly heard it as well.
“That way!” She commanded, peeling off right from our current trajectory.
I could see a gap in the trees ahead, and we broke through to exit into another clearing. Unbelievably, we were now running over a grassy field towards a small collection of wood and stone buildings. We didn’t think twice, hurrying towards the little village.
“Halt!” A gruff voice barked.
I was alarmed to see a man appear from behind the nearest house, brandishing some sort of firearm. The barrel was aimed directly at Kelly and me. My arm shot out to stop my girlfriend and we both stuck our hands up in surrender.
“Wait!” I gasped, panting for air. “Something chased us here! It’s right back there!”
I turned to point towards the woods, but by all appearances, our pursuer had vanished. I faced the villager once again. He had shoulder length light brown hair and a mustache of the same color. His white button-down shirt was tucked neatly into tan trousers and his outfit struck me as a little behind the times. Hard blue eyes glared at us from a weathered and stern face which told me that this wasn’t the time to question his style of dress.
“We are so sorry to intrude.” Kelly started, “I know we’re not supposed to be back here, but we were just trying to get away… away from something.”
The man continued to look at us skeptically. Then he finally addressed us, “We don’t get many visitors around these parts. Tell me where you folks are from.”
Kelly responded truthfully with the name of our home city.
“Never heard of it.” The man said.
My body grew tense. After another moment of appraisal, he lowered the gun. “But I don’t suppose you look like you mean any harm. Follow me. We’re not going to resolve anything by standing around out here.”
The villager slung his rifle over his shoulder, walking back towards the houses. Kelly and I looked at each other for a short moment before jogging to catch up with the man. We passed into a village square bustling with the activity of daily life. A handful of men dressed similar to our guide gazed at us watchfully over the heads of smiling children. Women dressed in long, plain dresses scurried around performing various chores. There were no streets in sight, with the dozen or so houses connected by a network of dirt paths. ‘Could this be an Amish community?’, I wondered in my head.
We reached the end of the square at which sat three buildings, slightly greater in size than the rest. The building on the left was square and mostly made of wood. An overhang loomed over several picnic tables forming a small dining area. To the right was another wooden building sporting a peaked roof. A tin sign hung off a post next to the door, engraved the words “The Lame Horse”. Finally and most imposing was a building made entirely of stone, tapering to a steeple at the top. The stained-glass windows depicted scenes from a Christian religion, solidifying my impression that this was the village’s church. Square openings were present at the mid-point of the steeple, and I knew the bell that had drawn us here must be housed within this place of worship.
The man with the rifle veered right and entered the Lame Horse, which I assumed was some sort of drinking hole. I was proven right when we stepped inside to see several round empty tables, with a long bar stationed at the far side of the room. The air was somewhat stale, and the sole source of light streamed through the windows, illuminating a haze of dust. A husky but friendly looking man with a bearded face and thinning hair greeted us with a smile from behind the wooden counter. The two village men nodded to each other and our guide spoke:
“Good day George, we are lucky to have some company on this evening.”
The bar’s proprietor faced us “Great to meet you folks. Could I interest you in any of our fine vintages, on the house?”
Our guide spoke up “I don’t think this is the time for a drink. These two claim that they encountered something dangerous out in our woods. We needed a quiet place to discuss, if that will be alright.”
“Of course.” The barkeep said, looking somewhat disappointed.
The three of us settled around a table near the center of the room. No patrons were in sight, so the silence was palpable. The villager sighed and started “I think we’d better get formally acquainted. The name’s Ezekiel.”
“Very nice to meet you, sir. My name is Thomas and this is my girlfriend, Kelly.” Kelly flashed her best smile. “Again, we apologize for intruding on your town. It’s a nice place you’ve got here.”
Ezekiel scanned the room like he was considering whether that fact might be true. “No need to apologize. So, you say something spooked you out in the forest?”
I nodded. “More than spooked us. The thing was try to hunt us down. Do you what it could have been? Some kind of big cat?”
“No idea.” Ezekiel’s hard stare moved back and forth between Kelly and I.
“Well in any case, we lost our supplies out there.” I turned to face Kelly, “At this point. I think it’s best for us to just cut our losses and drive home tonight.”
She gave me a look of concern and started to speak, but I interjected, “And yes, the keys are still in my pocket. So if we find our backpacks on the way, great, but if we don’t, it’s not the end of the world.”
Kelly spoke up, glancing between Ezekiel and me. “I hate to hike in the dark, but I have to agree. Unfortunately, we lost our way trying to get away from that thing. Ezekiel, do you know the location of that giant hole out there? If you can get us back to that spot, I think we could find our way back on our own.”
I thought I caught something out of the corner of my eye, a stiffening in the barkeep’s posture perhaps, but when I looked to the bar the man had his back to us, concentrated on wiping down a glass. Ezekiel’s glare intensified and Kelly was now its sole target.
“Listen here, girl. You folks would be wise to avoid that place and you can be sure as hell that no one from this town is going to follow you there.”
She fell silent and her eyes dropped to the table. Feeling protective, I stepped into the conversation. “You’ve got a history with that place?”
“Let’s just say nothing good has ever happened in that neck of the woods.”
“Then we’re finding ourselves in a bit of a tough spot.”
Ezekiel seemed to soften slightly. “It’s getting late. We have several spare houses in the village. You can make yourself at home with us tonight.”
Kelly brightened beside me. “Really? That would be fantastic!”
Our plans were set for the night. Ezekiel introduced us to his wife, Kate, a blonde-haired woman with considerable beauty, but the same worn features as her husband. The family had two kids, a seven-year-old girl and five-year-old boy. They were wearing the same plain style of clothing that we had seen worn by the others in the village. The couple led us to one of the small wooden houses, this one on the edge of town and only a short walk from the tree line. Ezekiel produced a brass ring of keys from his belt and fumbled with the collection until he found what he was looking for. The inside of the abode, to my pleasant surprise, was fully furnished. It was a one room home, with a kitchen and living room comingled together and a double-sized bed under the far-left window. A couch, a couple of armchairs, and a red rug all looked somewhat dilapidated but comfortable nonetheless. A brick fireplace sat vacant on the wall opposite the door and the mantle was covered in a variety of trinkets and memorabilia.
I turned to Ezekiel, and asked “This place is lovely. Do you know where I can find a bathroom?”
Ezekiel replied, “We have several community outhouses. The closest one is a couple doors down.”
Seeing the look on my face, he smirked. “You were planning to spend this weekend in the wilderness, no?”
“Who are they?” Kelly interrupted us from the fireplace.
She was holding a framed photograph that she had taken from the mantle. The picture was black and white and though extremely faded, I could make out a man and woman standing in front of the very house we were currently inside. They appeared older, maybe in their 50s, and their outfits resembled the style we had grown accustomed to here. Between the balding man’s round spectacles and woman’s tightly knit bun, they reminded me of that old painting, “American Gothic” I think.
Ezekiel cleared his throat and responded “Those would be the owners of this house. Don’t worry, they won’t be home anytime soon. They left this place quite long ago.”
Kate turned to gaze out the window, and I thought I perceived a look of something like unease flash across her features, if just for a moment. Kelly placed the photo back on the mantle and addressed the couple lightly.
“Once again, we really appreciate your hospitality, but I’m not sure if I’m comfortable sleeping in someone else’s bed.”
Kate smiled reassuringly. “Don’t you worry. We take great pride in this village. All of the houses here are very well kempt. You’ll find the sheets are as clean as any you might find in a big city accommodation.”
Kelly seemed to relax, so I relaxed too. Ezekiel suggested that we take some time to settle in before going to sleep. As they were leaving, he turned in the doorway. “And one more thing,” he said. “You lock this door tonight. And whatever happens, whatever you see or hear, make sure you keep it locked until the sun rises.”
With that we were left alone in our temporary home. The dusky sky had fallen into complete darkness but our borrowed oil lamp bathed the entire space in a comforting glow. Kelly sat on the bed and watched me pace around the small room.
“I understand this isn’t a great situation”, I said, trying to break the oppressive silence, “but let’s try to make the best of this. We can figure everything out in the morning.”
“I know”, Kelly responded “but I can’t shake the feeling that something is deeply wrong here.”
“What, do you think the villagers are dangerous?”
She shook her head. “No, if they wanted to hurt us, they could have done it by now. But they know things that they aren’t telling us.”
“Well, stressing about it all night probably won’t help our case. Plus, I’m a little offended that you don’t feel safe while I’m here to protect you.”
She rolled her eyes, but I could see a smile flicker across her lips. I turned out the light and we climbed into bed. Despite the unfamiliar settings, the excitement of the past day was enough to wear me down. I was out just as quick as the lamp.
I awoke from a dreamless sleep with a strong urge to empty my bladder. Opening my eyes, I was disappointed not to see any sign of the morning light. I turned to Kelly, who occupied the part of the bed closest to the window. Her serene expression was illuminated by moonlight shining through the glass, leading me to conclude that the cloud cover from earlier was no longer present. I attempted to lower my eyelids and drift away, but the irritation in my body was too great to overcome. I slipped out of bed and creeped toward the front door. I had not intended to disobey Ezekiel’s warning, however, making a quick trip outside seemed like the only viable option. I unlatched the lock and pushed the wooden door open. The grass was cold and moist beneath my feet. Our house faced towards the forest, which was much closer by than any of the outhouses. The yard was illuminated by silver light from the impressively resilient moon. As I gazed into the woods, a pit formed in my stomach and an inexplicable sense of dread welled up within me. I resolved to stay put and relieve myself next to the house. The silence was oppressive and as I faced the wall, my back felt completely exposed, like a wild animal might run up behind me and tear me to shreds. My heart wanted to jump from my throat. I had barely finished my business, when suddenly -
“Help me!”
A strained female voice broke through the night air.
The blood froze in my veins and every hair stood on end. I could sense that the call had come echoing from the trees.
“Please, help!” It called again, this time louder.
I turned to scan the trees, squinting to make out the various shapes.
“I’ve fallen and I think my leg is broken. You’re the first person I’ve seen in several hours. Please! You have to help me.”
I didn’t respond, yet I could not move. And then I saw it. A short distance into the woods, leaning out from behind one of the trees, was the dark silhouette of a person. It was as if they believed that they were obscured within the shadows of the forest, yet in the moonlight I could clearly see the outline of what appeared to be a human, peeking at me from behind one of those warped trunks. I jolted into action, flying into the house and slamming the door behind me. The commotion was sure to wake Kelly, but my primary concern was turning the lock. Once I was sure the door wouldn’t budge, I raced to the fireplace and grabbed the deadliest item I could find - an iron poker with a dull spike and hook on the end. I spun to face the door and gripped the rod tightly in both hands. Kelly bolted upright and looked to me in confusion. I held my hand out before she could make a sound.
“Shh!” I hissed “Someone’s outside.”
“Why did you go outside??” She whispered back.
Before I could respond, a series of knocks impacted on the door. Three evenly spaced thumps slowly sounded. Then someone spoke - this time a man with a raspy voice. “Hello? Hello? Is anybody home?”
My grip tightened on the poker.
“I was hoping we could take a trip down to the river today. The fish sure have been biting this week.” The man continued.
Kelly and I shared a look of confusion and terror.
Three more times a fist rapped on the door.
“Hello? Hello? Is anybody home?”
We maintained our positions for at least several minutes, only sparing momentary glances to scan the windows. I finally allowed my guard to drop, exhaling deeply. Kelly’s eyes were still wide with fear and she appeared badly shaken.
“What the hell was that? Could that really have been someone from the village, this late at night?” She said, her voice tremoring.
I attempted a brave face. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I damn well am going to find out. Ezekiel’s going to spill the beans whether he wants to or not.”