Ever since I had met up with my old college buddies at the airport earlier that day, that line from an English class a decade ago kept ringing in my head. Things certainly had fallen apart for me over the last year. My wife had divorced me, and I had recently been laid-off from my job as an insurance agent. In contrast, my friends were doing great; Taylor had moved to Singapore to accept a partner-track position with a new law firm, Todd and his wife were expecting their second child, and Simon, our resident psychiatrist, was by all accounts having a very good year professionally. I had always been the underachiever of our group, but I was feeling especially low as of late. I had even considered sitting out this trip, but this was our annual camping trip. A tradition we’d started the year after graduating from university. We had all grown up together; but afterwards we had all ended up on different paths. We kept in touch with one another through phone and text, but there is something to be said for meeting face-to-face.
The jeep rocked violently over the bumpy forest service road, I was sitting in the back and absorbed the worst of the impact as the shock bounced me roughly in my seat, rousing me from my reverie.
“Sorry about that! Big pothole!” Shouted, Taylor from the driver’s seat.
“Good thing you took that big money lawyer job, because I think I got whiplash.” Todd joked from the front passenger seat as he rubbed his neck with a feigned expression of pain.
Simon was sitting in the other back passenger seat, talking with Vanessa who sat between us. She was a hitchhiker we had picked up at the general store we’d stopped at an hour back. She claimed to be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and when she learned we were headed out to Heart Lake. She had all but begged to hitch a ride with us, she said was headed back that way as well and had only come down to pick up some provisions. She promised to show us a hidden waterfall by the lake that wasn’t on any of the maps. Without any hesitation Todd had agreed, and shot me a knowing wink.
She looked to be a few years older than us. She had a thin frame and a gaunt face, with dark bags under her eyes that stood out against her pale skin. She struck me more as malnourished or sickly, than someone who had been hiking for weeks. She seemed aware of her appearance and had made a passing comment about how she’d lost a lot of weight since starting out on the PCT. Whatever doubts I had about her story were subdued by her upbeat and bubbly attitude. She had been gregarious with us all, but she seemed quite taken with Simon. The two of them had been engrossed in conversation about Simon’s work since we’d left the store. Simon loved to talk about himself, but I wondered when Vanessa would pick up that Simon “played for the other team”.
The trail head was some number of miles in from the highway, down a dirt road shaded beneath the canopy of an old-growth forest, alternating potholes with large rocks jutting out of the road that threatened to scrap the bottom on the jeep. We left a large plume of dust behind us, the dust clouds swirling within the late afternoon sun rays that managed to peak through the forest canopy of Fir and Cedar trees. Looking around the Jeep; Taylor and Todd catching up in the front, and Simon telling Vanessa about his latest research project, I almost managed to forget my troubles.
It wasn’t long before the road terminated in a small gravel parking lot with a single SUV parked in the corner. We parked and began putting on our packs and getting ready for the hike to the lake. Taylor was helping Vanessa put on her pack, while I approached Simon who was standing near the rear of the Jeep. He was frozen in the middle of putting on his pack. He was staring intently at the trail head. I looked that way trying to see what had his attention, but didn’t see anything.
“Something wrong?” I asked Simon. He continued staring for a moment.
“I thought…” He started to answer. “No.” He shook his head and pulled his pack on. “My eyes are just playing tricks on me.” He smiled but it seemed fake. I decided not to push it.
The hike into Heart Lake was spectacular. The trail was narrow and at times we had to climb over fallen logs or boulders. We spied the snow capped mountains above us through breaks in the forest canopy. The last half had some significant elevation gain as we began going up some switchbacks. Off to the side of the trail was a mountain stream with crystal clear water that occasionally turned into a waterfall providing us with some much appreciated cooling mist whenever the breeze our way.
The birds chirped overhead as we made our way up the path. I cursed myself with every beleaguered breath for not keeping in shape over this past year. Luckily, the other guys were too engrossed with snapping photos of the waterfalls and the scenic vistas to notice my gasps for breath. I had fallen to the rear of the group, Vanessa was nice enough to keep me company. I asked her how much further it was to the Lake, and she replied that it wasn’t too much further as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She asked the usual questions one asks of new acquaintances. When I told her that I was between jobs, she seemed to sense my discomfort with the topic and asked me about Simon instead.
Just when I thought I would have to ask for the group to take a break, we reached the top of the switchbacks and the trail flattened out. We reached the lake just as the sun began to set. We took a spot just off the trail by the shore of the lake. We didn’t see anyone else so it appeared that we would have the lake to ourselves for the night.
Working in the dimming light, we unpacked our bags and set out to make our tents. Todd finished first, and went over to help Vanessa who seemed to be struggling with her tent. Taylor, Simon and myself started collecting wood and making a campfire.
It wasn’t too much longer before we had everything set up. We all settled in around the campfire, cooking up hot dogs and drinking beers that we had brought with us. It was a full moon and cloudless so we could clearly see the lake shimmering in the moonlight from our campsite. It was a good time, we talked, traded stories and laughed. At some point Taylor broke out a bottle scotch which was met with cheers and applause as we passed it around taking swigs from it.
I don’t know how it came up, but the conversation eventually turned to the subject of the paranormal. Todd had just finished telling us the about how he was certain the new hospital he worked at was haunted because he had heard whispers and seen shadows.
“Tell us the truth. You’re dipping into the pharmacy on your breaks, right?” Taylor grinned as he took another drink from his beer.
“No, I’m being one-hundred percent serious. I’ve seen things, man.” Todd said as he threaded a marshmallow onto a stick.
“I can’t believe I’m hearing this. What’s next Todd? You’re gonna tell me the tooth fairy and Santa Claus are real too?” Taylor said with exaggerated indignation. Todd rolled his eyes. “Back me up guys. Matt? You believe in this stuff too?” He said to me.
“I dunno. You never know.” I replied with a shrug. Visibly dissatisfied with my answer he turned to Vanessa.
“I’ve never experienced anything myself. But, there’s too many stories through out history and various cultures for it to just be nothing.” She answered. He turned to Simon now, making a begging motion with his hands.
“Simon, you’re my last hope for rational thought. As a registered shrink please tell these whack-jobs that are our friends that they are certifiable.” Taylor pleaded. Simon chuckled as the bottle of scotch hung from his hand. Vanessa leaned forward listening intently.
“Well, I would have been inclined to agree with you. But-” Simon started.
“Oh no, they got you too?” Taylor shook his head.
“Now, now. Let me tell my story.” Simon turned to Taylor, holding his hand up. He turned back towards the group. “I have a friend who works for the police as a psychologist, and he gave me a ring a few weeks back. There was a politically sensitive case he was working on that had really gotten him worked up. I can’t go into details but, they were trying to determine if this one subject was competent to stand trial. This person was claiming to be haunted by the ghost of an adolescent girl. They also was claiming to be seeing monsters and was well that’s not the important part. What had gotten my friend really twisted up was that while he was at the station assessing this individual, he had stepped out of the room for a moment. And, when he came back the subject was gone. At first he thought the guards had mistakenly taken this person back to their cell, but the guards were just as confused when he asked them to bring the person back. When they checked the security feed recording, the video inside the room showed the subject sitting at the table, then the recording goes black for a few seconds and when it came back the person was gone. The camera covering the hallway outside of the room though never glitched out, and showed that he didn’t leave through the only door to the room. There’s no windows either in the room.”
“He got Epsteined!” Interjected Todd, which Taylor waved away dismissively.
“So, the prisoner they were holding, he’s gone?” It was Vanessa, and her voice had changed, gone was the youthful, bubbly quality, in its’ place was a cold seriousness. “You’re sure of this?”
“I trust what my friend said so, yes. You lot are ruining my story. I haven’t even gotten to the good part.” He joked.
“All right! All right! Go on and tell your ghost story.” Taylor said with his hands up in mock apology.
“So, as I was saying, my friend was quite shook up about this, and he said there was more. But, he wanted to talk about it in person. So, I headed on over to his house, and when I got there he was waiting for me on the stoop of his house. We headed inside and sat down. He started talking again about how the subject during the interview had claimed that they were seeing the ghost of a girl, but all the while I noticed his eyes kept drifting from me to something behind me, always the same spot. I finally turned around to see what was distracting him, but I didn’t see anything. It was at that point he told me that since the day of the subject’s disappearance he had begun to see a ghost as well. Although, in my friend’s case it wasn’t a little girl, but rather his late father that he saw. He claimed that even in that very moment he could see his dead father in the room with us.”
“And, you saw it?” Vanessa interjected, with a sense of urgency now.
“No, I didn’t see anything in the room. But-”
“Oh! Here it comes.” Taylor got up off his log and began creeping around the campfire behind Simon and Vanessa. He was crouched and walking with an exaggeratedly long stride, while Simon rolled his eyes at him. “The spooky ghost is about to make his appearance.” He stopped behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “Boo!”
“Ass.” Simon said with a shake of the head. “No, but when we were down at the parking lot. I thought I saw a former patient of mine, who passed away a few years ago, watching us from by the trail head.”
“Here? You saw that at the parking lot at this trail head?” Vanessa’s eyes were wide and the color seemed to have drained from her face.
“Yeah, when we first got he-”
“Have you seen anything else since then?” She cut him off.
“Maybe we should change the subject.” Taylor said without the joviality he had just a few moments earlier. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you.” He said to Vanessa, but she completely ignored him only continuing to stare at Simon.
“Are you seeing anything right now?”
“No, you know in all seriousness it’s just pareidolia coupled with stress. I’m sure there’s no ghosts or anything like that.” Simon, paused then added. “I’m sorry, we were just having a bit of fun telling ghost stories. None of us really believe in that kind of stuff, well except for maybe Todd.” He said with a smile and a grin as he looked toward Todd.
“Fuck you, it wasn’t even a good story.” Todd flipped him the bird as reached back for another beer. But, Vanessa didn’t see to hear them, she leaned back seemingly deep in thought.
The conversation shifted to more upbeat topics after that, but Vanessa was reserved and quiet for the rest of the night. She barely engaged in the conversation except when directly asked a question and even then her answers were curt and very matter of fact. Taylor had asked her to show us the waterfall she had told us about in the morning. She agreed and then excused herself from the group to turn in for the night.
I stayed and chatted with the others for a bit longer before excusing myself as well to turn in. It had been a long day and I could feel my eyes getting heavy. As I walked to my tent I saw a light moving around in Vanessa’s tent. I decided to say good night to her since she was still up. Walking up to her tent the flap to her tent was partially open and I could see Vanessa sitting inside hunched over several open books arranged around her. She was holding a small camping lantern over the books as she studied them. I knelt down and stuck my head through the open flap. She didn’t notice me at all; the books were written in a strange language that I didn’t recognize and I saw a bunch of torn open empty salt packets, like the ones you get from a restaurant, littering the floor of her tent.
“Hey, just wanted to say good night.” I said to her. She looked up at me like I was an alien, for a few seconds she just stared.
“Good night.” She said, then immediately went back to reading. I got up and walked away not really sure of what to make of her. I got into my own tent, and fell asleep listening to the sound of my friends still having a good time by the campfire.
That night I dreamed I was falling. No matter what I did I couldn’t find the ground.
“Hey, Matt. Wake up Matt.” A voice stirred me from my slumber. It was Taylor. I opened my eyes, still heavy with sleep. It was dark.
“What time is it?” I asked groggily, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. I fumbled around for my flashlight.
“I dunno, three or so I think.” Taylor said in a hushed tone. I found my flashlight and flipped it on, illuminating the dewy-wet tent flap.
“Why the hell are you waking me up now?” I asked as I unzipped the flap.
“Simon is missing.” He stepped aside to let me out and turned on his own flashlight as well.
“What do you mean missing?” I asked as I got up and stepped out into darkness. The air was cold. Other than the faint glow of embers from the smoldering campfire, the only other light was from our flashlights.
“I got up to go take a leak. When I came back I noticed Simon’s tent was open and he wasn’t in it. I figured he had also gone out to take a leak. I wanted to give him a little scare so I stayed out waiting for him to return, but that was like twenty-minutes ago. I don’t know where he is.”
“Okay, why don’t you get Todd and I’ll wake up Vanessa.” Taylor nodded in agreement and I made my way over to Vanessa’s tent. I was struck by how dark it was, I couldn’t even see the lake which had been plainly visible in the moonlight earlier. Vanessa’s tent was zipped up.
“Vanessa.” There was no response. “Vanessa. Sorry, but we have a problem.” I waited staring at the closed flap, again there was no sound from her tent. “Vanessa.” I said a little louder. I decided I’d leave her be.
The three of us; Simon, Todd and myself headed out, calling out Taylor’s name out into the black. The forest was a tomb, no movement, wind or sound. Even along the lake shore the water was absolutely still. There was no sign of Simon as we returned to where we had started out from. We were debating what to do when we heard a voice call out from the camp.
“Hello? Where is everyone?” It was Simon’s voice. We quickly made our way back. The red glow from the smoldering embers partially illuminated Simon as he stood by the campfire. “There you guys are.”
“Dude, where did you go?” Taylor brushed past me, going straight for Simon.
“What?”
“You were gone for over half an hour.”
“Was it? Well, I had to take a dump. Guess I need more fiber in my diet.” Simon stood there, a grin slowly growing. “Did you guys really get worried, I’m touched?” Todd slugged him in the shoulder. We all just shook our heads and headed back to bed. It was an anticlimactic end. Vanessa had slept straight through it.
I awoke to the sizzle of frying bacon. I opened my eyes, I could see it was light out. I wiggled my way out of my sleeping bag, the air was absolutely frigid, and it did more to chase away the sleep than any cup of coffee ever could. It felt more like late fall than summer. I grabbed a sweater I had thankfully packed and pulled it on.
I stepped out to see Todd and Taylor sitting by the campfire. The smoky sweet aroma of frying bacon filled the air. Walking over to them, I could hear Simon waking up in his own tent. Vanessa’s tent was still zipped up and silent. Todd and Taylor were preparing some bacon and pancakes over the campfire coals. I joined them and we chatted as they served up breakfast. It wasn’t long before Simon came out and joined us. Vanessa still had not gotten up by the time all four of us were done eating. Simon made her a plate and walked over to her tent to check on her. Todd, Taylor and I were talking about our plans for the day when we heard Simon shout.
“Hey! Guys, come over here!” Simon said from in front of Vanessa’s tent, he had apparently decided to go ahead and open her tent when she hadn’t responded. The three of us came over to find the inside of Vanessa’s tent was completely empty. No sleeping bag, backpack, gear or books. Only a few food wrappers and empty salt packets.
“Great, you scared her off with your weird ghost talk last night.” Todd slugged Simon in the shoulder.
“Why’d she leave her tent? Maybe she just went for a walk.” Mused Taylor. It was unclear whether Vanessa had truly left or was coming back so we stayed in camp for another hour waiting to see if she would return. When she didn’t, Simon scrawled a note telling her we were headed to the next lake on the trail and left it in her tent.
The day’s hike was unremarkable except for how quiet it was. It was Taylor who had first pointed out that we hadn’t heard any birds or wildlife since last night. It also was unseasonably cool, even during midday when it should have been plenty warm with the summer sun overhead.
We reached our destination, Iron Lake, with plenty of daylight left. The plan was to stay the night here, then head back down to Heart Lake tomorrow. After setting up camp, we relaxed and got in a little fishing. Taylor was hopeful we’d be able to supplement our freeze-dried dinner with some roasted fish, but unfortunately the fish weren’t biting. There was something off about the entire place, I don’t know if the others felt the same way, but everything was far too quiet. No jets overhead, no animals, no birds, no other people, nothing except for an occasional light breeze blowing through the trees. It didn’t sit well with me.
Night fell quickly, and it became very dark and cold again. We piled extra wood on the campfire that night, as we huddled around it for warmth eating our dinner of re-hydrated chicken and noodles. There was no moonlight at all, so the stars shined through especially well. We stargazed and finished off the last of the scotch. Just shortly before we started to turn in for the night, the faint sound of an infant crying was heard from somewhere on the other side of the lake. Simon thought it was most likely the campers from the other car we had found in the parking lot.
Somehow knowing there were other people by the lake was reassuring. The crying eventually stopped, leaving only the crackle and pop of the campfire as drifted off to sleep.
I was startled awake by a horrific screaming coming from somewhere off in the forest. It was still pitch-black, as I sat up in my sleeping back listening to the scream. It was high-pitched, and I couldn’t tell if it was an animal or a person. I groped about in the dark of my tent for my flash light, cursing myself as I did so. Just as I grabbed the flash light the screaming abruptly stopped. With the wailing gone I could immediately hearing the rustling of my friends in their own tents.
“What the fuck was that?” It was Todd’s voice.
“Mountain lion?” Was Simon’s answer. I undid the zipper of my tent and scrambled out into the dark, only the faint red glow from the campfire and the subdued glow of lights from inside the other tents stood out from the darkness. I scanned around the edges of our camp with my flashlight.
“Maybe.” I stopped on Taylor’s tent. The flap was down revealing a sleeping bag and gear, but he wasn’t inside it. “Where’s Taylor?” Simon came stumbling out of the dark.
“What do you mean? Isn’t he here?” He said as he began feeding firewood into the campfire.
“His tent is open, but he isn’t inside.” I answered watching the forest’s edge. The flames were starting to catch on the new wood, casting flickers of light onto the treeline.
“Maybe he went to take a leak?” Simon said as he walked around the campfire. We heard Todd’s tent unzipping. The light from his flashlight bounced around the camp, as he stepped out.
“I don’t know.” I said as I watched Todd walk up to us flashlight in hand. “Could be.” We heard a rustling in the bushes on the edge of camp. Something was moving quickly toward us. The three of us huddled by the campfire waiting to see what would come out of the forest. It was Taylor. He came bounding out, he had been running.
“Di-Did you guys hear that noise?” He asked as he stopped in front of us, trying to catch his breath.
“How could we not!” Todd retorted.
“Where were you?” I asked.
“Had to take a dump, and man did that scream clear out my bowels.” Taylor answered with a slight chuckle. The four of us stood there by the campfire waiting to see if anything else would happen. Nothing else came. It was eerily quiet as the four of us stood in the frigid night air, watching our breath drift out into the dark. Eventually, Simon and Taylor figured it had just been a mountain lion after all and we had perhaps overreacted a bit. Todd suggested building the campfire back up before going to bed again, to deter the mountain lion.
The next morning was again cold and dead quiet. We ate breakfast and then broke camp. The plan was to head back down to Heart Lake for out last night, and then head back home the following morning. As we hiked back to Heart Lake I couldn’t shake this feeling of unease. Something was off. During a break on our hike, I suggested to the group that maybe we cut our trip short, and just head home now. It would be a long hike, but we still had plenty of daylight and could make it to the car just as dusk set in. Todd seemed open to the idea, but Simon and Taylor were dismissive. They argued that there was no reason to call it off. Other than a few bumps in the night, nothing had actually happened. I still felt uncomfortable, but they were right. Nothing had really happened.
When we arrived at Heart Lake we set up camp in the same spot as before. Vanessa’s tent was still there, just as empty as before. The note Simon had left for Vanessa in her tent was seemingly undisturbed. We spent the remainder of the day just hanging out around the lake. At Taylor’s suggestion we went for a quick swim as a group in the lake. The water was absolutely freezing and crystal clear. I noticed that there were no fish, bugs or other critters in the water. It was sterile. I kept my thoughts to myself though. Simon and Taylor seemed to be enjoying themselves, and even Todd seemed in better spirits after our swim. But, try as I might I couldn’t push my growing sense of impending doom from my mind.
That night we huddled around the campfire for one last time. It looked like we were in for another cold night. We chatted as we built the fire up into a roaring inferno, the heat felt good. Todd showed anyone who would look photos of his first-born daughter, and talked about how he was looking forward to the birth of his second. There was some discussion as to where Vanessa had gone, with no concrete theories. We talked about our lives and future plans. I participated in the conversations but kept a wary eye on the treeline. After a few hours it was time for bed, we had agreed to get up at first light and then head on back to the car. As I laid down in my tent, I thought to myself that perhaps I had overreacted. Maybe everything was going to all right after all.
I awoke to a loud deafening bang. It sounded like a gunshot. Then it was followed by two quick bangs. Definitely gunshots. The sound had been relatively close. I stared wide-eyed in the total darkness seeing nothing. I fumbled for my flashlight but hesitated to turn it on. I listened. No sound, other than the familiar popping of the campfire embers burning down.
“HELP!” It was Todd’s voice coming from somewhere out in the forest. “GUYS! HELP!”
There was a palpable fear in his voice, and I sprang into action. Flicking the flash light on and barreling out of my tent.
“WHERE ARE YOU?” I shouted out into the forest.
“OVER HERE!” Was the response. I ran in the direction of his voice. My flashlight illuminating my way through the dark. I almost tripped over Todd, as I ran through the forest. Todd was laying on his back holding a revolver in his trembling hand. He had it pointed at a second body sprawled on the ground. The body wasn’t moving, and at first I thought it was Simon, because of the clothes, but there was something off about the proportions.
My mind was racing. Too much information. Too many questions. I wanted to ask Todd why he had a gun. Where it came from. Whose body was laying in front of us. What had happened. Instead I managed a sophisticated, “Wha-What?”
“I, I, I don’t know.” He stammered, never lowering the revolver. “I was sleeping, and then I was out here being dragged by my legs. It was so dark, I couldn’t see anything. I thought maybe it was a mountain lion. I took my gun out and fired at it.” I stepped forward a bit, shining my light on the body. It was face down in the dirt, blood was spreading across the shirt it wore from two small bullet holes in the back. It looked like Simon’s clothes, but the body shape was wrong. This body was freakishly skinny, with arms and legs that were much longer than a normal person’s would be. The skin looked too pale as well. We heard someone running toward us from behind. Todd started to get up off the ground quickly, starting to aim in the direction of the sound.
“Wait.” I pushed Todd’s arm down, lowering the gun. I could see a flashlight coming towards us through the forest.
It was Taylor. His eyes immediately went to the gun in Todd’s hand. “Why do you have a gun?”
“I started bringing one with me a few years ago. Just in case.”
“What do you mean just in case?” Taylor was dissatisfied with the answer. Todd stepped to the side to let Taylor see the body laying on the ground.
“Because of something like that.” Todd said, as Taylor stepped forward shining his flashlight on the body.
“Who-Is that Simon?” Taylor asked, then turned to us taking a step back. “What is going on here?”
Todd gave Taylor the same story he had given me just a minute earlier. I kept staring at the body, it didn’t look right. I rolled the body over. Todd stopped mid-sentence as I rolled it over. There was something wrong all right. This body wasn’t human. The face. Well, there was no face. Where there should have been eyes, nose and a mouth was instead just smooth and featureless.
“What the fuck is that?” Todd took a step forward. Taylor just stood speechless staring. I looked at the clothes this thing had on, they were definitely Simon’s clothes. I had a bad feeling in my gut. I searched the corpse’s pants, hoping I wouldn’t find what I was looking for. But, it was there, a wallet in the pants of this thing. I fished them out and opened the wallet, and Simon’s driver’s license stared right at me. I showed it to Todd and Taylor.
“What does that mean?” Taylor asked. “Is that body Simon? What’s going on?”
“I think so.” I answered looking back at the eggshell smooth face of the body.
“This can’t be happening!” Todd turned away, shaking his head.
I looked at Todd and Taylor. “We need to leave this forest tonight. Like right now.”
“I’m with you on that one, man. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Said Todd. Taylor nodded silently. We went back to camp as a group, leaving the body of Simon or whatever that thing was back in the forest. We quickly got dressed and grabbed only water, food and our packs. We left the tents and most of our gear behind.
We were constantly on edge as we hiked through the dark forest. Listening intently for any hint of trouble coming our way, but all we heard were our own footsteps and the braking our twigs underneath our boots. Todd kept his gun out the entire time. Just as we were about to reach the switchbacks, we heard the sound of a baby crying somewhere off in the bushes close by. We froze in place on the trail. As cowardly as it might be, I was definitely leaning towards just ignoring the sound and continuing down. Todd however felt differently.
“Come on guys. It’s a baby, probably from that other group of campers. We can’t just leave them out here with that whatever that thing was.” Todd implored.
“I don’t know. This is weird. I don’t like this.” Was my answer. “I just want to leave.” I sheepishly added.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea either. We should keep our distance.” Taylor added. “What are you going to tell them anyways? We shot what exactly?”
“I can’t believe you guys. Just leaving a baby out in the forest! Maybe they’re already in trouble.” He turned away and began walking towards the sound of the crying. “I’ll do it alone if I need to.”
I didn’t much like the idea of splitting up. I looked to Taylor who shrugged, I shook my head and reluctantly followed after Todd. It wasn’t long until we came to small clearing in the forest. A naked infant was laying on the ground crying. Todd was already walking straight for it, I followed behind him looking at the surrounding forest uneasily. Taylor was standing motionless at the treeline watching us.
“Hello? Anyone there?” Todd shouted into the dark as he stood over the wailing baby. “We don’t mean you any harm.” He turned and handed his revolver to me as he knelt down to pick the baby up.
“Alright, you got the kid, let’s get the fuck out of here.” I gripped the revolver in my hand watching the treeline.
“It’s okay little one. You’re okay.” Todd said reassuringly to the baby. He stood up cradling it in his arms. I turned to walk back towards Taylor who was still just watching from the trees. “My you’re heavier than you look.” Todd said in a kindly voice to the still crying baby. We got only a few feet before I heard a strained grunt from Todd. “You really are heavy.” I turned to look at Todd who was still cradling the child but looked to be struggling with the weight. The child’s crying seemed to be getting louder, and Todd’s expression seemed to have changed to one of concern.
“What’s wrong?” It looked like Todd was about to buckle under the weight of the child. I shoved the revolver into the pocket of my windbreaker and tried to steady him.
“I do-don’t know.” He struggled to stay standing. “This kid…” I could see his knees shaking.
“Put the kid down!” I shouted. Whether he wanted to or not he was going down, his knees collapsed and he was now kneeling with the baby in his arms.
“Keeps…getting…heavier” He stammered. “What…the…” He fell forward, his arms under the baby still cradling the kid.
“Leave the kid! Leave it!” I shouted at Todd. The baby’s crying was now deafening.
“I…can’t…” Todd struggled, I could see him straining to unpin his arms from under the baby. “Oh…god…it…hurts…” I turned to Taylor who was still watching from the treeline.
“Help us!” I yelled at him then turned back to Todd. I tried to roll the baby off of Todd’s arms, but he was right the child was unnaturally heavy. The child wasn’t budging at all.
“Please….help….me….oh…god…” Todd pleaded. I heard a sickening snap from under the child, barely audible over the child’s cries. And, now it was Todd who was screaming with tears running down his face. Blood was pooling from underneath the baby. Todd’s arms had been completely crushed. I turned again to Taylor.
“Get over here, god damn it!” I screamed at Taylor. But he just stood there watching, like he was in a trance. Todd wasn’t talking anymore, just screaming in pain. The babies’ cries were now vibrating in my teeth, they were so loud. I looked and knew there was no other choice. Todd’s arms were a bloody mess, but he was still trapped by the mangled flesh anchored under the baby. I pulled my pack off and pulled the hatchet we used for fire wood out. I stood back up with the hatchet raised above my head. I looked at Todd, his face wet with tears.
“I’m sorry.” He probably didn’t hear it over all the screaming and crying. I brought the hatchet down on either side of the baby, hacking away at Todd’s mangled arms. Over and over, I swing. It took an ungodly amount of blows but finally Todd was free. Todd had passed out from the pain, and I dragged his limp body away from the still wailing baby. There was so much blood pouring out from the stumps that had been his arms. I ripped my own belt off and applied a crude tourniquet to one arm. I undid Todd’s own belt and applied it to the other arm. It seemed to have worked. I looked to Taylor again. “Help us!”
“Sorry.” Taylor finally seemed to snap out of it and came over. I looked back at the baby, only to find it had vanished, leaving only a pulpy mash of flesh that had once been Todd’s arms behind. We quickly patched Todd up best we could, and then with one of us on either side of him we started carrying him with us back towards the switchbacks. Todd was still out cold, but I felt a faint pulse, so he wasn’t dead. We got to the top of the switchbacks when Taylor and I set him down there. It had been slow going to just get this far. As we both sat in the dirt catching our breath, Taylor spoke what I already had been thinking.
“There’s no way we’re getting down the switchbacks with Todd like this.”
“I know.” I replied grimly.
“I’ll give you the keys to the car. You should go on and get help. I’ll stay with Todd.”
“Are you sure? With those things out there?” I looked at him incredulously.
“It’s my fault. When you said to leave earlier today, I said to stay. And just now back there, I froze up. If I had listened or helped you guys earlier this might not have happened. If you give me Todd’s gun, we’ll have a fighting chance if something comes for us.” I looked down at my windbreaker, where the revolver was. I wasn’t sure if any of that was true. But, I wanted to get out. And, he was right, we were never going to be able to get Todd down the switchbacks with him like this. I handed the gun to Taylor. I pulled my hatchet back out of the pack. It wasn’t as good as the gun but it was at least something.
“Thank you.” I nodded to him and headed off.
I had gone down the second set of switchbacks when I realized I’d made a mistake. I had forgotten to take the keys from Taylor. I quickly doubled back up. Breathing heavily I ran back to find Taylor with his back to me leaning over Todd.
“I…forgot…the…keys…” I panted, resting my hands on my knees catching my breath. Taylor’s straightened up and slowly turned. I realized something was horribly wrong, his body shape was all wrong. He was thin and spindly. I tensed up holding my hatchet defensively in one hand while I shined my flashlight directly at Todd and Taylor with the other hand. As Taylor turned his head, I saw that he had no face. Like the body Todd had shot, it was just smooth pale flesh. His right hand was planted on Todd’s face. And Todd’s face was a nightmare. The flesh appeared to be sloughing off of Todd’s face into the Taylor creature’s hand, exposing the white bone of his skull underneath. Todd’s body was thrashing underneath the monster’s grip, but with only stumps for arms Todd was ill equipped to do anything. I looked at my hatchet and then at the scene before me. The featureless mound of flesh that was Taylor’s face looked right at me. And, of course I had just given the gun to this thing. The panic was palpable. I turned and ran. I ran as fast as I could down the switchbacks. I don’t even know if the Taylor thing was chasing me. I didn’t look back.
I was about halfway down the mountain, always on the verge of tripping, when as I rounded a switchback I saw Vanessa standing at the bottom of the next set. She didn’t say anything, just waved for me to follow her and then stepped out of view as she went around the bend ahead of me. I ran after her, and as I rounded the next curve in the switchback I must have lost my footing. Where there should have been solid ground, my foot found only air. I fell and hit my head on something hard.
When I woke up, it was still dark, but the moonlight lit up the forest. I wasn’t sure how long I had been out. I got on my feet, and felt a cut on my forehead, there was a trickle of blood running down my face. I could see Vanessa was standing silently watching me from a ways down the trail. She made a motion for me to follow her and then began to run. I chased after her in this forest of grays and shadows. Before long we were in the parking lot. Taylor’s car and the other car were still there, but without the keys I felt hopeless. Vanessa didn’t even stop for a moment, she just kept running straight through the lot and onto the forest service road. I honestly don’t know where she got all that energy from. As I ran by Taylor’s car, I caught movement coming toward me from behind the car.
“Hey wher-” I planted my hatchet into the neck of my assailant. In the pale moonlight I saw the surprised, anguished face of Simon fall away into the shadows with my hatchet buried in its’ neck. The revelation that there were more of those things down here gave me the extra kick of energy my body needed. I ran after Vanessa, my body was operating purely on adrenaline now. My heart felt like it was about to explode. Finally, we came upon the main highway. Vanessa was standing by the road, jumping and waving at a light coming towards us from down the road a ways. It was a semi. I understood her message. I ran up onto the highway and began waving my arms frantically. Either the trucker would stop or they would hit me. Luckily, for me it was the former.
We climbed into the cab of the semi, and I told the trucker of what had transpired. The trucker nodded and said he’d take me to the nearest police station. I don’t know if he believed me, but I was just relieved to have escaped. I was so tired I nodded off in the truck.
When I woke up a short while later, Vanessa was gone. It was just the trucker and myself in the cab. I asked the trucker where she had gone. The trucker looked at me like I was mad. He said I was alone when I flagged him down. I didn’t argue with him. I just sat quietly thinking it through. I sat like that for a good five minutes, before I caught something in the rear-view mirror. It was Vanessa sitting right next to me. I turned and looked, but she wasn’t there. I started chuckling, then I couldn’t hold it in any longer, and I was laughing hysterically.
The center does not hold.