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“I don’t know why you do those crossword puzzles. It’s not as if you can spell worth a damn.” Rusty, my partner grumbled.
“They get me improve spelling weird words. Besides, what else do you have to do all night besides help me with this?” I asked tapping his shoulder with the thick puzzle book.
We worked as deputies for a small area. Most nights we just parked on the highway waiting for something to be called in or ticketing speeding cars. Most of the shifts went by slowly and I took up doing crossword puzzles. Rusty was right, my spelling needed work. Thank God for spell checkers but the printed pagers weren’t as forgiving. I ended up asking Rusty how to spell a certain word or two at the start of the puzzle to get me going. He acted tough and grumpy but deep down I knew having a second person in the car beat being alone no matter how much they pestered you for a five-letter word for five minutes.
I would have liked our job to be boring forever, but in the first three weeks of working I discovered that things lurked in the dark. We come across something I still wasn’t entirely sure of and Rusty didn’t want to overly explain it because he didn’t want to scare off his new partner, or he didn’t fully understand either. Though, he did mention that supernatural occurrences didn’t happen often and we should be in the clear for a while.
A sound tore through the night followed by a car flashing by where we parked, swerving and darting all over the road. A second later a call came over the radio saying a drunk driver been reported heading our way. I called over say we were in pursuit and Rusty gunned it. He always drove and, in this case, I felt happy he did.
The driver got spooked by a cop car suddenly pulling out from behind them. They did the dumbest thing possible and went as fast as their beat-up car would let them. Rusty stayed back a little way to be safe. If this car slammed in the breaks, we didn’t want to ram into them. With drunk drivers their actions were unpredictable. We followed the car on a wide turn and it disappeared for a second. When we came around, we saw the tail end of the crash.
A white large figure darted out into the road, stopping in front of the car. The driver didn’t have a chance to avoid the shape. The car hit the figure, then went off the road into the trees. We drove by unable to stop in time. When we passed the shape, I saw it looked like the same kind of creature we came across a week ago. Pale white arms scattered on the road and blood covering the asphalt. Rusty pulled off to the side of the road a bit away from the crashed car. We both got out, he went towards the creatures remains and I went towards the car.
The front end smashed but the driver door open with blood coming from it. From the looks of things, the driver got out and stumbled into the woods. They needed medical treatment right away. I heard Rusty shouting for me to stop. My beating heart and breathing heavy from running made it impossible to hear his words.
“Sam! Don’t-”
I caught that much just before my foot hit the grass off the road. Then, nothing. The entire world changed in a blink of an eye causing me to stumble. I tripped directly into a tree that had not been in front of me a second ago. The world so dark without the lights of our car. Grabbing the flashlight off my belt, I looked around trying to see what the hell just happened.
I stood in the middle of the woods. That did not make any sense. I’d just been on the road and shouldn’t have gotten this deep into the trees. I called out Rusty’s name, hoping he heard me. My light caught a color that made my heart sink. Blood covered the leaves that littered the ground. I thought of the driver at once. There wasn’t that much blood, but enough to make me worry and follow the trail. Low mist crept through the trees which didn’t make the place look any less unnerving.
I walked, trying to stay as silent as possible. Maybe I should have asked for a transfer… I couldn’t dwell on that kind of thinking and needed to focus on finding the injured person so we could get out of here. A shape between the trees caught my eyes. Pale fingers came out from around a tree to hold the bark, scratching at it with long finger nails. My mouth opened to call out to the person hiding, wondering if they needed help.
Another hand came causing me to shut my mouth. Then another. Soon the entire tree became wrapped with pale hands from behind. Each going upwards in a line tearing at the bark. I couldn’t even see how high the line reached.
I wasn’t having any of this.
I turned and ran, no longer caring about the noise I made. My eye caught the trail of blood again. Against better judgment, I pivoted to follow it. As I ran, I kept seeing those hands coming out from behind the trees but not the source of them. A bundle of them blocked my way from following the blood trail. Gritting my teeth, I ran right through them. Nails scratching as my exposed skin, and one stole my radio from my belt. With everything happening so suddenly, I didn’t think to use it until it was gone. At least I got through with only one long cut across my cheek.
I run as a hobby. A weird hobby I know, but it came in handy as I kept up my pace away from the hands. I was only human and couldn’t keep it up forever. I paused long enough to catch a second wind, frantically looking for the trail when I thought I lost it. My beam of light shone between the dark trees landing on a different shape. Something tall, very pale and covered in veil like sheets.
My chest froze. It reminded me of the quick glance of the creature I saw before. I turned my head knowing seeing the monster in full meant a fate worse than death. A scream echoed through the woods making me jump. I had my gun but didn’t think it would be useful. Still, my hand flew to my side ready to draw it if needed.
Any normal person would have run away from the screaming. I went towards it, ignoring the figure in the distance silently watching. Screaming meant something bad was going down. My job was to help. Most people might call me either crazy or brave for running towards danger but I never considered myself as either. I saw this as my job. And my job needed to be done.
Fear still tore through my body as I ran towards the screams. Pleas for help kept my feet moving forwards. Along the trees another sound drifted through, a cruel laughter enjoying my fear. I nearly tripped over an exposed branch causing my body to go off course and slam into a tree. I stopped for a moment, dazed. Sweat dripping down my face and heart racing. Something brushed against my hand and I jerked away thinking a spider just crawled over it. To my horror, a pale hand darted back behind the tree. I wasn’t even close to being safe in the slightest. I needed to keep going.
Another scream rang out. I picked up the blood trail again to follow that and the screams just praying I wouldn’t arrive too late. In the middle of my run, I thought I spotted the road through the trees causing me to stop again. The cries for help were so nearby, but in the other direction of the road. I didn’t see any cars or had any way of contacting Rusty. I left my cellphone in the car and the hands took my radio. I could save myself or keep trying to find the person in the woods. Regretfully, I stuck to my job.
“I’m close by! Please yell if you can hear me!” I shouted, my flashlight scanning the trees with a shaking hand.
I didn’t hear the person but caught sight of them. They were on the ground a few feet away, bloody with clothing torn. I shouted when a pair of hands grabbed them, dragging the person deeper into the woods. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, and that wasn’t good enough. Knowing I wouldn’t get to the person on time, I dove forwards, skidded across the rough ground. My fingertips touched theirs but a hand grabbed my ankle to pull me away so fast, I couldn’t react. My entire body tossed aside with that same cackling laugh coming from the woods.
I stood up, fuming, seeing red. I got turned around when I was thrown and didn’t have the slightest clue where the injured person got dragged off too.
“Stop messing around and show yourself! “I shouted into the woods, voice becoming hoarse. “That person needs treatment you bastard!”
I stood waiting for a response, chest heaving with each breath. A twig snapped behind me and I lost any sense of bravery I once had. The cold air stinging my sweaty face making my shoulders shake. I listened for more footsteps. When none came, I started running again. In a few steps a set of powerful hands grabbed me from behind, I shut my eyes just in time. Those hands kept me in place and titled my head back, forcing me to look upwards if I kept my eyes open.
“Oh, how quick of you. Here I wanted to keep you in these woods. Do me a favor and open your eyes for a few seconds.” The low raspy voice let out a laugh that made my entire body react in a negative way.
My teeth chatted but I kept my eyes shut and waited in the darkness for this monster to do something.
“Give back the driver.” I demanded, but not sounding brave at all.
“Why? Didn’t they break the law? Are you going to…. what is that word?… Arrest them? I gave you a chance to leave on your own. Why try and rescue a human like that, hmmm?” The monster questioned.
More hands fell on my arms, they griped just tight enough to be painful. Another set of hands came to my face to run long fingers across my cheeks making me try and move out of their grasp without any luck.
“My job is to serve and protect. I need to protect that driver from you.” I explained finding at least some strength to put into that statement.
“Protect a criminal?” It said in an amused voice.
“I don’t get it pick and choose. It’s serve and protect for everyone. If not there isn’t any point to it, now is there?”
In an ideal world that would be true. I knew at some point in my life, I may come across a vile human that didn’t deserve my service. I hoped that never happened while I worked with a small police task force. The driver did break the law and endanger other lives but that didn’t mean they should be condemned to death for it. I heard the monster laugh again. Something got close to my face and I felt soft fabric brush against my cheek.
“I’ll make you a deal little human. Open your eyes and I’ll return the driver.” The voice said in a low whisper directly in my ear causing me to shutter.
I swallowed hard. Opening my eyes meant dying, or something I didn’t even want to think of. And this monster might not even be telling the truth. The choice heavy in the air and the creature waited patiently for my answer. At least I didn’t have anyone to miss me. Rusty would get over his new partner not coming out of these woods soon enough. My nephews young enough to forget about me in time.
I cracked my eyes open, seeing white in the darkness. Before I opened them the rest of the way, something came over them to cover my sight. I felt the monster come closer, the veils it wore spilling over my face. The arms bringing my body closer against something that felt like a pile of thick branches all jabbing into my back. I waited for the monster to remove the hand from my eyes expecting death. Then a soft feeling came to my forehead as if something been pressed to it.
“What a silly little thing you are. Didn’t even try to bargain. Taking you now simply a waste. I’ll enjoy tormenting you but for now you held up your end of the deal. You may leave.”
All those hands fell onto my back and pushed me forwards. Something happened to all the strength in my body. I fell forwards completely limp, smashing my face into a ground much harder than the forest ground. I stayed on the ground, dazed and pain slowly coming in waves. A rough set of arms picked me up and back to my feet. Rusty shoved some napkins against my bloody nose trying to clean my face up. He wasn’t very gentle and I think he made it worst.
“What in fuck’s name happened?!” He demanded.
I knew he was angry that I ran off into the woods. Well, I stepped on the grass but that counted so I’d been snatched up by the forest. He was shocked I came out alive. I shook my head of the hazy feeling to look around for the driver. I found myself standing on the empty highway, the car still crashed against the tree and our cruiser flashing lights off to the side.
“The driver I… the monster said it would give them back.” I stammered not seeing the other person.
On cue, the monster held up its end of the deal. A loud crack rang out when a shape literally fell from the sky. Rusty jumped away cursing. No one could blame him for that. I collapsed back to the ground seeing a broken body of the person I’d wanted to save. If they were alive before the fall, the hard ground took care of that. Blue and red lights colored the silent scene and Rusty needed to drag me to my feet again. He let me sit in the car trying to process everything that happened.
Due to this stretch of road being home to some supernatural creatures, people were in place to clean up the mess they caused. The body taken and returned to the family to be buried. The cause of death listed as a car crash due to the man drinking and driving. Our dash cam didn’t record much past us driving by the mangled car due to manufacturing issue. At least, that’s what was released. In truth, when the forest took me all the electronics in the area got fried. I needed a new phone and Rusty told me I needed to get use to that sort of thing when dealing with this job.
My partner suggested I took a day off. I refused. The morning after the accident I was coming out of the station at the end of my shift ready to go home and then go to work that night. On the way out I ran into someone I expected not to see again. The white-haired child from before. He scowled seeing me and I stopped on the steps, blocking the door by accident.
“Is your partner in?” He asked trying to sound reasonable.
“No, he already left. Do you want me to leave a message?” I offered looking down at him.
I held onto a small bag with a doughnut inside. Someone did a coffee run and got it for me just before I left. The boy’s eyes kept darting towards the bag but was too proud to ask for it.
“No, I wanted to give him some updated information. I refused to help you and my words are a great help. I can wait until a later time to tell him.” He said and made a motion to leave.
“Do you want this? I’ll trade it for some information about what I saw last night.” I said, feeling as tired as I sounded.
He took five seconds to think of the offer. The bag snatched out of my hand and he waited for me to speak again. I didn’t really know what to ask so I went for the first thing.
“What was that monster I saw last night? He had a lot of arms and veils, I think?” I questioned.
He waved a hand as if this wasn’t an important question but answered anyway.
“That is the forest itself. He is made up of things found in the woods. Spider silk hair and veils, antlers for a body and anything else it can collect. I believe it’s just a body made to speak with humans on a more even level. You could never understand what that forest really is and this is the closest thing to a form your human mind can deal with.” The boy said ready to leave.
“Human arms though? How does it get a hold of those? It’s not as if they’re really a part of the woods.” I mentioned.
The child stopped, giving me an intense look through his white hair.
“Hikers go missing all the time. Their bodies are eaten by animals but also used by the forest for other purposes.”
I did not like that mental image at all. The boy reached into the bag to grab out his breakfast without caring he dropped one of the creepiest statements I’ve ever heard. I shook my head wanting to remove the thought.
“I thought the woods were like, peaceful and all that. Why is the body of the woods all freaky instead of, I dunno, some pretty tree lady?” I asked causing the small king to look at me mid bite.
“Peaceful? Nature is an unforgiving cycle of life and death. You should not place your human ideals upon it.”
He went back to eating and I got tempted to pat his head again. No matter how hard he tried sounding like this big scary king he really just looked like any other good kid. He noticed my hand raising slightly and backed away before I could reach him.
“I’ll give you a free warning. You need to leave now or you’ll be unable to the next time you encounter something supernatural. You have a hint of the forest smell on you. The more often you encounter things of the night, the more likely you’ll become a target of them. Now that you are aware of them, you cannot go back to how it was before. You can only try and find a place where they are less common. Save yourself now or risk being devoured the next time the forest turns an eye towards you.”
His tone dark and statements grim. I was scared of what he said and yet I couldn’t take it entirely seriously because he had a bit of the chocolate glaze on the corner of his mouth. I reached out to clean it off with the cuff of my sleeve causing him to get angry with me again.
“What’s your name? Rusty never told me.” I asked the boy who fumed, face red.
“Elly! Don’t treat me like a child!” He shouted then realized his mistake.
Rusty didn’t tell me his name because he knew how I would react to it. My face lit up and smile grew wide. With another groan of anger, the small boy started stomping away trying to look at my expression.
“Elly is a cute name!” I called after him.
“Eat it!”
I made a very powerful enemy that day. And yet I didn’t care. I needed to hide treats in our car in case we see him again. Rusty is going to kill me though for how I treated Elly. I just couldn’t help it. Cute kids should be treated as such. I felt a little sorry for the boy for being in his position. He tried so hard to act like an adult. He really should be in school having fun with friends, not running around alone dealing with monsters.
I was aware that what Elly said was true. If I stayed working this job, I risked my life. Then again, I knew there was always a risk when I became a deputy. Now I just added a new option of how I could be killed on the list. I left the station more worried about how Rusty would ream me out for my actions that morning than any kind of supernatural threat.