“Damn, it’s really raining hard out there.” I said to my brother, James.
The news said that there were going to be storms with some lightning for the next few weeks which is weird considering it’s the middle of July and it was odd for anything other than a bright, sunny day to happen, let alone pouring rain. Our parents were scared of a power outage so they drove to the store leaving me to watch my brother. The news also said it was very possible for cell services to be temporarily down due to lightning.
We were trapped inside as our parents don’t usually let us play out in the rain, especially when it’s raining this hard. We live in a house in the wilderness with our closest neighbors being about a mile away. Our backyard is a typical grassy backyard but around 50 yards out it transitions into a forest that pretty much surrounds this area. Our parents were really paranoid as they believed in things like skinwalkers and wendigo and told us to never ever acknowledge any weird noises in the forest at night and to always have the doors locked and windows closed.
“Yeah I’m afraid the backyard is going to flood!” My brother responded jokingly. My brother was always adventurous, happy, and energetic. So energetic that it could get annoying. For example; one time he saw a deer in our backyard and his response was to sprint around the house yelling “There’s a deer! Everyone, come there’s a deer!”. He got scolded by our parents because it was 6 in the morning and they were still sleeping.
My brother and I watched fat drops of rain thunk against the window. THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK. I eventually got bored so I went to my room and started to randomly turn my Rubik’s cube hoping to somehow, by the grace of god, solve it. That’s when I heard the back door squeak open and shut. I rolled my eyes.
“James! Mom and Dad said to stay inside!” I yelled. No response. I went to the back door. I looked outside and saw James footsteps in the grass leading into the forest. I just go back to my room and wait for my parents to come home.
About 2 hours later my parents came home. They said they saw some lightning and they came home as fast as they could when they saw it. My brother wasn’t back from the forest so I told my parents. They were pissed at first but then after about 10 minutes they became worried. They tried to call the police. The call instantly failed.
“Shit. No signal.” My Dad said.
“The news said that this would happen.” Mom muttered.
“Look, when the weather calms down we’ll search for him, okay?” My dad stated waiting for an agreement from my mother.
“Okay, let’s just hope he’s okay until then.” My mom said, with her head down in a depressing tone.
We all waited anxiously in the living room. My mom was sobbing quietly while my dad was fidgeting with his thumbs when we heard the back door open and close. My mom looked up. “James?” She asked while standing up to go to the door. No response. We could hear water dripping onto the floor. We went to see what it was. It was James. He was soaking wet, and water was dripping everywhere.
James looked different. He was thinner than he was before he left, and he was pale as a ghost. His hair was covering his eyes and he looked a bit taller. My mom and dad went to hug him. “James, you’re freezing. Go take a hot shower and change your clothes.” My Mom told James. James just stood expressionless. He started to slowly walk to take a shower.
A couple hours later my mom made dinner. We were at the table and while everyone was eating James just sat there, his hair still covering his eyes.
“Why aren’t you eating, James?” My mom asked. James sat there, still no emotion on his face.
”James?” My mom asked again. She waved her hand in front of his face. James stood up, grabbed something from the fridge, then walked to his room. After dinner I hung out in my room. After a few hours I decided to check up on him. When I walked in his room was dark, only lit by the moonlight, spilling in from his window. He was on the side of his bed, facing away from me. He was bent over eating something.
“James are you-“
I stopped mid sentence when he set what he was eating aside and turned around. He didn’t turn around normally though. He slowly turned his head 180 degrees while the rest of his body was still sitting away from me. His face was covered in blood. The food he was eating was a raw steak, or what used to be a raw steak now turned to shreds. His hair wasn’t covering his eyes anymore, revealing empty eye sockets. He snarled revealing long sharp teeth. He turned his head back.
He put his arms behind his body on the bed. He then put his feet on the bed putting himself into a backwards crab walk position. Again, he turned his 180 degrees, making his face turn upright while the rest of his body was upside down. Then slowly he started walking towards me, bones popping and creaking. Then he stopped around halfway in his room. I started to run to the garage. I could hear him start moving again but faster. I could hear his feet and hands smack against the floor, and his bones creaking, and him shrieking. I smashed open the garage door not caring about the damage done to it.
I grabbed a 12 gauge shotgun, a makarov pistol, and some gasoline. He cornered me. I shot him in the head with the makarov. He stepped back and shrieked, giving me a second to run past him. I ran for my parents.
When I found them they were sitting on the couch in a pool of dark, crimson blood. Their eyes were ripped out of their sockets, and blood was dripping out of them. Both of their throats were ripped out. Intestines and other body parts littered the floor. I turned around. I saw James, or what used to be James, looking at me. I shakily lift up my shotgun.
“Fuck you!” I yelled. He shrieks and sprints at me. I shoot. The shot lands on his head, exploding into bright red chunks. Blood splashes on my face as his body lands at my feet. I poured gasoline all over the house and burned the place to the ground.
I am currently hiding out at my friend’s place. The house caused a forest fire burning the whole area to the ground. I don’t know what happened to my brother. Whatever happened to him, it happened in that fucking forest. When I saw that it burned I smiled, knowing I got rid of that beast or curse that was in it. I just wish things could have ended differently.