I didn’t think I had been out of it for long, as I was still pretty winded when my eyes finally blinked back open. Everyone in the house was crowded around where they had carried me to the cozy couch, and I honestly felt a bit lost for a moment. As soon as the recollection of what I had been running from, crashed back into the forefront of my mind, like a Hum-V colliding with a thick and ancient tree, I sat straight up, instantly wincing from the pain of my likely broken ribs.
I gripped my hand around where the agony screamed from, to find I now had bandages tightly wrapped around me. It did help, though it would seem that was what caused me to still gasp for breath, though not nearly as much as during my race against what I was certain to be inevitable death and dismemberment. I looked down to see blood seeping through from beneath the gauze, before looking back up to my friends.
”How bad is it?”
”Not too bad,” Darren said, “can’t tell how many ribs are broken, but the cuts could’ve been a lot worse.”
”What was that thing?” Sarah asked, rubbing the gooseflesh on her arms.
I just shook my head. I had no words to offer her, as I had no idea what it was myself. My mind almost wanted to speak the word ‘werewolf’, but I still wasn’t so fucked in the head that I was ready to believe in such a thing. If I had to wager a guess, given the size of the beast, as well as the moon not being remotely full, I don’t know, dogman, maybe? I’d heard of rumored sightings of these things as close as Tennessee, but I still saw them to be just as fictional as bigfoot.
”We called the police,” Blake said, “there’s an ambulance coming too,”
”Where’s Jill?” Dayne asked.
I had to give it to my friends that, regardless of the fact I had arrived on foot, not even Darren had asked about his vehicle, which I could only hope still contained a safe and healthy Jill. I went on to explain everything that had occured since I headed out what felt like hours ago by this point. Had it not been for the fact a couple of them had witnessed the enlarged beast chasing me down, I doubt I could’ve ever convinced them to believe a word of it. Given the circumstances, I didn’t have to ask them to take my words on faith.
Darren told me I had been out for a good half hour, which caused a stab of guilt to hit me in the chest, as I knew my girlfriend had to be beside herself with fear and concern by now. Not to mention I was beyond terrified that the beast had returned to where I left her.
”I gotta go back out there! I need to get back to her!” I said, getting to my feet, while pitifully attempting to pretend I was in any fit state to get back on the road.
”We called 911 as soon as we got you inside,” Sarah said, “they should be here any minute.”
”She’s alone out there!” I insisted, cutting my eyes to each of my friends, one by one, “she alone out there with that thing!”
Darren rubbed the top of his head, as he often did when he was thinking something over. He was a big and intimidating guy, standing a good six-four, and substantially more muscled than I. Given his carefree lifestyle, he worked out religiously, as he had little to no other responsibilities, but even as threatening as he could appear, he looked as scared as I felt about the idea of leaving the house.
”Have you tried to call her?” He asked.
”We didn’t have service down there.”
”Worth trying anyway?”
I pulled out my phone and clicked on her icon, only to get her voicemail message after what felt like an eternal ringing. Just hearing her recorded voice on the other end was enough to convince me to attempt to get back to her, regardless of whether or not the police were right around the corner.
I looked back up at Darren, shaking my head when I couldn’t reach her, while painfully getting back to my feet.
”I can’t wait, man,” I said, still shaking my head.
”Yeah,” he said, nodding his head, while glancing at his wife, and back to me, “I got your back, brother.”
”I’ll come too,” Blake said, with Dayne agreeing he would also join us.
”No sense in all of us going,” Darren said, “Dayne, you stay here. Keep an eye on things until the cops show up, Cool?”
Dayne and Blake were both pretty stocky as well, with the latter having played football through high school and college, only to have an injury put an end to his dreams of making a career out of it. Honestly, my five-foot, ten, hundred and sixty-five-pound ass looked like a kid next to the other guys of our humble little group of friends. I would joke from time to time that I could still kick their collective asses, as I’d seen a good share of scraps in my younger years, but even I couldn’t take myself seriously on that one. It would usually bring us a lot of laughs, but there was no levity in the room that night.
I didn’t feel great about leaving Dayne and Sarah behind, to fend for themselves if that thing worked its way back to the house, but they were likely far safer there than where we were headed. Darren had quite the impressive collection of firearms; a few of which we would bring along for our ride out into the night. Both of the friends we left behind had learned how to shoot with a decent degree of accuracy over the years, but I couldn’t predict how our mutually trembling limbs would affect that. I was hopeful that would not be put to the test, but that was wishful thinking at best.
”If the police show up while we’re gone, tell them where we’re headed,” Darren said to his visibly shaking wife, to which she returned a nod and a strained smile.
I trained the AR-15 my friend handed me, out into the night, with the mounted flashlight beaming across the trees, while we loaded up into Blake’s truck. As we headed back out onto the gravel road, I felt my pulse throbbing against the flesh of my wrist and neck, while I continued to glare out the window of the back seat, in search of glowing red eyes between the trees. Every bump in the road almost caused me to jump, as my mind revisited the sensation of being forced into the overgrown field we were now looking for, but I could only hope that Jill was still awaiting my return.
We were only a couple of minutes into our quest when we noticed the flickering blue lights ahead. For the briefest moment, this gave me some semblance of hope, but that was to be short-lived when we arrived at the police car. It had been flipped over onto its roof, halfway off to the side of the road. The lights still strobed from the front grill, but those on top had been crushed, along with most of the upper frame. I think every one of us lost access to our ability to breathe as we looked upon the wreckage, with deep gashes torn into the fiberglass frame of the car.
Given that it was on its roof, half on and half off the road, guiding the large truck around it would be no easy task, but we also had to ensure if anyone had survived the attack. I wanted nothing more than to get back to my girlfriend, but the chances of making it to her were growing slimmer by the moment.
”We gotta check it out,” Darren said, attempting to hide the quaking in his voice.
”I’ll go, you guys…”
”You’re beat to shit, man. I got this,” he continued, already cracking open the passenger side door.
”I’ll come with,” Blake added, cranking the column shifter into neutral.
”It’s your truck, man. You should stay. Let me…”
”Dude, someone has to stay with the truck, and you’re in no fit state to help if anyone is still in there. Take the wheel, and ram the shit out of that thing if it shows up, okay?”
I wasn’t a fan of this plan by any means, but he wasn’t wrong. If they ended up having to pull anyone out of the wrecked police car, not only were my friends considerably stronger than I, but I was even more weakened at the time. I reluctantly climbed out from the back seat, taking my place at the helm, after Blake got out, with his shotgun in hand.
”If there’s nobody inside, don’t linger. Worst case, maybe we can shove it to the side of the road with the bumper.”
Yeah, it wasn’t the most reaffirming thing to say, but I just needed to add something. I felt almost useless at the time, but I still wanted to help. Had it not been for the fact that I was the only one who had an idea where the Hummer was currently located, I likely would’ve been left back at the cabin, but I had to believe we could pull this off piss poor attempt at a rescue.
They got alongside the half-crushed car, and, while Blake kept his gun trained at the trees, Darren peered inside. He shone a flashlight through the buckled windshield, before backing up and giving a shrug. He shook his head to our mutual friend, before looking back at me, shrugging once more. As they headed back towards where I sat, with my back stiff as a board, and my ribs throbbing, gunshots echoed from somewhere ahead, before a blood-curdling scream followed only seconds later.
The guys sprinted back to the truck, while I slid out, to leave the driver’s seat vacant for its pilot. Without a word, Blake pushed the pedal down, ramming his bumper against the overturned car. That first hit spun it in place, before a second caused it to skid off the embankment, finally clearing enough room for us to pass. We didn’t waste any time before speeding in the direction from where the scream still lingered in the air, though we did not speak a word, as we were all in a similar state of reluctance and fear.
Were it not for the fact that we had nowhere else to go, but back to the cabin, I’m sure we would not have felt the urge to seek out the source of the gunshots. Unfortunately, we knew this was leading us straight back into the belly of the beast, while hopefully not so. I think we all gasped at the same time when the headlights shone across the body that was lying in the middle of the graveled road. Well, what remained of the body anyway. Blake slammed on the brakes, causing the heavy truck to almost slide right into the mutilated torso of what was once an officer of the law.
Given the fact that all that was left of the poor bastard, was the upper half of his body, a grizzled and torn left arm, and a head that no longer had a jaw attached, we would have done no more harm to the guy if we had skidded the tires right across him. Somehow, I think the sounds of the remains crunching and cracking under the wheels would have made every one of us lose the meals we were collectively fighting to keep in our guts at the time. Blake was heaving for breath, while Darren shook his head from side to side, muttering under his breath words I couldn’t make out.
”We need to move, man,” I said, trying to snap my friend out of his seemingly frozen state.
”Blake! We need to…”
My words were cut short by something heavy, landing on the bed of the truck, causing the back tires to burst under its weight. Before any of us had a chance to react, well, other than screaming out at the top of our lungs, glossy black, and sharpened claws dug through the roof of the truck, quickly pulling back, and tearing the cab open like a damn sardine can. Without a word, each of us threw open our doors, running for the woods on either side, with the echoing gargled howl, wailing out from behind.
As Darren made for the tree line on one side, Blake and I headed for those on the left. I looked back to see the beast turning to face Darren, preparing to pounce. Just as I raised my gun to unload on it, Blake fired his shotgun, cocked it once, and fired again; each shot tearing into the fur and flesh of the creature. In less than a fraction of a second, it leaped from the flattened truck bed, slamming against and snapping the thick bark of the tree Blake tried to hide behind.
I spun to point the barrel of my gun at the thing, before it pulled back, as a cloud of splinters and shrapnel rained down upon me. It straightened back out, holding my friend by the head, who wriggled and whimpered, desperate to break free from the tight grip. I tried to get a clear shot, but my arms were shivering so aggressively, that I feared I would inadvertently fire into the flesh of its hostage.
Each of the five claws pierced into the flesh, leaking fresh blood from around them. As the creature held Blake outstretched before him, I finally steadied my aim as much as I could, training the barrel on the beast’s feet, but when gunfire echoed from the other side of the road, I felt my heart skip with a degree of hope. Darren landed a barrage of bullets into the monster, but his assault was cut short as blood spurted from the immense hand that held Blake by the head, before he was launched towards Darren, flattening them both to the ground beside the treeline.
There was a brief moment of relief when I saw Blake meet Darren on the bumpy ground beside the treeline. Of course, the feeling did not last long, before I turned my eyes back to the crushed and dismembered head, still firmly held between the monster’s clawed fingers. While I stood there, rooted to the ground, staring blankly up at the beast, I finally took in the sight of what I was sure would be the last thing I saw in this life.
It stood at least ten feet tall, on its hind legs, though I wasn’t always the best judge of such things. The entirety of its bulky and muscular body was lined in a thick, black fur, but I could still make out the wide, pulsing veins across its enormous arms. Its head was similar to a wolf or a dog, but far more sinister in its features; furrowed and wrinkled brow, drooling mouth filled with sharp, yellowed teeth, dripping with the same shade of ruby red that spilled from where Blake’s head used to connect to his neck, with half of what looked to be his spine dangling from it.
It stood on equally as bulging legs as its arms, but they were far more animalistic than its upper half, which was far more human in its contours. The scarlet glow from the creature’s eyes carved into the darkness, accentuating its feral expression, making it appear even more ravenous as it stared me down. Its entire body flexed with every deep inhale and exhale, making it appear as though it was quite ready to enjoy the fresh meal that trembled before it.
As it glared down at me, I collapsed to the ground, with the realization my life was about to end causing my legs to feel weakened and numb. I stared up to meet the beast’s eyes, filled with that illuminated fury, and I knew I would never see the world outside these woods again.