In Western Massachusetts there is a town almost completely shrouded by a forest that is only broken by a solitary road. In this town lies The Loyal Order of Elk fraternity, (the one for middle aged dudes, not college kids). It’s here where I was stalked by a mystical elk and it’s here where shit somehow just keeps getting weirder.
After a restless night of fervent googling to see if there was any history of elks speaking or entering dreams, I found two things. First was animatronic talking elk heads. Second was a piece of native American folklore about the “Elk Dreamers”, who were people who had visions of elk. It’s said they had the power to combat bad spirits, cause strong emotions, and were often consulted for matters of the heart. So if you need relationship advice PM me (Don’t actually). However tacky wall art and a piece of obscure folklore, don’t really count for much so my only choice was to talk to Don and Kyle about what happened. So off to the lodge I went to start my 7am shift. The air was thick and the sun was hot as I was walking through the field to get to the lodge. When I got into the lodge’s parking lot I saw Don outside the front door taking a drag from a cigarette.
I approached Don and greeted him “Good Morning Don”
Don greeted me back as he flicked the ash of his cigarette into a nearby trash can “Mornin, you feeling better today?”
I responded as I leaned on the wall next to him “more or less, headaches gone but I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night.”
“That’s a Shame” he said, looking out into the field.
“Eh could be worse, by the way could I ask you about something?” I asked nervously
“Maybe later, but the president of the fraternity is actually inside waiting for you, and it’d be better for you not to keep him waiting.” he said before taking another drag.
Freaking out a bit, I worriedly asked “Me? Any particular reason he wants to see me? I’ve never even met him before.”
Trying to comfort me, Don said “I think he just wants to meet you, so relax and take a deep breath.”
I took a deep breath and said to Don “Thanks I think I needed that, well wish me luck.”
Don responded warmly, “No problem, and good luck.”
With that I opened the front doors and was met with a very perplexing sight.
In front of me standing at the bar was a giant elk. Without turning around it spoke slowly and with great care in a thunderous yet soothing voice, “Would you mind stepping in front of the bar, so I could see you?”
Hesitantly I stepped behind the bar and I got a good look at it. It towered over me as it stood at 12 feet tall, with its antlers accounting for about 5 feet of that. Its antlers were pearl white and looked like an old leafless tree with dozens of branches, they nearly touched the ceiling. Its hide was a spotless golden brown that seemed to shimmer in the dull lights. I was in awe from looking at such a magnificent creature.
It said “Ah much obliged, it is so nice to… formally meet you.” He took a second and continued, “you are Joshua correct.”
I responded still in shock “Yes that’s me, Nice to meet you as well, may I ask your name.”.
He responded after contemplating for a second “But of course, though you would have trouble saying my actual name, so you may call me Elgin, I am the leader of the Loyal Order of Elk.”
Nervously I asked “May I ask why you wanted to see me.”
He responded “Of course and there is no reason to be nervous or frightened, I simply wanted to apologize for the… incident in the woods, I apologize for scaring you. In my eagerness to speak with you, I neglected to take into account how you would react.”
Feeling more at ease I said. “Consider it water under the bridge, though can I ask a few questions?”
He laughed heartily, and said “Yes I imagine you would have a few, go ahead.”
I responded quickly, eager to finally get some answers, “Ok thanks, First why didn’t Don tell me about you to begin with?”
He responded without skipping a beat. “Would you have believed him, no, it had to be this way, after all you can only believe what you see.”
Content with the answer I continued “Fair enough, Second you mentioned that you called out to me in the woods, but I was also visited by an elk in my dreams-.”
He cut me off, seeming uncharacteristically nervous and said “You didn’t see it outside of your dream did you?”
“Yes I did, it was on the edge of the forest in my backyard.” I responded
He swallowed hard and said “It’s as I feared, you see in the forest surrounding this town are creatures like me. For centuries the order has kept these creatures in check. Some are harmless, some are friendly, and some are dangerous like the one that visited you in your dream.”
“What do you know about this creature?” I asked
He responded “Very little, all I know is that it has been killing local wildlife and even injured one of the order’s members. In all honesty it has me quite worried.”
I responded, “I could certainly see why you’re worried but I have more questions. Like What’s the deal with the empty cabin and the hatch?”
He responded “Oh yes, that’s the Order’s stronghold. It has quite the view does it not, it is quite possibly the safes-”
Before he could finish his sentence, the front door of the lodge busted open and in walked two middle aged men, who I recognized as regulars at the bar, Frank and Rob. Elgin turned to face them. And for a few very long seconds they just stood there in silence and that’s when I noticed that both of their eyes were closed and that they were dripping wet. The men then in perfect sync pulled lighters from their pockets, lit them, and moved them towards their chests. As they did this Elgin said in a shout that shook the foundation of the lodge “NO!”. Immediately they went up in a blaze, flames covering every inch of their bodies. Frantically, I got a fire extinguisher from the nearby wall and sprayed them with it but to no avail the flames continued to burn.
I looked back at Elgin, and yelled “Do something!”
He looked back at me and said wistfully “I can’t”
Then they spoke, or more accurately a voice seemed to emanate from them, as they stood unmoving, flames dancing around their bodies.
The voice said “Pursue me further and this shall be your fate.”
As soon as the voice spoke its piece both men opened their eyes, and let out hellacious screams. I watched helplessly as these men became more and more charred by the inferno. After a couple of agonizing minutes They’re screams finally stopped. Frank and Rob were dead (for very obvious reasons), and the flames died with them seemingly extinguishing themselves. I looked back at Elgin and a single tear fell from his eye.
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there looking at the burnt corpses of Frank and Rob who self immolated themselves in front of me. Chiefly among them was that I am not getting paid nearly enough to deal with this shit.