A dull ache rolled through my head. The stiffness in my joints as I pulled myself to my feet from the soggy forest floor insisted I’d been lying there for quite a while. Autumn leaves whispered and crunched as I brushed them from my hair. All of it was background noise against the screaming in my head. Mark had gone too far this time, and I was going to kill him.
The buzzing in my ears told me Mark had beat me again, and he’d done it good. Good enough he thought he’d killed me and dumped my body at “our spot” like the god damned family dog.
Not even like the family dog; at least he got some dirt.
From what I could tell, Mark had tossed some leaves on me and called it a day. My dad always said he was a lazy son-of-a-bitch. I guess he was right.
I’m not a brave woman. But I’m a smart woman. Mark has beat me before and if I go home, he’ll do it again. If this was a Lifetime movie, I’d have a friend to take me in. She’d wipe the dirt and blood from my face, she’d help me put the pieces back together. Hell, it’s 2024, we might even fall in love. But this isn’t a Lifetime movie- no one is going to clean me up but me and I’m going to kill that bastard Mark.
My legs felt more like nubs, but I put one goddamned foot in front of the other and started my way down the trail that led home. The trail that would lead to freedom, death, or prison. I don’t know if it was desperation or a concussion, but I don’t think I cared much about which of the three it would be.
Until the fog rolled in.
I’d walked down this trail damn near a hundred times over the years with Mark. I could have walked it with my eyes closed, but that didn’t mean I wanted to.
Between the swooshing in my ears and the moonlight illuminating the thick fog, I felt like I was walking through a late-night premium TV channel I hadn’t paid for. Thick tears welled up in my swollen eyes, and for a moment, I understood what it was like to live between spaces. The forest looked like magic. And I realized I wanted to live.
Had it not been for the fog and the tears, maybe things would have been different. Maybe I would have seen the man on the trail and hid. But I didn’t. I didn’t even hear his feet crunching the leaves as he approached.
“Well, you sure are a sight for sore eyes! Are you alright?” He had an accent that didn’t quite match the area. He’d pronounced it ‘aw-raht’. There’s something about that drawl that puts you at ease. Maybe that’s why I looked him in his face instead of running. And he sure did have a handsome face.
“Well, you know, I was on a hike and took a tumble. Just headed home. I’m just two more minutes down this straightaway. Little late for a walk for you, huh?” I tried to shoot him a smile, but I’m sure I looked more forest creature than damsel. I was surprised he hadn’t screamed.
He smiled with his mouth, but not his eyes, “You shouldn’t be headed that way, miss. There’s trouble going that way, and I think you know that. Why don’t you come with me on a little night walk? We can talk about your tumble. I’m sure we could find a lot to talk about, don’t you think?” He reached a gentle hand towards my face. I think he intended to stroke my cheek, but I couldn’t be sure. I didn’t wait around to find out. Leave it to me to get my ass beat and tossed in the woods just to meet a fucking serial killer on the way out. No, I didn’t wait to find out, I ran.
My lungs burned and my side stitched, but I ran. I didn’t turn around to see if he’d followed me. I’ve seen my fair share of slashers; that’s how you fall, and that’s how you die. Low-hanging branches slapped my already mutilated face, but I hardly felt it.
I didn’t hear him running behind me, but I also hadn’t heard him on the trail in the first place. My house was directly across the mouth of the trail, and if Mark hadn’t killed me yet I’d be damned if some weirdo in the woods was going to be the one to do me in.
I flew out of the mouth of the trail and prayed Mark hadn’t locked the damn door. I twisted the knob and the door flung open. Of course he hadn’t locked it. Mark was a lazy bastard. My dad always said so.
I locked the door quietly now. I couldn’t have Mark hear me coming if I was going to do what I had decided in the woods.
I took a few deep breaths to settle my nerves. As the whooshing of blood in my ears settled, it was replaced with Mark’s crying. His screaming.
I crept towards the bedroom. Through the cracked door, I saw myself on the bed. Not me, exactly. My body. Mark stooped over it, screaming.
“GET! UP! GET! UP!” I was focused more on his enunciation than my body. Shock is a strange thing. Still, I couldn’t bear to watch his spit spatter against my bruised face. Mark wouldn’t hear or see me anyway. Not anymore.
I turned to the bedroom window and saw the man from the trail and my heart- was it my heart? Do ghosts have hearts, or is it an echo from our time alive?- dropped. He wasn’t so handsome anymore. His face was sunken and gray. He was missing most of his hair. Black goop dripped from his peeling lips as he lipped a single word, “Don’t.” He cocked his head and lifted one of those gentle hands, motioning for me to come outside. To go with him on his night walk. Our night walk. But I couldn’t. Not yet. I had unfinished business.
I shook my head and turned back to Mark instead.
I’m not sure what I intended to do. I think I just wanted to look him in the eye before I left for my walk. I wanted to see if he’d feel me. I didn’t feel pity for myself- I don’t think I felt much of anything at all. Until he slapped me. Or rather, my body.
My face was already swollen from the beating. He didn’t need to do that. We both knew I wasn’t going to wake up, but he’d done it anyway. Because he’s a bastard.
Rage swelled and pushed up my throat. I meant to grab him by the shoulders. I meant to scream. There was a feeling of being sucked through a straw. A horrible twisting and crushing. A cramping. And then everything was different.
I didn’t put two and two together immediately. I was somehow standing over my body, I was larger, and teetering on the edge of drunk. I looked up to see the man still at the window. The scowl on his rotten face sucked the breath from me. I looked at my sore hands. Mark’s hands. And then ran for the bathroom mirror.
I didn’t mean to possess Mark. I don’t even know how I did it. But the man- Death- watches me through the windows. He won’t leave. He’s waiting for our night walk. It’s been hours and the sun hasn’t come up yet. My body is starting to stink. And I don’t know how to get out.
I! WANT! OUT!