u/feathers_and_fire

I drop my heavy bag and pause, drawing in a crisp breath. I stay frozen, listening and feeling out intuitively for that which no ear can detect. Satisfied, I collect my things and continue up the trail.  

I once naively thought I was the scariest thing in these woods. I was wrong.

What I would give to go back and change things. But the only way forward now is – well – forward, until I inevitably reach the consequences of my own actions. I have been merrily fucking around – and now the ‘find out’ portion of the adage seems to be barrelling towards me at some speed.

My little discovery had seemed so convenient at first. A solution to a rather grisly problem.

I press forward, placing each foot confidently. Deliberately. Never show your fear. The forest feeds on it.

I reach a wizened, gnarled tree stump. Though I’ve passed it many times before, I survey it suspiciously. A blackened, jagged crack bisects the stump unevenly. Was it like that before?

I glare at the stump as I pass it, my sense of foreboding only increasing as it marks the end of my journey. My bag is heavy now, so I drag it on the ground, the pillowy moss dampening the sound of the rough material scraping.  

I reach my destination, a moonlit clearing. I dump my bag in the centre and retreat to the treeline. Something feels off tonight. I can’t put my finger on it, but my instincts have always been excellent.

Despite my earlier bravado, a chill creeps over me. I can hear it now, still a distance away, crashing through the undergrowth.

It’s closer now. I can hear the disgusting phlegmy snarls it makes as it seeks its offering. I try my hardest to shove down the panicked feeling that rises up in me, and I can’t tell if it’s the wrongness of the thing, or if it emits some kind of signal that causes my body to react this way.

Though my heart is pounding against my ribcage I stand straight as it reaches the centre of the clearing. A sinewy, inky claw reaches out and hooks the bag, spilling the gory contents onto the damp grass. More grotesque snarls ensue, then wet crunches indicate it has begun its feast.

Finally, the sounds stop. Despite my reservations, things are going the way they always do. There is still a long night ahead of me – cleaning, destroying a cell phone and deleting CCTV footage – all a walk in the park compared to this.  

To my horror, it seems the creature is not finished with me yet. It unfurls to its considerable full height. It looks vaguely more humanoid than I remember from previous encounters. Instinctively I step backwards, in the futile hope that the trees may shield me – as though the forest wasn’t this entity’s domain.

I see no eyes, yet I sense that it observes me.  I shrink back further, my breath shaky and shallow.

“You will bring more,” it rumbles in a low roar that I feel in my bones.

It could speak?

The speech was stilted and laboured, as if this was something it was just learning, but it had made itself understood, and that was not good.

I wasn’t about to argue with it, so I nod weakly. It watches me for a few moments longer, assessing me, then turns and makes its way back across the clearing – now empty apart from a red stain in the very centre.

I watch it disappear into the dark forest, stunned and completely terrified by this new development even while realising how completely fucked I am.

The creature was nothing like this when I first came across it, looking for a convenient place to drop off some… surplus meat. It was animalistic and descended upon the flesh like a starved beast, and if I’d had to describe it I would have said it was bear-like.

My mind races. Is it taking on human characteristics because of what I’ve been feeding it?

I retrace my steps through the forest hurriedly, cold sweat beading on the back of my neck. This… arrangement had worked because when I had some ‘parts’ I needed to get rid of, I knew I could bring them here and the forest would gladly accept. Now it’s making demands. Say it continues to improve on the human form… what happens then? What have I done?

After what feels like an age, I make it through the trees and see my car parked on the verge of the dirt road. I turn for one last look at the forest, when something catches my eye.

The creature lurks along the treeline, having evidently followed me. I still see no eyes but I know it’s watching me, and I almost feel like its mocking me. Was my own heartbeat thudding in my ears so loud on the walk back that I wouldn’t have noticed its usual crashing stomps through the trees?

No. It was clearly capable of silent and stealthy movement, stalking me in the dark after I thought I’d left it far behind. I fumble my keys as I try to unlock the car and drop them. I quickly stoop down to grab them, but when I straighten more movement catches my eye to my left.

There is another one.

A branch cracking snaps my eyes to the right. Now there is movement all along the treeline, and I see there are not two, but many – dark and twisted, but unmistakenly human in shape, watching me silently.

I dive into the car and start the ignition. I stamp on the gas and peel away as fast as I can, horror dawning as I realise all this time I thought I had been feeding one supernatural creature to get rid of the evidence of my crimes – but in reality I had been feeding an army of them.

And they are so very hungry.

I drop my heavy bag and come to a stop in the still night air, drawing in a crisp breath. I stay frozen, listening to the forest around me, feeling out intuitively for that which no ear can detect. Satisfied, I collect my things and continue up the trail.  

I once naively thought I was the scariest thing in these woods. I was wrong. Catastrophically wrong.

What I would give to go back and choose again, choose not to set this chain of events in motion. I can’t do that, however, so the only way forward now is – well – forward, until I inevitably reach the consequences of my own actions. I have been merrily fucking around – and now the ‘find out’ portion of the adage seems to be barrelling towards me at some speed. Because there is absolutely no way this arrangement is sustainable – deals with the devil never are.

My little discovery had seemed so convenient at first. A solution to a rather grisly problem. My mother always told me if something seemed too good to be true, it probably was. I should have heeded her warning.

I press forward, placing each foot confidently. Deliberately. Never show your fear. The forest feeds on it.

I reach a wizened, gnarled tree stump. Though I’ve passed it many times before, I survey it suspiciously. A blackened, jagged crack bisects the stump unevenly. Was it like that before? Perhaps it was struck by lightning.

I glare at the stump as I pass it by, my sense of foreboding only increasing as it marks the nearing of the end of my journey. My bag is heavy now, and I allow it to fall lower and drag on the ground, the pillowy moss dampening the sound of the rough material scraping.  

I reach my destination, a moonlit clearing. I dump my bag in the centre and retreat to the treeline. Something feels off tonight. I can’t put my finger on it, but I haven’t survived as long as I have in this game without a well-honed nose for danger.

Despite my earlier bravado, a chill creeps over me. I can hear it now, still a distance away, crashing through the undergrowth. I roll my shoulders back and shake my head slightly to dissipate the tension.

It’s closer now. I can hear the disgusting phlegmy snarls it makes as it seeks its offering. I try my hardest to shove down the panicked feeling that rises up in me, and I can’t tell if it’s the wrongness of the thing, or if it emits some kind of signal that causes my body to react this way.

Though my heart is pounding against my ribcage I stand straight as it reaches the centre of the clearing. A sinewy, inky claw reaches out and hooks the bag, spilling the gory contents onto the damp grass. More grotesque snarls ensue, then thankfully the dark mass of its unnatural body blocks my view and I’m spared the visuals as wet crunches indicate it has begun its feast.

I focus steadily on one patch of thick matted fur, and try in vain to ignore the sounds emanating from beneath it.

Finally, the sounds stop. Almost done, I think to myself. Despite my reservations, things are going the way they always do. There is still a long night ahead of me – cleaning, destroying a cell phone and deleting CCTV footage – all a walk in the park compared to this.  

To my horror, it seems the creature is not finished with me yet. It unfurls itself from where it had been low on the ground to its considerable full height. It was still a monstrous beast, but I couldn’t help but feel it was looking vaguely more humanoid than I remember from previous encounters. Instinctively I step backwards, in the futile hope that the trees may shield me – as though the forest wasn’t this entity’s domain.

I see no eyes, yet I sense that it observes me.  I shrink back further, my breath shaky and shallow.

“You will bring more,” it rumbles in a low roar that I feel in my bones.

It could speak?

The speech was stilted and laboured, as if this was something it was just learning, but it had made itself understood, and that was not good.

I wasn’t about to argue with it, so I nod weakly. It watches me for a few moments longer, assessing me, then turns and makes its way back across the clearing – now empty apart from a red stain in the very centre.

I stand there stunned, watching it disappear into the dark forest, completely terrified by this new development even while I begin to think about how completely fucked I am.

The creature was nothing like this when I first came across it, while looking for a convenient place to drop off some… surplus meat. It was animalistic and descended upon the flesh like a starved beast, and despite its strange, amorphous shape if I’d had to describe it as anything I would have said it was bear-like.

As my mind races, the truth clicks into place and I taste bile in the back of my throat. Is it taking on human characteristics because of what I’ve been feeding it?

I turn tail and retrace my steps through the forest hurriedly, a cold sweat beading on the back of my neck. What was I going to do? This… arrangement had worked because when I had some ‘parts’ I needed to get rid of, I knew I could bring them here and the forest would gladly accept. Now it’s making demands. Say it continues to improve on its impression of the human form… what happens then? What have I done?

After what feels like an age, I make it through the trees and see my car parked on the verge of the dirt road. When I reach it, I turn for one last look at the forest, when something catches my eye.

The creature lurks along the treeline, having evidently followed me. I still see no eyes but I know it’s watching me, and I almost feel like its mocking me. Was the sound of my own heartbeat thudding in my ears so loud on the walk back that I wouldn’t have noticed its usual crashing stomps through the trees?

No. It was clearly capable of silent and stealthy movement, stalking me in the dark after I thought I’d left it far behind. I fumble my keys as I try to unlock the car and drop them. I quickly stoop down to grab them, but when I straighten more movement catches my eye to my left.

There is another one.

A branch cracking snaps my eyes to the right. Now there is movement all along the treeline, and I see there are not two, but many – dark and twisted, but unmistakenly human in shape, stood watching me silently.

I dive into the car and start the ignition. I stamp on the gas and peel off from the verge as fast as I can, sheer horror dawning on me as I realise all this time I thought I had been feeding one supernatural creature to get rid of the evidence of my crimes – but in reality I had been feeding an army of them. Not only that, but inadvertently teaching them how to better imitate their prey.

And they are so very hungry.

It drags away the remains of my latest victim, and as I remember that once upon a time I naively believed I was the scariest thing in this forest, I hear the sharp snap of branches directly behind me.

She looked right through me and replied coldly, “I was talking to the one behind you, the one you left in the ditch that night.”