It was 7:21 PM. I was
always early to anything and everything.
I sat in my car, like any other day, waiting.
The local news played softly inside the car, the windows
down just a hair. It was cold outside,
but I preferred it to be a little on the chilly side.
I waited for 9 minutes.
She still hadn’t arrived.
I waited 4 more minutes.
My phone goes off. “I’m
almost here!” With various emoji’s. I
despised the use of them, however had begun to accustom myself with them in the
dating scene.
“I’m driving a red Honda Civic!” She sent next.
“Cool! I am in a gray Taurus!” I replied.
I sat inside my black Challenger waiting. The restaurant served alcohol, and it was
dinner time. I was hoping a few of them
walloping outside the restaurant wouldn’t see what was about to happen.
At 7:56 she pulled into the parking lot. Of course, she was larger than her pictures
looked. As I expected. She pulled into her spot and looked down at
her phone. My phone vibrates with “I’m
here!” displayed on my screen.
Good.
“Meet me inside!” I reply.
I watch her waddle inside, nervous.
My beard itched, and I obliged my nerves and dug my
fingernails into my neck.
I changed my mind.
I pulled off, out of the parking lot and into the
distance. The sun had just set a moment
ago. The pink hues played with the dark purple of dusk.
I rode the highway like a winding river, through its
delicate curves, on and on.
I ended up at the park.
It had an enormous hill that always made me fear that I was going to
bottom out going down. I never did.
At the top of the hill, it was completely dark. The streetlights had all gone out. This was odd, but so was tonight. I parked my car, and sat.
The delicate humming noises of human voices tickled my
loneliness at night. Just loud enough to
hear, not loud enough to be legible.
People talking got on my nerves.
They went on and on…
My car was the only one in the parking lot. Usually there was a stray teenage couple
performing inside their car, or an old man eating alone. Tonight I was completely alone. It was very
nice. The darkness consumed me. Without the hum of my engine, only the radio
kept me away from nature.
I decided to turn it off as well. The click of the radio signified my marriage
with the wild.
I sat in complete silence.
My breath was quiet. Sometimes I
longed to hear the breath of another, but she would never be there.
The park was quite simple when it came to layout. There was a large picnic area covered with a
roof, containing a bathroom as well. A
very small airstrip for hobby planes was beside that, as well as a small round
track for RC car enthusiasts. The rest
of the park was encompassed by a complete wooded area.
I surveyed the area.
I tended to dart my eyes back and forth, ever since the Accident, I had
become keen in all 5 of my senses. We didn’t
need any more mistakes.
But enough about that.
My eyes darted back and forth, to and fro. The woods had a gloomy sadness that made me
yearn for someone again, if only for an instant.
In the east section of the woods, I spotted a small
glow. A fire? It was a bit late for
anyone to be out here. The park rules
required everyone to be out by nightfall.
This peaked my curiosity.
I wondered if they knew I had been sitting here for the last
half hour. I also wondered what they
were doing this time of night.
The flames flickered up and down, yes, it was indeed a
fire. The glow had become larger. I watched for a bit, my curiosity
peaked. I got outside of my car and
stared into the distance. My hands
inside my pockets began to get cold, my fingertips beginning to lose feeling. This was odd. The low for tonight was only
64. I opened my trunk, put on my long
jacket as well as my gloves.
It was April, but it felt like January. My face was becoming numb now. My interest however, had grown too much to
handle. I began making my way towards
the east. I went inside the tree line,
to conceal my entrance.
A straight shot to them would have been about a quarter
mile, but taking the inside route was about a mile. I began to feel beads of sweat roll down my
neck and forehead. It was nice to feel
some warmth for a while.
As I grew closer to the Strangers, I began to hear some sort
of chanting. Maybe loud moaning as
well. There were low voices, as well as
almost shrieks coming up sometimes. My
spine tingled, but my feet were moving without my minds’ consent.
As I grew ever closer, the chanting and guttural moaning
became very loud. Through the trees, I
could spot between 6-8 figures dancing around the fire. They were wearing nothing. They were all female, of different races.
At this point I could not move. My eyes were fixed upon this ritual. The women danced frantically around the fire,
changing and screaming. Their voices rose
higher and higher, speaking in tongues.
My body was frozen in a crouched position. My knees screamed but my mind ordered to stay
put. The girls finally stopped, and all
kneeled down. One of them walked toward the
fire and yelled something. I watched in
awe as she dragged one of the girls toward the fire. She brandished a small knife, and slit the
younger ones neck.
The blood spurt directly into the fire, and the other girls
began to wail frantically. The screaming
became so loud that my temples began to sting.
At this point I decided that my time had come to get the
fuck out of here.
I began making my way back, keeping my eyes fixed upon the
women. One of them looked in my
direction, and her gaze was that of a lover.
She did look familiar…
No. I retreated even
further. I made my way back, staying
inside the woods as I had come.
Every direction sent chills down my spine. I had buried many here, and on those nights I
had felt nothing. But tonight…
It was not the small sounds that frightened me, but the absence
of any sound. The only thing I could
hear at this point were the various twigs and pinecones cracking underneath my
feet. I turned around.
I had reached about the halfway point. To my left, the fire had gone out. There was no longer anyone at that
position. To my right, the parking lot. My car was a shade darker than the trees
around it.
I began making my way towards it, walking at a pace that made
the sweat roll out even faster down my neck.
The sheer absence of any noise was enough to make me want to
run. There was no noise at all. Even my feet rushing upon the grass made not
a single soundwave.
I still did not sprint.
For some reason, I did not want to give away my position.
I had left the woods at this point, and headed straight
through the field. I was ready to leave
this instant.
For some reason, it had gone even darker than before. The moon had disappeared. Only a half hour ago it had led my trip
through the woods to see the girls. It
was now completely dark. My hands and
legs were the only thing I could see now.
I began to curse inside my head. I turned around, and what I saw chilled me to
this day.
I saw not a few, nor dozen, but hundreds of eyes shining in
the trees. The same shine that a cat
would have in the dark. Hundreds of
these reflected at me through those Old Trees. I reached inside my pocket and
gripped my key.
I had been heading straight toward the car before, so I
turned my body around once again-
And my face smashed into something soft. I looked up, and was inside the bosom of a
woman at least 7 feet tall. She wore all
black, and a dark hood over her face.
Her eyes did not shine back at me. I stepped backward, into another
fiercely strong body. I turned about
again to see another woman of the same stature.
I began to panic. I
tried to sprint anywhere, ANYWHERE, but a firm hand grasped my shoulder. Tears began to roll out my eyes, and soft
whimpers tried to escape my throat.
I closed my eyes, tears rolling down my face.
I suddenly began to feel weightless, and cold again. My eyes opened.
My feet suddenly had nothing beneath them. I was going up.
