What Walks in These Woods: Part 2
The morning light brought a new day. Keith had sat in the living room, sleeping off and on while clutching his rifle. The night had offered no resolution for the questions it had left. Keith shifted to his feet and stretched out his sore limbs. He approached the window that faced the woods.
The woods remained stoic. An almost antagonistic silence permeated the atmosphere. Keith began to brew a coffee, and took time to think. He needed a plan.
After drinking down the coffee and getting dressed, he exited the house. He stopped once more to look at the claw marks in the door in the daylight. He could see the sheer strength and sharpness of whatever had attacked the door, and it sent a shiver through his body.
Keith expected that it would not be a single encounter. Deep down, Keith knew that something had started last night. He couldn't quite put his finger on what, but for the first time in months, he found himself moving with a twinge of purpose.
Keith's truck rumbled into the main street of town and came to halt just outside the hunting and camping store run by local Marvin Freeman. Marvin was a veteran hunter, and he had gotten along well with Keith. They hadn't spoken in some time, but Keith couldn't let the social awkwardness stop him from getting down to business.
Keith entered the shop, and the door jangled a bell. As he looked around the shop, his eyes stopped on a flyer posted on the front counter. It was for a meteor shower viewing party in the center of town. It was dated just about eight months prior. Keith's hands began to slightly tremble as a wave of memories crashed within.
The meteor shower was the last good memory he had with Morgan. They had attended and watched the night sky put on quite a show. Afterwards they had gone home and made love for what ending up being the last time.
Keith closed his eyes and pushed the thoughts away as he heard the door to the back room squeak open.
Marvin walked out and a slow smile formed on his face.
"Well, hello there Keith. How have you been?" Marvin asked politely. Keith shrugged, not sure where to even begin. It was a simple question with a very complicated answer.
"I've been, well..." Keith struggled a bit as he looked around the room. There was nothing for it, so Keith gave up and got to the point.
"Marv, do you have any real strong flood lights?" Keith asked. Marvin looked up in thought for a minute, then raised his hand and gestured for Keith to follow. They walked down an aisle near the back of the store where a selection of light fixtures were.
"Do any of these do you any good?" Marvin asked. Keith looked over the options, nodding his head as he whispered to himself.
"Which ones have motion sensors?" Keith asked. Marvin pointed at two different sets of lights.
"Both of these have that function. Both are pretty bright, too. You can do any kind of work late into the night with them." Marvin said.
"How far is their range? Do you think it can light up the woods pretty well?" Keith wondered out loud.
"Ha! Those woods are thicker than my aunt's homemade molasses. They won't penetrate very far in, but that's the best I got really." Marvin said. Keith looked at them and nodded once more.
"I'll take them." Keith said.
"Which ones?" Marvin asked.
"All you got." Keith responded. He looked straight into Marvin's eyes as he spoke. Marvin shrugged and moved back towards the front desk.
"Alright. Cash or card?" Marvin said.
"I got cash." Keith replied.
"Well then, let's get to it." Marvin said. Keith began to pull boxes off the shelf and stack them on the front counter. As Marvin was ringing Keith up, the door jangled once more.
In walked Sheriff Ralph Wolcott. Wolcott was an older man, his graying hair sticking out of the wide brimmed hat he wore. He patted down his shirt over his protruding belly and nodded to Marvin as he moved inside.
"Well, hello there Keith. Haven't seen you in town for a while. All is well I hope?" Wolcott said, his words falling flat. Keith held a cold visage as Wolcott came up to the counter. Wolcott was lazy and old, and Keith was sure he hadn't even really given any effort into searching for Morgan. Keith was sure Wolcott saw it as nothing more than an inconvenience. As Keith stewed in his thoughts, Marvin leaned forward.
"That'll be $125.46 if you please." Keith shook his head and murmured an apology as he pulled out his wallet to pay.
"Lot of lights you got there Keith. You got some sort of night project going on up there?" Wolcott asked. Keith regarded him for a moment as he collected the boxes from the counter.
"You could say that." Keith uttered.
Keith left town and headed home. He had just enough daylight hours to try to get everything set up. He worked without rest as he mounted the lights all along the back of his house. As the sun began to fade, Keith walked out towards the woods.
Each step felt heavy. Keith wasn't sure if it was fear or just the foreboding feeling that something unknown was just beyond the outer edge of the woods. He stopped as he reached the first trees, looking into the thick forest.
Layers upon layers of bark and leaves stood before him. His eyes scanned from left to right, looking for anything to pop out. Keith took a few steps into the woods, twigs snapping beneath his softly treading feet.
Keith felt a pressure all around his body, as if he had stepped into the bottom of the sea. The forest remained silent. No birdsong echoed, no wind caressed the looming branches. Keith had to remind himself to breathe. He took steps back now, retreating from the woods and walking back to his home. As he approached, the lights blasted him as blinding light.
He held his head down and walked through the white searing light. He reached the front door and entered the house, once again regarding the claw marks that lingered.
The lights in the back shut off and Keith settled in. He held his hunting rifle in his hand, going through the motions of loading it with ammunition as the darkness enveloped the world outside.
The night had encroached in on Keith's anxious silence. The minutes slowly etched on his nerves, each one adding a sense of anticipation that was never quenched.
The stars circled above like celestial vultures but Keith paid them no mind. His eyes blinked, his breath quivered, and he remained on vigil in his watch.
A nagging doubt that had been quiet before was growing in volume with every passing moment. Was there nothing at all? Was it Keith's imagination? A sad result of his pain and depression chipping away at his mental state?
Keith loosened his grip on his rifle. He slumped back in his chair just a bit. He ran his hands through his hair and stood up to stretch. As he did he took his eyes from the back for a moment and looked to the front door.
The hinges were still slightly broken in the frame. The entranceway had splintered pieces of the door from the first encounter.
He wasn't crazy. He couldn't be. Could he?
Keith felt his fists clench. His hair stood up on end. Then the back yard exploded in white light, cascading instantly from his house to the fringe of the woods. Keith's head snapped to the window as his hands reached for the rifle.
Something big was moving in the light.
Keith burst through the front door and swung around the house. His rifle raised and his finger on the trigger he watched the large shape retreat towards the woods.
It ran on two legs, upright, as if it were a man. Its body was hairless and broad, and its stride was long and smooth. Keith's finger pulled on the trigger, and the rifle's shot tore through the night's innocence.
The thing ran with more speed as Keith fired again and again. Keith himself walked towards the forest as he fired, but the thing ran with such a solid pace it was nearly at the forest's edge.
Keith screamed in rage and ran after the thing. Its body showed a strange iridescence, going from green to gray as it lumbered into the woods. Keith ran as fast as he could, and soon entered the woods behind it.
The flood lights created a disorienting array of light and shadow throughout the edge of the thick woods. Rays of floodlight created short corridors through the trees and blended with pools of deep black shadows of the night.
Keith readied his rifle, took a deep calming breath, and crossed the forest line.
As he crossed from dark to light, dark to light, his eyes struggled to find anything more than flashes of tree bark, low hanging branches, and undergrowth.
The uneven layers of light and shadow played tricks with Keith and he kept jumping and swinging his rifle carelessly. But no target revealed itself. He stopped for a moment, waited, and his eyes went from left to right, and back again.
Left to right, and back once more.
Left to right.
And there it was.
For just a fleeting moment, the creature stood in a beam of white light. Keith only saw the green/gray coloration and swung his rifle to fire. The bullets penetrated the dark and ricocheted off of the trees nearby until the rifle clicked empty.
His ammo spent, Keith unsteadily lowered his rifle. The beam of light that the creature had occupied was now vacant.
The soft sounds of fading footfalls swirled in the air. Keith grimaced and howled into the night, half hoping for some primal reply.
The night continued on, and Keith returned home empty handed. He sat in the chair once more and began reloading his rifle as the lights turned off and the darkness swept through.
STAY TUNED FOR PART THREE TOMORROW
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