Beyond the Barn

“Alright boys, settle down. You’ll want to hear this.”

"Forty-nine years ago, an old man, much older than yourselves, came to explore these woods with his wife. They parked their car about thirty miles South of here and began to hike. Legend has it that there are secrets in these parts. Some older than all of us put together. For years, these secrets have brought folks from near and far, curious to see what they can find. They’ve all ended up leaving real disappointed until this man and his wife stumbled upon the barn."

“Oooo, the barn!”, the boys laughed.

"Well son, this barn wasn’t just any old barn. The legend has it that this barn opened doors to alternate universes, let people time travel, manipulate lives… change history as we know it. Now, I don’t reckon’ that sounds too scary to you all either does it?"

“Not even a little, they joked. Nothing scary about an old barn out in the woods.”

"Well, this old man and his wife found this barn and somehow, they traveled back in time to 1836. Now as it happens, just a few states East of us, a young lady was doing a history project, about the Battle of the Alamo. Now if you know anything ‘bout your history, Battle of the Alamo was fought between the Texans and Mexicans in 1836. Now this man and his wife were neither Texan nor Mexican, they were Canadian, come here to America about nine years before their trip, to retire. But, the husbands great, great step-grandfather, he had been a Texan soldier and had the Texans won that battle instead of being obliterated, his family would have been living comfortably in America all along instead of in Canada. Nah here’s where the story gets sticky. This young lady East of us, named Madeline was researching for her history project and came across a painting that was very odd to her. It was of course a painting of the Alamo battle but in the background of this painting there seem to be two people who really stood out to her because they were in very modern clothing and looked awkward and out of place as they rushed towards the ensuing battle. The young lady keeps searching for more paintings and keeps seeing these same two people in the background, sometimes far away like the first but in many others, these two people were smack dab in the middle of this battle. At least two paintings showed the old man, covered in blood, grabbing his chest as he’s just been shot point blank by a Mexican soldier, his wife’s face scrunched up in horror. Another painting looks as if the wife was trying to help her already slain husband while another soldier is about to pull his trigger straight into the back of her skull. Now Madeline, not knowing too much about history and just wanting to finish her project, kindly dismisses the figures and finishes up, but she uses one of these paintings in her presentation to her class. Nah, her professor also notates the two individuals in the paintings and begins to research on his own, but not really knowing what he’s looking for, his findings run cold. Nobody would really know just who these people are. Well, a few weeks go by and there was a huge news story that reported an entire family, spread over eight different states and three countries, had been found dead, one by one, totaling one hundred and four relatives, and that the only two possible remaining family members were last known to be on a camping trip, here. Police from all over and all kinds of volunteers alike, investigated and searched these parts for months never finding anything, until this group of high school kids found the barn buried deep down in the thickest part of the woods. Lo’ n’ behold, inside the barn were two dead bodies, wilted away to nothin’ but skeletons which is darn near impossible considering they were only out there a few weeks. Legend says, the universe purged them back to their time and spit ‘em out like tobacca. But here’s the catch, since they “died” in 1836, none of their offspring could have existed. So, everyone that was alive in this universe, died too. All their kids and their grandchildren, even their great-grandchildren, dead. Some of the kids dropped dead in school, another was driving a car, another was on a plane, and two of them were at a friends birthday dinner, and BAM!, dead."

“So you’re tellin’ me I can go find this barn, go back in time and meet anybody I want?”

“Wait, could I stay there? Then what happens to my family here?

"Well now just wait a second, I haven’t finished tellin’ ya the whole story yet. Ya see, talking about opening up a portal into the past just seems mighty dangerous in itself but actually doing it, now that’s where this gets scary. After those high school kids found the barn and the police removed the dead bodies, those kids came back, and they too found out how to go back in time. But this time, these kids didn’t die in some past life, they figured out how to come back. They disappeared for a while and then reappeared at home, their mothers and fathers worried sick, but happy as larks at their return. After a few days to stock up on supplies, they took off back into these woods, back to the barn. Well, these kids, they started messin’ around and they figured out how to open up doors to places average people know nothing about, places where things live that just don’t belong here, things that defy logic and reasoning. One of the girls got “lost” and had trouble coming back, but when she found it, something had latched onto her and came back with her. This leach that came back with the lost girl, watched them and learned how to move back and forth between worlds just like these kids were. One night, a few of the kids were asleep and the leach wakes them, hovering over them, faceless, a hundred tentacles stretching over these kids and swallowing them up as they tried to scream, only to realize they were paralyzed, unable to move, scream, blink, do anything. Another one of the kids was coming back through the portal and watched this leach devouring his friends, squeezing the life out of them by wrapping his tentacles around their lifeless bodies, the sound of their bones grinding together, popping, as it twisted them, pulverized them, turning them into a sticky, tarry, bubbly, substance."

He smiles, remembering.

"The boy ran and the door to the portal he had just come from was left open. The leach dove into the portal dragging the sticky remnants of the boys’ friends with him. The kid was terrified and rightly so, because the leach came back for him, dragging him to his fiery lair, determined to rid our world of the knowledge of his kind’s existence. Since then, tourists who visit these woods claim they see a dark figure with tentacles, lurking in the woods, his tentacles rustling the underbrush as he scuttles around, following them and preying on them. Some folks have said they’ve seen more than one, but that’s not true."

“Come on dad, how do you know any of this stuff? You actually had me for a second! But there’s no way you’d have us out here in the middle of the night, telling us this crazy ghost story if you actually thought it was real. Right?”

"Well son, I’m telling you this for a reason… and it ain’t no damn ghost story, there is only one Master!"

He paused, sighing.

"I’m the kid…the kid that was coming back. I saw the leach, I mean Master, take my friends and drag them back where I had just come from… to… the underworld. I saw that Master come into my room and slide his tentacles around my neck, through my chest, into my soul until I didn’t know where I was anymore. He only let me go on one condition. I had to bring him children… virgin souls, so they could use their bodies to walk among us. And well, son… It’s your turn. I need you all."

“Dad, seriously, now you’re creeping me out. Stop, please?”

"I wish I could son, I wish I could. But you see, you’re my first born, of prime age and still a virgin. That is Master’s most desired wish."

“Yo, Tony, your dad just burned you!, the boys rolled with laughter.

"Now boys, I know you’re all virgins, whether you admit it or not, because I am able to see all things through Master and he has been waiting a very long time for this one to become of age."

He motioned toward Tony.

"You see by taking form as virgins, they can walk among us and impregnate women with their spawns, so they don’t have to keep dragging people to the underworld to steal their souls. A lot less messy. And the less people who know about the portals, our chance of discovery is almost non-existent, and they can slowly repopulate the world with Hellions. Now come on son, be a sport. Don’t you guys want to help Master repopulate the world?"

“Dad, I said stop! I’m really scared right now, you got us! Just drop it, okay?”

"I understand your worry, Tony. I thought you might be a little nervous at first, but Master will ease your mind. Here, just say hello."

An ominous shadow fell over the group of boys as their campfire, enraged, glowing before their eyes, black smoke billowing, forming, dancing and finally descending slowly as Master emerged, his tentacles thick, wet, and disgustingly elongated, forming from the smolder. His figure lacked any features outside of enormous, serrated, jagged fangs protruding in no particular direction from the bottom half of his face.

Twisting, slimy tentacles wrapped themselves around each of the now yelping boys as Tony’s father sat still, with tears in his eyes. Yet these tears were of pure joy for he had finally given his Master exactly what he wanted. He stood, leaving the Master to handle his business as Tony pleaded with his father to help them, calling begging, pleading, until the life was squeezed from his body, a pile of sticky, tarry, bubbly substance oozing taking its place. Walking less than a mile, curving into the mountainside, he pushed some brush aside and revealed an old wooden door. The barn was quiet and cool, just as welcoming as it had been for the last forty-nine years. Tony’s father shivered as he ran his hands against the splintered wood until he felt it, the wet, mossy giveaway of the portal door. He pushed his hand through, feeling the warmth instantly scald his hand. He smiled, sighed, and pushed his entire body into the wall, emerging immediately into his favorite fiery furnace.