The ground will bleed.

“Run!” Screamed Emma to her pregnant daughter Liana. “They can’t follow us across the border!”

Liana felt that her heart was going to beat out of her chest. She could hear hounds baying in the distance. Law enforcement was close on their heels. They had darkness on their side, and pouring rain to wash their scent. However, the muddy ground made it difficult to run and left visible tracks behind.

“I can’t, it hurts.” Liana cried as she dropped to her knees and clutched her stomach.

Her mother Emma kneeled in front of her daughter and said, “then I’ll run for the two of us.” She picked up her 16 year old daughter and continued to trek through the muddy forest terrain. The border to Canada was less than a mile away.

They had been hiking since nightfall, hoping that they would make it across the border so that Liana could receive the medical care she so desperately needed. However, someone had tipped off the authorities to their whereabouts. Pregnant women were not allowed out of the country, attempting to leave was a federal crime to result in imprisonment until birth. Liane was too young, her mother knew this. After suffering a violent encounter while walking home from school, Liana was forced to go through with this pregnancy. She suffered from medical conditions that would make this pregnancy a death sentence for her, but none of that mattered. The law was absolute.

The hounds were approaching, Emma could see the light of several flashlights shining through the trees. Just a few more yards, we’re so close, she thought.

Liana clung to her mother’s neck and buried her face in her mother’s warm shoulder. The pain in her stomach and chest were unbearable now.

“There they are!” Screamed an officer behind them. “Stop! Put the girl down and get on your knees!”

Emma refused to do so, they were so close to freedom. So close to getting the care Liana needed. She continued forward.

“Stop or we will release the dogs!" Warned another officer.

Emma continued. The border was less than a yard away now. Liana lifted her face from her mother’s shoulder and cried out “Just let us go! We’re no harm to anyone, I just need medical attention and…” She could hear the sound of a clasp releasing. A shepherd barked and like a speeding bullet it was already on them. The shepherd latched onto Emma’s leg. She screamed out in pain and both mother and daughter fell to the ground.

Liana felt a sudden ripping pain in her chest, her heart was beating frantically. She could see her mother desperately trying to kick the dog off her leg to no avail. Liana looked at her mom one last time and reached for her hand. Then darkness overcame her vision and her heart came to an abrupt stop.

“Get off me you stupid mutt!” snarled Emma, as she reached for her pocket knife. With one swift movement she severed the dogs right carotid artery. But the animal would not let go.

“Drop the knife!” barked and officer. Put your hands in the air!

Emma did no such thing. She continued to gore the dog until it dropped from blood loss.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Emma took three shots to the chest. She fell next to her daughter. As she raised her head she saw her daughters pale lifeless body laying there in the mud. One hand was outstretched towards her and the other was grasping her chest. Emma dragged herself closer to her daughter and grabbed her hand. She let out a wail that only a mother could for her dead child. And cursed the officers.

“You will pay for this! In this life or the next! I will hunt you down and the ground will bleed red with your blood! Do you hear me!” She keened.

One officer removed the dog from Emma’s leg while another kneeled by Liana’s body and palpated her neck for a pulse.

“She’s dead” stated the officer coldly and without remorse.

The policeman that removed the K-9 from Emma’s leg squatted and remarked.

“If only you listened to stop this wouldn’t have happened. Unfortunately we didn’t bring a medical team on this search. We’ll have to wait till they arrive and you’ll be airlifted out of here. ” He motioned to a nearby officer. “Hey rookie, get your ass over here and apply pressure to her wounds till medical arrives!”

“Yes, Sergeant” the young female officer replied. She knelt in the bloody muck next to Emma and attempted to place pressure to Emma’s limp body. She attempted to find a pulse. To her horror, she could not find one.

“Sir, I think… I think she’s dead.” Stated the female officer, “should I start chest compressions?”

“No. It’s no use, she’s lost too much blood.” Replied the sergeant.

“Damn, this is going to be a shit ton of paperwork.” Griped the heartless officer that had checked for Liana’s pulse moments before.

“Oh shut up George, can’t you see a mother and daughter are both dead because you released the K-9!” Shouted the female officer.

“That’s enough rookie! I will have you written up for your insubordination!” shouted the sergeant.

A swift movement, a splash of mud. George spun around. Slash, a spurt of blood. His body was gored from his stomach to his neck. With his entrails in his hands, officer George fell to his knees, collapsed and died instantly. The officers all removed the guns from their holsters.

“Head’s on a swivel! Something is out here with us! Come out with your hands up!” barked the sergeant.

Another splash, officers were being dragged into the darkness and gored to death one by one. Each one taken was quickly ripped to shreds and thrown back into the light for the others to view.

They shot out into the darkness. Hoping to hit whatever was hunting them. It was useless, the creature was too swift, and seemingly bulletproof. Either way, they opened fire to no avail. One by one the officers fell. The only ones left standing were the sergeant and female officer.

The creature vocalized. It’s voice eerie, like nails on a chalkboard.

The creature walked on all four limbs as it slowly approached the area where the bloodied bodies were strewn across the ground. Its arms and legs were uncannily long. It’s skin pale and tightly stretched over emaciated limbs. The fingers were long and claws were sharp as knives. Blood from the officers soaked it’s muddy, torn, ragged clothes which seemed too small for it’s lengthy frame. It’s presence seemed to create an icy chill in the air.

Something about the creature seemed familiar to the female officer. As she slowly backed away she looked down to find that the body of the mother was no longer on the ground. Instead, only the girl remained with a small chunk of her forearm missing.

Wendigo… The rookie shuddered. She had heard the legends before, her grandfather had told her stories as a child. He had told her about the curse of the Minnesota woodlands. How one could turn into a monstrous beast from consuming human flesh. She didn’t believe him of course, such stories were the nonsensical ramblings of an old man. But here stood the creature her grandfather had spoken of. A mother so set on revenge that she’d consumed a piece of her own daughters flesh before dying to become this formidable man eating beast.

The creature approached the sergeant, it’s sunken dead eyes clouded by bloodlust. The sergeant dropped to his knees. Sobbing he begged.

“Please, I have a family. I don’t want to die.” He pleaded.

The creature shrieked as it raised a hand to strike. The officer quickly recovered his weapon and opened fire at the beasts head. The creature took no damage. It swiped down with all its might and obliterated the sergeant into a bloody pulp. The creature redirected it’s attention towards the rookie.

The rookie stood there, frozen in horror hoping that the creature wouldn’t notice her. The creature approached slowly. Each step closer made the rookie want to run. But she knew that the wendigo was immensely agile and fast. Her only hope was to think of a strategy to outsmart it. From what she could remember from her grandfather’s stories, fire was it’s only weakness. It’s skin is like bulletproof armor, and it’s healing abilities are nearly instantaneous. But fire, fire could weaken it enough to for the rookie to stab it’s icy heart. Then the curse would break and the person it once was would die.

For now she could only hope to remain still enough to be ignored. The creature was on all fours yet it nearly stood as tall as she was at 5 feet 4 inches. Standing up meant the creature would be nearly 10 feet tall. They stood face to face. The creature stared her in the face as it cocked it’s head side to side. It’s breath smelled of blood and rotting flesh. It’s eyes white. The rookie dared not blink nor breathe for fear of being attacked.

Suddenly, a groan of pain came from one of the bodies on the ground. An officer had somehow survived. The wendigo spun around and begun searching the bodies for the source of the sound. Once found the officer was done for, but the wendigo’s insatiable hunger posed a distraction and it began consuming the corpse.

The rookie was struggling to come up with a plan. She stood and watched as the wendigo devoured the corpse. She could hear the crunching sounds of ribs breaking, and the wet tearing of flesh. Suddenly she remembered something about the dearly departed officer George. He was a smoker, and smokers carry lighters. He also carried a flask with him on occasion. She hoped that today was one of them.

The rookie inched her way towards the gory scene that was once officer George. Hoping and praying that the wendigo was too involved in feeding to bother with her. She crouched down slowly, and began to search his mangled torso. What she found was a multipurpose tool, a collapsible baton, a half empty pack of cigarettes, and a chrome zippo lighter. To her amazement, there was no flask.

Once again she inched her way backwards away from the scene. Thinking that if she could get far enough away she could make a makeshift torch to protect her from the wendigo. She found a fallen tree nearby and crawled behind it. Using the baton and rag torn from her pant leg she formed a makeshift torch. The plyers from the multipurpose tool allowed her to remove the bullets from the ammunition to gain access to the gunpowder. After mixing the gun powder with mud she coated the torch and set to light it.

Despite being distracted, the wendigo heard the commotion coming from the rookies direction. It’s lengthy limbs allowed it to reach her approximate location in three bounds. The rookie froze once again. She hadn’t been able to light the torch yet.

The creature reached it’s lengthy limbs over the tree trunk.

The rookie rolled out of the way of the creatures claws. She lit the torch, and with one swipe she struck the creature on the side of it’s head. The creature caught fire and began to frantically roll in the mud. The rookie lost her balance and fell backwards.

“Shit shit shit!” She cursed her clumsiness.

The rookie scrambled to her feet and began to sprint in the opposite direction. Towards the place where the search team had left their vehicles.

“Screeeee!” The Wendigo screeched in agony and anger. It rolled in the mud and wet grasses in attempt to put out the flames. It recovered, and although it was weakened, it gave chase. It leapt from tree to tree in pursuit of the female officer.

The rookie slowed her pace after about a mile of running. She was nearer to the vehicles now and had hoped the wendigo was damaged enough to give up the hunt. She attempted to call for backup on her radio.

“108, 108! This is officer Locklear requesting immediate backup. Over.”

Her request for backup was only met with silence.

Dimmit, maybe the truck radio… wait. Medical was supposed to evacuate the subject. That means… they’re done for if they land here. But if I can contact them first, maybe they can airlift me the fuck out of here. But they’ll probably think I’m insane. She thought.

She continued her jog towards the vehicles. They were in her line of sight now.

Officer Locklear sensed movement in the forest canopy above her. She looked up to see 2 glowing white eyes staring down at her. She began to sprint towards the vehicles. The creature dropped from the tree. It stood on its hind limbs to reveal it’s massive height. It’s skin was still raw in some places. The fire had clearly done significant damage. The rookie reached for her handgun and aimed her sights at the weak point near the wendigo’s collarbone.

Bang Bang Bang. The rookie opened fire and once again ran. Hoping that the bullets met their mark.

“Screeee!” the creature felt the burn of the hot bullets pierce it’s damaged flesh.

The rookie reached the vehicle. Started the engine and floored the gas peddle in reverse. She spun the vehicle around and immediately took off down the unbeaten path they had taken to get there. The grass was wet and the icy mist made for poor driving conditions. She reached for the radio and once again called for backup.

“108! 108! This is officer Locklear requesting backup and immediate evacuation! Tell medical to standby! The subject is armed and dangerous!” She ordered.

“Rookie is that you? What happened to the rest of the unit?” The dispatcher questioned.

“They’re all dead. I don’t have time to explain! Requesting immediate evacuation!” Officer Locklear exclaimed.

Thump! Something landed on the top of her vehicle. Long claws tore through the roof, shredding the fiberglass and nearly gouging the rookie’s right eye. The blood pouring from her forehead obscured her vision and the rookie lost control of the vehicle. She spun around twice before colliding with a sturdy tree trunk. The wendigo leapt from the roof just in time to avoid the crash.

The rookie briefly lost consciousness. She lay there unable to move or defend herself.

She awoke to the smell of spilled fuel and the taste of blood on her lips. There was an odd feeling of hunger in her stomach, and her head wound had stopped bleeding.

Although her vision was blurred but there was no creature in sight. She looked out the window. To her relief the sun had begun to rise and the birds began to chirp. She felt as if she might actually make it out alive. Evac was on it’s way.