The Red Thing in the Woods

"Richard! Richard? Wake up!"

Richard awoke, feeling a mix of anger and annoyance course through him. He opened his eyes slowly, his vision struggling to adjust in the dark. A familiar figure stood over him, one that he was starting to regret inviting into his home. 

"Richard? It's outside again."

Richard got out of bed, and turned on the lamp next to his bed. Eddie, his best friend, was standing in front of him, wearing what passed as his pajamas. There was sweat on the front of his white shirt, and his hair was disheveled. There were dark circles under his eyes, that were wide with fright. He wrapped his blanket tighter around his body. 

"Richard. Please make it go away. It's standing outside my window," Eddie urged. 

Richard groaned. "Eddie, it's 3 in the fucking morning -''

Eddie grabbed hold of Richard's chest, panic written on his face. 

"It's outside my window. Make it go away, make it go away, make it go away!"

Richard raised his hands, pushing his friend away. "Fine, fine. I'll go fucking check."

He grabbed his flashlight, a device that had become much needed in the past couple weeks. He stormed through his cabin, straight toward the front door. He walked around the cabin, not surprised to find that there was nothing by Eddie's window. He massaged his temple, and went back inside his home, finding his friend rocking back and forth on the sofa, facing the television. 

"Is it gone?", he asked softly.

"Yes," Richard replied, biting back his angry tone. 

Eddie sighed with relief, which immediately turned into a sob. Richard patted his friend on the shoulder, offering the comfort that he was capable of. He waited patiently until his tears were over. Richard took hold of his friend's hand, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, leading him back to his room, that was once a storage space for all of Richard's old shit. 

Now, it was a cozy little room that resembled something straight out of a college dorm room. A bed was in the left-hand corner of the room, right by the window. A desk was next to the bed, with a computer and a comfy chair. A hamper of dirty clothes was by the closet, now carrying Eddie's clothing. 

He helped Eddie crawl back into bed, and then he lifted up the covers to Eddie's chin, like you would for an eight-year-old child. 

"Get some rest, alright Eddie?"

"How can I if that thing is going to come back?"

"It won't come back, Eddie -''

"It always comes back, Richard. It always comes back."

Richard clenched one of his hands into a fist, telling himself not to lash out like so many other times in the past. 

"Alright, man. Alright. Do you want me to close the curtains?"

Eddie nodded. 

Richard shut the curtains. He opened his mouth, not wanting to ask the question, but it had become another habit over the course of the past couple of nights. 

"If that thing is by the window, why did you open the curtains?"

Eddie didn't reply. 

"Come on, man. Why can't you tell me? We have been doing this shit so many fucking nights already, and you can't give me this one thing -''

"It wants my soul, Richard. It wants to eat me, while it's inside my body. And once it's done, I will be gone. Nothing will be left of me. Just the red thing. And you, alone with it."

"Maybe I would prefer the red fucking thing instead of you," Richard shouted, forgetting his promise about keeping his mouth shut. 

Eddie didn't reply. 

"There is nothing after you, Ed. You need serious help, man. Therapy. Your family. Something I can't give you. I'm not qualified to deal with this. I don't want to deal with this. I'm exhausted, Ed."

Eddie didn't reply. 

Richard let out a heavy sigh, and collapsed into the chair. 

"Do you want me to stay with you? In case the red thing comes back?"

"Yes," Eddie whispered. 

Richard scrubbed a hand down his face. 

Finally, it speaks. 

Richard almost laughed at that thought within his head, and was glad that he didn't. He suddenly felt like crap, wishing that he could take back some awful words that he had let slip out. It was now becoming an endless cycle, waking up every night to attend to his friend, who was on the brink of madness. He knows that he should be patient, show his love and support for him, but he didn't think it would be this hard. 

Richard leaned over, clasping his hands together, waiting for his friend to fall asleep. He eventually did, his snores echoing softly. Richard stood up, careful not to make a sound. He let out a small gasp when he heard something by the window. He whirled around, only to find a tree branch gently knocking against the window. He looked down at his friend, grateful to see that he was dead asleep. 

The lively Eddie that Richard once knew now looked like a corpse, like he had emerged from his own grave. 

Sometimes he believed that it was better for his friend to have died in that accident, to be with the two people that he loved most in the world. 

Richard covered his mouth, holding back his own sobs. 

---

End of Chapter One 

This is going to be another horror miniseries. I hadn't done one in a long awhile, and I thought it would be cool to start off the new year with a new horror tale!

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn