Echoes

The stag’s eyes caught the glint of the flashlight as it ghosted through the yard.

“What in the hell,” he breathed, as his own blurry eyes blinked open, squinting to get a better look. That was a stag, alright, standing in the middle of his yard, eyes fixed towards him and staring straight down the beam. Big.

He swung the flashlight away from the stag to the left, scanning the fence surrounding his property. No holes, no busted boards -

A mass silhouetted on the corner of his fence growled low in the dark.

The shaking flash illuminated the creature - just a raccoon staring beyond the fence into the darkness. The leaves on the distant trees bowed in the dimly-lit halo - the raccoon cowered back, one paw dropping into his yard.

Damn animals. He set the flashlight back on the table and tightened the belt on his robe, stepping down off of his porch. The elk was fixed on the raccoon and didn’t seem to notice him - he could see all the points on its antlers, the soft gradient in its fur as the flashlight still shone on its coat. He didn’t turn his back from it until he rounded the corner of the porch and took three steps towards the rolling doors.

Complete silence had fallen.

The elk still stood and stared at the trees. He followed its gaze.

His feet carried him back up the steps of his porch and back through his door. Wait, shit- the flashlight. He stared at the floor and ignored the growing shadow, snatching the flashlight before slamming the door shut and locking the deadbolt. It clicked off - he scampered to the front door - already locked.

Upstairs in his bedroom, his hand hovered over the gap between the curtains. He inched closer, peeking out into the backyard. The elk was still there, and beyond that…

He closed his eyes and yanked the curtains shut. In his closet, he unlocked his rifle, loaded it, and sat in the darkness in wait.

That night, the woods were completely silent.

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There’s nothing to be scared of. She stared at the living room below and tried to think about anything other than the darkness reaching up to claw at her clothes. It isn’t real.

Twelve steps. That’s all it would take. Twelve steps to reach the light at the base of the stairs, and everything would be just fine. She’d turn on the light and nothing would be there, just like nothing was always there. She’d feel so stupid for ever thinking that there was, and she’d go about the rest of her day with no worries, just like she did every day.

Her foot hovered above the first step. Come on. I can do this. She forced it down, one at a time, until she was at eye level with the second floor.

A creak from above made her jump. “Hello? Dad?” The line of closed doors in the brightly-lit hallway gave her no answer.

Five steps.

She shut her eyes, held the bannister, and skipped steps to get to the bottom. Her hand skidded across the wall, finding the light switch and turning it on - and turning it on -

She opened her eyes. She could make out shapes of the couches and TV, and the straight-shot between the front and back doors. Still hugging the wall, she turned the corner to the front door, stepping into her shoes and grabbing -

"Hello? Dad?”

She tripped backwards, crawling back away from the door. Through the curtains, she could make out shapes - "Hello? Dad? Hello? Dad?”

She glanced to the back door - clear - before looking back again. The shapes had disappeared - only the shadows drifting through the swaying curtains gave any movement at all. She deflated, gulping down air. It was only her mind playing tricks on her again, wasn’t it?

She grabbed her backpack, but hesitated to open the front door. Silly or not… she turned around and left through the back door.

The air was cold and crisp, and the streetlights were blurry - the fog had settled in overnight. She let the gate swing locked behind her, and eyed the woods across the alleyway, trying to make out any shapes. The fog was a dense blanket, smothering the air and dampening all sounds. As she passed by a house with a candle lit in the window, she thought again, there is nothing to be scared of.

A shape darted into the woods out of the corner of her eye. She froze on the loose gravel only for a moment - whatever it was, it was gone now. She turned the corner to get onto the main road, and glanced back to the line of houses. The blue one, the white one with the big fence, the little one, then her’s -

Her eyes snapped forward. She didn’t wait for a car coming down towards the alleyway pass or stop or even see her before she bounded across the road. Distance - she needed distance - she glanced back to look again -

Nothing. All over again. She let out a sigh, falling back down to regular speeds and waving an apology at the angry driver following her. Why was she so jumpy today? This was so embarrassing… She yawned. Maybe she just didn’t get much sleep last night. There was only another block for school. She could sleep through first period, that was basically a blow-off class anyway. She watched the tail lights disappear into the distance, and looked up to the streetlamp.

Oh my god.

...

"Hello? Dad?”

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Melissa’s eyes struggled to stay open as she drove down the long stretch of backwoods roads to the cliffside. It wasn’t every day she had to wake up and drive out here when the sun was just [i]barely[/i] peeking over the far-off hills, but it also wasn’t every day that she got a call like she did this morning. Calls about the woods weren’t too out of place (people were always complaining about lost animals and camping supplies, and every once in awhile she’d have to go investigate something weirder); but the man on the other end was frantic today, exclaiming about how he’d shot someone or something that stalked his neighborhood and tore off into the woods, and about how the police were just going to laugh it off or worse.

As a park ranger who grew up in these woods, everyone knew to call her first.

She had her brights on, but that wasn’t doing anything. The sky above was just bright enough to obscure it and the dense forest on either side of the narrow, single-car road swallowed up the remainder. She was going slower than she normally would have down these roads to let her eyes scan what she could of the trees. Past the first row, the woods were too black to see anything but movement. She caught sight of an eagle above, landing on the branches of a tall tree.

Da-dunk.

She skid to a halt, pulling the jeep into park and letting her hand hover at the door. She looked into the mirror - nothing behind her. She pulled the car back into reverse, rolling back a few feet - her tires didn’t hit anything else.

Maybe it was something under her hood that had fallen and made the car jump. She’d check it later.

She started off again, even slower this time. Her jeep didn’t so much as rumble. As the forest started to thin out by the cliffs, she could hear a distant sound growing louder instead. She rolled down the window, just a crack.

A broken wail rang out, weak and strained, the same notes repeating like a tape deck. Melissa picked up speed and broke hard without warning, turning into a rocky ditch.

She stepped out of her jeep as the dust was clearing. The road had washed partly away, mud dragging red down the steep cliffside. She stepped over the small growing stream and crossed to the other side of the vantage point, looking down at the beach below.

What was that?

Laying in the mist and the red mud, pooling in a tangled, dark mess of flesh and matted feathers and twine, was a massive… thing. Whales didn’t have feathers, or limbs, but it had to be as big as some of the carcasses that had washed up ashore before. The wailing was coming from it, heavy groaning and spluttered coughing mixing with the sea water as the waves rocked and battered against it. The stench of blood and rot was overpowering the salty air.

Melissa knew the way down to the shore, but hesitated. Dread lingered in the air. Was this creature what the man on the phone had seen? Had no one else noticed this behemoth?

”He… heeel....” The creature’s voice, grunting and labored, made sounds that sounded like words in a horribly familiar voice. Melissa’s stomach dropped. She darted down to the side of the mountain, a long trail of boulders and wood to try to make a pathway. ”Hhhhhhhhhhhh...”

She watched the creature as she jumped down whenever the pathways linked. One hulking arm clawed at the sand in vain, leaving deep crimson valleys with creatures running in its wake. Desperate. “Lllllllllllloo....”

She made it to the beach, started running as the waves finally overtook the creature, pouring into the sand all around it. One eyeball peeked out at her, the size of her torso. It blinked shut again lazily as the water crashed over it, foam further blurring its form.

Melissa stopped where she was, panting, recognizing that there was truly nothing she could do. The creature twisted as it was pulled out to sea, thrashing violently, sets of jaws opening into the water in an attempt to scream.

The sense of dread and urgency faded as she stopped being able to see the creature ahead. She watched the waves bob. A shape rolled underneath the buoys.

Melissa breathed out, and started the trudge back up the cliffside. She knew better than to question the things she saw in the forest.

Still, she couldn’t help but think that voice sounded like her daughter’s.