Jorogumo (part 4 of 4)

CHAPTER 4: IAN

Matt wondered for quite some time. He had no one to console him; no one to untwist the warped thoughts in his head. Hunger, thirst, and his thoughts had slowly been driving him mad. What he would give to see his Susan again. What he would give just to see sunlight again. He thought about all the pain he caused others...all the pain he caused himself. He thought about what would happen to him immediately after he pulled that trigger. But mostly, he thought about his little girl.

For what seemed like an eternity he walked, drowning in his thoughts like quicksand until they suffocated him. He was completely broken. He looked down his rifle once again, his finger on the trigger. He just wanted it all to end.

Until suddenly he heard a crash behind him. Slowly he turned and his eyes landed upon a deer about 60 yards from him. It had a huge rack and was completely white. For some reason, Matt had crossed paths with the albino deer from Susan’s card again. For the first time since he saw the deer long ago in these woods, Matt felt a sense of ease and protection. He knew it was Susan. Somehow, it was her. She had saved him multiple times in this Hell, and he knew this was her again.

“SUSAN! He screamed. But as he did, the deer began jolting through the trees away from him.

"Susan come back!" Matt shouted as he began to sprint through the dense trees. "Please! I need you, come back!"

A thick, exposed root sent Matt spiraling down a steep decline. His already cut up and bleeding body grew more torn and bloody as he rolled down the hill, bouncing off tree trunks and smashing through thorny brush. When he finally landed, he had no time to gather himself. He heard someone call out his name.

"MATT?!" The male voice said. "Holy shit, is that you?"

Matt shakily raised his bleeding head up to see his caller. It was his old friend, Ian...or at least it resembled Ian.

"Are you alright? What happened to you?" Ian ran over to where Matt lay.

Matt pushed through his injuries and brought himself to a half-sitting position; his rifle raised. Ian stopped and put his hands up in the air.

"Hey, man...take it easy. It's me, Ian. We have been looking for you."

A smile crept onto Matt's face. His lips were bright red from a missing tooth and his bent nose trickled out red ooze; a surprise it wasn't gushing out by the sight of it. Clumps of dirt and grass were embedded in his wild hair.

"Oh really?" Matt spoke. "Now I know you're not real. Don’t play this game again!"

"What are you talking about? I'm right here." Ian put his hands to his chest. “And yes, we all; me, Leonard, Elaine, the police, have been looking for you for the past 5 days.”

"Ian wouldn't be looking for me. None of those guys gave a shit about me after the divorce."

"Matt...Matt we tried. We tried to help you, but you just pushed us further and further away. All you turned to was your bottle. I mean...what else could we have done?!"

A laugh erupted from Matt that sent some blood spurting out. Then, his entertained demeanor slid into a look of complete brokenness.

"I needed you guys!" Matt screamed, his breathing intensifying. "I was left with NOTHING! Not even my daughter...do you have any idea what that's like?!"

Ian felt increasingly nervous. He could tell that Matt was in a very dangerous state, both physically and mentally. "I...I could have done more. I should have done more. But you were impossible to deal with. I tried."

Matt's eyes glared through Ian's with an enraged and then menacing look. Shakily he rose to his feet. He aimed his sights directly at the middle of Ian's forehead.

"Matt...it's okay man. I'm here now. So let's get you out of here. You need medical attention. I think I saw a cabin a while back. Maybe someone is there who can help us get out of here."

At the mention of the cabin, Matt knew this was not Ian, but that demon trying desperately to pull him back into her lair. He readied himself.

And for a split second, an indescribable chill ran through the air.

Before either one of them could speak, a little girl appeared from behind a tree that was off to the side of them. It was Susan.

Ian turned his head in confusion. "Susan?!..." Ian muttered; his mouth left agape.

Susan smiled, then turned to Matt who hadn't flinched.

"It's the ghost, Daddy. Kill it!"

Not knowing what was going on, but fearful for his life, Ian began waving his hands towards his friend. "Matt....Matt that's not Susan. I don't know what that is...but I know that's not her."

"Shut up!" Matt yelled, with a red tear beginning to droop down from his bloodshot eye.

"Matt! Listen. Susan is at the police station as we speak; for her protection. No one knows where you are. You have to believe me!"

Susan began to cry. "She's lying, Daddy. Please..."

Matt turned his focus to his little girl. Their tearful eyes met each other. "I'm finally taking you home, sweetie."

Matt's head turned back toward Ian's. “This bullet’s not for me” he said. “I want to live!” Then, without hesitation, he fired. With a loud CRACK that rang throughout the surrounding area and bounced off every tree, Ian dropped to the cold ground with Matt's last bullet implanted in his head. Matt stumbled over to his daughter and they embraced themselves with a tight hug.

"Oh, Daddy, I knew you were good inside. I've missed you so much. I love you daddy." She smiled up at him, and he fell into the shimmer of her emerald eyes.

"I'm so sorry. For everything. Let's go home." He told her.

They both made their way through the forest. As they walked, their view became brighter as sunlight began to enter past the trees once again. But it was a long way back.

It soon became apparent that the trek back was going to be too much for Matt. Due to his injuries, Matt became unable to walk or stand. His vision blurred and he felt as though he was about to lose consciousness. A few steps later he fell to the ground one last time.

"Don't worry, Daddy, I'll get you back!" Susan declared.

"Whhhat...bo how?" Matt murmured. He felt rope being tied around his ankles, and then his body began to slide across the ground as the rope pulled him. This went on for quite a distance, and then in a moment of clarity, he lifted his head. In his last vision before he lost all consciousness, Matt could see the cabin just ahead of them. He thought he saw his daughter walking on eight, long, multi-jointed legs. What he thought was rope was sticky and milky white. It dragged him up the wooden steps and into the dark cabin.

Then all went black.

The next day a search party found Ian's body laying on the ground of the supposedly haunted Jorgenson Hill. An investigation ensued. With an obvious gunshot wound and a gun found on the ground, law enforcement began searching for Ian's murderer.

With his whereabouts being unknown, Matt Curtell was the prime suspect.

TO BE CONTINUED