North Mountain Creature

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years but one night, a candle burned in the window. The forest ranger feverously tried to wrap gauze around her bleeding arm by candlelight. She shook so badly she couldn't hold the scissors to cut the gauze.

Everyone was dead. She couldn’t stop seeing their faces. The images kept flashing through her mind - gored bodies, lifeless eyes, expressions frozen in fear. There was so much blood.

She couldn’t patch up her arm in the dark and risked lighting a candle. She went over to the window to use the moonlight to light the wick and began wrapping her wounds. There wasn’t much in the cabin, just some survival gear the rangers stored for emergencies.

The cabin itself was a small one room affair with cobwebs in the corners and some rickety forgotten furniture. It was dark and dim and felt too small.

There was no way off the mountain, the spring thaw had swollen the river and taken out the bridge. She was stuck on this godforsaken mountain with that awful creature.

She’d heard stories about it growing up but they were just stories around a campfire. Everyone talked about the creature that stalked these woods, but they were just tales. The creature was far worse.

She became a park ranger to help preserve the forest and the animals in it. Her father had gotten lost and died in these woods. She wanted to make sure no kid would have to go through what she went through.

Now there was a ranger station full of her dead coworkers and she was patching herself up in the old Roosevelt cabin. From where she sat, she could see the clearing around the cabin in the moonlight and the woods stretching out into the darkness. She knew it was out there.

***

When she pulled into the parking lot earlier that evening, she’d been mentally preparing herself for the month ahead. The rangers on North Mountain rotated a month on and a month off throughout the year.

She got out of her car and was unloading her gear when she felt something watching her. She looked around. Nothing but trees and forest. She moved out from in between the cars toward the station and looked around again.

The small ranger station sat nestled at the base of North mountain. There was a large asphalt parking lot to accommodate a busy summer season. The gravel road she drove up was on her left and the yellow light spilled from the ranger station windows.

She shrugged and walked up to the front door of the station and went inside. There were always two rangers on the mountain, and she was the last one to show up that night for shift change. She clocked in and went to the desk she shared with two other rangers.

“Hey Jen, I wasn’t sure you were gonna make it,” Craig said cheerfully.

“I almost didn’t, I thought the river was going to swallow me whole,” Jen laughed. She shook the uneasy feeling from the parking lot and sat down. The other two rangers filled her and Craig in on activity for the past month.

“More large creature sightings,” her supervisor, John, said. “You know, for how many sightings there’ve been you’d think we’d have a better description than ‘large’ and ‘furry’.”

“Maybe it’s a guy in a Bigfoot costume trying to get his rocks off by scaring people,” Craig suggested.

The senior ranger made a face. “Well, I wish he would do it on someone else’s mountain. That’s all I have for you guys.”

“It looks like the bridge might not last this thaw, do we have any plans to fix it?” Jen asked as her supervisor and his partner prepared to leave.

“I noticed that too. I spoke to the state department and they said they’ll open it up for bidding this week. I just hope it’s not too late,” her supervisor said.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside. The rangers all moved at once to the windows and door. They heard snarling and scuffling, but couldn’t see out into the parking lot in the failing light.

“What the hell is that?” Craig asked.

“It sounds like dogs fighting,” Jeff, youngest ranger, answered.

“Or wolves,” Jeff said. “I had someone say they’d thought the creature might be a wolf, but there haven’t been wolves on this mountain in three decades.”

“Was there anyone in the parking lot . . .?” a loud bang sounded on the door. All the rangers drew their pistols and backed away from the door. Jeff moved to his desk and bought a rifle out from under it.

More snarling was heard outside, closer this time. Then the doorknob started to turn. All the rangers froze.

The door swung open on its hinges, spilling light onto the concrete porch.

After a moment, the rangers tore their eyes away from the door and looked at each another. Craig started forward slowly, he was closest to the door. He reached his hand out to push the door closed but just before his fingers touched the wood a large dark brown animal blurred into the room and tackled John to the ground.

He fired a single shot that went into the ceiling tiles but the thing tore into his neck and shoulder. He went down with a yell that ended in a gurgle. Blood spurted out of the wound and John lay still.

The remaining rangers started firing but it didn’t make any difference to the beast. It was huge. Its head was shaped like a wolf but it was all wrong. It had nightmarish jaws with teeth the size of Jen’s fingers and were dripping with John’s blood. It stood up on its hind legs and its arms were too long. It crouched suddenly and lept onto Jeff who tried to swing the rifle up but the creature landed on him in a heap, crashing behind Jeff’s cubicle. The whole attack took about three seconds.

Jeff shrieked once and then there was nothing.

Craig and Jen scrambled for the storeroom and slammed the metal door behind them.

“Help me!” Jen said as she grabbed a shelf to block the door. They toppled the storage shelf down across the door, resting on the opposite wall, blocking it diagonally.

“I don’t think that’ll stop it,” Craig’s voice shook. “We gotta get out of here.”

“My Jeep,” Jen said, breathing heavily. “My Jeep’s just outside.”

“You got your gun?” Craig asked. He moved to the back door and opened it a crack. He looked through but didn’t see anything.

“Yeah,” Jen said. “I don’t think we’ll make it.”

“We’ll run at the same time, we’ve gotta try.” Craig looked at her. He looked as scared as she felt. She gave him a quick nod. They slipped out the door and ran for her Jeep. Fifty feet . . . thirty feet . . . they were almost there. A shadow passed over them and tackled Craig to the ground.

Jen shot the creature point-blank and the thing slashed at her, slicing her arm open. She ran for the Jeep and got inside. She was shaking so badly she couldn’t find the ignition keyhole. She looked back at Craig only to see his gored body and head turned toward her with open eyes, the creature still on top of him. The creature looked at her with feral yellow eyes.

Jen threw the Jeep in gear and sped out of the parking lot. She was driving too fast. The Jeep careened around the gravel road as she stomped the accelerator. The bridge was just around the next bend.

She came around the bend and smashed the brakes, the Jeep just barely stopping in time. Out in front of her, the river surged past. The bridge was gone. There were only a few boards protruding into the darkness like bones from a carcass.

“Fuck!” Jen screamed. There was no way out. She looked around in all her mirrors and windows as if the creature would come looming out of the darkness. She thought quickly - she had to find someplace to hide from the creature. The cabin. The old cabin on the south side.

She turned the wheel and headed for the Roosevelt cabin and prayed she’d live to see daylight.

***

Shaky and tired from the adrenaline, she walked over to the window to blow out the candle. She gently blew it out and was swallowed up by darkness. She looked out into the inky dark of the forest, the moonlight turning the tops of the trees silver.

There standing at the edge of the wood was the creature. It looked at her with fiery eyes. Jen stood rooted to the spot.

She watched in horror as the creature dropped to all fours and began stalking across the clearing to the cabin. There was nowhere for her to go, nowhere to hide.

It slowly, silently, made its way to the front door. She couldn’t see it anymore but could feel its presence on the other side of the door.

“Jennifer . . .” came a raspy voice. Ice laced Jen’s veins.

It spoke.

“Jennifer . . .”

It knew her name.

“Jennifer, I’ve been waiting for you…,” the last word was almost a howl. Then she heard snarling and snapping. It sounded like something was fighting the beast outside. Jen broke from her stupor and looked for a place to hide. There was nothing in the cabin but an old wardrobe and cellar door. Both were death traps.

She grabbed the Halligan bar from the gear and stood behind the door. If the thing came through the door she could clobber it and get to the Jeep.

The painful scuffling outside had stopped but she could hear panting.

“Jennifer,” a man’s voice said. Jen froze. “Jennifer it’s me, your dad. Open the door.” Was this some kind of trick? Was she dreaming? “ . . or just listen.”

“I didn’t die out here like everyone thinks,” the voice continued. “I was attacked.”

“I was attacked at the full moon, and then I . . . changed,” the voice said. “And now you’re here. I know it’s a lot to take in, could you open the door?”

Jen was still frozen with the Halligan bar held in both hands. How did she know this wasn’t a trick? She couldn’t think of anything to say. What do you say to the creature that’s claiming to be your dead father?

“Dad..?” She squeaked out. She backed up to look out the window behind her. A nude man sat on the porch steps. He looked out into the wilderness but was listening behind him.

“Yes,” the man said. He couldn’t have heard her.

“When is my birthday?” She whispered.

“March 22nd, 1988. You were the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen,” the man said. “Your momma let me hold you after they’d cleaned you up and you just looked up at me and smiled. I was scared to death. I never should’ve gone on that camping trip, I’m so sorry.

I couldn’t go back home after I got attacked and found out what I was. I didn’t want to hurt you or your mother, so I stayed away until I got control of it. But he’s still out there. The one who made me. He attacked your coworkers.”

Jen looked at the gauze wrapped around her arm.

“They’re not dead. They’ll turn, just like I did,” her dad said sadly.

“Oh my God,” Jen whispered.

“He gave me a choice,” her father said into the darkness. “‘Either you change her or I will.’”

Jen’s eyes widened.

“But there’s another way,” her father said. “You still have your service revolver?”

“Yes,” Her voice was so quiet and small.

“If I give you the bullets, you can stop this, stop him …,” her father said. “ . . .stop me.” His voice cracked.

There was an old abandoned silver mine near the northern base of the mountain that had a lot of weird stories around it. She’d never put two-and-two together until that moment. There were werewolves that were trying to stop the settlers from mining enough silver to make ammunition.

She’d loved reading the stories when she was younger. A werewolf could be killed by inherited silver. If her father gave her silver, he was giving her the ultimate weapon against him.

“Can you control it?” Jen asked.

“No,” her father said. Jen’s eyes welled up with tears. She couldn’t do it. There was no way.

“Is it really you?” Jen said through her tears.

“Your mom’s name is Joselyn and I’ll love her ‘til the day I die,” he said. Jen let out a strangled sob. Her dad always said that whenever he introduced her mom to someone. “You always wanted to be a park ranger, ever since we went camping that summer.”

Jen had slid down the wall of the cabin and was sitting on the floor still clutching the bar. She put it down and brought her hands to her face and cried.

“Please, Jenny, please don’t cry,” her father said.

She couldn’t stop. She sat there silently with tears running down her face. It was too much. It was too much to bear.

She sniffed a few times and spied a wool blanket in the gear and moved towards it. She undid the latch on the cabin door and opened it a crack. Her dad stayed perfectly still. She came out and put the blanket around his shoulders and sat down next to him.

“Does it hurt?” She asked after a moment of silence.

“The change?” he asked, looking at her face. He was exactly how she remembered. Better even. He looked younger, healthier. “Yeah, it hurts like hell. Hurts the worst the first time, but you get used to it.

It’s really not too bad most days. We’ve got a cabin on the north side where we stay. There are seven of us right now, but Allen is always talking about expanding. Like it’s some kind of fucked up club.” His voice was bitter.

“What if I became a …wolf too,” Jen couldn’t quite bring herself to say werewolf out loud.

“No,” her dad said. “No, we only have one female and she just gets used by Allen. He’s the alpha and we can’t disobey him. I didn’t want you involved in any of this, but when you became a park ranger, he couldn’t help himself.”

“What happens if I kill him?” Jen asked. She couldn’t believe she was even considering it. She had never even been hunting.

“Then the rest of them will fight to be the next alpha and the cycle begins again,” her dad looked at her. “I don’t want this to continue. I don’t want to hurt you and your mother or anyone,” Her father said.

“Mom passed away,” Jen said in a small voice.

“Oh my god, your mother’s gone?” her father asked, incredulous. Jen just nodded. “How long ago?”

“Three years. Cancer,” Jen said. Her father’s eyes teared up and he put his face in his hands.

“I should’ve been there,” her father said.

“There was nothing you could’ve done,” Jen said.

“We need to end this, tonight,” her father said to the darkness. “I’ve -” His sentence cut off as he sniffed the air. “He’s here. Take these.”

Her father handed her a small heavy drawstring bag. “Whatever happens, just know that I love you and have always loved you and your mother. Lock yourself in the cabin and shoot anything that tries to enter.” He hunched down and started to change. Bones snapped and grew, his face elongated into a snout and a snarl ripped from his mouth.

“Go!” his voice was gravel through the snarling.

Jen spun and scrambled into the cabin, slamming the door behind her. She walked over to the rickety table and dumped the contents out of the small drawstring bag. Seven shining silver bullets rolled out. She opened her service revolver and let the plain lead and brass bullets rain to the floor.

She methodically loaded each silver bullet and clicked the barrel back in place. She put the last bullet in her pocket. She grasped the revolver in both hands and backed up to the wall with no window.

Jen looked around at all the windows. She was breathing too hard and her heart was beating too loudly in her ears. A shadow passed over one of the windows and she aimed her gun at it. She heard more snarling and snapping. Something yelped and then everything was quiet. The sudden silence was deafening.

Jen strained to hear anything. A huge furry shape crashed through one of the windows. Jen screamed and shot once. The big creature went down in heap, breathing heavily. Another shape came through the second window and she fired once. Another started crawling in the broken window. She shot it in the head and it slouched over the window pane. She was down to three bullets. Three shots. How would she know which one was the alpha?

The cabin door groaned and then was torn off its hinges and a huge wolf stood on the other side holding the door like a shield. Jen pulled the last bullet from her pocket and put it into a chamber.

Jen shot at it and caught it in the leg. The creature reeled a little and stumbled back down the porch steps into the darkness. Another creature turned into the doorway and Jen shot it in the chest. It stumbled back and went down.

Another wolf blurred into the room and she shot it in the head. It landed in a heap on the floor, blood pooling around it.

Everything was silent for a moment. Jen was looking wildly around for any sign of movement. Then she heard a voice.

“Jennifer, lay down your gun,” the voice was calm, authoritative - someone used to having their orders followed. “Lay down your gun and come outside - join me.” The voice said. There was a hint of irritation.

Jen didn’t move.

“You’ve killed all my wolves and if my count is correct, you don’t have any more bullets,” The voice said. It sounded like he was just outside and he was already bored. A human hand grasped the door frame. He held up his hand in a pacifying gesture. “I just want to talk.” He stepped out into the doorway with both hands up palms facing her.

“D-don’t come any closer!” Jen stammered. The man stopped. He was tall and nude. His eyes had a mischievous gleam and his mouth spread into an easy, charming smile. Like a cat with a mouse cornered. He was gorgeous.

“Like what you see?” he said, his eyes sparkled darkly as he let out a throaty laugh. “You can be one of us, Jen.” Jen’s eyes snapped up to his face.

“Join me. Learn what it’s like to run free in the woods, to hunt, and to howl at the moon,” Allen said. “Come with me and you’ll never want for anything again.”

“What if I say no?” Jen said.

The man chuckled and said, “Well, then I guess I’ll just have to let you go.” She didn’t believe that for a second. Suddenly the man blurred toward her and grabbed her so her arms were crossed in front of her with the gun pointing up under his chin. Her feet dangled off the floor and he held her in an iron grip.

“Or I could turn you myself,” Allen said, his canine teeth were a little too long and his eyes gleamed yellow. Ice slid down Jen’s spine and settled in her stomach. A little gibbering voice in her head was telling her to run away as fast as she could from the predator. “Since your father was too much of a coward to do it himself.”

“My father is a very smart man,” Jen managed to get out. It was hard to get a full breath.

“Oh yeah, how so? He’s dead now, how smart could he be?” Allen said as he leaned in close to her face and smelled her, hunger in his eyes. He watched the shock cross her face and smiled.

“He knows you better than you think,” Jen said. She cocked the hammer back on the gun and fired the last shot.