The Wendigo

The sun was starting to set. Normally, as it fell beyond the mountain-lined horizon, the flaming star painted the sky a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, pinks, and occasionally blues. But today... it was grey. A solemn, cool grey. The bleak color dyed the meadow, the long grass, and the emaciated trees nearby into something edging on the brink of ominous. What little wind there was made the grey grass whisper and the skeletal trees rattle. I could hear no birds, no crickets, no frogs, or the squeaks of bats. Not even an owl. If I concentrate, I don’t think I could have heard my own heart.

“Jenna!” Taking my eyes off the monochromatic dusk, I turned to see my mother. She was calling me. She stood in the doorway of our home, a cigarette in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Even in the darkening atmosphere, I can see her worry. I don’t blame her.

“I’m going for a walk!” I shouted back at her. There was a staticky feeling on my skin like my nerves were on end. I didn’t hear her call back as I started to head through the meadow. With careful steps, I evaded the rare small thicket of brambles and stepped over the bleached bones of what was once a deer. The skull was missing.

The entrance to the woods was a small arch of finger-like branches, leading a worn trail etched narrow in the ground from many walks past taken. Entering, I inhaled, smelling the faint smell of leaf and wood rot, damp earth and cold air. And something coppery.

Inside the small copse of trees, the greyness deepened, slowly encroaching onto black. Normally, I enjoy the silence and the coolness of the woods, but something is off. The damp leaves decaying under my boots muffled my steps as my hair was tugged by vein thin branches. The staticky feeling was strong again, I couldn’t ignore it.

The night was encasing the woods, rendering me blind. Hell, I can’t even see where my path was. the soft snapping of twigs was loud. They might as well have been popping finger joints. Or the breaking of bones.

Leaning onto a tree, a white ash if I remember, I slid down to the litter of the woods, taking in the breath that was the night. I can follow the path home with ease, I’ve done it before. Dozens of times. But something kept me on the ground.

From my spot, I can see the sickle shape of the apricot moon peeking through the orifices of the woodland canopy. The stars were gone, blocked by pale blue/grey clouds that hung thin as gossamer, delicately trying to hide the infant moon. But it wasn’t enough light.

“Fuck...what am I doing?” I muttered to no one but myself. Then I heard something. Standing, I closed my eyes to focus, trying to find the sound.

It sounded like laughter, cackles and hoots echoing in the woods. It took a minute, but I found the right direction and began walking once more.

The brush of the woods grew thicker, brambles tugging at my hair and skin, cockleburs sticking to my clothes and damp poison oak scraping itchy red line on my exposed arms. The hooting and cackling grew louder. The sound was raising the hairs on my neck.

As I grew closer to the laughter, I saw faint light peeking through. It didn’t flicker, so it wasn’t a fire. But why would there be light here? Our neighbor, our only neighbor, lived right across the road from us. There was no one else for miles. There wasn’t even a road.

Something told me to crouch, so I dropped to the damp earth, taking extra caution to sneak up on whoever was laughing.

I got to the last bush, and carefully, so carefully, I peeked through the fingerling brambles.

In front, there were people.

There was a woman, her hair lanky and straight from neglect. She stood naked, throwing her head back and cackling as her grey body, bone thin, swayed as she stomped around like a dancer. Hanging from her breasts were long scars, claw marks, that ran over her nipples, one of those delicate bits of nerves torn off and revealing a flat orb. She held more scars across her stomach, her arms and even between her thighs. When she turned, there were more claw marks pocking her buttocks, and strips of leather still holding hair, draping down her back like a demented tail.

There was a man as well, he danced along with her cackling, hooting like an ape as long strips of leather swung from his arms. On the top of his head was the top part of a deer skull. Antlers and all. The bone was dark from dirt and wear-and-tear. He was also naked. His arms were lacking fat, but wielding intense, dehydrated muscle. The antlers on his head bobbed as he did, along with strips of thin bone around his ankles and wrists.

Then, the woman spoke.

“Oh, A feast! A feast! Such tender meat! Fat women, marbled flesh! Tender and sweet!” she cackled as she continued her dance. The man grunted and reached out, grabbing the bony woman by her reedy waist. She hissed as he then pinned her to the ground, biting her with what I could see were filed teeth, deep into her shoulder. She shrieked, laughing as he then used long fingers with ragged nails to part her leg and enter her. The man was animalistic, more so than the woman as he rutted and panted, still holding her in his mouth. She cackled again and leaned up, biting his neck in return.

“I have to get out here.” With them busy, I slunk on back through the woods, holding my breath as the bushes rustled faintly. I hope the two thought it was the wind. From the sound of the continuing fucking, they paid little mind.

I stayed crawling, quiet and careful, until I reached the meadow once more. Standing, I made a fast-pacing walk to the house, stumbling over the deer bones and tripping once by a small burrow hidden in the grass.

I reached the edge of the main yard, finally inside some light. My mother was sitting on the porch, her cigarette was gone, and a glass of watery tea settled in front of her.

“Jenna? Are you okay?” she asked, standing up to walk on over to me, concern on her gentle face. As she grabbed my hands, only then did I realize I was shaking from what I had just seen.

“Baby, what happened?” she asked. I let out a shuddering breath.

“Mom, something is wrong in the woods.” I whispered out, slowly allowing myself to sink into my mother’s warm embrace.

“Jenna, Jenna,” all the nerves on my body lit up as I turned slowly to see a creature staring back from the dark.

“Baby girl? Who is that?” Mama asked. I took in a deep breath.

The creature was crouched over, with long arms and even longer legs. Its head was triangular, large, with black-on-black-on-black eyes. Those eyes were large, taking over much of its face. Those eyes were empty holes, sucking in all the light. The skin was grey. A grey not too unlike the people in the woods, There was a pair of familiar antlers on the top of its head.

“...hello?” I called out, already taking steps toward the house. But I kept my eyes on the creature.

“Mom, go inside.” I urged.

“Mom, mama, mommy...” I felt the slip of ice down my back as the creature spoke with my voice.

“Mom, please. Go inside.” I pleaded. I then took a breath to speak.

“What do you want?” I shouted. The creature then stood, towering up to 10 feet. It was so tall, with bones poking out through tissue-like skin. Behind the creature, stood the woman. I felt myself pale as she then let out a cackle.

The creature then roared; deep, bellowing, echoing through the dark night.

And I ran. I was still a good distance from my home.

Behind me, the creature roared again, I could hear it running in deceitfully heavy steps, so fast as I screamed.

“Mom! Mom! Head inside! Please! Run!” I screamed as the creature roared again.

A heavy, dull pain erupted from my shoulders, causing me to fall and twist to face the creature. It was so tall, in the darkness I could barely make out the skull-shaped head as it opened its mouth.

Rows and rows of wolf-like incisors lined it's rotting black maw, the teeth snapping at me. It was teasing me. I felt something tacky and warm oozed from my back. I screamed, and the creature screamed back. In my voice. With a grunt, I kicked its bone thin leg, snapping it like a stick and scrambled to my feet. I kept on running.

The creature screamed in my voice, the sound distorting as other people’s terrified voices bled on through. I kept on running.

“Jenna! Hurry!” wasting no time, I ran past my mother, slamming the door shut and locking it. My heart was pumping as I then dragged the heavy table over to the door, blocking it as the creature did its best to ram it.

“Jenna, your back...” My mother gasped. I paid her no mind as I kept on piling heavy objects onto the table; cast iron pans, crock pots, dog food, and bags of rice. Anything. I took a step back, flinching every time that creature tried to break through the door. After a few minutes, the banging stopped.

“Sweetie, your back.” I then let out a sharp hiss as my mother removed the remains of my shirt, revealing my back. Using the mirror we had in the kitchen, I spotted five large gouges, some of them revealing pink bone, going down my back from my shoulders to the top of my buttocks.

“Mom, call the cops. Please.” I asked, putting my shirt back on. My mother nodded and moved for the phone.

Then the lights went out.

Panic sparked through me as more banging began. But this time from the front of the house. I ran, arming myself with one of my kitchen knives as thin, long arms pushed the door open, revealing the creature. It caught my eye, and grinned, revealing every yellow tooth in its crooked jaw. It then opened its mouth and screamed. But I didn’t recognize the voice this time. Something was wrong.

I screamed back as the beast rushed past me, knocking me into the wall as it pounced onto my mother, using its jaws to tear into her collarbone and shoulder.

“Mom!” I screamed, jumping on its bony back, stabbing it as hard as I could with my knife. The beast bellowed and bucked, but did not let go of my mother. I didn't hear her make a sound.

The creature then bucked me off, making me land on my back with my own bellow. It kept on eating my mother. Using the wall, iIstood and let out a shrieking cry as my mother’s head was ruthlessly removed from her shoulders; the creature used a long black tongue to lap up spinal fluid and blood from her body.

I leaped again, screaming as I stabbed the creature. Again, and again. I kept on screaming, kept on stabbing, not letting up as the creature howled and cackled as it tried to use its long fingers to pull me off. I bit one of those said fingers, as hard as I could, snapping the bone inside.

With a final shout, I buried my knife into the hard skull, the creature finally fell to the ground, limp. I kept on stabbing, turning the grey mush oozing out into a bony, brothy sludge.

The rage fell out of me as I sobbed, I screamed as I gazed onto my mother’s head, her kind face contorted into a silent scream. I pressed my head onto the floor, screaming out my rage, my grief, and despair.

With a shock, I stiffened as I recalled something: the creature I killed...

“Where are the antlers?” I asked myself.

I stood and ran outside, heading for my neighbors. I could have wept with joy as I saw my neighbors, a pair of brothers who usually came over often for coffee and pie, running towards me, armed with a rifle each.

I ran into the older brother, screaming as He pulled me in. The younger brother kept his gun leveled to his eye as he marched inside.

“We have to...we have to go!” I stammered. The younger brother came out, pale.

“Jenna, Jenna. It’s okay. The creature is dead.” he tried to comfort me.

“No! You don't understand!” I shouted, turning to see the very creature rise from behind the house, a pair of white antlers peeking out of its head. Its voidlike eyes were focused not on me this time, but the younger brother.

“What the fuck?” the older one said as the creature opened its mouth and screamed in my own voice once more.

“There are two...”