Rotting Souls

by Sara Clancy

  “Put your foot here,” Zack instructed, tapping a small stump left after a branch had broken off.

  Benton did as he was told and found the next few feet a lot easier to scale.

  “Good. Hand over there. No, the other branch, that one won’t hold your weight.”

  True to his word, the bug-infested wood crumbled under Benton’s fingers, spilling crawling insects along his sleeve. Benton ignored them as he followed Zack’s cues. The muscles of his back screamed and twitched as he worked his way up. Icy air froze his lungs as he began to pant. Sweat cooled against his skin, numbing his fingers and feet. Zack had to pull him up the final bit to bring him onto the same branch as Meg. She gripped him tight to keep him from falling.

  “Thanks,” he said between gulped breaths.

  Zack nodded, patted his shoulder, and squeezed in between Nicole and the trunk. Danny had a third branch to herself. One that hung over the path and swayed slightly in the breeze. Each one turned their headlamps off, and then there was nothing left to do but wait. They sat within the dank cold, eyes straining against the darkness. Soft breezes came without warning, trembling the leaves, allowing small gaps of moonlight to penetrate the canopy. Each time the wind died, they were thrust back into the oppressive darkness, left to jump at every slight snap of twigs.

  Benton’s eyes widened when a new sound joined the patter of rain. A rustle and scrape. It was a noise he recognized from a hundred dreams. When, living in another’s skin, he had dragged a corpse through the undergrowth. In the stillness of the forest, it was easy to track the sound as it drew closer. The wind blew again, pushing at the leaves and casting aside the shadows.

  Benton clenched his jaw until the teeth threatened to crack. Even then, he barely managed to keep in his scream. A gigantic, gnarled monstrosity dragged itself below their hiding place. At least seven feet tall, it had the torso of a naked woman, with long sinewy arms tipped with claw-like fingernails. Its lower body was a trunk. Thick and sturdy, the base gathering the dead leaves at it moved. Its head was topped with a mangled mess of vines, each one as black and charred as its hands. Mold stained bark replaced its skin.

  Its upper body was in constant motion at it glided under them. Arms and head swaying gracefully before, without warning, it jerked and twitched, a violent spasm that brimmed with murderous rage. A few times its head snapped backward. Roots burrowed in and out of its skull – a horde of twisted snakes that destroyed all but the shattered fragments of its teeth. It continued without noticing them, the dragging sound dwindling until Benton couldn’t hear it at all. They all remained as they were, clutching to the tree and desperately trying to smother their petrified sobs.

  He didn’t know how long they were staring at him before he noticed. When he did, he squeezed his eyes shut, searching everything within him for a trace of something that wasn’t his own, trying desperately to tap into the emotions of the dead around him and learn if the beast was gone.

  It never occurred to him that it would work.

  Suddenly the floodgates opened. A torrent of emotions, memories, and sensations crushed down upon him, rushed through him, swept him away until he could barely keep a grasp of his own consciousness. A hard thump brought him back. The air rushed from his lungs, leaving him gasping as he tried to make sense of the sudden pain.

  “Benton,” Nicole whispered as she clambered down the tree.

  It was only when she was kneeling by his side that it clicked.

  “I fell.”

  “Yeah, you did.” She was already patting him down, sure hands searching for broken bones. “Are you in any pain?”

  There was pain. Countless lifetimes of it, echoing through his mind and rolling within his skin. But none of it belonged to him.

  “A little sore,” he almost mouthed.

  “Is it gone?” Meg asked from the shadows. “Benton, is it gone?”

  “This is all moss,” Danny came out of nowhere to say. “I think it broke his fall.”

  “Guys,” Zack hissed.

  Benton wavered as he pulled himself back onto his feet. “It’s gone.”

  Even in their panic, no one dared to raise their voice above a whisper.

  “What the hell was that thing?” Zack demanded.

  “Do you think it could see us?” Danny added.

  Nicole’s jaw dropped. “Oh, God. Is that what Mr. Ackerman is turning into?”

  The twins and Zack paused long enough to look confused.

  “The ghost in Benton’s barn,” Nicole almost snapped. When she continued, she focused on Benton. “You said that he’s becoming almost plant-like. Could that be what he’s turning into?”

  Benton didn’t know where the answer came from, but there wasn’t a shadow of doubt in his mind. “Yeah.”

  “Can that thing kill?” Nicole asked softly.

  While he racked his brain, he couldn’t find an answer for her. Whatever door he had opened within himself was closed again. And with it, all that had forced its way inside was draining back into oblivion. He could only shrug.

  Determination set her jaw. “Let’s not wait around to find out.”

  The others went to collect the bags while Nicole slipped under Benton’s arm, taking on some of his weight. Even that was enough to make his head spin. He clung to her as they started to move. The hands returned in greater numbers than before, clawing at the trees until the sound of crunching bark drowned out all other sounds. The hands reached for them as they passed, twisting up in their jackets, trying to tug them closer. Benton yanked his arm away and rotten skin peeled from brittle bones. Rancid blood bubbled free, slicking his clothes and aiding the next escape.

  Meg held the map so tightly that she almost tore it in two, refusing to loosen her grip even as the hands ripped her hair from her scalp and left streaks of blood over her jacket. She led the way up an incline, surging forward all the harder as the ghosts tried to keep her back. The others kept on her heels, barely a step behind. She reached the peak of the hill and checked her map once more. A sudden crack resounded over the noise around them and Meg vanished.

  Danny screamed for her sister an instant before she, too, disappeared. Benton trained his light on the ground, realizing a moment too late that it wasn’t solid earth. A tangled mass of vines and branches had covered the hole. It snapped under his weight and he dropped. His battered back smacked against the wall of the hole. The raw earth turned into a muddy slide by the constant rain. Flying, he drove his hands into the wall and dug in his feet, trying to slow his descent.

  Hitting the bottom came with a loud splash and a wave of filthy water. Momentum took him under the frigid water. He thrashed wildly, barely able to think as the cold ravaged him. Getting his feet under him, he stood, only to have his boots sink a few inches into the muck. His headlamp flickered as the wires fried and died with a hiss. The water frothed and Zack plummeted down to join them, narrowly missing hitting Meg in the head. While barely a few feet separated them, without their lights he couldn’t make out their faces.

  “I’m stuck,” Meg said. “Can anyone move?”

  Every attempt to move sucked at his feet, drawing him a half inch deeper. When the water was lapping under his arms, he gave up.

  “No.”

  Danny growled as she failed to pull her feet from the muddy bottom. Zack had tried to climb the wall only to fall back.

  “Hold on,” Benton squinted into the gloom. Panic suddenly burned like coals in the pit of his gut. “Where’s Nic?”

  They all came to the same sudden conclusion. She’s trapped underneath.

  The water bubbled and frothed as they frantically searched under the surface. Benton stretched until his joints threatened to pop. For all the strain, he couldn’t find her. His pulse quickened in his veins until his head was spinning. Only when the lack of air threatened to knock him out did he give up the search and resurface. Gasping for air, he wiped the mud from his face and was about to duck back down when he heard Meg scream.

  “
I found her! She’s not moving!”

  His heart missed a beat as a red light washed down on them from above. Jerking his face up, he peered into the glare.

  “Are you guys okay?” Nicole called down.

  In confusion, they all turned to see what had confused Meg. By the soft light, he found the teenaged girl tightly embracing a decaying corpse. Her scream broke the stunned stillness. Still shrieking, she tossed it aside, driven mad with the need to get as far away from it as possible.

  “Don’t lose it!” Benton declared.

  His hip spiked with agony as he lunched forward, half drowning himself before he managed to latch onto the corpse and drag it back to the surface. Its arm popped off in his haste and he scrambled to find it in the dirty water. In the end, he had to keep it pressed against his chest, its bloated skin busting in his hands. He didn’t have time to dwell on that when, upon straightening, he found that his struggle had made him sink. He now had to tip his head back to keep his face above the water.

  “Nicole?” he called, desperation tinging his voice. He sunk an inch deeper. “Nicole!”

  “I’m right here,” she said, her voice marked with a small flurry of droplets. It was all distorted to him, given the water sloshing into his ears. “Don’t worry; I’m going to get you guys out.”

  “How did you not fall in?” Danny demanded.

  “I jumped,” she replied. “Why didn’t any of you try and get out of the way?”

  “Nicole!” Benton bellowed, choking on a mouthful of foul water that trickled past his lips. “I’m sinking!”

  “Is that a dead body?”

  “Drowning!”

  “Right. Sorry. I’m on it. Zack, can you take off your bag? There’s some rope in the outer pocket.”

  Zack hurried to comply. “You packed rope?”

  “Who on earth would go into the woods without a rope?” her reply came as she ducked out of sight.

  Heavy thuds rattled the unstable walls of the pit. Nicole came and went, collecting heavy branches and arranging them across the gap, building an uneven but hopefully reliable platform. When she was satisfied with her work, her headlamp peeked over the edge, casting the pit in a crimson glow.

  “Toss me the rope,” she called down.

  Zack had managed to retrieve the rope, but actually getting one end up to Nicole proved to be harder. Benton watched him try and fail a few times as he continued to slip down.

  “The end’s too light,” he grumbled with mounting frustration.

  Not willing to risk opening his mouth and let the water in, Benton thrust the broken limb at him.

  “What the hell, man?” he roared.

  “Tie the rope around it,” Nicole explained.

  The added weight helped Zack to reclaim his title as the best pitcher in southern Alberta. In one smooth motion, he hurled the limb with strength and procession. It sailed past Nicole’s waiting hands. The rope snagged on a protruding hunk of wood, forcing the arm to loop around it over and over. In the end, it needed very little intervention from Nicole to properly secure it.

  “Come on, Benny-boy,” Zack said.

  Benton pushed the corpse out first, much to Zack’s horror. But he understood quickly enough. If this was the remains of one of the killers, they couldn’t afford to lose it.

  “At least pull your feet out,” Zack hissed between his teeth.

  He thrust the end of the rope at him and returned to rummaging through the hiking bag again, looking for the body bags that Nicole had promised were in there. Benton wrapped one arm around the body’s torso and coiled the rope around his other forearm, remembering his injury a moment too late. Clenching his teeth, he yanked, pulling up with all his might and constantly squirming his feet. Slowly, then all at once, the muck released his boots. A pained cry cracked out of his throat. Relief flashed through him as he let the rope unravel and flopped back, floating as best he could.

  “Meg, Danny,” Zack noted, still shoving his way through his bag. “You guys get up there while we sort this out.”

  Annoyance and hope fought for dominance on Danny’s face. “I can help. I’m not squeamish.”

  “But you’re short. We’ll last longer than you,” Zack replied. “Not to mention that Nicole’s going to need help to get these packages up.”

  Danny still hesitated.

  “She’s alone up there,” Benton said, spitting out the water that worked its way into his mouth.

  The possibility of diseases played across his mind, but he forgot about it in the wake of Danny’s reluctant agreement. Benton watched as the sisters quickly and efficiently climbed their way up.

  “I never thought gym class would come in handy,” Benton noted between controlled breaths.

  Zack snorted, then crowed in victory as he produced the body bags. Between the two of them, they gathered the corpse, tucked it safely inside the zip-up plastic, secured the rope around it, and sent it up. A scream followed an instant later. The boys snapped their faces up, instantly calling for the girls. The red glow of Nicole’s headlamp flickered rapidly. In the last gasps of light, Benton spotted the severed edge of the rope toppling limply into the pit.

  Chapter 14

  Nicole spun, the twigs of her makeshift platform crunching under her back as she fell upon it. With both hands and locked elbows, she held her rifle as a bar above her. It was barely enough to keep the monster’s wooden fangs from slashing open her flesh.

  The forest had claimed this lost soul as it had the other. Infesting it. Turning the incorporeal flesh into solid wood. Planting her feet against the half-man’s chest, she pushed up with all of her limbs, trying to keep the snapping jaws from her throat. Unlike the other they had seen before, this one was tiny. An inch shorter than herself. But its weight was crushing. Her legs trembled and her arms threatened to buckle.

  “Nicole!” Meg shouted.

  Primal instinct had spared Nicole once again, allowing her to turn just as the monster lunged from the darkness. Meg and Danny had stumbled back but quickly regained their footing.

  “Help her,” Danny ordered her sister while shoving the body bag a few inches from the mouth of the pit. “I’ll get the boys.”

  Out of the corner of her eyes, Nicole saw Danny loom over the rim while her sister snapped her rifle up. With one last solid shove, Nicole flattened herself against the twigs. A shot rang out. Bark hit Nicole’s face like shrapnel, but the monster didn’t relent. Snarling in fury, it threw its weight down, buckling Nicole’s legs and bringing its jaws an inch from her face.

  Suddenly, the monster’s head cracked in two, splitting down the center until only its lower jaw kept the pieces together. The sides of its head clattered together as it twitched and swayed, the noise almost covering the sound of the second arrow. The mental tipped shaft exploded through the monster’s right shoulder, stopping just before it would have buried into her flesh. Hissing in rage, it turned to glare with unseeing eyes into the forest. High amongst the trees, illuminated by the shifting moonlight, crouched the Baykok. The tip of his arrow glistened as he took aim. Nicole screamed, allowing her left arm to go slack while she threw herself to the right. The monster stumbled, the quick lurch bringing its body between her and the arrow.

  The Baykok leaped from the tree as Meg took aim. Racing amongst the trees, it narrowly avoided all four of Meg’s shots as it circled the pit, working its way behind Danny. Flat on her stomach and arms full of the second body bag, Danny couldn’t even twist enough to keep the Baykok in sight. Meg dropped her now empty rifle and sprinted to her sister, collapsing onto the mud beside her. Danny’s rifle was still strapped to her back. It made it impossible to get a decent shot, but the attempt had the Baykok increasing his arch, pushing back a few feet to hide amongst the ferns.

  Then it vanished.

  With a grunted hiss, the monster of wood and flesh surged forward, slithering rapidly across the muddy earth on its belly to crash into the undergrowth. Towering trees cracked and swayed, trembling violently as
the two demonic forces collided. Nicole rolled up onto her feet and jumped from her improvised platform, swooping down to retrieve Danny’s discarded rifle as she hurried to join the group. Two body bags were stacked beside the sisters, each one containing a lump that seemed far too small to be the hellish couple she remembered. Benton and Zack weren’t with them.

  “They’re too heavy,” Meg said before Nicole could ask the question. “They keep snapping the branches.”

  “All three of us can hold it,” Nicole said.

  Savage screams followed the Baykok as it was tossed from the foliage. Flipping in the air, it landed on its feet, mud and grass gathering at its heels as it slid to a stop. The wooden monster followed in a blur, moving on its stomach like a crocodile over the flooded earth. The monsters clashed and tumbled back out of the reach of the moonlight.

  “Hurry,” Nicole gasped.

  Benton’s voice had her leaning over the edge.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Earplugs!” Both boys bellowed in unison.

  Her eyes widened as she hurled herself up. “Run!”

  The three girls fled from the rickety platform, seeking shelter in the trees as the banshee’s wail demolished the night.

  It was unlike anything she had ever heard. An almost physical force that threw her to the ground. The shrill scream rose in pitch as it grew louder, climbing the scales until it reached a crimpling note. Falling to the ground, she clawed at her ears, caught between two primal instincts. Block her ears and rip them from her skull to make it stop. The air itself vibrated. Raindrops shattered in midair. A fine tremble shook the loose earth. It crumbled into the pit, widening the hole, sucking in trees and forcing the girls to crawl further away or follow them.

  Blinding light filled Nicole’s vision. Her body separated from her mind. The two occupying the same space but never touching the other. She blinked sluggishly and rolled aimlessly with every attempt to move. A muffled sound approached. Somewhere, with haze, she was sure the Baykok had come to claim her. But the stunned haze of her mind kept her from caring.