by Matt Shaw
I’ve just realized that everything is quiet outside. They must be taking another break before they start again. Okay...This is it. Stick to the plan. Get out. Keep watch. And then it’s my turn to scare the shit out of whoever comes in. I grabbed the gun, tucked it into my belt, and stood up. With the adrenalin back to pounding through my body, I stood up and made my way over to the seat which blocked my exit. Not quite sure how to do this...Do I do it quickly and risk making noise and making it obvious as to what I’m doing or do I try and keep it as quiet as possible? Noisy. Has to be noisy. I want them to know I’m vacating the property. Okay...Here we go...
“Leave me alone!” I yelled at the top of my lungs as I ran from the cabin, having unblocked the way to the front door. As I ran, as fast as I could, down the dirt track which I drove in on, I panicked that the gun was going to slip from where I had it hidden. The last thing I need, right now, is to drop that. I hoped that whoever would have been watching me run away would think I had left the gun inside - giving them more reason to go in; anything to get them to come out from the darkness they hid in.
As soon as I was out of view of the cabin I stopped running. I took a moment, bent forward, to catch my breath and turned back towards where I had just run. I felt that went well. I especially liked my acting abilities begging for them to leave me alone. Hopefully they bought it as I had intended them to.
I quickly walked over to the trees and stepped off the dirt track. If I’m careful, I’ll be able to sneak through the woods until I can see the cabin again. From my new, hidden, vantage point, I’ll hopefully be able to see them enter the cabin. As I crept through the undergrowth my heart was beating fast with the surge of adrenalin. Not because I’m scared. I’m not scared anymore. No. Now I’m excited. I’m looking forward to catching whoever it is and giving them a piece of my mind. If they’re willing to go to such extremes to get me out of the cabin, you can bet it was them who trashed it in the first place. Little fuckers. I wondered what the chances were of getting some money out of them to cover the damage they had caused and the necessary clean-up operations. Chance would be a fine thing.
As I crept the last few hundred yards, towards the large oak tree I had my heart set on as my lookout post, I tried desperately hard not to tread on any of the many branches and sticks which littered the muddy floor. With every ‘snap’ and ‘crunch’ I accidentally caused I increased my chances of being seen, or heard at the very least.
For this to succeed I’m going to need the element of surprise and I really, really want this to work out.
8.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been waiting here now. The only two things I’m sure about are the following - it’s damned cold out here and no one has gone into the cabin yet. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to check my watch before I got too carried away with spying on the door.
Come on, they must have seen me leave and even if they didn’t see me, they surely must have heard me running and shouting as I left. What are they waiting for?
I heard something snap behind me and span around to see what it was. Nothing there. Could have been anything. I waited a few moments more to see if anything moved in the many shadows but it was dead out here. Had it not been for all the banging, footsteps and the scream earlier - I’d have believed I was completely alone. I wished I was. Actually, no, I wished my wife was with me. I wished my wife and my children. I wished the cabin was fine and I wished, more than anything, the whole incident in the store didn’t happen. Seeing as I’m wishing for the impossible, I might as well wish for it all.
“Come on, come on, what are you waiting for?” I whispered.
They can’t have been that desperate to get in there. Maybe they were more interested in seeing if they could scare me out and they didn’t actually want the cabin for themselves? I looked at my watch in the limited light on offer. I’ll give them another fifteen minutes. No. Twenty. I’ll give them another twenty minutes, just in case they’re watching the cabin to make sure I’ve definitely gone. I don’t want to have done this for...
SNAP!
I span around again as another branch snapped behind me. I couldn’t tell exactly where it came from other than to my rear and that it sounded close. I held my breath and laid perfectly still, amongst the dead leaves and fallen branches. Could just be an animal. Could be nothing. In my mind I see the face of the boy, with the scar running the length of his neck, staring at me but I’m quick to shake it off. Ghosts don’t exist. Just an animal. I turned back to the cabin. First impressions show nothing has changed since the distraction behind me. The door is still half open, the lights are still on and, more importantly, I can’t hear the cheering or laughter of any kids who’ve succeeded in what they set out to achieve. Where are you, you little fuckers? I know you’re out there somewhere, hiding like the little cowards you are. Come on, show yourselves...
Suddenly the same haunting scream, from earlier in the night, filled my ears as though it was coming from close behind me. I span around to see if I could make out where it was coming from but was soon distracted by another scream coming from my right...And then another scream coming from my left. I jumped up and wasted no time in getting back to the dirt track. As soon as my feet touched the solid dirt of the track I started to run, as fast as I could, back towards the cabin - all the time the screams filled my ears. I pulled the gun from where I had it stashed, down my belt, and carried on running with it close to my side on the off chance anything jumped out on me.
It didn’t take me long to reach the cabin’s porch. I leapt up the two wooden steps and bounded over the porch and into the living room where I quickly span around and slammed the door shut. Seconds later the larger of the seats was across the door and I was standing at the window, peering out from behind the old, tatty curtain with my heart pounding in my throat. Seconds later, all of the screams stopped. Regardless of the silence, I stayed at the window in case I could...what the fuck...
I see it. Down in the dirt track where I had just come from. It looked like a young lad was just standing there watching the cabin. It was so dark out there it was hard to make anything else out, other than his size. I let the curtain fall back into place, blocking my view in the process, and stepped back shaking, violently, with fear.
I took a few deep breaths. I should go out there. Confront them. It’s only a lad. One of many, probably. It’s not a ghost. It’s not a ghost. Just a lad. They only want to scare me. They succeeded.
I stepped forward, back to the window, and pulled the curtain across again. The dirt track was deserted. Whoever it was had disappeared into the night. I let the curtain drop to the side and pushed the chair away from the door again. I pulled the door open and stepped onto the porch.
“Who’s out there?” I called out. “Come on, I saw you! What do you fucking want?! Money?! I have money! If that’s what you want...” I stopped speaking and gave them a chance to answer but no one spoke out. “Come on, this is stupid. I’m sure there are places you’d rather be than out here, right? Hello? Anyone?” still no one answered. “What’s the matter? You too chicken shit to face me?!” I yelled.
When it was apparent no one was going to step forward, I returned to the living room and pushed the door to. I didn’t block it this time. Instead I’ll simply sit opposite and wait for them to knock again. If there’s nothing to stop the door from opening, the force of their hand, against the wooden door panel, will expose them to me.
“There’s no one out there,” my dad had said.
Time’s have changed. There is someone out there and we’re going to have words...I went to sit on the seat, opposite the door, when I noticed a piece of cloth, on the arm of it, which wasn’t there earlier when I had been sitting there. I walked over and picked it up. On closer inspection it looked to be a piece of cloth torn from a shirt. Perhaps from a pocket you’d find on the chest area? Red ink in the corner where a pen could have leaked...I froze. I recognized the pattern on the cloth. It belonged to the store clerk’s shirt. Ho
w the Hell did it get in here? I ran through and checked the other rooms to see if any of the windows were open. None of them were. They couldn’t have come through the front door, though. They couldn’t have! I was watching it the whole time.
Unless...
I only took my eyes off the door from a split second, when I heard the snapping sound from behind me. Could they have run in and out again in the time it took for me to make sure nothing was behind me? Surely I would have heard them? Everything else, out there, was so deathly quiet. It’s practically impossible to walk on the cabin’s wooden porch without your footsteps being audible. I should know, I used to try and do it years ago when I tried sneaking up on my dad.
“The screams would be of the dead, haunting the woods as they sought vengeance for what had happened to them when they were still breathing,” my dad had told me years ago. The inmates were given jobs around the town to help with the rehabilitation program. What if the store clerk was previously one of the inmates and now his ghost had been added to the others which haunted the town? The cloth is a sign he’s come for vengeance for what happened to him? No. That’s stupid. Just my overactive, guilty imagination again poisoned with memories from my childhood. It’s ridiculous. I know who it is. It’s Josh.
Josh and his friends are probably trying to scare me out of the town completely so I don’t go to the Sheriff. Another negative thought sprung to the forefront of my mind; what if he wants to do more than scare me? What if he wants to make sure I never say anything to anyone? What if he wants to silence me permanently? He’s already shot one person and even though it was an accident, he didn’t seem very remorseful. Even less guilty when he ran for the dead store clerk’s shotgun...I’m even more grateful for having made Susan and the kids leave now. They don’t need to be part of this. If that is the case, though...If he is here to silence me for good...How come he hasn’t already done it then?
I glanced down to the gun in my hand. I don’t want to have to use this other than to scare someone away but if it comes down to it...If it’s between him and me...I’ll do what needs to be done. All I can do is sit and wait him out...Him and his friends...Hopefully nothing more, other than noises, will happen before morning and I’ll be able to get away from here and into town. Once I’m in the town I know I’ll be okay. Even better when I’m sat opposite the Sheriff in his office.
I quickly walked through the cabin closing all of the doors. I figured if they tried to sneak in through one of the windows, to surprise me, I’d hear them come through the door and be able to act accordingly. Other than that, all I can do is sit on the living room’s seat, again, and wait. If they’re going to make a move, hopefully they’ll do it sooner rather than later. I just want to get this over with. This whole nasty experience. I want it finished and as far out of my mind as someone’s dead body resting on my conscience will allow.
I sat down on the chair, opposite the door, and mentally prepared myself for what I might have to do. I didn’t have to wait very long.
BANG!
Ah, I wondered where they’d gone. It obviously took them some time to get back to behind the cabin, from after they’d surrounded me further down the dirt track. Come on, you son of a bitch, stop playing ‘ghosts’ and come say hi.
BANG!
The banging noises which bounced off the various cabin walls didn’t even bother me now. They needed to learn some new tricks. Something I hadn’t grown used to hearing in the darkness. A little part of me felt disappointed they hadn’t yet started to moan, groan and rattle chains. Everyone knows that’s what evil spirits are meant to be doing as they haunt the living.
Footsteps started to pace the front of the cabin. This is it, I thought. This is it. I raised the gun towards the door. Come on then, Josh, stick your head through the gap. I dare you. I double dare you. The footsteps didn’t stop at the door, though. They continued past it towards the other side of the cabin. I tracked them, along the wall, with my eyes looking down the barrel of the gun. They stopped. They must have reached the far end of the porch. They didn’t stop for long, though, before they about turned and walked along the wooden boards of the porch once more - following the path they had just walked down. Again I kept track of them down the gun’s barrel. I had expected them to knock on the door this time but they didn’t and I watched as a dark shadow passed between the slight gap caused by the door not being closed properly. I didn’t even call out to them. I didn’t invite them in. Although I’m not worried about doing what needs to be done...At the same time, I don’t wish to invite it.
BANG!
Another thud on the wall behind me. Meanwhile whoever paced the front, of the cabin, turned and walked back down the length of the porch once more. Big, heavy footsteps. Either Josh knew some big lads who were in need of a diet or they were purposefully stamping their feet to make the steps sound louder in here. Regardless, they aren’t coming in. They’re just trying to mess with my mind. True to form a dark shadow passed between the gap as I had expected them to. Part of me was tempted to rugby tackle them to the floor when they walked on by but I didn’t. I stayed rooted to the spot. No need for me to invite trouble.
BANG!
The more they do it, the more pathetic they’re coming across. Surely they couldn’t have honestly believed doing the same thing over and over again would be enough to get to me? Sure, to start off with, it was a little unpleasant but not now - now it’s just laughable.
The footsteps out the front stopped just as sudden as they had started. Must be draining, stamping their feet like that. They probably need a little break. If that were me, out there, organizing things then I would have had a system set up which would see a few lads take it in turn to stamp their feet. That way they would get tired less quickly.
BANG!
But then maybe there aren’t enough of them out there to make that a possibility. The footsteps started again. I tried not to laugh out loud. Okay, I guess they just needed a little more time to switch places. No doubt the one who had paced the front of the cabin a minute ago is now standing out the back ready to hit the wall with whatever it is they’re using to cause such a thud and the youth who had been out the back...Well, now he is the one pacing.
Sure enough a shadow passed the gap in the doorway.
BANG!
I smiled. The other youth has now managed to take up his position at the back of the building. Absolutely pathetic. In fact, I’ve had enough of this. I stood up and dashed out of the front door with the gun raised.
“Okay, you little shit!” I yelled.
What the Hell? By my calculations the foot-stamping culprit should have been standing by the far bedroom window, the same window I had seen them through earlier, but there was no one there.
BANG!
They’re still around the back of the cabin. I’ll catch them there. I ran around to confront them but, again, by the time I got there - no one was to be seen.
“Okay, you’re quick. I’ll give you that...”
Slowly I backed up along the side of the building, towards the front, as I kept a watchful eye on the bushes which lined the back of the building. None of them were even swaying as they might have done had someone recently disturbed them. Everything was eerily still. Where the Hell do they run off to then?
“I know it’s you, Josh...This is pointless. You might as well just come out here and face me. Let’s deal with what you want...” I stopped moving and waited for a response. “I am going to the Sheriff in the morning...Now’s your chance to come out here and talk about what happened at the store...” Still nothing. No movement. No laughter. Nothing. Just stillness. “I know it was an accident...Come on...We can talk about this...Talk about what we’re going to tell the Sheriff...It was all just a big misunderstanding...What happened was an accident...They’ll be able to see that. We didn’t want anyone hurt. No one wanted anyone hurt. It just happened...” Still nothing. “Come on, talk to me...Show me you’re not as stupid as you’re making out...”
With no warning something hit the window next to me from the inside. I span around and yelled in terror as I saw the face of a young lad staring back at me in the brightness of the room. His skin was pale and I could make out tiny, blue veins all over his face, his eyes were cloudy-blue surrounded by red rings, hair greasy black, his teeth were stained yellow and his lips crusted over with dried skin caused, at a quick guess, by dehydration. Down the length of his neck was a long scar which looked as though it had been stitched shut in a hurry. He pointed a bony finger at me and his eyes went wide before I heard a god-awful scream. The loudest of the screams so far but it wasn’t coming from his mouth. His mouth remained as closed as his bucked teeth allowed. It was as though it was only heard in my head. I yelled again, shut my eyes and dropped the gun, choosing to cover my ears with my hands instead of pulling the trigger. By the time I dared to open my eyes again, only after the screaming had stopped, the boy was gone from the window. I pulled my shaking hands away from my ears and grabbed the gun from where it had landed amongst the dead leaves and mud, all the time I refused to look away from the window in case the boy appeared again.
“Okay, very good,” I yelled, “you got me...”
