by Matt Hickman
“But you’re not interested, I get it.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s…”
“What?”
“Debbie, I’m gay.”
Debbie shoved Keith’s hand away from her arm, and scurried back from him.
“You’re what?” she snapped. “Is this some kind of fucking joke?”
“No.” Keith said. “Why would it be a joke? And being honest, I thought you knew. I’ve never exactly kept it a secret.”
“Oh my God,” Debbie laughed. “I really am fucking stupid.”
She climbed to her feet and started to unzip the tent.
“Where are you going?”
“Out.”
“Don’t be stupid, it’s the middle of the night, Debbie.”
“Fuck off, Keith. Go back to sleep.”
“Fine, whatever.”
Keith got back into his sleeping bag and zipped it up again. He turned to the side and got himself comfortable. He heard Debbie zip the tent up from outside.
“Drama queen.” He sighed to himself. “She’ll be back in a minute.”
Debbie circled the fire; she was happy to see that it was still burning. It was a cold night and the warmth of the fire made her feel better.
“Oh, Debbie,” she sighed. “What are we going to do with you?”
She let out a small giggle at the thought of how insane she must look now. Sat in the middle of the forest on her own, talking to herself. It’s just as well no one was watching her.
At that thought, she heard a rustling coming from one of the bushes. She turned to see what it was, but it was too dark. All she could see was the light from the fire shining to on the leaves. She held her breath and cocked her ear a bit, as though that would help her to hear something.
SNAP.
This came from another bush. Debbie had heard enough, there was something out there and it was circling her. She rushed to Mark’s tent. Instinctively, she wanted the person that made her feel safe. That was Mark, and she didn’t care if he had another girl in his tent. Pulling up the zip as quick as she could to gain entry, she could hear whatever the thing was rushing towards her. She turned to look.
*****
Mark smiled as he felt legs straddle him once more. Melody was certainly the hottest girl he had ever been with, and this girl had one hell of an appetite on her. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to manage to go again.
After the amount of alcohol he had consumed, he was surprised that he was able to go the first time, but with a body like Melody’s, he thought, she could even give the dead a rise.
“You ready for round two?” he smiled, and opened his eyes.
Debbie’s face was an inch away from his own. Her mouth gaped wide open as though she were screaming, but there was no sound. Her eyes were wide open with terror.
“Debbie?” Mark shouted.
Before he knew what was going on, Debbie had disappeared. She flew backwards out of the tent; again not a sound came from her. Mark rushed out of the tent. Debbie was nowhere to be seen. In fact, nothing looked wrong at all. The other tent was still zipped up as normal, and the fire was still burning. Everywhere was silent. Even the forest was sleeping.
“Man, that was some fucked up dream,” Mark said to himself. “It seemed so real.”
The quantity of beer that Mark had consumed suddenly began to rush up on him. He needed to empty his bladder and quickly. He jogged over to a bush that was just outside of their camping circle. Having his manhood hanging in the darkness made him feel on edge. What if there was a something out there, waiting to attack him. What if it bit him?
Something rustled in the bush beside him, causing him to turn in a panic and in doing so, urinate onto his own feet.
“Oh for God’s sake,” he snapped.
Looking toward the fire, he saw a small bat fly quickly through the circle. He had obviously disturbed it with his toilet trip. When he had finished, he walked back to the fire and grabbed one of the water bottles that they left nearby. He poured the water on his feet and then held them up near the fire to dry them off. After a few minutes, he decided that he was dry enough to return to bed, which was just as well because the cold was really starting to settle in. He wanted to get back in bed next to Melody. Just the thought of her warmed him up.
He unzipped the tent and crawled in. Melody sat up, holding the sleeping bag up to her neck.
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“I just had to go to the little boy's room.”
“Well, hurry up and shut the door, I can feel the cold coming in.”
“Yeah, it’s freezing out there,” Mark said as he zipped the door closed.
Melody let go of the sleeping bag, it fell down to her stomach and left her bare, perfect breasts exposed. Mark looked and smiled.
“I suppose I better warm you up then, hadn’t I?” Melody gave a cheeky smile.
*****
Melody was once again mounted on top of Mark. He had tried to keep her quiet, but her moans of pleasure echoed throughout the forest.
“Shhh,” he laughed.
“Ah, fuck 'em. I want them to hear that I’m having a good time.”
Melody continued to move back and forth. Mark lay on his back, wondering how long he was going to be able to keep this up for.
“Mark?” Keith called, from outside the tent.
“Shhh,” Mark said to Melody. “Yeah … eah what is it?”
“Have you seen Debbie? She took off a while back, and she’s still missing.”
“Hang on.”
Mark grabbed his clothes and put them on. He zipped open the door part way, leaving it closed enough for Melody to get dressed without being seen.
“What do you mean she took off?” he asked.
“Well, we had a little bit of an argument and she stormed off.”
“What did you argue about?”
“She, erm…” Keith giggled. “She tried to have sex with me.”
“What?” Mark said a little bit too loud. “Dude, doesn’t she know that you’re gay?”
“Well, she does now. Shit, I thought everyone knew. I’ve never hidden it.”
Melody appeared from the tent door.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Well…” Mark began to speak when a loud crack came from above them. A log about two metres wide crashed to the floor just a few feet away from them. Mark and Melody turned to look at Keith, who was highly animated, throwing his arms about, and his mouth was open as though he were yelling something, but no sound came from him. He was silent.
His eyes wide in terror, he pointed to his throat, in the centre of his neck, small splinters stuck out forming a circular shape.
“Keith,” Mark gasped. “What’s wrong? What the hell is going on?”
A grunt came from beside Mark, and before he had time to react, something rushed passed him and carried Keith away, like he weighed nothing more than a mere rag doll. Mark didn’t have chance to get a very good look at it, but he knew that whatever it was, it was big and green.
“We have to go, right now!” Mark called.
“Okay, I’ll just grab my…”
“Forget your stuff, Melody. Run.”
Mark grabbed Melody’s hand and they started to sprint through the trees. He wasn’t entirely sure of which direction he was headed, or where it led. All he knew was that he had to get as far away from that thing as he could. If it could carry Keith away so easily, then they weren’t going to put up much of a fight.
His thoughts trailed back to his dream last night, when Debbie was screaming in his face, well, acting in a scream. No sound escaped her lips, just like Keith, before he was taken away. It wasn’t a dream, whatever that thing is; it was taking their voice, and disabling their vocal chords.
Stopping them from crying for help.
Running as fast as he could, his hand gripping Melody’s tight, and pulled her along. Mark could hear movement in the trees above him. He knew that
whatever this thing was, it was tracking them down.
“We need to get out of here and find help.”
No response came, Melody’s pace began to lag, and she started to slow him down. Mark turned back to look at her, she was still trying to run with him, but her eyes were wide in panic. She was pointing to her neck. The same circle of splinters was embedded in her flesh. The thing was here.
“Oh shit,” Mark exclaimed. “Oh shit, oh shit.”
He stopped running and tried to pull the things from Melody’s neck, but they appeared to be barbed and hooked in deep. He couldn’t pull them free without tearing the skin.
Melody’s mouth was moving frantically, but no sound came from it.
“Just calm down,” Mark said. “I’ll get these things…”
Melody smacked him in the face to get his attention. She pointed behind him.
Mark began to turn; a cold shiver of fear ran down his spine. He knew from the look on Melody’s face that whatever this thing was, it was stood right behind him.
Once he had turned around, he looked up to the creature. It was like something straight out of a science fiction movie. Bigger than Mark had originally thought, this thing stood about seven feet tall, resembling what can only be described as a reptile. The face looked similar to that of a lizard, its eyes glowing red. Muscles seemed to be bursting from every limb and every inch of its abdomen. It began to raise an arm. Mark could see a circle of spikes slowly start to protrude from this thing's wrist.
“That’s where they’re coming from,” he whispered.
Bracing himself for the moment that the spikes fired at him, and silenced him for good, Mark shut his eyes tight and flinched. He heard a thud. His eyes crept back open; the giant creature lay motionless in front of him on the floor. Thick red blood poured from the back of its head. Behind the creature stood a man. His clothes were old and ragged, he was very skinny, and he looked as though he’d been barely surviving out here in the wilderness for quite some time.
Mark’s jaw dropped, he turned and hugged Melody in an embrace of joy.
Facing his saviour once again, Mark rushed to him and grabbed him in a big bear hug.
“You killed it. You saved our lives,” Mark cried. “That thing was huge, how the hell were you able to stop it?”
The saviour held up a large stick, on the end of it was a rock, sharpened into a weapon. It resembled something tribal, primitive. Mark noted the creature's blood on the end of the weapon. The saviour began to draw something in the dirt below.
Mark and Melody approached, confused, still in shock. Melody was pulling at Mark’s arm in a panic, still gesturing to her throat and her silence.
“Just, wait a second, Melody." He turned to the man. "What is it?” he asked.
Upon inspection Mark could see that the man was writing in the dirt, Mark gave him space until he had finished.
Once done the man stepped back, he gestured to his throat and then pointed to his writing in the dirt. It read, “It couldn’t hear me coming.”
Jumping at Shadows
By
C.M. Saunders
Simon watched the webcam light on his laptop blink into life, and waited for the images to stream through. He hated this Internet connection. So slow. Especially at this time of day when half the people in the world seemed to be online. Something else he hated was long-distance relationships. Since Amy moved up to Brighton to go to university, leaving him twiddling his thumbs in Redbridge, he didn't have much of a choice.
Still, it was Thursday night. Skype date night. She said it was better to do it on a Thursday because she had early lectures every day except Friday. But Simon knew the real reason was because she went out to the bars on Wednesday and Fridays – student nights. He wasn't stupid. He didn't mind too much. Of course she was going to make new friends. He didn't expect her to shut herself away seven days a week. And he trusted her.
Mostly.
Waiting, waiting...
An image appeared abruptly on the screen, and a surge of excitement rushed through him. Amy!
She looked radiant, her brown skin glowing and her long aubern hair cascading down over her shoulders. It looked damp. She must have just taken a shower. She was dressed in a faded old Less Than Jake t-shirt. Her favourite bed-time attire.
“Hello, baby!” Simon said, excitedly.
“Hey...” Amy replied, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. She looked a little tired. Stressed out. She was in her dormitory where she always was at this time. He recognised the surroundings.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“A bit tired, that's all. This assignment's been killing me. You know, they're piling the work on us this semester.”
Simon nodded, even though he didn't know. Didn't have a clue. You didn't get homework when you worked at Tesco. But he could imagine. Amy had talked about it often enough.
“So what else is new?” he asked, hoping to shift the topic to something more interesting, and at the same time lift her mood.
“Nothing much. Just study, study, study. Dangerous Summer announced their UK dates this week. Might go and see them with Lucy, if we can get tickets. She's a big fan.”
“Where's Lucy tonight?”
Lucy was Amy's roommate and best friend.
“She went out with Giles. To Nando's for dinner, I think.”
“Oh, good. Sounds... lovely.”
Giles was Lucy's boyfriend. Lucy's rich, handsome, rugby-playing, law-studying boyfriend. Simon was powerless to prevent the dark thoughts rising. He was loathed to admit it, but he was insanely jealous of Giles. Amy could do a lot better than a Fiesta-driving Tesco worker, and he couldn't help wondering if she knew it. He could imagine the talks Lucy and Giles must have about them.
So, what's Amy doing with that loser? She's hot!
Who knows? They've been together for, like, three years. Probably just a matter of habit now.
Maybe she needs a shove in the right direction.
Oh yeah? A shove in who's direction?
Well, Mike just broke up with Melissa. Maybe the four of us should all go out one night. She could get to know him a bit better. No pressure.
Yeah, maybe. I'll mention it to her.
You do that. How about tomorrow? There's a gig down at the student union...
And so on.
But there was something even scarier than imagining her new friends setting Amy up with other guys. What if she really deserved someone better than Simon? Not just wanted someone better, but deserved someone better? A tall, handsome rich guy with career prospects and a life plan, instead of some small-town loser who scraped a living from stacking supermarket shelves?
Simon shuddered. He couldn't stand the thought of Amy in the arms of anyone else. It made his stomach turn. He was always careful not to talk about it with her. He had to show he trusted her, and could never let his insecurity show. Insecurity is not attractive. In relationships, doubt is like a cancer. It spreads, consuming everything that's good, until all that is left is suspicion and festering distrust. Amy was the best thing in his life, and he wasn't going to give her up easily. He didn't blame her one bit for moving up to Brighton. She was smart, and ambitious. Redbridge didn't even have a Nando's, never mind a university. He forced a grin, hoping that Amy didn't realize it was fake.
Despite his efforts, Amy must have sensed his unease. “What's up?” she asked.
“Nothing. I'm also a bit tired I guess.”
For a few seconds, they looked into each other's eyes via their computer screens. Something seemed to pass between them. An indefinable energy, and an understanding. She was alone in her dormitory. He was alone in his bedroom. Despite being separated by distance, they were still a couple. “Cyber?” Simon said, enthusiastically.
Amy blushed deeply and stifled a giggle with the back of her hand in that cute little girl manner she had. “I don't know if its the right time.”
“In my opinion, there is never a wrong time.”
<
br /> “Yeah, but you would say that. You're a man!”
“Thanks for noticing,” Simon chuckled. “But are women and men really so different? We both want the same things.”
“Sometimes...” Amy admitted, flicking her hair out of her eyes. She was coming around.
“Most of the time,” Simon countered. “The difference is that guys are more upfront and honest about it.”
“That's a sweeping generalisation.”
“They are the best generalisations to make!”
Amy giggled again. Her hand then dropped to the front of her Less Than Jake t-shirt, and brushed off an imaginary piece of fluff, perfectly positioned between her breasts.
Simon's pulse quickened.
“Take it off,” he said, his voice cracking.
“You first.”
Simon needed no further encouragement and quickly peeled off his sweat-stained t-shirt, dropping it on the bedroom floor at his feet. The moment he did so, the self-consciousness hit him, affording a glimpse of what Amy must be feeling. His skin was too pale, a smattering of pimples covered his chest, and his torso was rake-thin. The bad lighting in the bedroom and poor quality of the video feed was a blessing.
Of course, Amy had seen him naked hundreds of times. But the early stages of cyber-sex, what they had been reduced to when circumstances allowed, always made him feel awkward. He was, essentially alone in his room, but what if the internet connection wasn't secure? Embarrassing footage of him, Amy, or both of them, could be uploaded onto some weird fetish website in Finland within a matter of minutes. Still, it was the closest thing to real sex he was likely to get in the foreseeable future.
“Now you,” Simon said, swallowing hard.
“Not until you show me a bit more,” Amy replied. She was in a dominant mood tonight.
Simon groaned in protest. But he had been through the process enough times to know that the longer he delayed, the longer it would take Amy to hold up her end of the bargain. She liked to drag things out, seeming to get off as much on the anticipation of it all as she did the final act of release. She was in control, and he had no choice but to go along with it.
