'It's okay, Ashley,' she said. 'It's over.'
'It's over?' Craig said, pulling himself up to his feet. His voice sounded ravaged now, like he had been smoking a hundred cigarettes for half a century. 'A man is dead,' he added, and cast an accusing glance at Tim.
'And you would have been, too,' Tim said, 'if I hadn't acted. Because I'm sure as shit no one else was going to do anything.'
'You didn't have to kill him, though,' Ashley said. 'That was... it was... just savage.'
'I'm sorry,' he said, throwing his hands up into the air, 'am I missing something? You do remember that he wasn't stopping, right? Nothing we said slowed him down. He just kept on coming. You remember that, don't you, Ashley? We tried to talk him down. We tried to run. But we still ended up in the shit. Do you think I wanted to do this? You think I woke up this morning thinking, gosh, I really hope I get to kill someone today? For fuck's sake, get a grip. What do you suppose I should have done?'
Ashley had no answer to that. Well, that wasn't true, she did have an answer. Once the man was down after the first strike they could have all just run. That would have been enough. But no, Tim continued and crushed the man's skull. She didn't know how to vocalise that, though. Or rather, she didn't want to.
'It's just...' she began, but trailed off, deciding, instead, to remain silent. She looked to the ground.
'I did what I had to,' Tim said, with an air of finality, like that was the end of the subject. But Craig wasn't as willing to let things drop, it would seem.
'No,' he said, 'you went too far.'
Tim turned to Craig and marched up to him, making the smaller man shrink back.
'You,' Tim said through gritted teeth, and jabbed a finger into his chest, 'nearly got us all killed. Twice.' He then shoved Craig back, punctuating his point with a physical exclamation mark.
'Bullshit,' Craig said.
'He's right,' Kim cut in.
'Excuse me?'
'For fuck's sake, Craig, what the hell was that? First, you had to go and examine him like you're some kind of forensics expert, which landed us in the shit. Then, you tried to talk him down, as if you had any idea what you were doing. And to top it all off, even after the fucker tried to rip your head off, you wasted a clean shot to help Tim and ended up in trouble again. Three fucking times we could have just run, and three times we had to pull you out of the shit.'
'No,' he said, but Kim just held up a dismissive hand and turned to Ashley.
'Honey, I know that was scary,' she said, 'but Tim is right. That situation was beyond fucked up. I don't know what was wrong with that man, maybe he was just scared and fighting for his life, but regardless, he was still trying to kill us.'
The words did make some kind of sense to Ashley, somewhere in her brain, but still, in her gut, it didn't sit right.
But the fact was, they still needed to get out of here, and Ashley was still aware of what she saw, or thought she saw, behind that tree.
'None of this matters,' she said, and put her concerns into words. 'We need to get out of here. Quickly.'
'Agreed,' said Tim, but he didn't look at her.
'Yeah,' Kim echoed. 'Whoever did this to him might still be out here.'
'Hang on,' Craig said. 'Ashley, didn't you say you saw someone?'
Ashley pointed over to the tree. 'Yes. Over there.'
What she'd seen hadn't been much, but it had been enough.
Enough to be certain.
A face; peeking out from behind the tree trunk, which in and of itself would have been bad enough, but it was how the face looked that really horrified her.
'Only one person?' Tim asked.
Ashley nodded. 'I think so.'
'Should we go check it out?' Kim asked. Ashley didn't like that idea. 'There are four of us, we'd have the upper hand. Surely it's better to know.'
'You getting a taste for this, Kim?' Craig asked her.
'What do you propose?' She shot back. 'What if there is someone there?'
'If someone's there?' Ashley asked. 'I know what I saw, Kim.'
'I know, honey, and I believe you. Which is why I think we need to be sure. If we need to deal with something, then I'd rather we do it when we're ready for it.' She turned to Tim. 'What do you think?'
Tim took a moment, then let out a sigh. 'You might be right.'
'I'll go,' Craig said.
'No,' Kim said, and grabbed hold of his jacket. 'You've done enough. We all go, together. So wait.'
She then walked over to the body of the dead man, near to where her Craig had just been lying, and grabbed the heavy branch that he had wasted earlier.
'All tooled up now, are we?' Craig asked.
'Better than giving it to you,' she said. 'Now let's move.'
Ashley was reluctant, but she knew it had to be done. Kim was right; if someone was watching them, then chances were they had malicious intent. Otherwise, why not come out and show themselves? Especially after what had just happened.
The four of them grouped up and slowly made their way over to the tree. Ashley shivered as they walked, both from the dropping temperature as darkness set in, and also from the horrible sense of foreboding that was worming its way up from her gut.
She felt bare and exposed, and scared. She wasn't a fighter, never had been, and hated any kind of violence. On that front, she and Craig were very much the same. Still, she did wish she had some kind of weapon to hand, even if it only served as a show of force. She quickly scanned the ground for something to use, but found nothing.
In short order, they stood before the large tree. Its circumference was wider than Ashley's arm length, and its height dizzying. It was immense, dwarfing any other tree around it, and Ashley noted its aged and worn bark.
'Anyone there?' Kim asked, loudly. There was no response. Only the eerie noise of the woods; the chirps and tweets of whatever wildlife lived here.
'If you are there, don't move,' Craig added. 'We won't hurt you.'
'If we don't need to,' Kim stipulated. She turned to the others. 'Okay, on the count of three, we go. Ready?'
Ashley tensed up; she wanted things to slow down, but Kim carried on the count.
'One. Two. Three.'
Kim and Craig sprinted round the tree first, and from their reaction alone Ashley knew there was no one there. Kim's frown had quickly melted away to confusion.
Ashley ducked around and saw for herself; no one was hiding. No one was waiting for them, ready to leap out. There was no man with a cleft lip.
The face she thought she had seen wasn't there.
They were alone.
'I was certain,' Ashley said, the first to speak. 'I know I saw someone.'
'Well,' Craig said, 'they aren't here now.'
'Maybe they ran off,' Ashley said.
'They might have,' Kim said, in a tone Ashley couldn't read. She didn't know if her friends believed her or not, and that bothered her.
'I'm not lying,' Ashley said. 'And I'm not confused. Someone was there.'
'Well, we need to deal with the here and now,' Tim said. 'They're gone, so we can't do anything about it.'
'Agreed,' Kim said.
'And I say we stick to the original plan and get out of here,' Tim finished.
'But do we agree on which way to go?' Craig asked, looking between Kim and Tim.
Kim took a moment, then nodded. 'Yes. We follow Tim. He knows the way, so we get to town as quickly as we can.'
Tim looked a little taken aback -- they all were -- but nodded and smiled his thanks.
'Let's go,' Tim said. 'We'll make town before you know it.'
'Then what?' Ashley asked, a new worry dawning on her.
'What do you mean?' Kim asked.
'When we get to town? Then what?'
'Then we get help,' Craig said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Ashley nodded. 'Okay. And what do we tell them?'
'We tell them what happened,' Craig answered.
'Really? Do we tell them how that man
died, then? How his head got bashed in like that?'
To that, no one had an answer, and the reality of Ashley's point sunk in.
'It doesn't change anything,' Tim said, eventually. 'We get help and we tell the police what happened. Everything that happened.'
'But what'll happen to you?' Ashley asked.
'I don't know,' Tim said, with a shrug. 'What will be will be. In my view, it was self defence, but if the police see things differently, so be it. I'll deal with the consequences.'
'Tim,' Ashley began, but he cut her off.
'It's okay,' he said, holding up a hand. 'It's the right thing to do. And the situation isn't exactly normal. But right now, we need to focus on what's important. We need to move. Everyone agreed?'
It seemed everyone did agree, keen to just keep moving, but Ashley was worried. Worried that things were never going to be the same again between them. And she was worried about Tim. It was an honourable gesture, to own up to what had happened like that, but she still couldn't forget what he had done, and the look on his face as he did it. Would he really be so eager to face up to any consequences that would come?
For the next few hours they walked on in silence, as the darkness grew deeper. Keeping their footing was difficult, and progress was slow due to Craig's injury. His ankle had swollen badly, and they'd had to stop numerous times for him to rest. Tim said it looked like a sprain, not a brake, but Craig still couldn't bear much weight on it. They took turns in shouldering his weight to help him along, but it slowed progress considerably, especially when Kim and Ashley, who weren't as strong as Tim, took their turn. Because of this, Tim took on most of the burden.
Without complaint, Ashley noted.
As more time passed, she began to feel more and more guilty for judging him so quickly. Yes, his actions had been extreme, but they were in an extreme situation. She made a mental note to talk to him the next chance they got, to try and figure it all out.
What little light there was in these woods began to wain drastically, so much so that vision was becoming an issue.
'Do we switch on the flashlights?' Craig asked.
'It could draw attention,' Kim answered.
'It could,' Tim agreed, 'but we won't get far if we can't see where we're going. I don't think we have much choice. We only need put on one, keep it to a minimum. I'll take the lead, because I know where I'm going, and I'll have the light. The rest of you just follow my footsteps.'
Tim pulled out his mag light, which was big and heavy enough to be a useful weapon in itself. She was surprised he hadn't thought of using it in the situation earlier. They still had Kim's large branch, but Craig was using it as support, not that it really helped.
The beam from Tim's light punctured the growing darkness and illuminated a small spot off in the distance. He arced it around to scan the area up ahead, and they began to move again. As they moved, Ashley watched the beam of light sway this way and that, fully expecting the light to reveal that horrible face again, staring at them from behind a tree.
Waiting for them to walk right up to him.
It made her shudder.
As well as the dark, the cold was getting worse too. They all wore thick, waterproof jackets, fit for hiking, with layers underneath, but even so Ashley could feel the chill of the night seep into her bones. The sounds of the forest changed, too, as the nocturnal animals came out to play.
'How long till we stop?' Craig asked, breathless, clearly struggling. Tim was helping him along up ahead, leaving Ashley and Kim walking in a pair just behind. Another thing that Ashley didn't like; being at the rear. The whole time she was expecting to feel a pair of hands grab her shoulders and yank her off into the shadows. Every so often she would cast a glance behind, to see if she could see anything, but there just wasn't enough light left to be of any use. Someone could have been not ten feet away and she wouldn't know. Not unless they made a sound.
'There is a clearing not too far ahead,' Tim answered. 'Somewhere we can take a break and rehydrate. Just keep going a little longer, okay?'
'Yeah,' Craig said, 'no problem.' The strain in his voice indicated that it was a problem, but he pressed on regardless, hopping and hobbling as quickly as he could.
They moved on for another ten minutes before Craig spoke again.
'What's that?'
'What?' Tim asked.
'There, up ahead,' Craig said. 'Just past those trees. Is that a house?'
'There aren't any houses out here,' Tim said, and pointed the flashlight in the direction Craig was pointing. 'I'd know if... holy shit.'
Ashley could see it, faintly illuminated by the light of the torch, up a small incline in the distance. The beam only showed a small area, giving sight to the corner of the wooden structure.
There was indeed a house, standing alone out here, dark and ominous.
'Tim?' Ashley asked.
'This isn't right,' Tim said, looking perplexed.
'What do you mean?'
'I mean there are no house here. I've walked this route dozens of times and this has never been here.'
'It looks pretty old,' Kim said. 'And the trail leads right up to it.'
Ashley and Kim walked up beside Tim and Craig. Ashley could see that Tim’s expression was one of pure confusion.
'Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?' Craig asked.
Tim shook his head. 'I... I don't know. I don't think so. I guess we must have.'
'And you're sure you've never seen this before?' Kim asked.
'Never,' Tim answered. 'I think I'd remember it.'
He let his beam swoop over the house, so they could take in all the details.
It was two stories high, with a wide canopy over an entrance door, and dirty windows to the front elevation. Its construction was almost entirely old timber that had warped and aged. The only break from the expanse of wood lay on the sagging roof; mismatched slate tiles. There was a porch area that ran the full length of the front of the house, enclosed by wooden railings that had eroded over time, leaving gaps in their perimeter. Whilst not quite in a state of disrepair, it certainly felt aged and forgotten.
'Do you think anyone lives in here?' Kim asked.
'Doesn't look like it,' Craig said. 'Looks abandoned.'
'Looks creepy,' Ashley said.
'So, do we go around it?' Craig asked.
'Of course,' Kim said. 'Why would we need to go in there?'
Tim took a step forward. 'Actually,' he said, 'I think we should go in.'
11
'Are you fucking nuts?' Kim asked, unsure if she had heard Tim properly. 'What possible reason could we have to go in there?'
'Craig is in bad shape,' he said. 'And we need to take a break anyway. Why not get out of the cold?'
'What happened to the plan of pushing on and only stopping in clearings?'
'This looks clear enough to me.'
'But we don't need to go inside,' she said. 'If we need to take a break, we can just do it out here.'
'What if there's someone in there?' Ashley asked.
'It doesn't look like it's been lived in for a while,' Craig said. 'Seems empty.'
'We don't know that,' Kim said. 'Hell, it could even belong to that guy who was missing his face.'
Kim was just throwing out excuses as to why they shouldn't go in. Not that she should have needed them, surely common sense dictated they stay away?
'Or maybe whoever hurt him lives here,' Ashley added, which was another good point. 'It might belong to the man I saw.'
Just hearing that made Kim's skin crawl. The thought of someone out there, keeping tabs on them, watching their moments, gave her the creeps. She hugged herself tightly and looked around the area, seeing nothing but darkness between the trees.
'If you even saw someone,' Tim said.
Kim saw the hurt in her friend's eyes. This fucking trip has been a catastrophe, she thought to herself.
'I did see someone,' Ashley said.
'Regardless, we keep going,' Kim sai
d. 'That was the plan before, so are we agreed now?'
'No,' Tim argued. 'I'm going in, and I'm going to see if there are supplies or anything else we can use. There might even be something we can use to bandage up and support Craig's ankle. Hell, they may even have means to contact town.'
'Oh come on,' Kim said, throwing up her hands in exacerbation. 'Can you see any phone lines around? We're in the middle of the fucking woods. There's no phone in there.'
'I'm still going in,' Tim said. 'You can all wait out here if you want.'
Kim couldn't believe what he was saying. It made absolutely no sense. Worse yet; he actually started walking up the incline towards the house.
'Are you fucking nuts?' she said. He had been as eager as she was to get out of here, now he wanted to stop and take a look around?
'Tim,' Ashley pleaded, 'please come back.'
'Come with me,' he said, without looking back. 'It'll be okay. I promise.'
Kim heard rustling and saw Craig fishing his own flashlight from his backpack, juggling with the heavy branch he had being using as a makeshift walking aid.
'Tell me you aren't going as well?' she asked.
'I'm not leaving you,' he said, 'but if he's going in there, then we're going to need a light.' He clicked on his beam and shone it up to Tim, who kept moving forward.
'What do we do?' Ashley asked.
Kim wanted to tell her that they would just carry on, that Tim could go to hell, but the truth was that he was the only one that really knew the way out of here. They could follow the trail, sure, but if it deviated or branched off and they picked the wrong direction, then they had no hope of getting out of here tonight. If at all.
'We either go in after him, or wait out here until he's done,' Craig said.
The three looked at each other, considering their options.
Tim was at the front entrance now, shining the beam through the glass section of the door.
'What do you see?' Craig called up to him.
'Looks empty,' he called back. Kim saw his hand reach up and take hold of the handle. She held her breath as he twisted it.
The door slowly swung open.
He turned to face them, waiting. 'Coming?'
'Fuck it,' Craig said. 'We're better off together. Let's be honest, if someone does want to hurt us, we have a better chance with him.'
Horror in the Woods Page 5
