Whisper: The untold stories

by Bray, Michael

  Dry branches. Some kind of tinder to take a flame.

  That was the key. Keeping focused on the things he could fix, and ignoring the things he couldn’t. As terrifying as the thought of another night experiencing those awful sounds from the forest was, he was more afraid of accepting that they were dealing with something beyond the ability of science to explain.

  Fire. Fire would fix it. It’s a problem I can resolve. We need warmth, light and heat. I can provide it.

  He saw what he was looking for, some dry branches in the shadow of a huge oak. He crouched and collected them, scooping them up into his arms, taking as many as he could carry. This at least was something he could do. He turned back towards the way out and froze. He couldn’t recognise which way he had come. It was as if the landscape had somehow changed around him. He had heard about how easy it was to become disoriented in the forest. And resisted the urge to run and potentially make the problem worse. Instead, he took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. He wasn’t quite in that place, not yet anyway. The place where fear takes over and panic sets in. he knew it was close, though, lingering in the distance and waiting for a chance to strike.

  He started to walk, hoping he was going the right way. He supposed if he kept going, he would find the edge of the trees soon enough. It was a frustrating exercise. Every time he had to skirt around a tree, or step over a rock, he knew he was going more and off track. He made a mental map of the forest, or at least from where he had come and was certain he would reach the path eventually.

  Something moved in the trees behind him.

  He spun around, dropping the firewood on the ground and staring into the dense forest. He held his breath and strained his senses, looking for something, perhaps an animal, startled by his presence. He was so lost in concentration, that he didn’t notice Henry step out from behind a tree beside him. It was only the flash of movement when Henry swung the hammer towards him that Dave flicked his head to the side just seconds before steel made contact with flesh. Dave fell to the ground, startling a flock of birds from high in the trees. As they took flight, henry tucked the hammer back into his belt and dragged Dave by the feet deeper into the forest.

  III

  Dani and Lucy waited, listening to Kimmel mumble and groan as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Even when Dave didn’t return, and they knew he had been gone for far too long, they didn’t discuss it. Each of them busied themselves with attending to Kimmel and casting quick glances towards the trees as the night grew around them. They hunkered down, waiting for help which they knew would never come. As Dave had predicted, it grew cold, and the three of them huddled by the hotel, keeping close to Kimmel. They waited for those sounds to come again in the night, but this time the forces of Oakwell forest teased them with utter silence and a foreboding sense of fear which was thick and heavy. Without the comforting light of the fire, the darkness was almost total. Even the moon had betrayed them and was hidden behind a thick blanket of grey cloud.

  “What’s that?” Lucy whispered, pointing towards the road snaking through the woods.

  Dani saw it too. An isolated white light in the distance, bobbing towards them.

  “That looks like a torch. Someone’s come to help us!” Lucy added, scrambling to her feet. She jogged to the edge of the gravel car park and stared at the light in the distance. Dani joined her, frowning. Something didn’t seem right to her, and she suddenly felt even more observed than before. She hugged herself against the cold, breath fogging in the chill air.

  “I don’t think it is a torch,” She said.

  “Of course it is. What else could it be?” Lucy replied, her voice shrill.

  Dani said nothing. She could see how much her friend wanted to believe that help was coming. Much in the same way they had both believed that Dave would come back and bring back the wood for the fire. It was obvious, to Dani, that whatever the source of the light was, it was no torch beam, it was too small, too concentrated. It moved erratically, bobbing and dipping as it moved towards them.

  “Hey! Over here! We need some help!” Lucy shouted.

  Still, the light bobbed and danced somewhere out in the dark. Dani was rooted to the spot, feeling the familiar sensation of terror radiating through her. The hairs on her forearms stood to attention. However, it wasn’t because of the chill in the night air. It was because she was convinced the light which Lucy saw as their saviours, had no earthly origins. As if in response to this, it started to veer off to the right, away from the path and into the trees.

  “No, wait!” Lucy shouted as she started to chase it.

  Dani grabbed her arm. “What are you doing?”

  “We need to catch up to them. They’re leaving us.”

  “I don’t think we should do that.”

  “What the hell are you saying? We need help here.” Lucy’s eyes were wild. Dani knew she was close to the edge. She replied as calmly as she could.

  “I don’t think it’s safe.”

  “Either come or stay, it’s up to you. I’m going after it.”

  “Are you insane?” Dani said, trying to keep her voice low. “You’re seriously considering running into the forest at night?”

  “It’s better than just staying here and waiting for those….things to come back.”

  “Lucy…”

  “Please, I have to go now, before I lose sight of it. Just…stay here. I’ll bring help back.”

  Before Dani could say anymore, Lucy was on her way, running down the path, gravel crunching underfoot. Dani could only watch as she faded into the night and veered off the path into the trees. Soon, both she and the light were gone, and the blanket of silence was draped over the hotel grounds. She stood there anyway, waiting and listening. Eventually, she returned to Kimmel and sat beside him. She waited for something to happen, perhaps a scream from the forest signalling her friend had met the same fate as Dave. Somehow, when nothing came, it was even worse. The wind moved the trees and whistled around the hotel. She imagined it mocking them and wondered how long it would be before they too were taken by whatever was out there.

  VII

  Kimmel drifted in and out of consciousness, his skin pale, and clothes bloody. There was no doubt in Dani’s mind that he was dying, and if she didn’t make some kind of decision soon, there would be nothing she would be able to do to stop it. It was the thought of that which spurred her on. She shook Kimmel awake.

  “Come on, we have to go.”

  Kimmel moaned, mumbling half coherent words.

  “Mr. Kimmel, please. We have to try and get out of here. It’s just us now. We have no choice.”

  She wasn’t sure if he understood, and realised she no longer cared. All she wanted to do was to get away from this place and to some kind of normality. If that meant walking through the town in the dead of night to do it, she was prepared to. She got up and grabbed Kimmel under the arms, ignoring his pained whine as she pulled him to his feet, straining against the near dead weight.

  “Come on Mr. Kimmel, you have to help me a little here.”

  Kimmel grunted something and helped as best he could. She half suspected he had no clue where he was or what was happening, for which she was a little envious. She threw his arm around her neck and started to walk towards the road, their progress painfully slow. Thoughts of leaving Kimmel for dead appeared in her mind, helped by the furious gales which barraged the trees. She felt almost compelled to set Kimmel down on the road, or perhaps shove him hard off the edge into the forest. She imagined stealthy voices in her head telling her how easy it would be, how simple just to leave him and save herself.

  Kimmel was mumbling now, head down, his injured leg dragging behind him as he limped along. She was sobbing, tears of frustration and anger as they left the hotel behind. Not the wind, though, that stayed with them, keeping pace and rocking the trees. The moon had managed to break through from behind the cloud cover, giving them a pale light to make their slow escape. Gravel crunched underfoot, breaths c
ame in wheezing gasps. She cast a frightened look towards the forest, wondering what black, wet things could be waiting there to take her. As if in response to the thought, the wind increased, and she thought she could hear the distant sounds of her friends screaming on its edge.

  Time lost all sense of meaning. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, on moving forward and trying to ignore those sinister, vile voices in her head. In front, she could see Kimmel’s car, still crushed by the tree which had halted their escape. What she saw there now filled her with a terror unlike any she had ever felt before. In addition to the tree which had fallen across the road and crushed the front of the car, two others had fallen against each other from opposite sides of the narrow dirt road, meeting in the middle above the car, forming an ‘A’ Frame of sorts. Hanging from the upper branches in a sick display was Dave, or more accurately, what was left of him. Only the upper torso remained, skin sheared back to expose white shafts of ribs, stomach cavity hollowed out. He had been tied, arms outstretched to the branches by his own intestines, the slick innards glistening in the moonlight. His head hung to one side, mouth agape in a silent scream. Worst of all were his eyes. Where they should have been were bloodied sockets, each containing a single red rose. The wind pushed the disgusting display back and forth, swaying it provocatively at them. Dani screamed then, releasing the pent up terror she had held on to successfully up to that point. The wind rose, almost in a scream of its own, one much louder than hers. Defeated, she turned back, helping Kimmel to hobble back to where they had started. She knew whatever was in store for them, escape wasn’t going to be allowed. They would have to stay and meet whatever fate had in store for them. Leaving the mutilated remains of her friend behind her, Dani wondered just how long she would have to wait until she suffered a similar fate.

  VIII

  Dani was trembling as she lowered Kimmel back down beside the car at their makeshift camp. She was covered in his blood and looked at it as if noticing it for the first time. ‘What do we do? How can someone do that to another person? Did you see? Did you see it?’

  Kimmel lifted his head, eyes glassy.

  “Weshouldgogethelp,” He mumbled.

  “I don’t think there’s much we can do, Mr. Kimmel.”

  “Dangerous. Dangerous out there.”

  “I don’t want to go on the road again. We have to survive, Mr Kimmel.’

  “We can’t just wait here.” He whispered. They’ll get us eventually.

  She knew he was right of course. She had very nearly given in to the voices trying to probe into her brain and convince her to leave Kimmel in the woods for dead. It was only a matter of time before they would win over her. She was already mentally and physically exhausted and didn’t think she could resist them much longer.

  “You can barely walk.” She said, glancing at his bloody trouser leg. ‘How are we going to get you out of here?’

  “Make a crutch or something. Use a tree branch.”

  “I’m not going into the woods.”

  “Then improvise dammit,” he said, showing a flicker of understanding.

  She looked around the rubbish strewn site and saw something which might suffice. Scrambling towards the edge of the road, she found a sweeping brush buried half in the dirt. It was about the right size to offer Kimmel the support he would need. She dug it out of the ground, disregarding the way her nails broke and splintered in the process. The world where such things mattered was a million miles away. She carried the brush towards Kimmel, surprised to find that he was already dragging himself up, using the wall of the hotel for support.

  “That’s good,” he muttered. “That will work.”

  He tucked the brush under one armpit, testing leaning his weight against it. “Okay, let’s go.” He leaned his weight on her as they stood and looked around them, unsure how far they would get or what would happen to them.

  ‘What do we do, Mr Kimmel? Where do we go?’

  ‘The road. Back on the road.’

  Dani shook her head. ‘We can’t go back there. It’s not safe.’

  ‘The knife. We have…the knife...’

  Dani had forgotten about Dave’s knife. She had clipped it to her belt when he had given it to her and forgotten all about it. Knowing they had some kind of weapon helped, and made her feel a little better. She took it out of the leather case and held it in her free hand, the other helping to support Kimmel. They hobbled toward the road, preparing for what was to come, then stopped.

  Kelsie was walking towards them, one shoe missing, her face and clothes covered in blood.

  ‘Kelsie?’ Dani screamed as her friend approached. Her eyes were wild and Dani could understand. They had both seen unimaginable horror. Kimmel was moaning, mumbling to himself as Kelsie came towards them.

  ‘What happened, where did you go?’ Dani asked.

  ‘I was with him. The faceless man.’ Kelsie mumbled.

  ‘Run, run now,’ Kimmel muttered, his words slurring.

  Kelsie smiled, her teeth smeared with blood. ‘You can’t run. There’s nowhere to go.’

  It was then Dani realised what was wrong. Despite being covered in blood, Kelsie didn’t have a single wound. ‘Whose blood is that?’ Dani said, holding the knife in front of her at her approaching friend.

  ‘There is blood everywhere in this place. If you listen you can hear it.’

  Kimmel pulled himself close to her ear, speaking through gritted teeth/ ‘Get out of here now. Run.’

  Dani ignored him. Fear was freezing her limb by limb, shutting her down. Kelsie took a step closer so that her chest was almost touching the knife.

  ‘The faceless man is out there. He’s angry with us for coming here. I had to help him make an example of Dave. Then Lucy. There’s nobody else left but us and him.’

  Dani was crying, hand trembling. ‘What has he done to you? What are you even saying?’

  ‘We shouldn’t have come here. And now we have to be punished.’

  ‘What do you –’ before Dani could finish speaking Kelsie had grabbed her wrist and pushed into her, driving her to the ground, the knife hitting the dirt as all three tumbled to the ground. Kimmel grunted in agony as more blood poured from his wounded leg. Kelsie was already on top of Dani, hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing with everything she had. Dani clawed and scratched, but her friend was strong, too strong. There was complete calm in Kelsie’s expression as her friend’s life started to fade. ‘This isn’t the end,’ she said as Dani’s struggles started to weaken. ‘You’ll stay here forever with the others. Just let go.’

  Dani could feel the light start to fade away as her oxygen starved lungs battled for breath. It was then she saw Kimmel. He had struggled to his feet and grabbed Kelsie by the hair with both hands and wrenched her from her friend, throwing her onto her back and falling onto her. ‘Fight it. You have to fight It.’ he grunted. Pinning her shoulders to the ground. ‘This is what it wants. It gets its barbs into you and changes you. Fight it. Fight it.’

  Kelsie grinned and grabbed the knife from the dirt and stabbed Kimmel in the stomach, over and over.

  ‘You can’t fight this. The faceless man always wins. There are no happy endings. Nobody survives this story.’ She said as she stabbed over and over again.

  Knowing this was no longer a battle of restraint, Kimmel shifted his hands to Kelsie’s throat, pushing down with all he had to try and kill her before she killed him. Kimmel could feel his life ebbing away, and wondered why it didn’t hurt. He looked at the girl, the woozy feeling not entirely unpleasant, it reminded him of being drunk. She was motionless now, eyes staring blankly at the sky, eyes wide, lips pulled back in a grimace. With no strength left, he fell, landing beside her, feeling his hot blood flow out and feed the earth. All three of them lay there, clinging to life by the narrowest of margins.

  Footsteps approached.

  Henry Marshall stood above them, eyes cold as he surveyed the chaos. In one hand he held the lump hammer, o
ne end still bloody and covered with hair from where it had connected with Dave’s skull. In the other hand, he held several long rust covered nails.

  ‘I know a place we can go to work this out.’ He said, crouching beside Kelsie. ‘It’s a little place in the forest where we can all be together.’

  Kelsie tried to talk, staring up at him. With the sun behind him, she couldn’t make out his features. She watched as the faceless man lifted the hammer then brought it down towards her face, extinguishing everything that ever mattered and plunging her into the blissful dark.

  THE SONG

  February 1903

  The bodies of Gerald’s wife and three children swayed on their nooses where he had hung them above the awning leading to Hope House. Even though it was the middle of summer, an unseasonable cold spell had brought with it vicious and driving flurries of arctic sleet and snow. But even though he was dressed only in his underwear, he didn’t feel the cold. Perhaps it was beyond him now, the ability to feel. He glanced up at his family, a quartet of bug eyed, blue skinned, bloated tongued ghouls and wondered why he felt not even the slightest hint of remorse. He had no idea that their tongues would swell so much. He supposed it was just a natural reaction to the asphyxia, but it was still a curious sight. The wind drove through him, and although in some distant corner of his mind he acknowledged that its icy fingers burned his exposed skin, he felt it differently. He felt it as soothing, warm caresses, stroking his hair, holding him close. The wind was like a thousand reassuring whispers telling him that they were pleased. That he had done the right thing.