bortleman
01-28-2011, 12:35 AM
Jacob lived far disposed from anything civilized. The nearest town with a Wal-Mart was twenty miles away. He didn’t mind living up in the woods, he actually preferred it. The interior was decorated with a cabin like motif. Even though the outside revealed that it was paneled with normal housing wood, it didn’t matter. It felt like a cabin to Jacob.
It was New Year’s Eve, and he was forced to spend the night alone. A recent slashed tire left him confined to his burrow. He would have liked to chase women around the small bar scene, but the weather displayed its contempt for this behavior. The howling wind echoed down his chimney and caused his metal flue to give a rusty whine with every gust. He decided it was better to be at home.
He was the only resident, besides two Labradors. They spent the majority of their days lounging around the kennel Jacob had built for them. The dogs were nice company, and good for fowling. In addition, they served as early warning for any trouble that was about the scarcely populated area. Coupled with the motion sensor lights Jacob had around the perimeter of the house, they kept the area fairly secure. They never barked at him if he was out at night, and had seldom let a trespasser by.
Jacob would have had cats, if they didn’t have a habit of ritual disappearance. In fact, all three of his cats subsequently vanished each Halloween on their sixth year of occupancy at the house. He had searched for his last cat, which he found staked to the ground dead, in a circle of dark ceremony that he was oddly familiar with. After that, he decided he wasn’t a “cat person”.
This wasn’t the first, or only, incident of ghastly occurences that Jacob had encountered in the woods. Normally, after such a discovery, Jacob would retreat to his home. There he felt safe in his den loaded with firearms. Occasionally the murky timbers would tempt him to venture out, to explore.
At times, he felt like a pioneer. His small fort sitting on the edge of the unknown. Even though the majority of the world, including his forest, had already been mapped out, he believed he was on the precinct. His house was last on the winding dirt road that worked its way up the mountain. It was the last beacon of light midst the endless dark woods.
Jacob was watching a movie on tape. All the lights were off and he watched the green numbers of his VCR creep towards midnight. He could still hear the wind as it blew against his sliding glass door. It led out to a finely crafted deck that Jacob constructed himself. It was like a flat pane of darkness, and he could see the figures of trees swaying with the violent wind.
Jacob yawned as the film struggled on when suddenly the television turned black. He frowned and attempted to work the remote. It refused to respond. The VCR clock numbers flashed to “12:00”. He assumed there must have been some power still left in the house, perhaps a breaker just needed to be switched. He got up from the couch and started to make his way to the garage.
There was a loud “ka clunk ka clunk ka clunk” of something moving quickly across his deck. He rushed to the door and flung it open. The motion sensor lights sprang to life one by one down the length of the house. At the far edge of each light, a non-descript figure ran on all fours out of view. Jacob shut the door and locked it. He moved swiftly down his hall to grab a loaded shotgun. When he returned to living room, he left it propped in the corner.
He was still shaken up and refused to travel to the garage and flip the breaker. So, he sat alone in the dark. Rain began to fall with large drops. The ping of water on his tin roof was comforting. Eventually, his terror couldn’t fight off his need for rest, and he fell asleep on the couch.
Jacob rarely remembered his dreams, but tonight was a different case. He could still hear the rain; it was heavier now. He dreamed that he was still sitting idly in the living room, watching his movie. A glance out his window revealed a pale light emanating from the trees. With morbid curiosity, Jacob got up to investigate.
Only moments after he stepped outside, he was soaked from head to foot. It seemed strangely irrelevant as he moved towards the illumination in a trance. He was without shoes, and the mud squished up between his toes. Still he wove his way through the trees as his destination drew closer. As scene became visible, he took a half step behind a narrow tree.
What he saw brought paralyzing fright to his body. There, crouched in a grove of timber, was a hunched figure. It had long terrible claws and was intently focused on the carcass of a dead feline that it gnawed at. It would stop and look up revealing blood red eyes that flashed out of the darkness before returning to its feeding. Each time it peered around it would gnash its murderous teeth that held the gray meat of its kill.
Jacob didn’t know what to do. He tried to swallow, but his throat was dry with fear. He was struck motionless, forced to watch this ghastly image replay over and over. The thing looked up again eyeing the surroundings slowly. As its gaze turned to Jacob, it stopped and stared.
Jacob could do nothing. He didn’t run for fear of being chased, and he didn’t move for fear of being identified. The twisted figure stood up, holding its gnarled hands in front of itself. The evil claws hung drenched in blood. Still, it stooped. Jacob could see the eyes tilt sideways, like an animal attempting to make sense of something new. It moved cautiously moved forward. Jacob was restrained to watching the creature creep closer. He was almost certain he was seen. In a flash, it was gone, and Jacob was alone in the rain.
His body seemed to loosen. Immediately he fled towards his home. The limbs of trees pulled at his water logged t-shirt. He broke through them all with out any consideration for the gouges he would receive. When he finally reached his house, he double locked every door before rushing to his bed and pulling the covers up over his face. He sat there, still shaking, before falling asleep again.
When Jacob woke up the next day, it was sunny. He recounted the nightmare from the previous night. He assured himself any assumption his mind made about the woods was completely false. Running his hands through his hair, he let out a sigh of relief. There was a stinging feeling on his fore arm. He looked down and saw a fresh laceration.
His heart thumped louder, and moving his feet around, he could feel the cold muck that covered his white sheets. He threw linens off and saw a mess of earth, sticks and leaves. Shooting out of bed, he looked around his bedroom. Muddy foot prints lead him out of his room.
The terror began to rise up from his stomach as he followed them. The house was quiet and his heartbeat seemed to fill his head. His eyes grew wider as he continued along the fearsome path. Jacob neared the large window pain that his tracks lead to. As his horror seemed to boil over, he fell to his knees screaming with insanity, clawing at his face. There lay on the porch beyond the glass, the dead masticated corpse of his last cat.
It was New Year’s Eve, and he was forced to spend the night alone. A recent slashed tire left him confined to his burrow. He would have liked to chase women around the small bar scene, but the weather displayed its contempt for this behavior. The howling wind echoed down his chimney and caused his metal flue to give a rusty whine with every gust. He decided it was better to be at home.
He was the only resident, besides two Labradors. They spent the majority of their days lounging around the kennel Jacob had built for them. The dogs were nice company, and good for fowling. In addition, they served as early warning for any trouble that was about the scarcely populated area. Coupled with the motion sensor lights Jacob had around the perimeter of the house, they kept the area fairly secure. They never barked at him if he was out at night, and had seldom let a trespasser by.
Jacob would have had cats, if they didn’t have a habit of ritual disappearance. In fact, all three of his cats subsequently vanished each Halloween on their sixth year of occupancy at the house. He had searched for his last cat, which he found staked to the ground dead, in a circle of dark ceremony that he was oddly familiar with. After that, he decided he wasn’t a “cat person”.
This wasn’t the first, or only, incident of ghastly occurences that Jacob had encountered in the woods. Normally, after such a discovery, Jacob would retreat to his home. There he felt safe in his den loaded with firearms. Occasionally the murky timbers would tempt him to venture out, to explore.
At times, he felt like a pioneer. His small fort sitting on the edge of the unknown. Even though the majority of the world, including his forest, had already been mapped out, he believed he was on the precinct. His house was last on the winding dirt road that worked its way up the mountain. It was the last beacon of light midst the endless dark woods.
Jacob was watching a movie on tape. All the lights were off and he watched the green numbers of his VCR creep towards midnight. He could still hear the wind as it blew against his sliding glass door. It led out to a finely crafted deck that Jacob constructed himself. It was like a flat pane of darkness, and he could see the figures of trees swaying with the violent wind.
Jacob yawned as the film struggled on when suddenly the television turned black. He frowned and attempted to work the remote. It refused to respond. The VCR clock numbers flashed to “12:00”. He assumed there must have been some power still left in the house, perhaps a breaker just needed to be switched. He got up from the couch and started to make his way to the garage.
There was a loud “ka clunk ka clunk ka clunk” of something moving quickly across his deck. He rushed to the door and flung it open. The motion sensor lights sprang to life one by one down the length of the house. At the far edge of each light, a non-descript figure ran on all fours out of view. Jacob shut the door and locked it. He moved swiftly down his hall to grab a loaded shotgun. When he returned to living room, he left it propped in the corner.
He was still shaken up and refused to travel to the garage and flip the breaker. So, he sat alone in the dark. Rain began to fall with large drops. The ping of water on his tin roof was comforting. Eventually, his terror couldn’t fight off his need for rest, and he fell asleep on the couch.
Jacob rarely remembered his dreams, but tonight was a different case. He could still hear the rain; it was heavier now. He dreamed that he was still sitting idly in the living room, watching his movie. A glance out his window revealed a pale light emanating from the trees. With morbid curiosity, Jacob got up to investigate.
Only moments after he stepped outside, he was soaked from head to foot. It seemed strangely irrelevant as he moved towards the illumination in a trance. He was without shoes, and the mud squished up between his toes. Still he wove his way through the trees as his destination drew closer. As scene became visible, he took a half step behind a narrow tree.
What he saw brought paralyzing fright to his body. There, crouched in a grove of timber, was a hunched figure. It had long terrible claws and was intently focused on the carcass of a dead feline that it gnawed at. It would stop and look up revealing blood red eyes that flashed out of the darkness before returning to its feeding. Each time it peered around it would gnash its murderous teeth that held the gray meat of its kill.
Jacob didn’t know what to do. He tried to swallow, but his throat was dry with fear. He was struck motionless, forced to watch this ghastly image replay over and over. The thing looked up again eyeing the surroundings slowly. As its gaze turned to Jacob, it stopped and stared.
Jacob could do nothing. He didn’t run for fear of being chased, and he didn’t move for fear of being identified. The twisted figure stood up, holding its gnarled hands in front of itself. The evil claws hung drenched in blood. Still, it stooped. Jacob could see the eyes tilt sideways, like an animal attempting to make sense of something new. It moved cautiously moved forward. Jacob was restrained to watching the creature creep closer. He was almost certain he was seen. In a flash, it was gone, and Jacob was alone in the rain.
His body seemed to loosen. Immediately he fled towards his home. The limbs of trees pulled at his water logged t-shirt. He broke through them all with out any consideration for the gouges he would receive. When he finally reached his house, he double locked every door before rushing to his bed and pulling the covers up over his face. He sat there, still shaking, before falling asleep again.
When Jacob woke up the next day, it was sunny. He recounted the nightmare from the previous night. He assured himself any assumption his mind made about the woods was completely false. Running his hands through his hair, he let out a sigh of relief. There was a stinging feeling on his fore arm. He looked down and saw a fresh laceration.
His heart thumped louder, and moving his feet around, he could feel the cold muck that covered his white sheets. He threw linens off and saw a mess of earth, sticks and leaves. Shooting out of bed, he looked around his bedroom. Muddy foot prints lead him out of his room.
The terror began to rise up from his stomach as he followed them. The house was quiet and his heartbeat seemed to fill his head. His eyes grew wider as he continued along the fearsome path. Jacob neared the large window pain that his tracks lead to. As his horror seemed to boil over, he fell to his knees screaming with insanity, clawing at his face. There lay on the porch beyond the glass, the dead masticated corpse of his last cat.