The Flyin' Goblin Tales - Blackhood

I woke up slowly from agitated dreams. The drowsiness of a day of exhausting and repetitive tasks was losing its power over me as I went from the dream world to reality. Dreams of confusion and vicious flesh-eating monsters that stalked me… that wanted me.

Aw damn… I didn’t want to wake up.

At least there I didn’t know what would happen next, here… well, I do. After opening my eyes, I will get up, get dressed, go down the stairs, greet my mother and receive the usual basket of whatever she wants me to deliver to my grandmother. After that I will put on my hood (which gave me the nickname Red, because of it’s color and the fact that I wear it all the time), leave the house on my bike, take the road north at the border of the forest, pass by the village nearby, reach the Wolf’s Snout (a natural tunnel that leads to the other side of the forest), spot Johnny on his usual search for something to do later on the day and continue to head north. After that it’s not long until granny’s house. The whole way will take about 45 minutes.

Once at granny’s, I’ll deliver the basket and she will fake surprise, or maybe not, who knows if some kind of mental degeneration makes her actually forget that I visit her every day with a basket (and I am not rude enough to point that out), and we will engage in a conversation without purpose about banalities, usually the weather.

After awhile, Johnny, the neighbor’s son, will ask if I can go out and play or see something. I will go and we will find his sister Mary on the way and she will most likely join the activity despite her brother’s feelings.
After spending the afternoon playing around the neighborhood, I will go back to my house, following the exact same way, taking about 45 minutes to get back. After that I will do some shores around the house, help mother out with anything that needs to be done and will go to sleep exhausted of a day that I know exactly how it will begin and end, relieving myself when I drift away in fantastic dreams of places far far away from my daily routine, to finally wake up again and find myself deeper inside the sameness that I know as “life”.
It’s better to get this over with.

***

“Be sure to give her medication on time, and don’t let her take them on an empty stomach. And be careful sweety. Be back home before dark, not a minute later,” mother’s voice echoed in my head as I sped up on my bike.
Of course that was nonsense. There was nothing to be careful about on the way.
As I reached the small village nearby, an eerie feeling… a strange anxiety started to take over me. What could it be? I shook off those feelings and continued on my way.
I was almost forgetting the anxiety I felt back at the village, but something was different this time. As I reached the Wolf’s Snout, Johnny was nowhere around. I looked around as I entered the tunnel, but I found nothing, not a sign of him. Strange. Johnny was usually, no, not usually, but always there when I passed the tunnel.
“He might be sick or something,” I thought. I should visit him later; maybe ask his mother how he is. Or maybe I’m just a bit paranoid… he’s actually fine, just somewhere else around. I just didn’t see him, that’s all.
I reached the other end of the tunnel, there was little time before I started the whole “grandma’s visit routine”.
I opened the gate on the white fence, went to the side of the house and leaned my bike against the big tree on the back of the house. I put the chains around the bike, securing it to the tree, picked the basket from the back seat and went around the house, heading to the front door.

***

I knocked on the door and waited for granny to respond. A few minutes passed and nothing. I decided to knock again. I began to feel anxious again.
“Gramma? Are you home?” I yelled, but got no response again. “Gramma?” I yelled while knocking vigorously on the door.
The door suddenly opened, very slowly, giving in to my insistent hits. I could see the dining table through the door slit. The table was on the floor on its side, three of the chairs that surrounded the table were knocked down as well. I entered the house with caution, feeling my heart beats rise as my anxiety turned into fear. I held tightly to my basket, as it was an anchor keeping me out of harm’s way, keeping me safe.
I walked around the hall heading to the dining room. As I passed through the rooms I saw signs of a struggle… a violent struggle. The dining room was completely thorn apart, as if someone was being chased by something very violent. Everything was out of place, either knocked down or broken on the floor.
“Granny,” I whispered to myself. The violence seemed to head up the stairs, which lead to my gramma’s room.
I began to walk up those steps, feeling my stomach sink, wanting to run away more now than ever before in my life. I stood still at the end of the stairs for a moment, trying to gather the courage to explore further. I felt a metallic scent in the air… blood. Suddenly I was very aware of my stomach, the smell alone made me nauseous, but the idea of where it was coming from sent shivers up my spine and tears to my eyes.
I continued exploring the horrible scene, moving further into the hallway that led to the rooms. As I turned right, many things happened at once. I heard a terrifying and horrible scream from my gramma. She was holding what was left of a chair to keep something huge away. She looked right at me and screamed even louder. As this happened, the thing turned to me, its mouth dripping blood, letting out a deep roar as it fixed its eyes on me. An enormous wolf was standing between me and my grandmother.
“Run!” Granny screamed as she hit the wolf with what was left of the chair, trying to divert its attention back to her, but it was futile… the wolf had found an easier prey… me.
I ran as fast as I could back to the stairs, feeling the creature coming closer and closer as it approached my back, hearing granny’s screams. I grabbed the end of the banister and turned quickly away from the stairs as the wolf landed where I was a second before.
The time the beast needed to recover was enough for me to gain advantage. “Outside. I must get outside,” I repeated to myself over and over again as I screamed. I was finally at the hall, heading for the door desperately, feeling the wolf come closer and closer.
I reached the door at the same time the wolf reached me, I opened it as fast as I could and then everything silenced… once outside, everything changed.

***

I stared from where I was standing, stunned with what I was seeing. The garden just outside of granny’s house was completely different. Everything was pale, there was no color, no life.
The rose bushes beneath the windows seemed dead and the sweet smell that rose from them was not there anymore. I could only feel a putrid scent that seemed to overwhelm every other smell.
Something like snow was falling from the sky, leaving a thin layer over everything around. I extended my arm to let some of it fall into my hand, and as I felt its texture, I knew what it was. Ashes.
I looked around from the door, not believing my own eyes. The world seemed to change while I was inside the house. Could my encounter with that beast lasted that long? As I thought of this, I remembered the fear, the wolf behind me and turned quickly.
There was nothing there. Not the wolf, not the signs of the struggle, everything was as I remembered from before this day. The dining table and the chairs where there and were intact. I stepped inside to see if it was true.
The house was spotless, just how it used to be. I walked around, seeing everything in its usual place, feeling the anxiety rise again. I head up the stairs, feeling my stomach twist, walked through the hallway and, hesitating, turned right to see granny’s room. She wasn’t there. A moment ago she was there; she was fighting for her life right there, but now… nothing.
I entered her room. It was normal. The bed was made, her slippers were on the side of the bed, there was a glass of water over the nightstand and her night gall was lying over the bed, just as if she was getting ready to sleep.
Looking at that bed, I felt that granny never seemed so close and yet so distant from me than at that moment. Looking around the room I couldn’t help to get a feeling of abandonment, it was like nobody had ever come to this house.
I went down stairs, heading to the front door again. A strange and dense white fog seemed to obscure my sight. I couldn’t see far, everything beyond the white fence was difficult to see.
“Hello?” I shouted, but got no response. “Is anyone there?”
There was no response, I could only hear the wind blowing, bringing more stench to my nostrils. I was feeling nauseous, the smell made me want to throw up… and it was so cold, so very cold. As I realized how cold it was I noticed that I was freezing, freezing to my bones.
“Home... I must go home,” I thought to myself. The desire to go to my house and to my mother overwhelmed me and erased everything else from my mind.
I went to the side of the house, going to get my bike, but once I got to the big tree behind granny’s house, I could only find the chains still around the tree. They weren’t broken, neither was the padlock busted open. It was as if my bike simply vanished from where it was, leaving the chains that were around it behind.
“No matter, it’s not a big deal. I will walk home, it’ll only take a little longer to get there,” I thought, trying to comfort myself. I pulled my hood closer to me, trying to warm up, and started to walk towards the front gate.
Once I was outside the fence, I heard something, a child crying. I froze still trying to hear where it was coming from.
“Hello?” I tried, but the crying suddenly stopped, and then I heard footsteps moving away… someone was running from me. I chased the sound as fast as I could, but it seemed to be always out of reach, always out of my sight.
I ran until I got to the Wolf’s Snout. I stood still for a moment, observing the entrance of the tunnel. The sound was coming from inside. I took a deep breath and went in.
I continued to run and suddenly heard a loud noise, like someone falling down to the ground, and I finally reached the one who was running away from me. It was Johnny.
“Johnny?” I asked as I approached him, but this made him crawl to the wall of the tunnel in fear. “Johnny, it’s me, Red!”
“Red?” he replied slowly standing up. I could see the fresh tear streams on his cheeks.
“Johnny, do you know what happened?” I asked.
“N-no,” he replied, fighting his tears. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

***

“You don’t know what happened either?” I asked.
“N-no, I really don’t,” Johnny replied. “I remember that I was running away from something huge, some kind of beast.”
“Beast?” I asked.
“Yeah, a wolf, I think.”
“A wolf… tell me what happened to you Johnny, you know, before.”
“Before what? Before you found me? I already told you, I don’t kno-”
“No, Johnny,” even now Johnny remained as smart as a door. “What happened to you before everything changed? What happened to you today?”
“Oh, that. Well, the day started normally, you know. I got up, had breakfast and went out to find something to do. But when I went outside I noticed something different… the entire neighborhood seemed to be on the lookout. Apparently some old lady from across the tunnel was attacked by a creature from the forest.”
“A creature… of course, the wolf.”
“Yeah, the wolf. Anyway, my dad told me that he would look for it with the rest of the neighbors and that I needed to watch out and I shouldn’t leave our yard, and well… he had his gun with him, so I knew it was serious, so I stayed in today,” so that’s why I didn’t see him near the Wolf’s Snout. “I don’t know exactly when, but the neighbors, with my dad along, came chasing after something huge heading out of the woods behind my house.”
“It seemed to be going to re-enter the woods on the other side of the house, but it saw me. It changed its direction and came after me, that’s when I heard my dad screaming, I am not sure exactly what he was yelling for me to do, so I just ran. I was terrified. I ran like crazy.”
“I was going for this tunnel, I don’t know why but I thought it would be safe. Then… I fell down. The wolf tackled me to the ground,” a shiver seemed to go through him when he told this, a shiver that I felt as well, “before I could even reach the tunnel.”
“And then what?” I asked, not being able to hide the anxiety.
“Well, then you chased me. That’s what happened.”
“What?! That’s that? You were tackled down by a wolf and then what?”
“Then nothing! Then I got up and everything was like this, and then you came chasing me! I thought it was the wolf again!” he didn’t seem to be lying, he seemed really scared.
“This is freaky… it’s a lot like the way I got here.”
“You were chased by the wolf too?”
“Yes, but at my grandmother’s house. I tried to get outside and I was sure that the wolf got to me when I was at the front door, but he suddenly vanished… and everything was like this.”
“That’s really weird,” he said.
“I wonder if anything like this happened to anyone else. Well, one thing is for sure, we’re probably not the only ones that this happened to, of course not. We just didn’t see anyone because we got distracted from running after one another, and they were busy chasing that wolf. That thing didn’t vanish, it was simply chased away.”
“That could explain the vanishing wolf thingy, but what about the ashes and the fog?”
“Well, I actually can’t explain that. But there’s got to be an explanation.”
“Well, there could be, but we won’t find out if we stay here.”
“You’re right, Johnny.”

***

“You see? No signs of any fight,” I said while Johnny and I walked around my granny’s house.
“Yeah, this sure is weird. Could your grandma have cleaned this up?”
“So fast? I don’t think so. She was bleeding, and there was something else… what was it? Oh yeah! A gigantic wolf screwing around the house!”
“Okay, okay! No need to be rude, Red.”
“Sorry, I am just very confused. Did you see if your parents are home? Or any neighbor?”
“Come to think of it, no, I didn’t. Let’s go check it out.”
So we set off to check out the neighborhood, but everywhere seemed to be the same. “Hello? Is anyone there?” we shouted on the way to Johnny’s house, but we got no response. The more we walked around, the more frightened and confused I became. What was happening?
“Okay, this is me,” said Johnny when we reached his house.
We passed the gate and went to the door.
“Damn, I forgot my keys,” genius Johnny. “Mom?” shouted Johnny, but got no response. He knocked on the door and it started to open very slowly.
“This is strange. Mom never leaves the door unlocked.”
“Let’s see if we can find her,” I said.
Johnny pushed the door open and, after a moment of hesitation, we entered his house. It was exactly like my granny’s… spotless. Everything was organized; nothing out of place, but the same feeling of abandonment was there to be felt… It was like this home never sheltered a family.
“Mom?” Johnny shouted. “Mom, are you there?”
We walked around the house looking for anything that could explain this, but we found nothing.
“Red, this is starting to really scare me,” Johnny said, barely containing his emotions. “This is getting really freaky!”
“I know. There is something weird around here. It seems that this place is completely abandoned, but why? Weren’t they able to catch the wolf? Did they all run away?”
“And left all their homes nice and tidy? Come on, Red!”
“Ah, you’re right,” damn, it was my turn to be dumb now? “Something happened around here that made everybody leave… or disappear,” I added due to Johnny’s look. “The important thing is that we need to keep looking for help.”
“But there is no one here, Red!”
“Well, I know that. Maybe at the village. Maybe whatever happened here didn’t happen there.”
“Well, I don’t know…”
“It’s worth checking out, right?”
“I guess so.”
“So let’s get going.”
Our walk towards the village was very quiet. As long as I can remember, Johnny was always in a good mood, chatty and cheerful, but now he was very different. He was silent, scared, confused. He kept looking over his shoulder all the time, like something would come out of thin air to attack him. I couldn’t judge him for that, because I was feeling the same thing. It was like the houses, trees and even the grass we stepped on were watching us with vicious eyes. We didn’t, no, we couldn’t feel safe.
We looked at the end of the tunnel, feeding our hopes with what was waiting on the other side, hoping to see something normal, to find someone to help us. But we reached the other side only to have our hopes crushed down as everything was exactly the same. The air had the same stench, the same white fog was hiding the horizon and ashes seemed to cover everything around as it fell from the skies.
“The same,” I said, feeling my spirit go under. “It is exactly the same way,” and then I couldn’t contain it anymore. I fell to my knees and started to cry, everything seemed to weight over me, pressing me down to the ground. Hopeless, lost, desperate, alone. Those are the things I felt as I gave in to my anxiety and fear.
“Red, c’mon,” Johnny said, kneeling next to me. “We can’t lose our hopes now, not yet,” Johnny’s voice gave him away, his brave words couldn’t hide the fact that he was feeling the exact same way. He also felt that we were not getting out of that, that we were undoubtedly lost.
We sat there for several hours, or it could’ve been minutes, I don’t know, but it felt like forever.
“Johnny, I need to go back to my house,” I said as I tried to stand up. “I need to see if my mother is okay. If she’s still,” I couldn’t say it, I just couldn’t. Johnny quickly stood up and put his arms around me.
“It’s okay, Red. Let’s go to your house.”
He looked deep into my eyes.
“Your mom probably knows what happened, and I bet she’ll be of better use than me,” this was the old Johnny talking, I could see it in his eyes, but this only lasted for a moment. It was like he forgot about our situation and put his fear aside only to comfort me.
“Thank you, Johnny.”
“So let’s get going, we got quite a walk ahead.”
“Okay.”

***

We headed south of the village, taking the road back to my house. The warmth that we felt a moment ago began to be replaced by a feeling of desolation and loneliness. It was like everything around us was lifeless and as we walked and explored we became more and more aware of that fact.
Soon we were at the south end of the village, facing the road that led to my home. We couldn’t see far because of the dense fog.
“Okay, Red. This is the road that takes to your house, right?”
“Yes. I usually ride my bike to cross here. I don’t think I actually walked the whole distance before.”
“Think it’ll take too long?”
“Well, I can’t be sure. On my bike it takes about 45 minutes. I think that if we walk we’ll take up to 2 hours to get there.”
“2 hours?”
“Yes. It’s not that long.”
“Not that long?!”
“My god, Johnny! You rather stay here?”
“Well, no.”
“So let’s start walking, I think it’ll be dark soon.”
“Heh? And how can you tell? Do you know what time it is?”
“Well… no, I don’t. But judging by the time we spent looking around the village, I guess it’s almost nighttime.”
“Hope we get to your house before dark. This is spooky enough in the light.”
“The more reason for us to hurry up.”
“Okay, so let’s go.”
And so we walked. As we advanced in our route, I couldn’t help to notice that the environment around us never changed. It was like we were walking in circles, but always in a straight line.
The more we advanced the more quiet we became, the more exhausted we grew, the more aware that we were not advancing as fast as we should.
At our pace, we should’ve reached the big curve to the right that indicated we were halfway there, but we haven’t. As we walked the road only extended itself straight ahead into the fog… always straight ahead.
The fog became gray as the light faded and we entered night. At this rate, we wouldn’t reach my home before nightfall. We needed to stop and rest. Something was telling me we needed daylight to walk around safely.
“Johnny?”
“Yeah?”
“I think we should stop here and rest for the night.”
“What? Are you crazy? What if something happens while we sleep?”
“I am sure nothing will happen, Johnny. But we should go to the forest to sleep, just in case.”
“The forest? With those wild beasts and all?”
“Well, it’s better than staying here out in the open, don’t you think? Besides, awhile ago I noticed something… did you hear anything coming from the woods all day?”
“Well, now that you ask… no. Weird.”
“Yes, I know. We should be hearing something… like the animals walking around, climbing trees, but nothing.”
“You think that they disappeared too?”
“It’s seems like it. But if the woods are empty, there is nothing for us to fear there.”
“Okay. And, Red?”
“Yes?”
“Do you plan on eating what’s in that basket anytime soon? I am hungry.”
I looked down to my hands and saw it. I can’t believe I forgot all about it. I was so worried that I didn’t notice that I was holding the basket really tight.
“I forgot about this. Want to eat something? I have only candy and some bread here, but I think it will do until we get to my house.”
“Ohhh, it will do just fine!”
“Well, but I don’t have a lot. We should store some for later, just in case.”
“Okay, okay. Just give me that candy bar over there, please?”
“Here, take it.”
As I saw Johnny eat, I realized I was starving too. I took a candy bar to myself and started eating.

***

We found a small clear area in the forest. I sat in front of Johnny and there was a nice cozy fire between us, which Johnny provided since he had some experience, camping with his dad was kind of a weekend habit of his.
We stared at the flames for a long time, don’t exactly know how long, but it seemed to consume all our attention for a long time. All of the sudden, Johnny stood up.
“Red, I’m still hungry.”
“I know, Johnny. I am too.”
“So… let’s eat some more.”
“I already told you Johnny, we can’t.”
“Why not? You have that basket full of food and we can’t have a bite?”
“I told you already. This basket is not full, there is little to no food here... and we already had a bite.”
“But I am so hungry… we only had a few candy bars.”
“Johnny, we can’t afford to eat it all now, no matter how hungry we are,” as I replied, my stomach growled.
“Just one more!”
“No, Johnny! We will eat in the morning!”
“Fine!” Johnny quickly sat down and looked into the flames.
“Johnny… We only have this much food and we don’t even know how long we’ll be on the road.”
“…”
“And we need to make this food last, no matter if we just eat enough to stay alive.”
“…”
“When we reach my house, there will be more food, even better than this one.”
“Really?” Johnny’s love for sweets… that’s got to give me some leverage.
“Really. Everything you can possibly eat fresh from the oven.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, I promise.”
After that Johnny seemed better, even thought he constantly rubbed his stomach and muttered things to himself. I can’t blame him, I was very hungry too. I felt like I didn’t eat anything for days, even thought we were lost just for a few hours.
The fire between us was almost out and so were we. Both of us were lying down, barely able to keep our eyes opened.
“Johnny?”
“Yeah?”
“You think we’ll be okay? That tomorrow morning we’ll find my mother… or even if everything will go back to normal?”
“I don’t know.”
“I wish this all was just a bad dream… that tomorrow morning we found ourselves in our beds.”
“I am sure rooting for that too, but this doesn’t look like a dream.”
“I know…”
“But don’t worry, Red. Tomorrow is a new day, we’ll find your house and everything will be just fine. You’ll see!”
“And what if my mom is also gone? What if this happened everywhere?”
“We can’t know that. We can only hope that it’ll be okay, what else can we hope for, anyway?”
“I know, but the more time passes the more convinced I am that we’ll not get out of this… that we’ll not be okay.”
“Shut up, Red. We’ll be just fine. Now we need to sleep, we got a long walk tomorrow. And the sooner we sleep, the sooner we wake up, the sooner we eat.”
“Okay. Good night, Johnny.”
“Good night.”
I looked at Johnny as he began to sleep. He looked so peaceful, like nothing had happened and he was just camping again with his dad.
“I hope you’re right, Johnny,” I muttered to myself, and then I slowly drifted away from consciousness, sinking into sleepless dreams.

***

I woke up in distress. I felt a heavy weight over me, holding me down to the ground. Fingers were pressing hard on my neck.
My sight was blurry, I was only abble to see a dark figure... something was sitting on top of me with its hands wrapped around my neck, choking me.
I started to punch, kick and scream beneath the thing, trying to fight off its frenzy, trying to save myself.
It wasn't good enough. I wasn't strong enough to fight it.
The basket! I needed to reach the basket! There is a knife there!
I tried to reach the basket, but I just couldn't. It was too far.
Everything started to fade. I started to lose sensation all over my body. It was over.
“J-Johnny... help... me...” I muttered as I began to lose conscious.
The thing suddenly loosen its grip, allowing me to breathe again. Adrenaline rushed through my body. I stretched beyond I believe I could and grabbed the knife handle.
I gripped the knife tightly and struck the creature on its side. It let out a howl of pain and agony as its warm blood spattered all over my body and dripped down my arm. I struck it again and the creature fell to my side, releasing me from its grip.
I turned and struck it again while it was lying on the ground. A wet growl came out of its throat, like it was choking on its own blood.
I struck it again and again. I lost count of how many times my arm came down with rage upon this thing. Each time I raised my arm, more blood spattered on my face.
“R-red,” the creature gasped. “Red... it's m-me...”
I held the knife high in the air. My eyes became watery and warm tears began to roll down my cheeks. In shock, I couldn't find air to breathe in. My lips only mouthed his name... “Johnny”.

***

I fell to my knees beside him and tried to tend to his wounds. Wounds that I inflicted...
“W-why?” I tried to shout, but only whispers came out of my lips. “Why, Johnny?”
Johnny coughed up blood and twitched from pain. He tried to breathe, but he couldn't. Only a horrific sound came from his throat, making my stomach twist.
My eyes were wide open. My hands shaking from desperation, warm tears ran down my face and dripped on Johnny's body.
He tried to breathe again, making that awful sound again.
“No Johnny. Don't try to talk,” I tried to say to him, but I could only hear squeals coming from me.
“I... I am sorry Red,” Johnny said holding his head up to look at me. “I was ju- I… just so...” Johnny coughed, a horrible cough, like his lungs were filled with liquid and struggling to let him breathe.
“Be quiet Johnny,” I grabbed his hand and held it tightly.
“Hungry, Red,” he coughed. “I was so... hungry,” his head fell back. “And... tired.”
“I don't... I don't think we'll ma- make it to your m-mom, Red,” he said. His eyes looked empty as the words came out of his mouth, like hope had left him alone in the dark.
“Of course we will!” I shouted back at him. “You'll see! We'll get there, Johnny! You and me!”
He let out a strange laugh... it was more frightening than any scream of desperation he could've let out.
“You... might try. But m-me? I don't think... so.”
“What are you saying?” I said to him.
“We didn't see anyone in the village. W-we didn't see anyone on the ro-road… even animals,” he coughed again. “Why?”
I stood silently staring at his face, looking for a tell on him. He couldn't be talking like that... not Johnny.
“It's b-because there's nobody left,” he tried to take a deep breath again, making my stomach twist. “I d-don't know why that is... but, there's nobody left.”
“What are you saying?”
“We're alone, Red!” he spat these words at me, coughing up blood imediately after. “All alone here!” he violently coughed again.
“No we're not,” I said back to him. “We're not!”
“Alone...” his head tilted. He made that wet sound with his throat again, but this time it was followed by a strange silence.
“Johnny?” I asked. I put my hands over his body and tried to shake him gently, to get his attention. “Johnny?”
I was fiercely shaking his body, screaming his name, but I knew that he couldn't hear me. Not anymore.
“Johnny...”
I got up quickly and ran into the woods, ran like I never thought I could. My heart pounded inside my chest. I couldn't feel my legs, it was almost like someone was carrying me away.
I tripped and fell, crying uncontrollably. I crawled into a ball and laid there, weeping from the pain... trying not to remember what happened.
I couldn't.
“Johnny...” his name came out like a whisper between my sobbings, my tears. “I don't... I don't think I...” and I lost myself to exhaustion. Everything blacked out and I rapidly begun to lose counciousness.
“I'm sorry...” I said before falling asleep.

***

“Hey!” a voice said. “Little girl. C'mon, wake up.”
I slowly began to wake up. I could tell it was morning already. The sky was pale above the trees.
I could also see a figure staring down at me.
In a heartbeat I was completely awake, crawling away from the stranger who woke me.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Good morning,” he said with a smile on his face. “My name is Mark, and I live in these woods.”
I wanted to go over to him, every fiber of my being wanted to be held, to be comforted... but I knew better.
“How come you're not gone?” I asked.
“Gone? What do you mean?”
“Disappeared, like all the rest. How come you're here?”
“Oh, c'mon now! You don't need to be scared of me!” he said with a gentle smile. “I just didn't go away when all this ash came falling down.”
“They just... left?” I asked. “All of them? Just like that?”
“I can't answer something I don't know anything about. I just know that ash came falling and when I went to the village it was completely empty,” he answered. “That's all, I swear.”
“So, you don't know what happened?” I asked, not abble to hide the anxiety in my voice.
“Sorry to disappoint you. Anyway, a little girl like you shouldn't wander around in the woods alone, you know”
Alone. My stomach sank again as I remembered what happened last night. My eyes became watery.
“Are you okay?”
“I'm fine.”
“Okay. So, come with me to my house. It's not far from here,” he said. “I think you could use a good shower and a warm dinner.”
“Dinner?” I asked, surprised.
“Well, of course. It's almost night already. It'll be dark in a couple of hours.”
I slept throughout the entire day? Right then my stomach complained. I didn't eat anything but a few sweets since yesterday. I also realized I forgot my basket by the bonfire Johnny made. The thought of going back there sent shivers down my spine.
“I think you're hungry, with your stomach growling like that and all. Come to my house and have some dinner. It'll be good for you to get some warm food inside. What do you say?”
“Hum... no, thanks. I have a basket with some food somewhere around.”
“Oh, c'mon! If it's not with you, then it is somewhere in the forest, and the forest is not safe at night. Specially for a little girl like yourself.”
“It's not a problem.”
“Sure it is! Come on. Do you have pot roast in that basket of yours? Heh?”
My stomach complained again. Pot roast...
“Well, no...” I answered, “but-”
“So it's settled! You'll have dinner with me tonight. I'll make a nice pot roast and we'll have ourselves a feast!” he answered, clapping his hands excitedly.
“Now, come on. My house is close, we'll get there before nightfall.”
He extended his hand to me, waiting for me to hold it.
“Please?” he asked again.
Mixed feelings were growing inside me. On one side, he was offering me help, which could be really good. On the other hand, I didn't know him. How could I trust him enough to go to his house? I certainly wanted to, but was it safe? A strange feeling of danger came from looking at him, I didn't know why, but it did.
The loneliness and the burden of Johnny’s death tilted the scales in favor of accepting his offer. I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to delay thinking about last night as much as I possibly could, and having some company would sure do the trick.
“So let's go,” I said as I passed by him ignoring his hand.

***

As soon as we got to his house he led me to the dining table and went to the kitchen.
“Dinner was actually already done,” he said as he handed me a plate. “I was just taking a walk to work up an appetite when I found you.”
I thanked him and ate quietly.
After eating he excused himself and said he had some work to do. Before going to another room he pointed me to the bathroom and the guest room upstairs.
Standing there alone made me think about Johnny again.
It was late, I left my thoughts behind and went up the stairs, heading where he said it was the guest room. It looked a lot like my own room, seeming decorated for a child, with a few toys on the corner, a small chest at the foot of the bed and a small desk near the window. I imagined if he ever had children of his own.
I stretched and yawned. I took off my hood and noticed that the stains that were bright scarlet red dried up and became darker and darker. A shiver went through my body as I remembered what was on my hood. I threw it over the chair and laid down to sleep.
I was still awake when I heard something, noises coming from the hallway just outside.
Steps.
Steps approaching slowly and silently, with lot of caution. The squeak of the door opening made me sit up on the bed quickly. Looking at me from the door was my savior. The man that took me out of the woods and sheltered me for the night.
There was no light inside the room aside from the moonlight that came through the window. I could only see the gleam of his eyes… and something more. Something seemed to be burning behind those kind eyes...
He stepped forward and closed the door behind him, never taking his gaze away from me. Fear rushed into my heart and mind, intensifying my strange feeling of danger... then I understood. The tears came quickly to my eyes, making my sigh blurry for a moment. He tilted his head lightly, as if he was deciding if he should proceed.
Then he started to walk toward the bed...

***

I stare at the ceiling... my mind completely blank.
I feel numb... althought I can't feel my own heart beating inside my chest, I still can't stop the tears from flowing from my eyes.
I sit up again and look at the door where he left a few minutes ago. Or maybe hours, I really don't know. All that matters is leaving now.
I grab my hood, put my shoes on and head to the window. There's a tree almost touching the side of the house, so I decide use it to go down. I leap out the window and reach the branches, climbing them down. I look to the window to see if he is there, but there is no sign of movement.
I ran quietly to the fence and jumped it, being cautious not to make any noise. I continued to run through the woods for as long as I could before falling on my knees from exhaustion.
I look back to his house, now merely a tiny structure hidden behind trees and bushes. Looking at it made my stomach turn and my body tremble.
I crawl into a ball and scream at the top of my lungs.
I can't see anything because of my tears... I can't hear because of my own screams of anguish... I can't stop crying because I feel dead inside.
“Stop it,” I said to myself. “You need to meet mom,” I try to encourage myself “She must be worried about you,” it works.
I get up and dry up my tears. Morning was coming, the sky was becoming pale white again and then, suddenly, I see something just beyond the woods. My house.
I don't know if I felt happy or anything like that. All I know is that I felt relieved, like I've accomplished some great feat. It didn't matter, I was home.
I ran as fast as I could, passing the woods, the front gate and reaching the front door. I quickly open it, feeling my heart pounding in my ears.
“Mom! I'm ho-...” then I saw it. Right there, right then, seeing that, I understood what happened when I went to granny's. “D-dad?”

***

“Hello, sweetheart,” he said, standing there.
It couldn't be my dad. My father died years ago, I went to his funeral with mom.
“What are you doing here?”
“I think you know,” he had a kind smile on his face. “Don't you?”
I hesitated, but he was right.
“I... the wolf, it... killed me, right?” I said, trying to understand. “At granny's, right?”
“Well... no,” he answered calmly. “It killed your friend Johnny.”
“Johnny?” I asked, almost shouting. “But I... I killed him, didn’t I?”
“Well, no... and yes. Johnny was killed by the wolf and was later killed again, by you.”
“What? What does that mean?”
“Let me explain you the story. I'll make it simple and brief. Here, take a seat,” he pointed to the couch.
I closed the door behind me and went to sit by him.
“There was a wolf in the village that day, remember?” I nodded. “Well, you also remember that Johnny's father was chasing it with the rest of the neighborhood, right?”
I nodded again.
“Well, they were abble to chase the thing away from the Wolf Snout tunnel and were trying to make it go to the woods, but they led him to Johnny's house... and to Johnny himself,” I stood still listening. “Johnny tried to run, but the wolf was too fast. It killed Johnny while his father stood just a few yards away. After that, the wolf vanished in the woods.”
“That explains Johnny's death... but what about me?”
“Well, Johnny's father was furious and looking for the wolf that took his son. When you opened that door and the wolf was right there, Johnny's father simply fired his gun... he didn't even see you.”
I felt a sharp pain in my chest... I placed my hand on it, almost abble to feel a wound.
“That's right. He shoot you right there,” he said. “You were almost instantly killed and the wolf simply vanished again.”
“But... I...” I couldn't understand. I was shot? By Johnny's father? That wasn't possible... and suddenly I remembered. “But what about what I did to Johnny? If he was dead, how could that happen?”
“Well... Johnny's body was dead... but his soul... that wasn't.”
“S-soul?” my voice trembled.
“Yes. What you killed that night was Johnny's soul.”
“I... I...” I tried to talk, but couldn't.
“When you found yourself here, you wanted to go somewhere, right?” I nodded. “Where was that?”
“Here...” I answered.
“Right. You see, when you die, your soul seeks out a place to finish its journey, to end things here. You decided to come here, while Johnny simply followed you, not letting his own soul seek closure. He was probably doomed to wander... you just finished his journey for him.”
“So he's... in heaven and stuff?”
“No. He's gone.”
“Gone?”
“You see, when your soul dies, you simply cease to be.”
I started to cry. I ended not only Johnny's life, but his existance? I buried my face in my hands and wept. Dad placed his hand on my back and waited for me to stop crying.
I remembered something else.
“And the man?” my voice trembled as I said that. “Was he dead too?”
“Oh... him... No, he wasn't dead. That man was simply a way that you punished yourself for what you've done to Johnny.”
“W-what?” I asked in shock.
“You see... in this place, things are very harsh. Your guilt led this place to punish you through that man. Here your guilts and your own judgements of yourself come down upon you. That leads us to now,” he got up and looked down at me, kindly.
“This here is the end of your journey. This house is now your own limbo. As long as you stay inside this house, you'll remain out of harms way and out of reach of anything. But if you leave, you'll be sent somewhere, depending on your own judgements of yourself. You'll either end up in someplace wonderful or terrible. It's all up to you.”
He walked toward the door, but halfway there he turned around.
“Be cautious thought... there is no judge as terrible as ourselves,” he opened the door.
“Wait! Dad, please don't leave me!”
“I'm not your dad, sweetheart. I just choose a form closer to the person I'm visiting.”
“T-then... who are you?”
“I think you know that too,” he answered with a grin... and then he left, closing the door behind him… leaving me... alone.

***

“Did you hear what happened to her?” an old woman said.
“Yeah, I did,” a man answered looking at the coffin. “Died at home, right?”
“No, not about that! Not the what,” she said poking him with her elbow, “but the why.”
“Oh. That I didn't hear.”
“She killed herself slicing her wrist up while she laid in the bathtub.”
“I know that…” the man said rolling his eyes.
“Because of her daughter.”
“Her... daughter?”
“Yeah, she's the mother of that little girl who was always passing around the village. You know! The one always with that hood.”
“Right. I know her. She died too, right?”
“Yeah, killed by Jonnathan over there while he was chasing a wolf around town. Poor man never got over it. The thing killed his son too.”
“Damn...”
“Anyway, people say that she was hearing her daughter around the house, crying out for her. That sometimes she was woken up by screams of anguish coming from her daughter's room, only to find that there was nothing there.”
“People say that this lasted for months. She was getting more and more depressed, losing a child like that. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore and simply ended it,” the old lady said.
“Poor woman.”
“Indeed. But here's the weird part.”
“The weird part? Wasn't this weird enough?”
“Quiet,” she poked him again with her elbow. “The weird thing is that when they went to get clothes to dress her up for today they heard her daughter too.”
“Heard her daughter?”
“Yeah. They heard and even saw her on the window of her room,” the old lady said, looking deeply into the man's eyes. “They said she was wearing a very dirty hood, completely black because of the stuff in it… and that she was crying.”
The man looked over his shoulder to a house not too far in the horizon.
“Yeah, that's the one,” she said while looking at the house aswell. “They're calling it the hooded house, because of the little girl and her hood.”
“I'll be damned...”
Looking attently to the house, the man noticed something weird. He saw a figure apparently staring right at the funeral from a window on the second floor of the house.
Staring sadly and lonely.

The End

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