Chapter 4: The Woods

Kevin waited next to the window of the cabin, shotgun ready in case something happened. His eyes were slowly closing but he was determined to keep himself awake. That was until he heard a knock on the door, he stood up and walked over, with each step he made, the floor creaked and moaned. The knocks on the door were getting faster and more desperate in their rhythm, Kevin pointed the gun at the door and unlocked it, he opened it slowly and directed the shot gun at whoever was there. It was a man who was injured, he panted and wheezed as his arm and back had cuts and gashes in them. Kevin put the gun inside and helped the man from falling, the man coughed a bit of blood as Kevin slowly pulled him into the cabin that was until the wind picked up and darkness surrounded the cabin like a black tornado. Kevin and the man looked into the woods and saw a tall figure with deer-like antlers, staring at them from the darkness. Kevin pulled the man in quickly as the figure started sprinting towards Kevin and the man.

Kevin got the man inside, closed and locked it as the creature outside banged on the door but left quickly as it appeared.

"T-thank you" the man said to Kevin as he was slouched against the door. Kevin sat down with the gun.

"Did that thing hurt you?" Kevin asked, looking concerned.

The man nodded as the wind howled and Kathryn walked out and saw the stranger and Kevin, she ran over and knelt down beside Kevin. "What happened?"

Kevin looked at Kathryn with concern as a loud, inhuman scream was her through the woods, Kevin, Kathryn and the stranger all looked in horror as it suddenly stopped. Brittany limped out of the room as Kevin walked over to help her. "I wanted to scream but i couldn't, i saw something run past the window after that scream" Brittany said in a frightened tone. Whatever was out there wasn't friendly, the stranger looked horrified as something stepped to the door, he placed his finger to his lips as a sign to be quiet as the thing outside sniffed around. Kevin quietly gestured to Kathryn to help the man up but as she did, the thing outside sniffed at the door. Kathryn slowly helped the man up by his arm as the thing growled. She and the stranger were fully standing, the thing outside growled louder than before, the thing or creature outside moved away from the door as the stranger sighed quietly. Kevin and Kathryn were still listening out for the creature.

"I think it's gone now" The stranger said in a questionable tone, he turned towards the door and walked over to it and unlocked it. Kevin and Kathryn became shocked and watched as the stranger peered out of the door. He saw nothing but dark woods that stretched into infinity, the birds chirped in the trees as he closed the door. He sighed as Kevin and Kathryn let out a sigh of relief but they heard a noise coming from one of the rooms but as they turned, it was Bittany walking out, using the walls to keep herself up. Kathryn walked over but suddenly two boney hands covered in black fur burst through the bottom of the door and grabbed the stranger's feet, the creature pulled him through the door but Kevin grabbed his hands as both the creature and Kevin were now in a game of tug of war with the stranger. Meanwhile, a snake like appendage bursts through the roof of the cabin and wraps around Brittany, trying to pull her up but Kathryn grabs her foot, Brittany screams but it's muffled as Kathryn notices that the snake like appendage was black with red t the end and it had red veins in it. Her eyes went wide as she realized that it was the wolf that attacked them before, Kathryn's grip became harder and harder to keep on Brittany's leg, Kevin pulled hard but the stranger began to scream as a pool of blood began to appear around him. The stranger stopped as Kevin fell back and almost smashed his head against the ground, he sat up and screamed as he was holding the top half of the stranger. Kathryn fell on to the ground as Brittany was pulled through the roof and disappeared, Kevin crawled away as a bony, black fur covered hand dug its claws into the dead stranger's chest and slowly dragged it through the hole with a low growl. Kevin grabbed the gun and aimed it at the hole but the creature and body were gone, there was a blood trail going off in the woods.

Kathryn came to as Kevin ran over and helped her up. "Hey, are you good?" He asked as he looked at the hole in the roof. "Fuck! It took Britt, we need to get out of here quickly" He helped Kathryn to her feet as they walked out of the cabin, it was daylight but it didn't make it any less terrifying from what just happened. Kevin and Kathryn walk through the woods for an hour until Kathryn sits on a fallen tree. "Kat, there's no time to rest" Kevin looked at her but she was pale and sickly looking, Kevin sighed until he noticed a few spots of blood leading off into the woods. "Kat, wait here, I'll come back" Kevin stated as he trekked into the woods, following the blood path.

As Kevin made his way through some bushes, he saw Henry's gun that he used to save them on the ground, he gently picked it up and looked over it. He saw that it had no bullets in the cartridge, he saw a drop of blood on his hand so he stood up and looked at it, being confused as he didn't feel it drop on him, that was until another drop of blood fell on his hand. He felt his heart drop and he slowly titled his head up, following the tree as he saw blood dripping from the branches and leaking down the trunk. His eyes widened as he felt sick, seeing Henry's blood covered clothes in the tree. Kevin looked around as he heard a scream near him in the woods so he ran towards the scream, gun ready. After a bit of running, he came to a cave with blood stains leading into it, a low humming noise came from the cave as he brought out a small pocket sized flashlight, he turned it on and headed in.

Kathryn was still seated on the fallen tree, she heard the scream from the woods, it scared her enough to stand as the sky turned dark immediately. The birds shrieked around her, making Kathryn cover her ears, the ground reverted back to its luscious green visage that it was many years ago. Kathryn started to run away from the fallen tree as she felt like something was chasing after her. Whatever it was, it wasn't friendly, she hopped over logs and rocks as a black fog grew and chased her. She was stopped by a woman who snapped her out of her vision, it was a young woman in her 20s with curly blonde hair and blue eyes. "Calm yourself, oh dear you are pale as a moon" She said as she walked Kathryn into her mansion that was isolated on a hill just outside of the woods.

Meanwhile, Kevin was deep in the cave, he smelt something foul like rotten meat coming from further in the cave, he placed his shirt over his nose and mouth which helped with the smell a bit. He ventured deeper until he came to a horrific site, piles of dead bodies were all around the cave as a pool of blood was near the biggest pile of bodies, some parts of them were missing but what made Kevin sick was the site of Henry, he was nude with a hole were his stomach was, it was empty but Henry's face was frozen in a scream of terror. Kevin tried to not throw up, that was until he heard something being torn apart near him, he turned his flashlight off though the cave was lit by an unnatural light as he saw the creature from before, it was eating the stranger that he tried to save in the cabin. Its blood covered snout was made of bone, it looked like it had a deer skull as a mask that it used to help eat meat, it had long front limbs and looked like it helped grab things from afar and helped it walk or run on all fours, they ended with long claws, the creature was crouched but it had a digitigrade structure to its legs and had hooves for feet, it was covered in thick black fur and it looked feminine as well, obviously being a female. It also had a small tuff for a tail and the thing that stood out the most were its eyes, they were pure white and glowed in the darkness. Kevin had seen enough and went to walk away until he heard in a raspy, feminine voice.

"M-must eat, get strong. Meat! Lovely MEAT!" It said loudly as it crushed flesh and bone. Kevin went pale as he quietly stepped away but heard behind him. "You smell like meat" He turned to see the creature looking at him so he started sprinting down the cave's tunnel back to the entrance of the cave as the creature ran after him. As soon as he saw light, he dove out of the cave and crawled away but the creature stopped as it watched him. He aimed his gun at it and it said "Strong human, me make you mine. Me wait until dark and get you. Master will be pleased"

It scampered back into the dark of the cave, its eyes disappearing as Kevin got to his feet but threw up from shock and disgust from the things he just witnessed. He was approached by the same woman that took Kathryn to her house. "You must be Kevin? Kathryn is worried about you and I see that I was right to be concerned as well. Come, we'll be safe at my home" She said as she turned and began walking away.

"W-wait, what's your name?" Kevin asked her. She smiled and turned, looking him dead in the eyes and said.

"Most people call me Humfrie."