Eric

I had a hard time getting to sleep. I lay on the ground, eyes wide open, staring into the darkness of the forest. I guess that’s why they call it the Black Forest. I rolled over to face the fire. The warmth spread on my face, and my eyes, grew heavy.

“Eric,” I heard someone whisper. I rolled over away from the fire where the whisper came from. Nothing was there. I heard it again after a minute.

“Eric?” I sit up. Nothing’s out in the dark. It must be the leaves shaking in the wind. But there was no wind. And how could leaves say a name? I lie back down and shut my eyes, trying to ignore all the noises. The whispers get louder, and I get colder. A gust of wind flows over me, and I’m hit with an intense chill. I sit up. Everything’s dark. The fire has gone out. I look around, trying to make out anything in the dark. A scream rents the air, and I jump out of my sleeping bag. I run to the where I think the scream came from, but nothing’s there. I start shivering uncontrollably, and I realize I’m still in my boxers from sleeping. I shiver and rub my hands together. I see large lights in the sky, like movie theaters have when they release a new movie. I start running towards them. Maybe someone will be there. With warm clothes. I should’ve brought my sleeping bag with me. Or something to protect me against this wind. I start to get tired, so I slow down to a walk.

“Eric!” I turn towards the voice. I only see black. A flash of lightning lights up a big field in front of me. A creature stands in the middle of it. Everything goes dark before I can get a good look at it. A flash of lightning lights up the field again, but that thing is gone.

“It’s probably just my imagination messing with me,” I reassure myself. I keep walking, and then I hear a loud boom that shakes the ground. I jump and look around. My eyes had started adjusting, but I still couldn’t make anything out. Another flash of lightning, almost killed me. It struck the ground fifteen feet away from me, and I the hair on my neck stand on end. The light stayed for longer than it normally would, and what I saw terrified me.

A large figure stood fifteen feet from me. It’s pale, frightfully thin, and almost eight feet tall. It has a torso about three-and-a-half feet tall, shaped like an upside-down pear. Its midsection is terribly thin, and its skin is stretched tight over its prominent ribs. Its legs were the thickest part of its body, but they were still twig-like. It had feet like eagles with long, wicked talons. It had four arms, each impossibly thin, and its forearm split into two different bones then reconnected at the wrist. Its hands had six fingers, each with sharp, short claws. Its head was a little bit bigger than an average human’s, with no hair, nose, or ears, blood-red eyes, and an inhumanly sized mouth. It was gaping open, and I could see rows upon rows of teeth pointed inward towards its throat. They were rotating rapidly as all four arms were reaching for me. I stood, petrified, as the light started fading, and the creature screeched, a terrible sound, like claws on a chalkboard. I finally regained my senses and ran the opposite way. I kept running and running, into a forest of trees, braches scraping my body, drawing wounds upon me. The trees seemed to come to life, their braches becoming arms, reaching for me, grasping, trying to ensnare me, trip me. I finally broke out of the trees and into another field. I sit down, resting my tired legs. Suddenly, screams pierce the air, filling the night air with torment. I jumped to my feet, ready to do whatever it took to protect myself. I looked around me, and I saw things moving in the dark. Shadows drifted aimlessly, only able to be seen because they were darker than the landscape. The moon, once bright and white, took on a reddish brown hue, bathing the land in a rust color. The shadows danced around me in a circle, multiplying. The scream continued, one long, continuous note held out, not stopping for breath. Several different screams joined in the cacophony, no doubt coming from the shadows. Woops and hollers joined in and the shadows danced faster and faster, picking up dust and dry leaves in a fury of wind. The dry, brittle leaves and twigs scraped me. The beating of a large, deep bass drum started, and the screams and shouts got louder and louder. I was unable to move, transfixed in this “ritual” of the dancing shadows. The shadows shifted shapes, large to small, humanoid to animalistic characteristics. Out of the woods came creatures wearing masks, upon two, four, six legs. Flying orbs of fire danced above me, lighting up the field, enough to see that creature approaching slowly from the forest, with that terrible screech added to the disjointed cries. White ghost/ spirits rose up out of the ground, adding in their own singing of the dead, they figures horribly disfigured. And the creature slowly approached. A gap in the circle opened up, allowing the figure through. The song increased in tempo, and the woops and hollers and songs growing louder and louder, the wind picking up, whipping leaves and dirt around me. The trees started rattling, breathing, and shaking their branches. The knocking of wood on wood, deep rattling breaths, and rasp of leaves sliding over each other gave me chills. Shivers raced up and down my spine, like snake. And the creature approached. I was on top of a small hill, and it walked up towards me. I stared into its red eyes, like the gates of Hell contained inside of its head. The space between it and I closed, and then it stood before me. The abyssal mouth gave off a screech as its teeth rotated, and I stood tall. All sound ceased at that moment, and everything vanished. A blink of an eye, and it was gone. Nothing. The breeze, the fire, ghosts, shadows, everything was gone. The creature, the noise, everything had ceased to exist. I stood alone atop a small hill, holding an open envelope in my hand. I looked at it, saw my name, then fell backwards into oblivion.