Green Man

“The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window.”

Tiana rolled her eyes with a scuff; I stopped the story with a soft sigh. All weekend this 10-year-old has been objecting to all camp activities and complaining about everything. It was really getting on my nerves even though part of me felt bad for this kid. Her family had just moved to our small town and dare I say it wasn't very diverse here. She probably felt like an outcast and being guarded was her coping mechanism. At least that's what was told to me after suggesting the camping trip to her mother.

Still, trying to be understanding is exhausting and frankly I felt she needed some tough love. So, I looked at her, “What's wrong, not scary enough for you?”

Her dark eyes narrowed as she faced me, “No and it's not logical. Black people don't go to cabins in woods cuz of dare so we wouldn't notice a random ass candle burning.”

I frowned, forcing myself not to correct her language for the hundredth time. “It's an urban legend Tiana, you don't have any urban legends where you from?”

She crossed her arms with another roll of her eyes, "Yeah, but ours are real.”

I offered her the flashlight I was using as a microphone, “Then enlighten us huh.”

She frowned at me, those intelligent eyes sizing me up before she took the flashlight, “Fine.”

She turned to the group of 6 that sat around the fire. “I hate being here, but we had to move. Green Man was picking off all the kids one by one and my mom is not one to mess with.”

Charlie blinked, “Who's Green Man?”

“Green Man. He was a regular guy at first. Fancy in his green suit and top hat with the feather. He danced on the corner of 5th and Canal and people would put money in his basket. My mother always said be nice and smile, people don't wish to be homeless. But Green Man, he had this vibe about him. He would shake and reach for you but stop himself, you can almost smell his restraint. He whispered to himself, singing this weird song and always offering that nasty taffy he carried.”

Her voice was soft as she sang, “I'm just a man. From down the road. And I know where I wanna go. But if I go, I'm not going alone. I'm not going alone. Green Man. Green Man. My favorite color is green.”

She paused, shaking her head, “Everyone knew he was sick, but nobody cared enough to get him help. It wasn't until the first kid went missing, found her in a park a few days later. Someone cracked her skull open after breaking her in. Do you know what that means?”

I tried to interrupt, “Tiana...”

But she cut me off, “It means a grown ass man liked putting his dick in kids. She wasn't the last one either. A boy went missing next, they found him in a ditch by the church. You know what sodomy means?”

“Tiana!”

Again, she cut me off, the look in those eyes intense, “It means a grown ass man likes putting his dick in kids booty holes.”

I shot to my feet, fed up, “That is enough.”

She stood, challenging me, “It was finally leaked to the paper that a green feather was found by the crime scene. Everyone immediately went after Green Man. It had to be him, who else could it be right. Cops arrested him but he was let go after a day. The town mobbed and lynched him a few hours later. Killed him, thinking it was all over but then another kid went missing. Then another and another.”

“Story over Tiana.”

“My mother got spooked. She's superstitious like that. If it wasn't Green Man, the person, then it was Green Man, the demon. So, she started doing rituals, sage burning the house and carving runes on the doors. But it wasn't enough.”

She was scaring me, this 10-year-old was scaring me, there was a controlled anger in those black eyes, a type of eerie calm of violence. I couldn't stop the quiver in my voice, “I said that's enough.”

She took a step forward and my breath caught in my throat. Her presence was suddenly overpowering. As if her aura was tangible. It was heavy, physically weighing me down, the hairs on my arm stood straight up. Her voice was laced with venom and malice, "It would never be enough because that night he came. I heard the humming outside the window. The tap, tap, tap of the finger on the glass. He came in as silent as a mouse, that damn song a whisper on his breath.”

Her voice trembled with emotion, “Green Man. Green Man.”

Sweat beaded across my forehead, my heartbeat tripling in tempo, the other kids just as scared as I was, “Stop Tiana.”

Something flashed in the young girl eyes, something far passed anger, something much more dangerous. Her voice a threatening hiss, "You wanna know how I'm still alive?”

One of the kids whimpered, clapping his hands over his ears, “I don't like this!”

Still her eyes were on me, deep and penetrating, they held me in place, like a trance. “He underestimated my sister.”

I swallowed, stepping back as she slowly advanced towards me, hands balled into tight fists, “While he had me bent over in my backyard. She came to my rescue; the softball star screaming and swinging her bat.”

“And then. He. Shot. HER.” she yelled anger flaring with every word, lightening cackling around her as her rage built on.

I was shaking, I knew I was. Something wasn't right with this girl, “Tiana, please...”

Her breathing was heavy, her hand moving fast, pulling up her shirt, a long-ragged scar running from hip to hip. “My mother didn't realize until 4 months after her funeral.”

My breath left in a gasp, terror on my face, “No...”

She just nodded firmly, “I'm young but I'm fucking smart. I did my own investigation and figured everything out.”

The wind howled, the bonfire being blown out, kids screamed and scattered. Her voice a shout over the chaos, “I found out the truth! Green Man wasn't Green Man! And he too wanted revenge!”

Shadows moved as dark clouds rolled in, thunder clapped. The earth beneath me began to crumple and crack, splitting as sickly claws, reached out whispering, grabbing at my arms and legs. I struggled against the hands, but they were like smoke when I touched them, then turned solid burning my skin as they pulled me towards the dark abyss of the earth.

I screamed, fear consuming me; she stood over me, watching me being pulled into the ground. Those eyes hard as coal, “ So I made a deal with a demon.”

I clawed at the earth, fighting my descent, “HELP ME!”

She smashed her foot against my fingers, squatting to see my face as I screamed, “I had a little boy that looks just like you. We'll meet you down there.”

A clawed hand pulled at my face, jerking me back, I can only scream, burning alive, watching as the earth closed around me.

Tiana stood, rain pouring down in buckets, soaking to her core. A shadow moved, standing behind her, resting a clawed hand on her shoulder. She simply nodded, her face impassive, she knew what she was giving up. She sold the soul of herself and her baby to become that vile piece of shit's tormentor for all of his afterlife. And she planned to remind him, every moment of every second. He killed the wrong twin.

A thin line appeared across her neck, she fell back, limp as blood gushed from her sudden wound. She smiled into the rain, humming softly as everything grew cold, “And I know where I wanna go. But if I go, I'm not going alone. I'm not going alone."

Sharp claws closed her frozen eyes, "Green Man. Green Man. My favorite color is green.”