In The Woods: Chapter One

I have always enjoyed long walks. I usually walk during the day, though tonight I had a really strong urge to walk through the woods at night.

I don’t know where this urge came from. I usually hate walking anywhere at night, but tonight the urge was strong, almost like being sucked into a vortex and getting stuck there. The feeling was unusual for me.

I who usually walk through the woods in daylight during the safe hours, because I have a strong fear of the dark.

Anyhow, let me tell you what happened tonight.

I went out walking around 7 P.M.

It was cold and dark. It had been raining, but a little voice inside told me,

“Enjoy the fresh, damp air. It will do you good.”

Or, I thought it was my own little voice until I decided to face my fear and attempt that walk.

Iset of into the dark, complete with my backpack, phone and my torch. I almost backed out until I heard that voice again.

“Come on Jo! You know you really want to.”

I really do.

I think it is just my mind arguing with me and telling me to stop being so soft. I was getting fed up with arguing with myself so I opened the door and step outside. I start walking straight away before I change my mind. The air feels fresh and crisp beneath my feet, and there is a beautiful full moon in the sky tonight. I start to enjoy it for a change, that was until I heard the crying.

“Help us, Jo! Please help us!”

I turned around and looked to see if I could see anyone, but there is nobody there. The crying gets louder.

“HELP US JO! PLEASE!!!”

I decided to call back. Somebody has to be out here somewhere.

“Where are you?” I call.

There is no reply.

The wind gets louder and the trees start shaking violently. They look like angry spirits in the night. I think nothing of it.

“It’s just a storm brewing,” I tell myself.

I decided to finish my short-lived walk and hurry home. It is getting darker, and soon I will not be able to see anything if I stay here.

I turn and head back, though when I think I have found the exit, I can’t see it. I am sure that this is the way in which I entered the woods, but it appears blocked.

“Oh well! This must be the wrong way.” I say out loud.

“Help us Jo! help us. We don’t want to die,” a group of voices shout.

Out of nowhere, I hear a loud WHOOOSH!

Before I know it, I am knocked off my feet and spinning around and around, in what appears to be a tornado. I attempt to feel for a branch on a tree to hold on to, but I miss. I feel sick and dizzy. I scream in terror, then I am thrown to the ground.

“If we have to die; then you will die with us.” Someone or something tells me, but I am not sure what or who.

The wind stops. Feeling relieved, I start walking again.

I just want to go home. I knew this was a bad idea.

I am walking for about ten minutes when a bright glowing light appears in front of me. A human voice speaks from it.

“Please help us, Jo, before the bad man comes to get us.”

I look in astonishment as the face of a young girl appears before me. She only seems to be about eight years old.

Out of nowhere, the light fades, and there is a huge flash of light. I open my mouth wide and cover my face at what I see. A man’s face appears before me. He is wrinkled and he has no eyes.

“DON’T EVEN TRY IT JO! I will rip your guts out before you know it!” he tells me, before fading into the darkness.

This time I don’t walk, I run.

I run and I do not stop. My entire body is shaking and my heart is pounding. I barely notice the huge metal hand that slams in front of me and shakes the ground. I dodge it and keep running. The hand continues slamming in front of me until I collapse exhausted behind a tree.

“No Jo, no! You must get up! He is coming,” the voices scream at me.

I have no idea where these voices are coming from. All that I do know is they sound like the voices of around ten young children. I feel tears welling up in my eyes.

“Where are you? I can’t see you. Please help me by showing yourselves. I can’t help, if I don’t know where you are,” I cry.

The entire woods fill with loud cries and screams. To my alarm, the woods start spinning and I can make out shadows of children in the trees. I stay quiet until everything calms down, even though I can hear myself screaming along with the children inside me. Suddenly there is a very loud rumble above me and an extremely violent bolt of lightning.

A portal opens in front of me, and millions of children come rushing out of it.

I observe and realize that they are all dead.

One of the children approaches me. His face is decayed and his clothes are torn and stained with blood.

I scream loudly.

“Don’t scream Jo! You can go, once you have helped us.” the child tells me.

“What do I have to do?” I ask.

“You must stop the bad man,” the dead child tells me.

“How?” I ask.

“You see that rope on the tree, you must find him and hang him there,” the child explains.

I stare at him in horror.

“That’s murder!” I exclaim.

“Don’t worry, we are all dead anyway. We can’t rest until he stops. If you don’t stop him, he will kill you too. You were called to protect us,” the child tells me, then disappears on the spot.

I really hate this idea, and I don’t really know how to deal with the undead. However, my blood boils and my anger spills over, as it dawns on me.

The bad man killed those children.

I decide these children deserve justice and peace, and I decide to give it to them.

I will find a way to kill the bad man. He isn’t a real man, real men are flesh and blood. He is dead anyway, and he deserves to be sent to hell.

I have no idea what I am supposed to do.

I am not even sure if I am doing the right thing, or why I am doing it.

It is as if the spirits of these children have called me to protect them, but what do they really want?

Do they want to be set free so that they can cause havoc in the streets and kill people? Do they want me to kill the ‘bad man’ so they can rest in peace?

I just do not know, either way, I don’t care. That man (or ghost? Zombie maybe?), whoever or whatever he is stole their lives; and now, as payback, I must end his.

The only problem is that he is already dead.

I attempt to prepare myself.

The child told me I had to ‘hang him with the rope.’

The question is, how do I get him to the rope in the first place?

I have read stories about fighting the undead with magic, exorcists, scythes and other weapons, but in this world, we don’t have those things at all.

I decided that I should try and research the library.

Maybe they will have something that I can use.

I walk to the city library. We don’t have a very big library, though they do have a variety of books, some of which are more ancient than time itself. I need to find a librarian who can help me, then a thought crosses my mind.

"What the fuck am I supposed to say to him?"

"Do I need a book that teaches me how to battle the undead,?"

“Yeah, that’ll work!” I say out loud.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” A male voice asks me.

I had no idea that a man was standing behind me, and I don’t know what to say without feeling stupid.

“I’m just looking, for now,” I reply.

“Well, if you need me, my desk is over there,” he replies, pointing to a dark mahogany and shabby small table to the right of us.

I just nod and thank him, then I get on with my research.

I can’t find much in this library. I can find fiction stories about vampires, demons and spirits, but

I can’t find anything that tells me how to deal with real-life encounters.

I decided to try the computer.

Maybe I’ll find something on the web.

I find a site called ‘How to deal with ghosts,’ but nothing there strikes me as being real. I shake my head and do another search, which comes up with, ‘How to fight a vampire,’ though these are not vampires, that I am certain of.

The librarian is standing behind me, though I was unaware that he was watching me.

“Ah! You’re researching battling the undead.”

I shake my head.

He turns to me and says,

“I see it all the time. People come to me for help with this a lot. It is something I specialize in. You don’t have to do this alone,” he tells me.

“Me! no, no battle here! My home is clean.” I reply nervously.

“You wouldn’t be researching it if you weren’t!” he responds abruptly.

I roll my eyes, then say,

“Do you know what is happening in the woods? I was walking there yesterday, even though I don’t usually venture out at night and all these dead spirits showed up, including a man. The dead spirits were calling on me to help them fight a bad man, though the bad man…he is dead too. I felt a weird strong urge to go there. Once there, I had problems leaving, and I was told that I would die too if I didn’t help.”

The librarian listens with interest.

“Ghosts and Spirits in the woods? I’ve heard about this before somewhere. Leave it with me, and I’ll find out what I can.”

I nod, then turn to leave. I go straight home and head to bed.

Today’s events are too much to take in.

Keep an eye out for chapter 2 coming soon….

Thank you for reading my story. You will find my original published story by following the link below:

https://medium.com/creative-passions/in-the-woods-2e5f33940c6