Skimmerhorn Valley

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night a candle burned in the window. A group of cowboys had stopped on a boarder of an unknown forest and were starting to make camp there, despite the local natives’ warnings about this particular route. The ranchers were in a hurry to get back to their homes on the other side of the mountains however, so when they came to the split in the valley path that would lead them south, they voted to go north along the forest edge to save them a day’s ride instead. The seven men came across the small 500 square foot two story cabin just as it was about to get dark and decided it would be a nice change of pace to sleep inside on the wood floors and loft. A couple of hours before sundown, one of the men heads out to gather some firewood.

“Hey Mike! I set some traps while yall were settin’ up camp. Check on them while ur’ out there, Yea. Maybe we can have some rabbit or squirrel to go with our soup tonight.”

“Like those things work Lester. I’m makin’ sure we got enough firewood so we don’t have to come back out here in the dark.”

“Wut you scared?”

“Of your ugly face, yeah!”

Mike grabbed a nearby axe and headed into the woods. He marched through the thick of it and soon found a downed tree he could whittle away at. He started chopping with enthusiasm as time passed and the shadows grew long as the sun slowly starts to disappear from the skyline. Mike has a nice large pile of firewood ready to take back and bundled the large pieces of wood together to load himself up. As he starts walking back towards the camp, he hears a snap and a skitter to his right.

“I’ll be damned I guess one of his traps worked.”

As he started towards the noise, he heard whatever was trapped start squealing…but in a weird way. Being familiar with trapping and skinning animals he knew what animals sounded like when they get trapped and when they think they are going to die. This squirrel or rabbit or possum sounded like it was terrified and desperately trying to get away. Just as he was about to come into sight of the screaming creature it is silenced with a bone breaking crunch and a loud thud followed by a rustling sound of something large. Mike froze for a second before he continued forward cautiously. As he turned the bend, he was greeted with nothing but trees. He looked at the small clearing where the trap was laid. It was sprung but empty.

The only traces that an animal was caught in the first place was the small amount of blood on the rope and ground. Upon closer inspection he found that he was wrong. There was a small furry paw left a few inches away. Whatever it was it had brown fur. Mike wondered what could have taken off like that, just nabbed and left without making barely any sound. What was even more disturbing to him was the fact that it didn’t leave any tracks either. All around the trap there are tracks from the small unfortunate critter but none for whatever took it. As he looked over the trap in disbelief, a thick and heavy snap claimed his attention to his right again. He turns instantly to see absolutely nothing but rows and rows of trees. He eyes scan the area but nothing stands out. As he looks past yet another clump of leaves, they move slightly. Not too much... but just enough to get his attention. Mike focuses on the strange mass. He stares at the clump of leaves for what seems like an eternity. Just as he was starting to question his sanity of whether or not it even moved in the first place, a head turned and two large lidless yellow eyes, the likes of which he had never seen, stared back at him.

A cold dark chill ran down his spin as his eyes locked on to the unusual sight, like he was looking into the gaze of death itself. He instinctively took a step back and tripped on a nearby tree root. Scrabbling to get up, he tried to find the piercing yellow orbs again but they had disappeared. He clamored up as quickly as he could and started running back towards the camp. He was familiar with most wildlife in the area and had come across bears, mountain lions, wolves and other fearsome beasts. But something about those eyes. They were…unsettling. Like the mere sight of it stained his soul and it empaled his courage, making him cower like a child. A child who had seen a monster. Fear gripped his heart as he rushed through the thicket…

In his panic, Mike almost ended up running right into the group of six native American hunters as he burst from the tree line and onto the path that led to the cabin. Each of the Natives held a spear with an unusually long and wickedly sharp claw on the head and were marked with red and black paint all over their bodies while their heads had a mixture of black and yellow. The only cloths they had on were a breechcloth made of some unknown dark black leather. The one who looked to be the eldest stepped forward.

“You have been marked by the Skimmerhorn.” The man said in a flat, almost monotoned voice.

Mike blinked at the man and looked back behind him to see if he could find the yellow eyes again. He didn’t, and turned to look back at the leader with a quizzical stare.

“Wha…what…was that…”

“Somethin’ I can help you with there Chief?!” Came a booming manly yell from the cabin porch.

Mike turned around to see all six of his coworkers standing with no less then that many guns pointed at the small group of Natives. The leader, unchanged by any of them continued speaking.

“Death will visit you all until the beast is satiated and the mark is consumed.” The elder continued in his flat tone. “You need to leave this valley now or you will die.” He delivered that last bit while staring coldly at Mike. The elder and his other tribesmen turned around, and followed their leader back down the path that would lead them out of the valley. Not a single one of them muttered so much as another word as they left.

“Alright what was all that about.” A large muscular man with black hair and a square jaw named Boss Al came down from the shallow porch to stand next to Mike.

“I….um…. I saw something. In the woods…”

“And? All kind of scary shit out here…you of all of us should know with your time in the bush.”

“That’s what em sayin boss. Aint nothin’ like anything I seen.”

“What it look like then Mike? Did one of dem Ingins trick ya into looking at their stumpy pecker?” A thin scraggly looking man, half-drunkenly stammered as the rest of them came down to stand with the two men.

“We should heed their warning” A young half-Native American man in blue denim jeans said.

“Corse ud say that, Chris.” Dale continued while taking another swig from his whiskey bottle that he held in his other hand. “Did you put em up to this…you guys Amigos?” He said while slinging his gun hand around the young man. Dale was infamously known for his off color humor.

“Shut the hell up Dale” Boss Al pronounced with authority. “Mike! What. Did. You. See.”

Before Mike could answer an inhuman howl pierced the night. This sound was loud. It was deep. And it was unnerving. It can easily be heard for miles around and carried a chortle that shook the men to their core.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOHURRHUROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHUROROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHUROROROOOOOOOOOOOOOORHOROROROOROOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

With the thought of the recent encounter with the Natives gone from their minds, each one of the men shakily pointed their arms at an unseen target in the woods. Not waiting for permission Dale was the first one to start walking back towards the cabin when the Boss called out to him.

“Just where do you think ur goin’. I want you to tie up the horses closer to the cabin tonight. And don’t forget to bring in some extra ammo too.” Boss Al turned to address the other men. “Fer safety’s sake let’s take turns watching outside. Chris, you take first watch, Lester takes second, Allen you take third, and I’ll take the last.

All but the two men who would be left out seemed pleased to go back inside. With haste they all retreated in while Chris and Dale did their jobs. As soon as Dale finished his task he almost leaped through the doorway into the now warm and well-lit retreat. Never once daring to take his eyes off the trees, Chris muttered a curse under his breath…

As the hours past and the night stayed silent, the rest of the men soon forgot about the terrifying howl with the help of several bottles of alcohol. By the time Lester came in and Allen stepped out everyone was pretty well liqueured up, had plenty to eat, and were feeling good. Boss Al went to sleep up in the loft and the rest of them still huddled around the fireplace.

“Im telling ya its just a big ol’ joke ya see.” Dale, now fully drunk starting up the same conversation they all had just moments ago. “Damn redskins always enjoy a laugh at our expense. Hey Lester, you see anything on ur watch?” Lester shook his head. “See what I tell ya?”

“You didn’t see what I saw Dale. There was…” Mike started to say but was cut off.

“ ‘There was somethin’ out there wit big yella eyes and sharp pointy teeth,’ yeah yeah Mike we all heard your story. Problem is I think you might be in on it too.”

Lester slide past Mike to his bag that was in the corner. He rummaged through it for a second before pulling out a small portable accordion. The instrument wheezed as he compressed and decompressed it a few times before he settled down on the ground and attempted to start playing. He barely got a few notes out before the rest of the group started groaning.

“Aww hell Lester, give that poor thing a rest. You’ve been torturing us with it every night for the past week.” Dale cried.

“It helps me relax.” Lester replied. “Not my fault yall don’t appreciate…. OW!” Dale had thrown an empty tin cup at Lester’s head.

“Go torture the horses with that shit then!”

“Fine.” Lester got up from his seat and started for the door. Mike also stood up and declared he had to take a piss and followed him out the door. As Lester strode down the path towards the horses, Mike went around the building to alleviate his bladder. When he came back around the corner, he saw Allen smoking a cigarette and asked if he had an extra one. As Mike lit a match and held it up to his face Allen decided to engage in some small talk with him.

“Think those Ingins were telling the truth?”

“If its all the same to you I would like to talk about somthin’ else.”

“Sorry, didn’t mean nothin’ by it, just can’t help but wonder about it you know?”

“Yeah,” Mike sighed deeply, “I know”.

“You excited to get back home?”

“Sure as hell beats out here.”

“Your wife was pregnant when you left right?

“She wrote me a letter before we left town the other day. She gave birth to a baby girl last week.”

“Congrats man.” Allen said while patting him on the shoulder. The two men shared a moment of silence in the cool, still night. It occurred to Mike that it was peaceful. Almost too peaceful. Something was missing. The accordion music had stopped.

“Do you hear Lester? It’s not like him to stop making that gawd awful racket this early.”

“Didn’t he head towards the horses?”

“EY Lester…. you still out here?” Nothing but silence answered Mikes call. It was definitely too quiet for it to be night time in the forest. No insects chirping, no owls hooting. Even the wind seemed to disappear as not even a rustling leaf or stick could be heard.

“Mmm…mmaybe we should get the guys.” Allen sputtered while sobering up really quick.

Mike just scanned the tree line again, the image of those eyes popping back suddenly in his head. His own eyes thought they caught a glimpse of some dark black figure standing close behind the horses.

“Is that him?” Mike pointed at the shadowy clump. As soon as he had raised his hand, the black figure leapt at the closest horse and they all started wailing and neighing like crazy. Their collective cries echoed throughout the silent valley, rekindling fear in the men’s hearts. What was even worst was the horse that got attacked started making as sound that could only be described as an unholy scream that could make even the toughest men wet themselves. The collection of horses bucked and kicked and pulled as hard as they could to get away from their unknown assailant. With a thick crack, the post that they were all tied up to snapped and the now freed horses vanished into the night. The one horse that got attacked fell silent as the black mass writhed on top of it.

“Go get the others!” Mike exclaimed not wanting to look away for fear it will disappear again. As Allen raced into the cabin to get everybody a wet munching sound could just barely be heard coming from down the path where the horses were. Within a few seconds after sounding the alarm and the entire crew was back on the porch with their guns pointed out at the dark, Mike just one step down from it with his gaze fixed.

As if sensing the impending danger, the mass took off into the forest with lightning speed, the horse it was fighting with lay still. Mike had thought about shooting at it but it was so fast he didn’t even have enough time to click the hammer back on his six shooter before it was gone. The group slowly approached the downed horse, every one of them carrying a lantern and every one of them had their head on a swivel, alert to any kind of movement or sound. It was still silent as the grave when they all got to the area the horses had been.

“I thought I told you to secure the horses Dale?” Boss Al said angrily turning his light on the smaller man.

“I did boss man. That post was over 5 feet in the ground…sons of bitches must of broken it from the looks of it.” Dale said while he shined his lantern over the wrecked wooden post.

“Well, you got the shotgun. Go see if you can either kill whatever that thing was or at least find some of the horses. Take Allen with you.” Boss Al instructed. The two men shared look of concern before another bark from Boss Al made them spring into action. The two men took of into the forest while the rest examined what was left of the horse that got attacked.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.” Boss Al said as the four other men cast their light on the mangled corpse. It looked like something had torn off the limbs of the animal then started disemboweling it. Claw and fang marks covered every bit of flesh that was left. It occurred to Mike that a large portion of the haunch and rear end was missing. Whatever the thing was it was definitely strong to be able to bring the work animal down so quickly and take off with half of its body.

A shotgun blast snapped everyone’s attention back to the forest. A rustling of sound warned them that something was running back towards them. The men brought their weapons to bare, all pointing toward the growing, thrashing sound. Dale was lucky, had Boss not seen him stumbling towards them and called out to hold then the scared cowboys would have lit him up like a Christmas tree.

“Wut the ell is wrong with you Dale? Where’s Allen?”

Dale was still gasping for air before Boss Al’s short patients forced him to ask again. Dale shook his head frantically and gasped out.

“Lost…*sigh*…. him *sigh* in the…*sigh* woods.” He took a deep gulp before turning his colorless face toward Mike. “Yellow eyes…yellow eyes like the devil…” Those were the last words Dale ever spoke.

A long dark shadow erupted behind the man and five wickedly sharp claws suddenly jutted out of the man’s sternum. From the dark mass behind him, a face with two large yellow eyes slowly emerged from behind the impaled man, this time, baring its cruel long fangs in what could only be described as a sinister smile. Dale had just enough time to give his companions a look of desperation before he was enveloped in darkness…and the creature carried his body into the night. All of this, happening in the span of a few seconds.

Chris was the first to bolt, though he did not bother going back towards the cabin. He ran straight down the path that would take him out of the valley, never once stopping to look back to see if anyone was foolish enough to follow him. It seemed as though he did not get very far as soon a loud human yell rang out in the night before getting cut off. His demise would go unnoticed though as the other three men scrambled frantically back to the safety of the cabin.

With adrenaline pumping through their veins the remaining men frantically tried to barricade the door with whatever they could find, but there wasn’t much left in the small shack of a building. The only real success they had was moving the bedframe that was up in the loft in front of the door.

“What are we gonna do boss?” The only remaining man other than Mike and Boss Al frantically asked.

“Shut the hell up Frank…. listen!” Boss Al held a finger to his lips. Slowly but surely, a cackling sound that was a cross between a gorilla grunt and a bear roar approached the cabin door. Light scrapping sounds started dancing across the frame and along the side of the house. When both the cackling and the tapping stopped, the men could hear a snorting sound, like the creature was smelling the outside of the walls. While Frank nervously kept his rifle trained on the door, Mike noticed Boss Al look at him with a dead serious glare. As if something finally clicked in his mind, Mike realized that it was smelling the area where he had gone to the bathroom just a moment ago. As the beast continued to circle the building, the men moved in unison with it, keeping their guns and their fronts between them and the unperceived threat. Before it made a complete circle around them there was a loud thud followed but a rustle of leaves. Without saying a word Boss Al gestured to the window that held the candle that was now the only light source as the fireplace embers started to smolder. Frank was the closest to it so he slowly started inching closer to the window. It was only a few inches wide, just barely enough for Frank to stick his bald head through as he tried to peak around it.

Needless to say that was a mistake as a whoosh of wind and a sickly, splurting sound made him tense and then go limp. His decapitated body fell to the wooden floor as dark red blood started to pool around him. It was at that precise moment that Mike heard the distinctive click of a gun. He turned to see Boss Al pointing his firearm right at his head.

“It wants you, doesn’t it? That's what the chief warned us about right? That the mark had to be consumed. Well, I tell you what sonny, Ill be damned if I am gonna die here tonight. MOVE!” Boss Al gestured to the door as he took Mikes weapon from his hands. Mike knew what he wanted him to do. He wanted to sacrifice him to the creature so that he could make a clean get away. It was a fools errand.

“You really think this thing is just gonna leave you alone after it gets me. You will be all by yourself, easy pickins’.”

“Shut up and open the door.”

With a hard kick, Mike burst open the door. He waited a second before walking through, making sure to check his sides in case of any surprise. Not seeing anything but also not letting himself be fooled by that he looked back at Boss Al who gestured for him to keep moving. The two men barely left the porch steps when they were greeted by their tormentor.

Sitting about a dozen feet away, breathing heavily, was the Skimmerhorn, in all its terrifying, inhuman glory. The night was still unperceivably dark but the creature was somehow darker as the outline of its huge body was somehow seen in contrast to the dark of night. It was like any light that tried to revel it was enveloped in a black void of nothingness. Neither Mike nor Boss Al tried to make out its features, since the only easily seen one was its piercing yellow eyes and maliciously toothy maw.

“Ah here we go,” the Boss man seemed to be talking to the creature, fear obviously ebbing away his sanity. “I got your guy right here, all ready with fixins’.” Boss Al shoved Mike down onto his knees and threw up his hands in an offering way. “Come and get…” He never finished his sentence. With a grace and speed that could rival Death itself, a second dark figure came whizzing by the two men. A silvery line swiping across Boss Al’s collar.

Blinking in disbelief, a thin red line appeared around his neck and slowly his head slide from his shoulders. When it fell on the ground, it rolled forward for a bit. Mike was almost certain he could still see Boss Al blinking as it came to a stop in between the two creatures. The second one was smaller but still had the same jet black body and sinister face with demonic eyes. The only perceivable difference Mike could find with this second Skimmerhorn was that it did not have hands at the end of its spindly arms but instead they folded in on itself like a praying mantis. Almost to emphasis that similarity, it reached down and pierced the decapitated skull with is scythe-like arm. It brought it up to its devilish maw and, like a snake swallowing an egg, it unhinged its jaw and consumed the man’s head whole.

With an unnerving crunch it started chewing its meal with gusto, the other Skimmerhorn slowly approaching Mike with drool hanging off its terrifying teeth. Mike had all but accepted his fate awhile ago. He knew death had come for him in the form of this unholy abomination. He was sad that all his friends had to die first though. As the creature rested its large clawed hands on his shoulders, Mike closed his eyes…not wanting to see what comes next…………….