Sweet Annie

I remember it as if it were yesterday. How the fun and laughter turned to screams and tears. I remember the glint of the cold metal blade and the rusty old pitchfork.

On the surface, everything was as it always is. I got up early, had a bit of breakfast, said hello to the dogs, and headed into the forest.

Normally, I looked forward to my day in the forest. It was my favourite place; so peaceful and surrounded by nothing but nature. But today my step was sluggish, and I knew exactly why. It was the guests who had arrived two days ago. Unused to the midnight sun, they were up all hours, drinking, laughing, having a sauna, jumping into the clear blue lake.

I mean, I get it. The endless light can do that to people - send them a little crazy. I’ve seen many a visitor come during my years here, and it is always the same. The constant light makes them lose the plot a little. They stay up all hours, mesmerised by the midnight sun.

The light didn’t have that effect on me. I was so used to it. I was used to both the sun in the summer and the seemingly endless darkness of the winter months.

I honestly tried to carry on as normal when the guests came.

There were four of them, but you would have thought there were at least ten times as many from the racket they made playing their loud music, banging doors, screaming as they splashed about it the water.

David, he was the loudest one. Obnoxious he was. Acted like he knew everything about Lapland life when, in reality, he knew nothing at all. He was just as clueless as the rest.

Ben was David’s sidekick. Never did I hear him say a word against David although I could tell from the way his face twitched and muscles tightened that sometimes he would have loved nothing better. Especially when David was ordering him about. Yet he did David’s bidding. I wondered how much longer that would last. Even the quiet ones, or especially the quiet ones, have a breaking point. As they say, you better watch the quiet ones.

Then there was Sandra. She was Ben’s girlfriend, but clearly would have preferred David. I believe the only reason she had got together with Ben was to get close to David. I didn’t care for her much; she was about as sharp as mashed potato.

And finally, Annie. Sweet Annie. She was quiet and kind, and the huskies were fond of her. She’d get up in the morning before anyone else to see the dogs and enjoy a moment of quiet on the jetty, watching the sun's rays play on the water. That’s why I felt we might become friends, but for the life of me I couldn’t fathom what she saw in David.

When I got back from the forest that evening, I sensed straight away that something was different. Annie and David were in the kitchen, in the middle of a heated discussion.

“I’m telling you. There is someone else here. I saw someone standing near the kennel early this morning, looking at the cabin,” Annie said.

“Don’t be so ridiculous,” David said. “We are forty kilometres from the nearest village and the nearest neighbour must be at least five kilometres away.”

“She might be right,” Ben said, coming into the kitchen with Sandra. “We’ve just been to check the spot where Annie said she’s seen someone and there are footprints there. They look fresh.”

“Since when have you been a footprint expert?” David sneered. “Besides, if there are fresh footprints, it could have been a hiker.”

“A hiker? There are no hiking trails here. And you said yourself that we are forty kilometres from the nearest village with no neighbours nearby,” Annie countered.

“Yeah, well,” David shrugged, grabbing a beer and heading for the door. “If there was someone there recently, they were probably just passing by.”

“I’m telling you, there was something weird about the person. The way he just stood there. And the dogs seemed to know him, as they were not barking at all. I really don’t think it was someone just passing by. There was something, I don’t know, menacing and permanent about him,” Annie insisted to Ben, who had remained in the kitchen after Sandra had followed David out.

“Don’t worry about David,” Ben said, showing uncharacteristic resolve. So much so that I almost liked him at that moment. “He can be such an idiot. I believe you and will keep an eye out for any strangers. If he shows up again, we’ll find out what he’s doing here. Come now, better join the others before David gets any crazy ideas about us two spending too much time alone.”

Like I said, I almost liked him at that moment.

Despite David’s bravado and dismissal of Annie’s concerns, there was a different atmosphere that evening. Nobody hardly spoke, and each of them kept glancing toward the farside of the kennel where Annie had said she had seen the figure. One by one they excused themselves until there was only David left, drinking and smoking by the fading fire. And then, as the last flames died, he was gone, too.

The next morning, there was no sign of David.

“He never came to bed last night,” Annie said.

“Maybe he ran out of fags and went to the village to get some more,” Sandra suggested.

“On foot? I checked, and the car is still there. I’ve tried his mobile several times and it just keeps ringing.”

“Try his mobile again. Maybe he’s asleep somewhere and can’t hear his phone. In the meantime, I’ll look outside for him,” Ben said.

As Ben left to look for David, Annie called his phone again. Letting it ring, and ring, and ring, until she heard Ben calling from outside.

“Hey, I found his phone!”

Both Annie and Sandra ran outside to find Ben standing by the fire pit holding David’s phone, which still kept ringing.

“He never goes anywhere without his phone,” Annie said, her voice barely audible.

“What’s this?” Sandra pointed to a pool of thickening liquid next to where David had sat when they had last seen him.

“Shit, that looks like blood.” Ben said. “And there is more of it here on the seat.”

“And there are footsteps here, like the ones near the kennel.” Annie’s voice rose.

“It looks like something has been dragged here, towards the forest.” Sandra squeezed Annie’s arm as three pairs of eyes followed the track marks.

“David,” they whispered in unison before Annie screamed, dropping her phone on the ground.

“Someone’s taken him!” Sandra shouted. “What do we do?”

“We get in the car and get away from here, quick. We also have to call the police. But safety first. Whoever did this could come back for more.” Ben ushered the girls toward the car, running indoors to get the car keys.

He had only just disappeared into the cabin when the air was pierced with his scream.

Looking at each other for a brief second with panic-stricken eyes, Annie and Sandra rushed toward the cabin.

“Fuck, he’s not here,” Annie shouted.

“And there’s blood,” Sandra was crying now, while Annie looked like she was about to be sick.

“We have to get out of here.”

Annie had barely got the words out of her mouth when a shadow blocked the sunlight streaming through the open cabin door.

She saw the glint of a blade as the shadow grabbed hold of Sandra and sliced her throat in one swift move.

As the shadow let Sandra go, she collapsed on the floor in a lifeless heap.

Sobbing, Annie backed away from the shadow, realising he was blocking the only exit.

“Please don’t kill me,” she begged as the shadow approached her. “Please let me go.”

“I will not kill you, silly,” the shadow laughed.

“Ben?”

“Of course it’s me.”

“But I thought… Your scream… And the blood…”

“I faked it to get you back in so it would be easier to get Sandra. I did have to cut myself a little for the blood, though. Painful, but worth it.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I couldn’t let them treat you like that. Sneaking around behind your back.”

“That was no reason to kill them! I was going to tell David it was over between us after the holiday, anyway!”

“Maybe you would have, maybe you wouldn’t. I know David can be very persuasive,” Ben smiled sadly, looking down at Annie who was cowering in the corner. “It was you who gave me the idea when you said you had spotted someone by the kennel. I thought we could make it look like they were killed by some crazy person, but we managed to escape. Don’t you see, now we can be together. David would never have allowed that.”

“You’re fucking crazy. I will never be with you!”

“No? I worried you might say that. I’m afraid that is the wrong answer.”

I’d seen and heard enough. I hadn’t cared about the others, but I couldn’t let him hurt sweet Annie. I picked up the pitchfork I used to clean the kennels, ran in, and shoved the fork into his back with all my might. Again and again, just for good measure. I couldn’t take the risk of him suddenly coming back from the brink of death like they do in slasher movies.

“It’s alright now, Annie, you can open your eyes. He can’t hurt you anymore.” I reached out to touch Annie gently on the shoulder to assure her I was a friend.

“Who are you?” She kept her eyes carefully averted from the body lying just a few centimetres from her. “Where did you come from?”

“Me? I’m the kennel keeper here. I didn’t come from anywhere. I’ve been here all the time.”

“Was it you I saw the other night? Why didn't you come and introduce yourself?"

I began to answer her, but she waved my answer away.

"Never mind that now. You can tell me later. We have to get to the police. Since you know this place, you can help me out of here."

“Leave?” I swiftly picked her up off the floor. She was so light in my arms. “I’m afraid there has been a little misunderstanding here. You can never leave. But don’t worry; overtime you will learn to love it here. I have.”

I set her down on the bed in her room. She didn’t utter a word. Poor, sweet Annie, shocked into silence by all the killings and now this latest revelation. But she would be fine. In time.

I smiled at her, but she just looked back at me with blank eyes as I closed the door. Realising it was time to feed the dogs, I locked the door and pocketed the key safely.

Pulling Ben’s body behind me, I headed to the kennels. The huskies were getting a proper feast tonight.

- - -

A bit rough around the edges as I am being very last minute - nothing new there!

This was definitely a challenge because this is so not my genre. But I enjoyed the challenge. Good to flex different writing muscles every now and then. And that's what enjoy about these challenges: trying something different and unfamiliar.

Hope you consider leaving it a like and a comment. I would love to hear what you thought about my first ever attempt at slasher horror fiction.