Fearwalker

[wisper15]

Well, this is a story about a year or so in the making. I had the idea for a long time, since the time of Wisper. But I never got to it; Supernatural Wars arose, and I had that to do. Now that I had nothing, I was flipping through some old shit, and this came up. Might as well as write it up.


Fearwalker By Kerry Moore
Blackwoods Forest: a fifteen-acre slice of land primarily devoid of habitation, settled in the southwestern region of Ohio. A usually beautiful area full of vibrant greens and solid browns. But at three a.m., all there is, is darkness. All sentient life goes to their dwellings to sleep. But that night would be different.

A man was frantically running through the woods, his bright orange shirt sharply contrasting with his dark surroundings. He looked back every few moments, as if something were to be there. He had a panicked look on his face, sweat beading on his forehead.

Suddenly, he slammed into the thin grass, screaming in pain. He reached for his ankle.

“Oh, NO!” He grabbed for his ankle, and pain shot up his leg. “AAH, FUCK ME!” He started to get up, but when he put pressure on his foot he was rocked with pain again. “Oh, this is JUST what I fucking need!” He collapsed to one knee, holding the broken ankle. “Fucking root. Shit, I’ll have to hoof it.” He started once again to get up, but a black form approached him. He started at the thin figure, then was enveloped in red glowing light.

#_-_-_-_-#

“Oh, man, hangovers suck soooo fucking much,” Kristley Holt said as she awoke. She sat up, holding her head. “ I really need to learn self control.” Slowly, Kristley got out of bed, walking to a dresser.

She went over to the bathroom with a white long-sleeved shirt and a pair of black cargos. Kristley set them on the toilet seat as she started to shower. About five minutes passed when the doorbell rang.

“Who is it,” Kristley questioned.

“Carl,” a man said, as he creaked open the door.

“Don’t come in, I’m taking a shower,” she teased, Carl instantly turning red.

“Oh, um, I’ll just, wait outside,” he stammered. Kristley sighed.

“That means get your ass over here,” she called out, then murmuring in pain as her head rung.

“No, no; I actually came here to tell you something.”

“Okay,” Kristley said over the shower. Carl took a shaky breath.

“Siller is dead,” he said flatly. At that moment the shower stopped, Kristley’s eyes wide. “The police found his body in the Blackwoods Forest, about half an hour ago.” Kristley walked out, covered in a towel with a shocked look on her face.

“Do they know what happened?,” she asked, and Carl shook his head.

“No. Nothing was done to him, except his ankle was broken. They said a nearby root caught his foot.” Kristley sat down, starting to tear up. Carl felt horrible, but his eyes didn’t water.

“God, no.” Carl walked over and sat next to her. She immediately grabbed him around the shoulders and started to cry. Carl had no idea what to do, so he just wrapped his arms around her.

#_-_-_-_-#

“Sir, I’m only doing my job,” a police officer said to a rather burly man, who was yelling at the officer. He had a brown buttoned shirt, and jeans. His hair was a bright blonde, curling around his head.

“Then leave me the fuck alone! You want to do your job, why don’t you harass the drug dealers across the street,” the man ranted.

“I do what I am told by my superiors,” the cop explained.

“Oh, fuck you! Here’s a decent thought for your lazy, stupid, arrogant Ohio thought process: I pay my ridiculous taxes, which pays your shitty salary, which makes me your indirect boss. And as your indirect boss I order you to go FUCK YOURSELF!” The man then stormed off, the officer not pursuing him. Christopher Reich had that effect on people, and his mean attitude keep them away for a long time. “The nerve of these fuckers; should've stayed in Maine.”

His phone then went off, Reich picking up as soon as he could.

“Reich, it’s Rhus. We need to talk man.”

#_-_-_-_-#

Kristley and Carl pulled into the parking lot of a local diner. They walked through the doors, looking around. Soon they found who they were looking for; a thin man with a tan jacket, grey shirt, and a saddened look on his face. They sat in the same booth he was in.

“Hey, Rhus, how you holding up,” Carl asked. Rhus looked at him as if he asked how many cyanide capsules he wanted to bite down on.

“My best friend is dead, I have no clue what happened, and you ask how I’m holding up?! How the fuck you think?!,” he snapped back. Kristley shook Rhus’ shoulder.
“Now, c’mon, you know he only meant well,” she said. At that time, a man walked in wearing dark clothes and having black hair. “Keith, over here,” Kristley called, catching the newcomer’s attention. He sat across form Rhus. Reich then soon entered, all six sitting in the same booth. A waitress walked up with a notepad.

“What will you all be having?” Reich was about to chew her out, but Keith started too fast for Reich to begin.

“Yes, she will have the ‘drop dead’ dish,” Keith pointing to Kristley, “Carl’l take the ‘cock sucker’ soup, Reich’s dying for the ‘shut the fuck up’ steak, and I’ll have the ‘suck me off, you insensitive, pricky bitch’ special.” Carl got the waitress’ attention.

“We’re not eating.” She looked at Keith with a sickened expression.

“He could have just;,” she started, but Reich pounded the table with his fists.

“YOU COULD JUST FUCK OFF,” he yelled, making the woman leave rather quickly. Kristley was paying almost no attention to the whole scene, instead being more concerned with Rhus. Then when she did turn to the rest of them she asked “Where’s Evan?”

“Who, Hurt? I called him, but all I got was a classic ‘fuck you’,” Keith said, which made Reich scoff and shake his head.

“And you call me the asshole,” he said half-heartedly.

“No; you’re cynical. Hurt’s the asshole,” Keith said.

“Guys.” Kristley looked at Carl. “We need to do something. We could go to Pennsylvania and ask Evan himself.” Reich made a very brief laugh.

“Yeah, I’m not going anywhere near that stupid fuck.”

“Fair point; you’d probably kick his ass,” Keith said, which made Kristley push at him.

“Cut it out, you two. Honestly.” She thought for a minute. “Hey, how about this one. Even you could agree to this one, Chris. We all go to Blackwoods Forest.” Everyone aside from Rhus looked at each other with puzzled faces. “You know, to honor Siller. How about it?”

Reich and Keith started to say something, but shrugged.

“Hell, why not?,” Keith stated. Reich was thinking for a bit longer, and winced.

“Oh, well, what date?”

“The seventeenth. Five days from now,” Kristley explained.

“Fuck, I do have work at that time.” Reich thought again, and threw his arms into the air. “Shit, to hell with work; I’ll call of work, quit if I have to. I’ll be there, you can be sure of that.”

“Okay. We’ll meet up at the parking lot outside of the southern end of it. Meet you guys then,” Kristley said.

#_-_-_-_-#

Five days passed, and as planned most of the group was there. Carl and Keith were waiting outside their vehicles, talking about the newest episode of an anime that Keith got Carl caught up in. Then Kristley pulled in, parking right next to Carl’s car.

“Hey guys.” Keith raised his hand. Carl went over to her, and gave her a hug. Keith looked at them with a smile. “Oh, shut up, Ted.” This made Keith start to laugh, but then Rhus arrived. He had his windows up, so they had to wait until he got out to see how he was holding up. He looked a lot better than at the dinner, but you could still see the signs of sorrow on his face.

“Rhus, you think you’ll be okay,” Kristley asked. He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow.

“Just ‘cause I’m depressed doesn’t make me a pussy.” Carl could help but smile.

“That’s the Rhus we know,” Kristley said. Reich finally arrived, his truck making large amounts of noise.

“Shit, man, you need to get that checked out,” Keith said as Reich made his way to the group.

“I just quit the shitty job at the steel mill out of state to get here; that’ll have to wait.” Reich then looked at Rhus. “You okay?” Rhus nodded.

“Good, ‘cause not to be insensitive or anything, but, I mean, we are going to be at a campfire, so…” Reich lifted a six pack of beers.

“You brought alcohol? Are you fucking kidding me,” Kristley said. Reich rose his hands in surrender.

“Not even any Captain Morgan,” Rhus said. Reich gestured for them to wait a second, and started for his truck. Kristley clapped her hand on her forehead as Keith started to chuckle. Reich came back with two bottles of Captain Morgan Long Island Iced Tea.

“Let’s just fucking get there before we can’t walk.”

They started for the Blackwoods Forest, heading deep into the lively area. But it did have an eerie feeling set in it.

“Anyone else get the chills when you look at the trees,” Kristley said. Reich looked around.

“I don’t get excited about large pieces of wood,” he said, making Keith snicker.

“Fuck you. I mean, just look around.” Carl did, but still nothing.

“What do you mean,” he asked.

“Well, for starters, there’s no branches until you hit ten feet up. And second they’re all ten feet apart.” Everyone started looking at the trees.

“Again, with the large- shit, you’re right. Man, that is fucked up,” Reich said.

“And that’s not the only thing: the grass. It’s rather… shit what’s that damned word?,” Kristley said.

“Sparse?” Kristley clicked her fingers.

“That’s it, thanks Rhus. And short.”

“And not the brightest of greens, either,” Keith noticed.

“And the fact that no birds are making any noise,” Carl pointed out.

“But the fucking cicadas aren’t doing so!” Keith yelled at the trees.

After about half an hour they stopped walking, Reich putting the alcohol down.

“Shit. That stuff starts to weigh on ya,” he said, moving his arm to get feeling back in his shoulder.

“Yeah, well, hope your ready to pick up Kristley’s-,” Keith started, but Kristley smacked him upside the head.

“IF YOU START…”

#_-_-_-_-#

The whole group, aside from Kristley and Rhus, went to nearby areas looking for good chucks of wood to make a decent fire. The two sat on the moss next to a tree.

“Hey, Kristley, I have a question,” Rhus said. Kristley turned to face him.

“Yes?”

“What… what’s your- I don’t know how else to put this- dealing, I guess, with Carl?” Kristley breathed out for a bit, not sure how to answer. “’Cause I notice you two are… rather close. Is there something budding underneath the surface?” Kristley started to blush.

“Uuuum, I’m not sure how to put it.” Suddenly someone approached them.

“Daters? Admirers? Bondage buddies? Friends with benefits, but it doesn’t work as planned since one of you is too much of a biiiiiiiiitch?” Keith laughed as Kristley pushed him back. All he did was laugh.

“You dick!” He laughed again.

“Of course! The world needs more people like me, since most other people are pussies.” Keith then looked at Kristley with a puzzled stare. “You didn’t know this? The fuck is wrong with you? Oh, by the way,” he continued, heaving a piece of lumber, “we gots logs. Away from the creepy tree, this ain’t high school anymore.”

#_-_-_-_-#

The evening approached fast as the friends stacked the wood to make a campfire. The larger ones they arranged in a semi-circle around the stack. Darkness seemed to approach the Blackwoods Forest. Keith lay on a log, panting. Reich rolled his eyes, muttering how much of “a lazy fuck” he was being.

“Anyone got a match?” Carl looked at Reich, who just gave him a shrug.

“Shit, I have a better idea,” Kristley said, and grabbed a spray can out of her cargo pockets. It must have been a cleaner product, but she planned on using it for something else, as she pulled out a lighter. She flipped the lighter on, held the can behind it, and sprayed. Flames burst toward the logs, Keith now up to see. Reich was glad he put leaves as dry sticks on the stack, as they instantly caught aflame.

“Woman knows what she’s doing,” Reich said, sitting down on a log.

“Now where’s the alcohol?,” Keith said, making Rhus scoff.

#_-_-_-_-#

The fire was roaring, night having fallen on the area. Keith sat on the far left, next to Reich. Carl was next to Reich and Kristley, Rhus having moved over to the other side with a bottle of Captain Morgan. They all sat silent unable to think of anything to say. Finally Kristley broke the silence.

“Okay. I don’t know Siller as much as the rest of you, but I knew one thing; he was a great person.” Everyone murmured agreement. Reich opened his bottle of beer.

“Guy was not afraid to tell you what he thought of you,” he said, making Keith nod.

“Shit, hell yeah to that!” Carl sat silent, Kristley nudging him to speak. He cleared his throat.

“Never stood for bullshit,” he said, making Rhus raise his bottle.

“So,” Kristley said, “I propose a toast. Not just to Siller, but to all of us.” Everyone stood up, holding a bottle. “I may never see some of you again, so to a good, long and rewarding life.” Everyone rose their drinks, and toasted.

“Yeah, right up till those twilight years, then fuck it,” Rhus said, making some spew alcohol as they laughed.

It was a long while, maybe an hour or so, when Keith sat up. He rose his bottle.

“To a nice, long piss.” Reich snickered, and held his bottle up as well. Keith put his down, and walked towards the pitch black forest. He walked by Kristley and Carl as he did so, clicking his fingers at them. They did the same, but when Kristley did so she started at her hand, and did it again.

“Man, that’s cool.”

Keith walked out from the light, only now noticing how cold it was.

“Holy hell, it’s fucking freezing out here,” he yelled back. “I could make snow outta my piss!”

“You hit me with your snow-piss, and you’re going in this fucking bottle,” Reich said, making Keith laugh as he continued.

After he was done, he noticed something odd: no crickets. He was about to turn to go back, but then what seemed to be a shadow came near. It was too dark to see exactly what it was, but the ‘shadow’ was impossibly thin. It seemed to be right in front of him, but he still couldn’t see it. He then found out he couldn’t move, and before he knew what was happening he was thinking of bad things he had done. Any fight, argument, betrayal, theft he ever did, all seemed to come into the forefront of his mind. A bright, red light started to emerge from the form…

Ten minutes, maybe even twenty, passed. The mostly sober Reich now wondered where Keith was.

“What the hell is taking him?” Rhus, now in a loose mood, simply shrugged. “Dammit; I have to move.” Reich begrudgingly got off the log he was sitting on, and headed in the direction Keith went. It was so dark Reich could barely see in front of him. He wondered for about a minute or two, then hit something with his foot. He bent down and pushed at whatever it was, thinking it was a branch. It instead was cloth, and didn’t move when he hit it. It… was too heavy.

“GUYS!” Carl got up, Kristley following suit. Reich came back with the limp form of Keith in his arms. Rhus jumped to his feet, Carl getting to Reich as fast he could. Carl palmed Keith’s wrist, trying desperately to find a pulse. Carl’s head sank down, Kristley holding her head.

“Alcohol poisoning,:” Reich guessed, Rhus turning to him.

“How? He didn’t even finish his fucking drink,” he yelled. Reich threw his arms into the air.

“I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA!,” he exclaimed. “But we can’t just leave him out here.”

“We should bury him here,” Kristley said through her tears. “That’s what he’d want us to do.” They dug with their hands and bottles, until the hole got large enough to fit him in. They covered him up the best they could, and poured the remaining liquid from his bottle on the dirt where he was buried. They jammed the bottle in the dirt above where his head was buried, like a tombstone. Carl was holding Kristley, sobbing, and Reich got up.

“Let’s get out of this god-forsaken forest.”

They put out the fire, and then headed out for civilization. Reich went ahead, Carl and Kristley being together. Rhus was unable to comprehend what was happening. Reich grabbed a lit branch before the fire was put out, as a source of light. Reich was terrified, wondering why this was happening to them. In fact, they all were thinking the same thing. Rhus slowed drastically, falling far behind the rest of them. A presence came toward him, making him stop. But when he looked up, he couldn’t move. He started thinking of-

Kristley noticed that Rhus wasn’t as close behind them as she remembered, and told them to wait up. She started heading back for him, Carl and Reich following after they thought about it. Kristley continued back until she saw him standing there. He was looking at something right in front of him. Kristley was unable to see what he was looking at, but it was similar to a shadow. Suddenly, a bright red glow emerged in front of Rhus. It had a humanoid shape. And Kristley could make out hands with large claws heading straight for Rhus. The glowing… being rushed for Rhus, who seemed to have a glowing bluish tint.

She yelled for Rhus to move as a blue light shaped like a man was being slashed by the ghoulish red essence. The lights faded quickly, and Rhus fell to the ground. Reich drew the makeshift torch closer to the scene, illuminating the body of Rhus. And his assailant. The thing turned toward the light, and its form repulsed Reich.

“What in gods name,” he murmured, as a literal skin-and-bones being stood before him. It was in no way shorter than seven feet tall. The corpse-like thing had an almost completely empty ribcage, save a putrid, pulsing heart. The spine was covered only in skin, nothing protecting it. It pelvic bones were the same, the skin tight against the bone. The legs were covered bone, and had a hollowing at the ankle. Skin didn’t go across the two bones, making a very natural-looking hole in its legs. The arms shared the same ghastly trait. Three claws capped its three long toes. Its hands had three fingers and a thumb, the middle digit having two set s of finger bones. It head was stretched forward, the lower jaw going much farther than the upper and thus having tremendous underbite. The cheek bones jutted from the sides of its skull. The eyes were set deep into oversized sockets. No nose, only holes, and it had only eight thick teeth. Its eyes glowed red with inner light.

It stood there for a moment, then bolted away, showing it was incredibly fast.

“What the hell was that thing?!” Carl looked at Reich, equally puzzled. Kristley rushed to Rhus, seeing if it did anything. She looked up, sniffling.

“Nothing; no slashes, no tears on clothes.” Reich handed the torch to Carl, grabbing a branch from the nearest tree.

“Come at me, you sick fuck, “ he yelled out to the darkness. Carl came to his side, urging him to stop.

“Cut it out! We need to go!” Reich turned to face him, tears in his eyes.

“Don’t you get it?! That… that fucking thing is what’s been killing our friends, and IT NEVER LAYS A FUCKING FINGER ON THEM!” Reich threw the branch away, breaking down. Kristley came to them, starting to cry as well. Carl felt like it too, but he knew they had no time.

“C’mon, Reich, we need to go,” Carl pleaded, and a few seconds later Reich nodded.

The remaining three ran through the forest of Blackwoods, heading west.

“Where’re we going,” Reich asked.

“There’s an abandoned construction site down this way,” Kristley explained. “If we go there, we can see the town!” They ran for what seemed like hours, looking back every few seconds. Finally they were able to see the site. They got about a hundred feet from it when Carl yelled in pain. He smashed into the ground, rocks and dust being thrown form his sprawled form.

“Ah, SHIT! I twisted my ankle!” Kristley helped him to his feet, and he was able to weakly stand.

“You can run?” He nodded, but when he took a step forward he dropped very low.

“AAAAH! Don’t worry about me, I’ll keep up as best I can!” Kristley busted the front window with a brick.

“Move, move, move, MOVE! Carl, come here!” Kristley ran to Carl, and helped him through. Reich got in, and stood next to the window, at the wall. He turned his head to face Kristley.

“The only way in is this window?” She nodded, then glass moved in the windows direction. Reich whirled his head around, looking out towards the horrifying forest. He turned back to see if Carl was alright, but the creature was staring right at him.

“Reich!” He didn’t respond, as he started to do what everyone else that encountered this thing has done.

“Kristley, we need to do something!” Carl started for Reich, but his ankle buckled. He fell to the asphalt, unable to walk. Kristley at first thinks of rushing to him, but then the red light started to shine once more. She saw the ghoulish form from within the material monster manifest in front of Reich, and it went straight for Reich.

The aura was right on him when its host was shoved from behind by Kristley. She heard a crack upon hitting the creature, but she knew more needed to be done, she looked around, and saw a steel pipe. Reich became aware, closing his eyes and throwing the monster off of him. He rolled away, yelling and rubbing his eyes hard.

The monster was unable to get up, as its unprotected spine was snapped. Kristley walked over to the foul monster, its hands raised in absolute terror. Its eyes seemed to now plead for mercy, blue as can be.

“Not going to work, you sick son of a bitch.” It shook its head, waving its hands. “I’m your walking fear, bitch,” she said, and swung the pipe right at its skull. The bone caved instantly, the monsters reign of terror over.

Kristley went to Carl, who she helped back to his seat she put him on earlier. After making sure he was okay, she went to Reich. He was sitting on the ground with his head between his knees. Kristley couldn’t help but smile.

“Reich. Reich, you okay? Hey, it’s over. It’s done, we survived. What’s the matter?” She pulled his chin gently, so that his face was able to be seen. But when he looked at her, she froze. And not entirely out of fear; she was unable to move. Because instead of his vibrant blue eyes… they were red. Wrongdoings flood Kristley’s mind, from lying to cheating. But the main thing she was forced to think about was both the worst one and the most recent. The cold-blooded killing…


Of Reich.