The Monster in the Woods

Nathan and Richard were lost.

They had been driving for about 30 minutes at this point, searching for any deer in the area, but so far, no luck. Nathan slammed his hand against the steering wheel, frustration kicking in.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me. Were we lied to back there? That asshole at the store clearly told us that there was good game here.”

Richard patted Nathan on the shoulder as he attempted to go over the physical map and failed GPS signal on his phone.

“Don’t lose it, Nathan. You always do this whenever things go south.”

“We were lied to, dumbass.”

“And if you’re pretty quick to accuse too,” Richard muttered.

Nathan ignored Richard’s comments for the rest of the drive, as they drove down the road in the middle of the woods. Both men were trying to keep it together out of frustration for different reasons.

The two men would always travel for hunting season. They had been best friends for years, ever since they met in high school. They now had families of their own, and still hung out whenever they could.

Both of their wives found it hilarious that they still acted like children whenever they were getting ready to hunt down deer and then boast about it until they got home about who had the best shot.

They did experience many moments of arguing whenever things went wrong during their trips.

One of their worst moments was when Richard and Nathan ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, and both men were quick to judge one another for it being the other’s fault.

It turned out, they were both at fault for not taking their lack of gas seriously.

“Hey man, could you just stop the car for a second? It’s already getting pretty dark out here. Let’s just pause and figure it out, alright?”

Nathan grumbled something under his breathe before pulling the car over. Richard and Nathan went over the map together, and they instantly got into another argument.

“Are you fucking kidding me, Rich? How can you read the map wrong? You’ve used these things all your life.”

“I’m sorry, alright? We took a wrong turn. We just have to go back — ’’

“You want to hunt in the dark, dumbass?”

“I mean let’s go back to the cabin. Why would I say something so stupid? I’m not taking a risk with a gun in the dark, Nathan,” Richard snapped back.

Nathan placed his head against the steering wheel, his hands tightening on the wheel. Both men grew quiet, contemplating their thoughts.

“I’m sorry, Nathan. I messed up.”

“No, Rich. It wasn’t your fault. I’m being an asshole. Like always. I’m sorry.”

“You’re being a douchebag. Not an asshole. There’s a difference.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…assholes are…uh…you know. Assholes. And douchebags…are kind of like how you were acting earlier.”

Nathan and Richard looked at each other. Then they both burst out laughing. Nathan wiped the tears from his eyes, while Richard attempted to calm himself down.

“That makes no fucking sense, man. I didn’t…I didn’t think you were going to explain it to me,” Nathan said between laughter.

Richard was about to attempt to explain himself once again when a voice yelled for help from the woods.

“HELP ME!”

The two men froze.

“What the fuck?,” Nathan said nervously.

The voice continued to scream for help. Richard pulled out his phone, but there was no Wi-Fi signal.

“I don’t have signal.”

Nathan opened the car door.

“What are you doing?,” Richard said.

“I’m going out there. Pass the rifle from the back seat.”

Richard grabbed the gun from the seat, and opened his door.

“We’re going together.”

Nathan and Richard both nodded at one another, before heading toward the direction where the voice was coming from. Nathan held the gun, and Richard navigated them with his flashlight.

It was now dark, and even though Richard was uncomfortable, he wanted to help whoever was out there. Nathan and Richard continued to walk for about five more minutes, when they spotted the man.

He was standing, facing a tree. He was naked, and he appeared to be covered in dirt. His hair was long, ending at his shoulders.

He was still screaming for help, but he didn’t appear to be in distress. Richard felt something dreadful creep into his chest, as Nathan also came to a stop.

Something wasn’t right.

The man stopped screaming for help, his voice cutting off like if you were to shut off a radio mid — song. The two men stared at the man, too scared to speak. Nathan broke the silence.

“Sir? Are you alright?”

The man didn’t answer. Nor did he turn around.

Nathan and Richard looked at each other. Nathan’s eyes expressed fear and confusion, scaring Richard even more. Richard noticed that Nathan’s fingers were on the trigger of the gun.

“Sir…are you alright?,” Richard repeated.

The man finally turned around. His mouth was closed, his expression blank. He pointed at his lips, and then slowly opened his mouth. Richard lifted up the flashlight, not realizing that his hand was shaking.

He pointed the light toward the man’s mouth.

His tongue was pure black and rotting. Maggots were swarming within his tongue.

The man’s lips formed a smile, his tongue sticking out.

Then he suddenly fell, landing face down on the ground. Richard and Nathan jumped.

The man lifted himself up with his arms and legs. Then he lifted up his face to release an inhuman shriek. Richard screamed and dropped the flashlight.

A gunshot echoed in his ears, and he heard the man in front of them grunt and fall down. It took Richard a second to realize that Nathan had shot the man.

“RUN!”

Without hesitation, Richard began to run. Nathan was in front of him, he could barely see his figure in the darkness. Something was running after them, but it sounded like some kind of beast.

Richard could feel his heart beating within his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks. The fear was unbearable, it felt like his own heart was going to explode within his chest.

Something heavy crashed into Richard from the back. Richard felt his soul leave his body as the thing landed on top of him. Richard screamed as something sharp stabbed into his sides.

He could feel blood leave his body as the thing turned him around face up. Richard shut his eyes, too afraid to look whatever it was in the eye. Then two fingers plucked at Richard’s tongue.

Before Richard could process what was happening, his tongue was ripped out of his mouth. Richard could only make a choking sound as the thing ran away, leaving Richard to bleed to death.

Richard grabbed at his mouth, the pain was unlike anything he ever felt in his life. The last thing he heard was footsteps running toward him, and a voice yelling his name.

He entered into a void of pure darkness.

***

Richard was saved by Nathan. He was able to drag him back to the truck in the dark, and drive all the way back home. He thought he heard Nathan sobbing, telling him that everything was going to be alright.

They made it back to that same store owned by the man that told them where to hunt. They called 911, and Richard was taken to a hospital where he would made a full recovery.

Unfortunately, he could never get back the one thing he lost: his voice.

It took getting used to without a tongue, but he was able to manage, to a point. It would always be a reminder of what he endured that night.

Nathan and Richard understandably never went hunting again. The memory was too much for them both to bare.

For Richard, the worst part was waking up to a voice only he could hear.

There were a few nights that Richard would hear someone call his name from outside of his home. He never acknowledged the voice, fear creeping into his body each time. It was his own voice, calling out to him.

The voice would repeat his name during some nights, reminding him of what he lost. Richard never told Nathan or his family, in fear that whatever it was that attacked him in the woods would come after each of them.

That thing out in the woods was searching for a new voice. Richard knew that the process would continue to repeat, and it would take as many voices as it could, to keep itself alive.

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn