The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!
The Eye
by Kathleen McCluskey
By the time he realized he was lost, the afternoon had begun to fade. The trail had disappeared somewhere behind him, swallowed by fallen leaves and thick underbrush but he wasn’t worried yet. He had enough daylight to find his way back, and there was something peaceful about being in the woods with nothing but the wind moving through the branches and the occasional creak of an old tree.
He was passing between two giant trunks when he could feel somebody watching him. At first he thought it was a person standing in the shadows but then he saw the eye. It was pale and unnaturally large, staring through the narrow space between the trees. He stopped, staring back and after several seconds it blinked. A face slowly emerged around it, pale and frightened, with one hand curled tightly around the bark.
“Are you hurt?”
The figure nodded.
He moved closer, pushing aside the branches that obscured the trees. The person seemed trapped in the narrow space between them, unable to squeeze through and too scared to try. He could hear their breathing now, shallow and quick. Despite the uneasiness crawling through his spine, sympathy won out. Whoever this was clearly had been out her for quite some time.
“Can you get out?”
The figure shook its head.
He reached toward the hand gripping the bark but before he could something spoke behind him.
“Don’t.”
He turned and found a creature standing among the trees. It was tall and strangely thin, its body covered in rough bark and hanging moss, with long arms that nearly reached the ground. Its face was almost hidden behind a tangle of branches but he could see two black eyes watching him. It did not advance. It simply stood there, blocking the path he had taken to the clearing.
He looked back at the trapped figure then back at the creature. “You’ve been keeping it here?”
The creature shook its head. “I keep it from getting out.”
The answer made no sense. The figure behind the trees began to whimper, and the sound immediately softened something inside of him. Whatever the creature was, it had frightened the person badly enough to make them hide in the trees.
“Please,” the figure whispered. “Don’t leave me.”
The creature took a step forward. “You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
He stepped toward the trees and reached through the gap. The figure immediately grabbed his hand, its fingers wrapping tightly around his wrist. They were freezing cold and before he could pull away, the grip became incredibly and painfully strong. The stranger began pulling toward the narrow opening. He stumbled forward as his boots slid on the dead leaves.
A full view of the face emerged from the darkness.
The skin was stretched too tightly across its features. The mouth opening underneath the eyes was far too wide to be from anything human. Its lips pulled back, revealing rows of narrow teeth that seemed to continue endlessly into the darkness behind them.
He finally understood the creature’s warnings.
The creature looked directly at him. “I tried to tell you,” he sighed. “I’m the jailer.”
He attempted to pull himself free but the thing behind the trunks tightened its grip and began dragging him closer and closer. The jailer lunged forward, catching him by the shoulder and for a moment the two creatures pulled against each other while he struggled between them.
The thing between the trees pulled harder and the hiker disappeared into the darkness. The jailer remained where it was, staring into the narrow gap between the trees. For a few second there was only silence. Then a sudden spray of blood burst through the gap and splattered across the bark.
The jailer slowly shook his head. It looked down at the blood on its hands and chest and sighed. It wiped his hands across its moss covered arm. “Another one,” it muttered before turning back to the trail. “I hate this job.”
Fiction © Copyright Kathleen McCluskey
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
More from Kathleen McCluskey:
The Long Fall: Book 1: The Inception of Horror
Lucifer always cunning and intelligent challenges father to a battle of wits. Being the angel of light he casts a judgemental eye upon mankind. He begins a war with his fellow archangels and God. Michael, along with his siblings defend their home and mankind from their deranged brother. Broad swords and hand to hand combat drench heaven in blood. The four apocalyptic steeds are released, each having their own destructive power. Betrayal and lust are at biblical levels. Understand the very creation of evil and the consequenses that transpire in the first of THE LONG FALL series.
