Hunted

“Help help help” I screamed as woke from sleep, sweat drops dripping from my face, my fingers and toes twitching in fright as though I had just encountered a beast. The room was dark and hot as though someone had infused hot air into it while I slept, only the beaming of the moonlight shown into the room through the porous lock spaces of the creaky wooden window and the tin spaces between the inter logged woods reflecting on just a few areas inside the room. My night robe was soaked with sweat, and the dusty smell of freshly sawed logs used in making the cottage filled the room, my throat was dried due to the dry and thin air that filled the room and also my incessant gasp for breath. I could feel my heartbeats pounding heavily in my chest like the sound of the pistol clashing against the wall of the mutter. I could hear lots of creepy sounds outside produced by the crickets, birds and other night wandering creatures that seemed to be appreciating the moonlight with uneven harmonies. Everything felt as though I was in a trance, I grabbed my torch which lay by the side of my bed, lit it and pointed to all corners of the room to be sure that neither a beast or human had sneaked into the room while I was asleep, I looked at the time in the old wooden brown oval clock which hung in the room, it was 1:00am. “Just an hour past midnight” I murmured to myself. I hopped out of Bed with the torch in my hand, and made for the kitchen which was three rooms away from mine, carefully with my toes numbering my steps, I pointed my torch in the directions I heard any creepy sound. As I got to the kitchen I opened the door in bits and noiselessly as a thief would. I grabbed a cup and poured water into it from the wooden carved jug that stood on the kitchen table, I had a satisfactory drink, galloping down each sip in haste as would a thirsty deer drinking from a predatory stream. After I had drank to my fill, I leaned by the table breathing out aloud in satisfaction and relief for about five minutes before heading back for my room. “Was this just an ordinary nightmare or there is a meaning and sign I could obtain from it” I thought to myself as I walked back to my room confidently this time around. I contemplated waking my friends to tell them the nightmare I had, but I thought it wise to do so the next day. I got back to my room and I recall doubting if I could fall asleep again that night, but you know nature always takes it course and I managed to sleep after over two hours of lying on the bed with my eyes shut in thoughts not sleep. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * It was morning already, all except me were sitting in the living talking about their first night experience in the cottage and planning out the activities of our vacation in the woods. “Oh guys it was really hot last night for me, the heat wouldn’t let me sleep” James the organizer of our trip said. He was a funny guy, a party type and a great lover of adventure, we were rounding up college in the university of California and he had suggested we went on this trip in commemoration of our senior year in college. “As a matter of fact I had to sleep naked, at first I tried to sleep with my pants only but I was sweating down there” Ben said as everyone burst into laughter. He was the funniest one among us, he was Asian and had just few friends, I managed to convince him to be friends with us in our sophomore year, he consented and we’ve enjoyed his company since then. “You all are out here nagging about the heat, I don’t even recall what last night felt like” Scott said, grabbing a bottle of beer and pouring fluently into his mouth. He liked alcohol a lot with special preferences for beers, he was always merry and was the life of the parties. “Shitty head, how can you tell the events of last night when you were drunk and wasted, Gracie asked making a mocking gesture in Scott’s direction “why are you coming at me like that girl, not my fault your dude isn’t as charming as I am” Scott said in defense, galloping down his beer much longer and loudly as his throat danced upwards and then downwards in the rhythm of the his loud galloping. “Whatever dude” Gracie said and turning to the direction of the rest continued, “Last night was kind of hot but I managed to catch some sleep after I had a shower, I bet none of you dudes did” The guys all burst into laughter giving each other sneaky looks in conformation to Gracie’s bet. Gracie was the loudest in our group, she was open minded and was sure to hit the nail on the head in every situation she wasn’t a fan of sugar coated compliments “Come on girl speak on it” Caroline said as she spanked palms with Gracie, sighed and continued, “my night was great, I did the girl child night rituals and I had a great night rest”. She was the laid back friend everyone wants to have, wasn’t a talkative and very much reserved, of course she was the smartest in our squad. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Back in my room the noises from the living room had woken me from sleep, it was already 10:00am, the bright yellow rays of the morning sun filled the room and I could fill its warm embrace as I opened the window. The morning air was pleasant to the nostrils as I perceived the scents of the green woods that stood around the premise, one could easily conclude the forest breeze traveled at night and returned at dawn. Just when I had begun to enjoy the unfolding day, I immediately remembered the experience I had that night, the creepy sounds and scary nightmare and terrific fear that had gripped me. I then made up my mind to convince the guys so we would change the location of our vacation. “This place isn’t safe enough I thought to myself” as I walked out of my room in the direction of the living room where the rest were gathered. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * “Hey guys good morning” I said as I walked into their midst, staggering like a toddler who had just found his feet. “Hope you all’s night wasn’t as unpleasant as mine” I said before I hoped onto the empty brown furry couch that stood beside the wooden flower that stood at the right corner of the living room as I noticed everyone’s cunning looks at me. “Well everyone has attested to having a difficult time last night Chris” Caroline said throwing a shady smile at me. “But when you say unpleasant Chris you mean courtesy of the heat? Or yours was more than just that” James said as every burst into loud but short laughter. “Seriously man, because I have been trying to figure this out, you were the last to wake up but you still got sleep bags around your eyes as though you didn’t catch enough sleep” Ben said as everyone gestured in conformation to his observation. “Guys I’ll start by saying we should change the location for our vacation and move out from this cottage or this forest in general. Because the dreams and experience I had here last night and the feelings I have about this place all signify danger” I said. Everyone burst out into laughter murmuring sarcastic words in disbelief. “Come on man we all know last night was a real hard time but we can’t just move out of here over just a night’s experience, In fact we just got here and after today other nights will definitely be better.” Gracie said as I watched everyone nod in conformity “Come on guys I really mean what I am saying, from my last night experience I really feel this place is unsafe for us” I said with an expression of certainty. “Okay Chris can you tell us what your last night experience looked like, because we are lost here man, I mean you don’t expect us to ruin our long planned vacation over some dreams or premonitions of yours” Scott said drunkenly as his were near red and over five bottles of beers lay at his feet. “Okay guys this was my experience last night” I said as I went on to narrate my experience to them. “So guys last night I had this scary dream and in that dream, this cottage was hunted my a man whose face I could not even identify, he had scars all over his face with the left eye missing from the socket, his nails were long and had stains of blood on them, he wore his hair long and it was unkempt and smelly and his robe was long, black and worn out. He used a hiking stick to shatter the heads of his victims who in the dream were some college students who had come to this same forest for some geographical excursion. I was the last of his victims and I guess I only survived because I woke while I was being chased by him. by the time i looked out of the window when i woke i saw a shadow vanishing into the woods" I could read the funny expressions on their faces, as laughed and whispered to each other words I couldn’t hear. I continued “By the time I woke from my nightmare, it seemed as though everything had happened in reality, I could overhear the footsteps of someone walking around the house and when I peeped through the window I could see a shadow like that of a man moving into the bushes at a distance. “Come on dude all this sounds like some horror movie I watched last week” Scott said laughingly. “Dude its’ okay to have nightmares like that, but we can’t ruin this fun we’re about to have in this beautiful woods of Freetown over a mere dream” James said sounding convinced. It turned out their opinions were all unanimous and they weren’t convinced by my premonitions to move out of the cottage. I felt bitter as they made fun of my experience. They managed to convince me to spend just a week after which we could leave. Who would have believed that I would lose some of my friends within a Week and almost the same way I had seen in my dream, well this is how everything happened. On the second night of our stay in the castle, we had all gone to sleep after dinner. While in my room I was unable to sleep as I had been battling insomnia, it was midnight as I stared at the sky through the window. The weather that night was more pleasant than that of the previous night, however the night’s light ball was missing from the sky, maybe an indication of danger I thought, when at about 1:00pm I heard a loud cry from one of the guys rooms, I immediately rushed out to the room where the wail was emanating from, it was Scott’s room, when I opened the door everyone was already inside screaming and crying, Scott was lying lifeless with his skull scattered beyond recognition, immediately I looked out of the window and saw a shadow vanish into the woods, I wouldn’t dare run after it as I didn’t know what it was and the guys didn’t believe me as I tried to tell them this was a human act, they all insisted Scott was involved in a terrific solo domestic accident, yeah the murder had erased all trails of his presence and set up a suicidal scene. The next morning we dug up a shallow grave and buried Scott’s body, it was a sad day as few words were spoken and there was no merriment, we couldn’t get Gracie to stop crying, she had kicked it with Scott a couple times, “you know that best friend flex”. That night we all slept with an eye open and holding our breaths, everyone was security conscious as I had advised them to be even though they didn’t believe me. That night turned out to be the most peaceful we had had since our arrival in the woods. It turned out the argument surrounding the death of Scott had gone in the favor of the guys. The next morning I remember James’ words to me clearly. “Man I told you we lost Scott to some domestic accident, you have to stop blabbing all this crazy shits” “Yeah you really need to stop with all that made up shit of yours” Gracie said in conformation to Jack. What differentiates a serial killer from any other murderer is the strategy and style of murder, a murderer kills without pattern but a serial has planned pattern, he preys on the instinct of his victims and monitors them, he knows when to strike and when to lie low. How did I know we were in the Den of a serial killer? On the fourth day, the killer struck again. This time in a manner worst than the first, the victims were James and Gracie. That night the rest of us had to gone to bed leaving the two outside, they were into some deep conversation and wouldn’t be convinced to move inside, they claimed to be enjoying the serenity of the woods. The next morning we found their bodies headless and far apart from each other. I read the scene from the facts surrounding their death, their bodies were lying at the other corner of the house, James pants had been pulled downwards, he had gone to urinate I guessed when he fell into the hands of the predator who struck him dead from his back with the same metal he used on Gracie who I figured came to check on James who must have taken too long to urinate. He then chopped of their head noiselessly with a hack saw. Another wave of grieve filled the atmosphere, we were all in tears and sober. Only Ben, Caroline and I were left, the others had been killed. We managed to dig up a grave wide enough to accommodate the three bodies and buried them. Then we began to plan out a way to leave the the forest which had become a grave yard. We had been driven to the main entrance of the woods by a cab driver and carelessly forgotten the bag that held our gadgets in his cab. We had walked over 13kilometers before we got to the cottage which had heard was guest house for tourist who had visited the forest. We grabbed our luggage and decided start our journey out of the woods that day. We walked a long distance before the yellowish rays of the evening sun vanished into the sky and darkness covered the woods. We settled down to spend the night at the foot of one of the large trees, we lit a camp fire and sat around anticipating all forms of danger that could befall us all through the night. We had the most discomforting night rest, the creepy wood noises were unpleasant to the ears and bites from the insects had us spanking ourselves until day break. By the time we woke up Ben was missing, there was no trace of blood anywhere neither was there a sign of struggle. I and Caroline screamed his name all through our way out of the woods, hoping he was safe and had started ahead of us but it was all to no avail. Ben had mysteriously disappeared, on the contrary I knew the killer was a smart monster and may have tricked him with some noise and pulled him far from where we were gathered and killed him. We started our walk out of the woods very before the sun rose to its full glory. We walked through the path we had used into the cottage on the day of our arrival resting on the way and calling out Ben’s name as well, we had packed some cheese and water bottles which sustained us on our way out. We certainly needn’t spend another night in the woods if we desired life. It was 6:00pm by the time we got to the entrance of the woods exhausted and hoping to find a passing taxi or a helping ride. We stood at the entrance for over 30minutes before luck came to our aid, an empty yellow taxi stopped by upon our wave and shouts. “Take us to the nearest police station sir” I said as we hopped into the taxi and the driver rode off, as we drove off I looked behind just then a man appeared out of the woods, the same man I had seen walk away on the night of our arrival and on the night of Scott’s death. “I will be back for you” I thought to myself as we drove off from the dark shadows of the Freetown forest into the bright billboards and yellowish street lights of the town.