Until we Meet Again

There I was, standing at the foot of a crime scene. The weekend with my friends was ruined by the sight of staring death in the face. I no longer wanted to live after watching what I had seen and having the perpetrator get away with it too. 

“So, tell me Charles. How are you doing these days?”, Dr. Andrews asked me.

I responded waving my head left and right like a child saying no. “Not good doc. I just keep visioning how everything transpired that evening.”  

“Charles?  You know the police didn’t find anything.” The doctor took a pause and tapped his pen on his note pad that sat on his lap. He then continued, “They think your friends ran off without you.”

“It’s bullshit,” I replied, hitting my knees with both hands balled into a fist. “I know my friends wouldn’t just up and leave me. Especially, not Sophia. She would have never left me!”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Oh, so you don’t believe me either?”, I asked standing up. “I know my parents are paying you a shit load of money to make me normal but, after what I saw that night I don’t’ think that will ever be possible. My friends are all dead. I watch them die in front of me that night,” I shouted.

“Why do you believe you were spared?”

“Because, I ran like hell.” Thinking about that night brought tears to my eyes. I had wiped them away before they touched my face. “I woke up in the hospital. They say a park ranger found me lying on the ground with my head busted open bleeding out all over the damn place. I don’t remember falling or getting hit in the head but, I know one thing, it killed my friends. All of them!”  

“When you say it, what exactly do you mean?”

“If you’re going to have me repeating myself and asking the same questions over and over again you can go fuck off like everyone else. I know what I saw and what happened that night. I’m not crazy!” 

With that I walked out of the psychiatrist office with the intentions of never returning again.

I tossed and turned the entire night. I just couldn’t sleep. The images of Ralph’s bloody intestine hanging off the tree branches as the camp fire shine on his dead limp body wouldn’t leave my mind. I remembered turning around hearing Sophia scream as she watched him get torn apart. Most of his blood splattered on Sophia’s entire body since she was right next to him. She then took off into the woods yelling at the top of her lungs until, she went silent shortly after running away. I knew she was gone too. So, Carter and I were the remaining two left and we high tailed away from our camping site but, it grabbed him from above in the shadows of the night. As I stopped to catch my breath and to use my cell phone to call for help something had bumped my leg. It was Carter’s head. His eyes were missing and so was his tongue. I sprinted off again and then everything went blank.  

I threw the covers off my body, swinging my legs out the bed and onto the cold floor as I heard the crickets from outside my window. I couldn’t sleep knowing what was out there. I needed proof and evidence that I know what I saw was true. I wasn’t imaging this. I know I’m not crazy. The police are wrong, my friends did not run away. We all were fairly good and happy kids especially, Sophia. Both her parents were in a happy, loving marriage, she got along great with her older siblings and she was captain of the softball team.  She had the perfect life and I wanted to be with her to make it even better. We were so close, I can’t believe that she’s gone now. I don’t want this town thinking my friends and I were drug addicts who went crazy or ran away. I need to avenge them somehow.

I felt myself getting angry. Why us? What did we do to deserve such torture?  We were better than the other kids in the neighborhood. We just wanted to go camping in the woods for the weekend and share crappy ghost stories while roasting marshmallows over the camp fire. Sophia would have inched closer to me as the night air became chilly and I, would wrapped my arm around her while, she rested her head on my shoulders.  Everyone else our age went to the woods to; smoke pot, have sex, get drunk, do drugs or all of those at once.  We were hard working students eager to go to prom and graduate school this year and getting accepted into colleges. We all planned to throw our caps in the air together, I also had plans on asking her to go with me to prom, I know she would have said, yes. It’s all ruined now. Just a dream. No, a nightmare in fact. A real fucking nightmare.

I have to do something. I looked over at the alarm clock that sat on my night stand. The time read 11:34pm. I should have done something when it all first happened but, I was too shaken up and questioning myself weather I saw what I actually saw. It’s not too late for me to do something now, better late than never. I got dress and decided to make my way back to the forest. It’s been three weeks since everything had occurred. My phone battery was full. I would need it to capture a video or pictures of it. I survived before, I know I can make it out again.

Not giving it a second thought I took off on foot. I blended in with the night wearing all black. I could smell the salt water air dancing around my face as the autumn night time breeze hugged me tight. I knew the rain was coming again soon. It had previously rained a few hours earlier when the evening first started.

“I hope a rain storm don’t occur while I’m out here in the forest. That would really mess up my plans for the night”, I said out loud approaching the entrance to the camping grounds.

It took me about twenty-five minutes to walk to where it all started. I was scared but ready. I was very careful studying my every movement of my feet, walking as light as possible in case it was sleeping I didn’t want to wake it. Maybe we had woken it that night and angered it. I don’t know but, I wasn’t letting it get away this time. I checked the time on my phone to see that it was pass midnight. It’s a new day I chuckled to myself. Suddenly, I heard a noise from behind me. It sounded like footsteps at a distance. Not too far but not too near.

I had stopped walking and hid behind a tree, the movement had stopped too. Sweat started pouring down my face. Fuck, I had left my house without a weapon. I should have had a knife or bat with me. I only had my cell phone and voice to cry out for help if I needed to.

It touched me. I freaked out screaming at the top of my lungs while leaning up against the tree with my hands in my face.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down boy? What are you doing out here at this hour?”, the voice asked.

Once I had gotten my nerves together and stop shivering like, I was abandoned in the cold outdoors for hours I realized it was a park ranger. I didn’t even answer his question. He continued to shine the light in my face until I waved for him to put it down.

“What are you doing here? Let me guess, to see a girl? You teenagers ought to stop doing this. It’s dangerous out here with all the wild animals at night.”

“Yeah I know it’s dangerous, not only because of the wild animals.”

 The park ranger raised his right eyebrow when I had made that comment. “Listen, you should be heading home it’s late.”

“No, disrespect sir but, I’m here for something important. My friends all died here. I’m here to collect evidence of what happen that night since the police wont’ do it.”

“I read something like that in the paper a few weeks ago.”  “Look”, he said pointing his index finger at me. “I will give you a warning. Go home right now and I won’t tell the police I caught you snooping around.”

“No! I said firmly. Nothing is going to stop me from proving people like you wrong. My friends deserve that.”

“Boy I’m not going to tell you again.” 

“Just leave me alone”, I said walking away.

I heard the ranger radioing the cops as I was walking off, I felt a grab on my left arm. I tugged until I was loose. The park ranger then gripped me by the shoulders and spun me around.

“You stay right here till the police arrive.”

I head butt him and made a run for it. I caught a glimpse of him stumbling to the ground.

“Get back here you little asshole!”, he shouted as I sprinted through the trees.

I ran as fast as I could. Only the moon light was guiding me through the forest. I knew I was fast and he wouldn’t catch up to me. I stopped when I notice I was near a den. I don’t know how deep I ran into the forest or how I was going to get out but, I made it this far and needed to get what I had come here for. My mission was not completed yet.  I went in inside the den hoping to find what I needed.

The den was dark and small. I couldn’t see no more than four feet ahead of me even with the flash light from my phone shinning like a bright star. I started to feel like it was a bad idea but I, continued even though a cold shiver tickled my spine. I had no cellular service, the only thing left to do was go deeper into the den. With each step I grew more nervous of being too close for comfort and coming face to face with what I saw that night. I was praying that my battery would last for however long I was out here.

I came across a room filled with torches. I shut off the flash light from my phone and saw no one but, noticed it was two more paths available. The room was hot and smelled like mold and dead flesh. Flies flew all around landing on my body. I covered my nose with my jacket trying to make a decision. Right or left I thought? I started to scratch my black wool hat in frustration. I went left instead.

I was relieved that I walked the right way. It was the exit out of the den. Who had been in there and why? Maybe there was others like me, waiting or wanting reassurance of what they had saw too but, why in that smelly place? I felt like I was in the den forever. My battery was on seventy-six percent. The moon was shining bright high up in the sky tonight. I continued walking aimlessly because, I was lost.

“Oof.” I was pushed down on the ground forcefully, unable to move. It was a lot of weight and pressure on top of my back.

“Gotcha now you weird little bastard.”  I noticed the voice, it was the park ranger from earlier.

“Get the hell off of me!”, I shouted as my voice sounded muffled into the ground.

“No, you’re going to jail. You assaulted me. The police are waiting to take you in at the ranger station.”  He stood me up to tie my hands together tight with a zip tie.

The leaves on the ground blew hard, it had started to rain. We had only walked a few yards before the thunder made its appearance. I walked in front of the ranger with my hands tied feeling helpless and unless as he pushed me to keep walking in the direction of the ranger’s station.

“I don’t feel sorry for you boy, you should have not been out here thinking you are the local author-  

The thunder had struck and the ranger must have gotten frighten, his voice went silent. I was waiting for him to finish scolding me like a child who did something behind their parents back but, he didn’t continue. I looked back and he was gone, vanished into thin air. I looked down to see if I saw where his footsteps went. Nothing. When I faced forward I, stood face to face with what killed my friends.

Standing on two legs with a long gapping 3-inch jaw, razor sharp teeth, long arms with four inch pointy nails, long horns coming from both sides of its head. The folklore was true. It looked just like the pictures online. This was no urban legend. What stood in front of me was a wendigo. I finally meet him again, that was my reassurance…