The Impersonator

Jason and Tricia had only been running for five minutes, but it felt like it had been an hour. Their lungs were burning, and they were already out of breath. No matter how fast they ran, they couldn’t seem to get any closer to the person who was calling for help.

It was nearing dusk. If they didn’t find the person soon, it would be next to impossible to find them in the dense woods, especially since there was a light fog in the forest.

Tricia stopped to catch her breath for a moment.

“You okay?” Jason asked.

He worried about his sister. She wasn’t used to running like this. Even though she only suffered mildly from asthma, this was the last place he wanted her to be if she were to have an asthma attack. If only their cell phone signals hadn’t given out, they could have called for help.

“You have your inhaler, don’t you?” he added.

“Yeah, but I’m fine,” Tricia replied. “I just need to catch my breath. Besides, it might help to try to pinpoint where the cries for help are coming from. What if we’re going the wrong direction?”

That was when they both noticed it. The absence of sound in the woods.

“They’re not calling for help anymore,” Jason said.

Tricia stood more upright. Her lungs were rested enough that she could breathe more easily now.

“You’re right,” she said. “Perhaps we went too far.”

“No,” Jason replied. “The sound wouldn’t dissipate that quickly. The person has gone silent.”

Neither of them wanted to think about why that might be. They feared that whatever had caused the person to stop calling for help couldn’t be good. They stood quietly and listened for a moment until another sound began to emerge. It was no longer a call for help, but a slight whimpering.

“Over there!” Jason said. “It sounds like it’s only a few yards away.”

He started to go toward the sound, but Tricia stopped him.

“Don’t,” she said, sounding worried.

“What?” Jason asked. “Didn’t we come all this way to help whoever was calling for help?”

“Yeah, but something is off,” Tricia said. “I can sense it. Something isn’t right.”

Jason stared at his sister for a moment. He didn’t dismiss what she was saying. He had learned not to do so years ago. She had the strongest sense of extrasensory perception of anyone he had ever known. In fact, she had had a few premonitions that had saved both of them from near accidents many times.

“What are you sensing?” he asked, hoping she could be more specific.

“Not much,” Tricia answered. “It isn’t strong like it sometimes is. I can’t give you any details. I just know that this could be dangerous.”

It was that danger that worried Jason. Perhaps whatever had nearly silenced the person in distress was now going to endanger them also. But what could it be? It was probably a wild animal. Perhaps a cougar. But why hadn’t they heard it? If a cougar had attacked a person, wouldn’t it have made some growling noises? Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out a can of pepper spray.

When Tricia saw what he was doing, her heart raced. She knew that Jason still wanted to find the person. She couldn’t blame him. It was the right thing to do, but she knew there was a very real risk in doing so.

“Jason,” she said.

“I’ll be careful,” Jason assured her. “You stay here.”

“No,” Tricia replied. “I’m going with you.”

“Don’t argue with me,” Jason said. “Let me scout on ahead.”

“Whatever is out here might come after me while you’re scouting up ahead. There’s safety in numbers,” Tricia replied.

“You might be right,” Jason conceded. “Then fine, but stay close to me.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Tricia replied.

The whimpering noise came again. It didn’t sound like a person now but more like an injured animal. As they got close to the sound, everything went silent again. There was no sign of anyone nearby. Both Jason and Tricia felt their heartrates increase. Jason held his pepper spray tightly.

“Where are you?” he called as loudly as he could.

He tried to keep his voice from sounding too shaky, but he wasn’t very successful.

“Over here!” the person called to them.

Earlier, they had thought it was a man who was calling them. The voice had been deep, and it had seemed obvious. But now, the voice was definitely female.

“That sounds like another person,” Tricia whispered.

“I noticed that also,” Jason replied.

“What if it’s a trap?” Tricia said. “Perhaps they were just trying to lure us into the woods.”

“Is that what you think or what you know?” Jason asked.

Tricia thought about it. She finally realized that she had no extra perception that could explain her feelings. She was simply frightened and was imagining the worst.

“Just a guess,” she answered.

“Please! Help me!” the woman called again.

Jason and Tricia didn’t move for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Jason finally responded. “Tell us what happened to you!”

“I can’t!” the woman replied. “I don’t know. I just know that I don’t have much time left!”

“I really don’t like this,” Tricia said. “It doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t she know what happened to her? It’s some sort of trap. I’m sure of it now!”

“I think you’re right,” Jason replied.

Finally, he did the only thing he felt comfortable doing.

“We’re going to go get help!” he called to the woman.

“No! Please! Don’t leave me out here!” the woman pleaded with him.

Tricia could see that her brother was torn. He couldn’t stand to hear someone in trouble, but she knew now that this wasn’t a legitimate cry for help.

“I’m telling you that it’s a trap,” she repeated. “I can sense it more greatly now.”

Jason took a deep breath and let it out.

“I trust you,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go. We’ll notify the authorities. We’ll just say we couldn’t find the person.”

Tricia nodded. They turned around and started retreating back the way they had come when there was suddenly a bloodcurdling scream. Instinctively, they both started sprinting forward, trying to put distance between themselves and the woman. Only, the scream hadn’t come from behind them. It had come from above. Tricia and Jason were so frightened that they didn’t even realize where the scream had come from.

When the creature swooped down from the tree and snatched Jason’s can of pepper spray, it knocked Jason to the ground before it darted away. It took both Jason and Tricia by surprise. Tricia tripped over Jason and fell to the ground also. It all happened so quickly that they barely caught a glimpse of the creature’s green fur.

“Come on! Get up!” Tricia said frantically.

As she got up, she reached down to give her brother a hand. It was only then that she saw that his shirt was torn. The slash mark on his shoulder was long.

“Oh, Jason!” Tricia said.

Jason was the one who was trying to catch his breath now. His shoulder felt like it was on fire. He took Tricia’s hand and stumbled to his feet.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” he stated the obvious.

He tried to push the pain aside. He couldn’t let it slow him down.

“Come on,” Tricia replied.

“Bet you can’t catch me!” a voice called to them.

It was coming from the direction where the creature had fled. It was a man’s voice again.

“Tricked you! Tricked you! I’m the trickster! Yes, I am!” the voice sounded like a woman again.

“It wasn’t even a human!” Tricia said. “It was that creature!”

“What kind of creature can talk like a person?” Jason asked.

They both scanned the woods as best as they could. Neither of them thought that running away would help. The creature was fast. It would only surprise them with another attack. Somehow, they had to be the one to surprise it.

“Do you have your knife with you?” Tricia whispered quietly, not wanting to alert the creature to their intentions.

“Yeah,” Jason whispered back. “But I can’t get it out. Not yet. The creature will just take it.”

After the first theft, he knew that the creature was much too fast for them.

“We need to head back, but we need to walk slowly. We need to be watching for it,” Jason said.

It went against everything that Tricia wanted to do. Her instinct was telling her to run for her life, but she knew Jason was right. She stayed close to her brother as they crept slowly along.

The woods were eerily silent. Tricia could have never imagined how creepy silence could be. At the rate they were going, it would take them much too long to get out of the woods.

“The sun’s going down,” Jason pointed out. “Come on. Let’s speed up a little.”

As they walked, it was almost as if the creature had decided to leave them alone. There was no sign of it, nor any sound. Tricia and Jason picked up their speed. Maybe, just maybe, the creature had had its fun and would leave them alone.

They had been walking for about ten minutes when they came to a small clearing. They had passed it on their way into the woods. It was good to see that they were headed the right way. The path they had first been on shouldn’t be too far away. If they could just get past the clearing, then maybe they would be okay. At least, the fog was lifting. It was a bit easier to see.

They had crossed most of the clearing when the creature swooped down from a tree and sat on its haunches at the edge of the clearing, facing them. They could see the creature more clearly now. It was similar in shape to a chimpanzee and stood about three feet tall. It had horns on its head and two tails.

“Darkness is coming!” the creature said, its voice now sounding like a child.

“Or do you prefer this voice?” it added, once more sounding like the man they had heard earlier.

As if to taunt them further, it changed its voice once again as it screamed like the woman it had been impersonating earlier.

“What are you?” Jason asked, frightened.

He instinctively kept himself in front of his sister. If possible, he had to protect Tricia somehow.

The creature laughed.

“What do you think I am?” it asked.

“A monster!” Jason replied. “No animal can speak like a human!”

Well, maybe a parrot, but this was no parrot that was hunting them!

“It’s easy,” the creature replied. “All I have to do is kill someone, and then I can sound like them whenever I want. Soon, I’ll sound like both of you!”

“Why do you want to hurt us?” Tricia asked, coming to stand beside her brother.

“Tricia, stay back!” Jason warned.

“Like she’s any safer behind you!” the creature said, laughing again and ignoring Tricia’s question. “I’ll get what I want!”

The creature suddenly spread invisible wings and flew upward, flying above them. It laughed maniacally as it circled them.

“Darkness is coming!” it repeated.

There wasn’t much light left.

“I could kill you in the daylight, but it’ll be easier in the dark!” it added.

“Jason, I’m scared,” Tricia whispered.

“You aren’t the only one,” Jason whispered back.

They tried to keep an eye on the creature, but it was so fast that they couldn’t keep track of it. Jason knew he had to do something. It was probably suicide, but he had to try to save Tricia.

“I’ll make you a deal,” he called to the creature.

This caught the creature’s attention. It stopped flying and hovered in the air above them.

“I’m listening,” it said. “Tell me. What do you want?”

“I’ll let you kill me. I won’t even put up a fight. Just give my sister a head start,” Jason said.

“Why would I want to do that?” the creature replied. “I don’t care if you put up a fight. I’m stronger than you. I can kill you easily.”

“But doesn’t that get boring after a while?” Jason asked. “It’ll be more of a challenge to you if you give my sister a head start while you kill me.”

The creature thought about it for a moment. Soon, it realized that Jason was right. Things had gotten rather monotonous lately. Perhaps it should do things the human’s way. It wasn’t like it couldn’t still catch the girl easily also.

“Fine,” it said. “I’ll even count to five before I kill you. But you can’t run away. If you do, I’ll go after your sister first.”

“Deal!” Jason agreed.

“Jason, no!” Tricia said.

“I know what I’m doing,” Jason replied. “Now, go!”

“I can’t!” Tricia said.

“One!” the creature started counting.

“Just go!” Jason shouted. “Please!”

Tricia fought back tears.

“Two! Time’s a wasting!” the creature shouted.

“Please,” Jason begged Tricia again. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Tricia replied.

“Three!”

With tears in her eyes, Tricia started running away from the clearing. She didn’t want to, but she knew they would both die if she didn’t. She knew she couldn’t talk her brother out of sacrificing himself for her.

“Four!”

Jason looked up at the creature.

“I’m right here!” he said in a fierce voice.

His hand inched into his pocket. He had to be careful. If the creature knew what he was doing, he wouldn’t have a chance.

“Five!” the creature shouted victoriously as it swooped down from the air and grabbed Jason, picking him up and flying upward.

It took Jason by surprise. His shoulder was still burning, but he was somehow able to find his knife in his pocket and pull it out. He almost lost his grip on it but was able to barely keep it from falling to the ground below. He thrust his hand upward, slashing the knife into the creature’s belly. The creature screamed in a loud, screeching voice as it let go of Jason.

Jason started to pummel to the ground when a tree branch broke his fall. Fortunately, he hadn’t fallen too far, but it still hurt. From the tree branch, he watched as the creature spiraled in a circle until it landed on the forest floor.

The creature lay on the ground. It stared up at Jason as yellow blood oozed from its abdomen. It started to cry like a child.

“No fair!” it said. “You don’t play nice!”

Then, a short burst of flames came out of its ear before its body disintegrated.

It took Jason a moment to catch his breath. But then, he realized the danger was gone. He knew he had to call to his sister.

“Tricia, help!” he called.

As Tricia ran, she heard her brother call to her. He needed her help. Or did he? The creature had said that it could sound like people it had killed. She stopped in her tracks, not knowing what to do. If she returned to her brother and the creature killed her, her brother would have died in vain.

“Please, Tricia! The creature’s dead!” Jason called.

Finally, Tricia knew she had to trust her instincts. It was Jason. It just had to be!

It was a little difficult making her way back to him since the sun had gone down. There was at least a little moonlight to guide her. She called to Jason frequently and followed the sound of his voice until she got to him.

Tricia saw him stranded on the tree branch. There weren’t any branches close enough to him for him to climb down. She got some rope out of her backpack and threw it up to him. Jason tied the rope to the branch and lowered himself down from the tree.

Once on the ground, he gave his sister a warm embrace.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” he said.

“I didn’t think I’d see you either,” Tricia replied.

They went and stood over the ashes that were the only remains of the creature.

“You’ll have to tell me how you killed it,” Tricia said.

“I will,” Jason replied. “Later.”

“What do you think it was?” Tricia wondered aloud.

“A monster,” Jason answered. “That’s what it was, but it’s dead now.”

“Oh, Jason!” Tricia said. “All those poor people that it killed!”

“It’s sad,” Jason agreed. “But it’ll never hurt anyone again.”

“Thanks to you,” Tricia said. “I’m proud of you! You didn’t just save me. You saved anyone else from ever being harmed by it.”

“Yeah, well, let’s just get out of here. I’d like to get this shoulder tended to,” Jason replied, rubbing his sore shoulder.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Tricia agreed.

The two of them left to go find their vehicle. They had just gotten to their car when they heard a long, mournful wail coming from the woods. The two of them wasted no time getting in the car. They couldn’t get out of there fast enough!

In the clearing in the woods, another creature sat on her haunches beside the remains of her friend. She let out a loud scream as tears rolled down her face. Now that her mate was dead, she was the last of her kind. Tormented, she let out another scream as she rose to the sky and flew away.