Behind The Pine

The sound almost like the crashing of garbage cans awakened me from my slumber. Like a metal lid rolling across the asphalt, my ears became heightened to the sounds being emitted from the night. Not wanting to leave the comfort of my sheets, I hesitated to move until the sound of the outside world grew too much for me to return to my nightly rest. Sitting up from the cushioned foam, my hair fell past my face and down my shoulders. It was cold, a breeze from seemingly nowhere blew past me causing a small shiver to traverse its way down my spine. Slipping into my nightgown that laid on the wooden post near the end of my bed it was smooth against my skin as it warmed me from the ominous breeze. I took a few steps to my window and pulled back the curtains. They were open and the cold breeze I had been feeling blew through. Well, the mystery of the ominous breeze has been solved I thought as I shut the window and looked around outside. The forest stood unwavering around my house, each pine tree standing tall enough to intimidate me if I stared long enough. The trash cans were tipped over scattering our garbage all over the driveway. It had to be raccoons I thought, they are always getting into garbage. Mad that I had to do something so trivial in the middle of the night, I turned around to grab my slippers that lay just next to my door. Something caught the corner of my eye, like when you shine a light on water at night and in return witness hundreds of eyes staring back. A pair of glowing and glistening eyes stood next to a tree close to the trash cans about ten meters away from the house, I looked closer for a split second when I saw a thing standing at least 3 meters tall behind the tree. Legs like a goat or a deer but on its hind legs standing upright like a human. Its arms abnormal and long, almost reaching the ground and fingers almost half the length of its arms. It stood watching me, its unwavering gaze struck impounding fear straight into my mind. The face and head of this creature were that of a long deer skull with large antlers breaching out from its head. The cold air gave witness to the breath coming from the nose area on its skull filling the air in front of it with white smoke. I only looked at the monstrosity for 2-3 seconds but the sight I had witnessed made it feel like hours. Ducking down instantly below the window, I pulled the curtains over the window. I shook with fear and my hands trembled with anxiety. Getting up I ran towards my phone which sat on my desk and dialed 911. It instantly disconnected. My heart was beating so loud it felt like I could hear it. I looked at my phone wondering why it had failed me and saw I had no service. I could not contact anyone and my husband was away on a hunting trip for the next week. I was alone, and that revelation scarred me. I rushed towards the underside of my bed and grabbed a handgun I always kept hidden there. We were comfortable with guns and the notion of using one wasn't new. Living in the middle of nowhere the guns were a necessity, so we owned countless shotguns and rifles. They were downstairs in the safe but the fear inside me kept bubbling up and the thought of leaving the comfort of my room pushed my senses of reason out of the way. Grasping the pistol in hand I slowly walked towards the window, breathing slow deep breaths. I tried to calm my nerves. Each step I took heightening every sense I possessed. Reaching the window the anticipation was horrific and overwhelming, taking my pinky finger that still shook a little with adrenaline. I opened the curtains just enough for me to see the tree and trash cans. Peaking my eye out to see what else was there. It was empty. The trash cans were back to where they belong, not a single piece of trash laying on the ground. My eyes scanned every corner of the woods, searching for anything remotely concerning. For minutes I stood with one eye peeking through the gap trying to rationalize what I saw. Nothing remotely concerning showed itself to me. Taking my finger away from the curtain I slumped down to the ground with my back against the underside of the window. Letting out a sigh of relief that it may have been my imagination, but also a sigh of confusion wondering why I had seen such a thing. A small scratch could be heard coming from the glass. Like the sound of nails on a chalkboard but lighter and softer. Not even moving my body, I turned my head to look up at the glass. The curtains still pulled together covering much of the window, only the tiny bit at the bottom was visible. I sat lower than the curtains and as I turned my head, its eyes peering at me. The thing watched me from my window staring in and looking down at me through the glass. Its hand pressed against the glass and moved in a way that was abnormal and disgusting like it had no bones or joints. The skull glaring down at me was just bones but in that small window of time, it formed a smile as it looked at me. Letting out a horrifying scream I jumped off the wall and rolled onto my back facing the window. Taking the gun and placing it in line with the widow and my eye I took four shots causing the glass to shatter everywhere. Only the curtains stood in the way of me knowing if my safety was guaranteed or an illusion. Staying seated on the floor I didn't dare move a muscle or even breathe. My body ceased to function as fear enveloped my entire being. The sound of bones rattling and glass shifting caused me to finally be released by my bonds and aim the gun back towards the window. The same sound continued, like bones clanging together and glass being stepped on and shifted. The fear truly came when the same lurking hands that pressed on the window slowly made their appearance through the center of the curtains. I took more shots loading the whole cartridge into the thing that stood before me. It didn't stop, it slowly opened up the curtains with its face appearing in the center of the window. The smile still on its face taunted me as it crept forward. My eyes widened and unearthly fear took over my body. It crept closer launching its fingers into my thighs so deep they came through the other side, like a needle through cloth. The pain seething and coursing through my body filling me with intense and writhing agony. It continued to embark closer and slower to me eventually reaching a point where I could feel its breath dashing across my face. It began to unhinge its jaw, opening wider showing nothing but more bone and the open space behind it. I let out an agonizing, blood-curdling scream that incapacitated my eardrums. The scream was not even tangible but unworldly words and sounds echoing through my mind. I closed my eyes while tears cascaded down my face. It continued to scream even louder causing pain to shake and sing through my blood-filled ears till silence came. Agonizing, bewildering pain throbbed through my head as my eardrums burst and the silence filled everything. Seconds passed and then minutes, the anticipation and fear of death the only thing keeping my eyes closed till the sound of garbage cans falling overfilled my ears. The breathing had disappeared and the pain had ceased almost instantly like a fever dream that passed and dispersed in a matter of seconds. It didn't seem real, nothing did. The pain I could remember but not feel, the fear still lingered but not enough to cause my legs to tremble. The glass was no longer broken and nothing was out of place as my eyes could see. I ran hesitantly towards the window to see the trash cans I had heard. Two raccoons were thrashing around in the garbage. Had I imagined everything? Was it a dream? Thoughts bombarded my mind until I looked again at the tree where I had originally witnessed the beast. There a shadow that outlined the shape of the creature I once saw. Not a single detail coming off of its blackened outline, and only its eyes making it truly visible. It stood there behind the pine, glaring at me. Steam released from what seemed to be its face and filled the air. I stared and continued to stare at it. Slowly it began to walk away, never releasing its gaze. Like the shadow it was, it vanished into the tree line. All I was left with was the window showing me an empty reflection of myself.