Gothic Short Story

In Anchorage, Alaska, in the Forest of Death, Malcolm, his family, and their dog are on a camping trip for five days. They arrive at the campsite a little after ten in the evening, getting the tents set up and ready to unpack their gear and bed down for the night. Ares, Malcolm’s son, takes their dog Zeus, on a late night stroll through the forest. Zeus gravitates to a large pine tree and answers his call of nature; Ares, not wanting to see his dog relieve himself, stands a few trees away playing with a baby toad when he hears the sudden scream of a woman and sees a distant flash of light, as if lightning had struck. He abruptly stands up and yells for Zeus to come to him as he sprints back to the campsite to alert his father. 

“Father! There’s a woman in the forest screaming for help!” he exclaimed. 

“Quick, grab flashlights and I’ll bring my rifle. Rashel, grab Ximoria, stay in the RV and lock the doors until we get back.” Malcolm says.

As Malcolm, Ares, and Zeus head into the woods to locate the scream, a dark shadowy figure rushes from behind a large pine and thrust in between the father and son making them two split apart. Malcolm lands ass first into a tree stump hitting his head causing him to black out for what seems like forever. As he regains consciousness he distinctively hears the scream of his son. He slowly recovers enough to walk to what is now the sound of Zeus barking constantly. As he approaches the dog, he sees Ares sprawled out on the pine covered ground, knocked out. Zeus, standing over him, growling and barking, rushes to Malcolm’s side and jumps to alert him. 

“Ares! Talk to me, what did you see, what did you hear?!” Malcolm exclaimed

Ares says groggily, “There was a dark figure, it-it lunged at me and knocked me out before I could make out what it was.”

The three scurried back to the campsite and called it a night. The next morning, Malcolm wakes up to Rashel screaming, “Where’s Ares?!”. The family gathers to find Ares around the campsite but during the process, Ximoria notices that the RV’s rear tires had been slashed with what seemed to be large claws. Malcolm does not know exactly what is going on but he wants to find his son and get out of the Forest of Death. As the search was continuing the family notices a odor in the air, simultaneously they come together in the middle of their campsite and realize Zeus is nowhere to be found. Malcolm mentions splitting up to find Ares and the dog. As Malcolm walks deeper into the heart of the forest the odor gets stronger each step he takes, like rotten flesh. As he approaches a steep hill, Malcolm can hear the sound of jaws clicking as if an animal was feasting on its prey. To his surprise, he discovers Ares eating the family pet in a heap of bones and flesh; At least now he knows where the foul odor has been coming from. Malcolm stares horrifically and regains his thoughts after seeing this gruesome sight to say, “Ares…” The distorted son turns around with blood dripping down his chin and clothes, his eyes are pitch black at night and his arms and neck have black veins protruding from the skin. He shrieks to show rigid teeth sharper than steel and leaps from the deceased corps to the base of a large pine brandishing his claws that have grown from his nails. Malcolm, now terrified as to what has become of his only son, urges forward to try to talk with his son, 

“Ares please, what has become of you? What happened last night for you to become this creature?”

“Your son is gone, all that is left is Jormungandr. All that YOU will have left is yourself when I EAT your precious wife and daughter. Mmm, I can smell their flesh from here…” remarks the creature that inhabits Malcolm’s son's body. In the blink of an eye the creature grabs the Earth’s dust and flings it up into Malcolm’s eyes creating a smoke screen of the sort blinding Malcolm. After a few seconds of panic, Malcolm sees the creature dart in the direction he knows his wife Rashel is searching for their dog and son. He immediately runs in the same direction hoping he’s fast enough to catch up before it's too late. 

Meanwhile, Rashel is searching high and low for her son and dog, calling out their names for them to return to her. She hears a loud distant shriek coming from her husband's area of the search. She calls out for him, “Malcolm!”, no response. In return, she received a sharp claw through the middle of her chest, and in an instant, the creature known as Jormungandr possessing her own son’s body, had appeared before her and struck her down. She fights back tears as she can not believe she is looking at her son but not her son at the same time. She sees her husband on the back of her son that has turned, a sharp combat knife in the neck of the creature. Malcolm screams at the top of his lungs while continuously stabbing the child once known as Ares, black blood splattering on both the husband and the wife. Ximoria, having found her parents and brother buy the sound of the shrieks and screams, watches as her mother’s lifeless bodies goes limp as it drops to the floor and her father standing over what looks to be her brother but she’s not too entirely sure, as his body does not look as it should. Her father walks slowly towards her, breathing heavily and shaky. He picks her up and walks in the direction of the campsite without a single word or tear drop from their eyes. The trip has been cut short…