Decemberland

Chapter 8: Wendigo

Arms, armed with claws sharp enough to turn the frozen earth, reached out from every inch of the pool, grabbing the edges, climbing over themselves just to break the surface for air. Their bodies twisted and contorted, some body parts unnaturally larger than others. One had an arm the size of its lower leg, and it dragged behind like an oversized club.

Clarity, Phillip, Blake, and Nico all stared at the mass of convulsing, bloody, mutated wolf-like bodies that grew like a blister from out of the puddle. Nico was the first to take action. She turned around, grabbed Clarity’s hand, and bolted off shouting, “Run!”

At her cue, Phillip and Blake turned to run as well, veering off into another direction. Nico had no time to pay attention to where they were. All she could focus on was the thin, barely visible red string stretched out in front of her. The other end of it surely led to the way out of the forest, hopefully soon. She could hear the bloodthirsty cries of the wendigo, their paws tromping across the forest floor, sprinting for the nearest prey. She dared not look back.

In the distance, a small light peaked through the trees. It was the campfire! The edge of the forest was so close. Yet the sound of the wendigo surrounded her, entrapping her within their subhuman howls.

Just a little further, she thought as the fire light grew larger and larger. It was almost as if she could feel the beast breathing down her neck. The thread disappeared and nothing was left but the firelight to guide her. It felt like the longest stretch was the distance in front of her, getting closer and closer, yet so far away. Claws creeping up the back of her head, screams of hunger echoing in her ears, drool dripping over her shoulder-

Tripping over themselves, Nico and Clarity broke through the trees into the wide, open air. The forest was dead silent. It was as if she was being chased by nothing. Yet, somewhere, deep within the trees, Nico could feel herself being watched…

The embers of the campfire glowed softly in front of her. She looked around for Phillip, but there was no sign of him as far as she could see. Clarity wobbled her legs trying to stand. She looked dirty, beaten and battered. Nico guessed that she didn’t look too well herself. Her neck and rib cage still hurt tremendously thanks to Phillip.

In the distance, she heard a soft rumbling. Somewhere along the forest edge, a gigantic stampede grew closer and closer until the ground shook beneath her. Then, in the corner of her eye, she noticed five people run out of the forest’s darkness.

The first two were Gwen and Foster, Abigail’s two crony boys. They fled like their tails were on fire. Quickly catching up behind them were Blake, Phillip, and Abigail being carried over Phillip’s shoulder. She screamed at him to put her down, banging her fists into his back.

“I can walk, you brick-headed moron!” she shouted at him, “What are we even running from?” She looked up from his back to witness the rumbling chasing them from the forest, and dozens of wendigo came pouring out of the forest behind them, ripping trees down with their massive scale. Their teeth, their white fur, stained with blood, flesh and fur hanging from their jaws from ripping each other apart just to taste blood. The largest one of them all rose above the trees and opened his jaws for a murderous cry that made the air quake around the forest.

Abigail’s arms hung limp over Phillip’s back, staring at the hoard of demons with disbelief. “Run faster, you idiot!” she cried at him.

Nico and Clarity stood watching the five of them dashing off into the distance. “So that’s where they all went,” Nico nervously laughed. A quiet growl echoed from within the darkness of the forest, and she snapped her head around to catch it.

“They’re not all over there,” Clarity muttered. The both of them backed up and turned around get away from the wendigo in the forest. Unfortunately, it was no longer behind them.