The Nightmare

Story Intro

"I heard a rumor that there's a killer in Redwood forest!"
"Whoa is there really?"
"There's no way there's a killer in Redwood. You said rumor specifically, so I doubt there even is one."
"I'm serious! There's evidence that she exists!"
"She? Are you high again?"
"No! Why do you think the police never go in there? There's an old story that these teenage kids went into those exact woods, and they never came back out. Some say they were eaten alive."
"You're crazy. You need to lay off the weed."
"Mr. [L/N]!" I heard the teacher yell at me. His arms on his sides. "Care to answer?"
"Um...what was the question again?" Kids started giggling. As if they knew the answer either.
"I can hear you all laughing. None of you had your hands up either. My guess is none of you knew it either. So I wouldn't be laughing and start paying attention." Wow the teacher noticed this time. Surprising.
A killer in Redwood? I've never heard about that. Then again, kids have been going missing the past couple weeks.
"I heard they call her, Huntress." Huntress huh? Let's see if I can find anything on her.
I pulled out my laptop and began to search anything related to "Huntress". Let's see what kinda bullcrap rumors that stupid jock heard.
"Huntress"
"Not many can say they have lived to tell her tale. Because they're always killed by her hands. As soon as Anna was able to walk, her mother started teaching her how to survive a harsh, solitary life in the northern woods. Living in such an extremely remote and dangerous area required skill and resilience. When sunlight became too dim for productive activities, they would take refuge in their house, a sturdy old cabin constructed to resist the toughest winters. Close to the hearth's warmth, Anna would rest in her mother's arms, surrounded by the few wooden toys and masks she had crafted for her. Drifting off to sleep with stories and lullabies, she dreamt happy dreams, ignorant of the events that would soon change everything." A small cabin? Never heard that part before. Well, it makes sense cause she would need somewhere to live.
"Anna and her mother were stalking a great elk through the woods. They knew it was dangerous prey, but it had been a particularly difficult winter and they were almost out of food. The specter of starvation frightened them more than any forest creature. Without warning, the elk reared, bellowed and charged at Anna. She was paralyzed with fear as the whole world seemed to shake under the immense beast's pounding hooves. The elk was close enough for Anna to see the murderous fury in its eyes when her mother threw herself in its path, axe in hand. A bloodcurdling scream escaped from her lips as the elk impaled her upon its antlers and hoisted her into the air. With all her strength, she brought her axe down on its head again and again while it tried to shake her loose. With a sickening crack, the antlers snapped and Anna's mother was free. The beast collapsed."
"Anna was too small to move her mother's broken body, so she sat with her in the clearing where she had fallen. To distract her from the dying elk's cries, Anna's mother held her and hummed her favorite lullaby. They stayed like that, the huntress and the elk getting quieter and colder, until Anna was alone in the silent forest. Eventually she stood up and started the long walk back home." Holy crap. I never thought I'd feel so bad for someone being called a killer. And the fact that she watched that happen? I can't imagine the trauma that could've caused her. I can't say I blame her either. I know exactly how it feels losing a mother.
"She widened her territory and lived off her hunts. She worked her way up through squirrels and hares and mink and foxes. Eventually she grew tired of them and hunted more dangerous animals like wolves and bears. When unsuspecting travelers came through her woods, she discovered her new favorite prey: humans. Unlucky souls who strayed into her territory were slaughtered like any other animal. She liked to collect their tools and colorful garments and especially toys when there were little ones. But she could never bring herself to kill the little girls." Little girls? I bet she wouldn't kill that stupid jock if he screamed like the little girl he is.
The bell rang and I put my laptop away and left the classroom. My friend came over to me as I walked out of the room.
"Hey bitchpussy!" My friend Brandon said. "You look like you're shaking, you alright?"
"I am?" I looked at my hand and it was shaking, but not a whole lot. "I didn't even realize I was."
"Did the little pussy hear about the Huntress?"
"I'm not afraid of a fucking rumor. Who's to say she's even real?"
"I don't know. A lot of people have been talking about her."
"Yeah, because they're trying to give a reason for stupid people to show they aren't pussies."
"Ahahah! You're not wrong." He said laughing. "What do you know?"
"Well, so far I know she watched her mother die at a young age."
"Oh damn. That's totally not traumatizing at all."
"Yeah. Not much else."
"Look I know you're desperate to get a girlfriend but this is too far."
"Please. I'm not looking for a relationship anyway so fuck you. Again, who's to say she's even REAL? You just proved you're a dumbass."
"Takes one to know one."
"That's true when you use 2nd grade remarks. Come back when ya got better shit there muchacho."
"Damn, since when did you start using your brain? Didn't know you had one."
"Didn't know you had one either, mine just actually works compared to yours. Guess you were just too stupid to realize it."
"You're lucky you're at your class."
"Yeah too bad, it was getting entertaining." I walked into my classroom, sat down and took out my laptop.
"Girls she would take back to her house, deep in the woods. They were precious, and looking at them woke up something deep in her heart. She craved the closeness of a loved one, a child of her own. Among the pillaged wooden toys, dolls and story books she couldn't read, the girls would be tied by the neck with a rough and chafing rope fastened firmly to the wall. She couldn't let them wander off, or they would surely die outside." Wow, that's uh...kinda creep and obsessive. She's lonely. I couldn't blame her for that part, but tying them up? That's just...wrong.
"Every time, the girls would waste away and die of cold or starvation or sickness. Every time, it plunged Anna deeper into pain and sorrow and madness. She was compelled to try again, and started raiding the nearest villages to slaughter families and kidnap their daughters. She wore one of the animal masks her mother crafted for her so many years earlier to try to calm the frightened children. Villagers spread the legend of a half-beast lurking in Red Forest: The Huntress, who killed men and ate little girls."
I wouldn't say "ate" after reading some of that. But yeah I'd be scared too if I saw a 7 foot tall woman wearing a friggin bunny mask on with a hatchet. That's terrifying to even think about.
"War eventually came to the forest. German soldiers began to pass through, on the march to attack the collapsing Russian Empire. During these dark times, there were no more travelers. The villagers had abandoned their homes, and no more little ones to be found; only soldiers. Many of them were found with violent axe wounds. Whole groups disappeared mysteriously. Once the war was over, the rumors of The Huntress disappeared with it, engulfed by the Red Forest."
Oh you fools. God entire groups of soldiers? She's good. Thank god I don't plan on going there anytime soon. The worst part is, it's right here in Maine. Germans used it, or tried to, as a secret base to eventually sneak up on the shores of the Russian Empire and attack them from there. They went missing and apparently they retreated back to Germany. So this is the Huntress huh? Scary. This could all just be some rumor. I've never heard of her until now. And I usually hear a lot.
Huntress. Interesting person to say the least. Killer wise anyway. I probably shouldn't worry about it too much. I have no reason to be afraid of someone who hunts in territories.
The bell rang and it was time to go. Fuck I gotta work tonight. Closing shift too. Even better. This'll be fun.