Cuts
The lighter ignited and a tongue of flame licked out. Nolan sucked in through the pipe, drawing the flame down into the bowl, then releasing the lighter's fork, cutting off the flame. Smoke from the burning weed in the bowl streamed into his lungs. He lowered the pipe and sat for a moment, eyes closed, holding the smoke in his lungs before opening his mouth and expelling it in a long, satisfied breath.
"See," said Jason from the driver's seat, "aren't you glad you didn't drive now? You can sit back and smoke."
"Not that I had a choice, since my 'vette got stolen." Nolan took another long hit. "This is some good shit," he said, reaching forward to pass the pipe to the front seat. "Hit this." He tapped Dara, who was sitting on the passenger side, on the shoulder. She reached back to take the pipe and lighter from him. He tried to let their fingers touch a bit longer, but she pulled away.
"Hey dumbass," Jason said, his short brown hair, wide forehead and square jaw appearing in the rear view mirror. "Where is this place?"
Nolan looked down at his phone, bringing up Google Maps. "It's on around the valley, it's like a farm house or a ranch house or something."
"This is like the middle of nowhere, dude." Jason kept one hand on the steering wheel while one hand strayed across the seat to rub Dara's leg.
"I know, that's what makes it such a great party house. No one around to call the cops. Chillax, it's gonna be off the fuckin' chain."
"Nobody says 'chillax' anymore, if they ever did."
"That's why I like it." Nolan grinned.
"You're an idiot."
Dara reached down to pull Jason's hand off her leg, setting it down between them. She straightened the tight black skirt around her legs.
"What's your problem?" Jason asked.
"Nothing." She reached out a hand with the pipe and lighter. "Here."
"You didn't hit it," he said.
"I don't feel like it."
"You been acting weird all day." He took the pipe and lighter from her.
Jason's silver Trans Am bounced its way over several potholes as they made their way around the valley on Farm Road 2. To their right the hill sloped away into the forest, trees stretching away into the mist. It was approaching dusk, and a fog had settled over the valley, obscuring the miles of forest that ran off into the distance.
Nolan leaned forward, his long blonde hair draping over the seat. "Hey, up here on the right there's a short cut."
"What short cut?" Jason took a long pull off the pipe while Dara held the wheel.
"An old dirt road. Cuts across the valley and connects with F.M.2 on the other side. It's up here...you can turn off...not yet." Nolan allowed his eyes to wander down Dara's long brown hair and into her shirt, where her caramel brown skin just began to curve before her shirt prevented him from seeing more. He leaned back again.
Dara raised an eyebrow. "Turn off down the hill? Nuh uh."
"Yeah, it's cool, I've been down it a bunch of times, it's totally safe."
Jason slowed, watching for the road. "Okay, you'll have to tell me where it is."
"It's right up here, there's a warning sign about flooding, then right past that you'll see it."
"Warning sign?" Dara looked back at him. "Oh hell no!"
"They have to put those up, it's no big deal."
She snorted. "They have to put them up because people get trapped by floods."
"Whatever, it's not a big deal, it's not even raining. Here, it's right up here."
A diamond warning sign was passing by: CAUTION: ROAD MAY BE WASHED OUT DURING FLOOD. Past it could be seen a rough dirt track on the right, not even a solid lane, just two ruts cut in the grass by wheels over the years. Jason rolled the Trans Am to a stop and peered across Dara to look down at it. It dipped sharply and cut away into the valley below. They could see it disappear between the trees and wind its way across the forest floor before it was lost in fog.
"You have to be kidding me," Dara said.
"That's it," Nolan said. "Turn down there."
"Are you sure about this?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, it's cool, trust me."
"We are not going down there," Dara said, looking Jason in the eye. "No, keep driving. No."
Jason looked back at her. "Oh really?"
"I'm not-" but Jason cut her off, turning the wheel and plunging the car down the hill. Dara emitted a short shriek as the front of the car pitched downward at around a forty-degree angle. The car lurched forward, half sliding down the hill until it leveled out and the car righted itself, driving between the trees.
"God damn it!" She punched Jason on the shoulder.
Jason laughed. "Calm down, he said it's a short cut."
Nolan sat back in his seat, nodding. His right hand slipped back to finger the object tucked into the back of his belt, under his jacket.
"Hey dipshit," Jason said, "here." He reached back to hand Nolan the pipe.
Nolan took it and slipped it into his pocket. "That's it. Just follow this on through," he said, clicking his seatbelt in place.
The fog thickened at the bottom of the valley. Jason had to slow down to keep sight of the dirt tracks. Even at low speed, the Trans Am's wheels slewed a bit on the loose gravel and wet grass.
The dirt tracks became intermittent, disappearing for short distances and resuming, then finally they stopped entirely. Jason drove on for a short distance before taking his foot off the gas and hitting the brake. The Trans Am slid to a halt.
"What's up?" Nolan asked.
Jason turned, laying his right arm across the seat to look back at him. "Your short cut just disappeared, you dumb fuck, that's what."
Nolan leaned forward. "No, it's there. Keep going."
Dara let out a chop of air and laid her head on her hand, propped against the door.
"Keep going," Jason said, looking out into the fog. "Keep going?"
"Yeah, it's there, it just comes and goes. But it's there, just keep going and it picks up again."
"You want me to keep driving through the forest with no idea where I'm going."
"Yeah, it's there, up ahead." Nolan sat back.
"You have to be the stupidest person alive," Jason said, taking the wheel with both hands. "You have got us down here in the fog, in the middle of the forest, and your stupid short cut doesn't even go through."
"It goes through," Nolan said calmly.
"Fine, okay, fine," Jason slipped the car into drive again and gunned the engine. The wheels spun, then dug in and the car lurched forward, speeding between the trees.
"Jason, stop!" Dara grabbed his arm.
"No, we're gonna see this stupid short cut." He pressed down on the gas pedal and the car sped up, moving faster through the trees, lost in the fog. "Where is it, dumbass? I don't see the-"
The trees on the right fell away and the car tilted sharply to the right. Dara shrieked, and Jason threw the wheel to the left. It was no use. The right side of the Trans Am went off a steep hill and the car slid downward. With the wheel turned to the left, the front of the car tried to aim its way up, but the back of the car was sliding away too quickly, the entire car spun and then flipped, rolling over and over down the hill. At the base of the hill the car hit a tree and stopped with a violent crunch.
A sound drifted through the forest.
awwrrrooooooooooo
Jason woke to the pressure of the airbag against his face. He pressed his hands against it and it deflated until it sagged from the steering wheel into his lap.
"Dara?" He looked over at her. Her airbag had already deflated and she was cupping her head in her hands, moaning softly.
Jason looked around at the back seat. Nolan wasn't there. He couldn't keep his head turned for long; his neck hurt, and sharp pains ran down into his back. He reached down to unlock his seat belt and it slid away, the rasp of it against his chest causing a pain there as well. It felt like a bowling ball was resting on top of his lungs.
He pulled the handle, but the car door didn't open. Reaching over with his other hand, he pushed hard and finally the door opened, turning stiffly. He swung his legs out and stood slowly, leaning against the Trans Am for support.
Jason looked around, but could see nothing but fog shrouding the trees. A hill sloped upward to the left of the car. He shuffled around the trunk, making his way toward the passenger side.
"I thought maybe you were dead," said Nolan's voice.
Jason saw him then, sitting against a tree near the back of the car. "What are you doing? Help me with Dara!"
"I don't know if I can," Nolan said. "I'm cut. Something cut me." A long trail of blood wound its way down the side of his dead.
"Hang on then," Jason said. He grasped the handle to the passenger side door and pulled. Strangely, though this door was closer to the point of impact where the right rear wheel had struck the tree, the door came open more easily than the driver's side door had.
"Dara? You okay?"
"I don't know." She looked up at him. "I don't know."
"C'mon, see if you can stand up." He put his arms around her and helped her up out of the car. "Can you stand?"
"Yeah," she said, standing shakily.
"Nolan!" he called. "Where's your phone?"
"I don't know," Nolan said. "It was on the seat next to me."
The tree they had hit blocked the right rear door. Jason walked back around to the driver's side of the car and yanked open the rear door. He scanned the seat and saw nothing except deep slices in the black leather, so he leaned in and searched the floorboard. There he found Nolan's cell, a Samsung, or at least it had been one once. Now, its plastic shell was cracked open and its screen hopelessly smashed. He pressed the power button over and over but nothing happened.
"Damn it." He threw the phone down. "Phone's busted to shit. Dara, do you have yours?"
"Mine got shut off so I left it at home."
"Why did it get shut off?"
"I forgot to pay the bill." She sobbed quietly. "I forgot..."
"Hey hey," he walked around and held her. "It's gonna be okay. We know where we are. We're right in the middle of a big ass loop. We can't get lost, we just walk back in that direction and we'll hit F.M.2."
"Okay," she said softly.
"We'll never make it back up the hill," Nolan said. Jason and Dara walked over to him and Jason helped him to his feet. "Our best bet is to head down the valley, we'll hit the road on the other side." Blood dripped from the deep cut across the side of his head, staining his jacket dark red.
"Here." Dara reached into her purse and withdrew a handkerchief, handing it to him. Nolan pressed it to the side of his head.
"What the hell did you hit your head on?" Jason asked.
"Nothing," Nolan said. "Something cut me. My door came open and...something cut me."
Jason walked around to look at the back seat of the Trans Am again. He had seen slices in the leather before, but hadn't really paid them any attention. Three parallel slices ran up the back of the seat, digging into the headrest and shredding the foam within.
"Come on, let's get moving."
The smell of damp leaves and old wood filled Jason's nostrils as he picked his way through the trees. Dara followed behind him, with Nolan bringing up the rear. They could barely see more than a few feet ahead due to the dense fog blanketing the lowest part of the valley.
"I need to stop for a sec," Nolan said.
The others stopped, looking back at him. Nolan leaned against a tree.
"Already?" Jason said. "C'mon dumbass, we've barely been walking."
Nolan looked him in the eye. "You rolled your car over in the forest, and I'm the dumbass?"
"Following your stupid short cut."
"Same thing probably happened to my Corvette," Nolan said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
Jason laughed. "You think I stole your car?"
"I don't know, Jason, it's just weird that my car got stolen, and not too much later you turn up with a new Trans Am."
"That my dad bought for me!" Jason raised his hands. "You know what, I'm not having this conversation." He turned away. "You're fucking delusional."
A keening sound began to rise, like wind passing through a tight space: awwwrrooooooo!
Jason looked around. "What the hell is that?"
"It's just the wind," Nolan answered.
aaawwwwwroooooooooooo!
"Sounds like an animal, a coyote or something."
Nolan shook his head. "It's not a coyote. It's just the wind."
"There's no wind, you retarded mother-"
"Ow!" Dara jumped, clutching her leg. "Something bit me or something!"
Jason put his arm around her and she lifted her left leg to examine it. There were three shallow three inch cuts across her calf.
"What the hell?" Jason's brow furrowed. "What the hell could have done that?"
"What is it?" Nolan asked.
"Something scratched my leg," Dara said.
"Come on," Jason said, "let's get out of here."
With Dara's arm over Jason's shoulders they moved on as quickly as they were able. It was growing darker now, however, and soon it became obvious they were going to lose the daylight completely.
"I don't think we should keep walking in the dark," Nolan said. "Someone could fall and break something. Then we'd really be screwed."
"Are you kidding me?" Dara shook her head. "There's no way I'm staying out here all night. No freaking way."
"He's right though," Jason said. "We can't walk in the dark."
"I can not stay out here!" she shouted. "I can't! I'm..."
"You're what?" Jason put his hands on her shoulders. "What?"
Dara looked between the two of them. "I'm pregnant, okay? I found out last night. I'm pregnant."
"Wha...babe, why didn't you tell me?" Jason reached out to put his arms around her and she held out a hand, pushing him away. "What's wrong with you? You've been acting crazy all damn day..."
"Just don't," she said. "Don't."
"Look, we still can't walk in the dark, no matter what," Nolan said.
"Wait, hold on." She dug through her purse. "Here!" She fished out her key ring, dangling from a pocket flashlight. "I have this." She twisted the top, and a tiny light shone forth.
"That's a penlight," Nolan said. "It won't do much good."
"We can see to walk with it," she said.
"Barely."
aaawwwwwrrooooo!
"Jesus Christ!" Dara looked around, seeing nothing but fog swirling through the trees.
"Let's move!" Jason put his right arm around her and pulled her forward.
They half-walked, half-ran forward, the tiny light illuminating a small patch of ground ahead of them.
aaaaaaawwwwwrrroooooooo!
"AHH!" Jason jolted sideways, knocking Dara off her feet. They landed together in a pile of wet leaves. "My arm!"
"What happened?" Nolan cried. "I can't see!"
Dara turned the pocket flashlight on Jason. Blood ran from three parallel gashes running up the back of his left arm, slicing his shirtsleeve open.
AAAAAAAWWWWRRROOOOOOOOOO!
"Jesus," she said. "What did this?" She shined the light in Nolan's face. "Did you see it?"
"I can't see a god damn th- AHHH!!!" He fell forward to his knees, clutching his neck with his right hand.
"Are you okay?"
"It got me," he said, holding up his hand to reveal fingers dripping with blood. "It got the back of my neck!"
"I didn't see anything!" Dara's voice had a panicky edge to it. "I was shining the light right at you and I didn't see anything."
"We gotta keep moving!" Jason stood, holding his left arm against his chest and lifting Dara with the right. "Come on, dipshit!"
Nolan stood, moving the handkerchief from his head to the back of his neck.
They shuffled onward, following the tiny beam of light through the trees.
With the sun down, the air grew cold. Winter had not yet arrived, but the chill October air still made them shiver. Nolan drew his jacket tighter around him, and Jason and Dara walked with their arms wrapped around each other. Worse still, the light from the pocket flashlight had begun to dim periodically. Shaking it still produced a stronger beam, but it was only a matter of time before the battery gave out completely and they were left in darkness.
Jason's pace began to slow, and he stumbled every few steps. Dara could feel the blood soaking his shirt on the left side. Too much blood, she thought.
"You have to stay awake," she said. "Talk to me."
"Why did you..." his voice trailed away.
"What?" She shook him gently. "Why what?"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Dara swallowed, but didn't respond.
Her reticence roused him a bit. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? Why have you been acting so weird all day? What's going on?"
"I...it's not important right now, okay?"
Jason stopped walking. "It is important. It is..."
"Come on!" She pulled at him but he held his ground.
Nolan's voice came from the darkness behind them: "She didn't tell you because it's not yours, dumbass."
Dara turned the light back at him. "Shut up, Nolan!"
"What are you talking about, not mine?" Jason looked back and forth between them. "What does he mean? Whose is it?"
aaaaaaawwrrrrrroooooooooo!
Dara turned the light around at the trees, searching for the source of the sound. "Fuck! It's coming back, come on!"
"Always calling me stupid, acting like you're the smart one." Nolan's voice took on an eerie calm in the dark. "But you're the dipshit. You couldn't see what was right in front of you."
"You," Jason said. "You?" He grabbed Dara's hand. "Is it true? You fucked him?"
"We did it in the back of your stupid Trans Am, you stupid fuck!" Nolan shouted.
Jason took a swing in the darkness but his fist swung through empty air.
AAAAAAAWWWWWRRROOOOOOOO!
Nolan screamed then, loud and long, falling flat on his face in front of them. Dara pointed the light down. Three deep gashes ran down his back, slicing his jacket apart and exposing torn muscle and hints of bone.
"Jesus! Nolan!" She reached down to help him but Jason pushed her out of the way, grabbing Nolan by his arms.
"Come on, get up!" Jason pulled him to his knees, and they ran forward, Jason pulling Nolan along while Dara shone the light in front of them.
After a while, Jason's muscles couldn't take it anymore. He was starting to feel woozy, and his arms and legs were giving out on him.
"Wait," he said to Dara. "I have to stop. Have to rest."
He tried to let Nolan down softly but his arm gave out at the last moment and Nolan tumbled forward into the grass. Dara shined the light on him, and Jason knelt down next to him.
His eyes strayed down Nolan's back, following the terrible cuts there, coming to rest at Nolan's belt and, exposed by his shredded jacket, the object tucked away there.
"Nolan...you...why do you have a gun?"
aaaawwwwrrrroooooooo!
Nolan pulled away from him and lurched to his feet, withdrawing the nine-millimeter handgun and holding it in both hands, shaking violently, and aimed at Jason's head.
"Back off!" Nolan shouted. His entire body trembled. "Back the fuck off!"
Dara put her hands to her head. "Nolan, WHAT THE FUCK?"
"Is this why you brought us down here?" Jason asked. "Was this your plan all along?"
"I didn't plan for you to drive us off the fucking hill," Nolan said.
"But the gun...you planned something..."
Nolan sucked in air, barely staying on his feet. "You stole my car," he said, "so I stole her. I stole her!"
Dara shook her head. "Oh my God, this is fucking CRAZY!"
"We'll be better off without him," Nolan said. "We can be together without him."
"Nolan, it was only the ONE TIME. It didn't MEAN anything!"
"You're lying!"
"Looks like you're the dumbass after all," Jason said. "And by the way, I did steal your fucking Corvette. I stole it, and I sold it. You gonna shoot me, go right ahead, you fucking pussy."
Nolan held one hand out with the gun, looking down the sight with his left eye.
A wind kicked up from their right, and a blur rushed by Nolan's arm. From the elbow down, Nolan's arm fell away, tumbling with the pistol into the leaves carpeting the forest floor. Blood gushed from the stump of Nolan's arm and his mouth let out a hoarse, nearly soundless screech.
Dara screamed and turned to run but the wind kicked up again and three gashes ran across her shoulders, tearing into her back and knocking her to the ground.
AAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Jason reached for the pistol, prying it from Nolan's fingers even as Nolan himself fell to the ground on his back. Something rushed over Nolan's body and gashes savaged his chest in diagonals. Jason stood and fired the pistol into the darkness. The bullet pocked Nolan's belly and sent a spatter of blood to dot the leaves surrounding him. Jason fired twice more at the blur of a small form rushing away.
He turned and saw Dara lying on the ground where she had fallen, weakly struggling to crawl away but unable to marshal any strength in her arms. Jason tucked the pistol into his belt and reached around her, pulling her to her feet. Blood ran down her shoulders over his arm as he lifted her.
"The light," he said. "Dara, god damn it, where's the flashlight?"
"I don't know," she said weakly. "I dropped my keys."
Jason knelt down, still holding her, and fished around on the ground, feeling a swell of relief when his fingers touched the metal of the keys. He picked up the key ring by the flashlight and stood, dragging Dara up again. He shook the flashlight and a tiny beam winked into existence. Jason pulled Dara forward.
"Where is it?" she asked. "Is it gone?"
"I don't know," Jason said. "But I saw it...I saw it. It's an animal or something. I saw it, and if it's an animal, we can fucking kill it."
She nodded.
"You hear that, you motherfucker?" Jason shouted to the trees around them. "I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL Y-"
A wind kicked up and a blur moved up Jason's body, and where it passed his flesh split open from groin to neck. Jason's head lolled off one side and his body fell apart, half still clinging to Dara.
Dara let out a bloodcurdling scream and ran into the darkness, pain forgotten, light forgotten, running and running until her legs carried her no more and she fell to the ground. Blackness took her.
Dara woke, face down in the mud and leaves, her long brown hair caked with a mix of blood and dirt, stuck to her face. She peeled it away from her eyes and looked around. Light had returned and she could see again, though the fog remained. She tried to lift herself with her arms but they were useless, the torn muscles of her upper back refused to obey her. It took her some time to pull back onto her knees and then, leaning her left side against a tree, to lift her right leg and begin to push her way up. Finally, she stood, shaking and unsteady, but able to shamble forward. She had no idea if she was still headed in the right direction, she only knew that she must keep moving.
aaaawwwrrrooooooooo!
"No...no...please..." She picked up speed, unable to run but stumbling forward in a lurching jog. She had hurt her right knee in the previous night's fall, and a pain stabbed at her with each step. In the end, she couldn't bend it, she simply lurched forward dragging her right leg sideways. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks as she stumbled on, pleading incoherently.
Something rushed out of the forest and she felt the wind of its passing as it raced past her lower back. "AHHH!" Pain flared there, and she reached back to feel fresh cuts there. She tried to run faster, but all she managed was to step wrong on her hobbled left leg. Her knee exploded in agony and she tumbled to the left, striking a tree with her shoulder and spinning to the ground.
AAAAWWWWRRROOOOOOO!
"Please help me," Dara sobbed. "Help meee..."
A sound rose nearby, a sound she recognized. Car! It was unmistakably a car's engine. Dara pulled strength from some hidden reserve and clawed her way to her feet, running in the direction of the sound. She burst from the trees and her feet felt the change as she ran onto the asphalt of F.M.2, winding its way around the bottom of the valley.
A brown pickup truck emerged from the fog.
"HELP MEEE!" Dara screamed, waving her hands.
The driver spotted her and slammed on his brakes. The truck swerved to the right and came to a screeching halt only a few yards from Dara. The driver side door opened and a gray haired man in overalls jumped out.
"What the hell are you doing in the road? I almost -" He saw the condition she was in, blood soaked and caked in dirt, and stopped short. "Oh my god, are you okay?"
Dara tried to form the words "Help me" but little sound emerged.
"Okay, okay, come on, hon, let's get you to a hospital. Come on."
He helped her to the passenger door and opened it. Once she was in, he closed the door and went around to the driver's side.
AAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRROOOOOO!
"It's coming! It's COMING!" Dara cried. "Hurry!"
He hopped into the truck and closed the door. "Everything's gonna be okay, honey."
"Go! GO! Drive!"
He started the truck. Even over the truck's engine, the sound reached them.
AAAAAAWWWWWWWRRRRROOOOOOOOO!
"What the hell is that? Wolves?" he asked.
Dara reached over and pulled the truck's shifter into drive. She slammed her left leg on the gas and the truck jumped forward.
"Jesus Christ, girl!" the man shouted.
A blur rushed from the forest, aiming itself at the truck and running down its side. The scream of twisted metal filled the truck's cab, followed by the BOOM of an exploding tire. The truck tilted left and swerved off the road, coming to a stop in the wet grass just off the road's shoulder.
"What the hell was that?" The man popped his door open.
"No," Dara cried. "Don't go out there!" She grabbed his arm, but she was too weak, he pulled away easily.
"You're out of your damn mind!" He stepped out of the truck. "We hit something."
"Please..." Dara tried to reach out and get a hold of the driver's side door to close it but she couldn't reach far enough, and her ruined back wouldn't allow her to move over on the seat.
The man whistled as he looked down the side of the truck. Three long, deep slices ran the length of the truck, ending in the shredded tire.
"The hell is this?" He peered close at the tire. Matted fur clung to it, dripping with blood and ooze. Gazing back up the road along the black tire marks, he saw it: the mangled corpse of something the likes of which he had never seen.
"Jesus!" He ran back to the door. "Is that what you were running from? That thing back there?"
"I don't know," Dara said. "I never saw it. We couldn't see it."
"Well whatever it is, it's dead now." He fished a cell phone out of his pocket and dialed. "We're gonna get help, don't you worry. Yeah," he spoke into the phone. "I'm out on F.M.2 and I need some help out here, need an ambulance."
Dara leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes, breathing in deep. Dead, it was dead.
"I got a young girl here hurt real bad. Some kind of animal was after her. Dead now...damnedest thing I've ever seen."
A sound came from the forest. aaaawwwwrrooooo! And others echoed back from across the road. AAAAWWRRRROOOOOO!
Dara jerked up. "Noooo..."
Giant forms rushed out from between the trees, moving fast but not entirely blurs. Dara could see dark fur and multiple limbs bristling with foot long claws. They raced across the truck driver and his body exploded, limbs flying apart and washing the side of the truck in blood.
One of the creatures clawed its way into the truck's cab beside her.
Claws rent her throat and cut short Dara's screams.
(c)opyright 2013 by J. David Clarke