Chapter #3: When Great Trees Fall

"…Move," I order quietly, ushering the four of us down the road as the Witiko happily stares at us from its spot on the branch. We creep along carefully, keeping our focus on the beast until it slithers out of sight, like a pale spider, before we start picking up the pace. We get all of maybe 10 yards down the road when we hear the demon let out a monstrous shriek, so rupturing that as I go to cover my ears, I can feel the blood trickling from my ear canals. Then a thunderous CRACK! sounds off to our right as the ground trembles, which is followed by an accompaniment of harsh snaps, unnerving, creaking moans that echo throughout our entire section of the forest, and a building gust of wind heading toward our direction.

"Watch out!" Arabella shouts, using all of her energy to shove me, catching me off guard and making me land flat on my back. I groan, before I see a humongous redwood lumbering down towards us, causing me to yelp as we crawl back a bit more, right before it slams into the concrete so rigorously that it viciously quakes the earth worse than the first tremor, and shatters the asphalt of the road beneath it. A heavy cloud of dust rises from the impact, leaving no visibility to the entire area.

I cough a bit and spit, squinting to search for the rest of the group. I'm about to stand when I freeze, hearing the beast flitting around above us, trying to single us out and pick us off while we're disoriented. It gets close, as I feel the random gusts of wind from its claws, tearing through the veil of dust in the hopes of catching potential prey, much like a cat at the edge of a murky pond. I pat my hands on the ground, searching as quietly as possible for the torch which I had dropped. Suddenly, I feel a hand grip my ankle tight and suck in a sharp breath, yanking my leg away, only to find Arabella trying to lift herself up from the floor.

I put a finger to my lips and help her up, finding my extinguished torch laying beside her on the ground. I take a moment to look around as the dust begins to settle, making sure we're alone, before relighting it. As some of the air nearest us clears, we find ourselves staring at a 15-foot-tall wall of wood. And atop that wood, sat the beast, it's wretched face turned away from us as it glares along the other side of the fallen giant. It raises its arm in a flash, claws extended, but before it brings its arm back down, I rush to the log and stretch up to press the torch against its leg. The torch sears a black patch onto the beast's thigh and it hisses furiously, turning its hand backwards and swiping down at me, narrowly avoiding my head, which I'm sure would've come off completely.

It turns to peek at who had injured it, and meets my eyes, a seething hatred brewing beneath them, before leaping off into the density of the redwoods. I sigh a breath of relief before looking around again as the air has cleared up almost completely. We continue to search for my friends to no avail, while also finding no sign of the Witiko near us anymore.

"Chris! Y'all okay?! Did you hear that hissing sound?" Darrel shouts out from the other side of the fallen tree.

"Y-yeah, I think we're fine. That thing was on the log for a sec but it got scared off, I think. How 'bout you guys?" I stammer, making sure Arabella's okay. It looks like the makeshift bandage loosened during the excursion and is bleeding again. I'll have to rewrap it in a sec, thankfully she's already applying pressure to stop the worst of it now.

"We're… okay, but… Juan got a little fucked up from all the dirt in the air, and he got hurt in the fall from avoiding the tree. He's… His breathing is worse now. What should we do?" He tells us. I set Arabella down against the tree, and hand her the torch, opening up my backpack to look at what resources are left. I have the med-kit, a full bottle of whiskey, the rubbing alcohol, two toilet paper rolls, my knife, a lighter and some matches, the two cans of bug spray, two and a half bottles of water, three apples, a bag of jerky, a thick shirt for rewrapping the torch or to use as bandaging, if need be, and lastly my torch. I look around for my axe but can't see it anywhere.

"What do you have in your pack bruh?" I ask Darrel, hearing him rummaging through his pack.

"I got a bottle of whiskey, and a bottle of vodka, the half bottle broke when the tree fell. Still have my lighter, a few more shirts to shred, we each have a knife and a torch, and I got your axe on this side where you left it," Darrel answers. I toss a bottle of water and the apple over the blockade hearing it accidently smack against Darrel who grumbles in response.

"My bad bruh. Take those with you, keep the axe, and make your way back to town. You gotta get Juan to a hospital or medic quick, and if you wait for us to make our way past this goddamn tree, I'm not sure if he'll be okay… Just be cautious, and if that thing comes after you, chuck a Molotov at it, anything to keep it away from you. If it gets close, it'll fuck up anything in its path," I tell him, not trying to freak Juan out anymore than he already is. But in reality, if he doesn't get to town first, he'll die from one of his lungs collapsing. Arabella is fucked up too, but at the moment she's a whole lot more stable than Juan, and since they're still able to go along the open road, it'll be easier for them to just keep going.

"I… Fuck… Fuck, okay. You're right. I'll get him to town, but once I do and he's okay, I'm coming back for you guys with the whole police force bruh! You guys better hold out until then! And Arabella, keep lookin' out for him!" Darrel promises, and I hear them begin their trek down the road, leaving us to find our way around the gigantic redwood.

"We will, you guys better be careful!" I shout, digging out a can of bug spray, and sipping a bit of water before throwing the pack back on. I take a glace at Arabella, who is peering around frantically, afraid that the Witiko will be after us at any second now. I sit next to her with a fresh bandage and chase pad, re-wrapping her wound. "Thank you, Bella."

"It's okay, you helped me earlier, right?"

"Yeah, but… I'm still sorry. I would've tried liftin' you over the top if I wasn't so sure that that thing would pounce once you were tryin' to pull yourself up," I tell her, to which she nods understandably. I'm pretty sure she was thinking the exact same thing. "How are you feelin'? Do you wanna rest for a minute before we keep goin'?"

"No… no, I wanna keep goin' as far as we can before the sun goes down. Do you think we can make it to the town before dark?" She asks nervously as I help her off of the ground.

"Not really. We'll hafta make camp in a few hours honestly, and with how huge this tree is, not to mention that we gotta go back into the forest to get 'round it, it'll take up too much time. We'll have to make camp, and you can rest for a bit, but I'm gonna stay up. We should be able to make it to town by tomorrow morning, but at the rate we're goin' now, we won't make it before sundown. Here, take this," I tell her solemnly, passing her the can.

"…What am I supposed to do with this, hope that it suffocates to death?" she chimes in sarcastically, shaking the can and giving me a half frown. I take it back for a second, let out a cloud of insecticide, and flick the lighter below the cloud, creating a large flammable plume in the air, shocking her a bit. 

"If you see it comin' anywhere near us, you light that motherfucker on fire," I explain, handing back the can and lighter. "Just make sure to keep the can a safe distance from the torch okay?"

She nods again as I look from left to right. In either direction there's no sign of an end. No sign of the tree's top or its uprooted bottom, just darkness leading into the demon's den, away from the safety of light. We hear laughter from around us, echoing so loud that all the birds in the area flutter off into the distance, unnerved by the uncanny voice.

"Which one? Which one? Who will be the next one?" It calls out from our right in Danny's voice, letting loose another eruption of bellowing laughter as we stare on in fear, finding no sight of it among the trees. I give Arabella a look of concern, finding her frozen, tears catching in her eyes. I give her a little tug to grab her attention.

"We're gonna be alright Bella. I got your back, okay? You got mine?" I ask. She gives a small nod, still understandably shaken up. "Then let's get goin' before it gets any later," I tell her, turning to the left and trudging on at a snail's pace, making our way into the awaiting hellhole.

Darrel

"How're you feeling' homie?" I ask Juan, who's moving slower than before, his wheezing incredibly audible now.

"I'll be… okay… in a bit. That dust… just… really… fucked me… up," he gasps between pained breaths. It's been about three hours since we started on without Chris and Arabella, and there's been no sign of them or the beast since then, aside from some creepy ass laughter when we had first started walking. But no voices since then, no Witiko sightings, and worst of all, no cars driving by to pick us up. I keep checking my phone with every chance I get, but my shitty phone still doesn't have a signal. It's the same with Juan's. We've been checking since last night to no avail.

I've been on high alert ever since, but at this point, my main focus has been on Juan. I hear coughing beside me to find Juan taking a knee while coughing so violently he can barely catch his breath. Once he's finished, he's left gasping for air for a full five minutes. When he's done I hold my hand out and help him up, only to look down and see my hand completely covered in Juan's blood.

"Dude!!" I shout, checking him out to see blood now dripping from his lips and chin, soaking his shirt.

"Just… gimme… a sec… I'll… be… okay…" Juan gasps like a fish out of water. I pick him up and lift his arm over my shoulder, letting the axe fall to the ground to prop him up better.

"Drop your torch and lean on me," I tell him and he complies. "Why the fuck didn't you tell us it was this bad you fuckin' dipshit?!!"

"I… didn't… wanna… cause… more… problems… than… there… already… were…" Juan gasps weakly. I curse and look up at the sky. I'm not as sure as Chris was, but even I know that we're still too far to make it at the rate we're going now. I'll have to throw a little caution to the wind and pick up the pace if we're going to make it to town before sunset. And if Juan's lung is punctured, then I have less time than I thought. There no time to stop, no matter what, even if the sun begins to set, we'll have to keep going, because Juan won't make it but a few more hours without medical attention.

"You're gonna be a'ite bruh. Just keep an eye out for me while we walk, okay? Don't talk unless you see the Witiko. Just keep breathin' for me, and we'll make it into town in no time!" I reassure him, feeling the lies slip between my teeth. There's no telling when we're going to make it there, and if there's even anybody there who has the medical training to fix a punctured lung. I walk quickly down the road, damn near power walking, my sole focus on getting Juan help, and going back to find Chris and Arabella.

****

"Darrel!" I hear a voice call out from behind us in the thick wooded area to our left.

"No way, he actually caught up?!" I gasp, turning to look for the pair anywhere in the woods. "Do you see them anywhere Juan?"

He shakes his head, his breathing now shallow and ragged. The blood dribbling from his mouth had completely soaked his shirt from the last hour and a half walking down the road, most of which has been me carrying the poor dude. He can hardly talk anymore, shit, he can barely fucking breathe.

"Darrel! Juan! Are you there?! Help!!! Bella's hurt and I need help carrying her!"

"W-…wait… What… if… it's… not… Chris?" Juan manages to get out at nothing more than a coarse whisper, glancing at me from the side of his eye.

"You don't really-" I start before something smacks hard against my back, knocking the both of us down and causing me to drop the torch, which roll a few feet away. "Ahhh… what the fuck was that?!"

I peek behind me to see a large torn off branch had been thrown at us, pinning my legs against its heavy weight. I try to shimmy my way out, with no luck. I huff and push myself up hard, barely managing to shove it off. I stand and shake my head as I grab the torch, looking over for Juan. Yet he's nowhere in sight. A chill that starts at the top of my head, slowly spreads throughout the whole of my body.

"Juan?! JUAN?!?!?!?!!?!?!? JUAN WHERE ARE YOU?!!" I shout desperately, searching for him all along the road, only finding a small trail of blood to my right that trails off into the woods. I grab the torch and dig through my pack, tearing the top off of the whiskey and jamming a cut off piece of shirt into the neck of the bottle, letting it get soaked in alcohol before igniting the exposed cloth.

"Darrel…" I hear Juan call out so weakly from behind me I almost think I'm imagining it. I spin around to find him crawling toward me with all his might from the edge of the dark forest.

"Are you okay?!! Get up Juan, we gotta go!!!" I shout making my way over to him to feel my breath catch in my throat and my eyes become watery.

"Darrel… Help me… Darrel… please…" Juan pleads and I run over to him, dragging him back onto the road as I sob hysterically. "It's… okay… I'm… here… now… You… saved… me… Thank… you… Darrel…" Juan breathes out weakly, holding onto me so weakly I'm sure he'll fall to the ground if I'm not careful.

"Stop talkin' man. It's… It's okay… I'm here with you, homie. It can't get you now… You're safe now," I manage to get out with a trembling voice, my hands shaking and my arms weak. The tears begin blurring my vision as I try to put on a brave face for my friend.

"It's… funny… It doesn't… hurt… when… I breathe… anymore… I think… I'm start-" Juan starts before he has a wild coughing fit, spitting up blood over my chest and stomach. His eyes fix on mine as he regains composure. "I'm starting… to feel… better… now…" I nod, not able to speak as I weep, my composure completely diminished as I look at one of the best friends I've ever had in my life. "Maybe… It's… not… as… bad… as… we… thou-… thought…" Then his eyes shift, his ragged breathing catches harshly in his throat, and his grip on me relaxes as he slumps over in my arms.

"Juan?" I cry out, the devastation creeping in as I realize what just happened. "Nononononono, Juan? Juanito?! Come on homie, you gotta get back up. You got your girl and your mom to get back home to, right? They need you there with them! Juan?!! Please talk to me… Don't… Don't do this, not now… Please get up… You promised me you'd keep breathin', right?"

"Awww, is it dead already?" the demon asks, crawling on all fours as it creeps out of the darkness toward us, a hungry smile lingering on its hideous face, it's mouth dripping fresh blood.

"GO TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!" I roar, sending the Molotov at the demon like a bullet, only for it to dodge and let the small explosion burn out on the cold dirt of the forest floor.

"What's the matter Darrel? I'm still here homie? Isn't this what you wanted? To keep talking to me? See, I'm still breathing!" the Witiko mocks in Juan's voice, the sound burning in my eardrums.

"YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU MOTHERFUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!!! I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART LIMB FROM LIMB AND BURN YOU ALIVE!!!!" I bellow, feeling the rage take over my body.

"We'll see about that, boy. But I'm going to save you for last. Dark meat is always sweeter. And, I still have two other piggy's I have to finish off first," It says in a deep, scratchy voice, which could only be its own demonic voice, licking its cracked lips disgustingly before leaping back into the forest, letting out a yowl of joyous guffaws, its voice sending a burning hate through my body. I look back down at my friend and start to cry again, looking at what that fucking monster had done to him.

Juan's whole lower body had been ripped away. When I found him crawling towards me, he had been dragging along his upper intestine and his stomach pouch, leaving the ground slick with dark blood, stomach bile, and food still being transformed in his intestine leaking out. His legs were nowhere to be seen, but judging from the fresh blood on the Witiko's face, it had eaten them whole. His back had been gouged so horridly that strips of flesh and skin hung off of his body like loose scraps of fabric. And somehow, worse than all of that, were his hands and head.

His hands look like they'd been gnawed on by dogs for hours on end, leaving no fingers and no meat, just bone where his wrists should have been. His head had been scalped so rigorously that an inch past his eyebrows was nothing but the white of his skull, all the way down to the bottom of his neck where his spinal cord was visible.

The tears blur my vision completely as I watch the sun go down, feeling the cold seep over my body. I stand after saying a long prayer for him. I had found enough sticks on the sides of the road to completely cover what was left of my friend. I pour about half of the bottle of vodka over his resting body, before I set it on fire with the end of the torch. It billows up like a bonfire, driving away the cold lingering in my body. Yet it's nothing compared to the fire burning in my heart, or the pain trying to tear it apart.

"This one's for you, homie," I tell him, raising the bottle before taking a large swig. "Nothin' can hurt you anymore. I promise you that."

I glare up at the sky, staring at the darkness of the new moon lingering over our desolate planet. "Don't you fuckin' worry either. I'll kill that fuckin' thing… Even if I have to die to do it… I'll make sure nobody else will ever have to suffer because of that goddamn demon…"