Chapter #4: I Promise You

Chris: Five Hours Earlier

"Don't you think we should tryta go a little faster?" Arabella asks as we slink along the length of the redwood. I look up, seeing the leaves moving even though there's no wind blowing.

"No, it's after us now. We needa be as cautious as possible right now. It's just waitin' for us to fuck up so it can get us," I respond. We've gone about 30 feet from the road, and there's still no sight of the end. I'm positive the Witiko scared us away from the shorter route, but as soon as we entered this side of the forest, it had knocked down another goddamn tree to block our exit. Now it's stalking us, prowling around so that no matter what, we won't escape its line of vision. Not only that, but since we both smell like fresh blood from our wounds it can more than likely track us simply by scent.

"Watch out!" Arabella shouts and I jump back as a small tree is flung at us from the darkness, narrowly missing us and slamming so hard into the redwood it that it becomes embedded in the bark.

"Jesus fucking Christ!!!" I breathe out, eyes darting around for any sign of more objects coming in our direction. "Good eye Bella."

"Just keep your fuckin' eyes open… I don't need you getting' hurt too. I can't walk on my own and without you I'm as good as dead," she responds, shaken by the close encounter.

"I know… I'm tryin'," I explain, helping her over the thrown tree as we continue forward. The woods are unnaturally quiet, with only the sound of our piercing voices and footsteps crunching on the forest floor. I gaze behind us and see it, perched on the top of the gigantic redwood, smiling at me.

"What's wrong Chris?" It whispers harshly. "Cat got your tongue?"

The Beast begins crawling along the length of the redwood, making its way towards us. I turn us around so that we're both facing each other, though it's much more difficult to maneuver Arabella this way. With our pace slowed, the creature begins to gain on us easily, and as hard as it is, we remain as calm as we possibly can as it comes within ten feet of us.

"When it tries to get us, set it on fire," I whisper quietly in Arabella's ear, our eyes locked on the demon as it cocks its head to the side, almost in a confused manner.

"Bell… Are you already seeing different people? I-I thought you loved me?! We were supposed to start a family in a few months, remember? Just after we finally get our own house?!" It woes pitifully in the voice of her late husband.

"Why don't you shut the fuck up and stop eating everyone's dick?" I retort angrily, hoping to draw it in a bit.

"But Chris, don't you know? That's the best part!!!" It growls in its own rumbling voice, inching close enough for Arabella to send out a ball of fire that quickly engulfs its face before it pulls back with shocking speed. While it's distracted, I take a chance and lift her completely off the floor, making a run for it. I only get a good 15 or 20 feet away before Arabella screams that it's coming back. "Sneaky, sneaky, little piggies! You're going to be eaten nice and slow for that Bell!!!" It cries out in Danny's voice once more, skittering to a halt as we stop and stare it down once more.

"Looks to me like you're hurt," I taunt as I catch my breath. It's forehead and cheeks are now singed to a dark crispy black compared to the rest of its discolored grey. Unfortunately for us, something I didn't have time to take notice of before, is that it's arm, shoulder, and chest are all healing at an alarming rate, the axe wound almost completely gone, as if it never happened, making my jaw drop in disbelief.

"Did you think I would be hindered by your measly attacks? A creature like you cannot kill me, you should get that through your feeble mind. I am a God compared to you, or a demon, as you livestock love calling me. And as you know, God's need blood to survive," The Beast grunts, leaping off the tree into the path before us. I try to swing the torch at it but it merely dodges and leaps a couple of feet to the right chuckling lowly at my weak attempts.

"You seem to be growing tired, just how long will you be able to keep this up I wonder?" It asks, slipping behind a tree, only to reappear behind another one a few feet from us.

"Long enough to get the fuck out of here and away from you."

"Even while carrying all that extra weight? How long will this chivalrous facade of yours last before you're both being torn apart by these, lovely hands?" It questions, showing off its elongated, bloodstained digits.

"If I get my way, I'm coming back here to finish you off too, after I get my friends safely away from you, I still owe you for this," I tell him lifting my chin where the bandages cover the claw marks on my cheek.

"How about this," It propositions me, "Give me the girl, and I'll let you go. I won't even chase after your little piggy friends. What do you think child?"

"Sorry, I'm not a fuckin' monster like you."

"Are you sure? You will live to regret it, right before I rip your head off," It promises.

"We'll see. I'm bettin' on myself over you though," I respond, my hand tightening on the torch. Arabella is digging through my pack with one hand, shuffling out a roll of toilet paper.

"Ah, ah, ah. No more tricks little piggy!" It growls, lunging for Arabella.

"FUCK OFF!!!" I bellow as I drop Arabella and grip the torch with both hands. I muster all the strength I have in my body and swing it like a baseball bat, connecting with the demon's temple and cheek, the fire from the torch working so effectively that I can see the skin blistering away as he rolls across the floor in agony, smashing its feet against the ground like a child during a tantrum, causing it to quake once more. I pick up Arabella and light the toilet paper roll on fire, tossing it at the beast. It bounces on its back, though only for a brief moment, and the Witiko shrieks out in immense pain once more, kicking up tufts of dirt and moss to extinguish any fire.

"Guess you can't dodge in midair huh you piece of shit?!" I yell back at it.

"Tell me when it's coming again!" I tell her as I swoop up her legs and sprint at full speed, finally seeing the end of the blockade. The bottom was upheaved so rough that the clumps of dirt it used to find nutrition are still huddled together at the bottom like a ball, with only a few stray roots poking their way out. I hook around the corner and keep going for another good 50 feet until I hear something above us. I manage to get a glance upward to see another tree coming straight for us.

"Jump to the right!!!" Arabella shouts as I oblige, narrowly avoiding being crushed to death by yet another tree.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, looking around for the beast. I can't see it anymore, but I can still hear it wailing in the nearby distance, unsure if it's because of the pain, or just anger now.

"My leg…" I hear her groan and turn around to see that the wrappings came loose once more and blood is seeping through them again. I jam the torch in the ground beside us and pull out the med-kit.

"This is gonna hurt, bear with it, okay?" She nods when she's ready, and I pour more of the alcohol over the gouged out wound. She stifles a pained groan by biting on her shirt, tears flowing down her cheeks worse than when I had to do this the first time.

I make sure the wound is thoroughly cleaned before I put antibacterial cream over the entirety of open flesh, then shove gauze over it and rewrap it as tight as I possibly can with the last of the bandages. I dig out the thick shirt I had in my pack as well before wrapping that over the bandages.

"Are you tryna hurt me on purpose?!" she whines through a grimace before I help her back up.

"That should last until we get to town, now quit gettin' mad at me and use that anger to keep us movin'," I tell her as we start walking again. "You don't see it anywhere, do you?"

 "It's right there."

"What?!"

"It's right in front of us Chris, open your fuckin' eyes!"

After looking around for a while, I do spot it, latched to a tree. I can see that on the small of its back there's a new charred mark. It's glaring, waiting for a moment to strike. I try to keep moving, only for it to leap before us and block our path, teeth bared angrily. Half of its cheek is disintegrated from the torch, so you can see through it to the hideous teeth, three of those missing now as well. We try to make our way around the beast, only for it to strike out at us again, or block our path, both causing us to step back, further into the forest, until we're back at the dirt covered root once more.

"What's wrong? Are you mad about the teeth?" I ask, trying to hold my ground.

"You are going to die slow. First, I will kill your friends. Then, I will rip the girl in half, just for fun. I won't even eat her, just leave her for the crows. And when your spirit is finally crushed and the fear has taken over, I'll take you back to where I sleep, and keep you alive for days while I feed off of your body," the demon seethes.

"You're a bitter one," I comment, backing into the blockade.

"But until then, I'll just keep you here, until I'm able to make good on my promise," It tells us, standing guard over us like a gargoyle, perched on the tree directly across from us. "And once it's dark, I'll make my way to your friends, and rip their legs off so that they'll never make it to town." Then it smiles while changing its voice to Juan's wheezing. "You're all… gonna die… here… homie."

****

It's been four hours. And it's still just perched there. I even started a campfire for the fuck of it, in case it tried to sneak up on us when we weren't looking. I chucked a Molotov at it, thinking that it wasn't paying attention and that I'd be able to catch it off guard. Unfortunately, I was wrong, and it easily dodged to another tree, the one its on now. We both ate and drank while behind the cover of the campfire.

"How long d'you think it's gonna be there?" Arabella asks in a whisper, rubbing her sore leg while she keeps her eyes on the Beast.

"I'm not sure. I wanted to get back on the road at some point. But he's fuckin' set on keepin' us here. And I'm kinda okay with it at this point."

"What why?!" she demands. I lean in as close as possible.

"The longer we keep it here, the more time the guys have to get to town. Once they get to town, they can get help, and we can finally get the fuck away from this goddamn thing."

"I guess that makes me feel a little better being stuc-… It's gone."

"What?!" I question, looking around to find it nowhere in sight. I stand and do a slow 360, searching every nook and cranny of the area, only to find nothing out of the ordinary, aside form the freshly fallen trees from the demon's outburst earlier. "We gotta hurry."

"Do you really think it's gone?"

"Gone or not, this is our only chance to make it back to the road, and I don't know about you, but I'm getting' sick and tired of havin' that thing watchin' our every fuckin' move," I tell her. She thinks on it for a moment, before taking my hand and letting me pull her up, slinging her arm over my shoulder. I pick up the torch, kick some dirt over the campfire I had made, and begin making our way out of the forest.

"Wow… I'm surprised we were that close," Arabella remarks as we finally get back onto the road, only having to walk about ten minutes undisrupted.

"Come on, we should hurry… It's gonna be dark soon," I tell her as we begin our long journey back to town, still a good 10 miles away.

***

It's almost dark now, and we've still come across no sign of Juan and Darrel, or the beast, but we've made it a good five miles at least. Finally, we're at least halfway there. Arabella is more tired now, as once again I'm basically carrying her down the road, but at least my handiwork stayed together well as her leg still isn't bleeding. I'm drenched in sweat, my shirt completely soaked and sticking to my skin. If Arabella wasn't so freaked out still, I'm sure she'd be complaining about it.

"Chris… I know you wanna keep goin' to catch up with your friends, but we really needa make camp before the sun is completely gone and we're left in the darkness," Arabella says, damn near pleading with me. She's brought the subject up a lot in the past half hour. I search up and down the road, spotting no one in sight and letting out a defeated sigh. My legs are almost jelly from exhaustion anyway, because even after sitting for those four hours, there was no rest. My whole body was tense from the creature being so goddamn close the entire time.

"Chris!!!"

"Did you hear that?!" I ask hope creeping into my voice.

"Hear what?" Arabella questions worriedly, gripping onto me tighter.

"I could've sworn I heard someone callin' my name."

"It was probably just that thing fuckin' with us. We needa make camp quick!" she exclaims, pulling us away from the road.

"Chris!!!!!!!!" Juan's voice calls out. In my bones, I know it's not him with how his voice sounds. It's too flat, less animated than he could let it be. Not to mention he has a punctured lung and could barely breathe when they had left almost five hours earlier. They should be way past where we're at now, and he shouldn't be able to yell.

"Go," I agree with Arabella, ducking into the woods and away from the voice, quickly gathering sticks, two nearby logs, and some kindling, shoving it into a pile and soaking it with alcohol before igniting it quickly. We sit close enough to it that I feel like my legs are getting roasted, and not even a minute after we've got the campfire roaring and are hovering beside it, we hear the voice around us again.

"Chris… Help… please… I… can't… stand… up… on… my… own…"

I turn to search where the voice is coming from and spot movement near the base of a tree. Not having my flashlight anymore, and my cell phone finally having died, I take the torch, inching my way closer.

"Chris… Don't. It's not your friend," Arabella warns, grabbing my arm to keep me from going any further. I stay where I am, squinting hard to make out the shapes in the darkness. After a few more seconds, the voice calls out again.

"Chris… homie… I'm so… cold… please h-… help me… My… chest… hurts… so… bad…"

I see movement again and can finally make out what it is, my heart skipping a beat. I shake myself free of Arabella's grasp, moving closer to see Juan's hands holding on loosely to the sides of the tree, like he's trying to lift himself up. I stop about six feet away, noticing what looks like blood covering the area of his wrists.

"Juan? What happened to you and Darrel?" I demand nervously. "Juan?!" Suddenly the hands drop to the floor as disembodied stumps, leaving stains of blood on the bark and forest floor.

"Watch out!!!!" Arabella shouts urgently.

I dive to the floor, feeling searing pain start from the top of my left shoulder, and burning its way down my back, stopping short of my right hip. I shriek out in pain, scurrying into a sitting position and flailing the torch around aimlessly, hoping to at least fend off the demon's next attack so I can pick myself up.

"Get away!!!" I hear Arabella scream hysterically, letting off a long jet of fire from the bug spray can. The demon roars at her, but continues to circle where she's sitting, hoping to find an area to grab her and run off into the night. I pick myself up and cry out again, tears streaming down my eyes as I feel the white-hot pain on my back flair up once more. She keeps the makeshift flamethrower going until it fizzles out of life, sputtering out empty air and foam, the plume dying out in an instant. She whimpers and tries to dig through my pack to get out the second one, but its too late, the Witiko is upon her, grabbing her by the ankle.

"LET GO!!!!!!" I shout, chucking the torch at it since I'm still a few feet away. It easily ducks out of the way, yet it's forced to release her to do so. She scrambles back to the campfire, almost singeing her hair with how close she gets, sobbing uncontrollably as the demon roars in fury. It tries to take another lunge at me, but I'm back at the campfire as well, reaching inside of the center of the pit. I bite my lip so hard I draw blood, and toss up a wave of the burning ember coals in its direction. The searing coals spray all over the demon's chest, crotch, and legs, causing It to squeal from fright and quickly brushing itself off, leaping far away from us.

"You are the most troublesome pig I've ever had to deal with. I'm going to savor every single bite as I tear through your battered body!" It growls, glaring at me with a newfound hatred, staring deep into my soul with its declaration. "Just like I did with that other little piggy!"

"I'm gonna burn you alive," I promise, feeling my hand twinge and shake from the 2nd and 3rd degree burns covering the bottom half of my forearm, down to the tips of my fingers. Blisters are already beginning to welt up on my palm and arm, the smell of burnt hair wafting heavily through the air. The skin is completely red, except for the base of my palm, and the tips of my pinky, index, and middle fingers, which were all blackened, are now charred to a crisp with cracks forming through, blood seeping from within. Arabella gasps, digging out the med-kit and tending to my hand and back as best she can, while still sticking close to the fire.

"Awww, come on homie, don't you think we should just come to an understanding?" It says in Juan's voice, crouch-hobbling its way over to the severed hands and picking them up. First it puts them up to the top of its head like antlers and dances around eerily as the fingers flop back and forth lifelessly. When I refuse to respond, it glares back at me, the smile on its face dropping quickly to a menacing scowl.

"Come on homie, don't you think we should just shake on it?" It beckons, sticking out one of the lifeless hands and shaking it violently in the air, as if trying to draw me in. I spit at the creature, who chuckles devilishly, it's eyes twinkling in the firelight. "With those wounds you can't put up much of a fight anymore anyway, so I'll be feasting on your writhing body soon."

"Go to hell", I grunt, grinding my teeth in anguish as Arabella pours rubbing alcohol down my back. I can't see it, and she's not elaborating how bad it is, but I can tell the gashes are deep and ugly. She quickly rubs ointment over the gouges before breaking out the gauze and medical tape. Once she's done with that she goes back to my hand, repeating the process. Not so surprisingly, it doesn't hurt now since shock has taken over and my hand is completely numb. She ends up using the last of the ointment on my hand and arm. Then she takes out the nonstick gauze and pats it over the 3rd degree burn areas, before using my now shredded hoodie to wrap it up, having no more bandages to use.

"But it's much more fun up here boy, why would I ever leave, when this is the perfect feeding grounds to find fresh little piggy's?" It guffaws before taking the hands and shoving them in its fat mouth, crunching them up whole and swallowing, much to its satisfaction. "I guess I'll go after the other piggy before the sun is up. He'll be much more fun to toy with than you broken bundles of meat." And with that, it leaps back, disappearing into the night.

"No! Get back here you fuckin' asshole!!!" I bellow out, only to scream in pain from the wound on my back flaring up, the shock having worn off. I hobble over in agony, tears seeping down my face again. But not from pain, only sorrow. I'd recognize those tattoos anywhere. "Juan…"

"What?" Arabella asks, looking around to make sure the Beast had truly gone.

"Those were Juan's hands… It got Juan somehow…"

"I'm… I'm sorry Chris," Arabella responds empathetically, understanding full well what I'm going through right now.

"I'm sorry about Danny, Bella. I know exactly how much of an asshole I was bein' earlier now…" I tell her quietly.

"It's not your fault Chris…"

"But isn't it?! It went after them as soon as I mentioned it, and now one of my best friends is fuckin' dead! We came up here because I wanted to! If I had just picked a different place, we wouldn't be in this mess, he'd still be here… he'd still be here…" I trail off, my sobbing taking over my words as the sorrow begins to seep in. "This is all my fault…"

"No, it's not Chris…. You didn't know that fuckin' thing was gonna be here, and if you guys weren't here, I'd be dead a long time ago. I know you might not wanna hear this right now, but Juan saved my life. If it wasn't for the three of you comin' along, I'd be right back there with Danny!" She says, choking up a bit herself at the mention of her late husband. "So please, don't blame yourself, blame the thing that's hunting us."

I manage a small nod in her direction, still feeling like shit. But she's right, all of this, all these travesties have been caused by that demon. We were supposed to just relax and have a nice weekend away from all the pressures of being an adult, not be on the run from a mass murdering beast. The same goes for Arabella. She was supposed to start a family right after this trip ended, and move into her own home with her husband, if what the demon had said was true, and by how she had looked at the time, I'm almost positive it was.

"Hey," she says, gently touching my uninjured arm. I turn back to look at her. "It's gonna be a long night, why don't you try to get some sleep while you can, you've definitely earned it Chris. I'll keep watch for the demon in case it comes back."

"Okay," I croak out hoarsely, laying down near her as she digs out the second can of spray and retrieves the torch from where I'd flung it, coming right back to where I am. I close my eyes and let the tears spill out of the corners, mourning the loss of my friend, my little brother…

I won't let your death be in vain…

That demon's going to burn.