The Odd Family's Book of Bedtime Stories

Newlyweds

Kaia loved her husband. Having just gotten married, they were on their way to their new home. She didn't want to tell him she thought he was wrong. She didn't want to argue anymore. Instead, Kaia walked a little faster and stayed a little closer. She said nothing else, but kept a close eye on the surrounding shadows. She did her best to ignore the feeling in the pit of her stomach. Cabot glanced over at her a few times, but he said nothing more to quiet her fears.

Instead, Kaia tried to focus on her new home and the family they might have one day. She tried to think of anything besides the eerie forest around them or the frightening stories her parents had told her when she was young. It would only make her more afraid. There were frightening things in the forest. There were things that would lure you away and hurt you. Kaia had never seen them, but her father had, and that was enough.

Kaia even tried to listen to the crunching sound of the leaves beneath their feet to distract herself. The couple was walking from Kaia's village to Cabot's. It was a two-day walk along the river and it was getting dark. The shadows grew as the sun went down, stretching their long fingers across the forest floor.

Kaia was no stranger to the forest. She had lived there her entire life and knew the path between her village and Cabot's, like the back of her hand. She had never been afraid. There was something off about the path that night. The forest was too quiet, the wind too chilling. It left goosebumps across her arms. Even the river was quiet. Cabot didn't seem to notice any of this, but became angrier every time she mentioned it.

It didn't take long before it was too dark to walk. Cabot found shelter underneath a large tree where they would be safe from any rain or cold. Kaia made a small bed for them beneath the boughs and unpacked the food she had brought for the trip. While they ate, Kaia saw a strange mass at the top of the tree. Cabot had not seen it, but he knew what it was. It was the body of a horrible witch left in the tree years ago. Animals and buzzards had long picked away most of his body.

Cabot refused to move their camp to another site, and Kaia stopped arguing to keep the peace. Instead, she pulled herself onto her bed and tried to get some sleep. Cabot was asleep in moments, but Kaia stayed awake. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep.

A loud crunching interrupted the stillness. Beside her, Cabot shifted around. But he did not wake up. Kaia gasped and rolled over to wake him, but stopped. Cabot had been angry with her for being afraid. She didn't want him to think his new wife was a coward. Instead of waking him up, Kaia got still and listened. The crunching sounded close and wet. A million images raced through Kaia's mind. It seemed to go on forever in slow, deliberate bursts.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

The sound went on for what seemed like the entire night. Kaia could not sleep, could not move until the morning. As the sun rose, Kaia realized that she no longer heard the crunching. At some point it had stopped, and now it was time to get up. Relieved, she rolled over to wake Cabot, but he wasn't asleep.

Cabot's brown eyes stared blankly into Kaia's, empty and glossy. Kaia stiffened, looking down at the gaping wound in his side. She could see shards of bone and bits of skin on their bed. Kaia knew her husband was dead and wasted no time in getting away. She ran as fast as she could through the forest and along the river toward Cabot's village.

The warriors there, along with a group of men, grabbed their weapons and ran back with Kaia to see what they could do. It was too late for Cabot, who had certainly been eaten alive while he slept. When Kaia told them how they had slept beneath the tree with the witch's corpse, the men climbed up to bring it down. They meant to give the widow some comfort by showing her the witch was dead. The corpse they brought down was ancient, barely a torso with one arm and mummified, leathery skin.

They couldn't explain the fresh blood across its lipless face or the flesh caught in its yellow teeth.