Death in the Woodlands: 03 Body Disposal

Chapter Four

Janet dropped the flashlight to the floor, standing in silence as horror filled her every breath. She had seen the face of death but didn't know how to explain it to the others. In fact, she could hardly process what she had seen!

"Get the flashlight over here," said Kevin, annoyed at her for having stopped illuminating the place where he was digging. She felt her face whiten but did as she was told. As she did so, she noticed that Julie had seen it too and was pulling at Kevin's arm.

"Now what?" he asked, as he looked up and saw the same face that she had seen, staring back at him with eyes that were bloodshot and bulging from his head. He was tall and threatening and didn't resemble a normal human being at all. As he moved forward, Kevin lifted the spade and brought it down onto his skull, but the creature did not stop making his way toward them. Julie was terrified, and even Janet and Wayne were cowering away from what seemed like a very surreal experience.

The ghoul that stood in front of them kicked at the body, and it fell into the open, shallow grave. Then the creature turned, and one forceful push of Kevin made him bounce across the earth with a sickening crack and land face down, his head against the head of the dead man. Kevin could hardly breathe, and the smell of death was not something that he was used to. The ghoul turned. Julie knew about death. When her father died, she had seen the color drain away from his face, but he had not looked as tormented as this soul.

"Let us go," she pleaded as the ghoul moved toward her. "We don't want trouble," she explained, but it was too late. He held her up in the air and threw her hard against the oak tree, where thick red blood spilled from her head against the bark of the tree. Janet screamed, and the ghoul turned. His shadow against the moonlight was frightening, but she knew she had to try to escape. He was coming for her next, and she knew it. Wayne had tried to escape, and if she weren't scared nearly to death herself, Janet would be furious that he had left her to face whatever fate awaited her on her own. "Waste of a man," she thought, and she bent down to pick up a branch that she may be able to use to ward off the ghoul.

By the time that she stood straight up with the stick in her hand, it was too late. She felt the hand around her throat. She felt the fingers pressing against the arteries in her neck and felt herself drifting toward unconsciousness. Wayne watched from a distance, but if he thought that the ghoul was going to forget about him, it was apparent now, as the ghoul dropped Janet to the floor of the forest that his turn was next.

Wayne ran as fast as his legs would take him. He turned to look to see if he was being followed, hearing the ghoul's breathing even though he was still some distance away. Wayne felt his neckline sweating, and as fast as he ran, the ghoul ran quicker.

He turned and saw a shadow emerge from behind a tree. It was almost as if the ghoul could climb out of the ground at any place that he wanted to and that no amount of running would save him. As he stopped to gather his breath, the earth in front of him burst open! The ghoul was there, standing before him. "Why?" he shouted, but the ghoul was not able to explain. "Why?" he repeated through the ghoul simply stared at him, and his eyes seemed to take on a scary reflective image of the fate that awaited him.

He felt the ghoul push his gnarled fingers against his chest and felt the skin opening as his heartbeat loudly. It was as if the ghoul's superhuman powers could cut through the skin and tear his heart out. Wayne didn't feel much as he fell onto the ground, and the ghoul gathered up the body and carried it along the forest tracks like a rag doll.Kevin could hear him approaching but was too petrified to move. He listened to the footsteps, hearing the screams and protests of his friends, but their voices had gurgled into silence. Lying in the grave they had dug for this stranger, Kevin knew that the danger hadn't passed. If he pretended to be dead, perhaps he would be safe from the inevitable silence that had befallen his friends. Kevin struggled to breathe silently, tried not to move, but his heart was beating within his chest like a series of thumps that disturbed him as he heard footsteps getting nearer. Kevin knew that his leg was broken; as his blood spilled, it mingled with that of the dead. If life after death was a reality, or whether the ghoul existence awaited him, Kevin would soon find out.