The Black Forest

The whole town of Volfoct was ablaze with laughter and excitement. Bright colored lights of golds, reds, blues, and greens were strung across streets and alleyways. Gaily decorated stalls and shops lined the streets. Peopled crowded the town stopping at stalls, joking, and watching townsfolk dressed in flamboyant colors and ridiculous masks of all merry design.

            The small German town had gone to immense lengths for Fastnacht festival this year. Nestled in a small valley of the Black Forest, Wolfach was a quaint town. Through the center of town flowed the Kinsig River, which the town had not neglected to take advantage of for this joyous occasion. Upon the river sat colorful barges decorated in a fashion of parade floats.

            Among the vast crowd of people were Tobias Körbl and his friends Ralf, Alfred, and Fritz. The four friends had traveled from the northern city of Bremen to the small town of Wolfach, to escape the pressures of city life. The group ambled through the crowd. They would stop at one stand or another looking at commemorative trinkets and other gaudy fair merchandise. They gazed at fantastic foods of all sizes and shapes: cakes, Berliners, pretzels, pies, puddings, torts, cinnamon roasted nuts, and others. The friends took in the vibrant fair music and sweet smells of the food and spices.

            After a substantial amount of time enjoying the spectacles, smells, and sounds the boys decided it was well past time for a little rest. After searching for an adequate spot, they finally came across the town’s tavern. It was an ancient building made of sturdy wood from the nearby forest, and weathered bricks. The boys pushed through the heavy wooden door and were immediately met with a burst of warm air smelling of a mix of spice, pine, and liquor.

            In the center of the room stood a man on top of a table, surrounded by a large group of seated people. The man was ancient and frail, his head was bald, and his clothes as old and worn by time as he was. His face was wrinkled and scarred and his silver beard soaked in ale. Around the drunk’s neck hung a silver cross. The man moved very frantically, making the boys question whether he would tear himself apart. He seemed to be one of the townsfolk, for he was telling the crowd what appeared to be stories of local lore. “…dark and mysterious things happen in there, they do. Otherworldly creatures prowl the darkness, hunting any who dare traverse there after fire has left the sky.”

            Alfred tapped one of the listeners on the shoulder to inquire as to what the drunk man was ranting about. Before the man could answer, the drunk had leapt from his table, with surprising agility. He grabbed Alfred just below the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. “That demonic piece of hell you’d call a forest.”

            “The Black Forest?” Alfred managed to gasp out.

            “Jawohl, child, the very same.” exclaimed the man.

            “But it’s just a forest.” replied Ralf.

            “A Black forest it is.” responded the drunk.

            “But that’s just a name from the coloring of the pines that make up a large amount of the forest.”

            “Ah, but see child that is only what the naive think. The forest is black not for its color, but for the evil that lives within it. Demons and spirits alike, all creatures of grotesque design, the forest holds them all.”

            Alfred managed to shake free of the old man, scuttling back to the safety of his companions. Worried that the man might get violent, the friends turned to leave. Right as Tobias reached the door the old man grabbed his arm, in a vice-like grip, pulling him back. “Heed my warning boy, the forest is evil.”

            Tobias shook free, fleeing to rejoin his liberated comrades. The four rushed through the streets until they felt they had gotten a safe distance away. “That guy has to be crazy.” Tobias stated, panting.

            “Or at least drunk.” joked Fritz.

            “Let’s just forget about him and get back to the festival,” Alfred added. “Besides I’ve had my eyes on the Kranz that stand is selling.” The other three laughed, and headed towards the stand Alfred had indicated. Each purchased a slice of the butter cream cake called Kranz, a local delicacy.

            The friends turned back to the streets, resuming their wandering. Amidst the crowd moved a festive looking group of performers. Among them were a juggler, a man on stilts, several dancers, and a host of gaily dressed men wearing outfits of blends of golds, purples, greens, and reds along with masks of comically distorted faces.

            The masked men would rush through the crowds without a word. They walked up to people in the audience making a variety of comical jests and mimicry of the bystanders. One of the Hopfennarr, for that’s what the masked men were called, walked up to the friends. He wore a green and white outfit covered in leaves. Scattered throughout his person were tiny gold bells that chimed as the man moved. Around its neck the slight twinkle of a silver cross could be seen. His mask was orange and frozen in perpetual smile, with black curling eyebrows.

            The Hopfennarr started to joke with Fritz. It held out its hands towards Fritz, with its palms facing him. Fritz immediately caught on and started playing “pat-a-cake” with the Hopfennarr. Tobias and Alfred laughed at the two playing such a childish game. The Hopfennarr moved to Tobias and Alfred and started mimicking their laughter, holding its hand to its mouth, putting its arm across its belly, and occasionally clapping.

The man then moved to Ralf. It lifted its hand to its forehead gazing towards the edge of town. The others, confused, noticed Ralf wasn’t paying attention to the performers at all. He sat staring into the forest.

“You ok, Ralf?” asked Tobias.

“Did you see her?” Ralf frantically asked, the Hopfennarr mimicking him as he spoke.

“See who?”

“The girl who was standing at the edge of the forest. She was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.”

“Well, where is she now?”

“She disappeared into…” Ralf stopped talking and starred at the Hopfennarr that was still mimicking him. The Hopfennarr just starred back. “Stop it” yelled Ralf as he shooed away the performer. The Hopfennarr looked down as if disappointed then returned to the rest of its troupe. “She disappeared into the forest, and right before she did, she motioned to me.” All that could be seen was a light fog drifting from the forest edge.

“How do you know she motioned to you?” asked Fritz, dismayed by the dismissal of the entertaining man.

“I just do and I’m going after her.” Ralf exclaimed. “Besides, it would be rude not to.” Ralf stated in a semi-joking tone. Ralf turned and started walking to the edge of town.

“Wait, Ralf we’re coming with you.” said Tobias. “It’s not safe for you to wander alone in the forest at night.”

“What?” demanded Fritz, who had been starring at the Hopfennarr, which had returned to its antics. “That means we have to leave the festival.”

“And the warm food.” said Alfred who had just returned from purchasing more Kranz.

“Fine, you guys can come too.” said Ralf.

“Do we have to?” pleaded Fritz.

“Yes.” answered Tobias.

The four headed into the forest to search for Ralf’s mystery girl. The forest was far darker than the town. It would have been almost completely black if not for some light from the full moon shining through the tree branches. The air was crisp and clean smelling of pine needles. The branches of the trees were gnarled, reaching out as if to grab them and drag the boys into some dark hell.

As the boys walked through the dank forest they discussed the girl along with Ralf’s sanity. “You’re crazy, there’s no girl out here.” complained Fritz.

“She’s out here, I swear she’s somewhere.” replied Ralf losing hope.

“Hey Alfred, I’m surprised you aren’t still complaining about food.” muttered Tobias. Tobias turned to address Alfred who had been lagging behind the others, but Alfred was missing. “Where’s Alfred?” Tobias asked frantically.

“Wasn’t he just behind us?” questioned Fritz nervously. “He can’t be too far.”

“Maybe, the crazy man was right.” Ralf thought out loud. “Maybe, there is something evil in this forest.”

“Or maybe the ghost of your angelic girl got him.” said Fritz breaking into a maniacal laugh.

“Calm down, he probably just snuck back to the festival for food. You know how he is.” Tobias calmly stated. “He’s probably stuffing his face with more…” Tobias stopped talking. In the bushes, near the boys, something was moving. Tobias motioned the other two towards the bush, as he slowly stepped towards it.

“BOO!” yelled Alfred as he jumped out of the bushes scaring his friends. Alfred started laughing. “You guys are so easy to scare.” joked Alfred.

“We thought you were hurt or lost!” Fritz yelled angrily, as he recomposed himself.

“Wow, seriously guys, that was priceless.”

“Shut up.” Fritz yelled as he made a swing at Alfred, who easily dodged the attack.

“Oh and while I was hiding, I found this.” Alfred recalled as he pulled out a necklace with a silver cross. “Looks like it got yanked off; see how the chain is broken here.” Alfred pointed to a spot where two rings of the silver chain had been broken.

“Weird, why would somebody rip off their necklace.” thought Tobias.

“I don’t know, I don’t care; I say we just give up we’re never going to find this girl in the forest. She’s probably gone back to town.” exclaimed Fritz.

“Fritz is right Ralf, we’re not going to find her out here.” said Tobias.

“You’re probably right.” admitted Ralf reluctantly.

“To town and cake!” cheered Alfred.

The boys turned around heading back towards where they believed the town to be. The boys walked for over an hour with the town nowhere in site.

“Great we’re lost.” pouted Fritz. “Way to go Ralf.”

“What it’s not my fault?” said Ralf defensively.

“Ralf, it is pretty much your fault,” stated Tobias. “We’re lost from looking for your mystery girl.”

“So, I would have done the same for any of you.” said Ralf.

“What about that one time…” Fritz started but was interrupted by Tobias.

“Alfred is gone again.”

“Are you serious?” said Fritz. “He’s probably just trying to scare us again.” As Fritz finished talking the boys stopped, hearing a sound nearby. It seemed to be the howl of some animal that sounded as if the creature was dying and killing all at once. From a short distance away they heard movement and began heading towards it.

“Alfred it’s not funny anymore.” yelled Ralf. The only response was another death-filled howl.

“What is that?” questioned Fritz referring to the sound.

“Probably just the wind through the trees.” said Tobias

“I hate trees, I hate wind, and I hate Alfred.” muttered Fritz as the boys came closer. The three pushed through the bushes and came into a clearing. At the far end was Alfred lying on the ground in a pool of blood. His body was covered in claw and teeth marks.

Tobias ran over to Alfred to check if he was all right or even alive. “Alfred, are you ok? What happened?” Alfred managed to make a slight groan. He was still alive, but for how long? He had lost a lot of blood from his wounds.

“It came up behind me while we were walking. It just snatched me up effortlessly. Before I could even scream it pulled me away.” Alfred stammered.

“What was it?” Tobias asked.

“Some animal I think. I couldn’t really see it. All I know was that it had claws, teeth, and eyes that burned blood red.”

“Whatever it was, it had to be strong to carry someone of your size.” joked Fritz.

“Fritz!” yelled Tobias. “Time and place, this isn’t either.”

“Tobias, he does make a good point though,” thought Ralf. “It had to have been strong, but not only that, it had to be able to walk on two legs to carry him. No animal in these parts can do that and be fast enough.”

“Your right but, that doesn’t matter now; we’ll figure out what it is later. Right now we need to get Alfred back to town.”

“Ok, Fritz, help me get him up.” Ralf said. Ralf and Fritz picked up Alfred, easing him onto their shoulders.

“How are we going to find the town,” asked Fritz. “remember we’re lost.”

“Listen.” said Tobias. The others could faintly here the sound of a river in the distance. “That’s how. We can follow the Kinsig back to town.”

The friends headed towards the river. The waters were swift with many small waterfalls and rapids. The boys followed the river in the direction it flowed, desperately hoping that would be the way to town.

As they followed the river they could hear more of the death filled howls close by. With every howl they moved a little faster. Every now and then they would hear rustling in the bushes near by, but nothing ever came out. All they could see were glimpses of silver fur and red eyes amongst the bushes and trees. The creature was hunting them.

Finally after some time they could see the festival lights on the horizon. They were almost to town. As they neared the outskirts of town the creature howled again and they could hear it turn in the other direction.

The four entered town, shocking those nearest the forest. Women began to scream and children cry at the sight of the bloody Alfred. He was beginning to regain some strength and tried to shake Fritz and Ralf off of him. “Get off.” he growled.

The two boys held strong. “You’re too weak.” said Fritz.

“Get off!” growled Alfred in a deeper tone. He starred with hate at Fritz, as if he was ready to kill him. The two boys still refused to let go, tightening their grip.

A man rushed forward from the frightened crowd. The man’s clothes were surprisingly formal for the occasion consisting of black pants, sports coat, black tie, and a silver cross around his neck. “What’s wrong? What happened to the poor boy?” demanded the mayor.

“He was attack by some animal.” replied Tobias.

“I see,” said the mayor calming down. “Was he bitten?”

“I think so, why?”

“We need to get him to the hospital immediately. The boy may have rabies.” The mayor calmly stated. “Follow me and I’ll take you to the hospital.”

The boys carried Alfred, following the mayor. They pushed through the crowd until they came upon a building that sat near the edge of the forest. It was a tall building made entirely of obsidian stone blocks. The entrance was a set of reinforced double wooden doors.

The mayor led the boys into the building. The inside was one large room. On the far end was a raised platform with a podium. Leading up to the platform was rows of wooden benches that appeared to be very old, due to a large amount of dents, scratches and reddish discoloring in spots. Behind the podium lay a large wooden table. The mayor led the boys to the table and motioned them to place Alfred upon it.

“Are you sure this is a hospital, it looks more like a church?” said Tobias looking around. “There’s even a large cross up on the wall.”

“I’m sure this is the right place.” The mayor said thoughtfully. “Now wait here while I go find the doctor. He has to be out in the festival somewhere.”

“I’ll come with you,” said Tobias rushing to catch up with the mayor who was now at the doors. “I can help you find him faster.”

“That won’t be necessary.” said the mayor. “Stay here with your friend, who really needs you.” The mayor motioned to another man, wearing a silver cross, who helped the mayor shut the doors.

“What are you doing.” questioned Tobias.

“Well we have to close the door,” said the mayor “we wouldn’t want you or your friends getting out would we? Oh and please do be quiet; it can be very…upsetting to some people when they hear the…screams.” The last thing Tobias saw before the door slammed shut was the Hopfennarr holding a finger to its mouth, mimicking the mayor.

The doors slammed shut and Tobias could hear the tumblers lock. He pounded at the door trying in vain to open it. Tobias realized that the doors had no handles on the inside. Instead each door was fitted with a large silver cross. All along the wood there was dried blood, but unlike the rest of the room the wood was in otherwise perfect condition.

Tobias turned around to see his friends’ faces of shock and terror. On the table, Alfred started having what appeared to be seizures. He rocked back and forth until he fell off. He must have landed on a switch of some sort, for the platform began to slowly slide backwards revealing a dark ancient tunnel carved into the bedrock.

Something was written above the tunnel and was faded by the years, but Tobias could still make it out.

“It knows when you are sleeping,

And when the daylight fades,

It comes through the trees seeking,

The next meal in the caves.”

From the tunnel Tobias could hear the deathly howl. Eyes appeared at the back of the tunnel. They glowed blood red, with the focus of a starved wolf. Alfred started to scream out again, but this time it came out as more of a howl. The creature slowly ambled up through the tunnel. The last thing Tobias saw was a silver haired creature covered in old worn cloths and smelling strongly of ale lung from the tunnel.

Outside people could hear the screams inside the black building. They heard claws meet flesh and wood. Screams and howls mixed into the music of the festival. Everybody moved on ignoring the sounds, except one figure that stood starring at the door. The Hopfennarr stood motionless with a finger against its mouth.

 

 

Reviews

[SM Davis]

The dialogue is a bit confusing as to who is saying what. The imagery is EXCELLENT...and I think the way you ended the chapter is perfect. Well Done!

[The Darkest Silhouette]

so far so good, thought i wouldve changed a few things, like understating the drunks cross and waiting longer to reveal the Hopfennarr's. Also you may want to reread and rewrite some sentences for clarity, but other than that it's a great read so far. I really started to get sucked in to the joy of the festival... I wonder how you'll do in the "evil forest" bits to come

[Spirit <White Wolf&g..]

great story. Needs a better ending though.

[Tabitha Kaufman]

This was a very good and creative write. I really liked the detail in this one, you don't see a lot of that anymore. Most are just short stories and are just to the point. Very good write.

Tabitha