James et Marie: La forêt

The wolves right outside their door have been howling for a good 10 minutes. Marie and James kept quiet inside their cabin, the door bolted shut and windows securely closed. A fire was burning by the tiny fireplace, it's warmth protecting them from the freezing chill of common January winters.

"Something must have had them riled up." James breaks the fearful silence between the two of them.

".." Marie shivered, in both fear and frost.

"Are you okay, love?"

Marie nods in silence. The wolves continued to howl in to the night, the clock passing the hour of 11 in the evening. The blizzard seemed to have gotten worse since they arrived 3 hours ago from their 6-hour long trip.

"Should we just go to bed?"

"Not until they stop howling. I want to be sure nothing's out there." Marie says, almost blanketed by the wind and the howls.

"Nothing's out there other than a pack of wolves and a mountain of snow, knee-deep I bet. Sweetie, they can't touch us in here."

"But Christine said-!"

"Marie, she was trying to scare you. And you know that!"

"Pshhh. Still."

Tired and beginning to become annoyed, James stood up and took a peek at the window. He saw nothing but snowfall, some trees just barely visible in the distance. The tiny porch covered in fresh snow. The howls have started to die down, he noticed. Good. 

As he proceeds to tell Marie that the sounds were beginning to fade in to the night, he hears something that raises his attention.

*erghhk!*

He hears a squeal come from the other side of the door, like something must've hurt one of the pack members in some way. To himself, "What could possibly hurt wolves in this cold? Mountain lions? No, not in this crazy weather. Hunters? Possibly. S**t, I better put the fire out before they notice."

"Marie, can we dim the fire-?" He whispers to her, only to be startled in to a squeal of his own as he turned around. 

In an urgent whisper, "Marie! Marie? Where are you?"

Marie was nowhere to be seen. The tiny, white chair she was sitting on was blank, not a trace of her. James started to feel fear, sweating uncontrollably in -30 degrees Celsius. "M a r i e?" He whispers, his voice quivering. He stood frozen in place while fumbling around in his right pocket for his trusty knife, a cheap Smith n' Wesson from the hardware.

"S**t! Where is my f*****g knife?!" He thinks to himself, obviously panicking as he checks his other pocket. 

"There it is." As he pulls the knife out entirely, breathing a sigh of relief. He begins walking towards the tiny fire, which had almost become nothing but embers the size of peas. 

"Marie?"

Jamie was startled out of his mind when he heard a loud noise coming from the bathroom, it was the toilet flushing. He hastily grabs their flashlight from the centre table by the fireplace, turned it on and aimed it directly at the closed bathroom door. He notices light seeping from inside the room. 

The fire had now died out completely and there was nothing but darkness around him. There was only the flashlight in his hand, knife in the other. 

The bathroom door slowly squeaked open, the light from inside carefully escaping the room and latching on to the walls of the cabin. 

"Marie?"

The tension in James' voice has become too strong to hide. A shaky flashlight glued to his left hand, his heart pounding out of his chest. His breathing rapid and short. The bathroom door has now opened completely, the area around it drenched in florescent brightness.

"Marie?" 

"Yeah?" A response from a familiar voice came from inside. James' fear became completely replaced with comfort as Marie exited the bathroom. Before she could spot it, James sneaks the knife behind him and folds it back to it's original position. He also turns off his flashlight. 

"Jesus Christ, Marie. You freaked me out."

"What? I had to pee." Marie responds.

"I know that now. Next time, be courteous enough to tell me first where you're going. You know how I scare easily. Try not to vanish out of thin air while I'm not looking." James replies, still clearly spooked. 

"Ha ha, sorry sweetie." Marie laughs. "Did I scare you?" She says with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. 

"Yeah you f****n' did!" He says as he noticed something from behind Marie, illuminated by the light still coming from the bathroom fixtures. 

It was a black rod, sticking out of her topmost vertebrae. From where James was standing he couldn't quite make out what it was. He pulls out his flashlight and shines it over. James panicked, even more than he did when Marie scared him. 

It was a knife. Surrounded by bloody fingerprints. 

Marie, now unresponsive and staring blankly at him, falls face first in to his arms. "Should I remove it? No, the blood'll just come out. F**k. I need to get her to the hospital." He thinks. 

"Marie? What happened? Marie?" Clearly unresponsive but breathing, she passes out completely. Blood has now started dripping from the wound in tiny drops, covering James' arms. He carries her over to the couch by the coat racks. He puts on his  winter coats, gloves, boots and puts his toque on last. He covers Marie with a parka via her front, protecting her as much as possible from the frost and snow. They were parked just near the cabin, but James thought "S**t. Please let the wolves be gone." 

He braces himself to open the door, cradling Marie in his arms while carefully avoiding the knife lodged in her back. He remembers one more thing before he finally steps out. He remembers whatever it was that hurt one of the wolves from earlier. A hunter, a deadly grizzly, could be anything, he thought. 

"S**t s**t s**t s**t. God help us." He muttered under his breath, all while observing Marie. Her breathing has now become noticeably quick. They had to leave now. He unlocks the door and looks around the cabin one last time, making sure the fire was out completely. Which, oddly enough, it was. No. It wasn't gone. The fireplace looked like it was never used. 

"Huh?" He did not have time to think of anything else other than to save the woman he loves in his arms. 

He kicks the door open lightly and steps outside. The snow has worsened into a blizzard. He could barely see anything in front of him, the wind blowing against them. He sees their car, it was close. 

*Awhooooooo*

"S**t. Are they back?" As he fumbles for the keys in his coat. He hears something running in the distance. Far, but not an impossible distance from them. He has the key in his hand. The car is opened, he sets Marie down in the back seat in a lying down position, face first to the seat and then closes the door. 

He turns one last time before entering their vehicle, another wolf squealing in the distance as he did. *erghkk!*

"?"

"What the f**k is that?"

He turns to look at the cabin one last time.

There was someone. A person standing on by the porch. No, it wasn't a human being. It was a shadow. Not a shadow from anyone or anything, it was just a shadow. by itself, in it's left hand a bloody knife. In it's right, a bloody wolf's head. The body nowhere to be seen.

"What-?"

He was scared. But he had something to do before it was too late. In a way, he had thanks to say to this shadow he was still staring at.

He went in to the driver's seat and buckled up. He looked up to where the shadow was supposed to be, there was nothing there. Not even the light on the porch was on, it was now pure darkness in front of the car. He turns on the headlights, up to high beam.

"F**K!"

The shadow was right in front of him, right on top of the engine of their pick-up truck. It held the severed head like it was it's trophy, something won. It had no distinct facial features, but James could see a face in his mind. Wide, unblinking eyes, crooked teeth as the shadow smiled at him. 

He quickly looks away and puts the vehicle in reverse and back up rapidly. He places it on drive, his stare now back to the front of the car. The shadow was gone. He hoped.

James drove out of the mountain, the main road finally in sight after 20 minutes of nothing but trees and hiking trails. He checks on Marie, she was still okay.

"F**k. That was intense. What was that back there?" He finally manages to utter a few words to himself, the image of the shadow still very clear in his mind. The snow wasn't letting up, it seemed. The blizzard was well in place over the region.

*crick*

James turns the radio on for some music, to his favourite FM station. Instead all he hears was this weird static white noise, and after about 20 seconds something came on. It was an announcement from the government. 

"This is an emergency broadcast. This is not a drill."

"Hm?"

"The storm has begun and will last at least up to 3 days, at least. Please stay indoors, the time prepare to has passed. Emergency services will do their best to respond to our citizens. Thank you for your cooperation."

"Good. At least that means hospitals are open." James thought.

They were only a few minutes to the nearest emergency room, the road beginning to be slathered with fresh snow. James took a sip from his thermos, the previously hot coffee now a freezing blend of ice and caffeine. 

 

"Ghh. Better than nothing."

He slows down to check on Marie, seeing to it that she was still stable.

"?"

"What the hell?!"

As he turned around, he sees a vision. It was the shadow once again, Marie seemingly sleeping on it's lap. 

The pick-up screeched to a halt, James panting heavily. He blinks, the shadow has gone.

"What the f**k is going on?"

"Am I losing it?"

The sudden stop moved Marie an inch, so that the handle of the knife was in clear view of him. It had changed colour. 

It was now silver.

"Huh-?"

The pick-up parked safely by the freeway, James peeks closer to check. He tilts Marie to place the knife's handle in the path of the light, the light that opens with the door.

"..?"

His knife. It looked similar to his. "What?"

He was filled with nothing but questions, as he checks his pocket to be sure of the whereabouts of his trusty knife.

It was gone.

"Where's my knife?" He says to himself, panic soon taking over. He turns to Marie one more time. 

This time, the shadow catches him off-guard. It's long nails suddenly surround his neck, slowly pressing into his skin. He was about to pass out when he saw it's mouth open as if to swallow him. 

The shadow lunged at him, and all he sees and feels was darkness. 

The headlights flashed, the pick-up by the side of the road.

The snow covered everything.