FicWad

With my arm out the window, I let the cool forest breeze tangle through my fingers, in hopes of letting some of my tension go. Gerard (my boyfriend) and I had argued the entire way down to camp, and he was an unrelenting force when you got him in an argument. Opinions no longer existed, all there was was truth and lies, and Gerard became the barer of all truth as you wallowed in a pit of lies and your own putrid ignorance.

It started when I texted my ex, Darren. It wasn't a conversation I initiated, it wasn't a drunk idiot begging for a second chance, pleading for love. No, it wasn't any of that. He was asking me if I could recommend any specific vet in the area because he was considering getting a cat. We had a six message conversation before Gerard, passing behind me, saw “Darren Madewell” on my screen and made a simple question about a vet into a federal case.

Finally, he broke the silence that hadn't lasted quite long enough. “I'm just saying I don't get why he would ask you about a vet randomly. Like, I'm not going to ask my ex Vanessa what family practice she'd recommend without having been really like, social, with her recently.”

“You're not Darren.” I argued, trying to keep from sounding huffy. Too late for that, I guess.

“What, do you want me to be?” He replied almost instantly.

“Are you smoking meth? I'm telling you your thought process isn't the same as everyone elses, and just because you would do something for certain reasons doesn't mean he works the same.”

“I know people.”

“You know fucking drug dealers because you're tweaking.” I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. He was absolutely infuriating sometimes. He doesn't listen, and when he does, he only listens so he can take what you're saying, throw it in his mental meat grinder with his own fears and insecurities, and spit it out as a lump of toxic goop. A mangled misrepresentation of whatever came out of your mouth.

“I don't get why you've got to talk to your ex all the time, that's it Frank. That's all you've got to explain to me.” He shrugged, and that's exactly what I'm talking about.

“I don't talk to him all the time, you ass! This is the first I've spoke to his stupid fucking face in a year and a half because I have been with you! I have been in our house, I've been watching movies with you, having meals with you, celebrating holidays with YOU...” I paused, trying to avoid starting to yell. “.I have been with you!”

“Then why are you so defensive? There's no need for name calling.” He shrugged. I guess you can say I have a short temper, but you can't say he doesn't sit there playing with the lighter and a fuse.

“Why do you need to act like you're thick? I know you're not! I am a vet tech in training, who is better to ask about good veterinary care than someone who will be working in the field?”

He shook his head and continued to look straight forward to the dirt road we traveled on. We were going camping this weekend, this was supposed to be a nice little get away for a couple that hasn't gotten any decent time together. Lately, between his art classes and work, and my college and work, we haven't had much time to spend together. We started dating half way through our senior year in high school, and moved in together after the year had ended to save money, and to keep close.

After we both enrolled in some form of higher education, we stopped being able to spend as much time together. This week was supposed to be different, I'm on my birthday vacation(with two personal days following this day off), and Gerard managed to convince his boss to let him have two days off, one before his normally scheduled day off and one afterward. As it's a weekend, we're not going to have to attend any classes. We were going to reconnect this weekend, spend some much needed time together in the woods camping, relaxing. We both used to be heavily into outdoors activities like camping when we were younger, but with high school came more responsibility, work, and we lost the ability to do things we previously enjoyed like many other people, and the trend just kinda stuck when we got to college.

This was supposed to be a good weekend, and with any luck, he would drop the text issue and we could have a good weekend. That is honestly all I want.

The trees along the path and throughout the rest of the forest were mostly tall and columnar while others were normal, spreading trees. They provided wonderful shade that cooled the air to a refreshing temperature. It was fall so it was supposed to be cool anyway, but it had been a hot October. The environmentally conscious students in my courses chalked it up to pollution and global warming, so that's what I had been doing too. Their reasoning sounded like it made sense.

Though this wasn't a paved road and more of a smooth, wide hiking path. Not a lot of bumps and ridges to send you flying this way and that. No, nothing like that. This was a route for loggers to take to get to trees to log, so they did their best to keep it maintained for the most part. This was the perfect location to log, like I had said, most of the trees here are columnar and very tall. The woods was positively filled with trees, so a few dozen missing here and there was absolutely no harm. This would come in handy for Gerard and I, who needed a clear area to set up a tent.

About 20 more minutes of driving and silence before Gerard found a good spot to park his car. It wasn't a parking lot or a designated parking spot, but it was an arch that formed out of the trail that wasn't any more than maybe 30 yards from a clearing.

“Look good to you?” He asked, looking over to me, his hands placed over the keys in the ignition, waiting for my okay.

“Looks great.” I nodded, and gave him a faint smile before stepping out of the car.

The car shut off before I shut my door, and Gerard began to get out too. We both unpacked the trunk, lugging lawn chairs, the tent, and our bag first aid bag, butterfly bandages, burn cream, antibiotic cream, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, aspirin, latex gloves, tweezers, all that. He had taken the tent, and I got pinned with the backpack and two folding chairs. The trek to our camp was uneventful, though I took in our surroundings and looked around for logging marks on trees in case this was an area we shouldn't have chose. I tried to distinguish if anyone else had been here at all, or even close to here. Not a single sign of life but plants and tiny mammals.

Now, this isn't a restricted area. I'm very cautious about staying within the bounds of the law so before we came, I checked and double checked. This being the case, I had expected more people to be around. Maybe not around here, but on the way. I expected to see a person or a group of people camping someplace in this area. There is no one, though. Maybe it's because this place is too far out of the way. No matter what the cause, Gerard and I have all this land to ourselves until Sunday.

Gerard and I stopped in unison, him setting down the tent as I placed one of the folding chairs out and placed the first aid backpack on the seat. I turned to my boyfriend who was staring at my upper right arm rather intently. I immediately shrieked when I looked down to my arm, there was a rather large black spider had made himself cozy on my shirt. My left arm flailed over to my right and I began beating the utter shit out of myself to kill the spider or at least get it off of myself. Gerard stepped in with and leaf and pinched the spider up and away because my attempts to shoo it had only injured me.

“I was going to brush it off but I wasn't sure if I could.” He said and crunched the spider in the leaf.

I nodded in thanks and had to take a second to breath. I hate spiders.

"Did you know in some countries black spiders are an omen of death?" He said, letting the leaf fall to the ground.

"That’s fucking pleasant." I said, giving him a look from the corner of my eye and shuddering, brushing my arm continuously to knock off the phantom spiders I felt crawling on my arm. "I’m going to go get the rest of the stuff from the car."

"Come on Frankie, I’m just kidding." He said, his arms dropping to his side with a smack.

"Yeah, yeah." I said dismissively and started hiking back to the car with a permanent grimace.

I looked around after reaching the trunk, and in the distance down the road there was a creek with a mostly destroyed witches cottage on the other side. It was an eerie sight, but I was intrigued nonetheless. My junior year in high school, my English class was spent mostly going over the Salem witch trials, and this is what I had always pictured their houses looked like. The ceiling of the cabin was caved in and from what I saw, the entry door was no more.

I finally drew my attention away from the cabin, and popped the trunk open again and loaded my arms with another three bags. A backpack with supplies like TP, rain clothes, compasses, another with Gerard's clothes, and a third with my own. As I collected myself and was about to hoist the bags over my shoulders, a white pickup clicked to a halt beside my boyfriend's Honda. A middle aged man with a baseball cap and brownish, graying scruff covering a majority of the lower half of his head. He leaned out the window, looking me up and down.

"Ya alright out here?" The man asked. "Need me to call in a tow? Give ya a lift?"

"Oh, um, no. I’m camping with my boyfriend right down there." I said, pointing down to Gerard and our camp. The man’s face contorted in response, looking on toward the camp with a glimmer of fear in his eyes.

“Keep an eye out for yourself come night fall.” He warned.

"Why? What animals are around?" I questioned peering around myself. There was no sign of any animals larger than maybe a groundhog. Hell, I had only seen squirrels.

"None that ya need to worry about."

"Then what happens at night?" I furrowed my eyebrows. When I was looking this place up, I hadn’t read anything about dangerous anything around here. No dangerous people, animals, insects. Nothing on the Internet said anything about psycho killers in the area, so what was he getting on about?

"Let’s hope you’re not one of the unlucky few that gets to find out." He said, sending a chill through my entire body. Before I could even take in a breath to ask more, or at the very least what he was talking about, he sped down the road.

I had a sliver of fear in me from his warning, but who wouldn’t. The woods always has the element of creepiness, and he only brought that fact to my attention. Upon thinking about it, the things he had said were eerily cheesy and pretty cliché. You know, this guy is probably the reason people don’t come down here to camp. He comes around, spooks them, and either scared them away or annoyed them and kept them from coming back.

No, no I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of either of those things. Sure I was annoyed and currently burdened with a touch of trepidation, but that wasn't going to get me out of here. I was going to have a nice damn weekend and if this Darren thing wasn’t going to ruin it, and I wasn’t about to let this guy. I was going to have a good weekend with Gerard come hell or high water.

Now in yet another huff, I placed the remaining bags on my arms and lugged them over to our spot, setting them on the same chair I put the first one on.

"Who was that guy?" Gerard asked, looking up from his half finished tent.

"Probably some local, he’s trying to scare us out of here." I scoffed. "He was giving me the ‘creatures that come out in the night’ thing."

"Oh don’t tell me, spooky skeletons and werewolves." Gerard grinned.

"He probably thinks you’re a vampire." I smiled back. Gerard had a rather pale complexion, and bags under his eyes. His tousled black hair was reminiscent to that of a buff guy on the cover of a vampire/gothic romance novel, it just had a few inches to go, given It didn't fall past his ears.

“I didn't mean to get the glitter on my shirt, I spilled it, I swear!” He chuckled.

Us joking around had eased the unsettling feeling I got from that guy. Whatever, you know? He probably was just trying to get us spooked. There was no real reason to be anxious about anything, I am an adult. I know monsters don’t exist. He was good at lying, or he was a crazy that saw some weird shit to down here on a bad acid trip.

Hours had passed and Gerard and I had finished setting up our little area. We made sure the tent’s opening was pointed at the west so we wouldn’t wake up in the morning with a face full of blinding sunlight.

We grilled some vegan burgers on this cheap little propane grill I got from a work catalog. Every year or so as a thank you for working, they give you a reduced price catalog of miscellaneous crap. Plastic telescopes with a bunch of lenses that don't work, knock off Rolex watches by 'Relox' (super creativity bonus for the guy who thought of that), rhinestone jewelery, ugly geometric welcome mats, the works. I bought it on a whim, it was cheap and I was bored. We drank a few beers and just relaxed, finally. We were both sprawled out in collapsible chairs side by side. This was exactly what I imagined doing. Now, all we have to do is remember how we did this for two more days.

Life felt like heaven right about now, and I could feel myself begin to doze off as I sat beside my partner in the cool October breeze.

Before I knew it, I was drifting back into consciousness. I was a tad groggy as I took my surroundings in. Have you ever gone to sleep somewhere that isn't your house and you wake up and completely forget where you are? This felt a lot like that. I could see, hear, and feel the fire that wasn't too far from my body, and that's what brought me back to reality. What I didn't remember was it being dark out. If I slept through the entire first night camping I was going to be extremely pissed off at myself. I tensed up, my arms stretching up and to my sides.

“Hey there sleeping beauty.” Gerard chirped. “What do you think about a night walk?”

"A night walk? You're nuts."

"Come on, Frankie. Where is your wild side?"

"I left it at home."

"Then you can use mine, you big chicken." He taunted.

"Are you ten? You know walking around at night in the woods, let alone unfamiliar woods, is dangerous. This is elementary shit. Is your goal to get us lost so we can starve to death?"

"No, I just want to go on a night hike. There is a trail heading south that starts up right here, we can take that.”

“How do you know where it goes? How do you know it's safe?”

“When you dozed off, I started the fire up, and decided to check it out. It was neat for what I got to see. The moon is nice and bright tonight, we don't even need to bring a flashlight.”

Now, to me this would usually sound like a stupid idea. I get that it is a really stupid idea. In normal circumstances, I’d follow the lead of my common sense and not do something ridiculous like go for a nature walk at night. But as I peered down the trail that was in fact there, I felt a strange sensation in my chest. It was similar to curiosity, but instead of aching, this burned. Like I swallowed acid and it was fizzling at my insides. It felt like my only remedy was to get up and go right now.

"You know what," I started, nodding slightly. "Okay."

"What? Seriously?" He grinned. "There is some adventure in you."

I shrugged. Maybe not adventure, but certainly a curiosity that would stick until I went. What’s confusing is, I’m not even sure what I’m curious of. I don’t know what I want to find out. It’s all nature. It’s not like this is my first night in a big city and I want to explore, no. It’s trees. Trees, grass, leaves, dirt, bugs, squirrels. Nothing more. Nothing at all.

I grabbed the first aid backpack, and throwing it over my shoulders I looked down at Gerard who was still slouched in his chair with a bottle of water being held loosely in his hand. He raised an eyebrow at me, blinking once, twice, three times before straightening up.

“You want to go now?” He questioned.

“Well, yeah.” I urged, bouncing up and down at my knees waiting for him to get in gear. I felt like a puppet for my curiosity. Every ounce of sense in my being screamed at me, asking what the hell I thought I was doing. My curiosity simply demanded to be sated.

“Okay then, I guess we'll go now.” He got up and shrugged. “You seemed like you didn't wanna at first.”

“I didn't, now I do.” I said, still facing him but beginning to take careful steps backward in the direction of the dirt path. If he didn't speed up, I suspected I might go on without him.

When we had walked for 20 minutes, me plowing through the woods, I stopped. Something inside me had noticed I had not been paying attention to my path. At this point, the trees were more spread out, and the possibility that I wondered off the path and began one of my own struck me like a metal baseball bat. Gerard was still close behind me, and he hadn't said anything so it's quite possible I didn't just get us completely lost in the forest. After all, Gerard said he had been down this path before, so if he was paying attention he would know if we deviated from the course. Right?

I pressed on despite my concern, my curiosity forcing me forward, no matter how lost I may get, I need to go. As we reach a very small clearing, I heard Gerard stop dead in his tracks. I freeze too, and turn around to face him. He looked scared. Very scared.

“Did you hear that?” He asked, keeping his voice down as his eyes and head shot from side to side.

“Hear what?”

“Someone else is around here.”

I immediately burst out into laughter. I should've expected this, he convinces me to go out into the woods to try and scare me. He's going to tell me he sees a whatever and hears a thing and feels like there is something watching us. It wasn't very well executed and it, like the old guy in the truck, was terribly cliché. It's quite possible Gerard convinced someone he knew that lived around here to try and get me prepped for the spooking.

“Frank, shut the fuck up, I heard something.” He demanded, his voice low.

“You brought me out here to try and freak me out, you big jerk.” I continued to laugh.

“I'm serious!” He hissed at me, his eyes shooting me an intense glare.

“Sure you a-” I had began before I was interrupted.

Interrupted by a noise that was not from Gerard.

Interrupted by a noise that came from a distance.

It sounded like a goat, but, bigger. I lived in front of a farm when I was little, so I was familiar with the sounds goats made because those suckers never shut up. This didn't sound like any of the goats I've heard, it was menacing. Malevolent. This was an animal that was large, it did knew we were here, and it wanted to change that. It seemed the same voice that encouraged me to go on this hike was the same voice telling me this was not a practical joke.

“What the fuck was that?” I whispered to him, instantly becoming frantic. I turned about, looking in all directions.

“I don't fucking know!”

It let out another terror inducing bellow. I began to shake as I stepped closer to Gerard. It wasn't cold out but my body was covered in goosebumps, chills shocking my nerves as I sought some kind of comfort from my partner.

"We need to go back." I said, taking Gerard’s hand.

"Which way is back?" His voice cracked as his head continued to dart from side to side. His tight grip on my hand almost crushed it. He was clearly shaken.

"I don’t know." I said, my voice cracking as whatever that fucking thing was howled again, closer and louder still. "You said you had been down here before!"

"Not this far!" He paused and turn around, starting to go in the opposite direction of where the noises sounded like they were coming from, pulling me along with him. "Shit shit shit."

As he was dragging me through the dark, I struggled to keep up. He was moving as fast as his legs that were much longer than mine could carry him, so I tripped and stumbled behind him. My arms stung from the impacts of brush and tree limps that smacked against my skin, broke and cracked. I couldn’t see for shit either, and I’m positive Gerard was as blind too. Terror gripped me as I my best to ignore the unnerving howls that continued to grow closer no matter which way Gerard led us.

This dread tied knots up in my throat and was one howl away from bringing me to tears. All I could remember was the spider being an omen of death, and the warning about these woods at night. Before I was alarmed at the warning simply because of it's content. Now it struck a very real kind of fear into my very heart because the warning had came to life. There is something in this woods to be terrified of, and I'll be damned if it didn't terrify me.

Eventually he stumbled over a rather large stump and he fell, letting go of my hand as he did, keeping me from going down with him. There was a loud crack before he even hit the ground and he was let out an agonizing cry. He had been panting and wheezing for a rather long time now, but he had ignored it up to this point. We had covered a lot of ground, but I’m almost positive none of it was in the right direction. There hadn’t been a noise for a while, so I figured we were safe for the time being.

I helped him up quickly and helped him gimp over to a nearby tree. I made him sit with his back against it to catch his breath and cool down some. He smoked, so his lungs weren’t exactly healthy, and physical activity is harder for him because of this. Smoking can also cause osteoporosis, and weaken your bones. I began to suspect the worst from that cracking noise I heard. His head rested against the bark, eyes slipping shut as he tried to catch his breath, his face contorted in pain. Dark hair fell in his face, stuck to his skin from sweating.

"Deep breaths, Gee." I said as I kneeled in front of him, brushing some of his hair away from his face. "You’ll be okay babe, you’ve just gotta calm down a bit breathe for a second while I look at your leg, okay?”

He winced and nodded quickly, giving me the okay.

I moved his pant leg slowly, trying to cause as little discomfort as I possibly could and got it up to his knee before stopping. He drew in heavy breaths, and kept his eyes shut tightly. Moving my head around, I examined his leg, and found that it was rather deformed around his ankle. His foot was unnaturally curved inward. I grimaced at the sight and tried my best to recall my safety ed classes. He wasn't bleeding and there was only minor swelling. I took off his shoes and socks with whimpers of protest coming from him as I did so, but I wasn't about to leave it on in case the swelling got worse. I pulled the first aid bag off my back and got out the cold compress, pressing it against his ankle.

I was completely absorbed in him, too concerned about his well being to be concerned about anything else. I watched over him as he continued to gasp for air, each time his breath seemed to look less laborious than the time before. For a moment, my ears put Gerard's wheezes and heaves. I stopped listening so closely to his breathing. When I paid more attention to the noises that surrounded us, I realized there was a rustling coming from somewhere behind me. Leaves are rustling, and the October breeze that greeted me earlier today was long gone. Something was close. But we were safe, we had outrun whatever was there. Didn't we?

Gerard had heard the rustling too, and his eyes drifted open slowly as I heard it again.

That outcry.

That maniacal roar.

There was one thing that was different about this time, though. The difference between all hope being lost, and the glimmer of belief that he and I could get away and get to safety. The difference between simply rattled bones and disabling fear.

The sound did not come from a distance.

It was behind me. Whatever it was was right behind me. I could not bare to look but what I assessed of Gerard's face indicated it was large. Large and absolutely horrifying.

Gerard hadn't fully caught his breath fully and the sight and proximity of whatever-goat thing was here had only made it worse. I decide I need to keep him safe, he was hurt and he could hardly breathe, and I would not let him die out here. I turned around, my eyes glued to the ground the entire time. I didn't know what it would take to force me to look at it, but out of my peripheral vision, I saw feet. A man's feet. Calloused and battered, they supported what I could only assume was a very, very large man. I had not moved my eyes from their spot on the forest floor, but I once again felt the crushing hand of curiosity take hold of my mind. How could a person make that noise? What about him terrified Gerard so?

When I had finally got my body in a position defending Gerard, making myself what I can only describe as a meat shield because I sat between his legs and made sure my torso was in the way of his own. I finally began to look upward, to only catch a glimpse of a Native American's body before my eyes darted to what was the most peculiar and horrifying part of this. On his shoulders was the head of a goat. This thing is not a man. This beast of a creature stood at least six and a half feet from the ground and it's diabolic looking horns only made it appear that much bigger.

The hair on my neck stood at attention as I locked eyes with it. The waves of dread that crashed over me increased in severity as I stared into the face of pure evil. It's huge eyes were furious, nothing even reminiscent of human anger. This creature was what fire and brimstone, omens of death and haunting warnings were made of.

I trembled but the beast stood completely still, his chest didn’t move a bit as he forced air in and out of his lungs. At the point, I was trying not to make a sound. It was obviously too close to justify us trying to run or hide, but I feared even a small noise would set this thing off and get Gerard and I killed.
My heart thudded against my ribcage as the it reached it’s hand out, and Gerard gripped me tightly around my chest. I drew in a deep breath, and then as if I had just completely zoned out and imagined it all, I was sitting by a stream in broad daylight.

I looked around and tried to collect myself. I saw the witch's cottage right in front of me, and looked behind myself and saw the dirt road, Gee’s car parked in the little area from which I had seen this stream and the cottage.

What even happened? Did I dream all of that? I must’ve, I mean I did fall asleep rather early last night, and Gerard isn’t reckless enough to encourage us going on a night hike. I had to have dreamed that. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have blacked out and left Gerard behind with his ankle in the shape it was.

You know, I think when we were making burgers my subconscious noticed the path and then it just came into my head when I fell asleep.

That doesn’t change the fact I don’t remember coming out here. Well, sometimes I black out. My new vegetarianism has been a pretty rough transition. I shook my head and stood up, about to go back to our camp. This was all extremely confusing, and just as I got to my feet, my cellphone buzzed in my back pocket. I furrowed my eyebrows and pulled it out, checking the screen for caller ID. Gerard?

"Gee?" I said after I picked up, the instant I finished speaking there was instant static and interruption in the call. I could hear conversations that couldn’t have been happening around him. Laughter and cries could also be heard, the pitches spiking and falling constantly causing me to wince from the discomfort I felt in my ears.

"Fra-" Gerard’s voice started, interrupted by fleeting voices and static. "Frank?!"

"Hey! Hey what’s wrong?" I asked, responding to his tone more than his question.

"Where are you?!"

"Down… Down by a creek. It’s close to camp."

"Oh thank god, I was so worried." He said and let out a long relieved sigh. "Please come back…"

"Yeah, I’m on my way."

"I’m sorry about yesterday. I was just… Worried. We don’t spend a lot of time together anymore, so I didn’t want you to replace me or cheat or anything."

"It’s okay." I said, smiling slightly. "I love you even though you’re a butthead sometimes."

"I’m glad, because I love you too." I heard him chuckle slightly.

“See you when I get here babe.” I said, and hung up the phone and slid it back in my pocket. I was happy it was all just a dream. I felt an overwhelming sensation of comfort. It had all just been a stupid dream. A big, dumb nightmare.

I took the road back to the camp to ensure I wouldn't get lost. After that dream, that didn't sound like a good idea. Then again, it was only a dream.

I reached our tent, and threw the entrance open. “Honey, I'm ho-” I began before I noticed the tent was empty. Head cocked to the side, I looked up and around. The blankets and sleeping bag didn't look like they had been touched since yesterday, I didn't think Gerard would organize.

“Gee?” I called out. “Where are you at?”

I spun 360 degrees over and over and over, calling for someone who wasn't there. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, what did he plan?

Vrrt vrrt.

I jumped at the vibration in my back pocket once again. I whipped it out again, to another call. How was there such good reception? Why is Gerard calling me again? I picked up, and the choppy voices and laughter could be heard behind a rush of static.

“I found a trail to the... south... couldn't he-... lp my-... elf... h-... ad t-... go down.” He said. This sent a rush of cold through me. Sure, it was only a dream, but it was the most vivid and terrifying dream I've ever had.

“Are you inviting me?” I asked, moments away from rolling my eyes.

“Y-...ah get do-...wn he-...” He got out before the call dropped completely.

I sighed, and went to find the first aid bag, just in case of any emergencies, but it wasn't here. No first aid bag anywhere. I know I took it down here. I tore through our belongings one more time. Still nothing.

You know what, Gerard probably thought ahead and took it himself. I'm actually glad he did, he thought ahead and brought what would've came along one way or another.

I took in a deep breath and turned toward the trail. It was just a dream, Frank. I chant to myself to try and get the motivation to go down the path that was literally from my nightmares. My head screams against it, but I make myself go forward. There is nothing to be scared of.

I walked, and walked, and walked, expecting to see Gerard somewhere along the line. I watched the leaves flutter across the ground in front of my feet, but I felt no breeze. I brushed this off, you're just being weird. I shook my head and continued to move until I reached the clearing I had seen in my dreams. If I've never been on this path, how the hell had I seen this place before? I looked around again, an anxiety starting to rise in my chest.

I turned my head to the left, and there was another path, but nothing like the trail I was on. It was a trail of broken, snapped twigs, foot prints, and broken small branches.

He is playing a joke on me!

He was playing a stupid fucking trick on me this entire time!

I started angrily down the way Gerard had dragged me in the dream. He set up some fucking elaborate hoax and he is trying to freak me out! I was probably talking in my sleep or something and he heard! Frustration build up as I stomped through the twigs and leaves.

When I reached the area where he had tripped and fell in my dream, my heart dropped and nearly stopped. The frustration was immediately replaced with confusion, terror and utter shock. There, by the tree rested two pale, clearly dead bodies, one practically sitting in the lap of the other that was directly against the tree, it's arms latched around the other with their pant leg rolled up with a cold compress resting on their ankle.

My head began to swim and my vision went fuzzy at the sight. I wish I had dreamed about a murder that took place in these woods. I wish I had dreamed about an unfortunate pair of hikers that got lost and had some premonition about their fate, simply replacing their unknown faces with ones that were familiar to me. I wish I hadn't came down here at all, because the bodies propped up against the tree belonged to myself and Gerard.

CREDIT FOR THE GOAT-MAN GOES TO http://www.youtube.com/user/HauntingSeason?feature=watch

Other than that little tidbit, this is my first little venture into horror, so I tried very hard and it probably came out like crap. For that, I apologize. Please tell me what you thought in a review, I need some criticism/feedback please.