The Woods Of Dark

The stories of old have long plagued the land and with them came horrors, abominations of flesh and blood. Abominations made from the malice of man, horrors untold. Creatures who devour the flesh of man, who relish in the pained screams of grief at the loss of their beloved. Monsters who feed off the pain and suffering of those morals who face loss. 

In the depths of a forest dark and untamed whose name has been lost to time only uttered in brief through the tales of ancient beings untold. The forest through its depths housed a number of beings, some saturated in malevolence and others formed in the light of good. The forest housed many in its verdant embrace; the running rabbit, the flowers who bloom so bright in the embrace of the wood. 

In the depths of this forest lived a family once in a time when the land was still inhabited by the monsters of old. This family lived a secluded life in the depths of the wood untouched by the corruption of man. In a glade of oak and maple they resided in a quaint cabin, a gurgling stream nearby. The family was well equipped for the days ahead, drying meat and catching fish to get their meat and foraging for their basic fruits and vegetables while growing a small orchard of apple trees, bushes of wild berries growing to the sides of the trees. The family had lived there for generations, trading and seldomly interacting with other families that inhabited the wood. 

During one of the foraging sessions on a particularly sunny, clear day The father and son, Joshua and David. As they walked through the forest in search of berries and checking their traps for small animals such as rabbits and squirrels. While they are checking one of their traps in one of the darker parts of the forest lying right under a massive oak that must have been over a thousand years old. In the trap there laid a small canine creature with shiny gray fur that shimmered in what little light was present still seemed to be swathed in the embrace of the sun itself.

Joshua and David being compassionate beings themselves decided to bring the creature home to their family aiming to tame and train the creature to hunt with and assist the family in their foraging. 

As time went on the family grew more and more attached to the creature, letting it sleep in their beds and bringing it on their foraging trips. 

As the years went by the family welcomed a child and named it Luke. As Luke grew older the mother Mary got pregnant once more and started teaching Luke how to garden with the assistance of David and Joshua they cultivated a small orchard and a large garden overflowing with tomatoes, potatoes, beans, squash, and peppers. In the winters the family would eat soups made out of the dried up meats and vegetables they would save up eating by the hearth telling stories of heroes and dragons, monsters and witches, and poems as old as time. 

As the children grew they learned about the forest they inhabited, a benevolent deity that oversaw their lives bringing fortune onto the livelihoods of the families that inhabited it. The first presided over them as a goddess of nature bringing prosperity to those under her protection and providing creatures of all shapes and sizes inside her domain.

As a Newborn baby was welcomed into the world; as it drew its first breath into the world Mary being exhausted after the grueling childbirth let loose a sigh of exhaustion heard a blood curdling screech outside of the house from the garden. Joshua as soon as he heard the sound sprinted outside to assist with whatever the children were screaming about. As he breached the entrance saw the creature who they had named Cain oozing a black shimmering ichor from a gash in its side and appearing to ooze out of its eyes like tears on a grief stained face. The ichor seemed to ooze from its pores in a mock sweat pooling around the form of the canine creature laying on the ground. 

As the ichor black as night poured from the form a slight creaking noise sounded from the body followed by a series of pops and cracks as the form rose from the ground its boned splintering outwards extruding through the skin with trails of the black substance leaking trails through its fur dyings the coat a coal black sheen. As the thing continued to change its skull elongating into a painted maw white strings of spit webbing through  its maw, new rows of jagged teeth curving inward creating a serrated edge for anything that gets stuck in its maw.

As they stood there the beast turned its head making grotesque squelching and popping noises as it completely rotated its head, the stench of rust and rot permeating the air around the creature. As the creature turns its head it let out a bellow as ragged horns erupt from its head covered in the ichor starting to flow down the maw of the creature staining its teeth a deep shade of red. 

The creature that was once a pet canine started to sprint towards the boys, permeating the air with a thick feeling of bloodlust and ravenous hunger. The beast lunged at David, clawed through David’s chest and rendered the flesh from the spine of the young man sending a shower of bright red blood cascading through the air and onto both Joshua and Luke painting them in brilliant shades of crimson in the soft blue light of the moon. The gurgled cries of the mangled figure sounded through the air as the beast tore through the body of the man devouring the corpse with cracks and crunches as the beast chewed through bone devouring the mody in a matter of minutes. As this gruesome display of force was displayed both Joshua and Malachi made a mad dash to the house quickly closing the door and barricading all of the entrances with whatever they could find. As this was happening Mary walked towards them asking what happened and where David was as Joshua explained how the canine transformed and devoured David, Malachi broke down into a sobbing mass in a fetal position not being able to handle the intense grief that was circulating through him. 

As the creature was ravaging the corpse of David ripping the flesh from the corpses bones quickly devouring the corpse the creature growing satisfied with the consumption of the man the creature slinked back into the forest dragging it’s recently deceased prey into the forest leaving a crimson trail from where the corpse was dragged through the lawn. The trail of blood attracted various arrangements of insects and rodents from the forest that wished to devour the lifeblood of the man.

There was a period of peace over the next few months making the family almost forget about the creature. But on the first moon of the tenth month as the family was holed up in their house eating supper when Malachi walked into the cellar to retrieve some berries to put onto the small cake that Mary had prepared for his birthday celebration, Malachi was collecting a mixture of frozen strawberries, blueberries, and black berries. As Malachi left the cellar with the small basket of frozen fruit he heard a popping sound outside the door, as he popped his head out the door he thought the cost was clear but when he stepped into the lawn he could feel the breath of the large creature behind him. 

The creature let out a slight growl and as Malachi started to sprint away the creature chased after and bit through the gut of the man spilling his guts onto the lawn in a bloody display of force that didn't even leave enough time for Malachi to scream as the beast ripped through his abdomen. As Malachi fell in a pool of his own blood and intestines he landed on his wrists sending his arm bones through the wrists of the man. Sending more blood spitting through the air. 

As Mary looked out the door to check on Malachi she witnessed the scene of his intestines being gouged out of his stomach and being gouged on by the creature blood catching on the bloody matted fur of the beast and running onto the ground. 

As the creature finished its meal of flesh he started to smell the enticing scent of fresh meat emanating from the small building. The creature skulked up into the front lawn and began to gnaw at the walls of the cabin trying to break down the walls of the cabin. After thirty five minutes the beast backed off while during its rampage the little baby girl, Anna began to wail. The frightened wails of the child reignited the desire for the flesh of the family, the cries also bringing out other horrors of the forest, hideous creatures amalgamations of limbs and wails of sorrow and strife as they attempted to claw through the walls of the cabin. 

As the light of day approached the creatures quickly dispersed, seemingly being burned by the golden rays of the sun. That night the family decided that they must leave their little grove and venture out into the world beyond the small wood. 

As the family packed their meager belongings and most of their dried rations they set off into the wood, a dark presence seemed to have followed it into the wood and was stalking behind the small group as they headed for the world beyond. 

The wood was dark and musky, the smell of petrichor and wood filled the air as the group trekked through the forest, the small baby in a swaddle on its mothers back with the rest of the supplies that they had brought with them. The smell of fresh meat awoke the forest as they continued through the forest a strange aroma wafted through the air. 

The smell seemed to have originated from a carcass of rotting flesh. As they went further they found more and more corpses littered around sometimes in small piles. Though they saw this they continued on paying no mind to the corpses they were stopped at a small creek that was swollen to the size of a small river due to the rainy season. When they attempted to cross the small bundle of blankets that contained baby Anna. As the bundle flowed down the stream the baby noticing the water covering its head tried to hold its breath. As time went on the young child was slowly losing its breath as it was buffeted by the harsh water and rocks being picked up off the river bed from the recent rainy season. As Anna grew more and more desperate she breathed in some of the water causing her to start kicking her legs against the confines of its swaddle while coughing and inhaling more and more water and silt slowly losing consciousness as she slowly stopped fighting it and drifting off into a slumber of which she would not awake again.

Mary when seeing Her baby bobbing down in the creek screamed; a blood curdling grief filled scream as she sunk to her knees sobbing on the far bank. Mary was calling out for her baby as she slowly saw the outline of her youngest fade into the distance.

Joshua was able to slowly carry Mary and all of their materials as they made there way to the road once again. Slowly Mary was able to walk again; Mary slowly dragged along her head down as she shuffled down the road, tears silently sliding down her face and pattering on the sparsely trodden road to the next town over. 

As they got closer to the village Joshua went hunting in the forest because their food supplies were dwindling as they were already on the road for a week and a half with some of their food going moldy from coming in contact with the water. 

As Joshua went out A strong smell of sulfur enveloped his senses as a small seeming creature appeared; this creature looked similar to a rabbit though it was a sickly shade of green. Joshua, not knowing any better, attempted to catch this creature for him and his wife to eat. As He approached the sulfuric smell only increased in potency. The Rabbit looking creature did not move while Joshua walks towards it but as he approached he stepped into a pool of slime and 2 flat Jaws clenched onto his body with tendrils with sharp tips being stabbed into the flesh of the man as he thrashed and screamed within the jaws of the creature his blood being slowly sucked out of his body shriveling his skin and making his skin pale as all of the blood is removed fom the man.

Mary waited for her husband to come back so she set out to look for the man strolling through the woods, the leaves only starting to change in vibrant oranges as the chlorophyll in the leaves deteriorated revealing to powerful autumnal colors that almost made Mary cheer up. As Mary find’s Joshua’s body she barely recognizes him a husk of his former self. He looked so wrinkled and pale.

Mary slowly dug a hole while quietly sobbing to bury her husband creating a teepee of sticks atop his grave tied together with his shirt. Mary Burns the structure while crying and asking why, “Why did he have to go, Why, Why, WHY” 

Mary, consumed by grief throws herself into the bonfire while sobbing with the grief of losing her husband and children slowly burning away going numb as her flesh wass melting off  her bones, her nerves burning off and her hair going up in flames. As she slowly turned into a pile of ashes.

As the years went on the existence of the grave lessened, a large maple sprouting on the grave slowly growing sprouting leaves that will always be red, and orange, and yellow as though the sunset spilled upon the maple itself. The forest without a name re claims all who live in it’s depths reclaiming lives from the ones who borrow time from its infinite life.