Michael Hunter - Come Get Me

“Wait!” Pete said just as they were getting ready to say the call again, “I think I know why it didn’t work the first time. Rob did do it wrong.” Everybody loudly blew out the air they’d been holding as Pete continued. “No wait, I remember the last time we were told the story. Jim’s uncle said you’re supposed to say the Goatman part three times before you say the come get me stuff. That’s the only way it works. Any other way and you get nothing.”

“Who told you that crap?” Rob asked skeptically. “Sounds like a bunch of bullshit if you ask me.”

“No more than what you just yelled a few minutes ago genius,” Pete shot back. “Besides that’s how you’re supposed to do it. If you’d open your ears once in a while instead of your mouth maybe you would’ve remembered.” Pete seemed to be getting a lot braver as the night went on. When they’d first come out he’d acted like he would piss himself every time the wind blew too hard. Now he was acting like this was just normal stuff he did every day. Of course, Pete always got this way when he was sure of himself, (which he seemed to be now).

“Ok, ok calm down,” Rob quickly said to Pete trying to pull the reigns of leadership back to himself. “I was just asking.” Then addressing the group as a whole he continued, “We’ll try it Pete’s way and see if that works any better. If not then I say it’s a bust and we go home.” Each of them agreed before he continued.

“Ok, now here’s how we’re going to do it. On the count of three we go for it. Not before and not after.” They all said ok. “You assholes better not leave me hanging either,” he added before he started counting.

“One, Two, Three!” he said which was quickly followed by four voices howling into the night, “Goatman, Goatman, Goatman! Come get me!”

They all stood silently, listening to their combined voices drift away, waiting to see what effect calling the creature the way Pete had described might have. If nothing else it was definitely louder than the first one. If there really was a creature named the Goatman nearby he couldn’t help but hear his name and come a running.

As they waited thing slowly went from bad to worse. None of them had thought it was possible for the silence to get any deeper than before but they were wrong. Moments before their last call night noises had started returning but now the only sound to be heard was that of the breath slowly being inhaled and exhaled by four small kids. There weren’t even any words they could use to describe it. It was like there was just an inexplicable absence. Nothing there.

Just at that moment as if by some unspoken command the moon chose to drift out from behind the heavy fog that had surrounded them on their short journey.

For most of the trip they’d relied on what little night vision they possessed to see but when the moon finally made its appearance they found that the woods were much closer than they’d originally thought them to be. It shouldn’t have surprised them as much as it did since they knew the path passed through the forest but it still came as a surprise at how close they were. The four were quite literally surrounded. They each quickly realized how easy it would be for some creature to come rushing out at them or simply reach out and grab them. It would be easy for a creature like the Goatman to pick them off one by one or all at once. It only had to reach out. There would be little they could do about it. If they tried running in the dark they knew they would quickly be lost, and if they stayed, well, they didn’t want to think about that. Either way it was an uncomfortable thought to be added to everything else doing tonight. To top it off the darkness seemed to have a strangle hold on all the normal noises that came with the dark. Rob’s yelling didn’t help much either. There were no crickets chirping and no leaves rustling as the wind slipped through them. There were only four boys who were all beginning to get very scared.

“Aw, this is bull…” Rob whispered shakily before the other three shushed him.

“What?” he demanded. “There ain’t nothin coming.” He was trying to sound tough. Before he could say anything else a noise finally escaped the darkness and ran to their ears. It was hard to tell exactly where it came from but they were sure it was on the road before them. Unfortunately whatever it was seemed to be just out of their sight, moving around in the shadows, as if it knew they couldn’t see it. Just like something the Goatman did in all the stories they’d heard. First he made some kind of noise as a type of warning to whoever he was coming after. It could be something as little as breaking a tree branch or something as big as throwing stones at a car two people were making out in. Either way it gave only one warning then all hell would break loose.

They all listened hoping for some sign that their fears weren’t about to become a reality. When the next noise finally reached them they didn’t know if their plans had been answered or not. The sound of breaking branches reached out of the gloom like fingers on a chalkboard sending chills up down each boy’s spine and making their hair stand on end. The images racing through each of their heads soared to new heights trying to picture the creature that could cause such sounds. Huge feet crushed everything in the beast path. Nothing could stand up to the things might. It would only stop when it had devoured each of their bodies down to the last bone. Then it would slowly plod off to wherever it had come from. They tried preparing themselves for whatever might step from the fog but only succeeded in scaring themselves more. Then all of a sudden it ceased. Sure that they had actually been killed so fast they didn’t realize it yet they each looked at the other searching for some explanation. Nope, still alive. It didn’t make sense. One minute they were sure they were going to see the dreaded Goatman launch itself from the gloom the next there was nothing. No creature stalking towards them ready to eat them in a gulp. Nothing. The sounds had stopped.

After staring into the darkness for a few minutes with no results the boys again looked each other trying to make sense of what they’d heard. It had sounded as if something was walking through the woods directly towards them. But nothing materialized as far as their straining eyes could tell. There was no way they could’ve missed it. As they stood still frozen in place trying to decide what to do next, another sound worse than the one before reached out and snatched their attention. It was a simple sound at first. Just a crunching sorta sound like the sound gravel makes when someone is stepping on it. Just like the sound their feet were making whenever they took a step. The unfortunate thing was that whatever was doing the stepping was seemed big.

Really big.

The steps weren’t light. They could hear the rocks grinding together as whatever it was took each step. The steps themselves sounded unhurried, as if the thing approaching knew they were no longer in control of their bodies. It had them right where it wanted them.

Seeming to have no other choice but to stand there, the boys strained their eyes trying to pierce the dense fog swirling over the area around them. Their brains were all shouting at them to run but as afraid as they each were they were also excited. They wanted to see what it was even if it did mean their deaths. This was what they’d come for. They were about to have their proof of the Goatman’s existence. They’d come to see the Goatman and were determined to see it through to the end even if two of them had already pissed their pants from fright. The creature continued taking slow steps towards them prolonging the moment. Just as they thought they could wait no longer before tearing themselves from the ground something began to emerge from the fog.