Michael Hunter - Come Get Me

The Goatman was swaying back and forth in front of Jim looking for all the world like he might follow Maria to her resting place. He really hoped that didn’t happen considering he was the only way they were going to get out of here. The gash in his chest seeped something but Jim was pretty sure it wasn’t blood. Focusing his eyes as best he could he swore he saw movement in the things chest. He was pretty woozy but he was sure the hole was closing. It took a few more second but after what could’ve only been a minute the wound was no longer there. The only thing left was another scar that matched all the others. The beast shook its head like a horse, flexed its chest muscles and stood straighter. It was completely healed. Jim just wished it was that easy for him.

Even after everything it had done for them, when the Goatman moved towards Jill he wanted to scream. All he could do was watch as the creature looked at first one of her hands then the other trying to figure out how to get her down. Jim strained himself into a sitting position to get a better look but it cost him. Stars danced in his vision for a few seconds before everything went black. Drifting off into unconsciousness he whispered an apology to Jill for not being able to save her and for ever getting her into this mess. It didn’t make him feel any better since he was sure she would never hear it.

He wasn’t sure how long he was out when he was suddenly shaken from his forced slumber. The creature was hovering over him sniffing him the way it had Maria a little while ago. If he could’ve he probably would’ve screamed. He knew he was indebted to it but the creature still wasn’t the prettiest thing he could think of. Especially after being forced to wake up.

Seeing he was awake the beast raised its head so that they were eye to eye. Dreading having to look at the creature much less stare it in the eye Jim squeezed his tightly shut. Jim could feel its breath blowing gently across his face. It didn’t smell as bad as he thought it would. Actually it smelled almost like flowers. He still kept his eyes shut. It might be some kind of trick. The brute didn’t seem to care. It seemed content to wait him out.

Finally after what seemed an eternity Jim gave in. Cracking his eyes he found exactly what he expected but then not what he expected. He was face to face with The Goatman. Instead of the animal savagery he thought he was going to see he saw something surprising. Kindness and caring seemed to reach out from the creature’s eyes and wrap him in a warm embrace. All his life Jim had heard horror stories about this creature and how it had killed and maimed too many people to count but looking into its eyes he couldn’t believe it. He knew it wasn’t true. This creature had never harmed anything that hadn’t harmed it first. All the stories were just that. Stories.

Not taking its eyes from him, he, as Jim was now thinking of it, gently picked him up and cradled him to its chest like a lost child. Turning swiftly from the room, it strode from the house barely looking away from Jim to see where it was going. Jim could only look up, smiling at it in wonderment. The creature gave him what must have passed for a smile and said in a rough voice unused to speaking, “You called and I came.” The sound was like two trees rubbing together in a strong wind. They seemed to echo in his head for a few seconds. After the words faded to nothing but a memory Jim was unsure if he even heard it right.

Wanting to ask it all the questions that were almost brimming over in his mind Jim found he was unable to. His body once again chose the most inopportune time to hit the shut off switch on him. As he slowly passed out he knew he was in no danger as long as he was in the creatures arms. What had scared him for life was now like coming home to a familiar friend he’d never known he had. All these years they thought the Goatman was out to hurt them but they had it all wrong. He was only there to help. If he actually chased them when they were kids it was probably only his way of playing. The poor creature life had to be one of the loneliest in existence. Now Tommy and Rob would never know the wonder of meeting this wonderful creature. With that unhappy thought floating through his head he was out.

He awoke some time later to the alarming smell of smoke. Opening his eyes too quickly he found he was momentarily blinded by a bright light. Not immediately understanding where he was he tried to sitting up but quickly found he was unable to. As his eyes adjusted he saw that the bright light was just the morning sun. He must’ve been out for quite some time. Making small movements trying to sit up he felt his muscles scream their protest. He was sore from head to toe not to mention spikes of pain still shot through his body every time he tried taking a deep breath. Turning his head slowly to keep the pain to a minimum he found Jill curled up on her side not more than two feet away. He could see her breathing was deep and steady and felt as if a great weight had lifted from his chest. She was ok and so was he. Quickly thanking God that she was ok he looked in the other direction and was greeted by the smiling face of Pete who was propped up against a tree.

“Got any hot dogs?” he giggled pointing towards Jim’s feet. Jim looked down between his legs and saw the house from last night. It didn’t look that bad by daylight he decided. Especially since it was on fire. One of the candles must’ve finally caught on something and then that was all she wrote. It was well on its way to being nothing but a bad memory. As he watched what was left of one of the ground floor walls fell over in a shower of sparks.

Pete began laughing for no apparent reason and for no apparent reason Jim soon found himself joining in. This once again proved to be too much for him. He quickly fell back hitting his head on the soft ground behind him. It was just enough to send stars shooting through his vision and make him pass out again. He could still hear Pete’s laughter and the sound of approaching sirens as he started to dream of a familiar dream but his time it wasn’t scary. This time it was just a normal dream about a walk through the woods. The Goatman wasn’t physically present but Jim’s dream self knew all he had to do was call and he would come.

The two of them sat in comfortable silence on the front porch of their newly purchased old house watching the sun slowly set over the horizon. After all the moving they’d done recently it felt good to be able to just sit and relax a little now and then. It would take a while before the place felt like a home but it was theirs and they were together and that was all that mattered.

The events that occurred over the past couple of months were already fading in their memories and those of the town. For the first couple of days after the events of that horrible night they weren’t left in peace for more than a few minutes at a time. Finding three people in the middle of nowhere next to a burning house was bad enough but after sifting through the rubble and finding two bodies they almost ended up being locked away for good. It was even worse when those two bodies were identified. The police had nothing but questions and threats after that.

They’d finally gotten the hint after about two weeks. The story they heard was always the same with nothing that could be proved or disproved either way. It was their words against those of dead people. This time the evidence had supported the living. The cops were still confused as to what had actually happened but Jim, Jill and Pete had no more answers to give them. They’d said all they could say about what happened. Well, at least Jill had told them everything she knew which wasn’t much. She luckily slept through everything that happened. The one thing that she did shed light on was how she’d been abducted.