Gina Ranalli - House of Fallen Trees

“Don’t close it,” Saul shouted, running forward and gripping the door, holding it open as he tried to shield his face from the battering wind and see out into the back yard at the same time.

Trees had crept up against the house on this side as well, nestled right up to the porch so the trunks actually touched the wooden railing.

Karen ran to stand behind Saul, peering over his shoulder into the storm, trying to see around the tree trunks.

“Someone’s out there,” Saul said.

Behind them, Rory cursed. “What the fuck is going on? How could anyone be out there?”

But regardless of what he thought, someone was indeed out there. Both Karen and Saul saw movement far back towards what had previously been the edge of the woods but was now just deeper, darker woods.

A figure, stooped and loping through the trees, dodging fallen branches, hands raised above its head in a feeble attempt to protect it.

Squinting, Karen struggled to see the figure more clearly. Definitely human and naked by the looks of it, though it was hard to tell from this distance. A dark-skinned man, she thought, screaming and running.

As they watched, the figure reversed direction and then was bolting towards the house, towards them for a moment before veering off to the right.

“Oh my God,” Karen whispered.

Saul finished the thought for her. “It’s Sean.”

Karen shoved herself past Saul, screaming her brother’s name as she stepped out onto the porch, already trying to figure out a way past these trees, to get out there and reach him.

Saul was already way ahead of her, vaulting the porch railing and squeezing out from between two pines. Karen tried to follow the way he’d gone, but hands gripped her shoulders and held her back.

“No,” Rory shouted. “It’s too dangerous out there.”

As if to prove him right, from somewhere above something cracked and a branch began its long descent, knocking into other branches on its way down until dozens of them of various sizes crashed onto the porch roof and rolled off.

“Let me go!” Karen screamed, struggling to free herself of his grip.

“You want to get killed too?” Rory yelled in her ear. “Saul will get him!” Karen twisted around as best she could, intending to punch him if she had to but when she saw his face, she froze. Rory was crying, tears streaming from his eyes and blowing back across his cheeks towards his ears. The sight of him brought tears to Karen’s eyes as well, and she turned back to see if she could spot either Sean or Saul, but realized that wherever they now were, it was out of their line of sight.

She raised a hand to her mouth, sobbing now, the ache in her so fierce and jagged she felt as if her heart was being torn from her body, a pain so deep and excruciating she knew nothing could ever hurt so badly unless it had been latent, there all along, allowed to fester and bleed under the surface, growing in size; an infection that couldn’t help but explode in a drowning rush of anguish the moment it suffered even the slightest prick.

Shouts from somewhere out there reached them — Saul was yelling the word “Stop!” repeatedly, as well as Sean’s name. Another crash and a cry of pain and then only the wind for entirely too long.

Both Karen and Rory held their breath, choking back their sobs, eyes straining for any sight of movement out there in the gloom.

The dog had found the courage to come out from the table and stood shivering against Karen’s thigh, periodically letting out a shrill bark.

Karen was certain they’d lost both men to the storm when they heard a loud grunt to their left and ran to that side of the porch, peering over the edge to a small area where no tree stood.

Rolling on the ground, Saul fought with Sean, who Karen could now see was so filthy he had appeared to be dark-skinned from a distance.

Saul was doing his best not to hurt Sean, who kept striking out with fists and feet in an attempt to escape. Blood streamed from Saul’s nose, pine needles and dirt already mixed up with it, caking on his upper lip. Rory leapt over the rail to help subdue Sean, which made Sean struggle all the harder, making strange grunts and animal sounds.

“ Sean !” Karen screamed, throwing a leg over the rail, intending to drop down and assist if she could.

Sean didn’t even glance up at the sound of his name, eyes rolling and terrified, fighting with the men as if he’d never seen them before in his life.

It wasn’t until Dusty, sticking her head through the slats of railing, barked twice, that Sean looked up and recognition showed in his wild eyes. He tossed back a sharp elbow, nailing Rory in the mouth and at the same time reached behind him, grabbing Saul’s crotch and giving it a vicious twist. Rory fell backwards onto his ass, blood spurting out from between his fingers as he covered his mouth, eyes crunched closed in pain while Saul howled loud enough to raise the dead, releasing Sean to cup his balls with both hands.

Karen dragged the leg she’d had hanging over the railing back as Sean pounced up, gripping the railing with both grimy hands and vaulting himself over onto the porch with the agility of a monkey.

He rolled on the plank floor of the porch, snarled up at Karen and scuttled over to Dusty. Karen reeled back a foot, intending to kick her brother square in the ribs before he was able to attack the dog. Her foot stopped mid-kick when she saw Dusty rush forward to meet him, yipping not with fear or fury, but happily, covering Sean’s face with long laps, tail wagging with excitement.

Sean, laughing, rolled around with the dog, though his eyes kept darting up to Karen, ensuring she had no intention of coming any closer.

She kept her distance, crying again now as she realized her brother was alive, but not her brother at all anymore, not really.

He was as wild as any animal now, scrawny to the point of emaciation, every bone joint in his body prominent, along with his ribs, collar and hip bones.

Crouching down, she kept her distance, but called to the dog, wanting Sean to see that if the dog trusted her, so could he.

It took saying her name nearly a dozen times, but Dusty finally turned from Sean and trotted over to Karen, giving her face a single tentative lap while Sean made a bleating sound of distress.

Another fat branch hit the roof of the porch and Dusty yelped, running back to Sean with her tail between her legs. He wrapped his arms around the dog’s neck, looking up with terror.

“It’s safer inside,” Karen yelled over the wind, pointing to the open doorway. Sean looked into the kitchen beyond, then back at Karen. He didn’t know that behind him, still on the ground, Rory stood watching them, a smear of blood on his chin. Saul was just beginning to get up, his face screwed up in a grimace of pain.

Karen slowly made her way inside, stopping in the doorway to call to the dog again.

“Come here, girl. Come on, Dusty. It’s okay.”

Dusty looked from her to Sean, uncertain, and Sean grabbed her around her furry neck once more, pulling her to him, trying to keep her back. His eyes still darted to and fro and Karen realized he was more afraid of the house than he was the storm. She couldn’t much blame him in that regard. But she had a feeling that if she got the dog inside, the man would follow and what was the best way to get a hungry animal to come to you when it otherwise wouldn’t have?

She raised a hand to stop Saul and Rory from climbing back onto the porch. She could see they were whispering to each other and though she couldn’t hear their words she knew perfectly well they planned to jump Sean while he was focused on her. Jump and what? Subdue him somehow? Tie him up? Knock him out?