James Moore - The Haunted Forest Tour

Mark slowed down as he looked at the town in the distance. He could see the trees punching out of the ground, one after another, and even from here it looked like some of the trees were already in town and doing damage.

“Jesus Christ!” Mark’s hands hit the steering wheel. He’d known that the situation was dire, but getting a couple of miles away from the forest should’ve been the solution. This… this was like the trees were attacking Dover’s Point.

He took out his cell phone and speed-dialed Chloe’s number.

No answer.

Hannah leaned forward for a moment to get a better view of something up ahead, and then leaned back just as the ground shook underneath them. Not a mild tremor like they’d felt previously, but the sort of vibrations that had Mark clutching the wheel and screaming like Speed Racer in an old cartoon. The Saturn skimmed across the surface of the road like an ice cube on a hot skillet and with about as much control. The asphalt disappeared from under them and was replaced by hard-baked soil and a few rocks.

Mark pumped the brakes carefully and fought the bucking wheel under his hands. Booth remained silent and eerily calm in the back seat. Hannah screamed her encouragement regarding the way Mark was handling the situation in the form of ear splitting shrieks and held onto the dashboard and the handle above her door until, finally, Mark managed to stop the car.

Both of them looked slowly back toward the road and the rising swell of dirt and ruptured pavement.

“What now?” Mark’s voice was strained enough that he could barely recognize it.

“Just start the car, Mark. Get us out of here before we find out, please.” Hannah made perfect sense, so he listened to her.

The car moved like it was supposed to, and he headed back for the road a good distance ahead of the swelling area.

They rode over the terrain until they caught the smooth road again and then he accelerated, casting a cautious eye toward the mounded spot behind them.

The road broke open, vomiting earth and gravel along the way. Then the source of the indigestion became apparent as the giant wyrm came out of the ground.

He couldn’t quite justify calling it a worm, but the archaic English word seemed to fit. It moved and pulsed as it rose into the air. The head of the beast was a line of hungry articulated feelers that grabbed the air and sought anything to stuff into the mouth just below them.

Mark sucked in a deep breath and gunned the engine again, forcing himself to look out the windshield as he headed for Dover’s Point.

Sure enough, just as he feared, the wyrm turned in their direction and began to follow, shoving its unholy bulk out onto the road and heaving itself forward with unsettling speed.

Booth finally spoke: “That’s a big one.”

Christopher made no attempt to struggle. He silently willed the bird to fly faster, even though he knew it was ridiculous to think that Pestilence would allow the bird to drop him off in time to warn his mother.

But he wasn’t going to let his mother die. Absolutely not. No matter what it took, even if he had to rip that demon’s smirking head right off its shoulders, he wasn’t going to let his mother die.

Just don’t bleed to death, and you’ll be fine. Mom will be fine. Everybody will be fine.

He cried out in pain as his legs crashed through some branches. The bird wasn’t being quite as attentive to his personal safety this flight.

And then the bird swooped down through the trees, into a small clearing. It didn’t set him down but instead hovered about ten feet above the ground, wings flapping. Birds weren’t supposed to be able to hover like that, but they also weren’t supposed to be able to do the bidding of demon masters.

Lee, Barbara, Tina, and Tommy were below. So was his mother. They all stood close together, staring at Pestilence.

“Ah, our guest of honor has arrived,” said Pestilence, looking up and winking at Christopher. Christopher tried to shout out a warning, but no words came out, just complete silence. He kicked and struggled and continued to scream silently.

“Mindy, step forward,” said Pestilence. Christopher watched in horror as his mother took a hesitant step forward. Lee put his arm out, blocking her from going further.

“What do you want from her?” Lee demanded.

“You’ve already proven yourself, skeptic. This is Mindy’s chance. This is her chance to save all of you, most especially her son.”

Christopher shouted with such force that his lungs burned, but he still had no voice.

“You’ll have to come through us to get her,” said Lee.

Pestilence nodded. “If that’s how it must be. I’ll happily scatter your body parts for miles. You’ve all survived a lot this fine day. It seems a bit foolish to let yourselves die a ghastly death when you’re so close to sweet freedom.”

Mindy pushed past Lee. “What do you want?”

“Oh, nothing substantial. I just want you to sacrifice yourself. Give your life for the others. That’s not such a big deal, is it?”

“You’re not going to touch her,” said Lee.

“Enough out of you.” Pestilence smiled. “You’ve had a good, long life, haven’t you, Mindy? Is it worth giving up your own life to save a young boy, a hero, and a widow? Perhaps not. But what about your son? Is it worth giving up your life to save your son?”

“How do I know you’ll let them go?” his mother asked.

No!

“Well, you could trust me, but I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have trustworthy features. So we’ll go with something a bit more over-the-top.”

Pestilence gestured, and the bird flew toward one of the trees, bashing Christopher into it.

“Sacrifice yourself, and the trees will part like the Red Sea, revealing the path to freedom. Be a selfish old hag, and your son gets beaten to death by a giant bird, and I kill all of you anyway. When you stop to think about it, there’s really only one good choice.”

“He’s lying,” said Lee. “Don’t listen to him.”

Pestilence’s smile vanished. “Skeptic, you are in grave danger of losing all of the good will I feel towards you. If you say one more word, or so much as utter a syllable that sounds like it might be in the process of forming a word, I will kill you where you stand. It won’t be a heroic death. It will be a senseless and embarrassing one. I’m offering Mindy the opportunity to save all of you, so please stay out of it. Nod if you understand me.”

Lee stood motionless for a moment, and then gave an almost imperceptible nod.

“Good. Now…”

Pestilence stared at Lee, who stared back. The two almost seemed like they had some sort of… connection . Like they were communicating without words. Christopher had no idea what they might be saying, but there was definitely something going on.

The demon blinked in surprise, as if suddenly realizing where he was. “Mindy, step forward.”

Mindy stepped past Lee and the others. Even from his vantage point, Christopher could see that she was trembling.

“No need to be afraid,” said Pestilence, his smile returning. “I guarantee that this will be painless. Much less painless than this.” He gestured, and the bird slammed Christopher against another tree. This time he thought he might have broken a rib.

“Leave him alone!” Mindy wailed.

“Well, now, that’s an option. Another option is for my feathered friend to bash your son against that tree until there’s nothing left to hold on to. It’s all up to you, Mindy.”

“I’ll do anything.”

“I like that attitude. Unfortunately, it’s a lot easier to say you’ll give yourself up as a sacrifice than to actually do it and mean it. Come closer.”