Day Four
The covering of snow on the ground was thinner today. As I strode through the forest, I found myself wondering if I had seen the last of Sam. Whatever he had encountered had seriously disturbed him, maybe enough to keep him away from these woods.
My question was soon answered as I noticed a figure, covered in a large brown coat, approaching me through the trees.
"Hunter!" he called, none of the panic from our last encounter evident in his voice.
"Sam," I replied, without enthusiasm. He quickly approached and began walking alongside me. Although he seemed to be in better spirits, I noticed that his eyes were darting around nervously, scanning the forest every few seconds.
"I'm surprised that you're here today. I thought that you had been scared off for good."
"Certainly not!" he announced. "I'm not about to stop hiking because of some phantom I never even saw! Besides," he took out an archaic-looking revolver from his pocket, "I came prepared this time."
"That thing must be a hundred years old. Where did you get it?"
"It was an heirloom from my grandfather. He taught me how to use it when I was just a child."
"Does it still work?"
"It sure does. I tested it this morning."
"And now you feel safe?"
"Yeah. Although..." Sam hesitated, as if debating with himself whether to say whatever he was thinking. I took this time to puzzle over why I was being so talkative today. I was rarely ever so outgoing among others.
"I did some research and asked some questions online last night, about what I experienced," Sam continued.
"And?" I prompted, after several seconds of silence.
"A lot of people said I must have just been imagining it. Others said it could have been a bear, like I thought. But there were some stranger theories. Have you ever heard of a Wendigo?"
"Wendigo," I repeated emotionlessly.
He laughed nervously. "It's a kind of monster from Algonquian mythology. They say it lives deep in the forest and has an insatiable hunger for human flesh."
"I'm not afraid of such things."
"Yeah, you're right, it does sound silly, doesn't it? It's just, the way it was described - the atmosphere it supposedly creates before it attacks - it seemed so similar to what I felt yesterday." He carefully inspected his revolver.
"Do you think your gun will stop a Wendigo?"
"Probably not," he admitted, "but they don't actually exist. It's just a scary story."
"Then why mention it?"
"I don't know, I just felt like talking about it, okay? It helps me feel a little better."
Even though he had only raised his voice slightly, I glared down at him in irritation, and he shrunk back.
"Anyway, I had better be going. I don't want to risk being out here after sundown." He chuckled nervously. I said nothing as we parted ways.
Less than fifteen minutes later, I heard two distant gunshots, followed by an agonized scream. There was no mistaking the old man's voice. I took off in the direction of the sounds.
I soon arrived in a small clearing. There was a body on the ground, torn to shreds and missing its left arm. Lying nearby on the ground, evidently useless, was the revolver. I recognized the now torn and bloodstained coat the man was wearing immediately. Crouched over the corpse was a massive yet gaunt figure, humanoid in shape but with thin, decomposing skin and viciously sharp claws. It was facing away from me, gnawing on Sam's bloody arm.
I sighed, taking a step forward. "You know, as hard as it is to accept, I was actually becoming somewhat fond of that man. Perhaps I was even beginning to consider him a friend."
The creature paused, turning to face me. Blood dripped from a mouth full of sharp teeth, in multiple rows. It dropped the arm and stood, reaching its full height, over three meters tall.
It doubtlessly expected me to run, but as I stood there undaunted, it tilted its head to the side, an almost comical gesture coming from such a creature. It took a few steps towards me, raising one of its arms.
When it was less than a meter away, preparing to slash me with an immense, bloody claw, it stopped. Its eyes went wide in terror, and I smiled. It knew.
The beast immediately took off in the opposite direction, knocking trees and brush out of its way as it frantically rushed through the forest. I gave it a few seconds of a head start, then languidly raised my right arm. A tendril of darkness shot out from where my hand had once been, winding its way through the trees at preternatural speed. An instant later, it retracted. At the other end was the Wendigo, held aloft in a net-like web of shadows. I would have smiled as I watched it struggle futilely, but my face was no longer remotely human enough to make such as expression. I could still speak, however.
"A lesson learned too late:" I rasped, my voice several octaves lower than its previous tone. "If you provoke me, I will kill you."
My jaws unhinged as I pulled the beast closer, and then swallowed it whole in an instant.
I turned to look at the mutilated human corpse, still bleeding on the ground before me. I know that humans tend to bury their dead, but that custom was foreign to me. I turned around and disappeared back into the forest. Perhaps I would travel this path again tomorrow, or I might find a new place to walk. It didn't matter that much to me.