The Worst Kind of Monsters Page 21

I can’t see where the ropes lead, the dangling cords disappearing far up into the fog and night sky.

  I’m going to climb up.

  But how do I decide which one is the right one? Is there a right one?

  And what the hell is waiting for me up there?

  I’m shaking. Something is so wrong with this place. Please God.

  Don’t let this be the end.

  Entry???

  ????

  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////[HEL]{>>>>>>}

  >>>>>>>>ENOGGNIHTYREVE>>[HEL]

  Entry???

  ????

  \\\\\\9TH666 /////////////{MIHDNUOF}/////[HEL]>>>>>

  PART 3

  What follows is a transcript of an audio log recorded by Officer Michael Trenton, recovered at XXXXXXXX:

  3:32pm

  “This is Officer Trenton. It’s about three-thirty on Wednesday the 18th. I’m…I’m assuming this tape will be the last thing the living world hears from me. I don’t think I’ll be coming back from this. But I don’t care. I’ve had enough. I can’t live with this guilt anymore.

  clears throat

  Two days ago, some young men came to our police station seeking help. They told us their friends had disappeared into the mountains. They had a series of disturbing texts from one of their brothers who was missing. They were looking for him. We turned them away. I suspect they went to look on their own, which means they’re probably gone, too.

  You see…something is wrong with those mountains. We all know it. The rangers, the police, all of us. But we don’t talk about it. We don’t like to. It makes us…nervous. Some of us have seen the ropes, hanging in the clearings…the fog and cold choking the courage right out of us. A few have heard that…thing…as well…that screeching darkness that resides by the ropes.

  None of us knows what it means. None of us wants to talk about it. For some reason, I feel like we shouldn’t. Something just ain’t right about that place.

  But those boys…they needed our help and we turned them away. It wasn’t right. We shouldn’t have done that. We’re all scared of those woods, but they came to us for help! I tried talking to the others about it, a couple of the rangers, but they wouldn’t join me. So I’m on my own. I’m going to try and find those kids, I have to. I haven’t slept properly since they showed me those texts. They’re out there…it’s my duty to help them.”

  4:19pm

  “Officer Trenton here. I’m on my way to the location. This tape recorder will hopefully serve as my eyes and ears. I want people to know what’s up here. Maybe then they’ll stay away. Maybe then no one will get hurt. Maybe I can prevent some of this…ah shit…you know what I mean.”

  unintelligible mumbling

  “I’m about twenty minutes from the mountain. I brought a flashlight. I wish I could do this in the daylight…but it doesn’t work like that.

  Not if I want to see the ropes.”

  4:45pm

  “Trenton here. I made it. I’m at the start of the trail. The mountain is looming before me in the fading light. It’s so…quiet. I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t scared. Standing here, looking into these woods…I’ll tell you, it drains the courage right out of me.

  But those boys need help.

  And I have to try.”

  6:29pm

  heavy panting

  “So far, so good. All’s quiet. Been walking for about two hours now. These woods…they feel like they’re changing…moving…or maybe that’s just my own paranoia. Either way, I feel…unhinged. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. And now I’m remembering why I stayed away for so long. I hope I haven’t forgotten the way. Christ, these woods are quiet.”

  8:44pm

  “I feel like I should have found the spot by now. I’ve been walking for four hours. I don’t remember it taking so long. I’m moving slower now that it’s dark, but still. Something feels off. More than normal.”

  9:58pm

  “I shouldn’t be here. Maybe this was a mistake. I feel like I’m getting lost.”

  10:39pm

  rustling

  “I found one of the stones. Almost tripped over the damn thing. There’s an arrow on it with some strange markings. I don’t remember the markings. Maybe they’re new. I must be getting close. I need to keep following the stones. They’ll take me to the ropes.”

  11:14pm

  whispering

  “It found me. The monster. Christ, it’s fucking horrible. I can hear it…screeching and groaning out there in the darkness. It’s following me. What the fuck is it? What does it want? It sounds enormous, a lumbering shadow that’s blacker than the deepest darkness.

  I think it wants me to keep moving.”

  12:01am

  “Jesus…I’ve found them…”

  static

  “It’s…it’s been so long since I’ve seen the ropes…they look like empty balloon strings, dangling from the fog-choked sky. I’m standing in a field, circled by towering trees. That thing, that grinding, scraping noise, it’s behind me in the trees. It’s watching me. I feel cold, terrified. I’m shaking, the fog wrapping around my skin like an icy husk. I can see my breath pluming from my mouth as I speak.

  Jesus, can you hear that thing? Listen!”

  distant screeching

  “Can you hear that!? It’s getting impatient. God…there’s so many ropes. Those boys…they’re up there somewhere…

  Fuck, now that I’m standing here, I don’t know if I can do this. I’m so fucking scared. This place, whatever it is…it shouldn’t exist.”

  loud screeching

  “Jesus SHIT. You can hear that, right? Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!”

  heavy breathing

  “I don’t have a choice. I have to go up. God, if you’re listening…please help me…”

  ???

  unintelligible noises in the background

  “I think I made it to the top…my God…if you could see this…”

  ???

  “This place…this place shouldn’t exist. It’s not possible. It’s so cold up here. There’s fog everywhere. Darkness. I can see the moon, but it’s…different. It looks…elongated. Warped, like there’s a wavering film over it. I’m in some kind of woods, but the trees are bare and the branches are all bent, as if they’re craning backwards to stare at that eerie moon.

  I’ve been following a noise. It sounds like a person calling me.

  I think it’s one of those boys.”

  ???

  whispering

  “I’ve found another clearing. I haven’t gone into it yet. I’m hiding behind a tree. Jesus, if you could see what I’m seeing…

  Something huge is standing in the middle. I can’t seem to focus on its shape. It looks human but…not. It’s shifting, a mass of darkness. I can make out legs, arms, and a dark head with a long snout. Fog is rolling off of it in thick waves. It’s…it’s pointing at the moon, motionless, a long ebony finger stretching into the dark sky.

  Christ!

  There’s people! Tons of people! How did I not see them before!? They’re circling the massive black form, all staring up at that weird, horrible moon. They look…

  Fucking hell, they look terrified. Holy SHIT…I see them. I see the two young men who came into the police station! I fucking see them! They’re in that circle, looking at the moon. Christ. I want to leave, I’m fucking horrified. There is something evil going on here. It’s churning my stomach. What is this insanity? Where am I?!

  What is this place?!

  What the fuck…there’s something wrong with their necks…they’re…growing…expanding from their shoulders like fleshy worms. What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck…

  Stretching toward that twisted, warped moon!

  There! They’re all whispering something! I can barely make it out…it sounds like they’re saying…‘Shimmer…Shimmer…’

  What does that mean?!

  Are they…are they worshiping this thing?


  JESUS CHRIST THEY SEE ME THEY SEE ME THEY SEE M—

  static

  END LOG.

  12

  Shimmer

  My girlfriend and I unpacked the groceries from my car and walked them inside the cabin. We had gotten about a week’s worth of food because the drive into the closest town was over thirty miles. It was a pleasant drive, the long winding road taking us through Vermont’s lovely countryside, but not one we wanted to make daily. We came out here to get away from all that, to enjoy her recently inherited lake house and each other’s company.

  Jenny, my girlfriend, had been the sole remaining relative to her grandmother, and while they hadn’t been close, she had received quite a sum of money plus the house as a result of her passing a couple months ago.

  We decided to spend a few weeks of our summer vacation here, exploring nature and the mountains, before going back to college in the fall. We had been looking forward to this and it had given us the extra willpower to get through the brutal college finals.

  The lake house was beautiful. A three-bedroom masterpiece of woodwork and architecture. The wood interior was polished to a shine, the cozy thick rugs were clean and inviting, and a massive fireplace sat directly in the middle of the living room.

  The house faced an expansive lake, a neatly kept green lawn stretching for fifty yards to meet the water’s edge. Dense woods crowded around the rest of the house, barely giving way to the long driveway that snaked up to a two-car garage. It was everything we could have hoped for.

  “You got everything?” Jenny asked, hoisting a couple bags.

  “That’s the last of it,” I said, struggling to close the trunk and not drop the food I was juggling.

  We walked into the house and began putting everything away, a mood of excited freedom sparking our conversation. After everything was in its place, I fired up the grill on the front porch and began cooking up some steaks. Jen came out and cracked a beer for me, smiling and tilting her own toward mine.

  “Cheers, babe, here’s to a month of adventure.”

  I clinked bottles then leaned in and kissed her, letting it last. She pulled away and went inside, throwing me a wink over her shoulder. Life was good.

  That was before the nightmares began.

  It was the first night, both of us slightly drunk and giggly, and we had sex in the master bedroom. The two of us were so alone, more alone than we had been all year, and it sparked a playful coyness in my girlfriend. It was definitely a night to remember.

  After I rolled off her, we lay breathing, both of us smiling and looking at each other. I reached out and wiped a trickle of sweat off her forehead.

  “Worked for that one, huh?” I said, teasing.

  She laughed and rolled over to rest her chin on my chest, her big blue eyes meeting mine. “I’d say that goes in our top three.”

  I mocked shock. “What do you mean OUR top three? How about ‘of all time’?”

  She bit my chest playfully. “You know you’re my only one.”

  I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Yeah I wish. I love you, Jenny.”

  She kissed me. “I love you too.”

  Soon after we were fast asleep, a bright moon rising and spilling its soft glow across the lake. A gentle breeze added to the symphony of night noises, lost to us in peaceful slumber.

  I awoke slowly, not quite sure what my reason for waking was. Then I heard Jenny quietly muttering in her sleep. She kept rolling over, a stray leg or arm bumping me. She was covered in sweat and her face was bunched in a worried expression. At first I thought she was trying to tell me something, but I realized she was still passed out.

  As I was about to gently calm her, I caught what she was saying. It was the same word over and over again.

  “Shimmer…shimmer…shimmer…”

  I figured she was probably having a strange dream and I carefully placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. I stroked her hair and kissed her head.

  “Shhhh, baby, it’s OK. Shhhhh…you’re just having a bad dream. I’m right here.”

  After a couple minutes her body relaxed and she went silent, the nightmare releasing her mind. We both slept soundly until morning.

  It was a stunning June day and the bright sun practically sang out over the deep blue sky. As I made us breakfast, I asked Jenny if she remembered having nightmares. She said she didn’t, that she slept like a rock, so I let it go and we took our food outside and ate on the porch, enjoying the morning air.

  As we ate, we discussed our plans for the day. There were so many options. Do we go hiking? Swimming? Lay out in the sun and read? We decided the lake looked inviting and so after we cleaned up the breakfast dishes, we changed and went charging toward the water screaming and laughing like little kids.

  It was a wonderful day, the weather warming and encouraging us to take multiple swims between suntanning. At lunch, Jenny walked up the front lawn and came back a few minutes later with the chicken wings we bought yesterday and a couple of beers. We sat on the shore, eating and drying off, the cold beer underlying how perfect it all felt. After lunch I fell asleep. The warm rays trickled down the sky and stroked my skin as I slept.

  Three hours later I woke with a smile. I stretched and stared into the blue. I had needed that, the long drive yesterday exhausting me. I felt refreshed and I pulled myself up from my towel, scanning the yard for Jenny. I didn’t see her so I rolled over on my back and wiped the grogginess from my face.

  Eventually, I got up and went up to the house. I called out for Jenny as I entered the front door, but there was no response. I figured she went for a walk in the woods and began making us dinner. I wanted to do something romantic, given this time to surprise her, and so I cooked stuffed chicken, the one thing I could make with some finesse. Time ticked by and as I was putting the last dish on the table, Jenny returned.

  “Oh, look at you,” she said, kicking off her shoes and taking the glass of wine I was pouring for dinner. “Don’t you just know how to spoil a girl?”

  I gave her a kiss. “You didn’t give me time to go find some flower petals I could sprinkle over the table.”

  She laughed and surveyed the steaming food. “Looks like you did pretty well, regardless.”

  “Where’d you go?” I asked, pulling a chair out for her to sit.

  She took another sip of wine and sat down. “Just out into the woods for a little exploring. Didn’t know how long you were going to be asleep for.”

  I sat across from her and started to fill her plate. “Find anything good?”

  She picked up her fork. “Not really, just a lot of trees and bugs. This looks amazing by the way, thank you.”

  Right before she took her first bite, her fork froze and very quietly, she muttered something in rapid succession.

  “Shimmer shimmer shimmer shine.”

  I looked up. “What was that?”

  She took a bite and her eyes rolled back. “Oh my God, this is so tasty. What? I didn’t say anything, love. But I will say you’re turning into quite the chef.”

  I stared at her for another second then dug in, discarding what had surely been my imagination.

  After dinner we started a fire and sat cuddled together drinking wine and talking about the past semester. The evening slowly bloomed into darkness and the moon returned, climbing its star-studded ladder into the sky. The fire started to die and the sounds of late night began to chirp all around us.

  Draining the last bits of wine from our glasses and the bottle, we slowly made our way to bed, turning the lights out and making sure all the doors were locked. After brushing our teeth and stripping, we climbed into bed and fell asleep cuddling.

  I woke up. I glanced at the clock on the stand next to me and saw it was a little after two. Jenny was kicking me again, slowly tossing from one side to the other. She was an oven. Through the window, the moonlight showed a sheen of sweat covering her face. She was talking, her voice strained, almost scared. I couldn’t make ou
t what she was saying at first, but then I leaned in closer.

  “Shimmer…shine…shine…shimmer…”

  Again with this, I thought. I knew I heard her at dinner. What the hell?

  I reached out to wake her when her eyes snapped open and she looked directly at me.

  “It’s in here. It’s over there in the corner.”

  I paused, her words chilling me. I glanced over at the far corner of the room which was empty…and saw nothing.

  “Honey, you’re having a nightmare, there’s nothing there. Everything is OK,” I said.

  She didn’t move an inch, her eyes huge and bulging. “I can see it. It’s there. It’s looking at you.”

  Her words made my heart race, the sureness in her voice chilling me. I knew she was asleep; she had sleepwalked before in school so this was nothing new. But I had never heard such anxious seriousness in her voice before.

  I glanced again at the dark corner, the shadows from the moon twisting the black. There was nothing.

  “Jen, wake up,” I said, grabbing her shoulders.

  She remained the same, those eyes drilling into mine. “It scares me. It really, really scares me. Make it go away…NO! NO, DON’T LOOK AT ME!” She suddenly screamed, turning to look into the corner. She pulled the sheets over her head, her voice shattering the last bit of bravery I had. I leaned up and snapped the light on.

  There was nothing in the corner.

  “Look!” I said, trying to pulled the covers down. “Look, there’s nothing there! It’s OK!”

  Jenny stopped screaming, her breath slowing, and she very cautiously peeked out. She closed her eyes and sighed, “It’s gone back to the shimmer…” and then she was fast asleep as if nothing had happened.

  “What the hell,” I whispered, shaken from the whole thing. Clearly she was having some horrible nightmare, but being in a new house out in the middle of nowhere did nothing to help calm my shocked nerves. Making sure she was asleep, I quietly got out of bed and went to sit on the porch outside. I needed the night air to clear my head.

  I leaned back in my chair, watching the way the water rippled in the moonlight. I looked to my right, toward the tree line, and scanned the looming woods. All was quiet and still. I sighed deeply, running my hands over my face. What a night. I decided I was going to talk to Jenny in the morning, ask her what this shimmer nonsense was all about. It weirded me out, the soft passive way she kept saying it. I’d never heard her mention having nightmares before either, not for as long as I had known her. It must be the new place, I reasoned; unfamiliarity can breed fear.