Otherworld

A camper's Nightmare

Chapter 5 A Camper's Nightmare

School finished in a blur of classwork and extra assignments. The long-awaited summer was finally here, and I couldn't have been happier. I spent a lot of time with Croix over the last few months, learning all I could about his people and the Dark Ones. We became friends with a deep bond. It had come to the point where people thought we were dating. That fact didn't bother me much. After the Shawn incident, I fancied Croix anyway.

I now had my own vehicle to get around the county, thanks to my Uncle. He had a beat-up old farm truck he needed to get rid of before he moved down south. The fall of the auto industry hit him hard, as it did with many others statewide.

People across the country didn't understand how badly the failed bailout programs intended to bolster revenue for General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford stripped Michigan's job market. Not only did Detroit suffer to the point of no return, so too did most of the industry all the way into Port Huron and the Thumb. Factories closed by the dozens, abandoning Michigan for places like Alabama and Mississippi, where economic booms fed the southern economy.

This was certainly the case for my Uncle. The plant he thought he would retire in went belly up. He said most people would not be able to afford basic needs anymore; the government could only spare the rich fat-cats and left all of greater Detroit to rot. He'd been lucky enough to obtain a transfer to a newly built plant on the other side of the country. That called for downsizing.

It broke my heart to know that my Uncle's large family would no longer be a part of weekend get-togethers. They wouldn't even be within a reasonable distance to be visited. We'd probably only get to see them in the summers to follow.

Before they all left, my dad decided to hold a huge bonfire. We had spare wood from a tree that fell over the garden in the last storm. Plus, we'd been looking for a reason to torch an old couch my mother had stored in the back of the basement that she wanted gone. Burning that sucker made the entire yard smell like wet drywall—all mildewy and gross.

It clearly was not safe to eat anything off that fire, so we had a much smaller pit for roasting Kogels hotdogs and marshmallows. My favorite cousin, Nicole, and I laid out in the yard and stargazed. The dark skies over rural Michigan were so clear and unobstructed, and you could actually see the vastness of the MilkyWay. I would miss her dearly.

                                                                                      *

As long as I paid for my own gas and was back at decent times, my parents let me enjoy my summer with little interference. Mom often asked to know where I was going, but I never had an issue with telling her. I got myself a part-time job at the Anchorage, a small restaurant and ice cream shop in town along M-25. The rest of my time was spent with either Croix or Melody.

That day, I picked up both of them as well as Shawn (who apparently found a new lease on life while I was around) for a camping trip. Croix wanted to get to know more about them, and I figured this would be the best way to do it. We could have gone to any number of parks. All of them were wonderfully upkept, and most had spectacular views of Lake Huron. But they were pretty full of people this time of year. One of my dad's friend owned the land an old gravel quarry sat on, and we nicknamed it The Pitts. With privacy in mind, we headed that way.

I was able to drive carefully down the old lane and parked out of sight. The Pitts dipped down into the earth with high piles of fertile soil and discarded rubble randomly placed along the entrance, left to the wilds. Hardy meadow flowers such as daisies, ragweed, and Queen Anne's lace grew up the slopes of the quarry. Over the years, water filled the actual dig site. My father's friend stocked fish in it, and it became a hidden fisherman's paradise.

We set up our tents and created a makeshift fire pit. I borrowed a fair amount of my dad's fishing gear and proceeded to set up a little station with a tub of nightcrawlers, tackle, and a leader line. I wasn't sure if Melody would fish, but I always enjoyed it. Except for having to tear the worms apart, of course. That was still going to be gross.

As night fell, it seemed like everyone was having a good time. Shawn even apologized to Croix and me about what he said at the Pointe. The night slowly slid by with silly little campfire tales and what I liked to call Hobo Packets for dinner. Pretty much just a tinfoil packet stuffed with hamburger steak, veggies, and sauce. It was absolutely delicious. With full bellies, we went to bed late in the night. 

Sometime near three or so in the morning, a sharp screech nearby startled me out of the most wonderful dream. My heart beat up in my throat, making it hard for me to swallow or breathe. What in the ever-loving crap was that? I could not will myself to move. Fear anchored me into place with false security.

It wasn't until Croix burst into my tent and jumped over me that I unfroze. He tucked my face into his chest and squeezed me close just as the very top of my tent ripped open by the most awful looking creature I had ever caught a glimpse of. The screeching continued, but it sounded much more like actual speech this time.

"Give us the lake-child." The creature above hissed. I dared to look up. This thing looked almost human, but there was something inherently dark about it. It had to have been at least eight feet tall, and it was thin like a starving tree. Its hands were gnarled and huge. But what really got me was the creature's face.

I could have considered it a pretty, nearly fae face with it's sharp and delicate features.  But the lips were gone as though they had been chewed away. Old, yellowed teeth and black gums were exposed, giving the otherwise stunning features a terrifying appearance. Never in my life had I seen such a frightening thing.

"Begone. That will not fix your curse, product of greed." Croix hissed.

"We expect the child will find us then if she wishes to keep her companions alive." The horror grinned wickedly before it disappeared.

My head went into overdrive. "What was that? Where are Melody and Shawn?" I struggled to get up and pushed Croix aside. When I managed to get to my feet, I glanced around our now destroyed campsite. The other tents had been obliterated, their contents scattered around them. My friends were gone with not even a trace left.

Croix swore under his breath. "Wendigo…"

"What?" I felt the hair rise up on the back on my neck. "Where are they? I have to find them." I started to hurry, practically tripping over myself in the process.

"That thing was a Wendigo. Listen to me, Gwen." Croix put his hands on my shoulders and lowered himself to stare straight into my face. "We need to be quick, and we need to be careful. And you must promise you will do what I tell you to, got it?"

I nodded, my anxiety spiking. "You mean Melody and Shawn got snatched up by a beast?"

"That is not what a Wendigo is. Contrary to popular belief, its not a wolfman or some other twisted woodland creature. It's a cursed man—the living embodiment of greed and ill intent.

Many years ago, before the first people built their lives around the lakes, that sort of creature didn't exist. It was only when the populations of indigenous humans started to expand and fight each other that Wendigo sightings began to occur.

Wendigo once mere men. Cursed humans that committed atrocities mother nature could never forgive. Like cannibalism or the taboo. Their hearts blackened as time went on, and they live in absolute agony. Not even death can spare them from this fate. Their bodies change over time, growing thin and tall. The need to consume flesh overtakes them so severely that they often chew their own lips off.  They are not inherently evil nor good, but they are undoubtedly dangerous." Croix explained as thoroughly as he could.

"Is that what all of the Dark Ones are?" I asked. I didn't like what I was hearing, and I feared for the worst.

"No. The Dark Ones are ancient spirits tied to the land. They may have enticed the Wendigo with promises of a meal, but they aren't allies. They feed off the strife and the malice of other beings. The Lake Mother said they only exist to create chaos. This is not the only corner of the world they call home." Croix grunted as he shifted into a buck. "I'm more worried about them than the thing that took your friends."

"So, what do we- I do?" I pulled myself up on to his back and held on to his neck firmly, trying to get used to him changing at will. "You know where he took them, don't you." I had a sneaking suspicion I already knew where myself. Croix just had to confirm it. The Limestone caves.

                                                                        *

Croix was lightning fast. Thought we were some twenty miles away from the caverns on the lakeshore, he crossed that distance in under fifteen minutes. Before too long, we stood at the cave's mouth and peered into the darkness within. As I paced a little on the shoal, I chewed nervously on my fingernails. It was a bad habit I could not shake when I was stressed out.

"Gwendolyn."

"Huh?" My eyes met with Croix's wild ones.

"Whatever happens, don't let them make a deal with you." He warned, his tone serious. "I'm going to sit on your shoulder and try to keep myself from being discovered. It will give you an advantage." Croix shifted from a formidably sized deer to the most adorable little squirrel I ever laid eyes on.

 For a minute, I forgot what we were there for, cooing over him. Croix didn't seem to mind it, but he did not let my girlish pleasure carry on too long. He skittered up my clothing and practically nested in my messy hair. "Watch your step." He piped, tiny nose twitching. "You can do this."

I sucked in a deep breath before I carefully clamored down into the cave. The stone beneath my feet created a natural stair for a decent portion of the way down. It was too dark for my liking, though. I almost turned back several times, but Croix squeaked me on. The steady trickling of the tide spilling over the mouth of the cave echoed in the deep, almost soothingly, trying to give me a false sense of security.

My hand trailed along the damp walls, and I eyed the floor while I still had a little bit of light from the moon outside. It wasn't much. "Hey, Croix? You didn't happen to grab a flashlight, did you?" I whispered hopefully. That would have been the smart thing to do.

"No. Where do you think I could possibly put it? In my cheeks?"

"Good point."

"Grab that piece of driftwood. It looks dry enough. We can make a torch." He squeaked, moving to my other shoulder.

The wood in question was perfect. I held it up to Croix so he could give it a look over. POP. The top of it sparked, eventually kindling a small flame as Croix summoned the element. With the tunnel illuminated, I held the torch out in front of me. I didn't see any signs of a scuffle just yet.

At first, there was nothing worth noting. The layered stone rose and fell in stacks, seemingly untouched by anything but time. I walked forward slowly, awestruck at the many formations around me. I had no idea all of this existed underneath the quaint Michigan countryside. It was only after wandering a few more feet deeper that something caught my eye.

A shoe rested by an offshoot of the current cavern I was in. I plucked it up quickly, turning it in my hands. It was one of Melody's favorite old red converse. She'd doodled all over them. There was no way I could have been wrong.

Not far from that, fresh and deep marks had been made in the wall. I swiped my fingertips over them just to be sure. As I expected, the powder from grinding rock coated them. Well, that's terrifying. There wasn't any blood. That's gotta be good news. I ducked down through the tunnel the shoe was in front of, swallowing hard.

The trail I followed must have been intentionally left for my finding. The placements were just too perfect. I don't know how long it took for Croix and me to find the back chamber. It was easy to lose track of time under the earth. I couldn't even tell how far underneath the surface we even were.

"Blow out the torch," Croix advised, crawling up to my ear so he could be as quiet as possible. There was a considerable amount of orangeish light in front of us, which meant a fire was burning ahead. I snuffed the tiny blaze in my hold out, scraping the burnt end of the wood on the cavern floor for extra measure.

Carefully, I snuck around a pillar on the edge of the next room we came to. I could hear whispering all around me, causing me to shake my head a few times. It was almost like a thousand thoughts filled the room all at once and tried to invade my body. There was an odd humming that I could have sworn I recognized too, growing the loudest of all the sounds. I suppose it was a good thing I didn't understand what was being said. I didn't speak any of the ancient languages that existed in this area long ago.

"Stand up, child." I heard from behind me. "You have come, as we knew you would."

Startled, I pivoted to face whatever was speaking to me. At first, I only saw a mass of a shadow. Then, a young woman formed from this and stepped up to me. She was only a few inches taller than me, with a thin upper body and rather curvaceous features to her backside, hips, and legs. Her pear shape only enhanced the soft canvas that was her face, though only her eyes seemed like they were real. The rest waivered like static. Even her long pleated hair, tied off one of her shoulders and coiled on the floor at her side, appeared like it was made of smoke.

Her attire was unique. She donned a form-fitting dress that looked like it was made of supple, soft leather. Many colors caught the light of the fire in the room's center. I thought they could have been beads, but they moved around the cloth. Some type of blue stone rested on her neck and hung from a circlet-like headdress, sometimes changing into green or grey. The sleeves of the dress were long and went all the way to her fingertips. The sides had been cut open and loosely cross-stitched back together. This left portions of her arms exposed. She had a dark beauty to her.

"Welcome, child chosen by the Lake Mother." She said, her voice serpentine-like. "We see you have heeded our message."

I attempted to straighten out and crossed my arms unsteadily. "You mean that thing attacking my friends as I slept? Yeah, I got it. What do you want?" I puffed out my chest and stood firm, being as brave as I could be. Maybe it was because Croix was right on my shoulder, and that bolstered my courage.

"Such a smart human." She grinned, almost mocking me. "We want to make a deal. Our influence on this land is being threatened. We only want to bring back our ways and our time." She said, circling me like a vulture. "That requires some give and take."

"Who are you?"

"We are the darkness." She said simply, coming to stand in front of me again. "We wonder… Will the Lake Mother's pet allow those she loves to suffer? You have met the last human left into our hands. Do you like how we molded him?" She seemed rather amused at the confusion that sunk into my features. "The Wendigo, child. Of fine crafting, is he not?" Dark hummed, stroking her chin. "Follow us then." With that, she brushed past me like a blast of polar wind.

Looking down towards my shoulder, I tried to spot Croix, who was covered by my unruly locks. His presence was so minimal that I almost forgot he was there. Only his weight kept me from thinking he'd vanished. With a deep breath, I had to ask. "To where? I didn't agree to anything."

"We know, but we believe you will change your tune soon enough." Dark glided down towards the fire.

Laying in the dirt near the blaze were Melody, Shawn, and the Wendigo. All three of them seemed to be in a deep, unnatural slumber as an odd current ran around them. The scent of deep earthy farming soil permeated my nostrils and called to the depts of my being. Croix's smell. It had always been my favorite, and I could not help myself from breathing it in deeply.

"A simple one, are we?" Dark giggled, sounding like she was up against my ear though she was feet in front of me. "It's different for everyone. The girl fancied fresh paint and pencil shavings. And that brat of a boy preferred holiday meals." She informed. "Do you want to know what Wedingo's dream about? That rich coppery smell of lifeblood." The very thought made my insides crawl.

I stopped short of them and tightened my hold on myself so I would stop trembling. "So? What do you want from me? And what are you going to do with them?"

"It's rather simple. You just need to do as I command. Long have I desired the place where the Lake Mother stands. Her power. Her influence. All of it. No longer will I wallow in these halls, concocting nightmares and haunts in secret." She rushed at me like a banshee about to run her prey through. "I will command great storms and sink ships." She cackled.

"And if I agreed to that, you'll what? Let my friends go to die another day by your hands? Is that it?" I shot back as Dark's eyes flickered wickedly.

"Oh, yes. Unless you would rather I have my pet eat them before your very eyes. What do you think? Do we have a deal?"

Croix's words ran through my head. Clearly, this was not the first time Dark had tried to pull off this same stunt. I was sure my Grandfather had also been put in this same sort of situation. Like him, I was not going to bend. "Never." My eyes narrowed.

"Ungrateful girl." Dark hissed. With a snap of her fingers,  the light within the cave vanished. Dark was surrounded in an eerie, otherworldly glow.

The lack of fire made it impossible to tell depth or any other feature of the landscape around me. Even so, I used my best guess to launch myself toward where the two had been and found nothing but the cold hard ground. They had never been in the caves at all. I guess I was stupid after all.

Dark growled low like she was a primal beast. Like she felt she was entitled to my agreeance even though she lied through her teeth. I hadn't even gotten off the cave's floor yet when she came at me again, her voice screeching. As sure as I was that I would die, I tossed my arms up over me in hoped to slow the inevitable. But it never came.

Instead, Croix and all his glory appeared in human form before me and tried to cover me. It may not have been necessary, though. I had taken to wearing the odd little charm I found that day on the beach. Now, the trinket began to glow, creating a shimmering shield the color of starlight over us. Dark seemed blinded by it, covering up her eyes as she sobbed out. "It burns…"

"Where did you get that?" Croix whispered to me, shocked to see the swirl. "It's a piece of the Lake Mother or, at the very least, one of her personal possessions. Never before has she given such a gift to any mortal." He muttered after a while.

"Now's not the time for this." I snapped, snatching his hand up in mine as I made a run for it. The light the charm provided was just enough to allow us to weave through the tunnels, never fading until we were out on the shoal.

My chunky self wheezed as I placed my hands on my knees, fighting to catch my breath. That was probably the fastest I had ever booked it in my life. I took that time to think. If Melody and Shawn were not in the caves, where were they?