The Visitant

                                                    The Visitant


         Damn it! Tanks empty. Good job Jackass, you drove past like four gas stations back in town and didn’t bat an eye. Christ, I’m an idiot. Now what?

         As I look around, there’s nothing in sight. Not a car, not a person, no sign of human existence. Nothing, just me and the biting autumn wind, figures. It’s probably been a good ten miles or so that I’ve been driving down this road. I don’t have a clue as to how long this road is. It could go on for another fifteen or twenty miles for all I know. At the same time there could be something just around the bend. Of course my cell phone doesn’t have reception. What a shock. Damn things are useless. All right, start walking, it's getting pretty dark. I’ll take my chances that there’s a town or a gas station a few miles up the road. There’s got to be. This place can’t be that secluded.

         A few miles into my walk, I’m really beginning to appreciate the surreal landscape. Honestly, it’s quite magnificent. These woods have the most vibrant fall foliage I’ve ever been witness to. Everything’s dark brown or red, including the sky, Van Gogh would be jealous. I can detect a small creek or brook somewhere in the distance. The trees are elegantly tall and lean. All are shedding this past year’s achievements, starting over, out with the old, in with the new, if only it came so naturally to humans. The trunks of these trees breathe with character. The cracks and crevices are abnormally deep. It’s like natures version of abstract art, a living, breathing canvas. I reach out to inspect its beauty, it's freezing, unbelievably cold. I fondle a piece of bark with my thumb; it flakes off like a chip of ice. What in the hell? I step back and study the massive tree. I notice its branches don’t start to grow until they’re near top the tree. As if life itself grew as far as it could from the deathly tundra below. The base of the tree is littered with protruding roots. Roots that looks like their fighting, struggling to free themselves from the Earths grasp. I begin to feel rather uncomfortable, nauseas. I stumble to the ground, down to one knee. I can’t help but feel as if I’m being forced to kneel before this ghoulish tree.
The feeling gains momentum, my muscles are virtually useless. I sit here humbled, helpless. I can hear something on the road behind me. It’s faint but something’s there. I try to turn but I can’t, I’ve been confined to this position. Whatever it is it’s scuffling towards me, slowly. It’s stalking me.

         Stricken with fear, I try to free myself from this unearthly prison. I refuse to accept that my actions are futile. I try to stand up, my legs will not budge. I struggle to turn my head and look at the approaching fiend. It feels as if the devil himself has got me by the back of the neck. Out of the corner of my eye I catch a quick glimpse of the freak. A hunched over back and rather straggly limbs, it strifes to its left and is no longer in sight. It hasn’t abandoned me, its kill. I can hear gravel being kicked aside. It’s moving faster, no longer trying to be coy as it’s already been seen. Out of desperation, I grab the roots of the tree that flee from the ground. Pulling as hard as I can, I tap into unknown strengths in the human body. Every muscle and fiber work in unison. I can feel it, I ‘m beginning to pull free, but not fast enough. What I can only describe as teeth sink into the back of my thigh. The pain is ungodly but is hardly the worst of it. I can hear the monstrosity’s fangs ripping through flesh, gnawing on bone. It sounds as if it’s struggling to breathe as it makes its way through my extremity.

          Not believing what I‘m seeing, headlights appear and temporally rebuff the beast. The creature halts its feeding and reluctantly ascends to the trees above. The car draws near as I snake my way through the brush and try to reach the road. I lounge out and collapse on the pavement only to go unnoticed. They didn’t see me. They didn’t see me? I watch as my  fleeting hope disappears into darkness. This world has never felt so cold, so cruel. Leering at the trees, I await my demon. It’s quiet at first. No sound, no wind, the world kneels before it.  Then with two large flutters of its wings it descends several yards behind me. I don’t move, nor does it. It’s toying with me. I turn and look it in the eyes, only hell could spawn such a thing. It lets out an ear- piercing screech, and begins to stagger towards me. I try to get up but my mangled leg won’t let me. I’m not supposed to prevail, it won’t have it. The being takes to the air and crashes down upon me. Its talons dig in, wrap around my clavicle. Bones buckle and snap, my heart sinks. It reeks of foul meat. The demon sits perched atop me, studying me. It’s sniffing harshly, prodding the air, trying to pick up a scent. It takes to the air with me in tow, violating all that’s sane and logical.

            After being carried for some time I’m discarded into the forest below. I rip through several branches and crash into a thicket. I try to focus, compose myself. Where’s the beast?  I can’t see it. It’s disappeared, embraced by the darkness. Ok, look around. Where are you? My heart skips a beat when I notice what I’m standing in. It’s a nest of sorts. The size is unreal, a good sixty feet. Instead of branches there's smaller trees all warped together, intertwined meticulously. There's remains of previous meals scattered about, littering the nest. It’s too big to be built in a tree; it had to settle for the forest floor. So this is where the devil sleeps. Death begins to echo through the woods, it’s  coming back. The creature swoops in and attempts to perch itself upon a tree but it gives way. He’s far too big to be supported by such an ordinary branch. The beast plummets into the river below.

          Out of sight for only a second it reemerges and flaps its wings in frenzy. I throw myself from the beings abode and take off into the night. Ripping through branches and bushes I am not detoured, the worst has got to be that thing behind me. I continue running for some time, running blind through another world. I can’t hear anything over the sound of my breathing. My body doesn’t stop. Blood continues to drain down the back of my leg, I’m beginning to feel sick as I run on empty, emotionally and physically. I’m close to blacking out when the forest begins to thin. I’m getting close. A few minutes later I’m back to the road, back to the beginning. I now hear sounds emanating from the woods, twigs snap, branches brake. Ignoring my fears I don’t look back. I don’t stop to look over my shoulder, I remain fixated on escape. I drag my self down the road looking for help, looking for anything. The noises become more obvious, deliberate. Disgruntled moans, whispered voices, not sure what’s real and what isn’t. I don’t care. I just want out. Eventually I’m back to the ghoulish tree, where I am stopped dead in my tracks. Can’t comprehend what I’m looking at. I’m a spectator to my own demise, watching my life unfold before me. How is this happening? I look on in awe at the person before me; I've seen this all before. There I am, knelt before the gruesome tree. Am I in my thoughts? Is fate mocking me? Reluctantly I approach; unaware of what to expect. I call my name, nothing. I don't react, all body no mind. I reach my trembling hand toward my empty vessel and rest it upon my shoulder. I feel my self losing consciousness. Struggling to no longer be fiction. Before I know it I’m kneeling in the dirt, kneeling before god. My head's throbbing, I can barely form a thought. I turn around, Nothing's there. I’m gone. I’m whole. But am I alone? My mind's going a mile a minute, don’t think, just get up. Get up and run. Run like the devil's chasing you. Maybe he is.

                                                      The End