The Taxidermy Man

Part Two

Behind the front door, there stood a young girl. She was about thirteen years old. She had dark brown hair and green eyes. She was from the village and was the only one who had thought about doing something. She had persuaded people to come with her to sort out the trouble. But everybody just stayed behind, terrified and mourning the dead. She had decided to come alone. She might not be able to do anything but she might be able to find out where the beasts live and any other useful information. It had taken her a long time to get to the cottage but she hadn’t got lost, due to the trail of wreckage the animals had left behind them. She had come just as the animals were dragging the skinned man in to the cottage. She had peered through the window and seen everything. She felt sick. She didn’t dare make a sound or move, now that she had seen just how horrible these monsters really were. The animals hadn’t noticed her, because they had been too preoccupied. They hadn’t even noticed her when they had left because they had been so terrified of the woman. And the witch, she hadn’t seen the girl on her way in as she hadn’t gone in to the small house, just materialised. And now, she didn’t realise her either because she was too busy taunting the poor man. “I should get out of here as quick as I can” she thought. This woman is even worse than the animals. She slowly creeped away from the window, went as silently as she could down the path that she had come and when she was sure that the witch wouldn’t be able to hear her, she broke in to her a sprint and didn’t look back once. What she didn’t realise was that this trail was a different one and she didn’t know where she was heading…

The girl just kept on running. Her legs were getting tired and her heart was racing. She gasped for air as if each breath would be her last. She had never ran this much before in her life. But the thing that kept her running was her fear of the witch. She may not have seen her but that witch seemed to be able to do anything. At last, she could go no more and dropped on to the floor in a mess. Her heart was still racing. She was still breathing very quickly. Wanted to carry on going but was too tired to move a muscle. Finally, after what seemed like hours, her heart rate seemed to be normal enough. She lifted her head and looked around. She didn’t remember this bit of the wood when she had been on her way to the cottage. Everything looked darker than it did before. She felt as though the trees would come alive any minute now and kill her then and there. The thought that she had gone the wrong way occurred to her but she didn’t want to go back the way she came. Instead, she carried on walking straight at a brisk pace, taking big steps to cover more ground. After a few meters of walking, she thought she heard something behind her. Her heart stopped. She froze where she was. Maybe it had just been her imagination. But then, she heard it again. She broke in to a sprint once more but didn’t run that far because she was falling and there didn’t seem to be any bottom to this big hole.

She fell to the bottom of the hole with a loud thump. How could she have been so stupid? She should have known that there were a lot of traps in the woods and should have kept an eye out for them. Atleast she was safe from whatever it was that was after her back on the surface. It was dark in the hole and her eyes took some time to adjust. She Noticed something moving above her. As the thing came closer, she saw that it was a big, pawed hand. This time, there was no escape from it. The furry hands grabbed her and began hauling her up. She let out a scream and kicked in frustration. She tried to get back down and hold on the sides of the hole but the dirt just crumbled away. There was nothing she could do about it. She had walked in to a death trap.

She broke out on to the surface world. It was nearly as dark as the hole. Both literally and figuratively. The hand let go of the girl and she dropped on to the hard earth. She quickly turned around and looked at the face of the thing that had pulled her out. It was a cross between a beaver and a rabbit. It looked so gruesome that she had to bite her tongue to stop her from screaming out. She looked around nervously to see how many more creatures were lurking behind the dense trees. She couldn’t see any. She slowly got up and began backing away. It was the only thing she could think of doing to get away from the creature. The creature started walking towards her. She began backing away a little more quickly. The creature kept closing the distance. Just as she had made up her mind to begin running again, the animal spoke. At first, she thought she had just imagined it but she was correct. It had actually spoken. And not only had it spoken but it had spoken in English. “Stop! Don’t run away again if you know what’s good for you.” It boomed in its deep and raspy voice.  The girl just looked at the creature taken aback. “These are the beginnings of dark times. The witch is now at large. She has returned to the village now to take other people’s lives. It is people’s lives that giver her power. Soon, you will be the only one left.” The girl just stared at it. “But… but… what about all of the animals doing the killings. Aren’t you working for her?..” She asked confused.