Road to Nowhere

Always Night

We walked without talking to each other. I still didn't trust the wendigo. It didn't become a wendigo for no reason. It wasn't a noticeably big one though, but the fact that wendigos eat every living thing they see, haunts me. It didn't eat me, but why?

The creature walked in front of me. I didn't want it to see me. Otherwise, she might think I look delicious.

'What are you thinking about?' it asked.

'I was thinking about why you didn't eat me.'

'Reasonable.'

'What are your pronounces?'

'She or her.'

'So, you're a girl?'

The wendigo nodded.

'How did you become a wendigo?'

'I ate human flesh.'

'I know. But why? Why did you eat human flesh?'

'Some crook gave it. I was hungry, so I just ate. I took one bite, because after that I was screaming and laying on the ground. Because I that less, I still think like human.'

'So, you became it against your will?'

The wendigo nodded again.

'What about other wendigos? Did they all become wendigos against their will?'

'No, they didn't. They wanted to be wendigo. They murdered. They ate.'

The wendigo looked up at the moon. I could see some kind of sadness in her eyes. No, she wasn't like the others. She wasn't a monster. She was a human soul in the wrong body. Broken and scattered.

'Is there a way to cure you?'

'No. People tried, but nothing works. I'll stay like this, until I get killed.'

'Get killed?'

'Wendigos are undead. We don't die unless we get killed.'

'I'm sorry to hear that.'

'It's okay. I already accepted my destiny.'

'What do you do now as a wendigo?'

'I wander around, looking for survivors. A lot of people die here. You're the second one that survived all the things that happened to you. I know everything that has happened to you.'

'You do?'

'Yes, I do. First you got possessed and you hit you with something. After that, you defeated spirit, but later she pulled arm and you fell down cliff.'

'I was possessed?'

'Mhm, old memories of hurting yourself came back in mind and you wanted to go back. You wanted more pain. Next to that, I see the wound on head and the bruises on arm. All people I saved had that and they told me what happened.'

'How many people have you saved?'

'There were only two before you. The other ones either killed themselves when got possessed, or they died when they fell down that cliff.'

'Did you bring them to that town?'

The wendigo nodded. 'What do you even know about this forest?'

'Not much. I've never been here before.'

'Why did you get here?'

'I was driving home.'

'Taking this road?'

'No, this is my first time.'

'Why did you take this road?'

'Some old lady told me to take another road home, otherwise I would die.'

'And you did what she said?'

I nodded.

'Are you stupid?

I looked at her. Why would she ask that? That was so rude.

'Why did you listen to someone that you don't know and who looks like witch?'

My anger disappeared. She was right.

'I don't know. I'm stupid, yeah.'

'Don't worry, I'll get you out of here. When you're in town, you can go.'

'What about you?'

'I stay here. This is home.'

'I see. What's the town called?'

'Nowhere?'

'What kind of name is that?' I asked.

'People keep disappearing and they end up somewhere where they're nowhere to be found and next to that, this place doesn't exist on the maps humans use. That's why it's called nowhere.'

'Makes sense. How long till we get there?'

'I don't know. A few hours maybe.'

We continued walking in silence. Now I knew I could trust her. We were walking next to each other now. This way we could make us both aware of our surroundings.

She was a little bit taller than me. She didn't lie about the fact she didn't eat much human flesh. Her yellow eyes were filled with emotion, unlike the other wendigos. They were all dead inside.

Her long black hair moved on the wind. I looked at the skull that was covering her face. It was white, no sign of dirt or blood. Her horns were tall and black. Her claws were small and moved gently.

No, she wasn't scary. I felt bad for her that all of this had happened to her. She didn't deserve all of this.

Suddenly she stopped walking and looked around.

'What's wrong?' I asked.

'The forest changed.'

'Changed? How do you know?'

'I always walk this path, but whole place is different now. Get behind me.'

I did as she said. I didn't know what could possibly have happened here. This forest was full of surprises and folklore creatures.

'What's going on?' I whispered.

'A shape shifter changed the path. I don't know if we end up in town if we follow path.'

'What do we do now?'

'I now a cave where we can hide and rest.'

'Sounds like a good idea. I feel tired after all of this.'

The wendigo guided me to the cave. When we got there she made a bed for me out of dead leaves.

'What's your name?' I asked.

'Arzia,' she said.

'That's a beautiful name. are we gonna continue when the sun comes up?'

'The sun doesn't come up.'

'What do you mean?'

'It's always night here. We only know darkness.'