The Young Officer

The meeting was in full motion. Police officers and investigators sat around the room and the tension could be felt as soon as you entered. Everyone sat in dead silence, waiting for the door of the head office to open. No one said a word.

A light entered the room through the crack of the door. Shouting could be heard from down the hall. Suddenly, the door shot open as three officers wrestled a large woman into the room and into a cell in the corner.

The old woman was as big as the cell that she had been wedged into. Her hair looked as if it had never been washed for weeks as it contained the contents of several meals. Her face was crooked and grotesque, creating a fright to anyone who looked at it.

The head office door swung open and a broad man with a shining police badge marched into the room. His voice pounded round the room.

"This wicked woman has finally been caught," he began. "Unfortunately, this is not our job complete. I must ask you now to find where this criminal lived and rescue any hostages. I would recommend starting at the edge of the forest where we found our culprit."

The team of officers and investigators set out on their mission as they reached the edge of the forest. One of the men discovered a trail of footprints, so the men charged deep into the forest.

The forest was dark and mysterious. The trees surrounded them, intertwining and stretching across the paths. Sounds of birds and beasts could be heard from miles away, each one even more frightening than the next. Any of which could attack at any second.

The now not-so brave men wondered cautiously further and further into the never-ending mist, searching for their destination.

As night approached, they decided they should take a break for the night as they began to prepare for their camp out in the middle of the deep forest. They found a patch of open land and some of the men began to collect firewood, while the others ensured it was safe enough to sleep on.

The youngest of the officers was among the men collecting firewood. He was not only the newest of the group, but the most intelligent (and handsome too). As the smaller group scavenged along the path looking for dry wood appropriate for a fire, the young officer left the path and headed towards an opening within the woods where stood in the clearing, an old, run-down cottage.

The cottage was covered in ivy and thorn bushes. A hole had been burnt in the thatched roof and the windows were all cracked.

The young officer rushed back to the other officers, only to stop in horror. Scattered, in the camping space that they had created, lay all the body parts of the young officer's colleagues which appeared to have been ripped off their carcasses. Arms, legs and heads were dispersed over the forest surroundings, drenched in the blood which was splattered across the ground and over the foliage as if mother nature's own heart had exploded within.

The young officer began to panic. He was frozen in his spot and could not move. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest. There was an eerie silence which was eventually broken by the squeaking of hundreds of bats flickering through the darkness.

In the distance, two gleaming eyes stared at the petrified officer. A dog-like figure crept out of the bushes and headed towards him.

The young officer stumbled back before breaking into a run towards the old cottage. He barged through the door and slammed it shut, grabbing a chair to barricade the door behind him. The animal outside collided into the door with a thud.

Even after a few minutes, the young officer could still feel the clock ticking inside of him in fear of the creature moving at any second and breaking into the cottage.

He stepped cautiously around the cottage floor as he studied the room. The old cottage looked as damaged inside as it did out. The wooden floorboards were crooked and stuck up in all places. The furniture was cluttered and unkempt as it consumed the room it had been wedged into.

Time flew by as the young officer continued to investigate the house to see what else he could find in the mysterious cottage that he acknowledged belonged to the grotesque, old woman.

As night passed, a single beam of light cascaded into the ruined cottage, creating a spotlight on a concealed door which the young officer unveiled from behind a tattered, old curtain that had been torn to shreds.

The door creaked open, revealing a beautiful woman who sat weeping as she looked up from her legs at the young officer that discovered her. The pair stared at each other, startled at the sight of another person when they least expected it.

The young officer took the beautiful woman's hand as they made their way out of the cottage. They stepped over the dog-like figure that lay collapsed on the doorstep and found their way back through the forest that had restored to its natural beauty as they returned to civilisation and lived happily ever after.

The End