The Young Officer

The Young Officer (Updated) - Part 1

The old woman was as big as the cell that she had been wedged into. Her face was crooked and grotesque, with her canine teeth sticking out and prepared to bite. The nest of filth and grease on her head provided a home to thousands of fleas. Her clothes were ragged and unkempt, covered in dirt and grime. A single, suspiciously burnished, key hung around her large neck as a necklace.

A door on the other side of the room swung open and a broad man with a shining police badge marched in. His voice pounded against the dull walls as he spoke.

"We have finally caught you, you wicked woman," he announced. "Unfortunately for you, we still haven't completed our mission. My men are out there now looking for your little hideaway, so that they can recover the item." The broad man laughed as the old woman rattled the cell door in an attempt to escape.

Meanwhile, out on their mission, the men were charging into the shadows of the deep, dark forest. Various plants and 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. The now not-so brave men wandered cautiously further and further into the never-ending mist, searching for their destination.

As night approached, they decided they should take a break and began to prepare for their camp out in the middle of the deep, dark 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.

One of the officers, who was the youngest of them all, 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 where, stood in the clearing, was an old, run-down cottage.

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

Rushing back to the other officers, the youngofficer stopped in horror. Scattered, in the camping space that they hadcreated, lay all the body parts of the young officer's colleagues whichappeared to have been ripped from their carcasses. Arms, legs and heads weredispersed over the forest surroundings, drenched in the blood which hadsplattered across the ground and over the foliage as if Mother Nature's ownheart had exploded within.