The Vagrant Shadow

Chapter 6

Rap-tap-tap the sound of elongated fingers on the tall oak tree by my window taunted my slumber. The wind blew fiercely as rain pounded against the roof of the house. Kind thoughts ran in fright as frightening images danced in my subconscious mind. Hypnotic jerks kept me from gaining pleasant sleep, and when I did finally sleep it was only for a short while before panic erupted in me, fear that if I fell asleep, I would be late for something important. Nothing but vivid images of the police officers bodies laying in a mangled mess coerced me into an insomniac state. As I sat in bed, I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times my eyes adjusting to the darkness. I sighed and planted my feet on the cool floor. Opening my door just a smidge, I squeezed through and headed down the stairwell with my hand gripping tightly to the banister. As I cast my eyes around the dim-lit room. Thunder crashed in the horizon and lighting flashed filling the room with light. In a brief moment of that flash there was a dark shadow standing outside the patio door. Squinting my eyes, I tried to make out the figure, the shape was stout and disfigured, I blinked my eyes, and the shadow seemed to meld into the background of the night. I remained silent for the longest time. Gene was fast asleep on the couch snoring silently. I leaned over the banister and looked out the window, watching the storm. The picture I obtained from the police car hung loosely in my hand as I traced my finger over my father’s face. I sighed as I looked at him smiling with his arm around my mother. Many answers remained unsolved as I stood there on the landing with lightning illuminating my path way back up the steps. I crawled back in bed and sighed. Thunder continued to rumble.

I finally managed to fall asleep, for what seemed to be a few hours but was awoken by a cold draft wafting through the room. I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. The shutters flailed in wind as I made my way to close the window. Dripping wet with rain, I closed the window, but stopped when I saw a dark shadow moving along the edge of the woods. Looking into the darkness, I slowly scaled out of my window and made my way down to the backyard. The damp grass sloshed under my feet as I headed towards the forest clearing. I stopped short a few feet of the forest looking around. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, but deep golden eyes pierced the through the thickets. I stepped forward as the eyes watched my movement. I stepped towards the forest slowly, making slow, but cautious movements. The eyes disappeared into the forest as a firm hand grasped on to my shoulder. Turning around I was surprised to see my Aunt Flora standing there in her pink night gown, gazing at me with concern. I looked at for a moment before turning my head to the forest.

“Thomas?” she asked softly. My only response was a slow murmur of incoherent language. She spoke my name again, and I turned to walk past her towards the house. As I made my way to the door, a violent shiver went down my spine as I felt cold eyes watch my every move. I softly sighed to myself and shook the rain out of my eyes before entering the house.

Morning was hazy from last night’s storm. I sat at the breakfast nook and stirred my coffee slowly, watching the brown liquid with disinterest. Flora was the first to come down, and greet me.

“Morning,” she said pouring herself a cup. I looked up at her and smiled a little bit before going back to stirring my cup groggily. She sat down in front of me and put a hand on wrist and rubbed it soothingly. Her soft, cold hand seemed to awaken my senses that made me stop stirring.

“I am worried about you,” she said softly.

“Why?” I mumbled.

“You’ve been acting strangely,” she replied. I scoffed and looked at her and took a sip of my coffee. Smooth and strong brew slid down my throat as I let out a soft contented sigh. I thought about commenting on her, but decided against it. I took another sip of coffee before responding to her.

“I will be fine,” I lied. She let out a sigh of concern and frustration.

“I don’t think you are,” her statements made me cringe as I pounded my fist on the table.

“How could you possibly know?” I demanded, “You know nothing about me!” I scolded. Her eyes looked hurt as she tried to touch my hand again in a soothing manner. I quickly pulled it away and stood up heading towards the door.

“Thomas…” she began. I turned and looked at her, but said nothing. I shook my head and turned the knob leaving the house in a brisk haste.

The atmosphere drizzled lightly as I walked down the long narrow driveway, my hands dug into my pockets and my eyes fixated on the road. I stopped for a moment only to realize where I was. Trees loomed high above the skyline; the thick haze shrouded the base of the tree as I walked to a broken sign hanging on a branch. Danger! Wolf Head Falls has swift currents and deadly undertows keep off cliffs. I looked up at the trees and scanned the intriguing structure: low branches arched around the entry of the forest, where light became obsolete by the pitch abyss of the shady forest. What really struck me as odd were tire tracks that lead into the forest, the tire tracks cut a small groove into the dirt that was smaller than a bicycle tracks. Following the tracks I was lead deep into uncharted terrain as the thickness of the forest closed on me. Taking careful steps into the mysterious domain, I couldn’t help but overhear boisterous shouting could be heard as engines revved. I ducked behind a large boulder and watched as men in thick burly beards and large plaid shirts hauled wooden crates on to a truck. The crates had large air holes in the sides. Men yelled orders as tires continued to squeal with an awful grinding noise. Tilting my head, I looked from behind the boulder trying my best to keep hidden, but something didn’t feel right. I felt the barrel of a gun against the side of my temple as a gruff hand places a hand on my throat.

“Well, Well, Well. Looks like we have ourselves a visitor,” the voice said. I didn’t bother looking around as I slowly stood up, but the gruff hand pushed me back to the ground with brute force.

“No one said you could move,” it said darkly. My throat grew dry as I felt dark eyes glare at me.

“I warned you once boy, about wandering around these dangerous parts. You walked into the wrong territory, now you will pay the price” He snarled briskly.

“Shall we shoot him here?” a voice asked. The voice hesitated then darkly growled with a sinister grin. “No, I want him to see just how long he will last against my pets,” My heart dropped to the floor as my blood ran cold as the gruff hand lifted me up by the shirt collar and pushed me towards torturing device. Two large wooden poles were planted firmly in the ground. On top of the poles were chains hung loosely at the sides. The gruff man hoisted me up to the pole and shackled my arms and legs to the contraption. I felt helpless. I tried to pull my arms free, but the device held me tight. A long distinct whistle came from the mouth of the man as gruff snarling. Deranged teeth were only inches away from my legs as they snapped viciously. Fear enveloped my entire body as I looked at the feral beasts. The man let out another whistle and nodded as he unleashed the animals which went straight for my throat. I closed my eyes tight waiting for the pain to come. Much to my surprise, I felt my feet fall to the ground. I opened up my eyes and looked around. A pack of wolves the size of a horse were standing guard over me. Their sharp canines bared as the she-wolf stood on top of a small hill looking down at her small army. Manny rolled up, and snarled, taking off his dark glasses to glare at the she-wolf.

“You damned traitor,” he snarled. The wolf raised her hackles and gave a low, threatening growl as she made her way down to the man. He snorted and rolled towards the wolf with an evil glare.

“I thought we had a deal,” he muttered. The wolf padded towards him, until her muzzle was only inches away from his face, she snarled and then sneezed in his face. Manny growled and smacked her across the face. The she wolf snarled and grabbed Manny by the wrist and ripped him out of his wheel chair, throwing him against the tree.

Violence broke out as guns were fired and teeth clashed against fur and skin. Yelps of pain and snarls of anger could be heard from the distance as I headed deep into the woods. I felt a powerful force follow close beside me, as vicious growls followed my scent. Twigs and branches snapped as blurs of grey moved swiftly and effortless through the foliage.

My breath grew raspy as I pushed heavy leaves out of my path. Heavy panting could be heard as I continued to run. I wasn’t sure how far from the camp I was, but I had to keep pressing forward. It wasn’t until I reached the edge of the cliff when I stopped to catch my breath. I pressed my hands on my knees as my hair hung loosely over my eyes. I stopped and turned around, feeling cold, hungry eyes close in on me. I stood there frozen and cornered, waiting…