31 Days of Halloween

Day Eleven: The Deer Woman

Kylie stretched her arms behind her, breathing in the smell of the great outdoors. When Seth suggested going on a picnic instead of going to a movie for their one-year anniversary, she almost laughed in his face. She was never much of an outdoor girl, not since she got mauled by mosquitoes when she was six, so a quiet night with buttery popcorn and an exciting movie sounded really good. But now that she's out here, the sun on her face and no mosquitoes in sight, Kylie was glad she agreed.

Seth appeared above her, a smug smile on his lips. "Enjoying yourself? Gee, who could've guessed that?"

Kylie giggled and then snatched the basket from his hands, hunger making her belly snarl. "What did you bring good?"

Seth sat in front of her, laying down napkins and silverware. "It's your favorite, veggie subs from that deli that just opened."

"You still don't know the name of it? It's been open for a month." Kylie thought that's what she said, but her mouth was so full of veggie goodness it was only garbled words.

Seth grinned, his own sub still wrapped. "I have no idea what you said, but I'm going to guess it was 'this is great, thank you Seth'. Or something to that effect."

"You know, this was a great idea. Thank you, baby. Happy one year." Kylie leaned over and pecked Seth on the cheek, laughing as he blushed a light shade of pink.

After they had finished eating, Seth laid back on the blanket and stared up at the sky with Kylie on his chest, naming things in the clouds. Until a large man's shape blocked their view.

"Hey man, could you step out of the way? We were relaxing." Seth waved his hand, motioning for the man to go away. It was rude and irked Kylie but the man interrupting their date irked her more.

But he didn't move his feet, only his big beefy arm as his grimy fingers clasped into Seth's collar, dragging him up. Kylie's head thumped onto the blanket from the shock of it all as the man hauled Seth to his feet, his toes barely touching the ground. The man towered over Seth which scared Kylie since he's over six feet. Seth beat and pried at the man's hands.

"Let me go, what the hell is wrong with you!" Seth screamed in his face, his fingers trying to loosen the burlap sack covering his face.

The man did let go. He tossed Seth two feet away, his body doing an awkward roll. He staggered to his feet only to be bowled over by another man who leapt from the safety of the trees. Kylie screamed as the new man flipped Seth over and blindsided him with punches, his face bleeding.

Kylie scrambled to her feet, managing a few feet before the burlap man grabbed her around her waist. She kicked and hit the man but still he carried her to a beat-up van, shoving her face into the shag rug while he tied up her wrists and ankles. The rope bit into her flesh and she began to sob, louder when she saw the state of Seth. His lip is cut in two places, his whole face swollen and broken. His nose is bent at a sharp angle and his front tooth is chipped.

"It'll be okay, Kylie. I promise, I'll get us out of here." The man gagged Seth with an old handkerchief before he could say more, the same treatment done to her. She continued to sob staring into Seth's bruised eyes, wishing beyond belief they had just gone to the movies.

The van stopped about an hour later, dusk greeting her as the back doors opened. Kylie was roughly groped as she was pulled from the van, Seth right behind her. The burlap man slung her over his shoulder, his hand purposefully grasping her behind in a painful way that made Kylie shriek behind the gag. She couldn't lift her head high enough to see much but she assumed Seth was behind them with the other man.

The burlap man loosened his grip on Kylie, and she slid off his shoulder onto hard packed dirt, the sudden hardness driving the breath from her lungs. She began to sob again as she watched the men untie Seth only to strap him to a wooden altar looking thing, two strong braided ropes encircling both wrists to keep him upright. It vaguely reminded Kylie of King Kong, only instead of a scary ape-like monster it simply looked like a sacrifice.

Horns blared in the cool night and the men set about lighting the bonfires around the altar, the flames licking the air in a soundless dance. More people dressed in gold and blood-red skirts and tunics came into view, the men wearing deer antler crowns that covered their face in a gold waterfall of beads. One of the crowns was placed on Seth, covering his limp head. Kylie screamed but she couldn't be heard over the horns and drums.

The dancers formed a circle around the altar, leaving a gap by the opening where they all entered from. A tall, lean woman staggered into the circle, her chest bare and a similar crown to the men's adorning her face. Her tanned body was covered in sigils painted in what Kylie hoped was red paint. She did a dance around Seth, her body vibrating as if in a seizure.

Kylie watched as she drew a dagger from her skirt, slicing into Seth's skin. He screamed as the blood trickled down his clothes and dripped onto the dirt, the woman pulling pieces of clothing off as it rips. When Seth's chest is bare, the cuts get deeper as she carves symbols into his pecks and up into his neck. She swirls her jewel studded fingers in his hot blood, steam rising, and paints it onto her chest and abdomen. She stands still before Kylie, gently untying her wrists and releasing the gag.

Once she was free, Kylie let loose a horrific scream. It made her own blood curdle. The woman clamped a hand onto her mouth, pressing the dagger into Kylie's palm. She holds Kylie against her body, her arm holding Kylie's own as she waves the dagger at Seth. The horns stop, the silence making Kylie feel like she went deaf for a moment. There was only ringing and blood rushing in her ears. Kylie began to cry again, her tears flowing down her cheeks and dripping onto her lips. The woman gripped Kylie's hand tighter, straightening her arm.

Kylie's feet were lifted off the ground as the woman rushed Seth, plunging the dagger into his chest. Seth gasped as his blood seeped over the handle and coated Kylie's hand, Kylie herself feeling like she would faint. The woman twisted her hand, causing the blade to tear through Seth's heart. He gave a gurgled sob and then went limp, his arms straining the ropes and making his shoulders pop from their sockets.

Everyone cheered, the woman dropping Kylie in her excitement. She stared numbly at her boyfriend, feeling like she was floating above her body. And then the woman rolled her onto her back, the blade wet with Seth's blood playing at the hem of her shirt. Kylie didn't fight the woman as the blade slashed her throat, her blood spurting onto the woman's crown. Kylie's last thought was that Seth was standing before her, waiting.

Officer Russel walked the crime scene, silently thanking the forensics people for laying the sheets on the bodies. It made his stomach turn to see what those maniacs did to that poor girl and her boyfriend.

One of the forensics people, a smaller guy with thick square glasses, came up to him, shaking his head at the scene. "It's too bad what happened here. Any ideas on who did it?"

"There was a cluster of fanatics living out here, they called themselves Nature's Gift. They had a run in with the law a few years back when they tortured another couple who wandered onto their property. They were still alive because they managed to escape, but only barely. We think they did it to appease their supposed god, a deer-man creature a lot like the Wendigo. Unbelievable stuff, really."

"Really? That's insane...although, where the man was tied up, it does look like a ritualistic altar. We got some samples of the wood and blood and everything." The guy shivered, clearly disturbed at what Officer Russel told him.

"We'll find them. They aren'tgetting out of this one." Russel took one last look around, made the sign ofthe cross over Kylie's body, and walked back to his squad car unaware of thewoman in white slinking back into the trees.