Forgotten Pride

Greenskin: Chapter three

Chapter three: Bloodlust

He watches the immense landscape of the gorgeous woods slowly increasing in size due to the optical illusion of motion. This is where his dear brother was murdered years ago. He just can’t seem to get it off his mind. He remembers the police. They wouldn’t believe a word he’d said. Not of the hallucinations, not of the unearthly sounds and most importantly…not of the green skin. That is why he is here. It’s all over the news now…sightings of the man…thing…with the green skin. He doesn’t know where the hallucinations came from, but they did mess with his mind. Perhaps his brother isn’t even dead.

He lets his mind dwell on more important matters, switches his flashlight on and goes on his way to look for clues and find evidence that the forensic team probably couldn’t have. He treads softly in case he is yet again attacked by some strange phenomenon. He can feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest. There is sweat on the edge of his brow. He legs are almost shaking. It feels hard to breath.

He stealthily reaches further into the darkest corners of the huge forest. He isn’t really sure how he will find his way back, though. He’ll have to cherish the thought later. He doesn’t have time to wonder about that, now. He sees something with his flashlight in this darkened foliage that, frankly, he wouldn’t have noticed had he come in the daylight, as he wouldn’t have been able to take in most of the surrounding environment.

He jogs over to the thick foliage and digs his way into the bush, where he finds a kind of note. It must have come from his friend’s note book, but why was it torn out. He reads the disturbing line displayed on the crumpled note. It is hard to make out, but he gladly reads it: “I’m not the only one he wants.”  No. He needs to get out of this place right now. He was so stupid, coming out here in the first place. He finds his feet carrying him at a faster pace than he can normally run.

He is forced to a stop, when a sharp metal shrike pierces his thigh. He is slowly lifted higher into the air on the torturing stake. He feels paralysed, dropping his flashlight. He stares at his captor for a moment, noticing increasingly particular details, as his eyes grow used to cold darkness. Weakness, destruction, humiliation, false power, demonic distortion, sin and wrong-doing…Greenskin. He feels his terrifying pursuer’s penetrating blade twist and cutting his vital organs. Every bit of it. He can feel his warm blood flowing down his stiff form. As his eyes continue to adjust, he notices something horrific…his pursuers mouth is stitched shut.

He realizes that his tears are mixing with his own blood. He tries to stay alive, his eyes starting to subtly close. The darkness finally starts to close in, burying him alive. He is dead. The strange, hideous creature drops him, leaving him there to rot.

“Don’t lose hope,” he…or it…mutters, looking back at the corpse.