The Wolf's Eye: A Series of Short Horror Stories

Cracked

Michael Stephenson was only 6 years old when he rode his first dirt bike. He'd been playing outside with his brother Tobias, who had called him out there because he had something to show him.

"Michael!" he called. "Come here for a minute! I've got something for you!"

And Michael had come running to the front yard, where Tobias stood next to a small, red and black dirt bike.

"What's this?" Michael asked.

"It's your new dirt bike," Tobias said. "Here. Try it out."

Michael tried to situate himself on the seat. He was instructed to turn the handle to accelerate the bike. Before Tobias could finish, Michael had turned the handle far too many times and sent himself flying through the woods on the dirt bike. He luckily avoided the many trees, as he had been steering the bike left and right in a panic. All of a sudden, the bike crashed into a tall tree. Michael was sent flying off of the bike, his unprotected head hitting the ground. In a blur, he saw his parents and brother running towards him with worry.

That was the last thing he saw before everything went black.

When his doctor had examined him, he found that the crash had left Michael with a permanent head injury. After that, Michael took monthly visits to the doctor. The injury and memory of the accident stayed with him all throughout his life, up to adulthood.

When he was 23, Michael entered a dirt bike competition. Coincidentally, Tobias had been the announcer for the race.

As Michael prepared himself, he was approached by Tobias. Tobias seemed odd; he had been trembling a bit as he spoke to Michael and he gave him a strange feeling. Then, he asked Michael if he could check his bike for him to make sure everything was working. Michael declined, but his brother insisted. He sighed and took up his offer.
Tobias knelt down to look at the bike. He seemed to be inspecting it for a while, from Michael's point of view. After he finished, he stood up and patted Michael on the head. "Good luck, little brother."

As the race started, Michael started to feel anxious. He heard his brother say "go" and was off.

He started off in the lead, and stayed that way until he suddenly felt his tire collapse. He was about to stop and try to call out, but the engine bursted with a loud boom and sent him shooting foward with accelerating speed.

And the announcer said, "Stephenson is shooting towards the goal! Can he win?!"

Michael reached a small ramp and shut his eyes tightly. As he went over the ramp, he saw his life flash before his eyes. He remembered first receiving the dirt bike all those years ago. He remembered the accident.

The bike came down with a crash. Michael heard the cracking of his own bones as he lay dying on the ground.

And the announcer said, "He's down!"

He suddenly saw someone approaching him. He looked up.

It was Tobias.

Tobias looked pitifully at his dying brother. "Any moment now, your heart will stop and you will cease to exist," he said in a serious tone. "It seems that your helmet wasn't very protective. Right now, your fractured skull is cracked wide open, and you're currently bleeding internally."

Michael gasped for air, trying to keep his eyes open as he started to see nothing but black.

Tobias knelt down and held up Michael's head closely to his face. "It looks like the doctor was wrong," he said. "You never did have a head injury."