The Dream Catcher (book 1 of the Arcana series)

The Legend of the Goatman

That night, after Hannah and Jacob were convinced I'd learned my lesson, they dismissed the rest of the kids and carried me out to one of the other cabins. They knocked on the door and a boy with fiery red hair answered. He looked to be a couple of years older than me meaning he was one of the "counselors".

Jacob and Hannah never allowed kids to leave the farm. If they survived long enough to age out of the system, they were kept as "counselors" or leaders of a cabin of kids. Typically they were allowed to choose a child as a bride or groom (no matter how young) and some chose to wait until the right kid came along.

"Adam, we've brought you someone to heal" Hannah opened her glaring eyes "Will you watch over her for the night and make sure she doesn't run off again?"

"Of course mother" He answered dutifully

She then handed me over into his arms. I was swept out of my trance and waves of pain welcomed me back into reality. I cried the sweet tears I had been forced to hold back letting them flow freely down my face. Wails escaped my lips and Adam cradled me closer.

"Mother?" He asked "Will you allow my flock to sleep in the house for tonight, so her wails don't keep them up?"

"For you my son, anything. You've always been good and faithful to us" she answered. Then with a  wave of her hand, the cabin of small children awoke and followed her back towards the house.

Adam brought me inside, he gently lay me on what was obviously his bed. Seeing as it was the largest in the room. He then shut the door and locked it. Trapping me for the night.

"It could've been worse you know" He said.

"Whatever. You didn't just lose your brother did you?"

"I know what it's like to lose a brother..." He said as he began to wash my burns in cold water. "You're lucky they didn't feed you to the goatman"

"The what now?" I asked through my clenched jaw

He rushed to the kitchen and brought me back a couple of leaves.

"Here chew these they'll take the pain away" I eyed him suspiciously "trust me, I mean you no harm" The leaves made me want to gag and left a disgusting metal taste in my mouth. As if he read my mind, he quickly handed me a jar of water. "Now where was I?"

"The goat man" I reminded him. How could you forget something like that?

"Oh yeah! The legend of the goatman" He began, as he started cleaning my wounds again. He was right, this time the pain in my feet was completely gone. My whole body felt numb.

"He was a mysterious man that lived out deep in the woods with his wife and two kids. He went by the name of King Carter. They had a nice house and garden. The kids spent their days happily playing out in the forest or swimming in the lake near their property. Life was good until Carter started having terrible dreams of twisted monsters. These dreams haunted his sleeping and waking life causing him to go insane.

One night the local police got a distressed call from his wife claiming that he was hunting her and her kids. The call was cut short and the line went dead. The officers feared the worst so they assembled a team to go confront him.

When they got to his house they quickly found out he'd been expecting them. The whole property was set with deadly booby-traps. Only one cop made it back to his squad car alive. Though he was severely injured, he made one final call requesting back up. Along with the grim warning to come better prepared than his team did.

The case was quickly sent up the chain of command to the FBI. When they arrived at the property, they were greeted with the stench of death. The mutilated bodies of the other officers swung eerily from the trees where they'd been hung. Almost like a warning that whoever dared to venture onto his property would be next. However, King Carter was nowhere to be seen.

They entered his home, careful to disengage any of the traps. The TV was on and a glass of water was sitting out on the counter. It was almost as if he'd just left. They checked every room but they didn't find him. However, they did find the bodies of his wife and kids. Each with their hearts and eyes torn out. Runic symbols were scrawled in blood all over the walls. As well as a riddle no one has dared to try and solve.

The FBI closed off the area as a crime scene. They soon found the bodies of 10 others in his barn, which were too shredded to identify. As well as freezers full of 'extra parts' leading them to believe he'd become a cannibal. They never found old King Carter and they say he still wanders the 666 acre property as a cannibalistic monster. Always on the hunt for his next meal."

"Creepy, but isn't that just a ghost story?" I asked in disbelief "there's no way that could be real"

"I wish it was just a ghost story" Adam said casting his gaze to the ground "When I first came here I was 7 and the oldest kid was a guy named Noah. Since we shared a room he was like an older brother to me. When he was 17 he tried to escape, he didn't tell me he was leaving, or where he was going.

I awoke in the middle of the night, because of a nightmare, I ran to his bed for comfort but all I found were sheets. Worried about him, I quickly woke up mom and dad, thinking they'd bring him back. They caught him and left him isolated in the cellar for days. Then one night at around midnight, they came into my room and woke me up. They said I had a lesson to learn. Mom brought me out to the truck and Jacob soon joined us with a giant crate he put in the bed.

We drove for forever and I asked them where we were going. "Yahewa Yirah" was their only answer. We pulled off into the woods and soon I became afraid. I had heard the legend of the goatman, but I didn't think it was real either until then. They parked the truck out by a service road and we walked the rest of the way. Mom and Dad carried the crate between them until we reached the house. That place still smelled like decaying bodies. They dropped the crate on the front door leaving it unopened. Then they knocked on the door and left.

Noah must have woken up then because I could hear him scream and plead for us not to leave him. He sounded terrified. Then I heard the box splinter open and the screaming stopped.

We made it back to the truck and I began to cry. It was all my fault he'd been caught. He could've been free but instead he was devoured by the goatman. Mom shushed me and told me to look out the window, that the forest would soothe me. I did as I was told so I wouldn't be next.

As we came to a stop at the end of the road I saw a tall shadowy figure with six horns and one glowing red eye watching us from the trees. It waved at me before vanishing into the night. Ever since then I've never disobeyed a single order, and I've never considered running away. Just out of sheer terror that, that could be me one day"

"That's insane!" I exclaimed "I'm so sorry that happened to you, and I hope you know that wasn't your fault. You were only a kid. They were the ones to make that horrific decision"

"Thank you," He said, wiping tears from his cloudy freckled cheeks "I actually haven't told anyone about that before. It was nice to get it off my chest. After Noah I kinda distanced myself from everyone. So I couldn't hurt them and they couldn't hurt me"

"Well, I won't hurt you" I said holding his hand in mine "and if you ever need to talk I hope you know I'm here for-" a giant yawn interrupted my train of thought. "Sorry" I said sleepily.

"Don't you worry. Those leaves are about to really kick in, but you're safe and I'm going to be right here to take care of you" He said, then he sat down beside me and hummed a beautiful tune, sending me off into dreamland.