Moonshiners' Hollow

Prologue

The sky was completely dark, devoid of star and moon. Where mountain subsided to tree was obscured by the clouds overhead. The air was heavy with the scent of imminent rain, and the tree frogs screeched their shrill rain song into the abyss. Night things scurried through the leaves, and humans gathered with their flashing red-and-blue lights along a narrow gravel road traversing the valley.

It lumbered, drunken in its uneven footfalls that punctured the thick leaf debris lining the forest floor. Its head, deer-like, was tilted to the side as it stumbled through the forest along Moonshiners' Hollow, its dark eyes fixated upon the light reflecting off the ramshackle homes near the road. The deep rumble of familiar hunters' voices-- Human --echoed through the trees, mixing with the cadence of tree frogs and katydids. It continued forward, its zig-zag movements slowing as it turned its attention to the humans.

They travelled in pairs, using piercing beams of light that scattered along the warped glass of windows like the stars that were missing from the sky. Their footsteps were undisguised, disturbing the leaves under their strange feet while they swung their lights through the forest, using their voices all the way.

One of the light beams passed swiftly over it, and it paused in its uneven gait, raising its head to appear more Deer than Not. The beam that had touched its deer-like body never returned to it; the humans had their attention on something else, making more noise than usual-- calling loudly in their deep voices, disturbing anything in the area.

It did not understand Human, but it did understand that it needed to stay away. The light, though, was comforting in the darkness, and the rain was closing in. It would wait where it was, at least for a time, to use the humans to avoid predators.

The humans stayed for much time, and more vehicles of flashing light that made rockfall noises on the gravel arrived at some point in the night. It stayed at the edge of the light, its ears angled backward to listen for wayward coyotes and eyes trained on the scene unfolding before it. In and out and around, the humans worked like ants, carrying things from the buildings to roads.

The rain came from the west, the cascade of droplets on leaves in the distance becoming a deafening waterfall roar as the rain neared. Water fell upon it and the humans, yet the humans continued, their calls echoing even over the torrent of rain falling from the sky.

The same syllable, like some strange mating call, echoed over and over: "Dead."

What the meaning of the vocalization was was unclear, and the humans were mostly gone before the sun rose. In the gray twilight, curiosity finally overtook it after the only remaining pair of humans returned to the road, and it began its unsteady course toward the nearest building: white, blue and covered in lichen and moss. A wooden platform attached to the back of the building, allowing a view inside a rectangular entrance.

As it neared, the fresh scent of rain began to be overpowered by the metallic twang of blood and a floral scent of decay. Its ears twitched, raindrops falling from their tips. Its hooves made a hollow noise on the wet wood, and its head turned, jerking as it did so, its muscles tensing at the overwhelming smell of blood and decay.

Three humans-- barely recognizable as such --were seated around a table: a juvenile and two adults; all holding hands. Their matted, dirty hair clung to their scalps, skin appearing loose on their bones. A layer of blood-- coagulated and sticky --was pooled under them from no clear source.

Dead?