G'day all!
I changed the summary since this is now more of a drabble fic then just a single one shot. I have more ideas if you guys want them. All focusing on Jack when he was a human.
Also, thanks a ton for all the reviews/follows/favorites. I appreciate each one more then you know :)
Enjoy!
The town of Burgess had its little perks. It held a light, homey atmosphere only to be found where people knew everybody around them. Its stable economy of community businesses and workers gave a sense of security. And its attractive environment of little lakes and cheerful forests provided some, often much needed, change of scenery. A change of scenery Sofia would welcome on any normal night.
Tonight was not one of those nights.
"Many years ago, in these very woods, on this very path, two sisters were walking in the dead of night…"
Sofia couldn't tell you how she ended up in this situation, and, currently sitting around a dimming campfire in the middle of the woods outside town, listening to ghost stories told by the other teens of Burgess, she wished she could be anywhere else.
"These two sisters, you see" Jackson Overland continued in a deep, rather menacing tone, "were trying to make it to their sick grandmother's house…"
"This isn't that story of that wolf is it?" Sofia's friend, and mutual companion to the other teens, Ruth said, "We've all heard that one already." Her hands trembled slightly in her lap.
Jack waved a dismissing hand at her, "No, it's not. Now shush, let me finish,"
"Yeah, unless you're scared" Jack's friend, John, snickered. John was like Jack in a lot of ways. Clever, childish, and confident. Their biggest difference was Jack had at least a slight filter whereas John had absolutely none.
Ruth held her tongue.
"As I was saying," Jack continued, "these sisters had the misfortune of traveling during a terrible rainstorm, a rainstorm that blocked out their dark path. Quite suddenly, however they saw a dim light up ahead and they came across a strange, raggedy man with a lantern, 'ladies,' he said to them, 'come with me and get out of this terrible rain.' The girls, being naïve, and sopping wet, agreed. The strange man led them to his cottage in the middle of nowhere-"
"If it's in the middle of nowhere then how does he know where to go?" Sofia challenged starkly. This whole story was absolutely ridiculous. What kind of person travels a path at night without an escort? How foolish. This wasn't scary. She most certainly wasn't trying to distract Jack so he would stop with his hunched back and darkened eyes and cold voice that was so out of character for him. She wasn't scared. No... Not in the slightest… She still kept her trembling hands folded in her dress.
Jack ignored her, "He took the girls inside and led them by the fire. 'Come my dear' the man said to the oldest sister, 'you must be hungry.' Then, in a dark tone, he added, 'I know I'm famished!' and he escorted the girl into his kitchen." Jack's voice darkened into a menacing growl ashe voiced the strange man. "He left the youngest all alone. Now, this girl had noticed the bad smell of the house the moment she stepped inside, but as she was looking around the room, she noticed something else. This strange man's home had no bedroom; nothing for him to sleep on. Instead, there was a big, muddy pile of dead leaves and grasses lying in the corner. The girl started to wonder. What kind of man had no bed in his home? She looked all around the house and on the floor she saw mud trails and large footprints. Some that didn't even look human."
Jack paused dramatically. The only sound Sofia heard was the eerie crackle of the fire and the uncomfortable, rapid beating of her heart.
"Suddenly!" Jack jolted, flaring out his hands, "There was a blood curdling scream from the kitchen. 'AHH!' The youngest sister ran to the door and flung it open! What she saw on the other side would haunt her for the rest of her life,"
Sofia, tearing her eyes away from Jack, looked around to the view of openly shivering children, none of which were trembling from the cold.
"Inside the kitchen, stinking up the room and feasting on her sisters insides, was a big. Giant. Rabid. Hungry... BEAR!"
Jack climaxed his story with legs spread out and hands fanged above his head like claws. The growly, deep voice he concluded in did its job well. Nearly everyone around the fire, girls and boys alike, (which unfortunately included Sofia) all jumped violently and were forced in various degrees of cowering positions. Poor little Davey, the smallest in the group, had completely retreated underneath the wooden log he had been sitting on moments before.
Jack gave a devilish grin and shrank down close to the flames, the light curling frightening shadows across his face, "The bear man killed both the sisters that night. For he is cursed to spend eternity as a man by day and ferocious bear by night. Some say he still haunts these woods today. Still preying on scared, lost children that dare walk along his path…"
A chilling silence commenced around the group, only broken by Ruth's shaky piping, "That's ridiculous, Jack! People don't just turn into bears because the sun goes down."
Jack sat down, folded his hands behind his head, and leaned back smoothly, "I wouldn't be so sure."
"Yeah," John supplemented, "How else do you explain all those disappearances?"
Ruth took the bait, "What disappearances?"
A voice suddenly popped up from behind the Sofia and Ruth's log, making both of them jump, "Oh haven't you heard? Three kids have gone missing this past season alone!"
"Stop it, Jack! You know as well as I do none of those were animal attacks. Plus, none of them were actually lost in these woods."
"Who said they needed to be lost?" Jack challenged darkly, "Maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
Sofia gave a deep sigh. 'No,' she told herself, 'that was not a sigh to cover up that horrible, sinking feeling in your stomach, that was merely an exasperated sigh because of all the time you have wasted paying the slightest mind to Jack Overland and his ridiculously immature friends.' Sofia had just about enough of this nonsense.
She stood and made a show of brushing off the dirt on her dress, "Well, great story Jack. Simply riveting tale. But, if you don't mind, Ruth and I must enter the real world now. You know the one where men don't turn into raging animals because of some curse. But rather, where they're disgusting, immature pigs who find cheap amusement in fables and avoid any sort of chivalry for fear of actually having to be somebody!"
A collective 'ooh' came out of the smallest children and Ruth. Sofia drank in the annoyed, almost flabbergasted expressions of the boys.
But of course Jack would never give her that satisfaction. The boy continued smiling, "As you wish. Would you two ladies require an escort?"
Sofia scoffed, holding her head high, "Not from the likes of you, Overland"
Jack remained unfazed. "Suit yourselves. The gentleman in me hopefully not being overtaken by this disgusting pig you spoke of begs that you two fine ladies to be careful and have a pleasant trip," His voice oozed with false pleasantries and mocking. He stood and gave the girls a low, exaggerated bow. His friends snickered and clasped Jack on the back.
Sofia forced herself to count to ten. Oh! How that boy made her blood boil. Sofia considered herself a fruitful contribution to society. She admitted, she held her witty retorts, future potential, and top primary school education high on her forehead for the world to see. And this Jackson boy had absolutely no trouble smacking those endeavors right off. It only made things worse by the fact that Sofia could think of no alternative comeback to retort at the moment. Maintaining what was left of her dignity, Sofia took up her dress, linked her arm forcibly with Ruth, and turned down to the trail leaving a group of snickering teenagers behind.
Boys…
The pair started down the trail until the light from the fire was completely dimmed and the mumbled voices were finally out of earshot. Both girls soon came to realize, however, the path, so familiar to the both of them in daylight, took on a completely different form in the night. The unfamiliar winding of the trail coupled with strange noises bombarding the pair from seemingly all angles brought Sofia's heart rate up to an alarmingly high level.
"Sof," Ruth asked after a while, "you know where we are, right?" Sofia looked over to her. The poor girl looked absolutely terrified.
"Of course I do." Sofia assured. "Just a couple more turns and we'll see the town's lights,"
"Okay…"
Yet, after more minutes and more turns then either girl remembered having on the trek to the campfire, no light was to be found. The pair trekked on. Was this still the trail? These trees look so different… How long have they been walking? Didn't they pass that bush minutes ago? Suddenly, a shrill hoot of an owl pierced their thoughts and both girls jumped violently, gripping each other tight.
"God almighty!"
"Ruth!"
"Sorry."
Ruth sighed in exasperation, "Maybe we should just go back to the boys. I'm scared Sofia…"
Part of Sofia wanted more than anything to retrace their few steps back to the campfire. At least they knew how far away it was. But the image of Jack's snarky, patronizing face reformed Sofia's resolve. She was not going to give Overland the satisfaction of knowing he scared them with that stupid story of his.
"No, let's just keep walking. The faster we walk, the faster we'll get home."
Ruth swallowed hard but pressed forward with Sofia. "But what about that bear…" She said after a while.
Sofia crackled incredulously, "Oh, don't tell me you believed that ridiculous story!"
"Well, think about it! Jack was right. There have been kids that go missing in the woods. What if there is some truth to Jack's story… what if there really is a bear in these woods?"
At that precise moment a loud rustling around them caused the girl's voices to silence and their feet to halt. The sound of a large animal filled the trees around them and the ground shook slightly at the movement. The nearly nonexistent light permitted no great view of the forest around them and the girls caught themselves spinning their heads wildly trying to find the source.
"Sofia what was that?" Ruth's voice trembled something awful.
"I don't know" Sofia responded, her voice equally shaky but not taking the moment to care.
A large twig snapped to the side of the girls, causing their heads to whip towards the sound. The girls stared. Bushes around them rustled, then stopped, and everything went silent. The sudden, eerie quiet of the forest was broken by a ferocious roaring that caused the ground to shake and the leaves to rustle. Sofia and Ruth were utterly frozen in place, too terrified to move, when a large, black form burst through the tree line and right into the path. The massive form held out its great arms to reveal a pair of razor sharp claws ready to swipe down at any prey. Its black fur gleamed slightly in the moonlight.
Bear.
Sofia and Ruth ran for it. Both ladies disregarded all dignity. They hoisted up their dresses, let their bonnets fall off, and took off running away from the bear faster than either had ever in their lives. The shrill screams both emitted would put Russian opera singers to shame. But neither took a second to care. Their only goal was to get away: basic survival instinct. The forest became a blur of dark green and brown and the sticks and roots littering the ground became deadly drawbacks as Sofia felt the twigs dig into her flesh. But still she ran.
Sofia ran for an immeasurable time, feeling the giant creature tailing her, when all of a sudden, the angry growling and tearing stopped. In its place she thought she heard laughter. The girl dared slow down and quickly zipped around a tree, out of sight. She then dared a peak of her attacker.
Through the moonlight Sofia saw Jack Overland on the ground, clutching his stomach in insane laughter, covered from head to toe in a bear fur costume. His friends surrounded him, two of which were holding giant bear arms complete with massive paws and nails. All of which were laughing nearly as hard as Jack was.
Sofia quickly connected the dots. Her blood absolutely boiled; in her vision she saw red, "Jackson Overland!"
Jack's skinny form was too scrunched up in laughter, "Oh… God almighty… you- ha! You should have seen your faces. Oh, ha ha! The way you were running-!"
"They 'might as well have been runnin' from Satan himself!" John squeaked. "Didcha see where they're hats went? Those devils are clear across the way!" The boys crumpled once more.
Sofia looked to the tree across the path to find Ruth looking about ready to cry. The poor girl still looked scared. Sofia didn't even want to see what her face looked like. She blinked rapidly, forcing back tears of fear and anger.
"You tricked us…" Sofia turned back to the boys lividly.
Jack took a deep breath, attempting to control his fits of giggles, "Oh, Sofia…ha! That was a good show. I wasn't sure how good the fur looked either. But, man, did I ever worry over nothing!"
Sofia came out from, behind her tree, her eyes barely under control at the moment. "You think this is funny, Overland? Scaring the holy hell out of innocent girls?"
"Well I don't know. John seemed to get a pretty good kick out of it."
Sofia's expression could have petrified wood.
"Come on, Sof," Jack continued. He grabbed her shoulders warmly, like reassuring an old friend, "It's just a joke. Learn to have a little fun!"
Sofia blinked. She blamed it on the wild wagon ride her emotions had gone through this evening, but, for some reason, the way he spoke did something to her. His small, half smile and an overall expression that shined of childlike delight and merriment caused her anger to melt away. In its place there was put an idea, a feeling, a spark of inspiration that filled her mind and emotions. It calmed her anger down and gave her a sense of mischievous tomfoolery that so often infected Jack.
Sofia stared Jack straight in the face, "You want some fun, Jack? Fine. You had your turn. Now I get to have mine." She smiled a devil's smile that nearly mirrored Jack's.
Before she could even see Jack's reaction, Sofia turned, gripped Ruth's hand and started walking her down the trail once more, already seeing the first of the town's lights poking through the branches. 'Jackson wants a prank war; I'll give him a prank war.' She thought. That boy was going to learn some respect, and knowing she would be the one to give it to him gave Sofia a thrilling sense of excitement and purpose she had never felt before. This was going to be fun.
Back on the wooded path, standing with a group of dumbstruck boys, Jackson Overland smiled. 'Finally' he thought, 'this was gonna be fun'
Thoughts?
This was a bit of a pain to write (and by far not my best work... writing horror stories is not my forte, apparently). Hopefully it's not too hard to follow.
Thank you all for clicking and reading! Have a wonderful day and a Happy New Year if I don't update before then! :)
