[Music & Song Recommendations – You can follow the playlist for 'Along for the Ride' on Spotify. Type in Danielle's full name "Danielle Awanasa Callaghan" along with the title to make sure you get the right playlist.]
~ "Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith (On the drive to the forest)
~ "Coyote Dance" by Robbie Robertson and the Red Road Ensemble (Searching in the forest for the Hidebehind)
~ "Turn Around, Look at Me" by The Lettermen (when Dani is being stalked by the Hidebehind)
~ "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" by David Bowie (When Dani is riding on the ATV/ Fighting the Hidebehind)
~ "As the World Falls Down" by David Bowie (if you can find a decent instrumental version of this song, use that)
Chapter Twenty
"Turn Around, Look at Me"
Minnesota
July 2007
She could feel Keith's gaze on her scars again. He'd been looking at them on and off for the past hour, whenever he thought she wasn't paying him any attention. He, Dani and Bobby were currently in the dining room of Keith's cabin-like home, going over all they'd uncovered regarding the case. He and Bobby were standing hunched over the table, scanning the map of the forest they were certain the Hidebehind was occupying.
Eight loggers had disappeared over the span of six months in the forest towards the north-eastern part of Minnesota. The only traces found of them were blood splattered patches of ground, a dislodged boot, a bloody helmet with five deep slashes cutting through it, and – most recently – the corpse of the latest logger that had gone missing and found four days later. All his intestines had been eaten.
"What are the authorities saying attacked the men?" Dani asked, looking up from the file that contained newspaper clippings and research of the Hidebehind. She caught Keith looking at the five horizontal scars on her right forearm. She regretted her decision to wear a short-sleeved shirt, but it was July for crying out loud! She'd have died in a long-sleeved shirt.
Keith quickly lifted his eyes from her arm to her face and realized she'd caught him staring. His gaze shifted to the two long scars running vertical on the right side of her face, one leading from her jaw, the other from her temple, and a third scar horizontal across her forehead. He pulled his eyes away and looked back at the map. "They're claiming bears."
Dani snorted. "Figures. Now that the mountain lions are nearly extinct, I guess that would be their next scapegoat." Keith and Bobby both gave her "ain't that the truth" lifts of their eyebrows and nodded.
Keith Davenport was a tall, athletically built man in his early forties, with a close-cut black beard showing signs of grey. He was a local to the area. Since Dani and Bobby had arrived in Minnesota two days ago, Dani had yet to see Keith dress in something other than flannel or the color red. Today, he'd chosen both by sporting a red and black flannel shirt. Being a hunter ran in the Davenport family. He, along with his two brothers, a younger sister, and several cousins, were fifth generation hunters.
Most of the Davenport family was currently preoccupied with cases of their own and he'd never encountered a Hidebehind before due to the creature's rarity, so Keith had wanted to call in another seasoned hunter to help him. Unfortunately, not too much was known about the Hidebehind, not even if it was a singular creature or if there was more than one roaming the forests. The stories surrounding it had popped up sometime in the 1890s among the camps of lumberjacks in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Hidebehind's most notable trait was its swiftness and what led to its namesake. It hid behind things. It was so fast that no matter how quickly or suddenly a person turned around, the Hidebehind was still able to get behind them. Because of this, there wasn't much of a physical description of the creature to go off of.
Some claimed it was like a woodsy Slenderman, standing at seven feet tall, with long thin limbs, no eyes, and sharp claws. Others claimed it was a huge, strong beast. Dani leaned towards the latter description though. She'd heard tales that the Hidebehind could disappear behind the thinnest of trees and a great hulking beast of a creature would find that rather hard to do.
Other things attributed to the Hidebehind was that it preferred to eat human intestines and was thought to let out a scream before going in for the attack. Of course, there was one other thing that kept popping up in the folklore surrounding the mysterious creature: its aversion to alcohol.
Dani's face screwed up in skepticism. "How certain are we about the alcohol thing? How do we know it wasn't just some lumberjacks back in the 1890s wanting an excuse to drink on the job?"
Bobby and Keith shared a glance with one another before their eyes flitted towards the small stack of beer packs in the corner along with their hunting gear. Dani lifted one eyebrow while her lips thinned. "That sure, huh?" she observed dryly.
Keith's brown eyes darted towards the scars on Dani's left arm. She sighed and closed the file testily. "Ya gonna ask or keep gawking?" she grunted.
He looked like a stunned deer caught in the headlights. At least he had the decency to look ashamed. "Sorry, I just… I've been surrounded by hunters my whole life. And I've never come across someone as young as you carrying around the scars of a hunter three times her age…if a hunter even gets lucky to live that long."
Dani took a deep breath to steady herself. She'd been dealing with lingering stares for about two years now and she'd have to put up with it for the rest of her life. People were going to stare. Sure, she didn't look like she'd been put through a blender, but people had done double takes before when looking at her for the first time. The scars on her face were the ones people spotted first, then the two on her neck, and if she was wearing short sleeves, the ones on her arms next. Dani had yet to wear a bathing suit in public since the attack due to the gawking she knew would occur if the scars on her chest, shoulders, stomach, legs, and back were ever seen.
She'd been mauled within an inch of her life. Nazeal, the Grim Reaper himself, had even confirmed that she'd been seconds away from being reaped. People noticed the scars. They wondered. And in the event any civilians were ever brave or insensitive enough to ask, Dani had a brief cover story ready to share; rabid dog attack. But hunters knew.
They recognized the marks left behind by monsters on other hunters. It was the hunters that looked the longest but never asked. Sam and Dean hadn't. Ellen and Jo hadn't. And Keith had yet to do so too. Marks like the ones on Dani's skin spoke for themselves about the pain she'd gone through, and hunters knew that their lives were painful enough without having to live through it all over again.
Dani left Keith's comment unremarked and stood from her chair to join the two men at the table and surveyed the map. Little red X's marked where the loggers had last been seen and blue dots signified where any evidence such as blood or lost shoe had been found. One blue dot was encircled to symbolize the corpse that had been found. The X's and dots were all clustered within five miles of each other. The logging site was at the center.
"Looks like we've got our search area for the hunting grounds pretty clear," Dani commented. "But would the Hidebehind hunt close by the place its holed up, or would it venture out?"
Keith pointed at the nearest city, which was quite some distance from the forest and logging site. "Well, I know that some accounts – which are few and very vague – say that the Hidebehind will stalk its prey for miles, but I think it keeps close to its nest. Other logging sites have been done in this forest for years, but only this year have the attacks started up so rapidly. I think the loggers got close to its home and it began to hunt them. It may have been living off the wildlife because the closest town to the forest hasn't experienced any unexplained disappearances for several decades. I think that shows the Hidebehind doesn't venture too far from its home to hunt."
Dani nodded. "Can't argue with that. Yonu?"
The older hunter nodded as well then looked up from the map to Keith. "Got a place you want to search first?"
Keith placed his finger over a red X. "Where the first logger went missing."
It was just a little past noon when they set out for the logging site. The area had been abandoned after the last attack, the company calling their men back in until a solution presented itself.
Bobby and Keith waited until they reached the dirt and gravel road the loggers used to venture into the forest before bringing out the beer. Dani sat in the back seat of Keith's Ford truck and eyed the two men drinking and driving. "Ya'll are terrible role models," she deadpanned.
Bobby glanced back at her and smiled. "Now normally I wouldn't be caught dead in the passenger seat of a man drinkin' behind the wheel, but I believe this is what would be considered a special circumstance. Gotta be prepared, Dani girl."
"Grab yourself one," Keith offered, gesturing to the small cooler next to her.
"I don't drink," Dani replied.
Bobby's brow furrowed. "Oh hell, I forgot about that," he muttered apologetically.
Keith glanced at Dani via his rearview mirror. "Um, you'd rather not drink the thing that could deter the monster from eating you?"
"Yep."
Keith looked utterly puzzled. "But –,"
"Her genetics aren't exactly agreeable to alcohol," Bobby said in lieu of a full explanation. He looked back at Dani and ran a hand over his mouth and beard. "What are we gonna do about that?"
Dani smiled. "Already got that covered." She reached into her medicine bag and withdrew a plastic bottle of disinfectant alcohol and dabbed some of the liquid on her wrists, neck, and behind her ears as if it were perfume. The smell was strong enough that both men got a good whiff of it within seconds.
"That should do it, alright," Bobby chuckled.
"See?" Dani chuckled. "Ya'll had an alternative solution in front of you, but you wanted to drink instead."
Bobby shook his head with a good-natured scoff. "Real clever, kid." He turned to face the front again. "How much further?" he asked Keith.
"Thirty minutes, give or take?"
Dani anxiously tapped her fingers on her thigh as she waited for the next thirty minutes to go by. She tried not to think about the similarities between this case and when she'd been attacked. But the fact that there were the three of them in a truck, driving through the very woods that the Hidebehind inhabited, heading towards a creature that not much was known about, when it had been three people in Matt's truck, driving through the woods that the unknown creature was also known to live in…
Dani tried to get her heart to settle down. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Bobby overheard and looked over his shoulder. His brow furrowed. His eyes flitted to Keith and he hesitated before speaking. "Dohitsu?" he asked haltingly.
The man could speak fluent Japanese and was rather good at Latin, but he always sounded like he had a mouth full of rocks when he tried to speak Cherokee. He'd known a handful of phrases and words thanks to Galilahi, but once it became apparent that Dani and Joey would become a bigger part of his life, he'd made it a point to really learn the language. By now, he knew enough to understand it, but refrained from speaking it aloud because, in his words, he hated how he "butchered the sound".
Dani released another exhale, albeit a bit shakier than the first, as she gave him a tentative smile. "Tohiquu."
Bobby raised a skeptical brow. "Do'ke?"
Dani nodded, stealing her gaze. Bobby dipped his head back at her. He could see her nervousness but wasn't going to intervene. This was up to her. No more benching her. Just like he'd promised.
"We're here," Keith announced.
The car was parked and they all climbed out of the vehicle, stepping onto the pine needle and leaf strewn ground. Ahead of them was a small clearing void of trees with only low-cut stumps remaining. The truck was stopped just on the outskirts of the clearing. Wind rustled through the branches of the maple, oak and birch trees that surrounded the hunters.
After the initial discovery of the barren stretch of land before her, the first thing Dani noticed was the silence. Like the forest itself was holding its breath, not wanting to be noticed. It sent a chill up her spine and the hair on the back of her neck to rise.
"You hear that?" she asked softly.
"Oh yeah," Bobby acknowledged, grabbing his shotgun from the bed of the truck. "That silence is loud and clear." There was also a four-wheeler strapped down in the back of the truck and two spare gas containers. The four-wheeler would not be used during their search though. Too loud.
They needn't worry about the land without trees or brush for the Hidebehind to conceal itself with. The surrounding area though, was where they would focus. "I know it'll take longer to search the forest, but I suggest we stick together," Keith put forward. "No splitting up if we can help it." Bobby and Dani nodded their agreement. The Hidebehind's presence was strongly felt all around them. Dani half expected to hear the creature tearing through the underbrush towards them any second.
"Most of the accounts I could find stated that the Hidebehind is mostly nocturnal," Keith shared with them as they strapped on their packs. "But none of the loggers stayed out in the forest to work once the sun went down. Too dangerous and risky for their job. And none of the loggers went missing around their base camp. It was always at the work sites that they vanished."
Dani took out her pistol and checked that it was loaded for the third time or fourth time. "I thought most of the forests in this part of Minnesota were part of the state parks or under protection," Dani questioned Keith as the trio began to scout the area.
"Oh, they are, but there are a few small acres that are assigned for lumber use by this particular logging company. They don't cut down all the trees on each property at once. Once they're finished with this piece of land, they'll till up the earth and plant saplings to replace what they took. Then the company cuts timber from another stretch of their properties while the trees regrow on this one. Sure, it takes a while for the trees to grow big enough to be used for lumber, but the company stays in business in other ways while they wait."
A twig snapped from behind them. All three hunters froze.
Dani strained her ears for any noises that indicated movement behind them. Keith gripped his rifle tightly, his feet slowly adjusting to prepare for an abrupt turn around.
Another snap of wood came from ahead of them. Keith stilled his movement while Dani's eyes locked on the area where she'd clocked the noise coming from. "You turn around and I'll keep an eye on front?" she suggested in a low voice. He nodded. "Yonu?"
"I've got eyes on our sides," the older hunter informed her.
Dani nodded and began to count down. "Three, two, one."
Keith whirled around, his rifle at the ready as his eyes flitted between the trees for any sign of movement. Several tense seconds passed. "Anything?" Bobby asked.
"No," Keith and Dani replied in unison.
"Let's keep moving," Bobby stated. They did as he said, this time what little small talk they'd had was gone.
An hour went by as they moved deeper into the forest. Then another hour passed, and another, and another, but the Hidebehind, true to its lore, never made its appearance. They'd found a few rabbit skeletons, some scat, and a few deep slashes in tree bark from an animal with claws bigger than a bear's, but not much else. Not even prints. Either the thing was light on its feet, or knew how to avoid leaving tracks.
It was nearly evening by the time they stopped to consider their options.
"Sun won't set until around 8:40," Keith said aloud, glancing at his watch. It was approaching 5pm. "What do you two think?"
"I think we're in the right area," Bobby answered. "That scat looked less than a day old if it was left by the Hidebehind. Given how we haven't seen much other wildlife, I'm gonna assume it was."
"We need something to draw it out," Dani spoke up.
"Right, cause three walking bags of meat ain't enough to entice it," Keith joked.
"Well, think about it," Dani insisted. "All the lore suggests that it won't attack people unless they're alone. Even though there's only three of us, it's two too many for it. It won't go for it unless it's just a singular person that it can stalk and hunt down."
"Your 'perfume' may have also done its job too well, Dani girl," Bobby pointed out. "I can't smell it standing a couple feet away from ya, but I'm willin' to bet the monster's got a keen sense of smell."
Dani nodded and took out her water bottle. She held it up. "Well, we gonna stay long enough for me to wash the alcohol off or should we come back tomorrow?"
Bobby lifted his eyes to the sky. "We've been walkin' fer hours. It'll take us a while to walk back, and it'll be gettin' dark by the time we make it to the truck."
"So tomorrow it is," Dani acknowledged with a nod, stuffing her bottle back into her pack. She and Bobby turned to begin the walk back.
"Hey, guys," Keith interrupted. "I don't wanna be that person, but I've gotta take a leak." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I'll be just on the other side of those trees." He gave Dani an apologetic look. "You'll probably be able to hear me."
"Dude, I've traveled with guys before," she informed him with an amused grin. "Ain't nothin' I haven't heard before. Go do your thing."
Keith nodded and hurried over to a thicket of trees. Just as Keith had warned, the sound of liquid streaming against a tree could be heard from where Dani and Bobby stood. Dani reached up and pressed her fingers to her ears. "Nothin' you ain't heard before, huh?" Bobby chuckled.
"It's still awkward," Dani intoned with a wry smile.
An animalistic screech rang out closer than they would have ever suspected, and Keith screamed.
"Keith!" Bobby hollered, lifting his shotgun at the ready. Dani followed suit. There was the sound of a scuffle in the underbrush, then something heavy collapsed to the ground followed by rustling. They approached the trees that Keith had disappeared behind. "Keith?"
Blood was splattered against the tree's trunk, but not enough to signify immediate death. On the ground, there were signs of something big and heavy being dragged away.
Bobby swore and kicked at the tree with the flat of his foot. It trembled from the impact but nothing more.
"We're going after him, right?" Dani posed, a hint of anxiety lending a warble to her tone.
Bobby huffed, pushed back his ever-present baseball cap, righted it, then nodded. "Don't get yer hopes up, Dani girl. He may already be dead." He pointed at the leaves and pine needles that had been dragged and clumped up in the wake of Keith's body. "We follow that for as long as we can. He's bleedin', so look for blood too."
"Hawa."
They followed Keith's trail for nearly an hour when they came across, not so much a cave, as an opening in the earth of a mound that was nearly hidden from view by the bushes and roots of a fallen oak.
"Balls," Bobby grunted, as he knelt by the entrance and peered inside.
Dani observed the mound and the nearby ground, finding no other opening that the Hidebehind could use. "Hey, Bobby, I've got an idea."
"Let me hear it."
"Well, I'm just gonna get this out of the way and remind you not to shout after I say it. We need to split up."
Bobby shot to his feet. "Excuse me?" he hissed.
"Thank you for not shouting," Dani said with a nervous smile before moving on. "Look, the Hidebehind's in there. You stay here and make sure it doesn't leave and I'll go back to the truck and grab Keith's extra gas containers. I'll hop on the four-wheeler and ride it back here. We go inside the lair and make sure Keith's alive or dead, we shoot the monster, and we douse the place in gas and torch it for good measure."
Bobby ran a hand over his face as he looked between Dani and the entrance to the Hidebehind's lair. "If we both leave, the Hidebehind could get out and I doubt we'll get another chance like this again," Dani pressed.
Bobby swore under his breath and gave a reluctant nod. "Fine! And while you're at the truck, bring back any extra ammo and alcohol we left in the truck."
Dani turned and ran back the way they'd come.
She'd been gone for a little over an hour. Bobby knew it would take longer than that for her to reach the truck and to get back to him. Hopefully the four-wheeler would cut the time it took her to return to him by greater than half.
"Hellooo!"
Bobby's ears perked up.
"Hellooo!"
Keith? Bobby wondered in amazement.
"Help meee!"
Bobby stepped closer to the lair's entrance and shouted, "Keith?"
"Bobby! Oh, thank God!"
"Keith, you're alive?" Bobby asked, wanting to hear the voice speak some more. He wanted to listen out for any inconsistencies, anything that might point out that it was not actually Keith speaking. There were monsters out there that could replicate a person's voice, but there were ways to tell if you were aware of what to listen out for.
"That thing knocked me out and dragged me in here! I'm bleeding bad, Bobby!"
Bobby hesitated for only a moment, then made his decision. He darted inside the cave-like opening. A tunnel burrowed further into the mound then tilted downward, going deeper underground. It was dark, too dark to see properly. Bobby pulled out a pocket-sized flashlight and clicked it on. He kept his shotgun at the ready.
"Bobby?" Keith called. The older hunter remained quiet. Another test. If it was the Hidebehind, it wouldn't keep up the charade if it thought Bobby had left. "Bobby!" Keith called again, franticly. "Bobby!"
There was a turn coming up, Keith's voice was getting louder, sounded like it was just on the other side of the dirt corner. "Your older sister's name," Bobby spoke up. "What is it?"
Keith's voice paused. "…What the hell? I don't have an older sister. It's just Francesca. She's the baby."
Bobby breathed a sigh of relief and turned the corner. The tunnel opened up into a larger space, roots poked down from the dirt ceiling, small shafts of wanning sunlight filtered through openings. Bone piles were everywhere. Keith was propped up against a wall amongst a pile of bones that looked human, but it was too dark to tell. A swipe of Bobby's flashlight revealed a human ribcage.
Keith's pale face looked around at the bones in horror. He met Bobby's eyes. "Get me outta here, man."
Bobby quickly closed the distance and dropped to his knees beside the injured man. He looked for the source of the bleeding. A slash across the ribs. Bobby slung his pack off and reached inside for the first aid kit bandages. "Where's the Hidebehind?" he asked, unrolling the gauze.
"I woke up not long after it dragged me in here. It was busy…" Keith gagged and shuddered back his revulsion. "It was busy eating a body. Picking it clean. I pretended to still be passed out. It left out a back exit," he pointed, "that direction about twenty minutes ago. I figured it might be far enough away by now that I could shout for help."
Bobby's hands froze. "Back exit?" he repeated.
"Yeah." Keith looked over Bobby's shoulder and frowned. "Where's Dani?"
A shard of ice lodged itself in Bobby's heart. Dani was out there, all alone, with the Hidebehind. Bobby quickly explained what had happened while he treated Keith's wound. Dozens of thoughts raced through his mind at once. Keith couldn't be moved just yet and he was too injured to leave alone to fend off the monster if it came back before Bobby returned with Dani. Dani was too far ahead for him to even believe for a second that he'd catch up to her before the Hidebehind found her. It was best to stay put, staunch Keith's bleeding, and wait for the creature to return and surprise it with some ammo to the face.
Bobby conveyed his plan to Keith and the two settled in to wait for either Dani or the Hidebehind's return. In the waiting silence, Bobby did something he didn't often do. In fact, it was something he hadn't done since that night he'd opened his front door and found Dani lying on his doorstep, bleeding to death and shredded to hell.
He prayed. He did so with the awkwardness of one who didn't know what he was doing, but with the fervency of a man who had something precious to lose.
Look, I know I don't pray as often as Dani wishes I would, but last time I prayed You kept her alive, so, here's goes nothin'. Bring her back to me alive. Please. So long as she's breathin', I can keep goin'. She and the boys are the kids I never got to have with Karen. So please… please keep her safe. Bring her back to me in one piece. Please.
The golden hour was approaching when Dani heard the sound of rustling behind her. She knew she had another hour ahead of her before she reached the truck. A branch snapped along with leaves being kicked up by quick moving steps. Dani froze and listened. Slowly, she turned to look behind her.
It took her a moment to realize she was looking right at it. Its skin was about the same color and texture as tree bark. She couldn't see it completely, just the sides of it as it hid behind a tree that was slimmer than its frame. The Hidebehind was surprisingly thin itself, but whether it had the ability to hide itself completely behind something as skinny as a sapling, somehow making its mass vanish, like some of the legends claimed, remained to be seen.
A hand with fingers that looked too long with too many knuckles to be human alighted onto the side of the tree facing Dani and tapped a claw against the surface. Dani took cautious steps back as she reached around into the side pocket of her pack and pulled the bottle of alcohol disinfectant from within. Her heart hammered within her chest. She felt her pulse thumping along her neck. She uncapped the bottle and squeezed some droplets onto her hands and dabbed at her throat.
The creature's fingers twitched. It chittered and hissed in displeasure. The fingers slid away from sight, dragging it's claws against the bark and leaving deep gashes in the wood along the way. Dani kept her eyes on the sides of the monster's frame as she continued walking backwards. Her vision became unfocused and blurry, as if staring at an optical illusion that irritated the eyes. She blinked and the part of the Hidebehind she'd been watching was gone.
The air in Dani's lungs expelled itself as if pushed. She whirled around to begin running, only to freeze in place when a blur of movement scurried from in front of her to the nearest tree. Long fingers and sharp claws scratched at the bark.
Dani felt her limbs start to shake. Less than a blink and it had managed to get behind her. And it had a way of making a person's vision act up if you looked at it for too long. Dani backed up, keeping her eyes on the tree and the creature's fingers for as long as she possibly could until she felt her sight commence to blur again.
"Three," she counted down breathlessly, "two…one."
She reeled on her feet and witnessed the sudden scurrying away of the Hidebehind just like before. She never caught a good glimpse of it. Just a haze of muted colors, a thin body, and the horrifying realization that it had been right behind her for a split second.
Dani repeated the process of watching the Hidebehind until her vision began to fail her. This time, she grasped her bottle of alcohol tightly and uncapped the lid. When she quickly swiveled around, she swung her arm and squeezed the bottle until the disinfectant sprayed out of the nozzle and splashed against the Hidebehind's skin. There was the sound of sizzling and the smell of burnt flesh.
It let out a painful shriek and scrambled away, tearing through the trees away from Dani. She didn't hesitate. She took off running. She'd hurt the monster, angered it. The Hidebehind would come for her again as soon as it registered the pain subsiding. Dani wanted to put as much distance between her and the creature before it came to that.
Not wanting to risk slowing herself down, Dani didn't dare to look at her bottle to see how much was left. Judging by the amount of sloshing happening with each slash of her arm through the air, she'd used up half of the bottle. She prayed that she'd manage to reach Keith's truck before the monster came for her.
"How'd you end up traveling with Dani?" Keith asked. He was mostly asking to distract himself from the pain.
Bobby looked him over, seemed to come to that conclusion, and sighed. "I knew her parents. Several years back, her daddy and I'd run into each other on a hunt for the same monster. Teamed up. Worked well together. Called each other for assistance or backup from time to time and just eventually started to see him and his family frequently enough that we considered each other good friends."
Bobby sniffed and shifted around before going on. "Both her parents died before she was legally an adult, so I took her on." It was pretty bare bones and left out lots of important details, but Keith didn't need to know about all that.
He didn't need to know that Dani had had three brothers, one of whom may or may not still be alive but bore a grudge so powerful against his sister that he'd left her to die after being attacked by an unknown monster the hunter community had yet to identify by a name. Keith didn't need to know that Dani's true guardian was the king of the goblins and had been too involved in a war against the ghouls to properly take care of his goddaughter and worried she wouldn't be safe around him due to spies roaming his kingdom. Keith didn't need to know that during the first year of accepting the responsibility of being Dani's temporary guardian, Bobby had lain awake every night wondering if he'd screw up her life worse than it already was. Scared to death he'd turn into his father…
No, Keith didn't need to know all that.
Keith winced and grunted as he adjusted his position against the dirt wall. "How long's it been since she left?"
Bobby aimed the flashlight at his watch. "Coming up on the fifth hour. She should be reaching your truck any moment now. If you left the keys to that four-wheeler in a place she can find without too much trouble, she should be able to cut the trek back by half the time."
Keith groaned. Bobby lifted his head to look at him. "What's the matter now?"
"The keys to the four-wheeler and the lock on the chains are in my truck."
"And?"
Keith reached into his pant's pocket and pulled out a key ring. "I locked the truck."
Bobby scowled. "You locked it?"
"Yep."
"We're in the middle of the forest! Who's gonna steal your truck? Bigfoot!"
"It's a habit!"
Bobby shook his head and scoffed. "Well, you better not get too fussy over a broken window, cause that's sure as hell what Dani's gonna do."
Dani slammed an infuriated fist against the glass of the driver's window and gave one last futile tug on the door handle. Yep. Still locked. Turning on her heel, Dani used the light of the moon to scan the forest floor for any large rocks or something just as heavy.
A heavy scuffling sounded in the brush just ahead of her. Dani hurried her search but couldn't find anything. Giving up, she stood in front of the window and prepped her stance. Lifting her elbow, she took a few quick breaths then rammed her elbow into the glass as hard as she could. The glass cracked.
Taking that as encouragement, Dani repeated the action. The glass cracked further, looked to be on the verge of shattering. She jammed her elbow against the fractured surface a third time and the window exploded in a shower of glass.
Reaching in, Dani unlocked the door and shoved off as many of the glass particles from the seat with the hem of her shirt as she could. Climbing inside, she searched the center console and found a small keyring with two keys.
A snarling growl was the only warning she had before a dark shape stormed towards the vehicle. Dani cried out as she closed the truck door and aimed her bottle of disinfectant. The moment the Hidebehind was in range, Dani squeezed the container and sprayed the liquid out the broken window. The monster yowled with anger and agony as it's skin once again burned upon contact with the alcohol. A plume of smoke was left wafting in place of the monster.
Checking that the coast was clear, she opened the door and hurried to the truck bed for the four-wheeler. She tried both keys in the chain lock and removed them once it opened. Dani grabbed the gas containers and secured it to the back of the ATV before darting back inside the truck and gathering all the extra ammo and alcohol she could carry.
A far-off screech that was quickly becoming familiar sounded and alerted Dani that her time was running out before the creature returned. Dani lowered the custom-made ramp Keith had installed on his truck and mounted the vehicle. She held the brake, turned the key, pushed the start button. It coughed and stuttered then quit on her. Another angry screech echoed in the night.
"No, no, no, no, no," Dani muttered. She turned the choke on and repeated the process. It started without incident, and she rolled the ATV down the ramp before cranking the gas and tearing away from the truck. A moment later, a blurred shape collided with the truck and snarled.
Dani flipped on the ATV's headlights and briefly checked over her shoulder. It was too dark to make much out, and the four-wheeler's engine drowned out most sounds. Occasionally she thought she heard the Hidebehind's screeches but wasn't about to slow down to find out. She increased her speed and plunged further into the forest.
Bobby didn't like how pale Keith's skin had gotten. Whatever sunlight they'd managed to get underground had completely faded now and Bobby's flashlight was the only light source they had. Keith had gone quiet.
"Keith?"
No answer.
"Keith?" Bobby called a little louder.
Keith flinched. "Yeah?"
"You hangin' in there?'
Keith took a moment before he replied. "I can't tell if I'm having difficulty keeping my eyes open because it's late and I'm exhausted or if I've lost too much blood."
Bobby shifted closer and took a look at the bandages. They were soaked through. He cursed and reached for another roll of gauze to apply fresh bindings to the wound. He cut the old ones off. Keith's breathing hitched as Bobby maneuvered him as gently as possible to get the gauze wrapped around him.
Bobby was just finishing up when he became aware of the sound of an engine in the distance. A smile broke upon his face. His Dani girl had made it! Keith's eyelids began to flutter closed.
Frowning, Bobby shook Keith's shoulder. "Hey! Hey, don'chu go takin' a nap on me," he said gruffly. "Dani's almost here. Keep yer eyes open, Keith."
The younger hunter struggled to do so but managed. Bobby slid his arm behind Keith's back. "C'mon. Let's get out of here. We'll meet her at the entrance."
An angry shriek filled the air. Bobby and Keith looked at each other. Keith took a deep breath and schooled his features. "Move fast, Bobby. Don't worry about hurting me."
"Right."
Bobby tightened his grip around Keith's torso and quickly set the pace to get them out. Keith grunted and wheezed but didn't complain.
There were a couple of times when Dani had second guessed the direction she was heading. The forest changed at night and despite the headlights, the scenery remained altered. But she stayed her course, never deviated from what she remembered the path to be and came upon a familiar grove of trees that she recognized would lead her to the cavern. For a moment, her heart lifted and briefly forgot the peril she was in.
The Hidebehind leapt out from the brush next to her and swiped at the back end of the ATV. It fishtailed, causing Dani to lose control of the vehicle for an instant. She regained control and applied more gas. The monster would not be deterred. It slammed its body against the side of the four-wheeler and the collision completely dislodged Dani from her seat. Her body hit the earth with enough force to knock the air from her lungs and she rolled along the ground for several seconds.
She landed on her back, her head in a daze as she tried to process what just happened. The Hidebehind's guttural scream snapped her thoughts back into place and she jerked up. The ATV was lying upside down and the black shape of the creature was crouching just behind it. The four-wheeler's headlights illuminated the forest up ahead in the direction she'd been heading. The taillights cast a reddish glow to the gas containers that had slipped from the cables securing them to the ATV and had fallen just beside the back wheel. Dani shakily got to her feet and felt for the medicine bag she'd kept slung over her body.
She needed to get to that gas container. And there was only one way she could think of to get to it. She felt for her spare bottle of disinfectant and cautiously drew it out. The Hidebehind let out a hiss and though Dani couldn't see it clearly, she felt its eyes on her. She uncapped the bottle and the strong scent of alcohol flooded her nostrils at the same time that the Hidebehind caught a whiff. It snarled and flinched back.
Dani allowed herself a slight smirk. "Don't like that much, do you?"
It let out a short, irritated yowl as if in answer. Dani took a step forward, holding the bottle out ahead of her. She gave it a few gentle squeezes to let the scent whiff out of its container. The Hidebehind's growls turned into guttural yowls that reminded her of a feral mountain cat. She took another step forward, then another. The indistinct shape crouching behind the ATV retreated back a little.
Dani released a short breath of surprise. Lifting the bottle over her head, she gave a small squeeze and dribbled disinfectant onto her head, her shoulders, splashed some on her chest, and arms. The creature let out a shriek of rage as it backed a few inches further.
Emboldened, Dani lunged forward, nearly on top of the ATV now. She released an aggressive shriek of her own and squeeze a short blast of disinfectant towards the monster. The liquid splashed against it's hide and it let out an agonized scream and lurched back so quickly it fell onto its back and scrambled to right itself before taking off into the dark cluster of trees.
Dani grinned in triumph and quickly set to work. The ATV was too heavy for her to push upright without a struggle, and she didn't have the time. She grabbed the containers and ran for all she was worth towards the grove of trees that she'd spotted earlier. Just beyond them would be the cavern.
"Bobby!" she hollered.
"Bobby!" Dani's voice cried.
"Here!" Bobby yelled, as he dragged Keith out of the tunnel and into the open air.
From the shafts of moonlight flitting in between the branches, Bobby could see Dani sprinting towards them with the gas containers in both hands. In the back of his mind, he wondered what happened to the ATV, but the relief he felt at seeing her outweighed his curiosity.
"It's behind me!" she shouted, nearly screamed. Bobby's insides roiled as he imagined the monster choosing that moment to leap out and tackle Dani. His eyes swept over the trees, expecting to see his imagination play out at any second. He breathed a prayer of thanks when she reached his side without attack. She smelled strongly of disinfectant and he felt a sense of pride when he spotted the wet patches on her clothes and deduced what she'd done.
She needed a couple of seconds to catch her breath. "I thought … the monster was … inside the cave?"
"Keith said it went out a back exit."
Despite her exhaustion, Dani still managed to roll her eyes. Of course, it did. It knocked the ATV… upside down not too far back. …Just around those trees," she wheezed, pointing behind her. Her eyes landed on the nearly unconscious Keith. She took in the red seeping through his clothes. "You need to get him to the ATV and take him to a hospital. I'll lure the monster back inside its lair so I can set it on fire. I'll use that back exit to get out."
"But –," Bobby began to argue.
"Bobby, I can't carry him alone! You have to be the one to do it. Go! I'll make a lot of noise to draw its attention."
Bobby wanted to argue some more but knew it would be pointless. He didn't want to leave her. It didn't feel right. He was supposed to be the one guarding her not the other way around. He felt Keith's strength leaving his legs and as the man's weight settled more against him, the older hunter had to acknowledge that Dani was right. She wouldn't be able to carry Keith back to the ATV and get the machine right-side up quickly enough. It had to be him.
"Hide behind the mound and when I get it to follow me inside, you make your way to the four-wheeler." She helped him drag Keith around and he crouched down.
"Be careful," he told her.
"Stiyu," she replied with a strained smile. She hurried around the mound and began to whoop and holler and insult the Hidebehind even though it probably couldn't understand a word.
A rustling from the trees and a large but slender, black shape burst out and screamed its displeasure at Dani's back. She whipped around and it vanished behind a skinny tree several feet away from her. Bobby's mouth dropped open. It really could conceal itself behind anything, no matter how little.
Dani backed her way towards the cavern entrance. "C'mooon," she sing-songed at it. She shook the gas container in her right hand, the liquid sloshed noisily inside, catching the monster's attention. It's hands began to come into view from behind the skinny tree. A yellow eye peeked out.
"Come on, come and get me," Dani taunted, sloshing the container harder. She turned and darted inside the cavern. It let out a snarl and dashed away from the tree towards the entrance. Bobby counted in his head the time it took the creature to cross the vast space between the tree to the cavern. Dani had at least a minute's head start.
The moment Dani entered the cave, darkness swallowed her vision. She couldn't even see the container in her hand. But knowing that the monster was at her heels kept her moving forward as fast as she could. She pulled her pocket flashlight out and clicked it on. Pointing the beam towards the ground, she avoided tripping over an exposed root just in time.
It didn't take as long as she'd initially thought to reach the monster's den. Dani uncapped the container and began to splash gasoline all over the floor, along the walls, on exposed roots, the bones, everything she could see by the illumination of her flashlight. She emptied the gas container and tossed it aside. The place stank of gas fumes and was giving her a headache.
A hiss from the tunnel she'd come in through caused her heart to skip a beat and her hand to pause in the midst of opening the second container. She needed to find the back exit now.
Sweeping her beam over the walls, Dani's already frantically beating heart began to pound into overtime with each second that passed without seeing the exit. What if Keith had gotten it wrong? She heard the crunch of soil and another hiss much closer this time. Dani's palms began to sweat.
She did a second pass over the walls and did a double take at the space just to the right of the bone pile. It was probably easier to spot during the day, but at night, the shadows had nearly camouflaged the exit. Dani raced towards the opening just as the Hidebehind sprang into the den. Dani caught a brief glimpse of it over her shoulder. It snorted and shook its head at the overpowering smell of gasoline, but it didn't appear to be too bothered by it. Dani tipped the container over and let the gas leak out of the nozzle as she ran through the tunnel. It left a trail behind her.
She could hear it gaining on her. She imagined she could feel its breath on her neck. Just as the suspense was about to burst her heart, Dani's foot tripped on a divot at the edge of the exit and sent her sprawling into the grass. She scrambled to her feet, righted the container before too much could spill, unscrewed the nozzle from it, and dug into her bag for her zippo lighter. Object in hand, Dani stood before the opening and waited for the right moment. She caught a glimpse of yellow eyes and slung the open gas container at the monster.
Liquid gas splashed into its face and it roared in anger at her. Dani flicked open her lighter and tossed it at the Hidebehind's feet. The flame touched its gas-soaked limb and instantly caught fire. The gasoline wetting the ground it stood on ignited. It shrieked in surprise and pain and whirled around to retreat into its lair. Fire followed in its wake and as it tripped over itself and collapsed onto the earthen floor of its den, the puddle of gasoline it fell into erupted into burning flames, further engulfing the monster's body.
Everywhere it touched sparked more fire and soon the entire den was ablaze. Smoke billowed out from both the cavern's openings and the guttural yowls and howls of panic from the creature soon devolved into silence.
Dani shuffled her aching feet along the pine-needled floor of the forest as she made her way to the truck. The ATV was gone from where she'd crashed it, so she knew Bobby had managed to set it right and drove away with Keith. She wondered if he'd bothered taking the truck or decided to stay on the four-wheeler and not risk moving Keith from one vehicle to the other. She kinda hoped for the later option. She'd hate to have to walk all the way back to town on foot.
She'd stayed at the cavern until the fire had burned down in order to make sure the Hidebehind was dead. Using caution, she'd entered the soot-blackened cave with her flashlight and gun at ready. She found the smoking remains of the monster lying on the floor of its den. She'd nudged it with her foot and it's shoulder had crumbled from the pressure. She kicked in it's crispy head to make certain before finally leaving the place and began her journey out of the forest.
She hummed some of her favorite songs to keep her occupied on the long walk in the dark. Daylight was just beginning to lighten the sky and she was halfway through "As the World Falls Down" by David Bowie when she came upon the truck. She sighed in relief and sagged onto the ramp to rest her feet for the next thirty minutes.
Her cellphone rang. Dani tiredly pulled it out of her pocket and answered the call. "Hey, Bobby," she greeted with obvious exhaustion.
"I've been trying to call you for the past two hours. I figured you were still too deep in the woods or…" He took a deep breath of relief and continued. "I'm glad to hear your voice, Dani girl. It's been killing me."
Dani gave a weary smile. "I'm okay, Yonu. I just made it back to the truck. Thanks for leaving me that, by the way."
"I nearly forgot to toss the keys onto the driver's seat when I drove by it," Bobby admitted.
She lay back in the truck bed and looked up at the sky as the sun rose and painted the clouds beautiful shades of pink and orange and blue. "How's Keith?"
"It was a close call. He'd lost a lot of blood, but we got here just in time. He's gonna be okay."
Dani heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God."
There was a pause on Bobby's end. "Yeah. Maybe," he said, not as dismissively as he was wont to do. Dani found that curious. "I'm assuming the Hidebehind's taken care of?"
"Burned to a crisp. I checked. And unless it can grow a new head, the loggers have nothing to worry about from now on."
"Hmmph," Bobby grunted. "You did good, Dani girl."
"Thanks, Yonu." She held back a yawn, but it seeped into her voice as she asked, "Do you want me to meet you at the hospital?"
"You've been walking all night, kid. Go back to the cabin and get some sleep. I'll see you soon enough."
"Hawa. Donadagohvi."
"Same to you, kid."
Dani ended the call and lay still for several minutes, just gazing at the sky. Her back and left shoulder and leg were sore from when she'd been thrown off the ATV. She smelled of disinfectant, gasoline and smoke. Soot streaks and dirt covered her hands and face and clothes. Her feet ached from all the walking and running. The scar encircling her stomach was giving off a dull throb.
But she was alive.
She breathed in deeply through her nose and exhaled from her mouth as a smile curled her lips. "Thank you," she whispered.
Gathering her strength, Dani straightened up, winced at the little aches and pains coursing through her body, and set about pulling the ramp back into the truck bed and clearing the rest of the glass particles from the driver's seat before climbing into the vehicle. She turned the key in the ignition, put the truck in drive, and began the long drive back to town for a well-deserved sleep.
Until next time, Dear Readers.)
Cherokee Words and Phrases
[*asterisks mean I am making a guess as to the pronunciations, basing it off what I know of the Cherokee language.]
Dohitsu (dōh-hee-jew) – How are you? (I've tried looking up how to ask, "Are you okay?" but I have not found any concrete way to ask the question specifically with that wording. I am led to believe that the conversation opener "How are you?" can also translate to the other phrasing, but I am not 100% certain.)
Do'ke – Really?
Donadagohvi (dō-năh-dăh-gō-huh-ē) – Until we meet again.
Hawa (hah-wah) or (hoe-wah) – Alright / Okay
Stiyu (stee-you) – Be strong
Tohiquu (toe-hee-gwoo) – I am fine.
Yo – [This word can be used in a variety of ways, but it is an equivalent to saying, "Oh gosh, oh man, oh geez," etc.]
Yonu (yō-năh) – Bear