Happy Blog Day Everyone!
As said last week, this is the month of Short Diversions, so further down you'll find the first part (of two!) of a brand new short story. Both stories that get featured this month will share a spooky/horror theme, as per the season. Want to know what else shares in the fun of Halloween though? Who else but...
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Told you that these next few issues were going to be spooky adjacent. Riz looks quite fetching as Dracula I reckon. Poor Brennan though, he's going to need that pillow fort, but I worry it's not going to be enough...
Short Diversions: The Wood Part 1
Here's the first short story of the season, and if I done it right, it should be quite fun, but this is me we're talking about here so execution may vary!
As the title suggests, this is part 1, so remember to come back next week for the concluding part!
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The Woods
1.
Beth knew she was lost, trembling with every step she took through the forest. She looked nervously for any sign of her friends, but all that greeted her was the snapping of twigs. She’d ventured into the Longhorn Woods with her friends, wanting to hit the secret party spot. They had all heard the stories of missing hikers, unearthly howls and of things that should not be, but they also thought that’s just what they were: stories.
“Hello?” she called out as there was movement behind her. “Is that you Ted?” she prayed for a positive response, for Ted to step out into her torchlight. There was only silence however. She kept the torch focused on the same spot for a few minutes, before quickly turning away to face the direction of another sound, one that haunted her more, as it seemed to be the giggling of a group of little girls.
“This isn’t funny!” she shouted out, slowly, she took a few steps backwards, frantically scanning for any threats that may be approaching. The giggling stopped as soon as it started, returning the forest to an unnerving quiet. Beth put her back against a tree, edging around it, tears forming in her eyes when there came a sudden movement, and something came fluttering from on high, heading straight for her. She threw her hands up to protect her face, dropping her only source of light. From what she could tell, it was an owl that was attacking her, and she managed to swat it away, sending it back to where it had come from, and the giggling started over, this time seemingly coming from two different directions. She groped in the darkness, wanting to get away from the cursed woods as fast as she could possibly manage. Her nerves frayed beyond belief, she started mindlessly praying to whoever above was listening. A crooked branch sent her tumbling to the floor, where she started crawling, reaching out for a way to pull herself up. She wanted to call out for help once more, but she hadn’t the courage to do more than utter a mewling curse upon herself.
Then she reached out, and grabbed someone’s boot. Beth started sobbing uncontrollably as her eyes glanced upwards, being greeted by a faceless figure in a hood. He raised his hand, and Beth screamed as best she could, knowing that this was the end….
“CUT!” a male voice shouted out. “I do believe that’s a wrap!”
“Thank god,” Beth sighed as she stood up, dusting herself down. Her would-be ‘attacker’ pulled back his hood.
“Did you have to scream like that Beth?” he complained.
“Sid, it’s the only screaming you’ll get to hear with that attitude,” Beth retorted as she took a swig from her water bottle.
“Clive! Can you hear what she’s saying here? I’m your main star! You can’t let her speak to me like that!”
Clive was the aspiring director, and he wasn’t paying attention to what his actors were saying, instead, he was focusing on what footage he’d captured on his phone, his recorder of choice.
“This is perfect,” he said loudly, pretending he was only talking to himself.
“This weeks show is going to be our best yet, I know I say it a lot, but this is going to take us viral for sure,” he announced to everyone else. Sandra appeared from behind a tree, winding the wire up that was used for the ‘owl attack’.
“You say that every week, for the past year in fact!” she said without looking at the director, gritting her teeth. “I swear…”
“You swear what?” Clive asked absentmindedly, only just realising she was speaking.
“Nevermind…” Sandra hefted the bundle of wire up to her shoulder then stood next to Beth, the two exchanging glances before turning back to the others as Clive looked around confused.
“Right, where’s Ted and Fern?” Clive asked. The childish giggling from before started up, getting ominous closer and closer, but no one was fazed.
“Ted! Fern! You two idiots!” Sandra shouted.
“We’re not them!” a male voice replied, quickly followed by the sound of someone getting punched.
“What did I tell you not to do!” a female voice took over. “Now you’ve ruined the joke.” Fern stepped out from trees, holding a little bluetooth speaker. Ted appeared next to her, a speaker in his hand as well. The six friends had started out as their high school's Drama Society, but that didn;t last long as Clive wanted to take them online, and thus the Fear Chasers was born. In truth, they had only been operating less than a year, and the results had been abysmal, but this was where the night’s activities would come into play. Clive had hoped that their ‘investigation’ would raise interest in the channel, and send him on the way to success. If he could prove himself, awards would surely follow. The dreams of the rest of the group though, were more varied and more grounded. Beth didn’t want to be in front of a camera, she wanted to be on a stage, performing live to as many people that could be jammed into a theatre. Sandra shared that vision, but wanted to be behind the stage rather than be on it. She agreed to do the videos as long as got away without being on them. This ‘investigation’ would be a rare avoidance of that rule. Sid’s ambitions were more of the amorous side of things. Clive had recruited him because of his good looks, and that went straight to Sid’s head. Through Clive’s silly videos, Sid thought he could extend his popularity with the fairer sex, if they wanted it or not. Ted and Fern, on the other hand, were in it for the simple reason to have fun. Every action that Clive asked them to undertake, they saw as a challenge to find the best way to entertain themselves with it. Clive worked hard to bring everyone together, but only to meet his desire.
“Look, if you two could stop messing around for a minute,” Sandra said.
“Well, that’s it isn’t it? Sid killed Beth, that’s a wrap, and we get to go home where it’s warm,” Ted said, with Fern nodding along with him.
“No, that was just the opening skit. Within a week, it’ll be uploaded to other social media sites on its own as advertisement,” Clive explained, despite no one asking. “The rest of tonight, you will each take a camera, and conduct your own investigation.”
“How long do we have to be out here? I was hoping to go out tonight, maybe with some friends,” Sid said, winking at Beth.
“At least an hour. We have to take this seriously if we want people to take us seriously.”
“Bullshit,” Sandra said, spitting on the ground. “You expect us to go out alone and get lost in the woods? And if we don’t get any interesting footage? What would be the point then!”
“Then you fake it like you always do!” A new voice interrupted the proceedings, and Clive’s expression changed from calm to outraged in a moment, as he turned with a hateful gaze. He knew full well who the voice belonged to.
“Paul ‘Fright’ Wright. What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded.
“How cute, you even referred to me by my username! I must live in your head rent free!” Paul gloated, he was dressed in hiking gear, with a head mounted light, a series of cameras strapped to other parts of his body, and a large rucksack fixed on his back. While Clive and his friends were dressed casually, Paul was decked out to survive in the forest.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“What do you think I’m here to do? Film another awesome episode of my successful, and sponsored, online show, FrightWright! Going where you daren’t. I mean, isn’t that why you and the rest of the amdram squad are out here?” Paul shot a cheeky grin at the rest of the group, treating all of them with disdain.
“Are you filming right now?” Sandra asked.
“No? I don’t think my viewers want to see you guys!”
“That’s a shame, I thought they might get a kick out of seeing me kicking your ass!”
Beth giggled at her friend's outburst, and even Clive let out a smile, almost wishing that Sandra would do the deed.
“Why the hostilities!” Paul threw his hands up in the air, almost mockingly. “Oh, is it because I’ve got the more successful show while you’re just wasting time?”
“Sod Sandra hitting him, I’m going to beat the crap out of him!” Sid walked up to him and went to throw a punch, but Paul dodged backwards, almost falling over as he scrambled to put more ground between them.
“Violence? Really? Maybe I should turn the camera’s on! Bet the police would love to see that footage, especially considering what a few of you have done before!” Even when on the backfoot, Paul couldn’t help but provoke them. Beth took a step back herself, almost hiding behind Sandra, wanting to get away from any camera.
“Go away! Tonight is the night we prove that we’re the better show! Everyone will see you for the charlatan you are!” Clive announced, raising his voice to the loudest he could get it. “No one wants you here! Go and…”
“Go and die!” Beth completed his sentence.
“You want me to go and die? After everything we’ve been through Beth. That hurts me, that really hurts me. Still, I can see your tense, so I’ll head off and continue my epic show. Already been out here for 24 hours! Doubt you lot would even last an hour, before your back at home, adding spooky audio in through the editor. I only use real footage for my show!” With his rant over, Paul turned and left before anyone could say anything else.
“Next time I see that prick, I’m going to fucking murder him,” Sid said angrily. “Your taste in men is absolutely shit,” he added, turning to Beth. “That’s why you’d be better off with me.”
Beth didn’t give a response to that, she was shaking too much. Sandra watched her carefully, and steadied her own breathing.
“Right, Clive, you can’t expect us to go out into that forest alone knowing he’s out there.”
“Fine,” Clive admitted. “We’ll do it in pairs. Ted, Fern. You both were being oddly quiet back there. You could have said something you know.”
“We were too busy,” Fern admitted.
“Too busy?” Sid spluttered. “Too busy doing what?”
“Too busy filming!” Ted smiled with a cheesy grin. He held up his phone. “As soon as I get somewhere with a decent signal, everyone will see that ass as he is!”
“You two actually did something helpful and decent for once. Now that is surprising,” Sandra smiled approvingly.
“Make sure you upload it once we’re done here. Paul can have an hour’s peace before we reveal him for what he is. Choose your partner, and get filming,” Clive demanded.
The pairs were easy to guess, Ted and Fern stuck together, making Clive wince at the thought of the footage they were going to collect. Sid had manoeuvred himself to try and get with Beth, but Sandra got in his way, and then her and Beth went off together.
“Guess it’s just you and me,” Sid sighed.
“You can go alone if you want. I’m going to stay here and watch the feeds,” Clive got comfy at the base of a tree, setting himself up for an hour’s stay.
“Sure you can survive out here by yourself?” Sid asked, mockingly.
“I’m a director, my place is behind the camera and to make sure that everyone is doing their job. You want everyone to see your face, then it would make sense for you to get on camera,”
“If you want to be alone, then just say it. I'd rather be in the company of a beautiful woman anyway than hang with you.” Sid turned and left after that. Each group had gone in a different direction, and all Clive could hope for, was that each encountered something to report back on. Knowing Paul was out there, he felt a new urgency to make this episode better, more important than that of his rival. Ted’s video would sink him, but that wasn’t enough. What mattered was a higher number of views.
For the first thirty minutes or so, each camera showed the team doing their walk, either chatting with themselves, or trying to taunt whatever entity might have been lurking nearby. Clive did hear a few comments about how odd things had become, as any ambient sounds had died off, and that, considering it was a beautiful moonlit night, the darkness was almost oppressive. Having done a few events like this, Clive thought he was used to the settings but the silence was starting to get to him as well. He couldn’t figure it out though, he did his best editing work in complete silence at home. Outside though, even at this time of night, there should have been some ambient noise. It took him a few minutes to even realise that his friends had all gone quiet, till he heard Beth call out for Sandra, the two having been separated at some point, before Clive could get concerned at her absence, the two were reunited, with Sandra being a bit evasive as to what happened to her. Not caring about their personal drama, Clive tried to relax, but found he couldn’t, if anything, he got more tense, wishing for a mouse scurrying through the undergrowth, or a bird flying through the trees. A sensation of being watched crept over him, as though whatever eyes were fixated on him, were standing too close for comfort. The snapping of a twig next to him caught his attention and his eyes darted to what he perceived to be the source. Someone was there, he was sure of it. He glanced at the screen of his laptop, at where everyone else was, and none of them showed any surroundings like where he was. Fear turned to confidence, as he calmed himself and worked through all the facts. After all, hadn’t there already been an areshole in the forest, wanting to scare them senseless? With conviction welling within him, Clive stood, adjusted his jacket so as to not appear blustered, and then called out.
“I know you’re there, Paul! I’m not afraid of your tricks!”
A moment passed, and there was nothing.
“I’m not falling for it!” Clive continued, allowing his voice to get louder. “I know you’re there, and you’re trying to make me look like a wimp! You’ll wait till I’m shaking with fright and then you’ll jump out, and laugh at me, you always try to take away everything I have! My dreams, my friends! Well, you’re not getting me now! This time, I’ve won! And you can be the one who goes home crying!”
Still nothing. Clive’s confidence was starting to shake, splinters of it falling away with each second that the accusation fell on deaf ears.
“You don’t get it do you! We have everything recorded, the truth behind your actions! The truth behind how little your followers actually mean to you!” If Clive had been paying attention to the screens, he would have realised that his voice had gotten so loud, that the others were starting to hear it, their muffled conversations murmuring about what was going on. Getting no reply still, and his anger surmounting, Clive clenched his fists and then took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he stepped round the tree, expecting to see Paul’s smirking face, but there was no one there, just the looming shadows of branches that seemed grasping for him under the pale moonlight. He thought back to the recent experiences, and he was positive that there had to have been someone there, and whoever it was, had to be standing at that point. He surely would have heard them if they tried to head a different direction when they were found out.
Still pondering what was happening, he went back to the laptop that had been merrilly playing to itself, and saw that several of the streams had started glitching, artefacts appearing on the screen while others were tearing.
“What’s going on?” Clive said to himself, his voice having plummeted in volume, and then he heard something, something unmistakable.
It was Beth’s screaming, not in pain, but anguish, as Sandra tried desperately to calm her down. Her screen wasn’t providing much help in identifying the problem, till all the errors vanished, leaving the streams as perfect as they were when the investigation started. It was then that Clive got to share in what Beth was staring at, what made her scream.
Framed perfect in the little window was Paul. Hanging upside down, his face twisted in agony, each limb had been removed and impaled on separate branches, with a large one erupting through his rib cage. His blood blanketed all the leaves, giving them an eerie glow under the torch light.
No one dared say anything, as a wind started to make the corpse sway…
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Hope you all enjoyed that, but I'm going to leave it there for now. Part 2 drops next week!
Till next time....
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
