*TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE*
“Any available units in the area? We got an anonymous call about an abandoned car on Shaytown Rd. The caller said they found it still running with both doors open.”
His skin tightened; a sudden rush of dread shot up his spine as the words blared from the radio. Worn leather screamed beneath white knuckles as he tensed his grip around the wheel of the cruiser. He hadn’t heard that name since that night. Shaytown RD.
Taking a deep breath inward, Dan counted to five then exhaled, a tip from his therapist for when he could feel the anxiety creeping in. It had been three years since that night, but the scene he had discovered still lingered within.
On October 30^(th,) 2021, four teens had been found murdered in the woods of Eaton County off Shaytown RD. A local had called the station to report sounds of a disturbance on the neighboring property around 1:00 A.M. Officer Dan Henderson was the arriving deputy on scene. The teens had snuck out to meet up, he assumed. Covid had the schools shut down at that time, and the older kids were antsy to get out and mingle. Often meeting up in the surrounding woods to party and socialize.
Two boys. Dylan Branson and Mike Shultz.
Their bodies had been found 150 yards back off the road in the woods. Splayed out in a star like formation. Throats had been slit, tongues were cut out, and their fingers removed.
Above them, the bodies of Kendra Wilson and Becky Roth hung upside down. Scalped. Their stomachs slashed open, with their fingers and tongues removed as well. It hadn't taken long for Dan to find the missing body parts. Hanging from a branch of the same tree, the girls were.
A putrid ornament swayed in the dead air. The fingers had been broken and bent, sewn into place with what appeared to be the hair from one of the girls. The tongues dangled from each side of the heinous craft. Forming some type of Pagan sigil.
Fighting the shake in his hand, Dan snatched the radio up.
“This is Unit 6013. I can check it out; I’m heading west on M-50 coming towards Granger Hwy.”
He said, trying hard to not let his voice tremble or change pitch. Dispatch responded.
“Are you sure Henderson?”
He cleared his throat, stirring in his seat a bit, fighting to ignore the anxiousness that was building inside him. Hitting the switch on the radio, he responded with false confidence.
“Yeah, no I'll be good...really. I’m driving down Granger right now. Should be pulling up to the road here soon. I’ll keep in touch.”
Feeling the cold sweat beginning, a large knot formed in the pit of Dan’s stomach as the worn street sign came into view. Turning the cruiser onto the desolate road, he saw the abandoned vehicle about a quarter mile up. Two red taillights floating in the darkness. He closed his eyes, bringing the cruiser to a stop. His ears were ringing and heart was beginning to race. Images of the scene he had discovered before flashed through his mind. He could feel his face going pale, feel the tightness in his chest. Taking another deep breath, he held it in, before gently exhaling and opening his eyes.
Lifting his foot off the brake, the cruiser creeped forward. The road had a suffocating feel to it, a dense weight that seemed to hang in the air. Gripping the handle to open the door, he put the car in park, his palms wet with a cold sweat.
A loud click broke the silence as the cruiser door swung open. Stepping out, Dan pulled the flashlight from his duty belt. He snapped it on running the beam over the back of the vehicle through the rear wind shield. Placing the palm of his hand on his service pistol, he crept forward. Slightly leaning down, he shined the light into the driver's side door. Nothing seemed out of place, no signs of a struggle that he could see. Reaching in and grabbing the keys, he turned the engine off.
The humming of the engine came to a sudden stop. He shined his light into the surrounding woods. An uncanny deafness had possessed the air now. A flash of heat fell across his face as he picked something up in the breeze.
There was a faint scent, a greasy sulfur aroma that began to hang in his throat. He remembered that thick, heavy, and rancid stench. He’d fought like hell to forget it. The smell of a corpse. With trembling fingers, he reached for his radio when he caught a disturbance in the trees. The orb of his light shot over, missing the figure barely as it rolled behind a bigger tree, dashing deeper into the woods.
“Eaton County Sherriff's Department!”
Dan blurted out, bursting into a sprint after the figure. Grabbing for his radio.
“This is unit 6013! I’ve got a suspect at the scene! They ran off into the woods East bound when I saw them! In foot pursuit now! Requesting back-up immediately!”
Dispatch responded back.
“10-4 Unit 6013 Alerting surrounding Units in the area.”
A rough voice broke through Dan's radio.
“This is unit 6023! I’m ten minutes out! Heading to your location now!”
Branches clawed Dan’s face as he ran through the rows of trees, further into the forest. Fighting to keep sight of the figure ahead. It seemed to move with an unnatural grace; its figure disappearing then reappearing in a new spot as he fought to keep the small beam of light locked onto the silhouette. Breathing heavy, he realized that the stench from earlier was almost unbearable now. The soil beneath him had turned to muck as he collided with an object slamming him to the ground.
The warm mud covered his face as he rolled over, wiping it away. His lips picked up the taste of copper in the soil. A stretching taut sound screeched out.
A dark figure hung, lifeless, swaying from a branch of a tree. Reaching for his light in the muck, he illuminated the mass above him. A swollen face stared back, helpless its bulbous eyes wide with terror. The whites of them gone, replaced with a red sea of burst capillaries. Blood drizzled from the mouth; teeth bathed in a bloody glimmer. The skin held a discolored purple to it.
Numbness took over Dan’s fingers; the corners of his vision began turning cloudy. He fell into rapid breathing, lungs fighting hopelessly to catch air. Digging his fingers into a neighboring tree, he pulled himself up, drawing the sidearm from his belt. The front sight shivered in front of him, tracing over the pleading corpse. The forest stood stagnant, screaming with silence. That’s when he heard it, heavy panting. A faint giggle followed behind it, along with small bits of muffled laughter and hushed screeching. The crunching sound of leaves and twigs snapping began circling around him.
Short cackles and barks hollered out. Dan swung the pistol around; its mounted light casting a white beam across the black silhouette of trees. Reflecting off the light, two yellow eyes glared back at him from behind a tree. It was a woman. Her face was disfigured; the skin falling from it like molten wax. Its color bilious with pus and scabs. She crept out from behind the tree, standing there draped in human hides; her smile wide, revealing jagged calcified teeth jammed into swollen gums. Raising her hand, she clutched an effigy in long rotted fingers. One finger reaching out, its talon-like nail pointing at him. His body went stiff.
Dan's radio blurted out.
“Unit 6013 this is 6023! I’ve arrived at the scene heading into the woods east towards your location!”
He couldn’t respond, couldn't move. He tried desperately to move but couldn’t. The muscles in his body remained locked. The radio blurted out again.
“Unit 6013 this is 6023! Heading east through the woods to your last location do you copy?”
She stared at him. A sickening grin plastered across her chapped lips. Squeezing the figurine in her hand; Dan’s breath fell short, unable to get a full gasp of air. Lifting the doll to her lips, she began whispering to it.
An ocean of sorrow fell over him; his brain began flooding with horrible thoughts about himself and others. An unbearable melancholy ached in his chest now. Heinous images not his own flooded his mind. Tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. She had complete control of him. Seeing the defeat in his face at the realization, her body seized in excitement. A flashlight beam poked through the trees in the distance.
Dan tried to scream; his throat burned like fire as he fought to force air out, saliva bursting from the creases of his lips, but no sound came. His heart sank when he felt his hand begin to move, the bicep of his right arm constricting, bringing his hand to his face. He felt his jaw force open; the sound of his cheeks stretching, and jaw dislodging filled his ears. The taste of steel bit his tongue as the metal slide scraped along his bottom teeth. The woman was convulsing with pleasure. Yellow foam, and spittle oozed from her cracked lips as she pointed out laughing. Her yellow eyes wide as her head shook violently. He felt his finger get tighter around the trigger.
A voice cried out from the woods as a beam of light hit Dan.
“No! No! No! Stop! Dan Stop!”
Then a single gunshot echoed into the night.