[HR] THE INITIALS
"Here it is! Told you I wasn't lost!" Josh announces, and he playfully pushes Megan's shoulder as they emerge from the thick brush they had just spent the last three hours hiking through. It was a beautiful late-September day; it was cool enough that, when standing still, you wanted a thin jacket, but warm enough that, when you started walking, you could take layers off and still be comfortable.
"I'll admit, at hour two of the hike, I was starting to get worried you didn't actually know where this supposedly special tree was." Megan only half-jokingly replies, coming to a stop and taking in the clearing, looking at the crisp, clear blue sky.
The clearing was maybe two hundred feet, in the rough shape of a deformed soccer ball. On the far side of the clearing stood a small stand of birch trees. To Megan, they almost seemed to have an unnatural beam of early-afternoon sunlight bathing them. She had to admit it; she was impressed at the calm beauty of the clearing. She half-expected Josh to have made up this spot. Not that she did not trust him; he had never given her a reason not to believe something he said, but she all too often found that the men she dated lied, sometimes small lies, sometimes large ones. She was mentally preparing herself in case that little problem, which often seems to pop up, would once again happen today.
"Really! You doubted me! I told you I was going to take you to my favourite place on this planet, which I also happen to think is maybe one of the most beautiful places on this planet, too! Some people tell me I have the most amazing taste, you know." Josh delivers this most over-the-top, almost gag-inducing statement with just enough humour in his voice, which lets Megan know it was a joke. Josh has this amazing ability to make Megan laugh, even with the dumbest little corny lines.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, you still haven't shown me this amazing tree you keep telling me about, all you've done is taken me to this beautiful little spot, which I will admit, is very lovely… Despite the fact that it's taken us two and a half hours to get here." Megan's voice is light and playful, engaging with Josh's playful mood.
"Where is this tree you wanted me to see so badly? It's covered in writings, right?"
"Actually, it's just covered in initials; it's just on the other side of the clearing. Follow me, and I will show you." Josh takes Megan's hand, and they make their way across the clearing toward the birch trees.
"Just initials, you took me all this way to just show me a tree someone carved their initials into?"
Megan laughs. Really? This long drive to the provincial park, the almost three hours of hiking, to see a birch tree with an initial carving into it? Megan does not mind the driving or the hiking; she actually loves going on these little weekend or day adventures with Josh. It's what she loves about him. These fun, random little adventures they would come up with.
Josh lets out a laugh. "It's really cool, you will see. Also, it's not just one initial, there are like hundreds of them!"
They finally reach the other side of the clearing, and Megan can already see the tree Josh has been talking about. She can see the initials on the tree before she even gets to the base of the tree. She has to admit it; it is a sight to see.
All over this towering birch tree are hundreds, even thousands, of initials carved into the tree. Carvings of hearts and initials of two first names and a plus between them, or some just initials. Megan runs her hand across the many engravings right in front of her; the most immediate is a heart-shaped one. Megan's examination is startled by Josh.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? And romantic. All these initials of lovers carved into this very tree." Josh's voice is filled with an almost awed aspect.
Megan has been dating Josh for six months now and hasn't heard him ever sound like this before. The sight is impressive, but she doesn't find it beautiful. She doesn't know why.
"I don't understand. Why does this tree have so many initials carved into it? Like, we are in the middle of pretty much nowhere. It doesn't make sense. What — hundreds of couples, maybe even thousands — came here, to this very spot, to carve their initials into this tree?" Megan turns to Josh. "How did you find this tree? Did you just come across it one day or something?"
Josh lets out a relaxed little laugh.
"No, I have been coming here for years. It's one of my favourite places on this planet. It's got some real history to it, an… atmosphere. I think it's truly beautiful."
Megan looks at Josh. She is surprised; his mood or energy seems different. She can't place why. She returns her eyes to the tree to further examine it. She can't explain it, but the tree gives off a menacing atmosphere; it doesn't at all go with how beautiful the day had been — the perfect weather, the lovely albeit long hike — all to lead to this tree. Standing tall, bearing its scars to her. The hundreds of initials. She really starts looking at the initials closer now, not just a glance, but a real examination.
J+T 4 ever, a heart with the initials inside, J+A, the date 1821. More initials, but something she hadn't noticed before is that in all the sets she can see, one initial is the same in every pair: a J. That makes no sense to Megan. What are the odds of that being possible? That has to be close to impossible, right?
"Hey, Josh, did you notice all of these initials? Do they all have the same letter? This is so weird." Megan steps back, feeling like there is something wrong with the tree deepening.
"I am so impressed you noticed!" Josh lets out a hearty laugh. "You know, in all the long years I've been coming here, no one has noticed it that fast before. Some never even notice at all!" Josh is beaming, his smile broad and full of perfect teeth. He steps forward and gently caresses the wood, fingers tracing the engravings delicately, as if not to damage it.
"I don't understand. You did this? You carved all these initials into this tree out here? Why?" A sense of unease is blossoming inside Megan.
"That is a great question. It's many things all at once. It started long ago when I was shown the ritual, but that's not important to what you are asking. I guess you could say they are like trophies, a way to remember them." Josh continues to caress the tree, looking up at its great length.
Megan takes a step backward, confused, the unease in her stomach blooming into something else.
"Josh, if this is some stupid fucking prank, it's so far from being funny that it's pathetic. What is this? Why did you bring me here?" She is afraid, but she is also getting mad. She, in her whole life, refuses to be the punching bag of losers; she isn't going to start now.
"I brought you here so we could be together forever. So we could be a part of each other forever."
Josh's smile is broad and wide, but it doesn't reach his eyes. Megan is reminded of a shark in that moment, of a predator, something old and lethal.
"It's no joke, not a prank. This — this is something special, and something old. You should feel special. This is a big day for you. You are joining something older and larger than you and me. I knew you were special when we first met. It's taken so much restraint to get us to this point, to earn your trust, and now, finally, I have you here."
A deep chill floods Megan's body. This is fucking insane. This cannot be fucking happening. Every horror movie, every murder documentary she ever watched, floods her mind. Fucking men. Megan tightens her grip on her Yeti drinking bottle.
Josh leans back from the tree, looks Megan in the eye, his smile broadening past normal human limits, lips splitting, blood running down his chin in thin channels. The blood lands on the ground next to the tree, and the dirt where it lands seems to fold in on itself; it almost looks as if the tree's roots are sucking the blood through the ground, as if they are in dire need of sustenance. Josh reaches his hand out, slowly, as if he were a friend, reaching for her neck.
Before he can connect, Megan, with all her strength, smashes the side of Josh's head with the Yeti water bottle. A horrible metallic ring sounds alongside a sickening crunch. Megan is off running in the direction she had come before Josh even hits the ground.
Just as she reaches the other side of the clearing, she cannot be sure, but she thinks she hears Josh laughing.
She runs hard and deep into the woods, dodging roots and low branches, her athleticism the only thing keeping her from falling. As she runs, she hears groaning, or something like rubbing against something else. Then she notices out of the corner of her eye: roots. They are moving and undulating upon themselves across the forest floor.
She stops running. She is still trying to process what she is seeing when she hears a clicking sound in front of her.
She looks up. Josh is standing still at the base of a tree, his mouth unnaturally wide open, the corners of his face bleeding where his skin has ripped. A deep click, click, click emits from deep inside his mouth, somehow impossibly deep and dark, unnaturally so.
"What are you? What the fuck is going on? Josh, what is happening!" she screams, rage and fear flowing from her in equal amounts.
The clicking from Josh's cavernous mouth stops. Megan peers into Josh's mouth from a distance and sees movement inside. Something coiled. Rising. Lifting out of Josh's mouth.
Megan screams.