Catherine

Slow, deliberate. Then a knock. Knuckle against wood. Knock, knock. Then my voice, through the door, soft, almost kind. Hey, open up, it's me. I didn't move. The knock came again. Then, scraping like nails or claws, dragging in slow arcs across the wood. Then silence.

i waited an hour before checking nothing was outside but the snow in front of the cabin had melted in a perfect human-shaped outline bare feet long fingers a head crowned with antlers by morning i knew i couldn't outrun it forever i left the cabin before sunrise and headed toward the south branch pond area i'd heard there was a ranger outpost further south

i waited an hour before checking nothing was outside but the snow in front of the cabin had melted in a perfect human-shaped outline bare feet long fingers a head crowned with antlers by morning i knew i couldn't outrun it forever i left the cabin before sunrise and headed toward the south branch pond area i'd heard there was a ranger outpost further south

as i crossed a frozen stream i felt it not wind breath on the back of my neck i turned it was there not sara not anything human any more seven feet tall gaunt like famine incarnate gray skin stretched over bone like wax over a skeleton

as i crossed a frozen stream i felt it not wind breath on the back of my neck i turned it was there not sara not anything human any more seven feet tall gaunt like famine incarnate gray skin stretched over bone like wax over a skeleton

its head looked carved from frost-bitten wood antlers tangled with moss and bits of clothing its mouth open sideways splitting along the jaw revealing a second set of black teeth beneath and from its mouth my voice so warm so loud it lunged i ran i dropped the compass lost the trail

its head looked carved from frost-bitten wood antlers tangled with moss and bits of clothing its mouth open sideways splitting along the jaw revealing a second set of black teeth beneath and from its mouth my voice so warm so loud it lunged i ran i dropped the compass lost the trail

i sprinted through brush fell scrambled over rocks it didn't chase like an animal it stalked never touching the ground with more than two limbs at once gliding through the trees like a puppet in the wind i made it back to the frozen stream the same one from before thin ice frigid water underneath I stopped in the center and turned. It followed slowly.

i sprinted through brush fell scrambled over rocks it didn't chase like an animal it stalked never touching the ground with more than two limbs at once gliding through the trees like a puppet in the wind i made it back to the frozen stream the same one from before thin ice frigid water underneath I stopped in the center and turned. It followed slowly.

I pulled the last flare from my pocket, struck it, held it high. Come on, I said in my voice. Come on. It stepped onto the ice. Crack. Another step. Crack. I threw the flare at my own feet. The fire hit the ice and exploded in light and heat. The ice beneath me shattered. My boots slammed into water, the stream swallowing me to my thighs. The creature screamed.

I pulled the last flare from my pocket, struck it, held it high. Come on, I said in my voice. Come on. It stepped onto the ice. Crack. Another step. Crack. I threw the flare at my own feet. The fire hit the ice and exploded in light and heat. The ice beneath me shattered. My boots slammed into water, the stream swallowing me to my thighs. The creature screamed.

It hit the water chest first, and steam erupted around it. It flailed, skin sloughing off in the current, that awful mimicry breaking apart as it screeched in voices not its own. Sarah's. Mine. The ranger's. It tried to climb out, but the current dragged it down, and it sank, eyes still locked on me, mouth still grinning. Then it was gone.

It hit the water chest first, and steam erupted around it. It flailed, skin sloughing off in the current, that awful mimicry breaking apart as it screeched in voices not its own. Sarah's. Mine. The ranger's. It tried to climb out, but the current dragged it down, and it sank, eyes still locked on me, mouth still grinning. Then it was gone.

I crawled out of the stream, half frozen, half dead, but alive. They found me two days later. A ranger patrol spotted me wandering near the south trailhead. I don't remember most of it, just heat packs, IV fluids, a hospital in Millinocket, I told them what happened. They didn't believe me, not really. But they closed Knife Edge two days later, said it was due to erosion. That was a lie.

I crawled out of the stream, half frozen, half dead, but alive. They found me two days later. A ranger patrol spotted me wandering near the south trailhead. I don't remember most of it, just heat packs, IV fluids, a hospital in Millinocket, I told them what happened. They didn't believe me, not really. But they closed Knife Edge two days later, said it was due to erosion. That was a lie.

Sarah was never found. Three months later, I got a voicemail from a 207 number I didn't recognize. Static. Then a voice. My voice. It whispered, still not warm, and laughed.

Sarah was never found. Three months later, I got a voicemail from a 207 number I didn't recognize. Static. Then a voice. My voice. It whispered, still not warm, and laughed.

Hey, John. How's it going?

Hey, John. How's it going?

Hey, John. How's it going?