ASJ #1 x Hashmasks #11277

1st story of the collection "A Strange Journey"

It was a cold misty morning, around 6 AM. The leaves were wet with dew, and you could feel the dense moist in the air. Eric parked his car near the entrance to a road he knew well. It was a lone dirt road leading to one of his favorite places - a giant lake that was at the center of the forest. A forest he called home for many years prior to moving to the big city.

It wasn’t a man-made road, just a small dirt hiking trail leading across the forest. Animals would often graze in the nearby grass and would pass the same trail. Eric remembered his journeys through the trail fondly. Each time the outside world got too loud, he could always retreat to his road and to his lake.

The journey from the car to the lake took around 3 hours. It was a nice way to clear the mind and relax from all everyday troubles. About halfway through the path, the road turned a hard right so you could walk along a small riverbank. Upon reaching the end of the river you would reach the lake. “It’s nice to finally get a breath of fresh air.” He thought to himself. Stretching his legs after many long hours sitting at his office chair. His mind wandered, which was his favorite thing while taking the time to reach the lake.

The fog was getting thicker as he was going further in. “A bit odd.” He thought to himself but made nothing of it. It was supposed to be a warm, sunny spring day, but it wouldn’t be the first time they got the weather wrong. Walking next to the river he enjoyed the sound of water hitting against the small rocks, occasionally you could even see a small fish losing its battle with the stream. Each step was carefully thought out. He always had to be careful not to injure himself on the nearby slippery rocks or large tree roots that were showing above ground everywhere near the stream.

Suddenly, he heard a faint odd sound. It clearly wasn’t the river or a nearby animal. It was something more familiar, but distant. He didn’t think much of it but stopped his steps in order to better make out the sound and the direction it was coming from. It was coming from not that far away right in front of him. He slowly started to move in its direction. “What could be making this sound?” he asked himself as he made his way. With each step the sound started to get louder and before long he could hear it as clear as day. It was the sound of chimes. But their sound was much more violent than the chimes slowly nestled by the wind.

“I guess it’s not unusual for people to hang chimes in the woods.” He thought as he was getting closer. But the thought that he never heard chimes in these woods he knew like the back of his hand or saw other people on this remote trail made him uncomfortable.

As he got closer to it, the sound suddenly stopped. Now all he could hear was the wind, the stream and leaves rustle. “How strange” he thought as he noticed something next to the stream and partially hidden behind a rock. He took a few steps towards it. His eyes widen as soon as he could make out the silhouette.

A few more careful steps in and there was no doubt about it. Right in front of him there was a bear. Frozen in his tracks he just stared at it, not sure what to do. The bear was facing the river in al his gigantic form. He slowly took a few steps back and started making his way around it. Hoping not to disturb it. He took a few extra steps and slipped on a nearby rock, making a lot of noise. Closed his eyes expecting the worst, only to discover the bear didn’t move a muscle.

He got up as silently as he could, and while doing so noticed the bear was missing its head. It was a corpse of a bear, he sighed in relief. “Just a corpse.” As he looked around it, he noticed there was no blood, not even a single drop. “How strange.” He thought as he curiously investigated the corpse in front of him. The corpse showed no signs of decay, it seemed to be relatively fresh. The cut was clean as if made by a man-made object with high precision and brute force. Not made by any wild animals for sure, but the head was nowhere to be found.

He looked around as the thought finally hit him. Whatever did this to the bear must still be nearby. The fog was still thick and heavy clouds started to come in. The forest was cold, dark and gloomy. He couldn’t see anything around him. After a few seconds of contemplating, he decided his best course of action was to turn back, make his way to the car and reschedule his adventure for another day. Something about the whole situation just didn’t feel right.

He turned away from the corpse and started walking back in the direction he came from. As soon as he took a few dozen steps, he could hear the chimes behind him. Right at the spot the bear corpse should be. He could feel the hairs on his neck instantly stand up. He was horrified. The fight or flight instinct kicked in and before he knew it, he was running for his life. No longer was he carefully taking each step through the path. He was in sheer panic mode as he knew in his gut, whatever was making that sound, was out to get him. Right behind him he could hear the chimes getting more violent, as if the chimes themselves were out to get him.

Soon he found himself straying off his well know trail and in the dark unknowns of the woods. He was running faster than ever before not bothering with any cuts or bruises the branches and rocks were making on his face and body. The chimes were right behind him, as violent as ever. But he couldn’t bring himself to turn around.

Panickily wrestling with his phone in his pocket, he managed to pull it out and try dialing for emergency but there was no service. He turned his flashlight on in hopes it would help him see where he was going, but as soon as he did, he tripped and fell. His phone was sent flying through the air and hit a nearby tree. Eric turned around on his back to face the monster that was following him. But there was nothing, not a sound, just a dark thick fog and the faint light coming from his phone on the right.

Slowly a single chime could be heard coming right in front of him. With the faint light from his phone, he could make out a tall silhouette. A few more steps towards him and he could see it was a tall woman, with dark wet straight hair. She had an old white shirt and markings on her face that were almost fluorescent in the dark foggy part of the forest. She looked young, almost ageless but her eyes were empty. Her skin was pale green, what could only be described as the color of sick and rotting flesh. She had chimes hanging from a rope tied to her hips which made a bone chilling sound with each step she took. They were not violent now; they were dead silent.

In her left hand there was a sickle which she used to break a vile of dark liquid in one swift movement. As soon as the vial broke, Eric was splattered in what smelled like blood. She grinned and exposed her pale green teeth. Slowly turned her back to Eric and started taking small, short steps back in the direction of the bear. One slow chime at a time.

Not wasting any time, Eric picked up his phone and started running in the opposite direction until he eventually reached his car. In the clearing the sun was setting and there was no fog. He could no longer hear chimes in the distance. “Did I imagine all this?” he asked himself as he searched for the car keys. Finally, he felt safe once he heard the engine of his car running. Taking a glance at the clock, it was now 7.30 PM. “It’s all in my head.” He said out loud, smirked and pulled out on the main road. The blood on his clothes was still fresh and only a faint chime was heard from his back seat… “All in my head…”

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