Chereads / Echoes Ridge / Chapter 18 - Full Circle

Chapter 18 - Full Circle

I wake to another panic attack. Not unusual but it never gets any easier. Something about this cabin hasn't felt right since I've been here. Lily used to adore this place. Since Lily went missing, nowhere feels quite like home anymore. This feels like the empty shell of what used to be my life. I shuffle my feet into my house shoes, grab my phone from the nightstand, and pull the cord to cut on the lamp. Nothing. I pull the cord again, more aggressively this time. Nothing. I cut my cell phone flashlight on, noting that my battery was almost dead. It's been charging all night; this doesn't make any sense. I grab my robe from the foot of the bed and exit my room and ease into the hallway. I hear shuffling outside the bedroom window. I stop walking and listen. My breathing is heavy now and my heart is pounding. Bear? Mountain lion? I listen a few seconds longer, now holding my breath. I walk back into my bedroom and slowly towards the window, hoping to peep through the curtain for a better look at what nighttime visitor has come to rummage through the garbage. I gently pull back the side of the curtain, again holding my breath. The shotgun is in my truck. Whatever vermin is out there is very fortunate that it's too cold for me to go out and get it. It's very dark, unusually dark, actually. Must be a local power outage. These old mountain cabins tend to lose power during storms. Sometimes just the right amount of wind can leave me without power for a day or so. I shine the light of my phone flashlight through the window, hoping to catch the trash goblin in action. "What the fuck!" I drop my phone on the floor. What the hell was that? I jump back a few feet, scurrying across the floor to find my phone and cut the flashlight off. My heart is now beating so hard it's pounding in my ears. I've never seen anything like that. It was a…. person… but oddly tall and unlike anything I've seen. Its knees were backwards. It was completely hairless and looked like it was wearing skin that didn't quite belong to it. Its posture was slumped forward, arms exceptionally long. Fingers long and half curled into a fist as it stood there staring through my window. Its face was… horrifying. It looked like the eyes were sewn shut and its mouth was gaping open, wider than any normal human. Did I lock the doors? I walk back out of the bedroom and into the hallway. I take each step carefully, sure not to make any noise. I slowly back myself against the wall to my right and I peer around to see if the front door handle is in the locked position. The moonlight casts enough light through the windows to see fairly well once my eyes adjusted. As soon as I look around the corner past the kitchen, my heart sank… the front door is wide open. I'm paralyzed with fear. I hear the shuffling again. Too scared to move, I just watch. Whatever was outside my window is slowly shuffling its feet into the doorway. I slowly ease myself back into the hallway. Holding my breath, trying not to make any noise. Why was my door open? I heard a loud screech that sounded like it came from the living room. I quickly hold my hands over my ears to stop the pain. Suddenly… silence. I remove my hands from my ears. A silence now so deafening I can hear my blood circulating through my body. Whatever it is, its in the cabin already. I slowly ease back down the hallway towards my bedroom. Each step is carefully placed to avoid any loose creaky flooring. I see the creature shuffle slowly past the hallway. It seemed as if boils had taken over most of its skin. I remain completely still, once again holding my breath as it passes by, hoping it doesn't look down the hallway and notice me. My heart pounds against my ribs, louder than I want it to be, as if the creature can hear it. The hallway stretches endlessly in the dim light, and the air feels thicker, harder to pull into my lungs. The creature stops. It turns its head slightly, just enough for me to catch a glimpse of its face—or what's left of it. The boils pulsate, oozing something black, thick, and tar-like. My stomach clenches, and the smell hits me, sour and rancid. I bite down on my lip to keep from crying out. This isn't real. It can't be real. But the creature moves again, dragging itself forward, leaving a dark, sticky trail in its wake. My eyes follow the trail, and I swear I see it forming shapes—symbols. My vision swims. My knees threaten to give out, but I press my back against the wall, forcing myself to stay upright. I close my eyes tightly, hoping it will all disappear when I open them again. But it doesn't. When I open my eyes, the creature is gone. The hallway is empty. Silent. But the silence claws at me, heavy and wrong. My chest tightens as I push off the wall, my legs unsteady beneath me. I force myself to move, one step at a time, until I reach the front door. The faint chill of night air creeping into the house. I grip the doorknob, intending to close the door, but I hesitate. I peer out onto the porch, scanning the shadows for any sign of movement. The porch is still, bathed in the pale light of the moon. For a moment, I think I'm alone. And then, at the far edge of the porch, something catches my eye, just barely within view. A rabbit.