IS

As I crossed the yard and over the berm that separated my property from the school, I was mystified at just how dark it actually was. Dark and damp. But something felt odd about the darkness tonight, it was different than before. The security lights at the school–-they were off! This was very odd indeed, as I thought I would at least have that. But there would be no security in my travels tonight, and I exhaled a sigh of discontent, knowing once again that the tables had been turned in his favor.

I would be lying if I said the same anger that drove me in the beginning hadn’t dwindled to a lesser degree, as I continued to trek through the tall wet grass and deeper into the dark abyss that was now his playground. Continuing on, I began to feel as though I were the intruder invading his territory; an unannounced visitor into a premeditated adventure that he had been patiently waiting for. The scream came again, as I nervously looked to the surrounding trees and playground equipment just ahead, consciously reminded of my injuries as I gripped the bat’s handle tighter than ever in my right hand, expecting anything, and clinging desperately to what valor hadn’t fled at the sound of yet another scream that came to me from somewhere in the not so distant void of blackness before me.

I stopped walking. I stopped moving altogether, for fear of contaminating even the tiniest of sounds… or maybe just for fear itself. He was doing exactly what I said I would no longer let him do. He was playing with me. Toying with my humanity, testing me to see just how far I would go before I’d break. I knew this, because I could feel it. I could feel him.

It was quiet now, and I began to move again, stopping every so many steps to listen as I decided to move closer alongside the building. Even without the lights on, I still felt more comfortable with the brick wall at my left side. As I rounded the far corner to the back of the school, I aimed the flashlight at the ground and pushed the button to test its strength. Its beam was strong. My eyes scanned the outlying area for anyone who could be watching from a lighted window in any of the surrounding houses, before clicking it back off. I was in total darkness again. I knew the light would work, because I had just put a new battery in it for Alley a few weeks ago when she and a couple of her friends had a campout in one of the girl’s back yards, just the other side of the school. In all of her excitement that night, she had left it behind, and it was never used.

I suddenly felt ill and withdrawn at the thought of her and her friends sleeping in a tent, outside, in the dark… with him close by! I clicked it on again, and noticed something in the grass in front of me. As I walked closer to it, the light blinked off. I smacked its side to bring it back on again, and it was then that I could see what it was. A fragment, or broken piece of a light fixture. I swung the beam up onto the wall to see that only the base and a hanging socket remained, as the scream again called for me to continue on with my journey. I quickly checked the other two fixtures on that side to find they had also been demolished.

“Nice going” I nervously announced under my breath. “Nice!” I turned and yelled into the trees, as my voice echoed across the playground and was soon swallowed up whole by the night. I moved forward into the playground equipment, and into the number of trees that seemed to be surrounding me everywhere, towering over the area like large wooden guardians of the grounds.

It had been quiet for several minutes now, as I continued to monitor the spaces and shadows all around me. My senses seemed sharpened and ready to pick up any movement or sound I was to encounter. But nothing came for the longest time. And then-–a scream! Maybe thirty feet in front of me and to my right. It was loud and close. Shaking, I held the light on stand-by in my left hand, while my right pulled the bat back, ready to take advantage of a full range of motion, as I continued to inch my way towards the scream.

Trying to regain some of the positive tenaciousness I had eventually lost in my travels, I screamed out a warrior call of anger as I again drove the bat hard into the ground. This initiated movement in the trees overhead. I pointed the light in the same direction, just in time to catch a large wingspan pass through the beam, traveling from one tree to another. A fucking owl!

“A fucking Screech Owl!” I yelled out, feeling somewhat relieved in the midst of my find. The light blinked off again. I began to smack it, when something large thudded to the ground in front of me. My whole body flinched, as I desperately smacked the light several more times before the beam blinked on, and gave way to acknowledge the large dead bird that lay in the grass before me. I was awestruck to find what had happened, and on an even more extreme note, mortified to find the head missing from its body.

Imagine my surprise when I again heard the scream call out from somewhere in the tree above me, as I could see the blood still pulsing fresh from its body on the ground in front of me. A chill rushed over and through me, as the light blinked off again. Once more, I stood in total darkness, with the scream loud and clear, this time, only a very short distance away, as I frantically smacked the light before bringing the beam back to life, showing me what I had hoped I would never see again.

There he was. Perched on a large branch maybe ten feet off the ground, and directly in front of me, holding the owl’s head in his hands, while moving its mouth and mimicking the large bird’s scream with a nightmarish presence that made me question the existence of my sanity. The image was so surreal and frightening, with the bright color of red splashed against his pale skin that I began to feel faint, or dizzy in its presence.

I brought the bat back up again, preparing myself for a fight, when he tipped his head to one side, tossed the owl’s head over his shoulder, and then with one quick motion, leaped to land with his feet on the ground, so close that I could once again smell his putrid scent. My fear was absolute, but the original flavor of anger had also returned. I slowly bent to place the light on the ground with its beam directly at him, now only twenty feet away. Then I placed both hands tightly on the bat’s handle, bringing it up, over, and behind my head, ready to throw it like an axe.

He tipped his head to one side again, like a curious dog trying to understand, when I pulled my weapon forward and released it at him with every ounce of strength I had.

Remarkably, he caught the bat in his hands, almost as if it were magnetized to his touch. Bringing it close to his face, he then smelled and examined it from one end to the other before placing a hand at each end and snapping it in half with a loud metallic sound that traveled across the schoolyard, and seemed to echo forever before dissipating into the night air.

I reluctantly looked on as he tossed the two pieces aside, tilted his head once again, and smiled at me with his ghoulish face.

Without a word, I turned and began to run. Only, I wasn’t heading for home. There was no plan or design, as I was fueled on pure fear, heading for wherever, when I soon found myself leaving the playground and crossing into the woods that backed up to it. My pace was fast and consistent, but also misleading, as I soon tripped over something large and flew to the ground in a violent and painful tumble.

Once my body had come to rest, I just laid there, taking the pain in, but releasing nothing, as I continued to remain still and quiet, listening for any sound that could tell me of his position anywhere close by. It remained quiet, aside from a dog barking somewhere off in the distance.

The moon made its appearance from behind the clouds to give me a faint glow of light, showing me just what it was that I had tripped over. A sickening odor also began to creep into my lungs when I found the courage to lift my head out of the tall weeds for a better, clearer view. It appeared to be a large and dead animal; half of one anyway. As I crawled closer, the smell became almost unbearable, when I noticed the short, white tail protruding from its rear. It was then that I knew I had literally stumbled onto the missing bottom half of that poor deer. My mind then shot me a clear picture of his morbid display at the baseball diamond two days ago. Sick! And to think his bottom half has been here all this time, hidden from sight, but not from the elements of rain and the sun’s heat, as the nauseating stench gave proof of that.

I suddenly became alarmed by a sound that caught my attention somewhere off to my left, as the moon slid back into a dark clouded pocket once again, taking with it what little light I had and giving me no choice but to sink back into my hiding. I laid there defenseless and scared, waiting for any sound at all to give me an adequate distance to go by, something to tell me if I in fact had enough space between us to make another run for it. I knew my time laying there would be short-lived regardless, as I began to feel small things crawling over my neck and arms.

Actually, any part of my body that was exposed soon fell prey to a number of tiny hosts; flying, crawling, and biting. Just when I thought I could stand no more, I heard what sounded like a twig snap, followed by a familiar voice.

“Josh?” It was Randi’s voice. I recognized it right away. “Are you in there? Where are you?”

I wanted to call out to her, as I feared for her safety. And once more, I still feared for mine. Cautiously, I rose up again from my damp infested hiding place, swiping the bugs away, but seeing nothing. Then off in the distance, somewhere just outside the tree line, a beam of light flashed on.

Again, I could hear Randi call out to me. “Josh? Where are you? I need you!” She sounded distressed and frightened, like me.

I knew I had to get to her, and fast. I also knew he could be anywhere. I found myself jumping over the rotting carcass, but cautiously moving through the wet brush towards the light. As I came closer, I called out to her, “Randi! I’m here. Don’t move!” Just as I was almost to her, the light blinked off. I stopped in my tracks, and crouched to the ground. “Randi! Are you all right?” I called out in a forced whisper. I was hesitant to say another word, when my question was answered by only silence. The moon found a way to show itself again, as I surprisingly heard Randi’s voice from behind me.

“Josh. I found you!”

I then stood up and turned around, as my sense of relief was stricken with mortal fear at the sight of his pale, glowing face, inches from mine. Apart from the appalling stench, it was as if I had gone back to that night twenty six years ago. Face to face, with his black eyes piercing into mine, paralyzed from any movement whatsoever. He then infamously tipped his head to one side, smiled his grimace smile, and before I could even think to react, reached out and touched my forehead.

I felt all of my senses grow numb, and every last bit of energy I had leave my body. Soon I was staring at a single blade of grass, breathing in the musty dampness of the earth, but smelling nothing, unable to move or react to anything around me. I could see an ant move across my cheek, but could feel nothing. I closed my eyes and drifted off for I don’t know how long.

And then, I felt as though I began to rise and float. My head fell back, giving me an inverted and foggy view of my already dim surroundings, just before my eyes began to falter, and my mind drifted off for good.