x
I could only watch in horror as Kevin grabbed me and bit me, ripping into the flesh of my arm. Screaming in terror and pain, I pushed him away and ran into the bathroom, locking him out. Frantically pulling open the drawers, I scrounged for bandages as my wound poured out blood. There was moaning and banging outside the door.
“Kevin? What happened? Why are you like this?”
More moans was the only reply I got. After waiting around with my mind aflight, I began to feel strange. It felt as if something was changing inside me. There was an odd itching sensation, then I watched in horror as my skin started turning ice blue. I checked my pulse, and it was so low I could have almost been pronounced dead.
I looked in the mirror, and saw my eyes began sinking in, creating dark hollow spaces. A horrible cracking sound emanated from my limbs and I convulsed in pain as torso grew out to make me nine feet tall. This tore away my clothes and pulled my skin tight against my bones and I soon looked like a walking skeleton. Chunks of my hair began falling out, leaving small sprouts of hair in patches all over me. Then a large gurgle in my belly made me hunch over in excruciating pain. An intense hunger gripped me...one so bad I almost contemplated ripping my heart out just to eat it.
Then, the door bust open and Kevin saw me. He stopped moving and only smiled. I smiled back, knowing that I was now like him, and we ran out into the wilderness like two wild dogs.
We ran and we ran, how far I couldn’t say. Before long we came upon two hikers. My stomach rumbled and I ran straight for them. Just as I started tearing into their flesh...
I snapped awake in a sweat, despite the chilly temperature in the cabin. Sitting up, I waited for my heartbeat to slow down, mulling over the last seconds of my dream.
“What the hell was that about?” I whispered, slipping out of bed and grabbing some water from the fridge. Snow softly fell outside, and I watched it in a drowsy stupor. My stomach gurgled, and prickles of fear made my hairs stand up. It felt too close to the dream.
I chugged the water and found something to snack on. This did not lull me back to sleep, so I went over my notebook which chronicled details of Kevin’s plane crash. I’d also written any thoughts or theories I had come up with regarding the crash. Hopefully the wreckage was the section that held the blackbox. That would at least tell me something...anything.
Soon, I grew tired of re-reading and rethinking the same things I’ve done countless times before. I found myself looking through a pamphlet of the town, and looked closely over the side discussing the Algonquian reservation and cultural influence on the town. One picture featured the chief of the tribe, a very thoughtful and strong-looking older man. Something about seeing him, knowing that I had a connection to him spoke to something deep within me.
I suddenly felt shame weighing on me for denying my heritage. From what I had read about the Algonquians, they really emphasized the idea of respect and love for the Earth and for one another. This was certainly something that was lacking today, and it really bothered me seeing the way people treated each other growing up. Maybe this would be my chance to really explore the culture of the Algonquians firsthand.
Checking my phone and seeing that it was getting late, I retired once again to my bed, a slight anxiety over my dreams. Perhaps my first purchase would be a dreamcatcher...
The next day, I excitedly watched the news that to see that a piece of the plane was indeed found. The wreckage was examined, and to my astonishment they had already recovered the black box! This would be a very telling piece of what occurred, but would it give me the sense of peace that I was longing for?
The more I thought about it, knowing what caused the crash wouldn’t really give me the answers I sought. My brother died in a plane crash, so what else is there to know? The whole thing left me feeling so confused sometimes, but I couldn’t deny this strange longing that led me to this town. Perhaps there was more going in with me than I realized. Or maybe I just needed to get the hell out of the city...
In the meantime, I decided I’d visit Leroy’s General Store and see what they had to offer. The man at the counter smiled and greeted me with a sincere jovial spirit.
“Anything I can interest you in, sir?”
I casually glanced around, getting a quick layout of the store. It was definitely bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.
“Just browsing......well actually, you know I heard you get products from the Algonquian tribe.”
“Yes, we do! They have fantastic work! It’s right over here.”
He led me towards the middle of the store, which housed numerous shelves and glass cases full of various crafts. There was anything from necklaces, bracelets, and rings to a variety of small tools and handmade dolls.
“Wow, these all look quite impressive.” I said, immediately admiring the craftsmanship.
“Yes, they have splendid work. Anything in particular you were thinking of?”
“Not really, just seeing what you have. I’ve never actually seen anything like this firsthand.”
“Ohh, I see.” The man replied, and I recognized the look on his face.
“I know what you’re thinking. I wasn’t raised anywhere around here. I’m actually from the capital. Thought I would experience some of my own culture for once.”
“Well, that is quite splendid! Just ask if you have questions about anything.”
“Actually, speaking of which...do they have tours of the reservation or anything like that?”
“Well, nowadays they typically do all that online. Funny world we live in, right?”
“Yeah. Alright, well thank you. I’ll be checking this stuff out.”
“I’ll leave you to it then.”
For a good while, I examined and admired all the native crafts and wondered for how many generations they’d been making them. Once I had a good look at everything, I made my way over to a wall with books on the Algonquian people. While looking, a book on legends and folklore caught my eye.
After flipping through the pages, I knew that I wanted it. Any run-of-the-mill culture book would most likely bore me, but folklore was always more interesting.
I brought the book up to the counter and the clerk perked up.
“Ah, that’s a good one!”
“Good to hear.”
As he began to scan the item, it slipped from his hand and the book fell open face down. When he picked it up and flipped it over to close it, his eyes danced across the pages and they widened briefly. He slammed the book shut, a tightening in his jaw now making him look stern.
“Find a scary picture in there?” I said jokingly. His face remained stern, and he looked back at me for a second as if he was deciding whether or not to say something.
“Yes, some of the legends have some pretty scary creatures in them.” He smiled now, but the lines in his face showed a harsh strain. What did he see that got him so stressed out?
Pushing away the strange moment, I left and tucked the book under my coat. I began making my way from the store and into the streets, I jumped at a sudden shriek.
Almost dropping my book, I turned to see a lone black crow standing on the roof of the general store. He cawed again, and watched me watching him. I moved to the left, and watched his gaze eerily follow me.
“No bad news today, crow.” I said as if chastising him.
Soon I was back home, and laid the book on the desk to read for later. First, I had to eat lunch, and soon after remembered I had to book a tour of the reservation.
I did some research online, and soon had a tour set for the next day around 2pm. Then I pulled open my folklore book and began diving in. Before I got too far, my phone dinged with a notification from an online news station I’d subscribed to. I pulled up a video and soon found some strange news.
Apparently one of the investigators who was stationed near the crash site had disappeared. They were hiking around the area, and checked in with him over the radio without a response. He hadn’t been gone long, and when they went looking for him all they found was his radio, which had been dropped in the snow. Their only theory so far was that he had been dragged off by a bear, but wouldn’t they have heard him scream? Or he could have radioed in for help. A full search team was called and is currently scouting out the area.
I spent the rest of the day researching online, with intermediate bits of fun YouTube videos, followed by more research, and reading some more of my folklore book. There were some fascinating tales of shapeshifting, ancestral spirts, allegories for beliefs, and pretty much anything that involved animals. After all of that, I decided to head up to the bar and see what Carl was up to.
He was there alright, and after some initial conversation I brought up the news for the day.
“So you heard they found the flight data recorder, and now someone’s missing?” I said somberly, yet I felt a dark excitement at the entire ordeal.
“Yeah, I heard. Crazy stuff.” Carl replied, and he got a strange look on his face and broke eye contact. It reminded me of the store owner. I decided to follow up on this note.
“So hey, I went to Leroy’s General and got a book on Algonquin folklore. The book dropped open to a page when the cashier was ringing it up, and he got this weird expression.”
“Really? That’s strange.”
“Yeah. I joked that he saw a scary picture and he just agreed with this worried look on his face. Didn’t say what it was, just shut the book. You know what it could have been?”
“I don’t know. But I bet you ole Charlie believes in whatever he saw. Was he a really friendly guy, middle-aged?”
“That’s him.”
“Yep. He really buys into a lot of the folklore stuff. As nice as he is, he’s very superstitious and acts a little weird from time to time. But I wouldn’t worry about it. Sounds like he got spooked.”
“Yeah, maybe so. I can’t wait to find out what’s on the black box.”
“It’ll sure be interesting. Just hope that they find that missing guy in the process. Even if he just got lost, he’ll either freeze to death or die of starvation.”
“Man, I can’t imagine.”
We went on to other lighter conversation for the remainder of the night. I went home and began settling in for the night and reflecting on my day. Some very interesting things happened, so there was surely more to come. Either way, I would have an even more interesting experience by the next afternoon.
I started to lay down for the night, but something kept me from getting to sleep. The picture incident just ate at me, and finally in irritation at my own curiosity, I jumped up and grabbed the folklore book.
With the book sprawled across my lap , I began flipping through the pages to focus on the pictures. There was a half-man, half-bear picture but it wouldn’t garner any response. A man was shifting into a snake in the other one. The world was being cleansed in a flood in another. I kept flipping through despite my disappointment...then I found it. Right away, I could see why Charlie reacted so strongly, but I reacted for another reason altogether.
Immediately, I recognized the creature as the same one Kevin and I had become in my dream. It was a naked creature with rotting flesh, small patches of fur, tall, emaciated, and it’s skin a grayish-blue. The creepy yellow eyes sat in hollow sockets and it’s horrible teeth were exposed from the gnawed-off lips.
The creature...was a wendigo.
ns3.235.25.27da2
