Hunting Season - A Halloween tale

As many of you may know hunting season starts, at least for bows, in October in Wisconsin. There are gun hunts for deer that are eating up the farmer crops, but the real gun season is in November. People put out small amounts of corn, apples, and mineral or salt blocks for the deer, and they set up game cameras to see how many are in the area where they plan to hunt. I am one who sets up a camera. And if one is going to set up a ground blind, which essentially is just a tent with a printed camouflage design, it needs to be done about the same time as the game camera so the deer get used to it being there. I, for one, have no use for tree stands or anything up in the air because I hate heights, so I have a large blind. I check the camera frequently to see how many, if any, deer are coming to my mineral block. It's my first year putting one out. The pictures are...let say, creepy sometimes for the infrared night shots. If you look in the picture below you'll see something between the trees just above the deer's ear. There literally is nothing there that should account for that. NOTHING! It gave me the idea for "Hunting Season". Be prepared. It IS Halloween season too after all. Seriously, I may have a hard time going out there before daylight now. Just sayin'.

 

Hunting Season

“Lucas! Do you see that? Randall Slade asked his best friend. He had brought up the pictures from his game camera on his computer in his basement family room.

“Kind of blurry,” Lucas answered. “Maybe if you tell me what I’m looking for I’ll have a clue.”

“It’s a night shot. The infrared isn’t great on this cheap camera, but I can see something weird between the trees.” He pointed.

Lucas looked closer. “Well, it’s not a deer. Could be just the moon shining on a fern leaf. You do have your hunting camera set up in the swampy area of the back forty,” he said, referring the back forty acres of the Slade family farm.

“I made sure to mow all that out while it was still dry and I stomp everything down every time I go check the camera and the salt block. So, that’s not a plant. Besides, it was overcast last night and the moon was only a sliver. It didn’t stand a chance of shining into the woods there,” Randall explained.

“Hmm,” Lucas sighed. “I just don’t know what to tell you then. If there was power out there you could set up some extra lights for the camera. Those daytime shots are awesome. There’s deer all over the place. See if there are any other night shots.”

Randall clicked for the next few. “There are a couple, but they’re running! See how they are in the shots in different locations and heads are up looking around. Something has them alerted.”

“Yeah, but there could be a coyote out there too. You might not ever catch one of those on the camera if it sets it off. They are tall enough to set off the motion sensor but too short to get caught in the shot,” Lucas told him. “That might be why the pictures aren’t showing anything other than the woods.”

“Maybe,” Randall said, “But if it looks like that on the SD card tomorrow, I think we need to take a little overnight camping trip out there to see what’s going on. The blind has been set up for a couple weeks now and they are used to it, so as long as we’re quiet we shouldn’t scare them off too much.”

“As long as you don’t fall asleep!” Lucas said laughing. “You snore loud enough to scare a bear."

“The idea is to stay awake, genius.” Randall said. He stood up and grabbed a can of soda out of the mini-fridge. He handed one to Lucas and popped the top before taking a big gulp. He belched.

“Maybe we ought to pack water. We don’t any of that going on when we’re doing recon,” Lucas suggested.

“I might be nothing, like you said, but I want to check the camera again just be sure before we go out there,” Randall said. “An overnight trip might run all the deer off if we leave too much scent around.”

“Well, I’ll check with my dad, but I’m sure it will be fine to go. Tomorrow is Saturday, so we won’t be missing any school or anything.” Lucas told him. “I’d better get going before my mom calls because I’m late to supper…again.”

“Okay,” Randall said, “I have to get to the chores too or dad will skin me! I’ll call you in the morning after I get the cards switched out.”

The next morning Randall called Lucas. He was still in bed. “How do you think you’re going to get up to go hunting if you can’t even get out of bed before eight in the morning? We have to be out around six before the sun comes up to get set up!”

“Randall? Is that you?” Lucas said, still groggy from sleep.

“Yes! I told you I was going to call when I got the cards switched out. I’ve already helped with morning chores and had breakfast, and I still got out there and got the card.”

“You took the four-wheeler. That doesn’t take long, so it doesn’t count,” Lucas complained.

“Well, get your butt over here. I want to look at this card,” Randall insisted.

“Sure. I’ll grab a Pop Tart or something and be there quick as I can.”

Randall stared at the pictures. His eyes were wide with disbelief. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know man. That was creepy. One minute the deer was licking that salt block and the next it was on the ground and then it was just gone. The time stamp had it under two minutes,” Lucas said. His face was white. “Dead of night except for the odd shining, or glowing dots, or whatever it was. I really wish you had a better camera.”

“You still want to go?” Randall asked apprehensively.

“Yeah, but we’re taking guns, and our phones just in case,” Lucas said.

“It’s not gun season yet. It’s not legal. And the cell reception is spotty.”

“I don’t care! I’m not going without a gun in case there is something out there trying to get us. If there’s no reception, at least I can record it. I have one of those phone that records perfectly even in the dark,” Lucas bragged.

“Of course you do. I say about five o’clock we go out. It’s not dark yet so we can find our way into the woods. We’ll take the four-wheeler in case we have to clear out fast, but it won’t be too close, so if I say run you’d better act like your feet are on fire,” Randall told him. “The trail is mowed off but there are still a few stubs from brush so pay attention going in to where they are.”

“Alright. I’m going to go gear up and show my dad on the map where we’ll be in case he needs to find us and the phones don’t work.”

“Good idea! I’ll let dad know too. Mom will just freak out. They know we might go out there, but they don’t know why. If I take a gun, dad definitely needs to know why,” Randall said.

The boys lit out at five. The sun was setting pretty far by the time they got to the hunting blind and it was harder to see than they anticipated. Using flashlights they set up camp inside the blind, lowering the zippered windows only partially so they could see out through small sections rather than opening the window fully so as not to scare the deer themselves. They sat quietly for several hours communicating only through whispers or hand signals used by flashlight under a blanket.

Around ten they started hearing noises. Peering out through their peep holes, they watched deer wander past as the game camera’s motion sensor flashed for the photo. After about a half an hour they saw the strange glow. There were two about the same level at all times, but moving. The game camera flashed and Lucas gasped, covering his mouth. The eyes moved and the camera flashed. There was the sound of a low growl.

Lucas slowly put his phone into position to record as Randall got a gun ready. As the game camera flashed the boys could see it was some sort of creature. Randall quickly typed an SOS on his phone with another word and sent the text to his dad. As it got closer their hearts beat hard enough they were sure one another could hear it and if they could the creature could surely hear them.

Suddenly Randall’s phone chimed as his father sent a reply that he was on his way. His eyes grew wide as the creature turned their direction. It only took what seemed like a second for it to reach their blind.

“Run!” Randall whispered, nearly falling over Lucas on the way to the door they had left unzipped in case they needed a quick exit. He looked long enough to see Lucas right on his heels.

The creature growled more fiercely as it ripped the blind apart, collapsing it in its wake. It was after the boys once it tore through the thin nylon as they ran for their lives.

Mike Slade called William Tucker, Lucas’s father, on his way to the camp. He told him to bring a gun and meet him there. It only took ten minutes for them to meet up as William Tucker was as familiar with the hunting area as boys were since he and Mike were friends as well. They found no signs of the boys at the four-wheeler so they went on down to the campsite with bright lanterns. The tent was tattered and they found a shredded hiking boot that had been Randall’s.

After calling for twenty minutes they decided they needed to get the sheriff’s department involved and possibly the DNR. They called their wives and told them to hold up at Mike’s house and wait for the sheriff’s deputies to arrive to give them directions, but whatever they did, stay at the house and stay inside except to give the directions.

Deputies arrived and a DNR game warden. Everyone used high powered search lights to search for the boys and then radioed for search dogs. Some drag marks were found but they just as quickly disappeared. Photographs were taken of the campsite and the destroyed blind. The SD card was removed from the game camera.

At daylight the dogs were turned loose and they hit a scent right away. First Randall’s phone was found and then a short while later Lucas’s phone was found. There was blood on them both and more drag marks. They searched all day and found no further sign of the boys. The dogs had lost the trail.

Finally the sheriff’s deputy asked if he could use Randall’s computer to read the SD card since he didn’t have an adapter handy to use the one in his SUV. The pictures were benign at first with a few deer and the boys and more deer. Then the shots started with the glowing dots that kept moving around and then it looked in the direction of the blind and then it moved fast in its direction. A few minutes later it showed the boys being dragged off into the woods by the creature, Randall without his boot. They looked to be already dead.

Tears ran down the parents’ faces and the deputy and game warden stared blankly at the screen in disbelief.

William Tucker finally asked to see his son’s phone. He was sure his son had taken footage because he was always recording something. They gave it to him and he pressed the button on the side and swiped at the screen, tapping on the app for the photo gallery. It showed he had indeed recorded several minutes of footage. He wept openly as the sound of their scared boys whispering to one another not to breathe so loud so it wouldn’t hear them.

“Dad, if you ever get this,” Lucas whispered. “I don’t know how we’ll get out of this. Randall is loading a gun but I don’t think there is time to get it. It looks like a hodag. I know they aren’t supposed to exist, but it is here.” Suddenly Randall told him to shut the hell up before it heard them. There was the sound of Randall’s phone chiming and a panicked, ‘oh no,” whispered low by Randall.

The creature growled and turned toward the boys. Its full ugly and horrifying features were caught as with lightning speed it moved up on the blind and was reaching for it when the sound of Randall saying to run could be heard and the camera turned catching their fumbling escape from the blind. It recorded the boys running pointing at the ground up until Lucas was pulled to the ground, screaming and seconds later Randall screaming as he too was brought down.

“I didn’t really believe him when he said it was a hodag!” Mike Slade said. “I believed they were in trouble but I thought maybe it was just a bear,” he said, crying into his wife’s hair.

Everyone was horrified. The footage was uploaded to the deputy’s computer for a copy of the evidence of what had happened to the boys. No traces of them existed outside of the few that led them to the phones. They simply vanished.

No one hunts those woods anymore. No deer are seen in the vicinity. Occasionally helicopters fly over with sharp shooters in search of the evasive creature. No one dares to go on foot.

Everyone in Wisconsin knows hodags are just myth made up in the eighteen hundreds as a hoax. They don’t really exist. OR DO THEY???  

I uploaded a picture someone drew of the hodag from Instagram. Looks creepy enough to me!

 

The Basement

“I’m so glad you decided to rent the room,” Mr. Cheever told Ellen, his new tenant. “It’s been a while since I’ve had anyone in there and I really needed it rented out.”

“I’m just glad it was still available,” Ellen replied. “Apartments in the city are way higher than I expected. An entire three bedroom house was cheaper where I come from.” She smiled. “What amenities are included?”

“Amenities?” Mr. Cheever asked. 

“May I use the washer and dryer or do I need to go to the laundromat? Am I allowed to use the kitchen?” she clarified.

“Oh! Sorry, senior moment,” he said. “The washer and dryer are on the main floor and you may use them, just make sure to empty the lint trap and never leave your laundry unattended. If you start it, finish it. There is space in the cupboard for you and a shelf in the fridge. If you make a mess, clean it up. I don’t have a dishwasher.”

“That’s fine. I know how to clean up after myself. Is there anything else I should know?”

“Yes. Stay out of the basement. Under no circumstances are you to go in the basement.”

“Sure. No problem,” she said. “May I move in today? I keep my things in my car.”

“That would be fine. Welcome home. Payment is the first of the month, no exceptions,” he added.

She handed him a check and he folded it and placed it in his wallet. 

Ellen was startled by a knock at her door as she was getting ready for bed. Mr. Cheever called out from the other side. “Ellen? Are you decent? I brought you a cup of tea.”

She opened the door. “Why thank you. I would love a cup.” She took a sip. “Wow! That is good. What kind is it?”

“It’s just a special blend from the natural foods store. It’s supposed to help you relax for a better night’s sleep,” he told her. “I’ve used it for years. I figure with you being from the country the night sounds of the city might keep you up.”

“That was so thoughtful. You’re right. I haven’t been sleeping well since I left home, but you know how it is. If there aren’t any jobs where you live, you go where the jobs are.”

He nodded. “Yes, I know what you mean. Don’t worry about the cup tonight. You can take care of it in the morning. I’ll leave you to it then.”

Ellen woke up refreshed. She had indeed slept very soundly through the night. Man, I’m glad I found this place, she thought. 

It became a ritual. Every evening around nine Mr. Cheever brought her a cup of tea and she slept soundly, whereas she had never been one to sleep that hard before, hearing every creak of a floorboard or even the wind blowing gently through the trees – with the windows shut. 

One night she set the tea down on the bedside table and it got cold before she could drink it. It didn’t taste very good cold so she left it until morning. She did indeed hear every little sound. Mr. Cheever was in the basement doing something and he was none too quiet about it. Perhaps that is what the tea is about, she thought. He doesn’t want to keep me up with his midnight projects. “His house,” she muttered, “He can do whatever he wants.”

The next night as she was getting ready for bed one of her earrings rolled off the bedside table behind the headboard. She moved the table so she could reach the jewelry and glanced up behind the headboard. There was a book wedged between the board and the wall. She retrieved her earring and fished the book out. 

“Hmm,” she said reading the title of the book, which merely said ‘Journal’. At first she just opened it to see to whom it belonged hoping Mr. Cheever would be able to get it back to its owner. She saw a name inside the cover but then her peripheral vision caught a few words on the first page. She didn’t touch the tea as she settled into bed to read. 

The journal had been started six months prior to her moving in and ended abruptly after three weeks. Her hand covered her mouth as she fought to stifle a scream. 

The noise in the basement seemed suddenly louder than it had before and she tip-toed to the basement door and soundlessly opened the door. She peered down the concrete stairs and then as quietly as she could descended them far enough to see what exactly he was doing. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the old man. He was building a box that looked a lot like a casket and she clamped her mouth shut tight to keep from gasping. 

She forced her eyes away as she scanned the rest of the area. Hanging over a drain in the floor she saw a large chain attached to a floor joist with a large bolt. The chain had a hook on one end and the floor was stained red around the drain. There was a pegboard off to the left with assorted tools and knives. She turned and crept back up the stairs.

“Oh my god,” she said to herself over and over. “I can’t believe it.” She packed her bags quickly and included the journal. She thought to lock her door and retreated into the closet as she called the police. Whispering, she explained what she had found and that she was now hiding in the closet. The casket Mr. Cheever was building looked to be nearly complete. She was advised to get out of the house if at all possible and that a unit was on the way. 

She suddenly heard a sound like a lock being tripped and peeped through the levers on the closet door. “I can’t get away,” she whispered trying to keep her voice calm while she panicked inside. “He just let himself into the room.”

“Don’t hang up!” the operator said into the phone. “Whatever you do, don’t hang up!”

Ellen screamed as Mr. Cheever pulled the door open and she dropped the phone. 

“I see you have your bags packed,” he said. “Going somewhere?”

“My mom called,” Ellen lied. “She’s been hurt and needs me to come home. I was just making a reservation to fly home.”

“I never heard your phone ring,” he said calmly. “And, why are you in the closet?”

“I, I had it on vibrate so the ringer wouldn’t disturb you and I was in here so I would be quieter.”

Mr. Cheever picked up the phone. “Hello? Who am I talking to?”

The emergency operator quickly played along with Ellen. “This is Karen at the United Airlines reservations desk. I heard a scream. Is Miss Davenport all right?”

“Oh, yes, quite,” he answered, “I just startled the poor dear is all. She’ll have to call you back.” He closed the cover, hanging up the call.

Ellen’s eyes grew wide. “What did you do that for?” she asked him.

“You aren’t going home. I need your help with something,” he said. He grabbed her arm dragging her out of the closet and snapped handcuffs on her wrist before she could snatch it away.

Ellen fought back with her free hand and kicked at him but to no avail. He was surprisingly strong for his build and had her down the stairs and into the basement. He punched her in the face to make her quit fighting. The blow knocked her out. He then hoisted her up to the hook and chain over the drain.

Just as was selecting a knife the police snuck down the stairs and aimed their guns at him. “Halt or we’ll shoot!” one of them commanded.

When Ellen awoke in the hospital there was a detective waiting to speak to her. Ellen told him where to locate the journal in her luggage and he retrieved it.

He read it. “We’ve been looking for her for a while now.” He said. Her parents called in a missing persons report months ago. We’re going to have a forensics team check his place. There is no telling how many lives he’s taken or how many you saved by finding this and calling it in.”

Ellen cried.

Haunted

When I left the city for the country life the first thing I thought of was shelter. I wasn’t wealthy by any means but I knew without any regrets that I did not belong in the city and this was the place for me. I found an old farmhouse that had been abandoned by the owners when the family refused to take possession after their last remaining parent passed away. The county had taken it for back taxes and I was able to buy it for the unpaid balance. I thought that was the greatest bargain I had ever gotten – until I realized how much a neglected house could fall to ruin after only a few years.

I finally got the water going with a little help from a neighbor and the roof patched until I could start a new job and pay for better repairs. The old furniture was still there but it was so dusty I had to throw out anything with upholstery and the mattresses. After many weeks of sleeping on the floor before I could buy a new mattress I was nearly exhausted so when I started hearing things and finding the furniture moved around in the living room I thought I was imagining it. The floor creaked at night and I chalked it up to the house settling, even though it should have been settled years ago. I thought I heard the front door open, but it was closed when I checked it out. 

Many months passed and I still did not sleeping any better in spite of the new bed. Many repairs had been made and the furnace had been declared in perfect working order. It had apparently been new when the old man died. The house was still freezing in the living room. 

I came home one evening to see lights on all over the house. I knew I had not left them on. It was fall and it got dark early and light later, but I absolutely knew those lights were off when I left. I installed a timer on the lights to turn them off if I forgot and they still were on when I got home. The sheriff’s office couldn’t see any signs of a break-in and nothing was missing. They suggested there might be a key somewhere I hadn’t found and someone was pulling a prank it being so close to Halloween. I changed the locks. It didn’t help.

At last I asked my neighbor if he had seen anyone entering the house when I was gone and he just laughed and shook his head. I went home, uneasy at the way he had laughed. It was one of those knowing laughs; as if he knew what was happening but was unwilling to share. 

Unable to sleep, I went for a glass of milk and had to stop in my tracks. The old rocking chair was rocking all by itself. There were no breezes blowing through because the window was shut, the furnace had never made it move it before, so that wasn’t it either. As I walked up closer to the moving piece of furniture I saw the faintest of images of an old woman. Her hair was gray and put up in a bun on the back of her head. She had reading glasses pushed down almost to the end of her nose and a book lay open on her apron covered lap. Her eyes were closed as if she was dozing, but her feet moved slightly causing her to rock. I shivered and backed away slowly, slipping out the back door with as little sound as possible, then I ran – all the way to the neighbor’s house and pounded on his door.

He took one look at me and helped me inside. “I see you finally met Edna. She’s been a fixture for years in that house; it’s why the kids didn’t want it.” He handed me a strong shot of brandy. “You see, she was their mother and one night while she was waiting on their father, as she did most nights, sitting in that chair reading, she had a stroke and died, but she didn’t know that. Their father never left the house at night again. He stayed there talking to Edna every night until he died.”

“He’s gone,” I said. “Why didn’t she go then,” as if this weren’t the strangest thing I had ever heard. 

“She probably thinks he’s started going out nights again; that’s why your lights are on all the time. 

She used to leave them on so he could find his way. He was usually drunk and it was the only way he could. The kids knew it was haunted; they wouldn’t even stay there when their father died. You stay here tonight,” he said. “Get a good night’s rest for a change.”

The next morning I went cautiously home. I sat down on the new sofa. “Edna,” I said, hoping the ghost, or whatever it was could hear me. I looked directly at the rocking chair and it rocked. I shivered and started shaking so hard I thought I would die of fright. “Edna, you have to go. Frank died a long time ago and he’s at the cemetery probably wondering where you are. I own the house now and I just can’t have you here.”

The apparition came to view, eyes looking wildly around before coming to settle on me. Her mouth moved but I could not hear her. I read her lips as best I could. I repeated what I had said.

“Go find Frank,” I told her at last. “He’s been waiting for you for years.”

She smiled and mouthed, “About time he waited on me for a change; don’t you think?”

I laughed in spite of it all and told her yes, but she needed to go now. And just like that – she faded away and the chair stopped rocking.

I never heard a peep again and my lights quit coming on unless I turned them on. Now, this is my house and I love it here; but that chair had to go.