February 20, 2010 - 8:57am — Alecsander
It wasn't the first time he saw them there.
Never approaching, never greeting, just there.
As a fawn he drew attention to what he saw.
It was seldom they would make an appearance but the limber young fawn would run for miles to find an adult willing to listen to his tales.
They found him adorable. What a little character he was. Telling such stories of deer that could not possibly exist. "He says their eyes glow yellow," They chuckle. "He says they only appear when bad things happen," they chortle. He too laughed with them, but never quite as loudly. Never quite as self assured.
Adults are fundamentally flawed in that respect. They grow up, they face the horrors of the real world and they forget those simple nightmares. The shape at the edge of vision. The sudden snap of a twig or familiar log that causes the heart to pitter patter out of control. He too had grown old and forgotten those childhood bogymen.
He forgot of the dark deer with the flashing yellow eyes.
That is...until they began appearing again.
It was only a few months ago that he saw that familiar unblinking gaze. He had settled down to lap water from the pond during the night when he saw it peering back at him from the depths. Not at face no..but those familiar eyes. He scrambled away, crushing the reeds in his wake and only cast a quivering glance towards the waters when he was far from the edge.
It started as a grin and spread to a leering gaze. It was not readily apparent to the uninformed, but he could not forget that expression and those eyes.
"Like Cat's eyes" his mother had once remarked when she laid down for the final time and looked towards her young fawn. He did not see them that time, but as she raised her head towards the treeline and let out a final bellow they were waiting at the edge.
The deer stood in horrid fascination and slowly cocked his head to the side. First came the eyes, rising from the depths of their own accord. Then, as the pale moonlight cast her smiling face towards the waters the rest of the distorted form followed.
A row of grinning teeth. Always grinning with that sick self-satisfied expression.
The hooves..no..claws? of course not. How cliche. He could not describe such and appendage. Two toes pointed forward as a lone digit in the back grasped at the unsteady rocks of the pond.
This one only had two such limbs. It pulled itself steadily and laboriously through the water as if the slick liquid were solid ground. An impenetrable obstacle to this one.
The stag pawed the ground nervously and backed farther into the treeline as the being approached. Each reaching claw, each desperate handful of mud, then sand, dirt, and finally grass as the pathetic wretch made for the land.
Again the clouds parted to illuminate the form and the stag barely contained his hysterics.
The strange being was incomplete.
It's body was sleek and streamline down to a torso ripped open with guts spewing forth.
He had never seen such a sight before.
Surely there was no being of the forest that was capable of such carnage?
He cowered behind the tree and ran through a list of likely candidates. Velocity was fully capable of biting a being in half due to his size, yet why would he do such a thing? The Gods? No. This was not their work.
He peered around the trunk and scrutinized the creature. It was not as much that it's torso was severed as the fact that it's body seemed to abruptly end. As if a creator being had changed mind half way through and ended the project.
The disfigured being from the pond continued it's laborious trek.
He couldn't tell you or anyone why he did it. Why, at that moment, the coward of the forest had chosen to follow the monster, but it was inevitable. He hesitantly turned as the creature pulled itself past and followed in it's wake.
He followed it past the idol, past the ruins, and finally to the birch forest where it finally collapsed a few feet in front of him.
Had it finally died from it's state? Was it resting?
He slowly ambled over the hill and stared down at where the creature lay. Around it's crippled body fireflies blinked in and out of sight in regular intervals. He swallowed softly and took a few hesitant steps towards the motionless form. As he approached closer the fireflies scattered and hung around him in a lazy cloud. He leaned down to nudge the being over.
It quivered at his touch and shifted to hide it's face.
Again he persisted. A gentle nuzzle, a curious prod.
Who are you strange creature..?
The one that looks from the depths?
One of the one's with unnerving eyes?
He cocked his head to the side as the being shifted to face him. Golden eyes stared out from under a mess of hair.
He hesitated only a fraction of a second before curiosity spurred him into blowing into the face to scatter the elongated bangs.
He stared into his own reflection, and it, of it's own accord, stared back and slowly grinned.
He felt dizzy, ill, confused. The fireflies had moved in and were blinking wildly around his head.
He stumbled backwards and tried to clear his vision from the annoying pets. He ducked his head low and kept his eyes focused on the bare ground below him. It was a dull view, but offered shelter from the array of yellow lights clouding his vision.
....
Bare ground.
No.
Fireflies do not gather above the bare ground of the Birch Forest.
The stag raised his trembling gaze towards the cloud of fireflies, and they stared back with matching grins and unblinking eyes.
He swallowed again and his voice came out as a hoarse whisper....
"Like Cat's eyes"
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Title Translation: "Several eyes see more than only one"
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Wow, I really, really loved
Jeez, your writing is fantastic. <3
Mm, lovely as always.
Frightening, but lovely.
Thank you Hallows/Ocean.
This won't be the last you see of these antagonists (Or should I say *this* antagonist? It seems to be a bit picky in that regard) They've made an appearance in my writing in the past and will continue to steal small cameos. Or in this case, a starring role.
As for the protagonist...
well...
hm.
You be the judge on that one.
That was spooky! -would
Brilliantly written!!
xD Kita hates the pond as it
Mmmm gorgeous creepy writing.
AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHH So true
This was wonderfully creepy
The kitty eyes in the water.
I love these guys.
awesome.