Come Get Me Read online

They all stood silently, listening to their combined voices drift away, waiting to see what effect calling the creature the way Pete had described might have. If nothing else it was definitely louder than the first one. If there really was a creature named the Goatman nearby he couldn’t help but hear his name and come a running.

  As they waited thing slowly went from bad to worse. None of them had thought it was possible for the silence to get any deeper than before but they were wrong. Moments before their last call night noises had started returning but now the only sound to be heard was that of the breath slowly being inhaled and exhaled by four small kids. There weren’t even any words they could use to describe it. It was like there was just an inexplicable absence. Nothing there.

  Just at that moment as if by some unspoken command the moon chose to drift out from behind the heavy fog that had surrounded them on their short journey.

  For most of the trip they’d relied on what little night vision they possessed to see but when the moon finally made its appearance they found that the woods were much closer than they’d originally thought them to be. It shouldn’t have surprised them as much as it did since they knew the path passed through the forest but it still came as a surprise at how close they were. The four were quite literally surrounded. They each quickly realized how easy it would be for some creature to come rushing out at them or simply reach out and grab them. It would be easy for a creature like the Goatman to pick them off one by one or all at once. It only had to reach out. There would be little they could do about it. If they tried running in the dark they knew they would quickly be lost, and if they stayed, well, they didn’t want to think about that. Either way it was an uncomfortable thought to be added to everything else doing tonight. To top it off the darkness seemed to have a strangle hold on all the normal noises that came with the dark. Rob’s yelling didn’t help much either. There were no crickets chirping and no leaves rustling as the wind slipped through them. There were only four boys who were all beginning to get very scared.

  “Aw, this is bull…” Rob whispered shakily before the other three shushed him.

  “What?” he demanded. “There ain’t nothin coming.” He was trying to sound tough. Before he could say anything else a noise finally escaped the darkness and ran to their ears. It was hard to tell exactly where it came from but they were sure it was on the road before them. Unfortunately whatever it was seemed to be just out of their sight, moving around in the shadows, as if it knew they couldn’t see it. Just like something the Goatman did in all the stories they’d heard. First he made some kind of noise as a type of warning to whoever he was coming after. It could be something as little as breaking a tree branch or something as big as throwing stones at a car two people were making out in. Either way it gave only one warning then all hell would break loose.

  They all listened hoping for some sign that their fears weren’t about to become a reality. When the next noise finally reached them they didn’t know if their plans had been answered or not. The sound of breaking branches reached out of the gloom like fingers on a chalkboard sending chills up down each boy’s spine and making their hair stand on end. The images racing through each of their heads soared to new heights trying to picture the creature that could cause such sounds. Huge feet crushed everything in the beast path. Nothing could stand up to the things might. It would only stop when it had devoured each of their bodies down to the last bone. Then it would slowly plod off to wherever it had come from. They tried preparing themselves for whatever might step from the fog but only succeeded in scaring themselves more. Then all of a sudden it ceased. Sure that they had actually been killed so fast they didn’t realize it yet they each looked at the other searching for some explanation. Nope, still alive. It didn’t make sense. One minute they were sure they were going to see the dreaded Goatman launch itself from the gloom the next there was nothing. No creature stalking towards them ready to eat them in a gulp. Nothing. The sounds had stopped.

  After staring into the darkness for a few minutes with no results the boys again looked each other trying to make sense of what they’d heard. It had sounded as if something was walking through the woods directly towards them. But nothing materialized as far as their straining eyes could tell. There was no way they could’ve missed it. As they stood still frozen in place trying to decide what to do next, another sound worse than the one before reached out and snatched their attention. It was a simple sound at first. Just a crunching sorta sound like the sound gravel makes when someone is stepping on it. Just like the sound their feet were making whenever they took a step. The unfortunate thing was that whatever was doing the stepping was seemed big.

  Really big.

  The steps weren’t light. They could hear the rocks grinding together as whatever it was took each step. The steps themselves sounded unhurried, as if the thing approaching knew they were no longer in control of their bodies. It had them right where it wanted them.

  Seeming to have no other choice but to stand there, the boys strained their eyes trying to pierce the dense fog swirling over the area around them. Their brains were all shouting at them to run but as afraid as they each were they were also excited. They wanted to see what it was even if it did mean their deaths. This was what they’d come for. They were about to have their proof of the Goatman’s existence. They’d come to see the Goatman and were determined to see it through to the end even if two of them had already pissed their pants from fright. The creature continued taking slow steps towards them prolonging the moment. Just as they thought they could wait no longer before tearing themselves from the ground something began to emerge from the fog.

  “What the hell is it?” Rob whispered shakily being the first one to finally find his voice.

  “I don’t know,” Pete quietly whispered back hoping nobody would notice the wet spot on the front of his pants.

  Whatever it was took another step heedless of their whispers. The fog swirled and revealed part of their adversary. Sharp, pointed hooks slithered from the mist. The boys quickly figured out they were antlers of some sort but they didn’t look the way they thought they would. Goat antlers were usually thick and ugly; these were thin and almost regal looking. Not at all what a horrible creature like the Goatman should have. As the thing took another step the fog swirled a little more, just enough for the group to see what they were facing.

  “Damn it!” Rob yelled suddenly startling everyone, “That’s just a frickin deer!”

  Sure enough just before the thing realized it was in the presence of humans, they all saw it for what it was and not for what their imaginations had made it out to be. What the boys now saw was a deer that in turn saw them and bolted across the road disappearing into woods, leaving the night only slightly quieter from its passage. The fog smoothly rolled back over the path engulfing them once more. The darkness unfortunately stayed too.

  “This was all a total crock of shit from the beginning!” Rob complained, “Whose frickin’ idea was this crap anyways?”

  “Yours, you dipshit!” they all yelled in unison. It was almost the first time they’d agreed on anything that night. They quickly looked around as if they expected someone to yell at them for being so loud before they remembered they were in the woods.

  “Screw this,” Jim said after a few seconds, “let’s get out of here and go find something real to do. This Goatman crap is a bunch of shit.”

  As they turned to walk back the way they’d came another strange noise sounded behind them. They all stopped and looked around. Knowing it was probably just another deer, they were a little less worried than the first time. Looking back in the same direction the deer had come from all they could see was the fog swaying back and forth. More sounds erupted from the night startling them. These weren’t like the first ones at all. Shrieks and grunting noises sounded from what seemed like all around them. This wasn’t any little deer. This was something else entirely. The grating sound they now heard were enough to send shots of pure terror to each of th
eir quickly thumping hearts.

  “It’s probably just another deer,” Rob stammered being the only one able to voice what they all hoped.

  The boys listened and waited for the fog to blow away. Unfortunately it didn’t want to cooperate. Nothing as lucky as a deer came prancing from the fog this time. Instead what was birthed was something the fog itself didn’t even seem to want any part of. It was almost as if it was spitting the thing out and retreating back from its touch. The fog hovered around its form like a transparent cloak, never really touching but never going too far away either. This made the creature all that more eerie to behold.

  Stepping from its shroud not twenty feet in front of them was something that must’ve been in someone’s nightmare only moments before. The fog continued to swirl but revealed vague shapes that resembled a man one moment and an animal the next. The thing was supported not by the normal legs belonging to a human that one would expect to see but instead by two hairy, tree trunk size legs that tapered down to two huge cloven hooves. They looked exactly like goat legs except for many times bigger and many times more powerful. As four sets of frightened eyes took in the terrible sight of its abnormal legs, the thing took a heavy step forward. Those same eyes quickly traveled up the rest of the creature as if commanded to. None of the boys actually wanted to look at the thing’s face but they couldn’t help themselves. When they finally came to rest on it they found the worst was far from over.

  Standing well over seven feet tall was a thing made purely from the most twisted of minds. The boy’s small brains were struggling to grasp exactly what it was they were looking at. The beast was just so far beyond anything they could’ve imagined that their minds were at a momentary loss.

  Any doubt of the Goatman’s existence was gone. The smell of ammonia filled the air. There were no longer any dry pants in the group. They’d never expected anything to appear when they’d spoken the now terrible words. They weren’t supposed to work. Now The Goatman had arrived and they were sure they would be dead before he left.

  The next thing they noticed after getting over the hideous beast was the things chest. It heaved like some giant bellow as air was swept in and out. It was wider than any two of them could ever think about wrapping their arms around and eventually tapered up to its shoulders. The chest, while impressive, was nothing compared to its shoulders. They were bigger than any they’d ever seen. They spoke of many years of hard living and much work. They looked just right for pulling little boys arms from their bodies. They knew there was no hope of escape from a creature like this. They’d made the biggest mistake of their young lives when they decided to call the Goatman.

  All eyes were riveted on the creature’s body until something else caught their eyes when it shook its head. A light breeze swept what little fog and darkness that still clung to it away allowing them to finally view the terrible, dark, tree bark like skin stretching across the things angular face. Tiny bits of moonlight cast enough light for them to see the many deep scars crisscrossing its wretched face making it look like a jigsaw puzzle put back together wrong. Those scar seemed to speak to the boys.

  They listened with shaking knees as the scar whispered the stories about the many battles their owner had been through and how he had always triumphed when the odds were against him. The scars were all that were left of the Goatman’s adversaries. Little reminders of his conquests.

  Seeming to know what images were passing through their heads the goat- like face smiled, if that’s what it could be called, revealing teeth that were almost too horrible to look at. The boys had seen pictures in health class at school but nothing like this. They were crooked, pointy things that looked much too accustomed to tearing flesh from bodies and meat from bones. It licked its lips as if thinking of the tasty meal it was about to partake of. With all the sights they’d beheld they were slow on noticing what they soon found to be the worst and most alien thing about the creature. As they watched it shake its head again they saw, growing directly out of the top of its forehead, were horns. These were the horns they had expected to see but much worse. Each one twisted up and up until it reached the ended in a sharpened point. Seeing it in the moonlight, it looked as if it were stained with something dark.

  Probably the blood of his last victim, they thought as one.

  The horns were surrounded by greasy unkempt hair that hung raggedly down over it’s’ face and then continued down to its’ shoulders before passing out of view. The boys knew how this hideous creature had gotten its name.

  As they faced the creature, having already pissed out everything in their bladders, it suddenly shook its’ entire body, spraying droplets of sweat and God knew what else in all directions and startling Pete so bad he would’ve fallen down if Rob hadn’t been there to catch him. It stared out at them from beneath heavy brows with green, flashing eyes that seemed to be judging whether or not they were worthy of living.

  After only a few seconds it must have found them to be wanting in some way because it blew a quick blast of air from its nose and took a menacing step forward. Snot and other disgusting fluids trailed from its flaring nostrils and dripped onto its chest as it took another step. The boys were so transfixed they didn’t realize each step was bringing it closer to them.

  When its hooves struck the ground sparks shot up from the gravel creating little spurts of light that left spots dancing before their eyes. Dust puffed up around each hoof shrouding it in a cloud of dust making it seem as if the beast was hovering instead of walking.

  Jim alone noticed something else too. There was a sound, almost like the ringing of a phone but not quite, every time one of the sparks of light went off. He dared not look around to see if the others noticed anything. He didn’t even know if they were still there for that matter. Between the ringing and what was approaching, his attention was about full. He knew if he took his eyes off the thing for a second it would surely be on him. After that he didn’t even want to imagine what would happen. He knew he’d at least be dead if not something worse.

  The beast continued moving towards them, taking its time, stalking them like the wild animal it was and they were its prey. Each step brought it closer and closer. Each time a hoof crashed to the ground the ringing sound echoed in Jim’s head. Every time he heard it, he thought it sounded more and more like a phone and not the sound a hoof would make. If not for being so afraid he might have thought this was strange but as it was he could think of nothing but the otherworldly animal slowly approaching him.

  Slowly, step by step it came closer. With every step the fog rolled, wrapping it like some foul cloak, but still seeming to despise the touch of the dreaded creature. Jim fervently wished the fog would consume the thing and make it disappear. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about anything, he’d be safe. He almost thought his wish had come true when more fog suddenly swirled across the path in front of the creature and it seemed to disappear. Straining to see it, he could barely make out the hideous legs that carried it forward. All traces of hair and hoof were gone. The only thing that marked its passage was the ringing. That was still sounding in Jim’s skull. Even though the legs were gone it still came. If his wish was coming true it sure was taking it’s time. Unfortunately, the fog was just making it seem to disappear. It was still there and he was still going to be dead when it reached him.

  The ringing continued getting louder and louder the closer the creature got. It was now only few more steps away. The ringing was so loud that Jim was sure his ears were about to burst. If nothing else they were probably bleeding. He’d seen that once in a movie and it hadn’t looked pleasant. Curiously he didn’t feel any pain so maybe they hadn’t burst yet but they were surely about to. Just as curiously the ringing didn’t seem to be coming from the creature anymore so much as it did from his own skull. He almost wished the creature would hurry up and kill him just so he could be rid of the noise ricocheting around between his ears.

  Having been so preoccupied with watching the creature lumber to
wards him Jim hadn’t noticed that it seemed to be carrying something. The fog obscured it a little making it difficult to see. It was probably the head of its last victim or something equally disgusting. As if sensing that Jim had noticed, the Goatman swung his arm up to give him a better view. At the height of the swing, just before it started its downward descent, Jim he finally recognized what it was. The huge, disfigured hand was holding an axe. But it wasn’t just any axe. Jim had only seen one of this magnitude when looking through books about Vikings and the weapons they used in battle. The blade by itself was bigger than his head. Moonlight gleamed off the blade showing a finely honed edge. If nothing else the Goatman took care of his tools. Jim had a moment to think how sad his situation was. They’d finally found the creature of legend called the Goatman, they’d confronted him and were now about to die. One of the weapons he’d thought looked so cool in the books was slowly starting, but quickly picking up speed, towards its only logical destination, his head.

  The axe cleaved the air as it made its inevitable way towards him when suddenly the ringing noise cut through his terror. It echoed so loudly and with such force that his hands shot up wrapping around his head trying to block it out. The beast was standing still but his arm still seemed to be moving. He didn’t spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. Not that it mattered much anymore. Jim’s eyes were only seeing one thing. The axe was only inches from his head and coming closer. He could almost hear a whistling sound as it parted the air but another ringing noise struck just milliseconds before the axe hit his head

  This is reality

  …and he sat up in bed arms still wrapped tightly around his it. Sitting up he rubbed his eyes and quickly surveyed the room. Light from outside made vein attempts at penetrating the curtains only to be halted just shy of entering. Only a few vagrant shafts made it in. From this he saw nothing out of the ordinary. No Goatman, no trees, no childhood friends, nothing out the ordinary. His dirty clothes still lay were he’d left them the previous night. It was a dream he thought to himself, only a dream.