I don’t want to leave Shana like that, but what can I do? I go into the bathroom and rinse the blood and sweat from my face. As I do this I repeat the question in my mind. What can I do? I’ve always wanted to help Shana, and I was almost positive that the shadow monster is what has her, and now it’s been confirmed. Now that I hear- now that I am aware of her fear and pain, I don’t know what I can do, but I do know that I can’t just leave her. There’s got to be something I can at least try. It’s the tree he wants me to go to, but if I go to the tree in this state, in the real world, will he be able to hurt me? Maybe if I burn the tree? Dad keeps a spare can of gas in the garage, and I’m sure there are matches around here somewhere for the Shabbat candles. No, I can’t do that. That would cause a forest fire that I probably wouldn’t be able to escape, and even if I do, I’ll be jailed for arson.
What would happen if I cut the tree down though? If that’s the fiend’s totem, his portal, then if it’s destroyed he should go away, or at least slow him down right? Or maybe a new one will pop up in its place. How would I cut it down? I can use a chainsaw, but we don’t have one. In fact I don’t think there’s anything at my disposal I can use to cut down the tree. I can at least bother to check though. I can go out back into the shed. Chances are there’s something of use there.
I stop in my room and change first. If I’m going to be out in the cold night air I will need a jacket, and some shoes. I put my hoodie over my pajama shirt and throw on some athletic pants over my shorts. I put on some socks and running shoes and then creep downstairs. I hear a stirring coming from my parents’ room and freeze. I’ll be damned if my parents don’t wake up when I fall down the stairs, but do when I creep down them. After I hear the sound of running water coming from the master bathroom I quickly but quietly escape the house and shut the front door behind me.
As soon as I’m outside, I look around to make sure the monster hasn’t returned. After doing so, I run around the side of the house and to the back. In our backyard is a shed, but it’s never locked. I don’t even think there’s much in here. Come to think of it, I don’t recall ever being in there at all. I open the shed and wince as it creaks loudly the whole way. I want to sneak in and shut the door but it’s so dark in here, and with no windows I’ll need the moonlight to show me the way. I wish I’d thought to grab a flashlight, but that would involve scouring the whole house for one and probably waking everyone up. Inside the shed sits a big lawnmower. It’s dirty and covered with dead grass. Next to the lawnmower are items useless to me like rakes, a tire iron- a toolbox.
There must be something in there right? I go over to the toolbox and am surprised at how heavy it is. It’s big and rectangular, and it takes me a few tries to get the clasps open. After I finally open it a bunch of lazily piled tools fall out and clang loudly. I put my hands to my ears reflexively although it’s not what I hear that what matters.
After a long pause to make sure my parents aren’t rushing out to catch me I sort through the tools and find nothing but wrenches, and wrench-like thingies that I don’t even know the name for. None of them so much as have a blade. After a huff and a puff I take one last look around the shed and then leave. I might not be able to cut down the tree after all.
Standing outside the shed I look around with disappointment before something catches my eye. You can see the neighbor’s yards all the way down the street as the fences are chain-link, but a few houses down I see a pile of chopped wood. They aren’t in plastic packages or with anything to hint that they were bought, so that must imply that the people- I’m not sure who they are, we aren’t very social with our neighbors- chopped it themselves. I am about ready to hop the fence into the adjacent yard but then I catch sight of their doghouse. It’s not particularly big, but I know I’ve heard dogs barking here before, and they aren’t Chihuahuas.
I go around the front way, hoping no one in this neighborhood has a five A.M. appointment. When I reach the house with the woodpile, I sneak around back and am relieved to see no doghouse next to their wood pile. I’m not a thief, but for the sake of trying to save a life- or prevent further kidnappings- I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I borrow-without-asking one of their tools. I try and hop the fence with my normal dexterity, but my bruises flash with pain and I stumble at the top, cutting my thigh on the top of the fence. It’s not deep, but it stings and will probably bleed. I don’t want to delay though, so I limp over to their shed with one hand on my thigh.
When I reach the doors, I see that they are padlocked, great. I sigh and am about to give up when I see just what I need. There is a large woodcutting axe lazily propped against the pile of wood. I almost laugh when I remember I’m trying to be discreet. I snatch the axe, toss it over the fence and- carefully this time- hop back over. I stick as much of the axe as I can into my jacket. The head is fully concealed, but there are a good six inches of the handle sticking out from underneath.
I reach the edge of the sidewalk, my usual stretch point. Well, I was always careful to stretch before running through the woods, so why not stretch before trying to defeat a monster from another dimension? I do stretch as best as I can with the pain and trying to conceal the axe. I feel like I’m finally ready, but when I’m about to battle-charge into the woods, a little voice inside my head reminds me of what I’m about to do. As I think about my mission, I suddenly feel like it’s not such a good idea. I am about to venture over a mile into the woods alone so early in the morning that it’s pretty much night. These woods are the playground for a shadow entity that’s been kidnapping people, and I’m going in based on the hunch that if I cut down an eerie tree everyone will be okay.
I take a step back, but then Shana’s screams echo in my head. I have to try otherwise I’ll spend the rest of my life regretting it and wondering if I could have saved her. She would do the same for me. I look and see the sun rising. At least I’ll have light. I jog off into the woods, doing the best I can to keep the axe from falling out or disemboweling me, but once I get about fifty yards in, I lose the urge to run. I can still hardly see, and I get the feeling that I’m not alone.
I begin walking, slowly but steadily. I listen for any sound that differs from the sound of leaves and twigs crunching beneath me. I still have the axe tucked into my jacket, and I contemplate bringing it out so I will be ready to swing if something jumps out at me. Is the monster even corporeal enough to be hurt by an axe?
I climb the first slope. By now, the sun is casting an orange and pink glow. Another twenty minutes must have passed since I first entered the woods. The forest is still unusually dark though. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been in the woods this early before, but I don’t like the idea of not being able to see far ahead of me. I keep feeling like I’m back in the nightmare, and at times I feel like I’ve taken a wrong turn. I’m used to looking far ahead of me to determine my path to the clearing, not from tree to tree.