Tall Pines

Jamie gets home from work as he does most days and sits down to watch some TV, but today he seemed bored and wanted a change in pace. Since he lives in the country he has to choose something affordable and entertaining,

" Hunting, I think I should go hunting. "

Jamie had never tried hunting so he waited until the next day to go and gets the essentials for hunting, a gun, some proper clothes, and ammo. So the very next day he goes into town to get what he needs, but passing by a newspaper machine, a headline catches his eye and he puts in a couple of quarters, pulls open the lid, and receives his newspaper,

" Hunter gone missing, family scared to death. "

The newspaper made him uneasy, who wouldn't be uneasy after reading that? Jamie made his way to the local pawn shop to find a gun and maybe a skinning knife. As he walks in the first thing he notices the wall behind the register was covered in all sorts of guns, anywhere from simple shotguns to nearly military grade weapons, so he walks up to the counter and an employee walks out from a door behind the counter,

" Hello sir, may I help you with anything? "

" What's a good rifle for hunting? "

" Well, if you ask me I would suggest the 270. "

The man walks over to the wall and takes down one of the rifles, then turns around and sets it on the counter. Jamie picked it up and examined it,

" How many bullets can it hold? "

" Four. "

Jamie decides to get the gun, so the man does a regular background check and then Jamie says,

" Do you have any ammo? "

" Of course I do, "

The man walks just inside the door and eventually comes out with a box of bullets,

" Here you go, a box of ammo. "

" Thanks. "

As the man was ringing him up, Jamie took out the newspaper that he put in his back pocket and started reading it,

" So, how about that fog rolling in tomorrow? "

Jamie hears that and flips through the multiple pages and eventually finds what the man was talking about, every 2 years a thick fog falls over the town and everyone gets a day off due to the weather,

" I hope I can hunt today. "

" You can go hunting with me if you want. "

Said the man,

" But don't I need a hunting license? "

" It's ok, if we get in trouble I can just say you're with me. "

Jamie thought on this and agreed,

" And by the way I never got your name. "

" Malcolm, my name's Malcolm. "

" Mines Jamie. "

" Well nice to meet you Jamie. "

Eventually they discuss hunting plans and they pack up everything and go down to where they will hunt. When Jamie pulls up behind Malcolm and they get out,

" So what do we do now? "

Malcolm looks around and pauses for a bit,

" We've got to find a spot to set up. "

Jamie nods and they go walking through the woods and eventually find a spot, Jamie looks around and takes in the scenery,

" Hey, I think I see something. "

Says Malcolm, So Jamie looks over where Malcolm would be looking and he thought he did see something moving,

"you think you could hit it? "

Says Malcolm,

" Maybe I could. "

Jamie aims and shoots at it hitting its leg, the next thing they know a wild hog starts running towards them,

" So that's what it was. "

Thought Jamie, then Malcolm shot at it with a shotgun and hit it right on the nose. Then they both got up, got the now dead hog, and put it in a bag they brought for keeping the game they killed in it. As they sat back down and got comfortable Jamie noticed that one of the stumps he saw earlier was gone,

" Hey, Malcolm. "

" What? "

" Did you see a stump over there? "

" Now that you mention it, yeah, I did. "

Eventually after a couple more minutes they got creeped out so they were heading back to the trucks which is when they heard the footsteps, they were distant at first but then out of nowhere something just makes a B-line for them. They start running for their trucks and when they got to them they jumped in and peeled out. Eventually when they got home Jamie called Malcolm and asked if he could come over since he was feeling uneasy,

" Sure, I'm also feeling a little uneasy. "

So Jamie heads over to Malcolm's and they have a couple of conversations and watch some TV, Malcolm offers Jamie to stay in the guest house so Jamie accepts the offer and heads outside to where the guest house is. But then Jamie heard footsteps, quiet at first but then it got louder and louder, it was right behind him. Jamie took off running to the house and burst in through the door then he slammed the door and turned on the lights. So after that incident Jamie looked around for a phone to the guest house and found it then he called Malcolm,

" Hey what's up Ja- "

" Get a gun! "

" What are you going on about? "

" JUST GET A GUN! "

Jamie is staring out one of the windows at this point and he sees movement in the house, then he sees Malcolm standing at a window looking outside,

" Now what is wrong? "

" Something chased me. "

" What do you mean? "

" I mean something chased me into the guest house. "

" Can you see me? "

" Yes Malcolm I can, can you see me? "

" Yeah, so what now? "

" Well we just have to wait out the night i guess."

Just then the guest house's lights start flickering,

" Malcolm, "

" What's up with the lights? "

" Malcolm, whats wrong with the lights? "

" I don't know. "

" Malcolm, is the fuse box outside? "

" No it should be in the back room. "

Just then a shiver went up his spine, he had seen enough horror movies to know that that meant the killer was inside,

" Malcolm, is there a gun here? "

" there should be one in the gun case. "

" Is there just a gun case full of guns in your guest house? "

" No, it's where someone can keep their guns when they come to stay. But i do keep a pistol in the bottom left drawer of the case. "

Jamie walked through the guest house carefully, the lights still flickering, he eventually found the gun case and he looked for the keys to the case. But then something was tossed at him it was the keys, he slowly bent down still looking in that direction his breathing became heavy as he picked up the keys and unlocked the drawer then he pulls out a loaded pistol, and the with the little light he had, he started shooting, but when he did a soul piercing shriek came from the direction he was shooting and next thing he knows he's on the ground while the unknown being is biting and scratching him. Eventually he kicks it off and takes off running, he bursts out the door and runs across the yard to Malcolm's house where he bursts through that door and slams it shut,

" HOLY CRAP! "

" Do you have a first aid?! "

Malcolm runs through the house and eventually finds a first aid kit, Malcolm starts taking out supplies from the box and tries to patch Jamie up, luckily he does and then he takes Jamie and lays him down in a bed upstairs, which Jamie quickly falls asleep. The next morning Jamie awakes to find the house dead silent, he gets up and goes to walk down stairs but then an awful stench hits him. He suddenly remembers what happened last night and prepares for the worst, he walks down the stairs slowly and when he gets to the bottom he is scared stiff by what he sees. There was blood on the floor and a arm was stuck on the window, everything was flipped over and trashed, Jamie walked outside and everything was covered in a cloud, the fog had arrived. Jamie slowly walked into the fog and he heard the footsteps except there were more, there were at least five different creatures, he quickly ran for the truck, got in, and locked the door. Then he located the keys and started the truck, he turned on the headlights and sped off. But as he was driving he quickly realized how thick the fog was and he thought about stopping but it was too late, BAM, he hit a tree and got flung from the truck. Jamie was still alive, he couldn't figure out why since his spine should've been snapped by that crash, he slowly got up and he stood there for a minute which is when he heard the footsteps again except they were faster then ever. He couldn't scream, there was no time, the last thing he saw was red and then, nothing.