The Rikity Tig (special preview)

I run, darting down the long hallway that doesn’t seem to end. I then suddenly hit the wall and bounce off it onto the ground. On my back, I look up at the ceiling and see something dripping down from the ceiling. It looks like rotting wood but it stretches and grows and drops down the side of the wall like a loose panel. A hand reaches out, tearing away and revealing a skeletal claw. I’m shaking and unable to move.

Suddenly, I hear boots stomping into earshot, and an axe chops down beside my head and I scream. I’m able to jump to my feet and run through a doorway. I gasp and pant, finding myself in a pitch black room. I shudder and try to hold my breath, but my panicked gasps won’t stop. 

There is a blast from a gun, the sound and sight of the glowing blast terrifies me into a horrid scream which is only muted by another gunshot. I press my back to the wall, hearing the footsteps drawing nearer.

These brothers were hunters, I remember from the story. They came to the cabin every year to hunt. I understand now that they never stopped. They’re still hunting, and this time, it’s me.

I place my palm on the wall and I feel my way along it. I hold my breath, hoping whichever brother is in the darkness can’t see me. I can hear his heavy footsteps and sometimes they sound right beside me or far away from me.

My hand slips into open air and I duck inside. I find the door and close it. The room is painfully cold and my breath comes out in white puffs. A light starts to come on. Like clouds parting from the moon it floods the room. I look down, seeing I’m standing in snow. Looking up, I gaze at a massive full moon hanging low in the sky. Snow falls from the sky and I find myself standing in a field.

“What?” I shudder. “How did I-” I turn back to the door. The wall extends forever and ever on both sides. Am I still in the house? Is this even real?

The silence around me makes my ears ring. As beautiful as such a scene would be in normal circumstances, I feel suffocated. The ring makes my ears and head feel heavy. I cup my hands around them to make it stop, but the suffocating heaviness persists.