1

Duke had been dating Sally for a week and decided it was time to get the relationship on a higher level.  If she agreed with his suggestion, he thought the two of them had it made.  Camping in the same tent seemed like a great idea if only she would agree.  Her response amazed him “I’d love to.  I like being in the outdoors rather than going to some stupid movie.

“This abandoned road looks really creepy.  Are you sure we’ll be safe camping out here?”

“Not to worry Sally.  My buds used to camp here regularly.  There are no scary animals.  The biggest around here is the chipmunks.”

After Duke set up the tent and Sally fixed food, they went to bed early.  “Can you relax now Sally?  See, it is completely safe.”

“I’ve always wondered, why are these called the Grayson Woods?”

Duke paused before answering “The story I heard is that it’s named after the hermit Cindy Grayson.  The old timers called her a witch who lured unwary men to their death.  Sounds like a standard myth.  I’ve never heard any concrete details.  Again, nothing to worry about.  Let’s just relax.”

“I don’t think that you have relaxing on your mind, not that I disagree.”

They stop what they are doing when they hear something tearing.

Duke yelled “It’s coming from under the tent and it’s huge!”

Sally’s parents reported her missing to police two days later.  After checking with Duke’s parents, the police checked where they had planned to camp.  The only suspicious thing that was found was a burnt area where the tent was presumed to have been.  No sign of either of them was ever found.

2

“Hey Jean, let’s go camping this weekend.  I want to get us all alone for a big surprise.  It’s a secret location in the Grayson Woods, so don’t tell anyone what we are doing.”

“Ok Lou, but is this place safe?  I don’t want to get lost or get eaten by some big wild animal.”

“Nothing to worry about, I’ve checked it out. You’ll be safe.”

Later at night in the tent “Honey, I’m so glad you thought of this” as she caressed his side, “this works out great for me”.  Her nails and toes turned into talons ripping his flesh.”  His screams didn’t last long.

After eating her fill, Jean dragged the remains of Lou’s carcass underground to share with her extended family.

When Lou and Jean didn’t return, Jean’s adoptive mother told people that Jean had told her that the two planned to elope and would get in touch with everyone when they had settled.  Lou’s family thought it odd that they hadn’t heard anything about it, but decided to be patient with the young lovers.

3

Jeremy Jordan, a strong outdoorsman and serious weightlifter was the next to go to the woods and not return, a week after Jean and Lou disappeared.  In his case, the evidence was more ominous.  A femur and jawbone were found by the search party.  The bones had been gnawed by some unknown animal.

The sheriff had no answers.

4

The Warren Neighborhood News ran a notice the week after the bones were found “Meet At the Inn Between to discuss the Grayson Woods mysteries”.

Warren’s Mayor Anderson opened the meeting with “All of you here are probably curious about what has happened recently in the Grayson Woods.  After getting some concerning messages from some of our upstanding citizens, I thought that we should have a town meeting immediately.  First, I’d like you to hear from the missing Jean Dekin’s mother, Sally Dekin.

“I’ve always represented myself as Jean’s adoptive mother.  That isn’t exactly true.  I was what was known as a spinster when I came to meet the girl that I named Jean.  She carefully was deposited on my doorstep by what looked like a giant wolf.  I happened to be looking out of my window when it happened.  She had been carried in the ‘wolf’s mouth so gently, she hadn’t been injured.  I had desperately wanted a child, so I claimed that it was the baby of my unmarried sister.  Before the camping trip with Lou, she had frequently wandered off into the woods for days, sometimes coming back disheveled and bloody.  She never had an explanation, and I was afraid to pry.  She really had talked about eloping with Lou, but now I have my doubts.”

5

Mayor Anderson introduced the next speaker “Jason Atkins has some film taken by a drone he flew over the woods.”

“Hi, here is some of the film I took at night with illumination.”

The film shows a number of animals congregating in the woods, some with human appearance and some appearing like mythical beasts, mixes of lions, eagles, and snakes.  Someone who looked like Jean Dekin looked up at the camera and screamed like a banshee.  One of the bird beasts started to fly at the drone at which point the film quit abruptly.

“It was fortunate that I was transmitting the film back to my house where I stored it.  You can draw your own conclusions, but I swear the film is unaltered.”

The crowd reacted with sporadic muttering.

6

“The last person to speak today before I call for comments is Fred Shear from our local lab.”

“This could be more disturbing than the video.  The DNA from Jeremy Jordan’s bones, seeming to be left over from whatever ate him, is a mix of known animals such as tigers and squid, but also some which are completely unidentifiable.”

That brought more mumbling.

7

“If you have comments, please introduce yourself first.  This is being recorded.”

“I’m Larry Green from the hardware store.  I think the cops should be sent into the woods to check it out.”

“Sheriff Akumbo.  That does not sound like a police action.  Our whole department is four people, including the receptionist.  We are not prepared for whatever is in the woods.”

“Roosevelt Jackson.  Three years ago my dog got loose and went into the forest.  I later found his carcass when I was out for a walk.  I thought maybe it was wolf or coyote that got him, but looking back on it I have my doubts.”

“Jim Parsons from the gas station.  I was on a hike there and swear that I saw something like Sasquatch in the shadows at dusk.  I never said a thing, because I was afraid people would label me a weirdo.”

“Rose Greer, teacher at Medlock Junior.  I was hiking the Graham trail last fall.  I saw a guy I’d never seen before a hundred feet or so ahead of me.  I speeded up a bit because I wanted to say hello, but never saw him again.  What I did see around a bend was a coyote watching me from just off the trail.  Could that have been a shapeshifter?

Ten other people detailed incidents which they reinterpreted differently than their original impressions based on recent events.

8

“Larry again.  OK, how about the national guard?”

“Hi, I’m Lucy Phillips.  I work for the local office of Spacetime, the astronomy network.  We have our own gun club with a number of marksmen.  I don’t know if we have time to convince any authorities of this danger.  The incidents seem to be growing in frequency and deadliness.  I think that the town should arm itself and take out the monsters on their own turf.  If you don’t have firearms, pick up pitchforks, baseball bats, whatever you can grab.”

“Sheriff Akumbo.  I can’t authorize”.

Lucy Phillips interrupted “Screw that.  If you have any balls, grab your weapons and meet at the gun club in an hour.  We’re going to kick monster butt and make their sad asses sorry that they ever messed with Warren.”

Many ran out cheering and others who had no interest in going into the woods left the meeting slowly.

9

After meeting at the gun club, the impromptu army proceeded into the forest.  Large bats and raptors immediately attacked the gang from above.  Serpents came out of the ground and pulled their victims back into their burrows.  Most of the remaining living were rounded up by what appeared to be armored rhinoceroses and chased into a pit inhabited by large poisonous spiders and millipedes.  Very few shots were fired and they were largely ineffective.

Some of the people transmitted videos back to the Sheriff Akumbo while they could.  The sheriff had the presence of mind to relay the killing field to the Scroot Airbase.

10

Scroot’s commander was decisive.  Fighter planes quickly appeared in sky and began bombing all of Grayson Woods.  The Woods became an inferno killing man and beast alike.

After the failed invasion of the woods and the bombing, there were few intact families in Warren.  The residents that did survive were traumatized and unable to sleep without horrifying nightmares.

11

Real estate billionaire Phil Jones sent agents into Warren soon after the conflagration. He correctly surmised that the surviving inhabitants, or the estates of families that didn’t survive would want to sell and move out without worrying about how much they could get out of their houses and businesses.

Jones tore down all the existing structures and built a new town with premium stores and luxury homes.  He turned the deadly horror into a selling point, emphasizing the special nature of the woods, which became “Monster’s Woods”.  Eccentric multi-millionaires and billionaires bit and paid millions for second homes in what had been Warren, but was now Deth, pronounced death.

The luxury resort had the requisite club house, hundred meter pool, hot tub, golf course, airport for private jets and fees of thousands a month.  Everyone there was rich enough that they bragged about, rather than complained about the expense.

The happiness lasted for two years until the club house was burned down and chicken tracks were discovered on the grounds – chicken tracks of a bird estimated to be three meters high and weighing five hundred kilograms.  The net worth of those who died in the fire was estimated to be $2.7 billion.

Appears in Purple Walls, Dark Dossier #69 and Halloween Issue 2022, and Sirens Call.