The Beckoning

by Slasher_13

Deep in the darkest part of the woods there is a is a place of pure evil Some say it’s the place the devil derives his power from, some say it’s a place haunted by vengeful demons and others say it is the place of the beckoning. The beckoning is the final call for death, the gateway to the other side. I am Nick Mounts and this is my tale, the tale of my demise, and hopefully it will warn others not to make my mistake.

It was a day like any other when a group of my friends decided to go on a camping trip to a place that we had heard stories about all our lives. They called it White Oak. It was a dark place that had its share of frightening stories and of course my friends who happened to love scary things just had to check it out. “I don’t know how where gonna all fit on this four-wheeler”, I said as I piled on the tent. “Freddy’s going to bring his four wheeler too”, said Vera as she slid her machete on her belt. I don’t know what the deal was with her and knives but she seemed to be fascinated by them. “ Do you really think all those stories are true?”, I asked. “actually, I do”, she said with a faint grin. Suddenly I heard someone pull up in the back yard, it was Freddy and Angela on a 500 Rubicon. “ Are you about ready?”, Freddy yelled impatiently. “Yeah, lets go”, I said as Vera and I hoped on my 450 Honda. We sped of into the wilderness blissfully unaware of the evil that awaited us.

After an hour of riding we finally reached White Oak. An eerie fog seemed to hover six inches off the ground as we set up the tent next to the extremely old tomb stones that seemed to have been there for centuries. “Look at this!”, Freddy exclaimed as he pointed to a perfectly round rock that loomed over us. “I’ve never noticed that before.”, I said softly. “It must have rolled off that mountain”, Angela said. “lets find some wood and build a fire”, I said. Freddy and I rummaged around the creepy forest until we had several piles of small kindling, them I walked to my four wheeler and started up my chainsaw and proceeded to slice some good sized logs for the fire. Then we piled them all up and threw some gas on the fire and threw a match in. The fire ignited with a loud poof, and I though it would singe my eye brows. I stumbled back clumsily, as the whole group cackled with laughter. “ Shut Up!”, I said annoyingly. I could already feel a sense of dread sweeping over me. “ So what is the deal with this place?”, Angela said. “ I’ve always heard that this place is haunted by vengeful demons who need souls to regain there power”, Vera said. “My uncle told me that once he was passing threw here late at night and seen an old man standing all alone in the shadows. The man asked him for a ride out of the place and my uncle said ok and let the man on his four wheeler and after about an hour of riding the man said that appreciated the ride and when my uncle looked back the man had vanished”, said Freddy. “ Your uncles a nut”, I said. “You suck”, replied Freddy. As the night went on I noticed that Angela kept acting stranger and stranger. It seemed as though she was mesmerized by the ominous rock that loomed over us. Then suddenly in the distance I heard a blood curdling demonic howl that chilled my bones, but everyone seemed not to notice it so I shrugged it off as a coyote. A chilling breeze blew in on us as the clock stuck one O’ clock. “I think I’ll go to sleep”, said Freddy. “yeah, me too”, said Angela. “Well I guess we all might as well”, said Vera. As we all walked inside the large tent I got a paranoid feeling I was being watched but I turned and looked only to find nothing. It wasn’t anytime at all before everyone was asleep and I, like always was the last to get to sleep and once again I heard the ungodly howl of in the distance. Only this time it seemed to have a high pitched shriek at the end. I shivered and wrapped myself up in the blankets and finally went to sleep. After a few hours I was awoken by a mumbling noise outside. Slowly I unzipped the tent so I wouldn’t wake anyone and peered out side in to the cold night air and there near the rock was Angela staring at the round rock mumbling over and over again a language I couldn’t understand. “what are you doing”, I whispered. “It needs us”, she said in a low delusional tone. “what does”, I said. She laughed hysterically while staring at the rock. Every one woke up. “what’ going on!!”, yelled Freddy. “How should I know?”, I yelled back. “ Shes finally lost it”, said Freddy in an annoyed tone. Just then she seemed to go crazy and convulse all over as if something was taking control of her. “We shall devour your souls”, she growled just before her eyes turned and ungodly white. “Oh my god”, Freddy screamed as we all slowly backed away. She howled a demonic laugh just before saying some kind of incantation that made the colossal rock glow a hellish glow and a deep moaning sound came from its core. Then out of nowhere out of a round portal of light in front of the rock shot out a spear attached to a logging chain, it burst through Angela’s chest causing a shower of blood to spew out, the spear then opened up into a three pronged hook and with a loud jerk of the chain and a desperate cry from Angela, pulled her violently into the portal in front of the rock. Terrified we wall ran and jumped on the four wheelers and sped away as quickly as possible. I turned around just in time to see a black cloud of fog following close behind, as hard as we tried we couldn’t out run it. Then two red eyes appeared in the cloud and a demonic voice rang out, “You cannot escape us!” Just then the four wheelers seemed to turn off and the cloud disappeared. We all looked at each other in astonishment as if we wasn’t sure what had really happened had happened. “Where are we??”, Vera said softly. “I’ve never been here before in my life”, I said regretfully. “We’ve got to get out of here!!”, Freddy said frantically. “Shut up and let me think”, I said impenitently. “Where’s the road??”, Vera said. To all of our amazement the road had seemed to disappear. Frantically we tried to find out what the problem was with the four wheelers but the motor wouldn’t even begin to start. “We’re all gonna die!!”, Freddy screamed. “Calm down!!!”, yelled Vera. Off in the distance I heard the bloodcurdling howl once more only this time it seemed closer. “What’s that??”, screamed Freddy. Up in the sky a creature soared, it looked like a dragon, but had the shape of a very large man, atop its head was two pointy horns and its eyes glowed blood red ,on its finger tips where razor sharp claws that glistened in the moonlight. Then it let out another howl and soared off into the night. Terrified, I walked slowly backwards and sat under a tree, Vera and Freddy stood wide eyed in disbelief. “w-what was that?”, I stammered. They didn’t answer. Slowly we started walking in what we thought was the right direction, occasionally looking up to make sure there wasn’t any signs of the creature. “I swear we’ve walked by that rock twice now!!” Freddy said hopelessly. “Have we gone crazy?”, I asked, no one answered. In the distance we seen an old shack that seemed to be abandoned, but in desperation we knocked on the door and to our astonishment an old man answered. “Get out of here!!”, he said as he pointed an old shotgun in our direction. “Please help us!”, I said pleadingly, “Something came out of this rock and……”. “What about this rock?”, He said sternly. “It killed our friend”, Freddy screamed. “God no!”, The old man said, “ They’ve escaped”. “What’s escaped?”, I said. “The demons, That rock is a gateway to the other side, its what separates them from us. They need souls to get stronger and they feed on fear.”, he said. “For years I have been the gatekeeper, the one that guarded the rock as you call it, from being tampered with, someone must have gotten to close to it and was drown in by its power.”, the old man said. “How do we stop it”, Vera said. Just then the ground shook and spit open and slowly a dark figure began to form above it. It looked human but wore a leather like mask that was stitched together like a quilt, the only thing visible was his horrible piercing red eyes that seemed to be able to peer into your soul. He wore a black cloak and had metallic chest armor with a skull in the middle. On the center of his hands where knives that seemed to curl upwards between his fingers. In a deep echoing voice he exclaimed, “So we meet again gatekeeper.” “I hoped I’d never see you again”, replied the old man. I have waited many years to repay you for the torment you placed on me and my minions and now you will suffer my wrath!”, said the demon. Then suddenly he raised his hand in the air and the man floated uncontrollable into the air, then out from the demons hand shot a glowing, net that wrapped itself around the old man and slowly tightened its grip on him. Bloody oozed out of the old man as the net began gripping tighter and tighter. Finally with one final scream from the old man the net cut the man into pieces and the bloody pulp fell upon the floor of the old cabin. A white mist apparition, floated in the air and with one breath the demon inhaled the old mans soul. The demons eyes glowed even brighter as he laughed a horrible laugh that echoed through out the woods. “I can taste you fear!”, it said looking in our direction, “And you will be next!”. We all ran frantically into the wilderness, stumbling and tripping over loose branches. Finally all at once we stopped only to realize that we were even more lost. “This is it.”, Freddy said grimly. “The old man said something about a gate.”, Vera said, “That rock has to be the gate, so there has o be a way to close it”. “You seen what happened to Angela!”, Screamed Freddy. “We, don’t even know the way back to the rock!”, I said. Then in the bushes behind us I heard a faint swishing noise, I look and to my horror there was Angela. Only she her eyes where glazed over and she had a huge puncture wound threw her chest. “You left me behind, why did you leave me?”, she said in an undead voice. “Now you must…DIE!!!!”, she screamed as she ran at Vera. In a panic she took out her machete and lunged it into Angela’s upper chest. Instantly she stopped and looked up at her, and groaned an awful low pitch groan then she began laughing hysterically just before she faded away, and as she faded, we all heard her say, “Join us, or die!”. “We’ve gotta find that cabin.”, Vera said. “Why”, Exclaimed Freddy. “Because that old man knew something about these things!”, she said. “So, what’s that got to do with anything?”, I said. “Surely there’s something in that cabin that can help us.”, she said, “Its our only chance”. We then started to try to retrace our steps and to our amazement the cabin was just behind us behind a few trees. “That wasn’t there before!”, exclaimed Freddy. Slowly we entered the cabin, but something didn’t seem right about it, I had an almost foreboding feeling that we were being watched by something purely evil. The cabin had a musty smell and dust covered everything, this was not like the cabin before and we all knew it but still we continued searching the cabin for anything. In the far corner of the room I seem a round ball that was gold in color and had some very strange markings on it. “What’s this?”, I said curiously. “How should I know?!”. exclaimed Freddy. Just then the house started to shake violently and the ceiling started to creak and crack and break open. Then in burst the flying creature we had seem before it swooped down into the house and stood up right. It howled an earsplitting howl just before it grabbed Freddy with ifs hideous claws, its scaly body flexed as it picked Freddy off the ground and hovered twenty feet above our heads with him still in its tight grip. Freddy let out a desperate scream as the creature unhinged its jaws and revealed its rows of razor sharp teeth and slowly began ripping chunks of flesh off his body and devouring them whole. A shower of blood rained down on our heads as we watched Freddy’s traumatizing demise. Then once again a ghostly foggy spirit surrounded the creature as it inhaled his soul. Then the creature acted as if it seen something of in the distance and flew away. “What was that thing you found?”, Vera said. “I..I don’t know.”, I stammered. Just then we heard a loud bang on the door of the cabin and then the cabin door burst into a million pieces revealing a hideous creature bound in chains the chains floated around the creatures body as if he controlled them with his mind. On his face was an iron mask that looked as if it was wielded shut and on the mask was strange markings and in the creatures forehead was a black x. The chains shot forward and wrapped around Vera’s arms and legs. The creature growled an evil growl as it lifted her into the air. On the ground I seen a lead pipe, I quickly picked it up and charged at the beast and brought it crashing down on his head and violently began beating it with the pipe. The creature only loosened its grip long enough to knock me several feet backwards with one mighty blow. Then it concentrated its attention on Vera He lifted her into the air and violently smashed her against the walls of the house, her screams echoed through out the woods as he slowly began ripping her limbs of with the chains, then with one smooth motion before she could even hit the ground out of the creatures chest shot a spear with three prongs at the end, it harpooned her though the head and with a powerful jerk tore her head clean off . The creature then picked up her head and the skin slowly melted away just as he devoured her soul. Then the creature ran off into the woods. In total shock and all alone I slumped down into one of the corners of the cabin. Then on impulse I took out the strange sphere I found on the floor of the cabin and to my amazement it started to glow. It shot a beam of light that seemed to project the image of the old man that once lived in the cabin. “Who are you?”, I said. “I am the gatekeeper, for centuries I have protected the gate from being opened and releasing the tormented souls. They are three original demons created by the devil himself the most powerful one is The Reaper he controls the two other minions Chains and The Serpent they feed on fear and gain strength from the souls of their victims. They have hungered for mortals for years now and now they have escaped and soon they will create and army and feast on the souls of earth.”, he said grimly. “What can I do to stop it??”, I said. “The only way for you to destroy them is by willingly sacrificing yourself, if you do not the world is doomed and we will all suffer for all eternity. I cannot force you to do this it is a choice you must make alone. Do you except?”, he said. “I..I guess you leave me no choice.”, I mumbled. “Good, now repeat this incantation; Klatu, Omius, Derabium, Defunctor.”, he said. When I did I felt a strange sensation sweep over me. “That will make your soul irresistible, to the demons.”, he said. “What goods that gonna do!!??”, I yelled. “The Reaper knows that the only way he can be killed is by consuming a will sacrifice and he will do anything in his power to keep from it. This will make it impossible for him to resist. He will most definitely make his demons try to kill you and you mustn’t let them. I never said it would be easy. In order to trap their souls you must also understand their origins. The Reaper was the first demon created by the devil, he has control over the others and guards the other side of the gate, without them the others are powerless. Chains was once a leader of an unstoppable merciless army that almost conquered the world until his army was finally defeated and he was captured bound in chains and slowly tortured to death, on his final breath he sold his soul in exchange that he could reap revenge on the world. The Serpent was once a guard of the gate, until The Reaper awakened his age old taste for mortal flesh.”, he said. “what do I do?”, I said. “Just follow your instincts and you will see that path.”, he said just before him and the sphere slowly faded away. Bewildered I walked outside, slowly I began walking through the thick wilderness confused and dazzled. Finally I found my way back to the huge rock, as I stood there starring at it I heard a twig snap behind me I spun around in time to see Vera standing there her limbs where stitched back on with large black stitches and he eyes turned to demonic cat eyes. In her hand she held a machete that dripped in blood. “Hello, Nicky”, she hissed in a chilling voice. She ran at me with the machete and swung at my head, I ducked just in time. A few feet away I seen my chainsaw that I used earlier to cut wood, I dove and grabbed it and strated t up. It roared as the chain whizzed around. She screamed as she chaged at me with the blade pointed towards my face, I jumped out of the way and brought the chain saw down on her cutting her from her shoulder down to her waist. She dropped to the ground and looked up at me and smiled just before she melted away into a disgusting bloody slime. Suddenly the rock glowed and a portal opened in front of it, without hesitation I jumped into the portal only to find myself hovering in a bizarre reality. Then I seen a black fog form into a human form, it was the reaper. “I can see that you’ve talked to the old gatekeeper. Too bad it was useless. Serpent, kill him!!”, he shouted. Just the Serpent swooped down out of nowhere and grabbed my in its clutches, just as it unhinged its jaws I trusted the chainsaw into his chest and blood and chunks of meat flew in every direction, he tried to drop me but I grabbed onto his arm and wouldn’t let go. He howled a frantic howl as the chainsaw ripped threw his torso cutting him in half. I loosened my grip and fell away from him and he caught fire and burned away to nothing. “You fool!”, The Reaper yelled as I heard what sounded to be the rattling chains, then to my horror I seen the demon known as chains materializing in front of my just as he started to hurl his spear at me, a bright blast energy struck him in the chest, his face grimaced and contorted as he slowly was ripped apart by the bright energy. He then exploded into a million pieces and the soul of the old gatekeeper stood there in his place. “you can kill me, but you can never devour my soul!”, he said triumphantly. Suddenly the reaper extended his arm and the hook shaped blades and his hand rapidly grew extremely long and sliced threw the old mans neck and jerk back causing the curved blade to hook into the back of his head. “This time stay dead!!”, shouted The Reaper as he lifted him into the air with the blade. Then the Reaper held out his other hand and the strange sphere appeared in his palm. It hovered into the air and shot a beam of light at the old man and slowly the old man disappeared. Then The Reaper Crushed the small sphere in his grasp and it turned to dust. Then he looked at me with a strange expression. “NOOOOOOO!”, he screamed with a demonic rage. His eyes where redder than ever before as his chest split open and out slithered a huge hideous snake. My eyes widened with fear just before it roared and lunged forward devouring me whole. I found myself outside of a huge opened gate surrounded by darkness, that didn’t seem to lead to anywhere then suddenly the gate closed. I am the new gatekeeper and I will guard the gate until the next beckoning.