• Cutis Monstrum

    Saturday nights were the highlife of any school student. To the youngest kindergartener who is permitted to stay up a few hours later than normal by their parents to the college student who leaves to go bar hopping with friends. Saturday nights were the hours of freedom that every young individual seizes with enthusiasm.

    But everyone has a different idea of fun. Most college students will go out on the town, find parties to go to or simply drink with their friends. Or sometimes they are found gaming well into the night until the sun could be found peeking its head over the horizon for a new day. But to Allison, when she is not occupied with her psychology major at her local university, she searches the city for locations that have built up a reputation for being haunted.

    Tonight was just one more Saturday like any other and she would spend it investigating as she often does, searching for rational answers to the rumors. Under normal circumstances, she brings friends with her, for regardless of whether or not you believe in the paranormal, it is always an unnerving experience when you walk into a grim, dark place armed with not but a flashlight, a video camera and your will.

    Allison swallowed as she pulled up to the location on her list for the night, an old, shambling church that was located in the woods on the outskirts of town. Small, wrought iron gates closed the path leading up to the abandoned house of worship and from here on she would have to travel on foot. Silence befell the area as the rumbling purr of the car engine fell silent when she removed the key from the ignition.

    Her heart pounded in her chest at the stillness and she felt unease and dread settle over her. Despite all of the other haunted investigations she had performed previously, it was far scarier now that she would be on her own. It occurred to her then that maybe she should just leave and come back at a later date when she would be able to have friends accompany her. Her hand snatched the mirror above her down and gave her reflection a patronizing look. Crystal blue-eyes mimicked her expression, framed gently by black, flowing hair.

    “Come on girl. You can do this. You have your pepper spray, you’ll be fine. Now where’s that courage you’re so well known for?”

    The reflection’s full pink lips moved as she spoke those words, moonlight illuminating delicate pale skin. Allison saw the resolve harden in her eyes and it was then that she took a deep breath and opened the car door. The night air was cold, her breath billowing out in puffs of white, like clouds were flowing from her lungs to escape back to their home in the sky. All the trees and leaves were bathed in silver as the full moon overhead shone all of its beauty onto the earth. But between the trunks in the deep of the woods was an impenetrable darkness, lurking ominously, threatening to swallow all that ventured within.

    Allison zipped up her maroon winter jacket, bundled her forest green scarf more snuggly around her neck and jammed her keys into her black denim pocket. When she closed the car door, it shattered the quiet air and the trees and wind seemed to sigh in relief. Warily, she stepped closer to the waist-high black iron gate, studying an old stone tablet dangling from a frayed rope on the bars.

    As she drew nearer, she realized that there were letters, words carved into the surface. To her surprise, the words were a foreign language and she realized that it was Latin. Allison knew nothing on how to read this old language, but she could certainly recognize it when she saw it. Icy fingers grasped stiffly at the stone and she nearly dropped the tablet when she felt heat radiating off of it.

    ‘How in the world…?’ she thought with awe, sweeping her eyes over the words carved into the surface.

    Malum sitis in aeternum imprimetur signum, nunquam egredi extra has divisas iterum.

    “…..What the hell?”

    She dropped the tablet and it clanged heavily against the gate it was strung from. Stiff hands stole away into the bag that was draped over her shoulder and produced a video camera. When it turned on, she fixed it upon the carving, so she could get it translated later. Then she fumbled with the latch and went through the gate. It squealed in protest, its shrill cry penetrating straight to her bones, turning her blood to ice. She passed through the gate, stepping through the leaves that crunched beneath her feet. The path was narrow, the trees seemingly closing in around her and arching over head, all branches stripped bare of any foliage.

    She was in the ribcage of the earth and would soon find herself in its belly. Flashlight in her left hand, she swept the powerful beam ahead of her, lighting her way and keeping the camera fixed ahead of her. A breeze rushed through the tunnel of trees she was in, gripping her face in its icy fingers and tugging almost playfully at her hair. The path curved, rendering her blind to what would come next so she found herself holding her breath, fearing that there would be some creature of darkness waiting for her just around the bend.

    Just before she rounded the curve the stillness was crushed brutally when the harsh sound of metal crashing against metal echoed throughout the forest. Allison yelped and leapt high into the air, nearly dropping her flashlight as she did so. When she turned to identify the source of the noise, the gate that she had come through was closed as if it had never been opened.

    “Must have been the wind.” She laughed nervously, the camera shaking slightly in her hand.

    Allison stood still, trying her best to calm her beating heart that was trying to claw its way up her throat. The longer she waited on the trail the more the breeze whispered in her ears, speaking some language she did not understand. She darted her head around, searching for a person who could be speaking to her, the beam of her flashlight following wherever her gaze went, but she could see no one.

    Shaking her head, she continued back on the path, merely telling herself that it was her imagination. The trail lead her around the bend and unlike her childish thought earlier, there was no monster of the forest waiting to consume her. What was waiting for her was a thick white mist rendering it impossible to see anything at length and it lurked 10 feet in front of her.

    The college student stopped in her tracks, facing the hazy wall of white before her and debated on what she should do. Allison didn’t fancy the idea of marching down a path completely blind, but she wasn’t going to turn back because of some fog. She looked around for another option, and her eyes located a small, overgrown trail to her left.

    Thickets and snarls of briars intruded upon the path and the trees were even closer together. The way wasn’t as illuminated as there were more evergreen trees that still clung to their leaves, sheltering the way from the silvery gaze of the moon. Everything was brought in stark relief as the beam of the flashlight drifted over the unused path, falling upon a rabbit which darted into the brush as soon as the light touched it.

    Things fell quiet again and the dark-haired woman was having an internal debate on whether she should follow the trail or not. Something told her that she should see what was down there but yet another side of her argued vehemently how this entire adventure was stupid and she should leave immediately. Allison ignored her logical side, mustered her courage and stepped over the patch of briars that blocked the way.

    Sticks snapped beneath her shoes and branches grabbed at her clothes but she still pressed on, heart hammering in her chest. The shadows of the trees pressed on her from all sides, causing her to be overcome with anxiety. It constricted her throat and weighed upon her shoulders like a great stone, fighting to bring her to the ground. She swallowed thickly and clamored on, despite the trembling of her limbs and difficulty she had breathing. When she broke through the trees, the grip around her vanished, air gushing into her lungs.

    Waiting for her was an old cemetery filled with worn tombstones stained with dirt. They had been out in the weather for so long, their stony faces had been stripped of the names they once bore. The graveyard was not a very large one, possessing only thirty graves within its reaches. In the center was an ancient monument, larger than all of the other landmarks. It was evident that it had once been an angel but time had taken its toll and worn away at the rock.

    The head was angled downward, looking down upon any that would approach it but there were no eyes, no mouth. No face graced the surface and the robes that had clearly been endowed with creases and folds had lost their detail. There was only one wing stretching from the back and the feather lines had been smoothed out so they were not held in as stark relief as they should be. On the ground nearby was the other wing, broken from its home long ago.

    To her surprise, the wing was hollow, instead of solid stone. Curiosity took over and she put the video camera back in her messenger bag and stepped up to the worn angel. Allison’s fingers took hold of the gaps and groves that she could use and she climbed up the statue. When at last she reached the top, the young woman used the angel’s cupped hands as a foothold and peered into the broken base of the wing.

    If she hadn’t brought the flashlight, there would have been no way that she could have seen inside. There were spider webs inhabited by the creatures that had made them, but in close to the top, wedged firmly in the gap was a glass bottle, with an eroded stopper. She pried the bottle from the grasp of the wing and leapt back to the ground, bending her knees to cushion her fall.

    The glass was a stained dark red and she could see scrolls of paper inside. Allison set to work on removing the stopper, which crumbled beneath her fingers, gaining her access to the treasure tucked away within the confines of the glass. She upturned the bottle, the slips of paper, falling out into her awaiting palm, the bottle dropped to the dirt, forgotten. Scrawled writing covered the pages and she began to wonder what was so special about them that they had to hide them in a statue. The paper was old, which meant whatever was written on it was also old. Allison unraveled her new discovery and carefully began to read what was written on it.

    October 10th 1882
    We have been trapped in this church for a month now and I pray that someone finds these pages to know what we have suffered through and will move to slay the creature hunting us. The snow has proven to be advantageous as the redskin of the monster stands out garishly in comparison to white that has coated everything. It has taken my wife and I shudder to think of her fate. The cellar has kept us safe from the beast but soon we will run out of supplies and we will be forced to brave the outside. We have sent word for help but none have come.

    Whether no one made it off of the grounds or none cares for our struggle, we have yet to ascertain but if help does not come soon, we will all be slaughtered. I have begun to look into the scrolls that the priests have kept in the cellar. Thus far my search has been fruitless but there must be something in the ancient texts that show how to rid us of this monster. We are doomed otherwise. I will look well into the night in hopes of finding some clue how to destroy this creature that hunts us.

    October 12th 1882
    Two more of us are dead and I am still plagued by nightmares, filled with their agonized screams. The few of us that are left cling hopelessly to prayers in hopes that some divine aide will intervene to stop this evil hunting us. Father Louis says that the creature is called Cutis Monstrum. A fitting name for the unspeakable things it does with the victims. I fear that this church will no longer keep this beast at bay. Every night we hear the doors rattle and shake as the monster outside pounds and beats at them, fighting to get in. The holy seal will not last much longer and when it fades, we will all die. And every night the snarls from outside grow louder. There will be no sleep when the sun sets. Only choking fear. And tomorrow the two soldiers who have been trapped with us will brave outside to obtain their fallen weapons. God have mercy on them and grant us help in our darkest hours.

    October 13 1882
    I am the only one left now. Both of the soldiers, Christian and Jeffery have been slain by the beast and I still smell the blood in the air, even though I didn’t see their bodies. Father Louis braved outside to try and purify the creature in the name of the lord but failed and now lies dead as well. I now know that I will not survive. There is no one coming to rescue me and we have run out of food inside of the church. Eventually I will have to go outside or starve to death. I’m not sure which is the worse death. Though my resolve has nearly diminished, I will continue to search for anyway to vanquish this abomination that hunts me so. Oh my wife, I wish you were here. No….I wish I had died with you.

    October 14 1882
    I found it! The ancient texts that contain the information I needed to rid the world of this monster. Much of the text has faded but there is an incantation of sorts recorded that can be used to slay the monster. Unfortunately, I am far too weak to do so as it requires a confrontation to do so. I will be unable to perform it but I will record my findings here in these scribbled pages I wrote of my life in the last few days. May someone find them and then use them to forever rid the world of this monster.

    O lucem splendescere mundum purget malum procurrit.
    O terra sub pedibus nostris patentibus absorbere bestia quae de profundis inferni.
    Constringo vos unde estis in tenebris.
    Vos mihi non liceat venari caecus sanguinem iustum.
    Ego obmutescere vos sic vos ut iam non effusorium vestris pessimis verba.
    Abscede et ut vos nunquam tenebrescere hoc mundo iterum.

    Allison jumped when she heard something move behind her and whirled around to find the source of the noise. The flashlight was trembling in her grasp, the beam illuminating the path dancing to a quiet staccato that wracked her frame. All was quiet, the silence only broken by the intake of her shuddering gasps as she searched desperately for the sound she had heard. Nothing came into view and she could see nothing on the camera as she looked around. Her heart slowing down now, she turned back to the graveyard.

    “Paulo……Agni………”

    A shiver rolled down her spine and she looked around wildly for whoever spoke, even though it seemed that his voice had been carried on the wind to tickle her ears. A frigid feeling crept over her flesh, sinking deep into her bones, clutching her heart in its icy grasp. The crickets, which had been singing their song to the night ceased in their midnight melody all fell still. Mist crept through the tomb stones, slithering closer to her feet.

    “That’s it…” She said, “I’m out of here.”

    The college student turned to face the path she came in on and screamed when she saw a red figure blur by the corner of her eye. Laughter echoed throughout the cemetery and Allison tore off down the path, twigs and branches lashing at her face and neck. She dared not look back for she could hear someone, something following her.

    “Nulla fugae ratio, quolibet.”

    Fingers slipped through her hair briefly and she dropped her camera, yanked out her pepper spray and turned to face the person who had touched her. Nothing but an empty trail surrounded by dark trees greeted her sight and her ears were only filled with silence and the sound of her heartbeat. She felt the skin on her scalp crawl, still remembering the distinct feel of fingers slipping through her hair.

    “Hello?” She called tentatively, her entire body tense, ready to flee at the first sign of movement.

    The answer she received was not but the rustling of trees in the breeze and the whisper of leaves dancing across the dirt. Trembling, Allison picked up her camera, not even caring if it was damaged or not. She was never coming back here and was going to ensure that her friends did not come here as well. On unsteady legs, the young woman picked her way to the main path again, still feeling shaky from her adrenaline rush and with every step, she felt relief start to settle over her. She couldn’t wait to be back in the safety of her car, blasting the heat so everything was all warm and toasty. Then shortly after she would be back at home, sipping on hot chocolate, curled up on the couch.

    Allison reached the main path and she was horrified to find everything was covered in a thick layer of fog. She rushed to the right, heading back towards the entrance she came from, wishing nothing more than to be gone from this place. When she rounded the corner she screamed. Further down the path, right in front of the gate was a tall, massive figure. It was not human, that much she could tell despite the fact that she could not clearly make out minor features.

    The figure was a two legged creature but it was much too large to be a human and even through the fog, she could see that its skin was a stark red, almost as if it were the color of a burning pyre. Two glowing spots were settled where its eyes should be and they were a bright yellow, glinting with malevolence. The hands, the large massive hands, had great claws that could strip the flesh from her bones should it wish too. When the beast let out booming, triumphant laughter, Allison turned the other way and ran.

    Laughter chased her followed by the vigorous crunching of leaves, indicating that the creature was running after her. Gasping for air, she scrambled faster down the path, heart pounding and whimpering with fear. It was only until she burst out into a clearing that she heard the footsteps stop. Before her was a small wooden church, surrounded by trees, darkness and mist.

    Allison jerked around to look behind her but she saw that the mysterious creature was gone. Shaking and chest heaving, the dark-haired woman looked around for some kind of weapon. She had dropped her video camera when she was being chased but it was the last thing on her mind. The flashlight still washed over the area, illuminating the surroundings with its artificial brightness.

    Tears stung her eyes, fear nearly swallowing her. Allison was terrified, she was trapped now and she was not ready to try and go back down that path she came. She shivered at the memory of the strange thing pursuing her, growling and snarling at her back. Anxiety still gripping her heart, she looked to the surrounding trees, worried that the beast was still there. No…..she KNEW it was still there. It was lurking somewhere in that deep darkness, waiting for her to drop her guard. Suddenly no longer feeling comfortable standing outside, Allison fled inside of the church.

    She thought the walls, however unstable and crumbling as they were, would have provided her with a feeling of comfort and security. They only served to feel like the noose tightening around her neck. The rows of stained glass windows were shattered and the fragments still lay scattered on the floor. The wooden pews were rotted and broken. Most of them just looked like time and the elements finally got to them, but there were a few that were quite clearly shattered by brute force. Allison could still see the splinters and chunks littered across the floor and the podium at the front of the room was also broken.

    Overhead there was a hole in the ceiling where the moon peeked into the chapel, bathing everything in its silver light so the flashlight was unnecessary. At the head of the church room was a toppled statue of a cross and what was close by clutched her heart in a tight grip. It was a large blood stain, faded from time, but still clear enough that someone had been seriously wounded there. She swallowed painfully when there was a smear in the stain from when the person had dragged themselves away or someone else had dragged them.

    As if unsure about what she was seeing, the dark-haired woman walked forward, eyes wide and glinted with fear. When she was close enough, she knelt down and picked up an old piece of glass. Stained with blood. Her fingers slowly slackened her grip on the shard and it fell to the wooden floor with a dull clatter. Allison wandered behind the podium, searching for something that could be used as a weapon but so far could see nothing. In fact there was nothing of consequence or interest at the head of the chapel. But there was one single item that stood out among the wreckage. It was a single picture frame, golden and engraved, embracing a blank canvas.

    ‘Now that’s odd. Why would anyone frame a blank canvas?’ she wondered, momentarily forgetting about being stalked by some creature.

    A loud crash cut through the air as something strong thudded against the closest wall, the wood buckling inward from the force of the blow. She shrieked in surprise and everything was answered with distorted and echoing laughter. The wall was struck again and she feared that it would collapse under the tremendous force that was being dealt to it. Petrified, she dashed out of the church, gasping and whimpering, almost clawing desperately for her safety. She found herself dashing down the trail, her feet nearly slipping in the leaves and dirt. Escape seemed to be just in reach, at any moment she would round the corner and then the gate to her car would be right there.

    The exit never came. Horror and disbelief overcame her as instead of the cast iron gate that would lead the way to her freedom came to view, the church instead took its place. She was choking and gasping, unsure if the entrance path really just lead her straight back to the church. Trembling, she could not stop the tears from falling and she nearly became hysterical. Something sharp slowly grazed across her back and it felt distinctively like claws, large, shredding claws. Allison began running blindly again, sobbing and crying and she sought the only salvation that she felt she could find; the church.

    The doors, as heavy as they should have been, suddenly didn’t seem so cumbersome in the wake of her adrenaline rush. Even with her small frame she pushed open the doors without much notice and closed them as quickly as she could. Her heart was raging in her ears, roaring to the point of deafening and all fell into an uneasy stillness. The moon shone quietly overhead, embracing her in its heavenly gaze.

    The wind whistled through the broken windows and rushed about her slender frame. All of this, under normal circumstances would have been relaxing for Allison but the quiet seemed to underscore the fact that she was being hunted. Her eyes rolled in her head as she kept looking wildly around for a moving figure or shadow that would give away the location of the creature chasing her.

    The entire church was suddenly filled with the resounding toll of the bell in the tower. The raven-haired woman leapt in surprise, giving a terrified squeak. She slowly backed towards the head of the chapel, the opposite side of where the bell tower was. Her progress was stopped abruptly when she backed into something solid. At first she believed it to be the broken podium and just stood there, staring fearfully at the front of the church, waiting for the monster to come. It was then that she felt hot breath, putrid and foul rush past her ear and she heard quiet, diabolical laughter.

    “Vos mei nunc.”

    Allison never had the chance to turn, never got to look at the monster fully in the face. All she had to chance to do was to fill the church with her agonized and pain-filled scream. There was a cacophony of tearing and squealches, sickening and moist. The moon was then shielded by a brief patch of clouds, depriving the world of its delicate light, as if it too were afraid of the monstrosity that hunted on the ground. When at last everything fell silent again, the blanket of clouds rolled away, permitting light to shine forward once more. Inside of the church, pale feminine feet stepped through a puddle of blood, trailing red foot prints up the stairs and behind the worn and battered, broken podium.

    The figure stopped before the golden framed canvas, the intricate carvings gleaming softly in the dim light. However, the canvas was no longer blank. There was an image, a picture of a young and beautiful woman with long black hair and bright blue eyes captured there. She was frozen in motion, her hands almost appearing to be resting against the other side of the picture, like it were only glass. They were twisted into a clawing motion, as if the painting was trying to free herself. And indeed she was. Her soul was trying to claw its way out, but would never succeed.

    A small and pale hand caressed the frame almost lovingly and naked there in the gaze of the moon, was Allison. Yet it was not Allison. The imposter held her same stance, her same skin and appearance but brewing beneath the surface was an ancient evil that the young college girl never possessed. Her eyes flashed yellow for moment before returning back to the crystalline blue they were.

    A twisted smile crawled across her face before the imposter ran delicate pale fingers across the picture. Then the fake Allison turned and walked down the stairs, walking through the puddle of blood and stepping over a grotesque and mutilated corpse. A corpse with not a shred of skin on its frame. The creature left the church, the great doors closing with a soft thud.

    And the moon hid itself from view once more.

    (( I wrote this for a contest in another writing guild and hopefully we'll find out very soon who the winners are. :3 I'm excited. I don’t know how accurate the latin is, considering I used google translate so if anything is incorrect, please excuse me. xD Anyways, hope you guys liked it!

    Translations:
    Malum sitis in aeternum imprimetur signum, nunquam egredi extra has divisas iterum. :Evil may you be forever sealed, never to step outside these boundaries again.

    Paulo Agni.: Little Lamb

    Nulla fugae ration, quolibet: There is no escape, little lamb.

    Cutis Monstrum: Skin monster

    The incantation: Oh heavenly light, shine forward and purge the world of this evil. Oh earth beneath our feet, open wide to swallow up this beast that came from the depths of Hell. I bind you back in the darkness that from which you came. I blind you so that you may no longer hunt for the blood of the righteous. I silence you so you may no longer spout your wicked words. Begone and may you never darken this world again.

    Vos mei nunc: You are mine now.))