The Yaak House, Part One

(Originally published on my main blog, Andi and I Write, on October 25, 2019)

 

Featuring Original Illustration by Andi Daniel

Thaz’ra would have followed that man into the river to drown; she felt sometimes that she should have. She was young though, freshly liberated from her parent’s home after mama bird had pushed her from the nest and savoring those first few drops of freedom on a reluctant tongue. What remained is that she followed him, as she had when they danced. They danced because what else is there to do when you’ve known someone’s body so long, so well? They’d been wrapping up their dance practice one day at Gerald’s studio, their fellow survivors from the group of horror having joined them for the practice, when he asked a question.

“You ever been up the Yaak Thaz?” Thaz had paused, a glass of wine in hand.

“I mean, maybe a few times maybe when I was a kid? Not that I can really remember, why?” She swirled the contents of her glass, glancing up at him.

“Is it up in the middle of nowhere?” he asked, gesturing vaguely in the general direction of the north, “Like, real nowhere, not like, 3 am Walmart nowhere.”

“Nowhere calls it the middle of nowhere,” Thaz’ra said, taking a pensive sip of wine.

“Perfect, I was thinking of filming a routine in the forest,” Gerald hummed. Thaz arched a brow, “Come on Thaz, you can’t make all the choreography calls…” he sighed, “Just think about it… the greenery, the challenge, the freedom of the woods…”

“What routine were you thinking?” she asked with a sigh, “and how many of us?”

“I was thinking all six of us; Hazel and Jasper to film, then you, me, Boris, and Rin dancing, maybe Latin dances?” He flashed one of his smiles, and she found that her resolve to say no had vanished.

“Alright. I’m free next week, we gonna set up a camp?”

“Hell yes!” Gerald cheered, “Wait, how free are you?”

“Four days, my days off at both jobs fell weird with the weekend,” she hummed, taking another sip of wine, “Who is bringing a gun?”

“Gun?!” Hazel turned to her with wide eyes, “It’s the middle of the forest…” Hazel frowned at the exasperated sounds she heard. Her big city upbringing had once again made itself known.

“Hazel, that’s exactly why we need it,” Boris groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“But… why? Do we really have to hunt?”

“For fuck’s sake Haze,” Jasper muttered, having been off to the side and snacking on some baby carrots, “It’s in case there are bears. It’s the middle… of the woods,” Hazel blinked her wide fawn brown eyes at him a few times, lips an ‘O’ of understanding.

“Christ,” Jasper muttered, shaking his head, “I’ll bring my .44; I should probably bring my .270 too, so Thaz can sight it in and finally see it,” Jasper added, “It still has that shiny new gun smell!”

“Oooh,” Thaz’ra cooed as he showed her a picture, a reaction no infant could ever get from her.

“…You Americans,” Rin muttered, “That’s a lot- “

“Dude, you’re Japanese-Canadian,” Gerald teased Rin, interrupting him, “Your first defense is maple syrup, your second is ramen.”

“I was going to say that’s a lot, but I have more,” Rin scowled up at Gerald. Rin was the smallest of everyone, but perhaps one of the best in terms of skill as a dancer, being as flexible as he was.

“How tall are you again?” Gerald teased.

“I’m Four-foot fuck you,” Rin shot off, his usual answer, “but I know you’d enjoy that; so, I’ll fuck your sister instead.”

“Rin,” Thaz’ra chuckled, “You wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.”

“…Shit you’re right,” Rin sighed, and Thaz’ra smiled, swirling her wine before finishing her glass, setting the empty glass down.

“I have to get Thaz’ra back to her place,” Gerald sighed, stretching his arms over his head.
“Mmm, yeah, it’s getting late,” Thaz’ra sighed.

“So… I assume he’s staying at your place then?” Jasper mused, arching a lecherous brow.

“On my couch, yes.”
“You wound me,” Gerald scoffed, clutching his chest with one hand, though he was smiling, “Nah we’re good,” he gave a small laugh and Thaz’ra rolled her eyes as she headed out to his car.

“It’s a three-hour drive round trip for you, plus I’ll make you breakfast as cab fare,” Thaz’ra hummed.

“Deal,” Gerald chimed, the two receiving a round of farewells as they left.

As luck had it, the week passed quickly, and when Gerald and the rest of the gang came to pick her up, Thaz’ra had her backpack ready.

“Alright; mind the guns,” Jasper hummed from shotgun as Rin opened the door to Boris’ Jeep.

“There’s too many in here,” Hazel whined.

“No such thing!” Thaz’ra and Rin chimed in unison, breaking into laughter after the fact.

“Okay but there’s not enough room,” Hazel huffed.

“Your whining takes up space,” Boris muttered. Rin snickered at that and Gerald snorted, failing to hide his laughter. Jasper, up front, threw his head back with laughter. It took some shuffling, and in the end, Hazel sat up front between Jasper and Boris with a pout.

“I don’t think this seating arrangement is entirely legal,” she pointed out.

“What’s illegal is what Thaz’ra is going to do to Gerald if we leave them alone in a tent together,” Jasper smirked.
“Oh shove off,” Thaz’ra scoffed, “You’re gonna want to turn onto the highway and head south.”

“I know, I did some google maps searching and asked around town,” Jasper hummed.

“I’m still the one who actually knows how to get to where we’re going,” Thaz’ra countered.

“And where exactly is that?” Gerald mused, “Narnia?”

“Nah, been out of the closet too long for that nonsense,” she hummed, “I was thinking of a ridge where we could get shots of us dancing against the sky, maybe a sunset?”

“Oh,” Jasper gasped, “That would be beautiful actually…”

“Or even just portraits of us in the woods,” Gerald suggested.

“Candid camping photos,” Boris chimed.

“Wildlife,” Hazel added.  Jasper was delightedly overwhelmed with the possibilities, and much of the drive was spent chattering about the beautiful possibilities of the day. They drove deep into the woods, past a little shanty house, past a few shanty houses really, up logging trails and the like until at last they parked.

The woods were a wonderful place to dance, if a challenge. That, to Thaz, was always half the wonder.

These woods though, however far up they had driven, had no wonder, no whimsy, no wind. Thaz’ra brushed it off as a storm, the forecast had been calling for one much later in the evening, but the forecast was hit and miss at best. Still, a foreboding had settled into her bones.

The feeling was lost somewhat, in the rush when Gerald spun her into their familiar dances, then it vanished entirely when his gentle hazel eyes swept her up with a waltz in the falling leaves.

His hands were familiar; the firm warmth was enough to send chills down her spine. They didn’t need music, they’d danced together for a year now, they’d danced blindfolded. They had danced as friends, strangers, lovers, and friends again. His hands felt safe, like home.

As all good things though, the dances wound down to a close, and the windless nature of the woods around them drew her attention once more.

After a few minutes of this feeling, analyzing it within as it grew in a way that wasn’t unfamiliar, Thaz’ra could only settle in the fact that these woods were sinister.

No, it was worse than that; these woods were silent.

Not a breath dared stir the pine needles or rustle the leaves. Thaz’ra almost couldn’t take it, every cautious fiber in her body screaming to turn back

“Gerald,” Thaz’ra called after a moment, “we should turn back,” Gerald paused and turned back to her, the setting sun setting behind him along the ridge setting his blond hair afire in a dim halo as a he huffed and blew the long blond strands over his face away. The stillness of the air did nothing to cool them from the stifling heat of the day, if anything, it only gave Thaz goosebumps. Gerald arched a brow at her, “I’ve got a feeling,” she shuddered, looking over her shoulder again as Gerald laughed her worry off. She winced at this, and his laughter faltered.

“I mean, you always say the woods are watching,” Boris teased her from beside Gerald. Rin jumped up to swat at the giant’s shoulder, their height difference of nearly two feet making Hazel laugh. Her laugh was a light, airy sound in the oppressive silence that made Thaz’ra shudder. It felt out of place in the stillness, like blasphemy.

“Not funny,” Rin warned, “You know last times I felt like this?” his accent betrayed his agitation. Thaz felt relieved for a moment, that she wasn’t the only one unsettled, “Two times I feel this,” he said after a pause, “The first time I was visiting Hiro Shima,” Gerald paused himself, having only taken a few steps. He looked back at Rin with a deep-set frown, “Second time, after walking into the house to find my father had hung himself. Bad feeling, bad…” he trailed off in muttered Japanese, and beside him, Boris frowned as well. Behind Thaz, Hazel shrugged.

“It’s just the sun going down,” she said around a cigarette, cupping her hand around the flame as she lit it, though no wind challenged her flame, “We can always head back to the jeep and set up camp beside it.”

“Come on Thaz, we’re almost to the top of this ridge, I bet it would make for some killer photos…” Jasper pleaded, clutching his camera, “You’ve always wanted a set against the sunset… Plus we have enough guns and ammo to protect ourselves. You’ve got Gerald, who was Black Ops,” Gerald rolled his eyes, “Rin is a bodyguard, Boris was a bouncer, and we can always feed Hazel to the wildlife if need be!”

“Unless you know, it’s zombies,” Boris added in a teasing tone, “Then she’s the safest one of us.”

“You’re a close second,” Hazel shot back at Boris, getting a guffaw from Gerald. The sound eased some of the tension in Thaz’ra’s chest.

“Okay, fine… but let’s…” Thaz had been scanning the ground absently, and her brows furrowed as she looked ahead.

“Bear sign?” Gerald asked warily. Everyone tensed at the mention, even Hazel cast a wary glance around.

“Shh,” Thaz’ra took the .270 from her shoulder, glancing through the scope and up along the clearing they’d been passing through. In the absence of wind, she was too aware of the sounds in the group; the hushed crunch of old pine needles beneath Rin’s boots, the scrape of gravel as Hazel took a step towards the center of the group from where she’d lingered in the back, the measured way Gerald exhaled slowly, “…There’s a trail into the timber up there,” she murmured.

Hazel let out an exasperated sound, taking the cigarette from her mouth, “Fuck Thaz you had me worried-”

“Shut up,” Gerald and Thaz’ra growled in unison. Hazel hushed, tucking herself between Boris and Jasper. Jasper shuddered and stepped up to stand behind Thaz’ra.

“There’s a weird energy,” he murmured behind her. She nodded, looking around through the scope, “Did you see something…?”

“…No,” she said after a moment, “well, I thought I did, but it’s the shadows from that cedar,” she sighed, a shaking, relieved sound, “Some of the lower branches are dead, and the way the shadows sat over it, I thought it might have been an animal.”

“We haven’t seen any in a while,” Boris pointed out, “Maybe there’s been a cougar in the woods.”

“Like your mother?” Rin teased. Thaz’ra snorted, smirking, and Boris groaned.

“Please don’t bring that up…” he mumbled.

“Oh?” Hazel looked surprised and Jasper snickered.

“It’s one of the ‘Bad Thaz’ra’ stories,” Rin supplied.

“Oh?” Hazel was intrigued now, “I have to hear it now!” Boris groaned, and Thaz’ra turned a bit red.

“Well,” Gerald began, amused as the group resumed walking, heading toward the trail, still a few minutes of walking through the clear cut with their leisurely pace, “It began with Boris’ mom running into the living room the morning after his 21^st birthday party. She’s all freaked out, grabs me, and says there’s a stranger in her room. I walk in and there is one very confused Thaz’ra,” Boris had his face buried in his hands, groaning as Gerald told the story, “and she’s just looking out the window, and she doesn’t even look back and calls me. She hears my phone ring behind her, turns, and there’s a solid minute of Thaz just staring at me before she just goes, ‘well shit,’ as Boris catches up with me,” Gerald had to stop and catch his breath, having started to laugh, “he’s just standing there, Thaz is beet red, and the first thing he says-” Gerald was wheezing, and Hazel watched him with a vapid tilt of her head as he couldn’t finish the story. Boris sighed heavily, picking up his pace to meet up with Thaz’ra as she trudged along at the head of the group now.

“I don’t get it,” Hazel said.

“To clarify,” Thaz’ra said, turning to face Hazel, “Nothing of a carnal nature happened! I was just… drunk and tired so I… found a bed to lay in.”

“…So, you slept with his mom- OH! Now I get it,” she joined Gerald in the laughter, and Rin joined in as well, if at Hazel’s expense. He stopped laughing after a moment, squinting before his eyes brightened.

"Thaz, I found what the trail leads to!" Thaz'ra glanced over at Rin as he ran over and tugged her sleeve. There wasn't a lot Thaz'ra could say about the structure Rin was pointing too. It was an old, clearly abandoned, log house. Beside her, Gerald looked curious.

"I want to look inside," Gerald hummed. Thaz'ra just eyed the building, wary at feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Let's just circle it once, find the door, and if it looks sound, maybe venture in..." she murmured after a moment, taking a breath to settle her nerves.

She tried to ignore the silence of the woods as she led the group around, scanning the ground for signs of life and finding nothing. No track or sign marred the soft soil beyond their trespasses. Thaz’ra shuddered, turning her attention to the cabin.

The chimney stood tall still, and part of the front porch looked to have caved in on itself. There was a single window from what she could tell, and just the single entry. The door, she guessed, had long since been left open.

"Oh, I've always wanted to photograph an abandoned house!" Jasper chimed, bouncing in place with camera in hand. Thaz'ra clenched her jaw absently as they rounded the corner along the edge of the clearing, when Rin tapped her arm and pointed ahead. Thaz followed his glance, then frowned. Off to the side of the cabin were the skeletal remains of a deer.

"Thaz, species analysis?" Rin asked.

"Mule Deer," Thaz'ra muttered after a moment, turning to Gerald, "We should head back. It's going to get stormy out."

"How can you tell that from this far?!" Rin asked Thaz'ra, while Gerald laughed softly.

"Thaz, the storm still a ways off-"

"Gerald, I don't want to be stranded on this mountain with a storm," Thaz'ra interrupted.

"Um... while you two are having this lover’s spat, I’m fixin' to head inside," Jasper said, holding up his camera and taking a step toward the entrance of the cabin.

"No, you are the fuck not," everyone jumped at the authoritative tone Thaz'ra took as she grabbed his wrist, "You've got bad luck, a bleeding disorder to boot, and this place gives me the creeps. What if it caves in more? Look at the roof," indeed the Cedar shingled roof had caved in on itself in a few places, wooden beams standing out like weathered ribs.

"Thaz, when do I ever get the chance to photograph these kinds of things?" Jasper snapped back, jerking his sleeve free, though he turned his camera to the deer now.

"Maybe if your stupid ass didn't end up in the hospital so often for being reckless," Thaz'ra began, "You'd have the time."

"Is just house," Boris pointed out.

"I just..." Thaz'ra's temples ached from how her jaw kept clenching and un-clenching.

"Is it a bad energy?" Gerald ventured.

"You know I don't buy into that hoodoo energy bullshit," Thaz'ra scoffed, "It's common sense that old structures like that are unstable," Gerald arched a brow at her, but said nothing else.

"Well I buy into it. Place has a bad vibe," Rin muttered.

"Can I at least get some more macabre shots of the deer then? You can look closer at the building that way," Jasper offered Thaz'ra in compromise.

"Fine, fine..." Thaz'ra muttered, finding herself following him.

She regretted it.  Her stomach felt tight as she approached the house, and this feeling turned into a knot of disquiet as she looked the carcass over. It was relatively untouched, save by the elements and insects. The hide had withered, the hair scattered around the clearing as if by a breeze in the past, though no marks marred the leathered hide. Only the jawbone lay exposed, the curved rack untouched and too white against the leaf litter for Thaz’ra’s comfort.

"Poachers you think?" Rin asked.

"They'd have taken the antlers or the meat," Thaz'ra muttered, Gerald kneeling beside her and frowning at the leathered remains.

"Why wasn't it eaten?" It was Hazel that asked. She seemed unaware at first the weight her innocent question carried. Thaz'ra glanced up at the cabin, and the disquiet in her stomach became internal screaming. Jasper lowered his camera as Boris knelt beside him, frowning.  Hazel had fixated on the remains, a frown spreading over her features like a stain, “Guys… why wasn’t it eaten?” she asked after a moment, trying to keep the frantic tone from her voice.

Thaz’ra glanced around the group for a moment, taking a head count of her group as they stood gathered around the remains of the deer.

Boris kneeling, 1; Gerald keeping watch of the woods behind Hazel, 2; Rin frowning at the leathered remains, 3; Boris looking the remains over, 4; Hazel looking to Boris for an answer, 5; someone at the far corner of the cabin, 6-

6?!

Thaz’ra did a double take; but found the vague sixth figure had vanished from where it had stood at the corner of the cabin behind Hazel.

Gerald, meanwhile, seemed fixated on something else now as he sidled up beside Thaz’ra. He tapped her shoulder and she turned to him, he pulled her close, his lips against her ear.

“I saw eye-shine,” he whispered gently, tilting his head just slightly to the woods behind Hazel. Thaz’ra’s blood ran cold, and she stood, grabbing Jasper’s sleeve and tugging him along as thunder rolled in the distance.

“We need to get back to the Jeep,” Thaz’ra declared.

“Who put you in charge?” Hazel scoffed.

“Excuse you, but outside of Gerald, I have the knowledge to survive in this wilderness… so you can come with or stay behind,” Thaz’ra’s gaze was stern, though her heart was racing as she eyed the space the shadow had filled a moment ago, the woods Gerald had seen eye-shine in.

“Thaz, you look pale,” Hazel frowned, looking behind herself to the space Thaz’ra had fixated on for a moment with a confused expression.

“We need to head to the Jeep,” Thaz’ra repeated, releasing Jasper. Jasper lead Hazel, Rin, and Boris out of the clearing around the house, Gerald and Thaz’ra following suit.

“Thaz,” Gerald murmured, “What did you see?” he asked, stepping over a fallen log.

“Hm?”

“The double take.”

“Oh…” she let out a shaking sigh, running a hand through her hair, “you saw that?”

“Thaz… I know you,” Gerald sighed, following Boris’ sturdy frame through the brush along the trail.

“I was doing a headcount,” she murmured, “…I came up with six at first.”

“…You too?” thunder boomed again, closer now, and a gust of wind picked up. The air tasted sour in Thaz’ra’s mouth, “the shadow, behind Hazel?” Thaz’ra stumbled over a rock almost and he steadied her, grabbing her arm. Her hand found his, fingers lacing tightly together and squeezing tight.

“Yeah,” her voice felt small and afraid in her throat, “Let’s just get to the Jeep, okay?” Gerald nodded, squeezing her hand before coming to an abrupt halt, colliding with Boris almost, “Boris, bro, the hell?”

“I… I know we came down this trail,” it was Jasper’s confused voice she heard up ahead, and she went to the front of the group, still clinging to Gerald’s hand.

“Guys… talk to me,” she reasoned, “also, it’s easy to get lost, buddy system,” she held her and Gerald’s hands up, and Boris did the same with his and Rin’s hands.

“We are lost,” Jasper rasped nervously, “I can’t find my marks.”

“Your marks?” Thaz asked.

“I’m not wood-smart like you, but I’ve been using my boots to make these big ‘X’s in the ground…” he paused to demonstrate, the resulting mark dark in the soil against the fallen pine needles, “like that… and I remember making some on the path we took and I haven’t seen any,” Jasper let Hazel grasp at his hand. Thaz’ra nodded a bit, looking to the sky as it continued to darken.

“That’s actually a smart thing you did,” she assured him, looking around, “We’re in the same clear-cut we were before, just the other end, I recognize the mountain range over there,” her voice was calm, she had to be, she was the voice of reason, she was the leader. Beside her, Gerald rummaged in his coat, producing a compass. He handed it to her, and she nodded her thanks. Rin stepped forward with a flashlight, and Jasper and Hazel stepped close as well. Boris, the tallest of the group, scanned the area around them, watchful while Thaz’ra got her bearings. Thaz’ra jumped when he gently tapped her shoulder.

“I see one of his marks,” he said. Relief washed over the group. She shone her light down along where he pointed, and sure enough there it was. They made their way toward it in pairs, Jasper and Hazel leading, Boris and Rin in the middle, Gerald and Thaz’ra at the end once more.

The mark in question was scratched in the earth in front of a large granite boulder, a line off to one side of it.

“We came from around that way,” Jasper said, pointing in the direction of the line, “From the Jeep,” Thaz’ra consulted the compass and nodded, hearing thunder rumble again as the sky darkened ominously. She gave a shaking sigh as she leaned against the granite, Gerald frowning beside her, “You okay?” Jasper asked.

“Yeah, a bit winded is all. I’m in shape, but round is not the ideal shape for hiking,” Thaz’ra quipped. Gerald scoffed at that.

“You’re not round,” he tutted, “Not everywhere,” Thaz’ra swatted his chest with a hand and smirked, “Oh harder darling,” he taunted her.

“Masochist,” Jasper scoffed.

“Oh my, are you jealous?” Thaz’ra teased him, “If so, of whom?”

“Don’t kink-shame him,” Hazel tutted at Thaz’ra. The group gave Hazel a pointed look, and she blinked a few times before the gear turned in her head, “Oh. Right… you’re a couple.”

“Bingo,” Rin hummed as Thaz’ra turned to Jasper.

“You made the marks, lead the way,” Jasper nodded absently, and the group made their way along the clearing. They came to the downhill side after a bit, it was steep, and dipped out of their line of vision.

At the head of the group, Jasper had frozen.

“I thought you said you’d only made a few marks Jaz,” Thaz’ra caught Hazel’s question on the breeze and frowned, rushing to the front of the group.

 “Talk to me guys…” Thaz'ra was met with an unsettling sight; the hillside was covered in marks, crosses in the dirt like Jasper’s. It was no small expanse; the area was easily the size of a football field. More unsettling than that, the marks narrowed to a trail that lead back to the trail into the dense forest around the cabin.

"I... no, I didn't make these marks," Jasper said, frowning.