Chapter 16.2

Sara sat at the table impatiently waiting for her husband, Kevin, to call her. She had not been able to check the weather on her phone or open the weather screenshots Kevin had sent her. She was anxious for the weather to clear so she could go home. Sara grabbed her phone from the table when it rang.

“Hi, Babe!” Sara answered excitedly.

“Hello, my love,” Kevin chortled. “I have some good news for you. You want to hear it?”

“Are you kidding? Yes! Tell me!” Sara exclaimed. “I need some good news right now.”

“According to the forecast, the weather should break late tomorrow evening or early tomorrow night. It will be after dark, but that means you can hike out first thing, the day after tomorrow,” Kevin told her.

“That is fantastic! If you were here, I would kiss you right now.”

“Well, I would hope you would kiss me anyway since we haven’t seen each other in a week.”

“Of course I would,” Sara said.

Kevin asked, “Are you ready for more good news?”

“More? I don’t know if I can handle more good news,” Sara joked.

“This news you can handle. I managed to finish the job sooner than expected, and I am heading home tonight. I’m taking the next few days off so I can make sure the house is ready, and I will be waiting for you in the parking lot, at your car, the day after tomorrow. I want to make sure you get home safely and that I can see you as soon as possible.”

Sara let out a squeal, then said, “I love you! That is the best thing I have heard in forever.” Sara’s joy was short-lived as a thought crossed her mind. “Wait a minute; if you do that, we will still be going home in separate vehicles.”

Kevin replied, “I thought of that. I got a hold of Steve. He is going to drive me up here. He has been wanting to see some of his family members who live in the area, so it works out perfectly.”

Sara laughed as she asked, “Have I told you that I love you?”

“You have, but I am always happy to hear it again.”

“Thank you.” 

“For what?” Kevin questioned, confused by what his wife had said.

“For taking care of me the way you do. For showing that you love and not just saying it when you think I want to hear it.”

“My love, you never have to thank me for taking care of you. I might not stand guard over you like that weirdo deer, but I will always take care of you,” Kevin told her. “By the way, is the deer still there?”

“He is.” Sara laughed. “I am in the middle of a thunderstorm, and he has bedded down under the tarp I have set up to collect rainwater. It is kind of weird. It is like he knows I need that tarp. He is amazingly careful not to touch it at all.”

“Is he afraid of it?”

“If he were, I doubt he would be asleep under it the way he is. I’m telling you, there is something extraordinary about that deer. I hope he follows me out when I leave so you get to at least see him,” Sara said.

“I hope he does too,” Kevin said, then paused. “Sorry, Babe, I have someone standing in my doorway telling me they need a couple of more things before I can go home. I’ll talk to you later. I love you, bye.”

“I love you too, bye,” Sara replied.

Sara put her phone on the table and began laughing. She was absolutely giddy over the thought of not only the weather breaking but her husband coming to meet her in less than forty-eight hours. 

She looked at the book in front of her on the table. The time she would have in the cabin should be plenty of time to finish reading the journal. Sara picked up the book and looked around the tiny room while holding it. She was in a state forest and was not supposed to remove anything from it, yet she felt she should take a few of the personal items that belonged to Herschel and Jim. She wanted their families to have them if she could find any of their living relatives.

Sara pushed those thoughts and questions out of her mind for the time being. Those were things she could think about and decide on when she left. In the meantime, Sara wanted to keep reading and learn more about them. She opened the book and continued reading.

December 28, 1879

I had to use the stove poker to break through the top of the snowdrift again this morning. All I can see are clouds, and I can hear the wind whistling among the trees. If I try to dig out right now, I won’t gain anything. I don’t know what to do.

I put a large hunk of flesh on the stove to cook while I dug out snow to pack around Jim. He looks as if he is sleeping. I wish I could sleep without Jim coming to me in my dreams.

Last night he came to me again. He looked and sounded like himself to start with, and then he changed. He went from being his kind, warm self to cold and demanding. The way he looked changed again too. He went from looking healthy and alive to gray and decaying. He looked as if he had been in the grave for weeks, if not longer. He began to yell and screech at me with these ungodly sounds that tore through me. I could still hear them echoing in my head when I awoke.

I do not want to sleep anymore. I do not want Jim to be in my dreams anymore. To have my brother angry with me for not eating more of his flesh burdens me more than I can express. I cannot continue to have him invade my sleep as he is.

December 28, 1879

Second entry. I need to eat more of Jim’s flesh. That is the only solution to my predicament. If I eat more, he will not be angry with me, and I will have the strength to dig us out of this cabin. That has to be the answer. That has to be what Jim wants me to do, and he will give me peace if I do that.

I am cooking as much flesh as my pot will hold. I have covered it in the spices Jim gave to me like he told me to do. Maybe it is those spices that make me want to eat more. It would be just like Jim to trick me into eating when I do not want to eat. That idea makes me laugh. 

I am hoping the wind dies soon. If that happens, I can get back to serious work on digging us out of here. Until then, the only thing I can do is move what snow I need to pack around Jim and melt for drinking water, knowing all other work will be pointless. The wind will just fill it up again.

When the flesh is finished cooking, I think I will try to lie down and rest. I do not want to sleep, but I know I need to rest when I can. I will eat first. I feel so hungry right now. I’m not sure any amount of flesh I eat will change that. I feel like I will never be full again. 

December 28, 1879

Third entry. I ate and then went to bed. I should have been full and satisfied. All I could do was lay there and think about how hungry I was as my stomach growled. What is wrong with me?

I got up, and I have eaten again, and for now, my hunger is satiated. I hope it lasts. I am not hopeful that it will. I am going to lie down again now that I have eaten all I can hold. I hope this time, I will rest, and the hunger is kept at bay.

December 28, 1879

Fourth entry. The wendigo is real. It must be. That is the only explanation for what is happening to me. I now think that it is the wendigo coming to me in my dreams and not my brother, not Jim. It is the wendigo telling me to eat more of Jim's flesh. I should have known that from the start. How could I be so foolish? How could I think that my brother would torment me in my sleep?

I fell asleep after I ate, and Jim, or what was pretending to be him, came to me again in my dream. This time, it did not try to hide by taking Jim’s form. It showed me what it was. It laughed as it told me I would become what it is because I have been eating Jim’s flesh. 

I used the bottom of one of the tin plates as a mirror. What I could see in it is that my face is as gray as my beard. My eyes are sunken and black, like I have been dead for some time. I cannot explain why my appearance has changed so much. I know that the lack of food and light are playing a part in that, but I should not look like this. 

December 28, 1879

Fifth entry. The wind has stopped blowing, but now I hear those howls in the forest and the stomping around on the roof of the cabin. I feel like I am at war, and I don’t have any way to fight the enemy. This is one war that I would not win anyway, so it does not matter. I will not try to fight.

No matter what is out there or what I am becoming, I have to keep my last promise to Jim and get him buried. In the morning, I will begin working on digging out the steps I have made and get us out of here. Even if it starts snowing again, I will do my best and work as hard as possible to get us out of this cabin.

December 28, 1879

Sixth entry. I sit here in the dim light, and I can tell that my hands now look thin and my fingers look longer than they should be. My hands look gray, and the skin is stretched tight against the bones. They have changed since this morning. 

I am so hungry again. I keep eating and eating, and it only makes me hungrier. I need relief from this. Eating should make me feel better, not worse. 

I need to go back to sleep, but I am afraid to sleep. That should not be something that anyone is scared of, yet I am. I am going to stay awake as long as I can. I need to rest to work, but I cannot sleep, or that thing will be in my dreams again. 

December 28, 1879

Seventh entry. I fell asleep, and it came back. Dear God, it came back. I should have never come to the abysmal place. The evil that lurks here is nothing I could have ever imagined. 

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