A Life On Fire Read Online Free

area was still uncharted waters. The sun was nearly set and Gerald felt uneasy about going into the forest at night. He remembered the gun in his waistband, but felt silly about pulling it out. Still, it was somewhat comforting.
       Halfway to the forest, the sun dropped out of the sky. Gerald looked around, unsettled by the sudden darkness. He looked back at his home, which appeared to be nearly a mile from where he stood. The forest had never seemed anywhere near this far. He thought about forgetting the whole thing, returning to his house, but he heard the scream again. This time, much closer.
       The close proximity of the scream sobered him up considerably. His hand went to the nine-millimeter, this time without any shame, and he continued to the forest, now impossibly closer than it had been only seconds before. He turned toward his house again, now unable to even see the porch light he’d left on. He turned back toward the forest to find himself surrounded by foliage.
       “What the . . .” he said, trailing off. He was no longer drunk, the beer’s effects completely sweated and scared out of him. There was a rustling sound which grew into a shrieking sound, eventually causing him to collapse to the ground. The pistol fell from his hand and he clutched his head. The rustle-shriek cut out abruptly, leaving an audible silence. Gerald’s ears rang as he released his head, standing back up. The noise had disoriented him completely. He had no idea in which direction he’d been going, or which way he’d come from. There was another flash, and Gerald had no choice but to walk toward it.
       
       
    Gerald felt the heat long before he saw it. The fire was the diameter of a small house, rising nearly to the sky. He didn’t know how it was possible to not have seen the smoke from his yard, but this was soon forgotten. The men surrounding the fire captured his attention. They stood impossibly close to the blaze, not exactly dancing, but stomping about in what appeared to be some sort of tribal ritual. Gerald stared at the chaotic movements, unable to look away.
       Another motion to the right of the fire caught his eye. He moved closer to get a better look, careful not to be seen by the men. As he neared the inferno, he noticed the men were naked, but perhaps smeared with mud and leaves, or moss, or twigs? The horizontal movement beside the fire proved to be a woman, also naked, tied to a spit.
        What is this, a fucking cannibal movie? Gerald thought. Confused, he ventured closer. He knew he should help the woman, but the situation seemed too unreal for there to be any true sense of danger. Still, he couldn’t leave her to be presumably burned alive.
       Gerald crept closer, out of view of the men (cannibals?). He got within maybe ten yards of the woman when the men shifted their attention to her. As they neared the woman and Gerald, it became evident they were not covered in leaves, moss, twigs, or mud. Beyond that, they were not exactly men, either. Their heads were like sawed-off alligator snouts, their bodies covered with stubby black tentacles.
       “My god,” Gerald breathed in barely a whisper. The creature closest to the woman held a crude blade and cut the line binding her feet. She struggled as two of the others grabbed her legs, holding them apart. The first creature, who Gerald thought of as the leader, stood between her splayed legs. The tentacles in its crotch area elongated and entwined to form an oversized writhing cock. It pulsed, dripping dark goo from its surface as the creature neared the woman. Seconds before the creature thrust itself into her, she looked directly at Gerald, making eye contact.
       “Tracy,” he said, though he knew this couldn’t be true. His head spun as he watched the beast violate her. Random snippets of their years together flooded his mind and he blacked out momentarily. He watched in horror, unable to move. Though none of the creatures