The Goblin Part 9

Ah! I did it again (lol) I intended to post this episode on time, but ended up getting distracted. One day, I will get the hang of my scheduling. Until then, let's just jump into this week's episode.

Enjoy 😄

The Goblin Part 9

Quiet, it was entirely too quiet as I made my way through the dense woods. Nothing but the sound of rustling branches as I brushed against overgrown bushes. The sound of my footsteps were swallowed by the soil beneath me.

I didn't like this type of silence. It was heavy, unnerving and thought provoking. As I navigated my way through tress and bushes, ducking low hanging, dodging the tips of broken branches, while trying to avoid hidden ditches, my mind wondered farther than my feet ever could. I couldn't get the image of the children's bones out of my mind. It infuriated that dark part of me that I struggled to keep under control. To know, that whatever creature, no, monster was taking young children and eating them, devouring their futures was roaming around so close to Emma made me crave blood.

Yet, that wasn't all there was to it. Under all the death, tragedy, and fear there was something else lurking. I could sense it. The foreboding feeling ticked the hairs on my arm. Whatever this thing was, living in the woods, it wasn't working alone. Things like the one stalking this town were often instructed to do so from a more powerful beast.

Lingering after most of the children were gone, whether it was because it had eaten its fill or because the parents had safely tucked away their children, didn't happen. And given how deserted Carnival seemed, this creature should have moved on a long time ago.

So why hadn't it?

I had no clue but I intended to find out and I got the feeling that when I found out who was behind this I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Again, as I paused to catch my breath against a tree, my mind wandered, I thought of my run in with Manny. There was no doubt in my mind that our "date" had been a set up. Question was by who? I didn't want to think Felicia had anything to do with it, but once the doubt was planted in my head. It festered and fed until it slowly began to bloom.

Then there was Emma. When I first saw her in that dungeon, so frail and scared, I wondered why the ghouls had kept her alive. Did they know who her father was? Were they responsible for the things happening in Carnival? Too many questions and not enough answers.

Midus. That bastard. He was up to something. That much was obvious. But, just how much Emma, her father and Carnival were involved, I had no idea. An even more concerning question popped into my head, was he working alone?

Unbidden, the image of my no good ex invaded my mind. That black gaze of his branded into my head just like the sharp points of his fangs covered in the dark crimson of my blood... the pain of the poison coursing through my veins.

At my temples I could feel the pressure building. The more I thought about it, trying to figure out what was going on, the more intense the pressure became. A low groan escaped me as I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. The moment I got the thoughts in my head to settle, the heavy silence that engulfed the woods, began to seep into my skin. A cold numbness began to spread throughout my body and did nothing to ease my headache.

I took one deep breath and released it in a steady stream.

And then another-

The scent of decay suddenly filled my nose. Rotten and old, the smell circled through my senses threatening to choke me.

I gagged. The throbbing along my temples increasing painfully.

God, I just wanted to lie down. just for a moment. Underneath me, my legs strained to support my weight. Had I not been braced against the tree, I would have dropped to the ground.

I need to move. 

There was something, whatever I was looking for, the child eating creature, was just up ahead. For the safety of the remaining children and Emma, I needed to move.

I waited several minutes from my headache to subside. It didn't. Instead it dulled to a low throbbing that I could ignore for the most part. Pushing myself from the tree, I took a step forward, stepped in a ditch that hadn't been there before, or it might have been. I had no idea, what I did know, was that in an instant my world was spinning and I was heading for a vicious face plant.

"Roxanne!" I heard the shout a moment before I kissed the ground.

Closing my eyes, I waited for pain that never came. Instead, there was a firm grip on my forearm. I was pulled roughly back and slammed into a wall of steel flesh. My, suddenly drained, body collapsed against my savior.

What's... going on? 

My thought were as clouded as my vision.

"Roxanne," I heard his voice again, just under the rising ringing in my ears. "Can you heard me?"

Not... really. 

I looked up. Not surprised that his face was a mask of hazy shadows. But that voice, I knew that voice.

Somewhere, off in the distance I heard a hard curse and then I was drowning in darkness. The last of my energy was sucked out of and there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing but accept its embrace.

Then it was lights out.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

Welp, that's all for this week's episode.

I'm always curious to see where each episode will lead as I don't really plan these out. So, look forward to next week's episode.