"Johnathan! Carol! Follow my voice and look for the light!" William trudged further into the bayou, darkness drawing near on all sides. He'd told the boy countless times, be back before dark, and never play out in the bayou. You couldn't see the gators in the daylight let alone like this. Spinning the lantern around held up high, William looked into the water for signs of blood or debris that might signal the worst but found nothing. His poor vision rendered everything outside of the glow of the lantern nothing but inky darkness. The gnarled trees rooted to the side of the water bed, the ripples in the water signalling something below the surface, the constant scuttling of the foliage did nothing short of terrify the man, but he persisted in his search.
Crossing over to the other bank and its narrowest point allowed him to stay mostly dry from the shin up, this far into the wilderness as he was every step became a potential hazard, like the earth had risen up with nothing short of the intention of trapping him here, pulling him into the swamp to never see his family again.
"Carol! Can you hear me? Come on dear I have a spare lantern for you!" Walking further into the swamp cutting through more of the dense foliage, he came across a wall in the distance, or what he assumed to be one. It was a tower of ivy caught in the glow of the lantern. Making his way over William trudged along keeping his eyes peeled for either of the missing parties.
Carol had been nothing short of foolish, the impulsive woman, running off as soon as the child arrived.
"Mr and Mrs Mcullagh, I'm so sorry we, we, we were all out in the, erm, the swamp, dare it was. Johnny got stuck and we heard noises, we ran! I'm so sor-" cutting the words off in his head lest he dwell. Carol hadn't heard another word out the young girl's mouth anyway charging off into the night with naught but her nightdress on. Foolish, and now he's out here alone trying to find them both. Reaching the wall he did a quick spin making note of his surroundings, beyond the wall lay more swamp land but it seemed uninterrupted where as to his left and right he could see river water swirling through the earth, no doubt filled with predators. Seeing that he was penned in with only one option he trudged forward and around the wall.
The structure itself was nearly non-existent, he could barely make out the material under the ivy for how thick it was but with it still standing he could only presume brick. Taking a note of the ground, whatever had been here was long since reclaimed by the earth.
A whine sounded in the distance followed by the sounds of the surrounding plants being trampled and pushed out of the way. Williams attention snapping up he froze staring out into the darkness that lay beyond his lantern. His breathing stilled in shock, and the acrid stench of smoke started to fill the area. William panicked slowly reaching for the colt at his side, before he could get it clear of the holster an explosion came from behind him. Falling back in surprise his revolver lost in the ruins and his lantern coming to a painful crunch as it cracked on the rocks, gas escaping and the light beginning to flicker. Managing to hold his indignant cry at the awful situation, William reached for the dying lantern, thrusting it out in front of him only to see the back end of a wild boar charging into the undergrowth ahead.
"FUCK!" Willing himself not to scream any more and failing William rose to his feet. "LISTEN HERE BOY YOU BEST GET YOUR BUTT HERE RIGHT NOW YOU HEAR ME. IF I HAVE TO SET ONE MORE FOOT IN THIS GODFORSAKEN SWAMP IMMA WHOOP YA SO BAD YOU'D WISH THE GATORS GOT YOU." Waiting for the response that never came, the bayou itself failing to recognise the dishevelled man, he swiped his hand across his ruined shirt feeling a sting. Raising his hand in front of his cracked lantern he could see his hand was littered in little cuts from the quick meeting it had with the rocks beneath. Finally making his way across the ruins and back onto earth he took one forlorn look at the dying embers of his lantern.
Having taken the spare lantern from his belt, luckily hooked to the front causing it to land in his lap when he fell, he lit it from embers of the old, before taking the old lantern and dousing it's flames for good. Continuing forward with little more than tragic determination William continued.
"Carol love, please find my voice. If we go back, we could get some of the boys from the town to help us, and get a whole search party. Maybe get those new boys with all the weapons to help scare off the critters" Not expecting a response he kept walking. How shocked he was to hear a, a moan? It could be any sort of animal, perhaps another pig. Before he could pick a new direction he heard it again, noticing ahead of him plumes of smoke in the air, he followed the sound to its source.
"Carol is that you? Can ya hear me?" Almost tripping on the twisting root of a tree he steadied himself not to fall again before he heard something again.
"-leave it." The accented words giving him hope, he tried to work out where it could be coming from and settled for just beyond a small pond. Making his way through the bullrush, careful in his steps for gators or snakes he came upon a clearing, the place his mind would begin to unravel.
Beyond the brush, William caught his first sight of what would be his undoing. A dark chill replacing the usual balmy temperature of the swamp. Dimming the light of his lantern he looked on, spotting what appeared to be the source of the acrid stench. A burning cabin lit in the distance by the lakes edge wreathed the surrounding area in an orange and red glow. He could barely make out what we saw in the light, reaching for his binoculars that always sat on this belt and thankful to find only one of the lenses cracked he held them to his face to observe. In front of the flames the first thing he noticed was what looked like a body, a man maybe? Dark clothes covering his body with the telling sheen of blood coating him. Pulling the binoculars away William closed his eyes and took a deep breath. William wasn't a coward but he was no fool, he had stumbled upon something here tonight he shouldn't have and he had to make the quick decision to leave and try and get home hoping his family did the same, or... William continued to look through the binoculars.
The second thing he noticed was, confusing. He could clearly see bare legs, speckled with mud, further up the body however he could see what seemed like a bare pale back, almost, no, as pale as a corpse hunched over it. Blood and marks littered the bare flesh of the back only partially concealed by fiery red hair that had long since become matted with some kind of filth. Looking at the scene he couldn't work out what the hunched body was doing, he could see slight movements and the head was hidden behind the torso but it seemed pressed to the body of what he assumed to be another corpse. Maybe saying final rites to a dead friend? William had no idea, pausing again to run his hand across his bald head feeling the back covered in mud and ivy he took one more look down the lenses and instantly panicked.
After regaining control of his breathing he took another look only to spot again another man stood up, pale and covered in blood, he wore naught but a white work shirt that looked like it had been sliced from nape to stomach and drenched in blood. That wasn't what scared him most though, the short man stood, shock still staring into the distance, directly at William. It was impossible though with the lantern dimmed and behind a rock, surely he couldn't see him. After what seemed to be an eternity the short man turned looking to the person hunched on the ground, unable to read his lips he didn't see the information given, nor did he see the feral smile as the woman on the ground sat up releasing the body held in her lap, as the second figure rose from the ground with little but thin cloth pants on her person he noticed the second body.
"Ca-Carol God. WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOUSE DONE."
Both figures stood still, the woman facing away, eyes locked on the short man before her, his face impassive and his body still of any movement.
