The Day The Music Died

46.

"Why don't we just burn the forest? Set the whole damn thing on fire." Gilbert had started the drive up to the forest, Clarissa felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising up just going near it.

"Native Americans tried that, it wouldn't burn, then the village who tried it was found all dead, bones picked clean, but curiously they were picked clean like they'd been killed where they'd been standing. Just skeletons standing up, sitting down, like some macabre display. There was some crazy person in the fifties who wanted to build a lodge up there, he took himself and some undocumented workers up there, no one ever saw him again, though people do claim if you look in the woods at night you'll see lights up there, I never saw it, but I try not to stare." Gilbert reached a parking lot, there was no one on duty, just a parking lot with a parking attendant booth and one other car Gilbert assumed was from the missing woman.

"Who maintains the lot?"

"No one, it maintains itself really. I heard it was originally just a clearing with a sign welcoming people, now it looks like any other park though no one from the state dares come up here. Park ranger used to come up and put a sign up saying this park was closed, he went missing some years back and no one took over." Gilbert stopped the van and looked at Clarissa dead in the eyes, "Last chance on this crazy train." Clarissa gathered her coat and small supplies.

"I'm in this till the forest is stopped Gilbert." Gilbert felt better he had Clarissa with him, but he also could hear the music louder now. He'd been hearing it the whole trip, but didn't want to tell Clarissa.

"Well I'm proud to have you with me, now lets get that nuke."

"WHAT?"

"Figure of speech." Gilbert opened up the side panel of the van and drew his green chest to himself. Clarissa had wondered what he was keeping in it, every other tool he just had scattered around back there, but this one specifically had a double lock security. Clarissa saw him take the keys out from around his neck and unlock it. She half expected to see a nuclear weapon, or huge gun. Instead it was just a glowing jade Naginata, the weapon that had saved Gilbert all those years in the past.

"That's that dragon blade right?"

"Right, coated in the blood of the beast who made it, I've killed several things with this, that could not be killed, to be honest should have probably had it with me when we went after that Kraken, but mistakes were made." Clarissa was in awe at it, the weapon felt warm in a way to counter the cold she felt from the forest.

"Gilbert Dunkley, I remember the first time you came up here," Gilbert and Clarissa nearly jumped out of their skin at the sound of another person, "Rick Toomes, Everett herald, you probably don't remember me, but I was the photographer on that first missing person."

"Right Toomes, you brought donuts for everyone, wanted to take the first photo of the search party when we found the young woman, kept saying it would be your big break." Gilbert held his hand out to Toomes and the man shook it, Gilbert felt a chill go up his body, but wrote it off to the forest being a cold place. Clarissa didn't like Toomes, he had a look to him that felt off, but they weren't in the woods proper yet, Gilbert said the weird stuff didn't happen out here.

"It was my big break Gilbert, it was, never did find that woman, what was her name?"

"I don't remember, sad right?"

"A little." Toomes walked up to the front of the van, and looked into the woods, they seemed darker by the minute despite it only being nine in the morning. "You still hear the music Gilbert?" Gilbert didn't know how to respond, he hadn't told Toomes about music, never spoke to the man again after that first trip. Toomes walked from the front of the van to beside it, Gilbert went to follow and he was gone. Like he'd never been there. Next to Clarissa's door was his camera though, an older model, something from the 90's before everything went digital.

"Where'd he go?" Gilbert cursed under his breath and put the camera in the van.

"I'm an idiot, Toomes was the first one to go missing all those years ago, god damn forest is fucking with me." Gilbert turned from the van and stared at the tree line looking for anything moving, but saw nothing.

"Still going in?"

"Still going in, come on don't want it to get dark."

"Gilbert wait." Clarissa went back to the van and rummaged around in the back before coming back with some rope. She tied one end around her wait and handed the other part to Gilbert.

"Smart thinking."

"Figured this way if one of us sees something, and tries to wander off, rope will stop that."

"Unless something cuts the rope."

"No one likes a cynic Gilbert." Clarissa and Gilbert had a laugh at that and then both turned to look at the woods. "Well lets get this damn thing done, sixth times a charm right Gilbert?"

"I'm feeling better already Clarissa." Gilbert wasn't feeling better, but anything to stop the music would be welcome.

****

"I guess I was expecting something scary." Clarissa and Gilbert had been walking for a few hours, they hadn't seen anything. Exactly as Gilbert had said, the forest felt like a normal place up until it wasn't.

"I've heard it said as the Banality of evil, the regular old normal ness of terrible."

"I guess your stories scared me so much I expected something to be waiting for us." Gilbert was walking with the Naginata over his shoulder in a casual manner. It was the easiest way he'd found to carry it since it was so unwieldy normally. Clarissa had an arrow notched at the ready, she didn't know what she'd shoot, but she felt being prepared wouldn't hurt.

"Don't worry, something is waiting for us, I can feel it, though maybe don't walk so close to me the line is pretty slack." Gilbert turned to see why Clarissa was so close when he noticed the line had been cut. Clarissa wasn't anywhere near, he called out, but heard nothing in response.

"Well shit."

****

"Gilbert you're awfully quiet." Clarissa had been following Gilbert for hours, the sun was starting to descend which she figured would be time to turn around, but he kept on walking deeper in. He hadn't even turned around to look at her. Clarissa got a bad feeling when she noticed he didn't have the Naginata either. She stopped and when the rope pulled tight "Gilbert" turned around and revealed it wasn't actually Gilbert at all, but some horrific looking ghoul. Clarissa didn't even think she just notched the arrow and fired. The shot didn't so much as hit as it dispelled the not Gilbert, the rope went slack, she could see now it had been cut, probably hours ago.

"Fuck." The forest was all around her, she figured this was probably how it got a lot of people. Had you thinking you were with people and then when you realized you weren't it was too late. She didn't hear music, but she figured it was coming. Clarissa also hadn't brought anything other than the bow, her arrows, and her coat. Hadn't even though to bring a flash light or a lighter or anything, she'd assumed Gilbert would bring everything they needed and she was just there to help him from getting lost, which had worked out great.

The only thing she found was she had left her Ipod in her pocket, so she could die like so many idiots in horror movies, not being able to hear what was coming. Clarissa was about to put the ipod back in her pocket when she thought of something. What if hearing the music wasn't the first time you heard something, it was just when it became obvious? She had to test the theory quickly, she turned on the ipod and was happy to see it had most of its battery. She put her earbuds in and turned up the volume to almost painful levels. At first she regretted it because she'd been listening to an awful pop song and at that volume it just made her regret having the song in the first place, but then something weird happened. The forest changed. Instead of the endless samey looking trees, it looked different, she could see changes, see which way the sun was, and see other foot steps in the ground! They looked big as if made by someone in work boots like Gilbert. She ran in that direction immediately, hoping to find him before the forest got him.

The foot steps ended at a large ugly tree. She looked around it hoping to find some indication where Gilbert had went, but they just stopped at the tree. Just being near it she could feel her skin crawl, like she was in a place no one should be. Clarissa knew immediately she'd found what she needed to kill, but she saw no way of doing so. She had her arrows, but shooting an arrow into a tree felt like a really stupid idea. She was about to just try jamming the arrow head into the tree hoping to do something when she noticed one of her arrows looked different than the others. It was the fire poison from when they'd been hunting the Kraken. She remembered afterward Gilbert said to carry one just in case "never know when you need to burn something from the inside." Clarissa didn't know if it would work, but figured she had nothing else to lose. She slotted the fire poison arrow up and aimed dead center on the tree.

"What are you doing?" It was a young boy, Clarissa knew it wasn't an actual young boy, she could barely hear him shouting over her music, but she knew the forest was trying to stop her.

"Ending this."

"Why don't you hear the music?" The boy was now a man, a twisted ugly broken looking man. Old and twisted in a way that reflected the tree.

"Just not a tune I can dance to." She let the arrow fly, it hit the middle of the tree and nothing happened at first. And then the twisted man caught on fire. The tree itself started to smoke from the branches. Clarissa wondered what she would do next when she saw a black man's hand shoot up from underneath the roots of the tree. She ran to it, assuming it was Gilbert, but the hand disappeared again. She was about to start digging when the Naginata emerged up from the same place Gilbert's hand had been.

"Cut it down." She could hear Gilbert, he sounded hoarse, like he was struggling to speak, almost inaudible over her ipod.

"Let me get you out first!" Clarissa was shouting without realizing it.

"Can't get free, cut it down." She nodded her head and dropped her bow. She took up the large pole arm, surprised at how light it felt compared to how heavy it looked. Clarissa didn't even know how to swing it. Her first attempt was like a baseball bat, the blade turned sideways and slammed into the tree sending a tremor up her hands that hurt up to her shoulders. She was undeterred though, and her next attempt had her place her hands equally apart and swing with all her might. She figured she'd cut part of the tree, make an impact and then have to keep chopping. Instead as soon as the blade touched the tree it sliced on through, it almost knocked Clarissa off her feet to have it cut as if she wasn't cutting at all. The slice took her halfway through the old rotten beast of a tree, and with some walking she managed to finish it off, the cut having also magically extended out the backside despite the blade not being able to normally reach that far. Her work done the entire tree caught fire and feel away from her, almost writhing as it burnt.

"Gonna need some help." Gilbert's voice was louder than before and Clarissa felt better. She ran to his hand and pulled and with his help she got him out of the ground. He was covered in dirt and leaves, as soon as he was out he vomitted up some black sludge with other tree parts.

"Oh my god I'm so glad you're out."

"Not alone, the Hansen woman is down there, still alive, but barely." Clarissa helped Gilbert dig the woman out, she was naked and shivering, but alive. Clarissa handed over her jacket and Gilbert lifted her up on his shoulder like a small child. She looked impossibly thin to Clarissa, she hoped she'd come out ok.

"So which way is out Gilbert?" Gilbert nodded in the direction opposite the tree.

"That way, though I swear to god I can still hear music, though this sounds worse than that carnival barking shit from before." Clarissa went red and reached into her pocket to turn off her ipod.

"Better?"

"Yeah, though I am going to have so many questions later Clarissa."

"As will I Gilbert."

"Grab my Naginata, and lets get the fuck out of here."

"Yeah I think this dance party is done." They both had a chuckle at that, but the groan of Ms. Hansen cut their moment of levity. They still had a job to get done, and daylight was fading.