Ashes
A soft but chilling breeze was picking up out of the west, and the fire was in need of stoking as Valerie pulled the sheepskin coat a little tighter around her neck, edging a bit closer to the heat. Frank tossed a fair sized piece of oak into the middle of the coals, causing a brief eruption of sparks, which spiraled slowly up into the thermals until they disappeared, victims of the humidity and starved for fuel. She and Frank had spent the last several nights out under the stars, miles from civilization and the nearest other campers.
She stared once more into the space below the logs, indulging her imagination and picturing images that were formed by the position of the glowing embers. It was her turn to tell a story tonight, and something that she saw in those coals stirred a distant memory of long past nights beside other fires. A shiver traveled unbidden down her spine at the sound of a lone coyote, wailing out its lonely song on a nearby ridge.
Frank had finally finished his manly chores, and took his place beside her, draping the small blanket around her thin shoulders and allowing her to lean back against his sturdy frame. Tonight would be special, she would see to that, but before she gave him the surprise she had been saving she had to get him in the mood a bit with one of her creepy tales.
"Well?"
His voice carried a hint of the playful taunting that she had come to enjoy. It spoke to her of his readiness to be absorbed into the story, after which no doubt he had designs of snuggling with her in front of the dying fire.
"Alright, alright, but don't come whining to me when you can't sleep."
"I don't think I'll be doing much sleeping tonight anyway," he said with a lecherous chuckle.
They had met nearly a year ago but had only begun to be intimate in the last few weeks. This camping trip had been her idea though, but one to which he had readily agreed. She was different than all of the other women he had ever been with; confident in her abilities and unusually humble about her exceptional beauty. Best of all, he felt like he could be himself around her, and he could tell that she felt the same way.
She began speaking then while staring fixedly ahead at the flames, which seemed somehow to react to her words, flickering brightly when she spoke, and then ebbing slightly as she paused. Occasionally there would be an explosive pop as a bubble of resin exploded in an unseen cavity of the wood.
"These hills may seem peaceful and serene now, but around twenty years ago they were the haunt of an infamous serial killer. You're new to the area Frank, so you may have never heard about The Woodsman. They called him that because of his penchant for using an axe to cut up his victims. He was never caught, but it wasn't for want of trying by the local sheriff's department. Whoever it was left a trail of bodies in their wake, mutilated beyond recognition with body parts showing up in odd places all over these mountains. There were stories of hikers finding a torso hanging in a tree, or of people coming across an arm or a leg as they walked up the public trail. The oddest thing was that they never found any of the heads."
Valerie's delivery was perfect. She started the tale in a low voice, making Frank cock his head to the side to hear what she was saying. As the story progressed her voice grew louder and more strident, until she was speaking almost frantically while he hung on every word.
"They got close to catching the Woodsman only once. The Mayor's daughter had been missing for about twelve hours; something that wasn't all that unusual considering her wild ways, but due to the fact that she was related to the Mayor an impromptu search was mounted. Of course the first place they wanted to rule out were these hills because of all of those unsolved murders."
Valerie paused to take a sip of water, and then continued.
"Sure enough, they found her hacked to pieces, and I'm sorry to tell you that it was on this very spot. The body was still warm and twitching as the flashlights they were carrying revealed the bloody scene, causing more than one of them to lose their dinner. Suddenly, one of the deputies yelled out that someone was running away through the forest. Perhaps if it had been a full moon they would have caught the killer, but it was said that he ran like a demon, brandishing that huge ax as he ran until he had vanished from sight."
Valerie waited an appropriate amount of time and then finished on a chilling note.
"The killings stopped after that, but some say that the Woodsman is still up here hiding out on the mountain and biding his time. They say that it's safe when the moon is full, but when there's a new moon, or the sky is filled with clouds you won't find many locals venturing up here at night. As for me, I think that the Woodsman must be dead by now, or maybe he moved on to another area. I'm in the minority though, and there are still reports of campers who say they think they were being watched for the entire time they were up here."
"Maybe he's just lying low, waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill again."
Frank's voice was deeper than usual, and it seemed to lack the emotion that he normally displayed.
"Maybe he wasn't even from this area at all, and he was just visiting for awhile to have a little fun."
If anything, the tone of Frank's voice was even more disturbing than before. It was almost as if another person was talking.
"Fun, what do you mean fun? Stop it Frank, you're creeping me out!"
Valerie pushed away from Frank and stood up, then turned around to face him.
"I mean it Frank, cut it out!"
Frank's only response was to slowly rise to his feet and take a step toward her. She suddenly realized that her back was to the fire. Frank was looming so close to her that if he wanted to grab her she would have no chance of escaping his grasp.
Why do you think I agreed to come up here with you Valerie, to camp?"
Frank turned his head until his eyes rested on the axe that lie prone next to the fire pit, a vicious smile beginning to form on his lips. As if on cue, Valerie brought her hand to her face and screamed in terror, resembling nothing less than a memorable scene from an old fashioned movie poster.
Frank exploded in laughter, unable to control his expression any longer.
"Oh my God, you should have seen your face. That was priceless! Frank threw up his eyes and imitated Valerie's scream in a high falsetto. AAHHHH!"
The tears were running down his face as he doubled over in delight, barely able to catch his breath. It was too bad that he was in that position though, because he failed to see the axe as it descended, which separated his head neatly from his shoulders. The last thing that Frank ever saw when his head rolled to a stop was Valerie standing over his body with the axe in her hands.
Valerie never did like that story. In the first place it was about The Woodsman, and never gave her the credit she deserved. None of them ever appreciated her anyway. They all looked down on her, just like that hag who had been the Mayor's daughter. Maybe it was time for The Woodsman to come out of retirement after all. It would be easier now. She was much older than she looked, but still able to attract members of either sex. Besides, she was much stronger than she had been twenty years ago.
Valerie squatted before the fire and poked at the skull with a wooden stick, watching the skin and flesh as it burned cleanly off of the bone. Soon all that would be left was ashes, and it would be time to scatter her handiwork. Something told her that it was going to be a busy camping season this year.