An Extra Touch

Yet quivering fingers still explored my body.

"Hannah!" I hissed.

"Oh, god yes, Derrick!" Was her reply.

The fingers slid away.

"No, Hannah, listen to me!"

Her eyes rolled and her breath quickened. She was getting close. There was no speaking to her. The feelings of ecstasy started to fade into a swarm of confusion in my head. For a long moment I couldn't process it, or bring the thought out clearly in my mind.

Becca... Hannah was right here, Andy was nowhere near....

One of Becca's hands slid up my stomach, feeling my flesh greedily... and roughly. Still she stroked me. I held Hannah's wrists firmly. My wife was all but screaming, but her voice was not hoarse. I was sure of it. Why did I still hear....

A hand worked beside Becca's, shaking erratically. I felt the prick of a nail again. My brow furrowed. I tried to squint through the dark down toward Becca. About that time I felt another tongue, dry and cold as a stone, slide to my naval. I thought I saw the head, and the stringy hair that brushed my skin.

I did not know who it belonged to.

"Shit!" I cried out. "Shit, stop! S-stop!"

I scrambled back on my palms. Hannah nearly fell. Becca recoiled in surprise. The tent became a hush of panting and confusion.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Hannah gasped.

"I... there's something...."

I stopped when I saw my friends' faces. It sounded ridiculous, especially when I saw no one but us. Becca studied me. Andy wore that half smile, like he assumed I was getting freaked out by what we were doing. My wife was there. She had scooted closer, ready to console me it seemed. This close, I could see one of her eyebrows was cocked.

My heart was still flying, and I still felt that coldness on my stomach.

My eyes scanned the tent. There was a shape overhead. No, just the tarp on top of the tent hanging loose. Silhouettes kept appearing in my head. Were they shadows of trees? Were they just—

"Derrick?" Hannah persisted.

"Shhh!" I hissed back.

That sound... Becca was snickering at me. Wasn't she? Or was she whispering? Or was it her? I couldn't quite see her face.

Frantically, I reached for the zipper on the tent flap. Twice the damned thing got caught, but I finally jerked it open wide, allowing what little light I could into the dark tent. I turned and froze. My heavy breath rushed through my nose.

"Derrick what is wrong with you?" Hannah asked.

I was about to speak when we all heard it. In that instant the four of us grew still and silent. I heard the sounds again... wheezing breath, followed by a slow groan. Our heads were turning. Was it coming from outside?

In the dim light of what moon was left, I saw it move. It was just the motion that caught my attention. Then I saw the pale skin draw back into the dark corner of the tent. Becca must have seen it, too. Her eyes grew wide as her head turned to the side. Something was still moving there. I thought I could make out the shape... a head, thin arms, hair....

Then the gaunt face moved forward. Behind scraggly hair, the moonlight glimmered from eyes the color of oil. With a groan, the thing smiled.

Everyone in the tent flew into motion at once. I scurried out of the flap and across the dirt and leaves. Becca's shrill scream told me she was right behind me. I found my footing and I ran. Where? Where the hell do I go? I only stopped when I reached the campfire. Hannah. I had to see Hannah!

Gasping for breath, I saw Hannah and Becca stumbling and screaming right beside each other. My wife was wide eyed, spitting curses.

"Shit! Oh my god! Shit! Fuck!"

She threw her arms around my waist, her head snapping around toward the tent. I could feel her whole body shaking. Becca's scream echoed through the night.

"Andy!"

It was a terrible realization. A wave of dread washed over me when I saw that there were only three of us.

"Oh m-my god," I stammered.

Becca took several wary steps toward the tent. When it started moving, she froze.

I heard Andy scream something from inside. I couldn't make it out and I couldn't see him through the flap. I'd never heard him scream before. Whatever was happening in the tent caused it to toss and shake violently.

"Andy!" Becca was crying out so loud it doubled her over. "Andy, answer me!"

Her hands raked through her hair in frustration. I started toward the tent, but Hannah tugged my arm hard.

"No, no, no, please!" Hannah shook her head frantically. "Don't go up there, don't! Don't go up there! Please!"

The urgency and utter fear in my wife's voice made me stop. I watched the tent as it collapsed. I couldn't just watch. I couldn't!

Becca took several more steps and screamed for her husband again, clutching her own naked body against the chill.

"Andy! Please!"

Her call was answered by a sound I knew I'd never forget. I could only relate it to the yowl of an angered cat or a dying animal... but it grew louder, and wilder. The three of us eventually had to cover our ears. It was a groan of torment, distorted by the hoarse rasp of a throat gone dry. The wretched sound made my knees weak and my blood run cold.

Becca was crying. She stumbled back, but her eyes never left the tent. She screamed again for her husband, only to be answered by another inhuman yowl that seemed to shake the very trees.

I clenched my fists. Hannah clutched me tighter.

"God damn it!" I growled through gritted teeth.

I could feel a lump in my throat and the sting of moisture in my eyes.

It was then that Andy burst from the tent. He scrambled to free his leg from the collapsed tent.

"My god, Andy!" Becca shrieked.

His mouth opened in pain. I saw the reason why in a simple flash as streaks of red split his leg. Andy did not slow. He found his feet and dashed toward us. The single word he screamed was chilling.

"Run!"

Hannah and I turned and bolted toward the shoreline. The cold dark rushed around my face. Hannah collapsed when her ankle rolled on a branch or rock or some object. I jerked her to her feet and pulled her along, determined not to let her fall.

We splashed in the frigid water toward the boat. I was already on board, pulling Hannah on to the deck. She wore a look of extreme pain. It didn't slow her down. Becca nearly missed the edge of the boat with her foot. I hoisted her up then my arm shot down to grab Andy. He wasted no time getting behind the wheel.

"Get us the fuck outta here!" I cried.

Andy fumbled to turn the key over. The rest of us were scanning the campsite fearfully. Both of the girls were curled in the bench seat clutching one another and shaking. I was panting. I couldn't fucking think straight.

I felt a surge of relief when the motor cranked up to hum gently behind us.

"C'mon let's go," I yelled.

"The fucking ropes and the tree, Derrick!" Andy shot back.

I cursed but leapt to my feet, working to untie the ropes on the deck. My fingers seemed like knots themselves as I worked to free the boat from the shore.

"Oh no! Oh god!"

The rope came loose. I turned when I heard the girls shrieking. They scrambled further onto the seats. Hannah was pointing toward the treeline at the far and of the campsite. At first I saw nothing. The pile of material that was once a tent, the logs where we sat by the fire, the huge white cooler... nothing else.

Until it moved again.

It was in the distance, far from the boat. But I saw it. A pale body stood by the trees. Could it really have been that tall? Its limbs were too long and scrawny....

"W-what the f-fuck is that?" Becca stammered.

No one answered her. No one could.

I saw long hair. I saw a stooped, bent figure. I saw milky skin. I imagined I could still see its eyes. The thought turned my stomach, but not as much as when I watched it... crawl on those bony legs into the treeline.

"Okay, get us the fuck out of here," I demanded. Seconds later, the boat drifted away from the bank steadily. I heard the motor trim down and roar. The campsite faded from view.

****

All of the lights on the boat were on. No one talked. I gauged by the time we'd spent rushing across the water that we would be seeing the dock soon. It seemed the weekend would end sooner than we thought.

Hannah and Becca were huddled close. For a time, Becca wouldn't move from Andy's side. She had sat on the deck beside him, clutching his arm like a helpless child. I'd never seen anyone so shaken up before. Andy had finally convinced her to keep warm with Hannah. We were all still practically naked. The wind was slicing through us, but Andy wouldn't slow the boat down.

The girls were covered in a heap of towels. It was the best we had. My arms hugged my chest. I was shivering uncontrollably, but I kept telling myself that I'd be back in the truck soon, with the heater turned wide open. One by one, I made an inventory in my head, cursing all the things we'd left behind at the tent. Our cell phones were gone, our wallets, and many other belongings. I wondered if I'd ever build up the nerve to go back to that place in daylight to gather what we'd lost.

I didn't dare entertain the thought while it was still dark.

I could tell Hannah was exhausted, but she wouldn't let herself sleep. Her eyes looked swollen. Every now and then, she and Becca would mutter something to one another, but I couldn't hear them over the boat motor. I felt terrible for them. They had to be freezing, but they never once complained.

Andy hadn't spoken in a while either. I stared at him, and I could only wonder. The image kept appearing in my head. Those inky eyes in the tent, and that grin, and that awful sound.

And the arm that had clawed out at Andy as he escaped.

I licked my chapped lips. "Andy?"

"Yeah."

It was hard to find the words.

"Andy, are you still okay? Your leg looks bad."

"Yeah."

He didn't look at me. I knew I had to try.

"Did you see anything?" I asked. "Could you tell—"

"No."

Andy's responses sounded brief and final. Each time I had asked. I leaned back against the seat, rubbing my wife's cold swollen foot. Gazing off at the water, I tried hard to erase the scene from my head.

"Andy?" I said.

"What?"

"Maybe we don't fish this spot anymore."

"Yeah."

****

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