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godofthemoss · 7 months

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Bee’s National Forest of Eldritch Horrors

Hi! Original story here that includes some eldritch horrors going on in a national forest park including a nonbinary park ranger and their love interest a little gremlin of a wannabe monster hunter. Although maybe he's right about the entities in the park. Fuck.

Chapter One

“Saw that little occult nerd of yours in the woods again, he was covered in some kind of green snail jizz. Probably sap or something. He smelled sweet. Anyway, the idiot swore up and down that he had run into some kind of monster den. And guess what? When I went and checked it out there were boulders in front of the supposed ‘lair’. Someone needs to drag that poor dye job back to the city. He’s losin’ his shit out here, Bear.”

“What did I say about using my legal name, Bernice? Just call me Bee or bitch or whatever thousands of other nicknames you seemingly call me anywhere besides the forest.”

Bear swept a hand through their too-early-to-be-greying hair. Bear was already pissed their tea mug was cold. They didn’t need Bernice secondhand yelling at them for Septimus again. Bernice sat on the edge of Bear's desk and picked up their baggie of walnuts and waved it in front of them. She leaned in close and looked deep into their eyes.

“Now you’d tell me: your official work bestie if you,” Bernice narrowed her eyes. “Had a thing for dyed hair, yeah?”

Bear just blinked up at her.

“Didn’t you just spend like two hundred dollars getting your new hair though?”

Bernice deadpanned and leaned in closer. She slapped down the walnuts.

“Bear Newton. Not only are we indoors at the park so I can call you whatever I want but I’m GAY! Which you are well aware of. Do you ever use those brain cells of yours?”

Bear just screwed up their face, still not getting it.

“Weren’t you just asking if I think dyed hair is cool? Your hair is cool Bernice I already told you that after you got it.”

Bernice groaned and pretended to drop dead to the floor dramatically. She spread her arms and legs all over the floor and groaned and rolled around.

“How the hell did you get in charge around here? You are so dumb, Bear. Honestly. It hurts my heart. Just never mind. Eat your damn walnuts. You need the brain power. Maybe a peppermint after too my old science teacher always said that helped and you need it.”

Bear happily did. After a minute or two of Bear eating and Bernice just lying quietly on the ground, she got up and went to her own desk. It was high noon and they had to finish up their paperwork before their park rotation was up. This month they were in the afternoon to midnight crew.

A creak of the bathroom door and Eckie the tabby came out strutting. The old cat was well-fed and well-groomed for a feral cat. Eckie was perfectly round but not too fat and his short hair was always pristine. A grey, black, and light brown striped tabby cat. Green knowing eyes. For as long as the cat’s apparently been in the forest he’s got all his eyes, ears, and a full tail. Bear always thought it weird with the amount of predators in the park. They had seen a video of a cat slapping a sea lion though.

How he always let himself in the Mothra house was beyond Bear’s or their team’s knowledge but the cat always found a way in. Weird as the cat was, he was Bear’s favorite little creature in the entire world. They even had a bed for him which the cat jumped up to reach on the desk. Their coworkers had made fun of them but they didn’t care. Eckie was like their baby and made their job easier to work through. Bear gently petted Eckie while writing down the latest littering incident.

“Mothra house come in.”

The radio cut through the easy quiet of the small office. It was hard to tell with the tone taken out by the walkie but the voice, Ayla’s, sounded rushed. Bernice jumped for the closest walkie sitting over on the counter in the small kitchenette they had. Seemingly unaware of the hurried voice, Bernice took the time to perch herself up on the counter and flip her locs over her shoulder. Little decorations shone in the sunlight coming in through the nearby window.

“Mothra house, whatcha need?”

“Get to Scully’s Fall. We gotta missing person and two dead.”

Bear immediately shot up and ran over for the walkie-talkie, not bothering to take it out of Bernice’s hand when they called over.

“Ayla, it’s not the green-haired kid right?”

“No, but he’s here alright. Y’all head out. Call Akane and Ramhead.”

“Copy.” Bear and Bernice spoke simultaneously while also both holding down the button.

It didn’t take more than a breath and a tilt of the head at each other and they were already grabbing their coats and equipment. Bernice grabbed the keys and roared the truck to life. Bear gave a yell for Eckie to man the helm and they locked the door. Bear took their phone from their pocket and sent a quick text to Septimus.

Bear: You’d better count your lucky fucking stars I don’t see you out there.

Around halfway there they got a response.

Septimus Pinepike: I can help!!!!!!!!! I think I know what it is!

Bear: No.

Septimus Pinepike: :(

Septimus Pinepike: maybe close ur eyes when u get here then lol

Bear shoved their phone in their pocket and practically kicked their door open when they arrived. Florence and her girls were on the scene already and it was grizzly. Blood drowned the rock around the shore of the river at the bottom of the falls. The bodies were in pieces which made sense and so was their canoe. Coming down Scully’s fall was no joke. What eluded Bear was how they missed all the giant signs at the fork of the river. The old rangers made sure the Twisting Crook River was posted up with about twenty little signs growing in size the closer one got to the fork that divided the main river path and the cliff run.

“Florence, the front desk said they don’t recognize these folks, and the one I.D. we found doesn't match our records of folks comin' in. Must’ve snuck in.” Ayla had been working too hard, as usual, blood smothered her shirt and she was already making calls.

The image of the girls pulling the bodies from the river seared in Bear’s mind. They were all tougher than them but no one, in their mind, should have to do something like that but every once in a while they sure had to. The cops were always late and if they could someone they would. Always seemed like grim work for the paradise they practically lived in. Bear took the scene in carefully, and looked over; Bernice was doing it too. She was lowered to the ground by the canoe, so Bear got to ground level with the bodies alongside her and slapped on some gloves.

“Who’s the missing one? The I.D person?” Bear muttered as they inspected a twisted face with a gloved hand. “And why’s the face this bad?”

Bear took a second to look at the full body. Full wasn't actually right though. Some things were missing and it wasn't just the face that was bad. Everything was twisted up wrong. The bodies, or more accurately, the pieces that were on shore were bent in nearly impossible ways. Ways a river just doesn’t do. Something about the way the bones were jutting out twisted up Bear’s stomach sharp and quick. They only had a moment to sprint to the nearby bushes to vomit. After washing out their mouth and wobbly walking back like they didn't just evict their entire body and spirit to the girls all greeting them with unimpressed looks, Bear squatted back down.

“I.D. man is missing.” Florence quickly showed Bear and Bernice the I.D. and its information after ending her call. “Miri’s house is checking the perimeter. Cops are coming,” Groans sounded from everyone, but Florence kept on. “And they will handle the rest. We just have to fan out for the missing guy. And, uh, Ole Less said the river does that sometimes, certain rocks and whatnot don't go all buck wild about it.”

“Are you one hundred percent sure it was just some rocks, Flo?” Bernice had her face screwed up in plain disbelief.

Florence just shrugged, “Boss said it was some rocks, would you rather it be a deranged serial killer in the park, Bernie? People can’t do this type a’ shit.”

“Then why is the boat like this?”

What was left of the boat itself was just weird. It was a weird fractal mess of colors and glittery iridescence of different sizes spiraling underneath blood. Lots of blood. The metal was forced open at weird, wrong angles. Some of it looked so thin while other chunks of the canoe were thick. Bear thought perhaps that part was just their lack of knowledge of canoe making because that thing had to have been hand-crafted, but still, it rubbed them the wrong way.

“Bit too much blood, here don’t ya think, Florence?”

“Kid, try gettin’ a period.”

That got a huff of laughter from the rest of the girls. Florence was right though, so Bear let it go. With the few accidents they had seen over time, the blood always seemed impossible anyway. The amount of blood in people was an insane thing to think about. Though the thought of this still being too much blood persisted in their head. They threw a glance at Bernice and she already had her ‘We’re missing something here’ look on. They made sure the rest of the rangers weren’t looking and then slowly nodded back. Something was different about this and the others were already dismissing it.

“Where’s Septimus?” Bear quietly asked once they and Bernice were done looking the scene over.

“Who?” Ayla quirked an eyebrow up at them.

Bear sighed, “The dark green-haired guy. Kinda short. Talks a lot.”

“Oh!” Ayla gave him a wink. “Off ahead with Mothman house. Sure you can catch up to ‘em.”

Bear simply nodded their thanks and headed towards the surrounding woods with Bernice in tow. They had no idea why no one else was keen on keeping the guy out of trouble but extra eyes to search does help, Bear mused to themself. When they were out of earshot Bear pulled Bernice close by the arm.

“You think they’re just too used to this stuff to see it doesn’t make sense at all? I mean they all did a bunch of stuff like this before we got hired a few years ago.”

Bernice glanced over her shoulder, “Yeah I mean, rocks could definitely fuck up the bodies but how did they miss the sign? Who dragged them on the shore? Ayla said she didn't do it when you were throwing up. If it's I.D guy then what a battered, half-dead man pulled them up and some of their pieces? I don’t think so. Times like these are when I wanna believe our little monster detective. 'Cuz if a person did this...”

“We’ve had so many accidents and just weird fucking call-ins. Are people being stupider than usual out here? I really hope it's not a killer, but maybe someone lured them out here to get murdered?”

“Well, the thing is people are just really stupid sometimes. They don’t believe death comes on that black train till it rams them off a fucking cliff and they fucking die.”

“Maybe the heroin epidemic reached those granola girls and camping dads you always joke about? The majority of our reports are white people.” Bear let out a low unconvincing laugh. They really shouldn't be joking right now but the thought of a serial killer flooded them with a simmering fear they couldn't afford on the clock.

“White folks do acid in the woods if I remember anything from college, not heroin but shit maybe. Black and brown people know how to stay on their toes I’m not surprised it's just white people calling in.”

“Bernice. That I.D.. If all those men were from Nighmoor. I didn’t recognize the name but what if—”

Bernice barked a laugh, “You sound like fuckin’ Septimus.”

Bear stifled a laugh. “No, just what if it has something to do with my hometown, Bernice? It has a long history of really dark shit. Cults and stuff. That makes it more of an us problem and less of a park problem. The town's not far and I mean you know I don't believe in that supernatural shit but it's really weird, right? What if some cult or some devil group is up to something.”

Before Bernice could reply the cops and the rest of the Mothra house pulled up as they reached where the shore met the forest’s edge. Bernice waved over Akane and Ramhead who went bug-eyed at the accident scene but quickly switched to their professional faces and veered towards them. Florence started her typical heckling and bossing around the cops. Which in Bear’s opinion, was well-needed. Sheriff Ulric was old and shit at his job.

“Don’t know what the hell they think Ulric’s boys are gonna do. Why do we call them for this type a’ shit again?” Ramhead pulled up on his belt, making his equipment clang through the afternoon.

“It's the law, bud.” Akane slapped him on the back. “Alright, what’re we lookin’ for?”

“Oh, the typical, white male in his mid-thirties, blonde hair, and named Steven. Oh, and Bear’s little goblin boy.”

“We are in the woods.” Bear seethed.

“And off we go a’ singin’, Big Bear. Let’s fan out.” Akane pushed him off to the far right.

When looking for a missing person each ranger walks in a grid formation of the woods. It was important to make sure no gaps were left unchecked. Each ranger was placed in a specific range of one another. The other three began to spread out far to the left. Each had grabbed their own walkies, flashlights, and first aid kits, and unfortunately out here required a gun. Pistols for small creatures and rifles for larger predators. Man included.

“Mothman house come in? Mothra house has joined the search team.” Bear radioed over.

“Bet. We’ll stop until you guys are in eyesight. We didn’t start too long ago, probs fifteen minutes before you guys. We do have a bit of a clothing trail going on though, one shoe. Black river shoe with a purple streak thing.”

“Roger that Miri, see you soon.” Akane radioed.

“Bear, your little creature is stealing all of my snacks! Come and get him! Ugh, how are you hungry! People just died! No! Ugh, as if.”

Bear could hear cackling to their left.

I make sure this kid doesn’t get killed off in the woods a few times and suddenly he’s my responsibility?

Around fifteen minutes later dyed green hair comes into focus. Septimus had on a flashy shirt with a purple and neon green robot and a bright mint green puffer coat. The bright colors of his top half contrasted with his black carpenter pants but then at the bottom, he just needed more color with some color block sneakers. To top it off he had a dried sheen of that sap on his coat like Bernice had mentioned.

At least he wouldn’t get shot or lost too easily. Bear kind of liked it too. More so they liked the old dark leather satchel Septimus always had on. Which was, of course, strapped to his side per usual. Berek swore the kid would rather die than lose that old bag and that book he kept inside it.

“Bee!” Septimus was beaming at him mischievously, double lip piercings and all, and Bear felt themself age another twenty years and also something turn excitedly in their stomach that they routinely ignored.

“Stop stealing other people's food.” Bear grabbed the graham crackers from him and tossed them to Miri. “If you're gonna come out here be prepared.”

Bear kept their voice stern but not too harsh. It was hard to be mad when Septimus was the only one who followed the No-Yelling-Bear-Unless-There-Is-A-Real-Bear-Rule. Septimus ran over and guided them by the arm over to where they’d begin their now shared grid search. That much was obvious. The professional in Bear had still not been worn down completely though. They had a duty to protect the public as much as possible even though they knew it was useless on Septimus.

“You ought to go home, Septimus. This is a serious case.”

Septimus ran a silver-ringed and tattooed hand through his hair and rolled his eyes.

“Alright, ranger. Good thing my house is this way then, huh?”

Bear just narrowed their eyes at him.

Septimus leaned more into him and tilted his head with a smile.

“Okay, I'm lying, whatever. You wanna know what I think it is?!”

And here it was. What he thought it was. The whole reason Septimus had burrowed his way into Bear’s life over the last few months. It had been annoying at first and sometimes still is but the way Septimus lit up when he had first talked about his monster theories tugged a bit at Bear’s heartstrings. They just didn’t have it in them to crush that light or send it away. It was nice seeing someone so passionate about something even if it was silly.

So, they indulged the guy and somehow became his unofficial forest guide and monster theory confidante. Not that they actually believed any of them. Just a nice thing to do and if they were honest with themselves they didn’t have many friends outside of work. They wondered if this really counted though. The two of them only ever saw each other in the park. Neither of them had mentioned the word friend either.

“Alright kid, shoot.”

Septimus frowned.

“Well, first may I remind you I’m literally five years younger than you. Stop acting like thirty makes you fucking ancient or some shit. Okay, but anyway, I think the initial attack wasn't an attack as much as something messing with them. It changed their reality somehow.”

“So drugs?” Bear leaned in.

“No! I haven’t had time to pin down something in the book but there are a couple of things that really stand out. First off no one paints canoes like that, so it’s been transformed but then I think like why weren’t the people transformed in the same exact way? If it's not something from my book then, I mean those two guys and the I.D. guy seemed super straight by their clothes and shit. That canoe totally looked like some gay art kid threw up their final project—”

That busted a laugh out of Bear but they quickly quieted themselves and kept looking around. “You’re right on one thing.”

“Oh god I know, right? Anyway, it's the fractals that worry me. That’s something so hard to just paint like that they’re all so perfect it looks like nature did it. Like a perfect Lichtenberg figure.” Septimus paused for a few beats looking around. “I don’t know. It rubs me the wrong way which usually means a supernatural way. Obviously, the other dudes' bodies were transformed all unnatural, so maybe it doesn’t all have to match but you’d think it would but maybe it makes more sense that it doesn't. Maybe it's not supposed to. I’ll have to get into the morgue and look at them better later. Maybe the fractals went deeper. They should match if it's what I think it is though.”

“I didn’t hear that.” Bear trudged ahead and out of Septimus’s grip. Eyes scanning their surroundings. “And you didn’t give this whatever you think it is a name yet.”

“Got another shoe and a T-shirt. Covered in blood of course.”

Bear simply sighed and Septimus caught up again and grabbed their elbow as they walked.

“The missing person was wearing cameo in his I.D. photo. What if he’s a hunter? That would have Hyaalakath written all over it. Especially if we find him and he comes back with animal scratches and no memory. The fractals and reality shift are wrong then though. But it is possible to get snatched by another thing out here. Just unlikely.”

“You sayin’ he turned into a werewolf?”

Septimus stopped dead and fixed him with the most offended look possible. Bear just rolled their eyes and kept moving. They still hadn’t spotted anything in their grids. No prints or clothes or anything. Bear could hear Septimus pull out his own flashlight, much smaller than his and definitely from the nineties.

“If it was a werewolf it would be a way different crime scene. That’s like the first thing you learn about in my line of work! Plus werewolf isn't quite right for what those creatures are.”

Septimus was worked up now and Bear might have found it far too amusing.

“Your line of work, huh?” Bear held down a smirk.

“One of these days Bee! One of these fucking days I’m gonna be right!”

“We found what’s left of him. Get to Arden’s section. We’re not on him yet,” There was a hesitant pause. “But we can see it.”

“It?” Bear breathed out in horror to Septimus.

Arden’s section was a puddle of blood and viscera. Only a few feet in either direction but it still seemed so monumental. Bear dry heaved several times while Septimus strode ahead until his sneakers toed into the small pond of flesh, bone, and blood. He pulled out his book and started thumbing through it only for Miri to pull him back gently by his shoulders. Septimus hardly seemed to notice.

“Bear this kid scares me sometimes.” Miri’s face was screwed up in concern but her eyes had a mild amusement.

Miri was young but had seen some of the worst accidents the park had to offer. She was also a veteran, so Bear figured she’d surely seen some blown-up people before. Explosives though? Out in the forest? It was their first train of thought but that seemed strange although not impossible. Hunters were cruel and uncaring for those who got caught in their traps sometimes. Although they would've gotten a call about a loud boom or bang so perhaps not a bomb. A weird new high-tech hunter trap felt silly now that Bear thought about it now. An old mine perhaps?

The slam of Septimus’s book broke Bear’s thoughts. Looking over at him he watched him rip out of Miri’s arms and right into the center of the puddle. Shouts and swears followed but nobody dared wade in after him. Tucking the book away and rolling up his sleeves, Septimus put his hand into the human sludge and pulled out an opened locket.

Septimus walked back out of the sludge and ignored all the berating and even the lecture pouring out of Bear’s own mouth now on how utterly stupid he was and that this was a crime scene. From his bag, he pulled out a rag with his clean hand, wiped away all the bloody remains from the locket, and then carefully held the locket up to his flashlight. He snapped the locket closed, grabbed a nearby rock, and smashed it full force onto the locket.

“Woah!” Miri barked.

“Yo, get your nerd, Bear!” Quinn had his hands up. They were another one of Miri’s group.

“Mean!” Septimus whipped his head around to Quinn, rock still in hand, who muttered a quick sorry at him. “I’m so pissed. The one fucking time!” Septimus threw the rock out into the woods.

At this point, Ramhead tugged on Bear’s arm and pointed at Septimus and then with two thumbs motioned harshly behind them, and then to further drill home his point he jabbed a finger at Bear's chest. Bear let loose a long and loud sigh, gathering looks from the others. Miri stepped away to radio in the scene and thankfully left out the locket bit, not that the cops would’ve noticed anyway. Bear slowly made his way over to a fuming Septimus and gently pulled him up by his puffer’s collar. Without really noticing anything Septimus followed along consumed by whatever thoughts were raging through his weird little brain.

#cryptid #eldritch monster #original story #godofthemoss #taz amnesty #the magnus archives #mlm story #nonbinary character #monster hunter #orignal character #orignal writing #mystery #horror #horror comedy #national park mystery story #Bee's National Forest of Eldritch Horrors

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