They’d been following Mr. Binson and his battered old Chevy for twenty minutes and, in the dimming light, the road looked rough and narrow; empty too. They hadn't passed another car in five minutes.

"Hey guys, how far did that old guy say his place was?" asked Cara. "This is ridiculous."

"Yeah, no kidding," said Paul, clenching his jaw as he tried to find the smoothest route among the potholes. "We hit any of these wrong and the donut's gonna blow."

There was nothing to do but keep driving and five minutes later the pickup finally slowed down at a dirt drive that was little more than two narrow tire tracks in the frozen weeds. He stopped at the roadside, waving them forward.

"Hold on a moment," he said as they pulled alongside, "I've got to open the gate. I'll let yeh through then follow yeh up after I close it again. I can't be letting the livestock out."

Levi looked around but could see neither livestock or house.

"Er, how far up is it?" Paul asked, "I'm not liking the look of that drive."

"Heh, don' worry about that, the place is just up around the hill. The drive might be narrow but it's in better shape than the road here. Now go ahead, ah aint interested in standing in the cold longer than need be."

He stepped over to the heavy wooden farm gate, swinging it inward with ease.

"Huh, it must be lighter than it looks," said Phil. "He's lifting it one handed."

Indeed Mr. Binson seemed to have no trouble with the heavy timbers as he walked the gate open, motioning them past. Levi watched the old man as they passed. As he did so he jumped. Mr. Binson had smiled and, in the dim light, Levi thought the man's mouth had been filled with sharp, yellowed teeth. He looked again, but the man had turned his back, trudging back to his truck.

"What's up?" said Alice, "you looked spooked? You see a ghost or something?"

"I, uh, oh never mind, I thought I saw something but I'm probably just tired."

“Death’s coming for you right?”

Levi shivered.

The trail they were winding slowly up was overgrown on either side with tall thorn bushes and brambles, so they were in a narrow passage, looking eerie in the fading light. Remembering the old man's smile, Levi shuddered. Up and around the bend they came suddenly to a second gate much like the first.

"Aw man, he never told us about this," Said Paul, "I guess we'll have to open it ourselves. Levi, Phil, can you guys take care of it?"

"Hey," said Phil, "again with this sexism, why us and not the girls?"

"Cause I said so," Paul snapped back. "And you're going either way since you didn't help with the tire."

"Alright, alright, come on Levi let's take care of it."

They went out into the cold, now biting even deeper than before. Levi's face hurt as he walked to the gate.

"Hey," said as he tried swinging the gate, "It won't budge."

"Yeah," said Phil, “you've got to open the latch, hold on." He stepped up, but stopped, kicking the post with frustration. "Can you believe that? there's a lock on it. That old man better get here quick, it's too cold to hang around out here. I'm going back to the car."

Levi followed him, wondering why Mr. Binson wasn't there yet. He didn't have to wonder long; they hadn’t taken more than a step or two when the old pickup came rattling around the corner.

"Well, it's about time," said Phil, walking toward the truck. "Hey man the gate's locked, you got the key?"

The old man got out but didn't respond, he just stood there for a second grinning. A trick of the light made it look as if he licked his lips. Levi once again thought he saw long, sharp teeth. Phil didn't seem to notice anything and kept walking forward.

"Hey Phil, hold on, something's wrong," said Levi, as loud as he could. Though it was hard to get it out with his whole body shivering as it was from cold and uneasiness.

"Huh, what?" asked Phil, stopping to look back.

"Something's wrong," Levi said again. "Get back here."

"What are you talking about? Let's get the key and get out of here."

A deep, gravelly chuckle from Mr. Binson surprised Levi. "You're a sharp kid. Not that it matters." He walked to the back of the truck, pulling out a tree branch, as big as Levi's leg.

A trick of the fading light made him seem to grow, till he was a head taller and twice as wide as any normal man. On second thought, Levi didn't think it was a trick. The man had grown huge and hairy, with enormous yellow teeth and a horribly disfigured face.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Phil get in the car now," he yelled as he ran for the door.

The monster leapt forward, covering the intervening distance in a moment. Swatting Phil with his cudgel, it sent him crashing into the rear bumper of the Honda. Phil rolled off, falling limply to the ground. Levi stood with one hand on the door handle, rooted with fear, as he watched the monster raise its cudgel to finish off his friend.

The crack of a gunshot broke the nightmare. The monster staggered, groaning as the club fell from his now limp hand. Wheeling around it snarled, running toward the sound of the gun, though it’s arm hung limp at its side. A shadow stepped out on the road in front of it. Calmly the shadow raised its rifle, firing again. The creature's head snapped back and this time it fell forward, lifeless, on the drive.

The newcomer ran up to Phil. Levi was prepared for some other monster but, as he stepped into the light of the pickup's headlights, the phantom shrunk to become an old man in a baseball cap.

"You're in luck kid," the newcomer said, bending over Phil. "Out cold, but I'm guessing you'll be okay." He looked up at Levi, who still had his hand on the door. "How about you? did it hurt you?" Levi shook his head.

The three other doors opened, emptying the car.

"What just happened?" demanded Cara. "What is that thing, who are you, and where’s Mr. Binson?"

"You can call me Hal," said the man, hoisting Phil over his shoulder. "Help me get him in the car, will you?" They all jumped to help, and soon had Phil placed in the passenger seat, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead.

Cara persisted with her questions, when he didn't answer immediately. "Well, are you going to tell us what happened and where Mr. Binson went?"

Hal walked back to where the monster lay and kicked it a few times. "That right there is the thing you called Binson. You kids really should be more careful around strangers."

The others looked at the monster, shocked disbelief plain on their faces.

"You're kidding right?" That was Cara again, "That thing doesn't look at all like Binson. He must have done something to him before coming for us. We've got to go find him, he could be hurt."

Levi was shocked too, but he'd seen the man change.

"No, that's him. I saw him change. What was he?"

"Ogre," Hal said, as he took out a large hunting knife. He grabbed the creature by the hair and slashed its throat. "There, now we know it's dead." He went to the ogre's pickup and came back with an old tarp. "Here," he tossed the keys to Alice, who almost dropped them, "You girls go unlock the gate. This is Rip's place, I want to see what happened to him." He pointed his still bloody knife at Levi and Paul, "You and you help me with this thing," he said gesturing to the ogre.

"Wait," Cara said, still not moving. "There's no such thing as ogres, what is it really?"

Hal gave her a long stare before laying the tarp out. "It's an ogre, and I'm not planning on waiting here till I freeze, talking it out with you. Open the gate so we can take care of this thing and get someplace warm. Then I'll talk more."

Cara didn’t look convinced, but went with Alice to move the gate anyway. Levi and Paul helped Hal roll the beast onto the tarp and carry it back to the truck, where they heaved it into the truck bed. Hal got in the truck and they piled back into the car, driving the last hundred feet or so to the old farmhouse. It stood darkly behind a stand of trees which served as a windbreak.

Phil still hadn't woken up and that worried Levi. But he was breathing ok and mumbling something in his sleep, so they left him in the car, following Hal into the house. The door was ajar and, even in the cold, a fetid reek drifted out to meet them. Hal flipped the light, exposing the interior.

The place was trashed, beyond trashed. Clothes, drapes, and bedding were torn and mixed with leaves; all heaped in the corner like a nest. Bones were strewn across a floor crusted in mud, filth, and rotted entrails. The walls and furniture were slashed repeatedly as if the creature which lived here had caused the destruction out of idle boredom.

They gagged upon entering. Paul heaved noisily before losing his lunch in the corner. Hal was quiet, seemingly unaffected by the smell. He poked around the refuse with the toe of his boot, moving around the room purposefully. Muttering to himself he disappeared into the next room.

"Hey guys," said Alice, "the guy with the gun just walked out. You think there're any more of those things around?"

No one seemed to want to risk it. They all pushed forward, following Hal into the next room where they stopped abruptly, almost tripping on him. He was crouched over a pile of gnawed bones on the floor.

"Poor Rip" Hal said finally, rising slowly. "It's a shame he ended up this way."

"What do you mean?" asked Levi, not really wanting to hear the answer.

"That's what I mean," said Hal, holding up a broken human skull. "Ogres don't much care what or who they eat. Still, he was fighting cancer as it was, probably better quick than the other way."

"Is that," Paul stammered, "is that real?"

"You mean this? No it's a Halloween prop you dope. Yes it's real, and this would have been the lot of you as well had I not come along. Now how bout you give me a hand with the body in the trunk."

Sobered, they all helped him drag the heavy corpse into the living room, dropping it on the floor.

"Alright, you," he said pointing to Levi. “I saw a gas can in the back of the truck, get it for me will you?"

Levi wasn't gone long, but when he returned Cara was arguing with Hal.

"But, you can't just burn him, he needs a proper burial." Cara was saying.

"Why? He's got no family, and folks would start asking questions if they saw his gnawed bones. The ogre's dead and I don't know about you but I don't want to have to explain all this to the sheriff. It's not the sort of thing people believe too readily."

"Well, you have the ogre, isn't that enough?"

"So we go down and tell them an old man was torn apart and eaten, and by the way we found and killed the man responsible, who isn't a man at all but a fairy tale. We show a murdered corpse to the sheriff and he’ll just see a big, disfigured man. Then we're all investigated for murdering a John Doe. No thank you."

Hal took the gasoline, dumping it on and around the ogre. "You all might want to get out before I light this, it'll spread quick. I'll just be a minute"

Taking his advice, they emptied out of the house. They stood near the car for a good five minutes, waiting.

"What's taking so long," asked Cara to no one in particular, shivering and stomping her feet for warmth. No one had a chance to answer, a rush of warm air and burst of light from inside was followed by Hal, stepping out into the cold. He came to stand by them, watching the flames begin to flicker and grow. The fire ran along the sides of the house, casting strange, ever changing shadows on the surroundings, accentuating the ethereal nature of their circumstances.

"Well, come on," Hal said finally, turning and walking down the drive. "My car's back this way; you'll have to follow me back to my place, but then you can stay the night with the missus an me. I'm sure you've got questions, and this is no place to answer them."