Another half-hour passed in the clearing before Ollie decided they’d waited long enough and called it a night. Once back at the house, Ollie continued down the gravel road to his truck, while Kimmie closed the front door and watched through her window as his headlights lit up the trees on either side of road. Once the light faded out of sight, she grabbed more treats from the kitchen, being careful not to alert Tank and Bentley, or her boarders, then hurried back to her room. She rummaged through the closet, pulling out a plastic bag with three disposable cameras she’d bought several years prior. She grabbed one, hoping it still worked, along with her towel and a new camouflage blanket, and then slipped out the door leading from her bedroom onto the back patio. She double-checked the bedroom windows to make sure no one was still awake, and then worked her way back to the clearing.

She walked down the path, stopping well short of the closest traps. Ollie had set them up a good distance from the house, hoping to deal with the goblin without alerting her boarders. Given how often it lurked in the shadows at the edge of her backyard, she was pretty sure he’d gone too far. So, she found a somewhat clean place off to the side of the path, only a few dozen yards from the tree line, right next to a big oak tree. She folded her towel in half and then sat on it, settling in against the trunk, wrapping her blanket tightly around her shoulders. Her camera rested on her lap, primed and ready to take a picture, with flash, which meant she’d only get one or two pictures off before the goblin ran away.

She wasn’t sure why she needed a picture, other than the fact that it felt important to her. She supposed seeing it would allow her a glimpse into its soul, if it had one. Right now, this goblin, or greenie, whatever it was, was nothing more than a mysterious, intangible thing roaming around in the vast expanse of her land. She had a vague sense that if she could put a face to the monster, she could get some peace, and all the noise in her head would finally settle down.

And Ollie couldn’t say anything about her coming out here. She wasn’t luring it to the house this time. She was going to it. Exactly what he told her to do.

Weariness set in, and she leaned her head against the tree, fighting to keep her eyes open. Coffee would have been a great idea, but she’d neglected to think of that while still in the house. And if she went back, she’d either fall asleep there, or miss out on something here. She decided to stay outside and fight through the fatigue. Despite her best efforts, though, sleep took her.

She dreamed of a forest, a much different one, somewhere in Japan. She didn’t know how she knew that, but it never occurred to her it could be anywhere else. She saw the forest from above, a sprawling sea of green, speckled with white, and sitting in the shadow of a majestic mountain. Thick grey clouds roiled the sky and snow whirled through the air, slowly blotting out the green from the forest canopy. She floated downward, falling gently toward the thickest part of the woods, toward a small stone structure nestled between the trees. Somewhere within that building, a voice called to her.

A desperate voice.

Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around frantically, realizing with some dismay that she was back in California, sitting on the ground, waiting for a dangerous goblin to wander by. At some point during her slumber the camera had fallen to the ground next to her, but that wasn’t what woke her up.

It was the sound of a twig snapping.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

She froze. The sound had come from directly in front of her. She scanned the darkness, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Some movement above the brush, or a humanoid shape.

There.

On the far side of the clearing, a silhouette, dark, and bent over. She thought about her camera, but she was too afraid to reach for it.

The figure moved, taking one slow step at a time. Kimmie held her breath, praying that a stray streak of moonlight caught it, revealing what she already knew it to be. The gods were with her, because as soon as she wished for it, it happened. The figure walked through the clearing where a silver shaft of light slashed across it for the briefest of moments, flushing it out from the impenetrable darkness that kept it safe.

A goblin.

Not just a goblin. The goblin.

It was short, like she remembered, hunched over like a French monastic bell ringer. In the moonlight, the green skin was now chalky grey, and the yellow eyes were muted. Its hands were overly large for its thin, lanky arms. In fact, much of the goblin’s body had the lean, wiry look of one of those chimpanzees Ollie had talked about. She had no doubt this thing could knock her senseless with one good punch.

Another step returned it to the darkness, but Kimmie could still see it, just not with her eyes. Her memory of it implanted itself over the shadowy form that skulked through the clearing. It approached the stump carefully, searching the darkness for a surprise. For one terrifying moment, its eyes passed right over her hiding spot, and Kimmie readied herself to run like she’d never run before. But it gave no sign it saw her. The camouflage blanket must be doing its job.

Sensing no danger, the goblin reached down and opened the box, immediately devouring the treats within. Kimmie carefully leaned forward, forgetting her earlier fear. The blanket fell silently from her shoulders and she readjusted into a crouch. She wanted to get closer. She had to.

She forgot to grab the camera. No, that wasn’t true. She didn’t forget. She didn’t need it. She was taking in every last detail of this beast, focused on it as if nothing else existed. The pain of losing her aunt and uncle, the only parents she ever really had, faded away as she took one methodical step after another. At this moment, she didn’t hate the thing standing only a few dozen paces away. She was mesmerized by it.

It turned away from the stump, having finished the treats, and she froze again. It left the box behind, as it had the night before, and then disappeared back into the woods. But before it did, Kimmie noticed something new. It walked with a limp. Its right leg was twisted around to the side, so that the foot faced outward.

Is that why it was on its own? Because it was lame?

She crept into the woods after the goblin, taking soft, careful steps to avoid being heard. She noticed as they moved along the path that the goblin avoided the traps they set up.

Clever little guy.

Something snagged her foot. She looked down to see that a bramble vine had hooked over the top of her shoe. She tugged gently, trying to pull it free without making any noise. When that didn’t work, she reached down and yanked it with her hand, fighting back the urge to cry out when the sticky brambles poked her skin.

By the time she got loose, the goblin had disappeared. She hurried down the path as fast as she dared, hoping to catch up to it, but she couldn’t see anything in the pitch black between the trees. She stopped and listened, hoping to hear a twig snap or leaves rustle. Anything to keep from losing the trail.

Movement ahead caught her attention, distant and muffled, and she nearly broke into a sprint to catch up to it.

A garbled shriek echoed through the forest, sending chills up Kimmie’s spine. Someone cried out in response. Not the goblin. A human voice.

No.

Kimmie broke into a run. Someone else was out here with her. A man, if she had to guess.

She reached another small clearing off the path, lit by moonlight. Frayed ropes lay scattered across the ground, along with a burlap sack. A glitter of light caught her attention, and she turned to see a long knife stuck in the ground.

“What the–?”

A figure appeared to her right, but before she could react, the world shimmered and became black.