Cracking my eyes open, my consciousness came snapping back when I saw the morning sun. I hadn’t meant to sleep, and it seemed impossible with the deafening snores; but the trip to the mountains must’ve taken it out of me. Unease started to creep up my back. Usually, Granny Liadan woke me up at the crack of dawn for morning prayers and to appreciate the Lord’s creation of the rising sun. But it was mid-morning already. Where was Granny Liadan? Did the goblin eat her during the night? The loud snores of the goblin weren’t a comfort until I peeked over the edge of my bed.

The goblin’s eyes were still wide open and bloodshot from drying out through the night. Despite seeing him sleep like that last night, it was still scary to see. The only comfort came from the exposed teeth. There were no signs of blood or flesh.

Did Granny Liadan die naturally in her sleep?

It was difficult to climb down from the bunk bed without making a sound, but the goblin was still snoring loudly. A proud smile crept to my lips until I turned towards the door. The salt line… it was broken? Did the goblin leave the room? The door squeaked as I opened it to a dark corridor. I glanced back to see the goblin still in bed with its eyes open… but the snoring sounds had stopped.

“Cormac?”

…

“Are you awake?” The goblin maintained eye contact before it began speaking gibberish. “Jesus Christ!” The goblin stopped talking as it bared its teeth at me with a hiss. “I know! I know! I shouldn’t take the Lord’s name in vain. Have you seen Granny?” The goblin tipped its head to the side. “Never mind- Hey!”

The goblin hopped out of bed and barged past me, causing me to stumble. I watched as the goblin began throwing open door after door within the cabin. He started with doors to rooms, before moving over to cabinet doors, and only stopping when he reached the bathroom mirror door. Granny Liadan was nowhere to be seen.

“Did you eat her?” Anger was spilling into my throat as I cornered the goblin in the bathroom. He let out some pitiful whines as some tears began spilling from the corner of his eyes. “Then where is she?”

Panicked, the goblin dived in between my legs and ran into the living room. Whilst chasing him, I finally had a clue as to where Granny Liadan went. The front door was open, the shutter was mostly closed but there was a crack, and the salt line had been broken. Anything could have gotten in during the night. The goblin must’ve realised what had happened as well as he began pointing to the door with tears still falling.

Help. We needed help.

My phone still didn’t have service. With the goblin’s help, we were able to locate where Granny Liadan’s house phone was, but it was disconnected as well. No one was coming, no one knew Granny Liadan was missing, no one even knew that she had been living with a goblin for over three months apart from the missing Officer Gary…

“Do you think Granny is still alive?” I asked, starting to get defeated as I slumped down to sit on the floor. “If there’s something hunting out there… I might not be able to get down the mountain safely.” Who knows what had snatched Granny Liadan. She wasn’t as strong as she once was, but it had to be something fierce to force her away from her cabin. Even Dad couldn’t make her leave.

Suddenly, a can of peaches hit the side of my face. I yelped as I clutched the side of my cheek wondering if the bone was broken. “What the-?”

The goblin sat directly opposite me, so our legs were touching. Within his grubby mouth was another tin of peaches. He pointed at the can that assaulted me and my mouth. The goblin repeated the gesture until I picked up the can of peaches. “Are… are you trying to cheer me up?” I watched as the goblin focused his attention on crunching open his can of peaches.

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A scream coming from the front door caused the goblin to bite through the metal in surprise.

“That’s Granny,” I shout while racing towards the door. Adhering to all of the warnings I received growing up, I stopped at the front door where I had re-laid the salt line earlier. Peaking through the small holes of the iron shutters, it took me a while to see him. It was only for a second, but I saw a pale humanoid figure running at an unnatural speed through the trees. Another female scream sounded, confirming my suspicions. A wendigo.

“There’s a wendigo out there.” I turned to see the goblin nursing his mouth while a mixture of blood and peach juice spilt all over the floor. Letting out a sigh, I grabbed a kitchen towel for him. “Listen, there’s a wendigo out there. This is good news; it means Granny is probably still alive.” Hearing Granny Liadan’s name, the goblin stopped focusing on his injury and stared at me with his big, unblinking, bloodshot eyes. “But not for long.”

The goblin grumbled as it strutted past me towards the kitchen, undoubtedly, to look for another can of peaches.

“Didn’t you hear me? We gotta go save her!” Ignoring me again, the goblin began shoving out all the contents of the cupboard with both hands. “A wendigo doesn’t just eat a person when he captures them. They take their time and eat them piece by piece.” The goblin was still ignoring me. In irritation, I yanked one of his arms away from the cupboard before I screamed.

It bit me! The filthy beast bit me!

“Fine! Have it your way! Go to your cans of peaches and just abandon Granny! If she hadn't mistaken you for a child, then you would be starving out there in the woods.”

Abandoning the goblin, I began nursing my wound under the bathroom sink. This was meant to be a fun retreat from the city. A chance to get back to the family roots. At least, that was what Dad told me. A convincing lie to cover up a truth. Mum wasn’t going to be home when I went back.

Choking back sobs, I checked my bite wound. It was irregular from the shape of the rotting teeth. But luckily, it was just a nip. Like a cat giving out a fierce warning. Most importantly, it hadn’t broken the skin. There was no need to fear tetanus, rabies, or whatever diseases goblins carry. And it wasn’t even painful anymore. The surprise of being bit was the worst part.

Something hit my back with enough force that it made my head hit the bathroom mirror. The impact made the mirror crack, showing fragments of my bruised face. For a moment, I thought the goblin had chucked a can of peaches at me again. But it had been bigger.

I turned to look at the goblin, who was frantically pointing at the brown sac it had hurled at me. He was becoming so desperate for me to pick it up that he was beginning to froth at the mouth. Maybe I did need a rabies vaccine? As a precaution, I turned on the tap before splashing some of the water towards the goblin.

Clearly irritated with being splashed, the goblin began scolding me with unintelligible shrieks. Every few shrieks, he pointed fiercely at the spot on his dress that had gotten wet. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I just thought you had rabies or something. You need to get changed anyway, so go get changed. I know, I’m sorry!”

After being encouraged to change out of the tiny dress several times, the goblin finally relented and began strutting back to our bedroom. A sigh escaped my lips. Only once the goblin left, I finally opened the brown sac that was chucked at me. A gun, some knives, salt, silver charms, stakes, and many bottles of holy water; it was Granny Liadan’s emergency bag for unwanted neighbours. It was only then that I realised what the goblin had been trying to say to me.

Rushing back to our room, the goblin was trying and failing to put on an orange tie-dye dress with a large smiley face on the front. This morning’s dress was too small, this one was too big, hopefully Granny Liadan will be back to pick out the next one so it was just right. “I’m going after her,” I told the goblin as I pulled out the clothes from my backpack and poured in the contents of the brown sac. He was too focused on his dress. After a quick change, I used the bedroom mirror to check my appearance and carefully set my hair before covering it with my Dodger’s baseball cap. Now wasn’t the time for distractions.

By the time I had finished preparing, the goblin was still struggling with the button on the back of the dress. “Come here,” I tutted before fastening the button for him. He had earned such compassion. Finally, the goblin was able to focus. “I’m going to get Granny and bring her back. While you stay here, make sure the doors remain locked and try, really try, to lay a line of salt by the front door. I’ll do one from the outside, but it’s not always effective.”

The goblin wriggled away from me and ran as fast as his little legs could. “Wait! Where are you going? Is your favourite programme on?”

In the living room, I found the goblin standing in front of the front door. He was pointing at it while aggressively stomping his feet. It took me a few seconds to realise what the goblin was trying to say. Cormac was coming with me.

“I’ll grab a few cans of peaches before we go then.”