The Woodland Man

Chapter ~ Two~

Something was crawling all over her body. It was too big to be worms or insects. It tended to move in unison over her body. Manon tried to push it away but everytime someone with huge powerful hands would gently stop her. Then the humming would start and she could not stop the feeling of sleep that invaded her body. She had no idea how long she lay there on the soft bed.


“You have been injured and sleeping for ten days.” The voice seemed far away but he sat right beside her.


“Who are you?” Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke.


“I am Kagan.” He watched her try to move but he stopped her. Her eyes remained closed.


“You need to rest today. You will feel better tomorrow.” The female moaned and tried to open her eyes for the first time but failed.


Kagan watched the cuts heal as the green moss moved over her body applying its healing liquid while eating away the bacteria and glass that littered her body. She possessed soft brown skin. It was the color of the sand in the place he meditated and fed.

He rather enjoyed removing her clothing, purring at her nakedness. He could tell by her scent that she was almost fertile and that excited him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply over her belly as the moss moved lower. Her scent filled his senses with every breath he took.


Manon could feel a force drawing something from her body making her warm and feel safe. She could hear the humming in her mind and the feeling of sleep invaded her body once again.


Kagan opened his eyes to watch her sleep. She would never leave here.

The green moss moved from her body and onto the floor where it compressed itself into a small ball. Kagan got up from the bed, picked up the small ball, and walked outside. Once on the ground the moss rolled towards the truck and began to spread over the vehicle.


The trees began to sway as the Woodland man raised his face towards the sun; his source of energy. Kagan outstretched his arms and the black moss that was the duster and hat crawled away from his body. He stood totally naked absorbing the heat from the sun. Long black hair with the strength of steel fell down his muscular back and chest to absorb to nutrients from the sun. The powerful muscles that covered his body began to ripple with energy. The veins within his body rose to press against the surface of his hard bronzed skin to pull the energy down into his depleted body.

Kagan opened his eyes and the hypnotic sky blues surged with anger and power. He slept for forty years only to be awakened by the interlopers. He was going into town to let them know his sleep was interrupted.




“So you say that your sister and her boyfriend have been missing for ten days.”


The four people standing inside the busy Grenna police department all frowned at the toothpick chewing Sheriff sitting behind his desk.


What a backwoods hick?

“Yes, you are the fifth person to hear this from our lips. My name is Judith, this is my husband Rick, and these are Fred’s brothers Mark and Greg. We came here for justice and all you people do is yell at us and act like we are imposing on your time!”


“Damn you sound upset Ma’am.”


“Well she is my sister and you people are acting like you don’t care!”


Andy held up his hands and smiled. “Ma’am we care but you have not told us the reason she came here. You know that kind of information would help us.”

The receptionist sitting a few desks away frowned at the rude people talking to the Sheriff. They burst through the doors like they owned the place and began yelling at the top of their lungs for justice. She and four other officers tried to calm them down before Andy came in and started shooting.

“Deanna and Fred came out here looking for a place to live. Only god knows why.”


Andy smiled. “Ma’am I would really appreciate it if you did not make such comments about this beautiful town. Now this is an easy fix all I have to do is call Larry, he is the realtor around here, and find out when these people left.”


“They were not looking around here in Grenna.”The dark haired man named Greg blurted out with a frown.


“Well then I don’t know where else they were looking because Grenna is the only place with land for sale.”


“They saw a house from the road on the way here. Deanna called me and told me they were going to look at it then come into town and see you owned it.”

It suddenly became quiet and the four visitors began looking around to see everyone in the police department staring at them. They turned back towards the Sheriff. The toothpick was gone and his face was red with anger and something else they could not decipher.


“What is wrong with you people can’t you read! There are signs all over that territory saying to keep out! Your sister and her boyfriend have unleashed what we wanted to sleep for the rest of our lives! George sound the alarm!”

A terrible sound filled the police station and the surrounding area. The four visitors covered their ears and watched the officers scrambling from their desks, grabbing shovels, and running out of the police station.


“What the hell is going on?” Rick asked the receptionist as she grabbed some gloves and headed outside.


“He is coming.” She disappeared outside to join the entire population of Grenna running down the street.

The four visitors inside ran outside to see the townspeople heading towards an old looking shack that looked out of place in the upscale town. It seemed that all of the older men went inside, came out with small trees, and handed them to a member of the town and they ran towards the water’s edge and began digging a hole to plant them. They worked frantically like their lives depended on planting their tree.

Andy directed the people to the specific locations where the trees should be planted. The four visitors came walking towards him.

“What about my……”


“If you don’t leave me alone lady I am going to shoot you. Now I…..”

When the birds from across the river took to the sky momentarily blocking the sun, the townspeople and the four visitors looked across the water. The last tree went into the ground and all talking stopped.

“What is going on here?” Greg whispered to the Sheriff.
Andy did not take his eyes off the other side of the river where the huge willow trees made an arc over a walkway long forgotten for forty years.


“Your kin woke him up and he is coming, coming for us. The only way we can stop him is give him more power on this side of the water by planting those trees. These trees were those of his father that was killed on the other side on the water when he was baby. Some say the spirit of the woods took him because they could not ignore the cry from his father’s blood. He destroyed all those that killed his father some 20 years ago and then he went to sleep. We put those signs up and guarded his resting place from disturbance but then your people came and set foot on his land, and now he is going to set foot on ours.”

The trees across the water began to sway and they could hear the song of the Woodland man coming from across the water. He came walking through the drooping Willow trees in all black his face not visible due to the hat pulled low over his head.


Kagan waved his hand and the ground at the bottom of the lake rose up and provided him a bridge to the town. The force under the ground began to run around the water’s edge to meet his master on the other side. The townspeople felt the ground shaking and watched the water beginning to boil as the anger from the Woodland man began to manifest itself in all forms of matter. There was no where for them to run or hide. As long as their feet touched earth, he would find them. No one could escape the Woodland man.