#stranded whump

They felt the air notably change. It was thicker, colder, damp. The thief was never regained in sight; and neither was their precious satchel. Whumpee slowed to a stop and groaned a frustrated breath. They glanced around, realizing they may have just stranded themselves somewhere with bone-chilling rumors.

"Those who left the path rarely returned. The ones who did had a dead gaze behind their eyes. They never found the words to describe the horrors. So they were silent."

"Never again will I take this shortcut." Whumpee scolded themselves, dusting moisture off their coat. They started wandering back, keeping their teeth gritted as their shoulder pulsed. A twig snapping to their right as they jumped and clutched their arm.

Perhaps the thief didn't get as far as they thought.

"Hey, can I have my bag back? It's important!" Whumpee called. They heard a deep wet-like snap as whumpee stumbled and tore through branches. "Look neither of us want to be here, so please, just give me my-" .... !

Whumpee saw something white, textured like rough quartz. It had the figure of a man, distorted, crouched on all fours over another. A face was visible, the second figure was the thief: eyes wide and dull, crimson painting their face, the leaves, the dirt, the creature. Their arm was extended and the satchel was deathly clutched within their fingers.

Whumpee covered their mouth before they could gasp. The thief's blank eyes seemed to stare through them as whumpee began backing away.

*SNAP*

Their heel crushed a soaked-stick, letting loose a loud wet crunch. Whumpee swore their heart stopped. The creature didn't seem to notice, however; as it continued to delightfully consume and tear at the thief's body.

Whumpee found themselves turned and running. They regretted everything, the satchel meant nothing and they couldn't fathom what they saw. They noticed the fog starting to lift and spotted a dim light.

The more the fog cleared the more lights they saw, realizing it was all from a single building, a manor. Moss-covered brick walls, the gate was strangely wide open. Suddenly, whumpee heard a sound deep in the woods from where they came.

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

Footsteps prowling the forest, slow, with no desire to run. With nowhere else to go, whumpee ran through the gates and up the stairs. The manor was surely abandoned, but it would be shelter until whatever that... thing is passed.

They reached for the rusted-iron doorknob, expecting to have to fight their way in but the door opened like a warm welcome. Whumpee slammed the door shut behind them, sinking to their knees clutching their aching shoulder. They gasped for air, surprised to see a large decorated living room, primarily wine-red vintage. It was warm and glowed from several burning candles

-And all recently lit.

Whumpee's legs trembled as they rose to their feet; they could hear the footsteps through the door. Panic, horror, pain; it all caught up as they felt paralyzed. They couldn't tell what was worse, whatever could be in the manor with them, or what was outside waiting.

They whimpered when the footstep texture changed; from sopping wet dirt to hard stone, the very stairs they just ran up-

-The very stairs right behind them.

They could hear breathing.

Whumpee's hand was still clutching the doorknob. If anyone ever found their body, it would probably still be. Every candle in the manor suddenly flickered and snuffed into darkness.

Whumpee found themselves on the floor hugging their knees sobbing. The candles had flickered back on after a moment; Whumpee rose their head to someone standing over them with their hands folded behind their back.

Their face was pale, their eyes were dark. Their clothes were regal and their expression was calm. Aside from some peculiarities, they looked like a perfectly normal human. Whumpee stared silently through tears that had stopped flowing, pitifully, their body screamed terror, but they were unable to scream themselves.

"My dear, what are you doing on my floor?" Whumper asked, cocking their head to the side.

"I-....ah-...." Whumpee choked. A smile spread over the stranger's face as they held out their hand to them.

"Gracious, you look dreadful! What are you doing all the way out here? Come, up. Off my floor." They wiggled their fingers.

Whumpee felt compelled to take their hand, so they did. The stranger yanked them to their feet as whumpee was glad they offered their good arm.

"-Outs-s-side... so-something outside..." Whumpee gestured towards the door.

"Oh, is there?" The stranger asked with another tilt. "I'll take a look if it'll put you at ease." They smiled, scooting whumpee away from the door and grabbing the doorknob.

"NO DON'T DO THAT!" Whumpee cried, trying to grab their arm but it was too late. The stranger swung the door open without hesitated to the grand reveal: Of nothing.

Whumpee's shouting trailed into silence. The stranger couldn't help but laugh as they felt whumpee clinging to their arm for life.

"Oh sweetheart, you're fine! Everything's okay." They soothed, stroking a single finger down a tear stain. "The fog does play tricks on people. It's not the freshest air." They winked, shutting the door.

"I- I'm so sorry I must ha-have been... Mistaken...." Whumpee mumbled, dropped their arms and clutched their own shoulder. The strangers eyes fixated and seemed to note their pain.

"Of course you were. Happens more often than you think." They patted whumpee's cheek. "Come, sit down. We can talk later, let's take a look at that arm."

"Y-you noticed?" Whumpee sniffed.

"Hard not to, you can't hide pain from me." Whumper smiled.

Whumpee thought that was a rather odd way to put it.

"Oh, and is this yours by chance?" Whumper pulled out a satchel that was tucked behind the couch. It was rough and dripping with water and blood all over the floor. Whumper didn't seem to mind one bit.

But sure enough, it was their satchel.

.....

.....

"Actually..." Whumpee rocked on their heels, their eyes wide staring at the satchel. "I really must get going." Their voice quivered.

Whumper's smile and expression didn't change. They dangled the satchel with a single finger as it swayed side to side.

Whumpee heard the door behind them *click* as it locked.