11 Woodlock Drive

Kevin stared at his new house on woodlock drive. It was a one floor plus finished basement house. It was nothing to sneeze at but for a bachelor like himself it was perfect. Not to mention he got the place for an absolute steal. However it wasn’t the cheap house that attracted Kevin, it was the town. Highland Falls was a beautiful and peaceful town where people treated each other well and trusted one another. It was exactly the kind of place he had been looking for.

After 2 days of unloading boxes and moving furniture, Kevin decided it was time for a break. He walked up the hill to a local park. The place was worthy of a postcard. Several benches and picnic tables surrounded the perimeter. In the center was a large playground complete with a splash pad. Surrounding the park was a lush green forest.

The place was full of the sounds of children playing and enjoying their summer. Kevin sat quietly on a bench, reading his book and enjoying the view. “Seize the day.” His father had taught him. His father had taught him many things. “Georgous day isn’t it?” An elderly and kind voice said from Kevin’s left.

Kevin looked up to see an elderly woman holding a pair of leashes with two black hounds on the ends. The woman looked at him with kind and welcoming eyes. “Yes it is,” Kevin replied. “May I join you?” The woman asked timidly. Kevin merely nodded and moved to the far end of the bench. The old woman sat down and undid her dog’s leashes so they could freely roam.

“Is that wise?” Kevin asked, concerned for the nearby children. The old woman waved him off. “Oh Thumper and Dumper would never hurt a child, they are timid beasts. I can assure you. Now you must be the new owner of 11, I’m your next door neighbor Mrs. H.” She smiled and held out her hand which Kevin was pleased to shake.

He examined the woman. She wore a dull grey jacket that could have been black once upon a time. She had a pair of flashlights attached to either hip and a large set of keys on a ring. She looked perhaps on the poorer side save for a lovely golden broach. The broach had two snakes twined around each other.

“It will be so nice to see that house full again. It has been empty for some time.” Mrs H commented. Kevin became confused. “That’s strange considering it was so cheap. Is there something wrong with it?” Mrs H shrugged. “People just seem to leave it often. The subject made Kevin feel uncomfortable so he changed it.

“This park is lovely though.” He said. Mrs H smiled. “Would you believe that it started as a swing set? The city has some nice donors over the years and it just gets bigger and better.” Kevin turned towards the woods. “Some lovely trees as well. Are there any trails through the woods?” Something about Kevin’s question seemed to change the old woman. She became grim and stern.

“Stay out of those woods. Predators tend to stalk through the trees. You would do well to mind your business and stay away. With that I need to get home. Good day Mr. Robertson.” She got up, grabbed her dogs and left without another word. Something about that interaction bothered Kevin but at the time he couldn’t put his finger on it. How different things may have turned out if he had.

The next morning Kevin went out to sit on his deck with a cup of coffee. Mrs H was in her yard taking the dogs out to pee. “Good morning Mrs H, I wanted to apologize if I offended you yesterday.” Mrs H waved him off. “Oh pish posh I should apologize to you. There have been accidents in those woods you see and I would hate to have someone get hurt needlessly.”

He smiled and went to go inside and make breakfast, that was when he spotted a groundhog in his grass. Or at least half of one. It had been devoured from the bottom up. Mrs H came over and shook her head. “Oh I’m sorry that was my dogs I’m sure. Thumper and Dumper tend to get rid of vermin. I’m sure they meant it as a gift.” Kevin smiled and said nothing. Thoughts of breakfast went away.

Later that night Kevin went out for an evening stroll. A man was jogging by but he stopped dead when he saw Kevin. “Do you actually live there?” He said in amazement. “Yes I just moved in. My name is Kevin by the way.” Kevin smiled and held out his hand but the man merely stared at him. “Listen I don’t know you but take my advice. Leave this place and never come back. It is better for everyone that way. That house has a reputation.” The man replied as he jogged off without looking back.

All throughout Kevin’s stroll the man’s words echoed in his mind. What was wrong with that house? He had gotten it so cheap, it was almost too good to be true but what if it was? He turned around and double backed towards home. A young girl no older than 14 was hugging and kissing her boyfriend in front of her house. Young girls should not have boyfriends, that was more of his father’s wisdom. When he arrived home there was a disturbing surprise waiting for him on his doorstep. A large hawk lay there with its throat torn apart. Kevin turned to see Mrs. H going inside to her home with a sick smile on her face.

Kevin got on his computer and began researching the house. All he could find were old real estate listings. It seems that this place went on the market a lot but there was no information as to why. He was about to call it quits when something in the Google images caught his eye. There was a missing person’s poster of a middle aged man and the residence was listed as 11 Woodlock Drive. He went missing about 3 months ago shortly before the house was listed. In the related images there was another missing person with the same address. Every click bought more and more missing persons reports. All single men, all unsolved, all lived in the same house.

The images of those men haunted Kevin day and night. The neighborhood that had once seemed so beautiful and welcoming had become a prison. Any time he caught someone’s eye they looked away. Also a feeling of being watched persisted 24 hours a day. He stopped leaving the house except for work. Something was off here. The biggest factor was Mrs. H. Anytime he left the house there she was with those dogs. There had also been more “gifts” from the beasts. The dead animals were growing in size and the corpses were more brutalized with each day.

One night the cabin fever was getting to him so he went out for a walk to clear his head. He ended up at the park which was empty this late. He looked at those forbidden woods and an idea came to him. What if the missing men were taken there? What if they were murdered there and people stayed clear due to rumors of predators.

For Kevin it was enough to break the made up rules. He ventured into the woods and the feeling of unease hit him immediately. The trees were extremely old for being next to a suburb. The place was very quiet, as if nature was scared to disturb something. With every step he took the feeling of being watched got worse.

Finally he could hear something in these cursed trees. The sound of hundreds of flies swarming around caught his attention. He followed the sound until he discovered the source. He was sure that he had found the missing person but what he found was much worse.

Laying on the ground was the body of a wolf. The thing was massive, about the size of a lion. That made the state of it even more disturbing. This thing had been torn to shreds by something. Teeth and claw marks raked across the body. What the hell could kill a beast of this size? His mind flashed to those pairs of hounds but that was impossible. They were far too small to do this level of carnage. Not only that, he had seen them everyday and they had no wounds or limp. There is no way two house dogs could have done this.

Suddenly the sound of a branch breaking nearby shocked Kevin and he bolted from the corpse at top speed. He didn’t know had made the sound and he didn’t care. He was not going to stick around to find out. He managed to make it to the tree line when a new sound stopped him in his tracks. He hid behind a tree and looked at the playground to see a young girl sobbing.

It was the same young girl from the other night and he had little doubt on had made her cry. Her little boyfriend had dumped her. Young girls should not have boyfriends and more importantly they shouldn’t be alone at night. That was another lesson from his father and his father had taught him so many.

He had taught him how to be patient, how to pick your moment. He taught him how to use a belt as a hog tie, and how to keep a child quiet. Most of all he had taught Kevin that naughty children deserved to be punished. Kevin was going to greatly enjoy punishing this young girl.

He went to make his move but something was wrong. His body refused to move. The young girl’s parents called her home and she left. Kevin could do nothing but watch as his prey slipped away. “I told you to stay out of the woods but in the end you simply couldn’t do it. I had higher hopes for you Mr. Robertson.” The cold and familiar voice of Mrs H sounded.

The strange abnormality of their first meeting finally clicked into place. “I don’t remember giving you my last name, Mrs H.” Kevin replied with hate. A soft and melodic laugh filled the air. “Oh you poor thing. I knew who and what you were the moment the sold sign went on that house. I gave you a chance but you just couldn’t fight your urges. Your kind are always so predictable. You even stand in the same places.” Kevin managed to look down to see he was standing in some sort of circle with twigs and ruins around it.

His head was forced to look over to the picnic table. Sitting on top of it was Mrs H, only she looked far different. Earlier that mere day she was a weathered old crone but now she looked in her late 40’s max with long raven black hair. She wore a black dress that looked new yet centuries out of date. She was flagged by her two dogs who looked at him like a snack. One look at her and he understood. “You wretched witch!” He screamed at her.

His screams earned another chuckle from his captor. “Witch? That is far too common of a term for what I am. I go by many names but you may call me Hecate. It is my job to protect the children from the likes of you. Well I guess I should say my dogs and mine.”

Suddenly the twin hounds began to grow rapidly. Their fangs grew to the size of daggers, and claws became like great curved blades. Kevin understood now. That wolf never stood a chance. He tried to scream but his tongue seemed to be numb. Hecate looked at him with a smile. “I told you, my dogs take care of vermin.” With that the beasts leapt at their prey who could do nothing but watch.

The dogs didn’t leave so much as a scrap of clothes behind, they never did. The missing person posters will likely show up in a few days, however the police will drop the search quickly. Hecate thought that on some level they understood the nature of the house and its owners. This one didn’t have much in the way of possessions but the sale of them should be enough to purchase a see-saw. The children will like that and all of this is for them.

Hecate looked up at the now empty house. It will remain vacant for a while but sooner or later someone will come. The house was a beacon for the plagues that infect humanity. 11 Woodlock Drive always had to have an owner and when it did she would be waiting.

Credit: Tenac