"Brother Bait" by John Russell

Brother Bait

by John Russell

“Don’t ever go out in those woods alone, ya hear?” Joe scowled as he pointed his cane at his grandson.

Matt visited his grandpa at the nursing home every Thursday, and most of the time Alzheimer’s had its clutches on him. The thought that his grandpa would remember those woods, and on the anniversary of Alex’s “disappearance”, broke his heart. This was the first time in ten years that his grandpa warned him about the Bellville woods. If he had listened to Joe when he was a teen, maybe Alex would still be here. They never found a body, but Matt knew.

No. Not today. Get out of my head.

“Are you listenin’ to me Matthew? It’s a clearing in those woods. It’s a bad place. Stay away from that place!” Joe rocked back and forth in his chair. His crazed eyes were on Matt, but he was somewhere else. “And keep yer brother from there too. Nothin’ good will come of that place!”

“Easy Grandpa.” Matt eased over to Joe and put his hands on his shoulders to stop the rocking. “I promise. We won’t go near the woods.” Joe leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, the tell-tale sign that he’d be sound asleep in the next five minutes, and Matt’s cue to leave. He took a blanket from the foot of the bed and draped it over his grandpa. “Love you Grandpa. See you next week.”

The drive home was quiet. Daylight faded as the sun began to dip down into the treetops of the woods. The road hummed beneath the tires of Matt’s truck as he thought about his brother. He passed by the dirt road that led into Bellville woods and remembered how the search party had fanned out and combed the entire area for a week straight. There was still hope of finding Alex back then, but that faded years ago. Ten years, to be exact, to the very day. Matt pulled his truck off on the shoulder of the road as he felt a tear trickle down beside his nose. He stared into the passenger’s side mirror back at the road to the woods.

“Sorry Grandpa,” he muttered under his breath.

He turned the truck around and headed back down the dirt road, into Bellville Woods. Once he reached as far as his truck could take him, he stepped down onto the ground and stared in the direction of the clearing.

I still miss you, little brother. 

A bush on the edge of the woods rustled, interrupting Matt’s thoughts. A young man scattered away from the bush, deeper into the woods.

“Hey! Come back! These woods are dangerous!” Matt frantically yelled at the young man as he started after him. He managed to stay just ahead of Matt as he jogged into the woods, toward the old clearing. 

“Hey kid! Don’t go that way, it’s dangerous!” Matt saw that the young man had familiar sandy blonde hair and a white insulated shirt on.

Alex? Can’t be. Get a grip Matt.

As he approached the clearing, he lost sight of the young man. He slowed down and took in the clearing, remembering how they used to play in the woods.

A voice from the past yelled softly across the clearing. “Matt, come.”

Matt raised his eyes to see Alex, not a day older than he was ten years ago. “Alex? But how?”

“I’ve waited on you for ten years. I’ve watched from the woods as you’ve stopped by the road so many times. You’ve finally come.”

Matt rushed his brother and squeezed his arms hard around him, silently crying as tears streamed down his cheeks. He pulled away from the hug and looked him over.

“Where have you been? How are you alive?”

“I give it what it wants and it takes care of me in exchange,” Alex said as he turned his head to the middle of the clearing and nodded.

“You give what what it wants?”

“The earth, Matt. And now it is your turn.”

“My turn? What do you mean?”

The dirt in the middle of the clearing began to bounce as the ground vibrated beneath them. A long crack opened across the entirety of the clearing and pulled apart as a giant, spongy red tongue slipped up through the hole.

“Feed it what it wants.”

“What is it? What does it want?”

“Life.”

Alex walked to the edge of the giant hole in the ground and looked down. Matt followed. A pile of bones was piled beneath the tongue.

Alex walked to the edge of the clearing and looked into the woods. He cried as he passed the threshold of the trees.

“Alex!” Matt yelled at his brother as he watched him walk away, “Alex, stop!”

Alex turned around and held his hand up to wave goodbye. The trees shifted and Matt was gone.