Barry Dom 2: The Camping Trip (of Doom)

he car bumped along the dirt road strewn with rocks, creating nothing more than a soothing rocking sensation for Barry Dom. He was stretched out a bit in the far back of the station wagon, half asleep on duffel bags and camping supplies. The two couples in the car kept on chatting away like they had for the last hour, talking about campfires and ghost stories and skinny dipping. Barry was looking forward to that last part – the two women in the car were luscious and shapely, one with hair the color of a raven’s feathers, the other with hair that was a campfire on a starry night. The guys were…well, Barry didn’t really notice the guys very much, as their girlfriends were far more interesting to notice. Either way, Barry had been lulled to a near sleep from the rocking and white noise of their voices, so when a girl squealed in excitement, Barry lurched up and nearly hit his head.

he cabin sat in front of them, a weathered red against the crystal lake behind it, with a purple sky burning orange overhead. There was a campfire ring nearby, and a stack of logs against the cabin itself. The car rolled to a stop with a small jolt, and everyone up front hopped out. The girls started stretching and admiring the lake, and the guys came back to open the wagon door. Barry hopped out – didn’t say anything to the guys, since they were absorbed in their own conversations – and stretched, hobbling a bit toward the water. He turned back in time to see the guys wrap up unloading the car, and was able to snatch his own bag out before they closed the door. Everyone headed toward the cabin, and Barry followed, happy to finally be with his coworkers outside of work, on a camping trip.

Of course, he couldn’t precisely remember how he was invited – or if he was at all – but that was immaterial.

he evening passed quickly, complete with a skinny dip in the lake. Barry had to spend his time dodging flailing limbs, since he kept finding himself underneath cannonballs and chicken fights, but eventually they moved onto dinner. The two couples stayed close together based on relationship, so Barry Dom ended up on a log by himself, listening to their stories. He didn’t mind, though. There was plenty of beans and beer that no one else wanted anymore, so he got to eat his fill of leftover food. After a bit, the couples got tired, and headed into the cabin. Barry followed close behind, just barely dodging the door as it was slammed shut behind them. The four went off to their separate rooms, and Barry, left alone in the living room, decided to just bed down on the couch for the weekend.

arry drifted off to sleep. Barry dreamed. Barry dreamed of lying on a plush bear rug, the two girls in the cabin draped around him without their clothes, possibly kissing each other as well as him. They would feed him snacks and beer, and he would stroke their hair, which was significantly longer in his dream than on the real girls. But no matter. He would do all this while lying on that rug, which was currently growling and tearing one of them in half-

arry awoke with a start, drool on the corner of his mouth and his hand in his pants. He pulled his hand out, sat up, and looked around. One of the doors was slightly ajar, which it hadn’t been when Barry had gone to sleep. He padded quietly into the room, and stood aghast. The window was smashed open, letting moonlight fill the room and illuminate a grisly scene: blood was all over the room, with an arm hanging from the ceiling fan. In the corner was a crumpled body. Barry crept closer to it, and despite all of the blood, was able to discern the mauled face of the raven haired girl. Her boyfriend was nowhere in sight, but…it looked like pawprints in the blood, aimed at the smashed window?

arry ran from the room, and into the other one. He didn’t realize until he was in the second bedroom that the door there was open, as well. The scene in this room was significantly cleaner, and would have been easier to stomach if the boyfriend of the raven haired girl wasn’t lying on the floor, against two seperate walls.

arry scurried into the living room, grabbed the poker from the fireplace, ran outside, tripped down the stairs, and watched the poker fly from his hands into the dark of the woods. He stood up, brushing dirt off, and looked around. The moon was hanging high and was nearly as bright as a midnight sun, but the trees here were too dense to get a good view. The woods around the cabin were mostly shadows, the moonlight offering just enough to walk if you were slow and careful. But then a girl screamed. Barry didn’t have time for slow and careful.

arry ran around the side of the cabin in time to see the girl with the fiery hair race around the cabin’s side, trip over a rock, and hit the dirt face-first, sliding along the rough ground. Barry did stop long enough to notice she was in a tank top and panties while doing all of this, but then he heard a branch snap nearby and sprung into action. He looked around for a sharp stick, but couldn’t find any. He tried picking up a piece of fallen branch to use as a bat, but couldn’t lift any of them. Instead, Barry grabbed a rock and leapt to the redhead’s defense.

he woods fell silent, except for his nervous breathing and her soft moans of pain. Something was out there, Barry could tell, but he couldn’t see it. It was just an energy, an evil hanging in the slightly damp air of the early, early morning. Barry turned in a slow circle, eventually ending on looking down on the girl below him, still on the ground, but waking up and getting scared again. He could even see the goosebumps on her bare legs. Which is when he heard the leaves crunch behind him. Barry spun around in time to see a pair of red eyes and huge teeth glistening in the moonlight. Barry froze in place, unable to even think of moving his arm to throw the rock. The red eyes, however, never stopped on him – they were focused on the girl.

he beast leapt, passing over Barry and landing on the girl. Barry turned in time to see the beast land on her and move to snap its jaw on her neck, but turned away before he could see what actually happened. Barry sighed, dropped the rock, and walked around the carnage, heading back into the cabin. He closed the door behind him, turned the deadbolt, and lay down on the couch. There was a howl from outside, and the thing ran off into the woods. As Barry lay there, he thought of its form…it almost looked like someone took a person and bent them into a wolf’s shape. As he fell asleep, the last thing he thought of was how much the wolf’s face looked like the redhead girl’s boyfriend.

In the morning, Barry found the keys to the car, packed all of his things up, and drove away. In his rearview mirror, the cackling orange of the cabin falling to flames lit up the clearing.