Elizabeth and I stood at the edge of the lake. The water was still, small currents crawling with the cold winter breeze.

“It’s almost the New Years.”, she said between skipping flat rocks on the murky water.

I looked at her for a moment, her bright blue eyes following each of the ripples her stones made. Something about the way she said it seemed nervous, as if she had a million things to say but not enough words to put them together.

“Yeah,” I replied

“Almost.”

I, too, now reaching for a rock to chuck.

“My dad said it's old granny’s turn to go.”

She sighed sympathetically, looking blankly at the looming dark clouds.

“Oh, she was sweet… You're going to miss her, huh?”

Nodding in response, I turned back to face Elizabeth again.

“What about you?”

Her fingers tucked back a lock of pretty blonde hair behind her ear. A nervous habit she had since we were kids.

“Well, I never asked.”

My eyebrow raised a little in confusion.

“Never asked?”

“Mhm”, she murmured softly, getting up from where we sat. Dry bits of leaves and dirt clinging to the butt of her denim jeans.

“I’m probably gonna head home now, it’s getting dark.”

Her pale hands dusted off the small clumps of debris.

“Okay then…” I said, sensing her reluctance to elaborate.

“Text me yeah?”

“I will.”

We live in a small town that is pretty much forgotten. You would have a hard time finding it with all the GPS technology in the world. It is pretty quiet, and has a warm community of people that genuinely care for each other. However, we do have a strange quirk.

You see, every decade, one person from each family must be sent off to the woods. That would be the last time you see them. It’s a tradition that has probably been going on since before time. I don’t know what happens to them, hell, I don't even know why we really do it. The elders tell us this isn't our land, and we owe the woods for letting us be here. Fair enough, I guess. Last time it was granddad, I was only six, so I barely remember what happened. Though I really do think about him a lot. His old stories of all the mischief my father caused are things I still hold dear to me.

My phone buzzed as I laid lazily in bed. The Beatles blasting through my pair of headphones while I stared at the ceiling. I sluggishly raised the bright screen to my face, where a notification from Elizabeth stared back at me.

“You up?”

“I’m up”, I replied, leaning my back against the old, creaky headboard.

“Sorry for leaving like that today, I’ve just had a lot on my mind.”

“Ah I see. That’s okay, is all good?”

“Well…that's the thing.”

I watched the three dots dance in the chat for a while before I got another message.

“We don’t have anyone to give to the woods.”

I thought for a second, realizing she was right. Most families usually send off the elders. Those who've seen all that life has to offer, and are brave enough to make the sacrifice. Elizabeth, however, stayed with her dad and two siblings. I always assumed they might have a distant relative that stayed somewhere else in town, but that was apparently not the case.

“Jason…”

It was weird seeing her use my full name, we never did that, this felt uncomfortably different.

“Last time it was mum… Dad promised her we would move. Far away from this place, so nothing could hurt us. But the woods…she has a way of keeping you here. He tried, I know he did. We just don’t have the money, nor anywhere else that would take us.”

A breath caught inside my chest. Something in me knew where this was going, but I couldn’t bare to think of it as true.

“It’s going to have to be me…”

We met again by the lake. The wind now howling in protest, pushing the water into small waves against the shore.

“What if you don’t go?”

I said to Elizabeth, already knowing the answer.

“And risk my whole family dying?”

She picked at the skin around her fingers anxiously, her cheeks rosy pink from the biting cold.

“Liz…” I groaned,

“I can’t let you die.”

She raised her head, looking just as pretty as she always has despite the tears in her eyes.

“I have no choice.”

We both sat in silence, watching the clouds swirl into intimidating shapes before us. New Year's Eve was tonight, and this was possibly our last time together. I lifted my hand, slowly placing it over Elizabeth’s. Our fingers locked tightly, hers a thousand times colder than mine.

“You know I love you, Liz.”, the words came out without me even thinking about them.

“I love you too.”

That night, my family and I had a big feast for grandma. We all talked about the times we spent with her, and she repeated how much she was going to miss all of us. Despite my sadness over losing grandma, the greater loss of Elizabeth plagued my conscious.

“She doesn’t deserve this.”, I thought.

“Her life has barely started, this isn’t fair.”

As the clock struck eleven thirty, two men came to our door.

“We’re here for your offering.”, the tallest of them said. His voice deep and tired.

Grandma hugged each one of us, giving me a special wet kiss on the forehead.

“I’ll miss you, Nana.” I said, wiping a tear away.

“My baby, keep chasing your dreams. Nothing in the world is strong enough to take away what you deserve.” And just like that, she walked out the door, with one hand on the man’s shoulder to support her fragile legs.

Her words rang in my head,

“Nothing in the world is strong enough to take away what you deserve.”

As everyone retreated to their bedrooms, some with grieving sobs, I headed towards our basement. Grabbing my grandfather’s old combat knife and a flashlight, which I tucked into the waistband of my sweatpants. I crawled as quietly as I could out of the top window and followed the direction those men took my grandma.

“I’m coming for you, Liz.”

The walk took around 15 minutes. I had eventually caught up to the men and carefully tiptoed behind them. We were walking further away from the town, closer to the forest’s edge. Ear-splitting roars of thunder tore through the otherwise silent night. Ivory lighting illuminating the dirt streets, giving birth to shadows that stretched far into the darkness. At the end of our walk sat a group of at least fifty people. They were lined up in front of the forest, none of them daring to speak. The men stood my grandma at the end of the line and then walked off into a different direction. A strange old man stood in front of the crowd, his hair gray and thin. His messy beard stretched almost as far as his belly button. In his hand was a medieval torch, the ones that are lit on fire. He waited for the men to walk away before beginning to speak. I was hiding behind a thick tree, just close enough to make out what he was saying.

“Hello, my people, today is an important day for all of you.”, his voice was soft and comforting, reminding me a lot of my grandfather’s.

“Your sacrifice will give your family a chance at life. A chance to succeed. And it will spare them of any misery so long as they stay here. It is now time for each of you to pay your dues, to give the woods her thanks. I wish you all a great journey, till we meet again.”, he stuck the torch into the soft dirt and then began walking away in the same direction the men did. Just like that, we were all alone. My grandma was ahead of everyone, and she was the first to walk into the woods. The torch only illuminated her for so long before she disappeared. Everyone waited silently for a few minutes, before the next person followed.

I scanned the group of people before spotting Elizabeth. She was standing nervously behind an old woman, her eyes locked onto the dirt below her. I slowly inched towards the crowd and planted myself next to Elizabeth.

“Hey, Liz…”, I whispered. Her head jerked up, it took a moment for her to figure out what was happening and when she did, I felt a hard fist shoved into my gut.

“What the fuck is wrong with you.”, she whispered back, with venom stinging behind every word.

“What do you think? I’m going in with you, and we’re getting out of here. Alive.” I replied, rubbing my stomach where she had punched me.

“Are you stupid Jason?? You are turning your ass back right fucking now.”

“No. No I’m not. Liz, I told you I can’t let you die. We have done everything together since we met. I was too stupid to tell you how much you meant to me, there is still so much left to say. I’m not letting you go this easy. And before you scream at me even more, there’s nothing you can do to change my mind. You hear me?”

She looked at me with fire burning behind her ocean eyes, but knew there was nothing she could do to make me reevaluate.

“Do you even have a plan?”

I stroked my chin jokingly,

“Not die, for starters.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes before hugging me.

“I hate you, asshole.”

The line moved quick, and eventually we were the only ones left to go in. Elizabeth and I looked at each other for a second before taking our first steps into the pitch black woods.

I immediately pulled out my flashlight and pointed it forwards. There was a trail that cut through the trees, leading you deeper into the woods. At this point, little drops of rain fell from the sky, bringing with it the sweet smell of wet soil. Neither of us said a word, but the terror we felt was eminent by how deep our breaths were. Eventually the trail led to an open field. Something shined with the reflection of my flashlight. Something dark, and wet…

“Blood…” Elizabeth murmured. Tons of it. The entire patch of dried grass was soaked in crimson blood, inch deep claw marks etched onto the neighboring trees. It looked as if a massacre had occurred in that very spot just a few minutes before we got there. As we tried processing the gorey sight, a branch snapped, beckoning our attention. I turned the beam of light to the source of the sound, just to find nothing but a plain old tree. That’s when a severed hand fell from somewhere in the branches and hit the forest floor with a wet thud.

“RUN!!”, I screamed at Elizabeth, and we both took off back down the trail. I could hear the snapping of branches in the tress as some entity chased behind us. We sprinted, narrowly avoiding every protruding root that could trip us. After running for a few minutes, to our horror, we ended up right back where we started. In front of the bloody grass. We both stopped, gasping for air as our lungs screamed in agony. The creature leaped from above us, landing in the middle of the opening. It was horrifying. Long slender arms dangled till its knees. Even longer claws stained with blood hung from each of its digits. It had no eyes, instead a massive opening, almost as if the empty eye socket of a cyclops, underneath which a wide mouth sat agape. Showing us, it’s fangs that we’re the size of our forearm. The creature cocked its head to the side, like a curious child. The rain now pouring violently onto us. Making its silhouette blend into the background. The monster let out a guttural moan before charging at us. I grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and ducked behind a tree. It ran right past us before jumping into the trees and dashing forwards.

“What the fuck is that…”, Elizabeth said between sharp inhales.

“Fuck if I know.”, I said, equally exhausted.

“Listen, we don’t have much time. It’s going to come back and find us if we just sit here.”, I reached for my hip, pulling out the combat knife.

“We have to try something.”, Elizabeth looked down towards the blade and then back at me.

“You want to try to kill it?”

“It’s the only option we have.” I said.

“Look, you need to grab its attention.”, I pointed towards the opening.

“I need you to make some noise, okay, leave the rest to me.”

Elizabeth swallowed hard, as she wiped the sweat off her forehead. She stood up and faced the opening.

“I love you. Don’t fucking die on me”, she said softly before walking away.

As she made her way to the grass, I climbed the tree we were sat under. Finding a sturdy branch, I crouched on it, positioning myself towards Elizabeth. My cousins and I used to play hide and seek all the time, and I would jump onto them from the oak tree in our backyard. Never did I think that skill would come in handy.

Elizabeth stood frozen for a second, the rain beating against her face, before letting out a loud,

“I’M HERE, FUCK FACE.”, almost immediately a screech echoed from the woods, and we could hear the creature making its way towards us.

It was out of the trees and sprinted on it’s thin but long legs, dragging the massive claws behind it. I watched as it tackled Elizabeth to the ground, her screams sending fear into my bones. In an instant, I pounced on the being, digging the blade deep into its spine. It stood up, howling in pain, but I refused to let it shake me off. Pulling the blade out, I used its shoulder as leverage, and plunged it deep into its neck. This time it could only muster a tiny gurgle before falling onto its belly. I rolled off the thing's back, finding my self right next to Elizabeth. We were both panting, and I felt a suffocating sense of darkness smothering me. Before I knew it, we were both passed out.

The sun burnt through my eyelids, which slowly fluttered open. In front of me was the blurry face of an old man. The recollection of what happened kicked in, and I sprung up, frantically searching for Elizabeth.

“Calm down young man. She’s over there.”, I turned to see her perched up against a tree, wrapped in a cozy looking woolen blanket. The old man, who I now recognized as the same one who was speaking to everyone before we walked into the woods, spoke to me again.

“You’ve done something outrageous. I am still confused as to how you pulled it off. But nevertheless, the longer you’re here, the more likely you won’t live to see another day.”, the man extended his arm, helping me get onto my feet.

“What you killed was her child, you murdered the wood's own flesh. You must run, take her with you.”

He pointed a thin, wrinkled finger towards Elizabeth.

“What about our family?” I questioned.

He looked at me with cold eyes, as if he hadn’t slept for eons.

“Don’t worry, son, we will look after them. They won’t stay here either, but leaving for them won’t be so simple. There are a few things that must be done, but I assure you. I will get them out of here.”

I didn’t know if I should have thanked the man for his help, or apologized for the inconvenience we caused. I decided on a plain nod, before picking up Elizabeth and walking away.

It’s been over a decade since that day. Elizabeth and I moved far, far away from that town. We have been together ever since, now with a little daughter joining us as well. Our families, to that man’s word, did end up moving out too. We haven’t been back since, nor do we plan on it. However, I do still dream of those woods, and she calls for me, she calls for me to face her like a man. Maybe I will go back, but for now, I’m happy in Elizabeth’s arms.