The Cry for Help

Suspense Stories | Mar 2, 2012 | 4 min read
96 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
Rita was busy pulling the weeds out of her flower garden when she first heard the cries for help coming from the woods behind the house. At first she thought that it was just the call of a strange bird (her hearing wasn't quite what it used to be after fifty-seven years) but eventually she realized it was the sound of someone in trouble who needed help.

Normally she would have gone inside and made her husband Stanley go investigate but considering that fact that it sounded like the cries were coming from a little girl she threw caution to the wind and headed into the woods herself. The pleas sounded urgent and she didn't want to waste time going inside to get him if some little girl's life could be on the line. She knew that he was napping on the couch and since it was so hard to wake him up that the poor little girl would probably be dead by the time he got there.

She walked into the woods and headed toward the direction that the cries for help were coming from. She didn't know the woods very well even though they had lived by them for several decades and started to worry that she was going to get lost (the fact that she had a horrible sense of direction didn't help either). More than once she considered turning around and heading back to the house to take her chances with waking up Stanley as she trekked deeper and deeper into the woods but she forced herself to keep moving forward every time she heard the sheer terror in the girl's cries.

She walked for several more minutes and felt a little better about things once she noticed that the girl's pleas were getting louder, which meant that she was moving in the right direction (she just hoped that she would be able to find the correct way back out of the woods later as having to spend the night lost in the dark, creepy woods didn't sound like much fun to her). After making her way through a thick patch of trees she came across a sight that made her gasp loudly.

There was a little girl around six or seven who had been beaten unmercifully and then tied to a tree. Her face was bruised and swollen and her blonde hair was stained and matted with blood. Her clothes were ripped and muddy and just the sight of the little girl (as well as the thought that someone could do such a thing to her) made Rita want to cry.  She just couldn't comprehend how anyone could do such a thing to such a cute little girl and her sadness was replaced with anger the more that she thought about it.

"Oh my God, child! Don't you worry, I'm here and I'm going to help you. You're safe now!" Rita said as she put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Please help me!" the little girl replied.

"I'll get you out of here and then we'll go back to my house where it's safe and we can call the police."

She worked on untying the rope, only vaguely aware that her hands were shaking uncontrollably, making the task more difficult.

"Who did this to you?" she asked as she worked on undoing a complicated knot in the rope.

"I don't know his name but he's very mean and scary!"

"He won't hurt you anymore, I promise."

"He left me out here to die! He said that no one would find me and I'd starve to death!" the little girl sobbed.

"He was wrong. I found you and I'll take care of you."

"Hurry before he comes back!"

Rita finally got the knot unraveled and was able to untie the little girl. She grabbed her by the hand and led her back toward the house, moving as quickly as possible but making sure to look back occasionally to make sure that the girl's tormentor wasn't chasing after them. There was no sign of another living soul out in the woods with them and Rita prayed that they made it back to the house safely without running into the man who had tied the girl to the tree.

"What's your name, honey?" Rita asked, more for herself than anything as the dead silence of the woods was making her a little uneasy and antsy.

"Oh, I have a lot of names!" the little girl giggled.

"What do you mean?"

"Different people call me different things!"

"Why?"

"I don't know, they just do!" the little girl snapped, making Rita flinch. "Do you always ask so many dumb questions?"

"Not usually." Rita mumbled, taken aback by the girl's nasty comments but telling herself that she was probably just in shock after her ordeal and wasn't aware of what she was saying.

They were almost to the house when the little girl jerked her hand away from Rita and started giggling. Something about the way she was giggling made Rita feel uncomfortable and actually creeped her out a little bit for some reason that she couldn't quite explain. She knew that the little girl had just had a traumatic experience and was most likely not quite herself as a result, but there was just something about her standing there giggling that she just didn't like. A cold chill ran down her spine and for a split second she felt the almost irresistible urge to run away from the girl as fast as she could.

"Thank you for saving me, but there's really something that I need to tell you." The girl chirped.

"What do you need to tell me?" Rita croaked, turning to face her.

"I was tied to that tree for a reason." She announced before punching Rita in the back with such force that her fist penetrated the flesh.

Rita didn't have time to react as the girl wrapped her fingers around her spine and liberated it from her body with a single powerful yank.

She died before she even hit the ground and after the little girl at the spine in her hand she went ahead and ate the rest of the body as well (except for the eyeballs, she thought that they were gross and never ate them even though her mother told her that they were good for her).

When she was done she realized that she still felt a little hungry so she made her way across Rita and Stanley's yard and started walking down the road in front of their house. It was amazing how many people had no problem stopping to help a  little girl who was standing on the side of the road crying so she whipped up some fake tears and tried to look as pitiful as possible, knowing that she wouldn't have to wait too long before she got to eat again.

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Reviews

Jonathon B.C. Murray Apr 13, 2012

Nice story, just as great as your others! :D

Kellina Mar 20, 2012

you got my heart racing!

Twix Mar 15, 2012

O_O OMG, That left me wide-eyed...

Amit Mar 6, 2012

good job. awesome story

Todd Martin Mar 8, 2012

Thanks Amit, LA Camp, and everyone else for your comments! You guys rule!

Cardwell Mar 3, 2012

Wow this is a good story! It kinda reminds me of my sister...

L.A. Camp Mar 3, 2012

Like it, preying on the goodwill of human nature.

Todd Martin Mar 2, 2012

Thanks Anita!

Anita Mar 2, 2012

Excellent story with a nice ending Todd. Keep it up :)

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