Alright people! We're nearing the close of our story. Only a few posts left! I know you'll enjoy this one. It's a bit longer to make up for yesterdays short post.



"This story takes place back when Canada was still split into 'Upper' and 'Lower' Canada. Back when there was no internet, no hydro and limited luxuries. It was a simpler time where people depended on each other more. You knew everyone in your community.

"The community in this story is the very same that is a few minutes east of here. Back then, it was a lumber town, a main settlement that was the hub of several lumber mills. In this town there were the standard amenities that every town back in this era would have. There was a church, there was a general store, a baker, a mill and, most importantly to this story, a butcher.

"A butcher's role in a community back then was a crucial one. He provided all of the meat to the community. In a time of self-sufficiency and a lack of supermarkets, you can begin to appreciate the value.

"The butcher was a well respected man in the village. He was kind and generous to the townsfolk. He had a wife, a beautiful one at that. With her, he fathered two children. His first born was a boy. Since he was young, his father taught him his craft, for he would one day take over the family business. a few years later, the butcher's wife gave birth to a second child., a girl. She was well liked, the very essence of a youthful spirit.

"However, with the times, disease cast a very large shadow over humanity. Without the medical knowledge we had now, combined with very low hygiene, illnesses that we no longer fear were still very fatal to man as a whole. The butcher's son came down with a severe case of pneumonia at the beginning of a harsh winter when he was 16. Although the family and the community did all they could, the boy did not live to see the following spring. The butcher took it as well as he could, but since death was a much more common occurrence in this time, it was met with a kind of tolerance that has been lost in ours.

"The girl had turned 8 that year. She had changed slightly since her brother's death, they had been close. She was more solitary, more quiet. The butcher, however, was still a large part of her life. As she was his.

"But she was still just a part. Unknown to the daughter, his wife and the entire community, the butcher had a large secret. He had a mistress. In this time, the crime of adultery was a huge offense, in secular and canon law. The punishments for such an offense were harsh, so you can imagine the chance he was taking. To better his odds, he had built his mistress a cabin in the woods several kilometers outside of the village. He would bring her food and supplies when he came to consummate their torrid affair.

"There's another thing that we must realize about this time. There was no birth control. Without this fail safe, the butcher got the woman pregnant, around the same time as his wife was pregnant with his son Nine months passed for the pair with much anticipation. The butcher felt no shame, he would still care for this child, even though it was a bastard. The fateful night that the mistress gave birth was one that brought to life an atrocity. The child that she bore was horribly disfigured. A freak of nature. When the they pair had seen what they had created, they felt shame, fear and despair. But, instead of putting it out of it's misery, they decided to keep the child. They still both had to bear responsibility for their actions before the eyes of God.

"The life of the child was terrible. Even though he was born a man, he was treated like the most lowly animal. The cabin had a basement which was were he was kept. As a child, the door at the top of the stairs was simply locked. As he grew in strength and age, he was chained to the walls of the cellar. Even though he was fed a poor diet, his wretched shape had given him a genetic strength that was far more than any child his age. By the time he was 16, he had a muscular frame and had to be withheld with several iron chains. He hated his parents with all his being.

"With the winter that followed his son's death, the butcher had placed his daughter on a pedestal, giving her whatever she wanted. One day in December, the daughter came to her father and asked for a sleigh ride. The butcher happily agreed. Strapping the horses to the sleigh and bringing blankets to keep them warm, they headed out into the wilderness.

"Their trek took them far out from the village. They when along the roads at first, surveying the countryside, waving to the home owners as they passed. Then in the afternoon, the daughter wanted to see the forests. She wanted to see deer run throw the snow and listen to the birds in song. Again, the butcher happily obliged.

"Their journey took them fair into the wilderness. The winter snow had covered many landmarks The butcher didn't know where they were exactly, but he was relaxed, he had the know how to get them safely home.

"It was here that they smelled smoke. There was a house nearby! The butcher's daughter grew excited at the prospect of meeting someone all the way out here, the person probably not have seen anyone since the snow had fallen. She asked her father if they could go and find the house and greet the inhabitant. The butcher agreed.

"After a few minutes of searching, they found the house. As they approached they noticed a woman outside in front of the house chopping wood. By the time the came close enough for the woman to notice them, the butcher realized just where he was. He was at his mistress' house! As the mistress looked up, she too realized who had just arrived and the trouble that could follow. With a glance, the two knew that they would play it off as if they didn't know each other. The child bounded out of the sleigh and introduced herself. The mistress introduced herself in kind and invited them in.

"None of them had been paying much attention to the weather. An hour after they had gone into the cabin, a blizzard began to blow in and started to drop a large amount of snow. Realizing they could not return to the village in time before the whole brunt of the storm blew in, the butcher feigned a request to stay, knowing full well he could and secured the horses in a small stable attached to the cabin. The three had dinner and as the winter winds blew around them. Afterwords, the daughter was sent to sleep in the spare bedroom. When she was asleep, the butcher and his mistress left to their room and started to have sex.

"The boy had heard the entire night play out. He recognized his parents voices, but the knew one, the little girls, it filled him with rage. He learned that she was the butcher's daughter. Jealousy filled him. Why was she allowed to live and play, when he was denied those very things. He waited for them to do as they usually did. He heard them bid the girl goodnight, after reading her a bedtime story, a luxury he never had the pleasure of having. He cried, not out of sadness, but out of hate. Finally, he watched as the dust fell from the rafters, their footsteps moved to their bedroom and their disgusting act had begun.

"He would use the howling winds and their sounds of fornication to cover his own sounds of escape. Flexing his arms, he began to pull away from the walls, the chains growing taunt. The iron cuffs on his wrists began to cut into his skin, but he ignored the pain. It gave him strength. Through clenched teeth he cursed his parents and swore the he would be free. Finally, the chain broke around his arms. He pulled the chains around his legs loose.

"He was free.

"Slowly, he approached the stairs. He paused to listen to his parents. They were still violating each other, the pigs. He ascended the stairs and pushed against the door.

"The fools had forgotten to lock it.

"Taking care to make sure the door did not creak, he pushed the door open and looked around the cabin. The cabins fireplace was home to a dying fire, it's flames licking up eagerly over the glowing coals, it's light casting a wicked glow over the entire room. Shadows darted around the walls, showing sinister sides to every items true form. As he completed his scan of the room, his eyes came to rest on something that made him smile. The butcher's white apron and jacket. As he grabbed then to throw them into the flames, he inadvertently revealed the butcher's cleaver. An idea formed in his head.

"He put on the apron and the jacket, wretched the cleaver free from the cutting board and headed for his parents' door.

"He kicked the door open, catching the butcher and his mistress in the act. In a flash, he was above them on the bed. The butcher raised his hands to defend himself. With a roar, he brought the cleaver down on the butcher's head splitting it in two. As the mistress screamed in terror, the boy pulled the blade free, rolled the butcher off the bed and silenced the woman's screams with an arc of steel.

"The crash of the door had awoken the little girl. As she lay in her bed, she heard the screams of her father and the woman, the roar of a monster and a couple of thwacks that reminded her of her father's butcher shop. As any other child she did the one thing to make herself feel safer. She threw her blankets over her head, closed her eyes and listened.

"Thwack!

"Thwack!

"Thwack!

"Silence.

"Heavy breathing.

"Laughter.

"A roar of delight.

"Footsteps.

"Closer.

"Closer.

"Closer.

"The creak of the door.

"She opened her eyes.

"Through the sheets, she could see the form of the boy, the firelight flickering evilly against the walls behind him. He was still panting from the massacre in the bedroom. Seeing the quivering lump in the bed, he walked towards it, slowly raising the cleaver up in his right hand. He tore off the blankets.

"The girl was frozen in shock at the sight of this thing. It wore he father's apron and jacket and it was covered in blood and gore. She didn't cry out, she didn't cry. She just stared up into the eyes of the boy. The boy stood still, looking back into hers. He lowered the blade and sat down on the bed beside her. He then reached out and caressed her face, his fingers leaving a trail of blood on her cheek. 'Now you're like me' was all he said. He then got up and left the cabin. The girl sat there motionless.

"The next morning, the storm had blown itself out. The mistress had a friend in the village, the same village as the butcher. She and her friend had agreed that if there was a large blizzard like the one before, the friend would organize a posse to head out to her cabin and check on her. True to her word, the friend did just that. When the winds had died down, the posse headed out and into the forests.

"In a couple hours, they had arrived to the scene of a horrible, brutal murder. Seeing that the door was left open, they spurred their horses onward and quickly came to it. When they saw the blood around the doorway, they quickly got out their rifles. They ran inside and checked the entire cabin. As they discovered the corpses and the chains below. Wild theories began to form but a few things were quite clear. The butcher had a mistress, a scandal so heinous, it would destroy his wife and also, someone had been held captive down in the cellar for a long time. It was then when they heard a whimper.

"They ran to the sound and found the little girl, blood smeared on her face, now dried. The group decided that the killer may have left a trail or a clue. Two men stayed behind with the girl as the rest ran out to search for the murderer. The pair began to ask the girl what happened. Slowly she began to tell them about the night before. The two men could not believe what they had heard. They ran outside to warn the others of the boy.

"However, the boy was closer than they had thought. He was crouched upon the roof of the cabin, hidden from view, but he heard the entire conversation. She had betrayed him! Even after he had spared hers, she had given him up so that they would end his. Enraged, he leapt down from the roof and ran inside.

"The group heard the little girls screams and bolted back to the house. As they entered they saw this hulking mass clad in white butcher's garb, cleaving the little girl to bits. Rifles at the ready, they shot the boy dead."

The group was transfixed on Mr. Lobos. He leaned back on the bench and looked up into the treetops, then over to the shack.

"And that's the shack where it all happened."