OK, so I've tried to figure out what exactly has been going on
with my situation since its most recent occurrence, but it ended
up going nowhere. I found stories and folklore
that were somewhat similar, but not exact enough for me to
understand what I encountered. Given my failed search for
answers, I'm hoping I can gain something from talking about
what happened, whether that be a new lead for me to follow, a
piece of folklore I missed, or even a definitive answer from
whoever may read this. My first experience is rather
fuzzy for me as it happened when I was five years old.
I'm part of a hunting family and even at that age I was taken
along on hunts whether I wanted to or not.
During one hunt in either the fall or winter, there was a lot
of snow, so it was one of those seasons.
We ended up in the woods somewhere in Jasper, AB.
I don't remember what we were hunting, not that it matters.
It was me, my dad, and a hunting friend of his.
The three of us were deep in the woods and I remember our camp
was set up in a wall tent. It was spacious inside the
walls, made out of some kind of thick canvas or another white
textile, and there was no light. Even the small furnace in the
tent provided only a dim orange glow.
On the night of the second day, as we were getting ready for bed
on some uncomfortable cots, my dad and his friend fell asleep
while I was awake, bored and uncomfortable since I was a kid
taking on a hunt I didn't want to be on, I couldn't sleep, so I
ended up taking a flashlight to explore the forest around the
tent. It was just meant to be for a
little while, and in my mind I had nothing to fear.
I had spent plenty of time in the woods at that point, so I
believed there was little to no danger, and there were guns in
the tent so I'd be safe. The only thing of note I
remember from my exploration, besides the darkness of the
forest and the freezing cold, was a large animal I caught a
glimpse of. I don't remember much about it,
just that I shone my light into the trees for a few seconds
before there was movement of something moving away.
Shortly after, I went back to the tent and got into my cot to
sleep. I remember waking up to my dad's
friend stocking the furnace or adding a log to it or something.
He then left the tent momentarily with a flashlight,
presumably to take a leak. I tried to go back to sleep, but
that was interrupted by my dad's friend yelling.
My dad immediately woke up and grabbed his rifle that was next
to him before leaving the tent. I was scared and stayed frozen
in my cot, unsure about what to do.
I don't know how much time passed before there were
gunshots and I think yelling. My dad ran back, his friend
absent from whatever was going on.
After zipping the entrance, he ordered me to stay with him in
the middle of the tent. Given the distance between US
and the walls of the tent, if whatever was out there were to
rip open the walls, my dad would have time to react.
I'm not sure how much time passed with us just sitting in
the middle of the tent, but eventually the sound of quick
footsteps began circling the tent.
I think I might have closed my eyes and covered my ears in
anticipation of my dad's shooting or something else
happening. After circling the tent a few
times, I remember hearing the sound of something dragging
across the tent's fabric, which made my dad shoot in that
general direction. Whatever it was ran off and the
two of us remained in the same spot the rest of the night, only
moving whenever my dad had to add more logs to the furnace.
When day broke, we hurriedly packed up our bags before my dad
gave me his friend's rifle and we left.
I was worried about what had happened to his friend since he
never came back to the tent and we just left without him on our
long hike back to my dad's truck.
After that point, I just remember my dad driving us home
as he talked to I think the police on his flip phone.
I talked with my dad about that night only a couple of times
after that, and from what he told me, he never saw his friend
when he went looking for him. After he yelled, he looked
around and came across a tall humanoid figure standing behind
some pine trees, possibly hiding from him.
He couldn't see any details, just the silhouette of something
inhumanly tall. He shot at it before coming back
to the tent. When I asked him about the
dragging along the tent, he said he just saw what seemed to be
the indent of a finger touching it from the other side, as if it
was trying to identify the material of the walls.
After we left, he told me the police showed up a few hours
later and he had to lead them out into the woods and back to
the tent. The tent had been searched
through, although nothing was taken.
The zippers weren't used to enter the tent either.
The walls were cut open by an animal.
They found some blood nearby, along with some tracks that
looked like a cross between a canine and a human.
It was snowing by the time the police were out there, but they
did manage to find the dead body of my dad's friend before the
trail was covered up. He was partially devoured and
after a short investigation by the RCMP, they deemed it to be
an animal attack. Despite the humanoid figure seen
in the finger examining the tent.
Nothing else came from that case after that besides my family
moving away from Jasper and never returning for any reason.
We essentially forbade ourselves from going anywhere near Jasper
unless we were passing through to BC for whatever reason.
The second time I encountered this creature was when I was 10
years old. My class had this field trip
where we all would go to this one patch of woods that had
small cabins, a small rec center, and other amenities.
It was supposed to be a trip where you show up, spend the day
doing whatever, spend the night in a cabin with whatever group
you made, and leave at around noon the next day.
I don't remember the exact area we were in, but it was somewhere
northwest of Edmonton, which would be pretty far away from
Jasper. We went up there and things were
normal the first day. We would have been there for the
second day if that creature hadn't shown up.
When it was really dark out, we had a game of Manhunt.
Basically, two or three seekers were picked to look for the
hiders who could hide anywhere around the forest as long as
they didn't stray too far. If a seeker found a hider, the
hider would become a seeker and help them.
At the end of the game, there was a prize to be won if you
were deemed the best seeker or the best hider.
I was supposed to hide, so my friend at the time and I ended
up heading down this trail, which led to a more lush part of
the forest nearby. We figured it would be the best
area to hide given all the bushes and trees.
It wasn't out of bounds, but still deep enough in the trees,
so if any of the seekers came looking for us, they would have
to come pretty deep into the brush to get us.
Some seekers eventually did come by, but they only found my
friend who was hiding close to me but not with me, and he
didn't snitch on me, so they all left, leaving me alone.
Some time passed as I remained hunched in a small circle of
trees that almost perfectly covered me.
The only way I could be seen would be if someone looked
thoroughly through the trees in front of me, or if someone came
from behind me where I was more exposed.
There wasn't much covering me there, so if anyone came by I
would have to hope they wouldn't walk behind my cover at my
hiding spot. I had the advantage of being
able to see anyone coming up the trail here if I just pulled the
branches in front of me aside. I also could see the moon
through the branches if I look to my right, the white dot in
the sky preventing that area from being a solid black void
like everything else around me. I remember sitting there for so
long I actually started to shiver from the nightly chill,
and the boredom slowly started to get to me.
I think I had an iPod five at the time, and since I figured no
one would come back here, I took it out along with my earbuds and
started to play some games on it, occasionally doing a quick
360° scan of my area in case any seekers were about.
I remember 30 or so minutes had passed at that point, which
meant any minute now some teacher would come ringing a
bell to mark the end of the game, the winning hiders being
given a reward. I kept my eyes on my iPod,
continuing to do my occasional scans of my area for any
seekers. During one of my scans I resumed
playing games as usual, but I had this off feeling now.
I didn't see anything, but I felt like something was wrong.
I remember hearing somewhere that the feeling of being
watched comes from you seeing something out of place, but not
exactly registering what it is. I'm pretty sure that was what I
was feeling, so I turned around and looked around more
thoroughly, examining what little I could see given how it
was all pitch black. There was nothing behind me, but
the feeling persisted. Some panic began to slowly surge
through me, despite the fact I hadn't seen anything yet.
I considered getting up to leave, but someone would come
ringing a bell soon and I didn't want to miss out on the reward.
Why would I leave if there really was nothing here?
After this feeling kept picking at me, I eventually felt
courageous enough to shine a light around me.
My iPod had a flashlight on it, albeit one that wasn't very
powerful. I raised it and turned it on,
scanning the area behind me since I assumed someone would be
watching me from where I was exposed.
I could see a few meters behind me and only saw pine trees,
small plants, and other typical things you'd expect.
I felt safer knowing there wasn't anything behind me, so I
turned the light off. I resumed my game, the feeling
still persisting, but a sense of security now instilled.
Nothing was behind me. As I played games and waited, I
thought about that. Nothing was behind me.
I only searched the area behind me, not the areas off to my
sides or in front of me. This new realization worried me,
so I pushed the branches out of the way to see in front of me,
and there was nothing but a barely visible trail back to the
cabin, which was to be expected. I glanced over to my sides, the
area to my left harboring nothing but blackness past the
trees. I checked my right, also nothing
but a black void past the trees. I was about to go back to my
game, but I realized there was something wrong.
There was nothing to my right. Where was the previously visible
moon? Behind the branches there?
I remember looking over, realizing the moon was indeed
gone, which could only happen if something were to be blocking
it. I froze, realizing someone had
been standing behind the branches to my right for who
knows how long. My breathing picked up as I
stared in that direction, it becoming obvious I noticed
whatever was there. Still, whoever it was didn't
move. They didn't say anything, they
didn't even attack me. The sound of a distant bell
ringing snapped me back to reality, and I sprung up from my
sitting position and ran through the pine branches in front of
me, getting whipped and pricked by the needles.
I reached the clearing in front of me and ran down the trail as
fast as I could. When I saw a teacher ahead of me
coming up the trail. I ran to her, out of breath.
I tried to explain what happened, her not understanding
me because of how frantic I was. When I calmed down I said
someone was in the trees watching me and they were not a
seeker or hider or anyone else. She went from chill to Sirius
and asked me if I was sure. After confirming that I was
indeed stalked by someone who wasn't a fellow classmate, she
led me back to my cabin where my group was, including my friend.
She told us to lock the doors before she left and talk to
someone on her radio. Me, my friend, and three other
kids were left in that cabin, which had a small window on both
doors and a large window on one of the walls, all of which
didn't have curtains. We were missing one of our
members who had left to refill their water bottle at the rec
center. Before I showed up.
My group asked me what happened, and I told them someone who
wasn't a seeker was watching me. They seemed skeptical, but my
friend believed me since he knew me better than the rest of them
and he knew no one else came up that trail to where I was.
Around half an hour passed where nothing happened.
No teachers came back. Our other group member did not
come back. It was just us five.
One of us wanted to leave to use the washroom at one point and I
pleaded with him to not leave. I think he realized I was
serious about no one leaving since he stayed.
The cabin felt safe. We had the doors locked, there
were other people here and the teachers knew about the thing in
the woods. More time passed where nothing
happened, no teachers or nothing.
The kids still needed to leave, but I figured things had been
settled so didn't try to stop him.
He dug around his stuff for his water bottle so he could refill
it while he was out. Before he could leave there was
a loud knock on the wall of our cabin, thankfully the wall
without a window. We all looked at each other
before there was the sound of dragging along the side of it.
I turned off the light and we all hid under our beds.
It LED from the middle of the wall to the corner, then over to
the door. There was a loud tap on the
glass, followed by another, and then another.
The door knob was tried momentarily, the lock stopping
it before the tapping on the glass continued.
When it finally stopped, there was a minute of silence before
the tapping resumed on the larger window on the wall of the
cabin. I was facing it but couldn't see
anything. The tapping stopped, and I
assumed they would start tapping on the window to the other door.
I waited in anticipation for it before a loud crash came from
the window that was just touched.
A sporadic ringing came from an object thrown through the window
before it ricocheted off the wall and onto the ground near
me, the object letting out one last ring.
I felt like I was going to die. It would get inside through the
window, then it would kill us. I closed my eyes, thinking about
my eventual death. It never came though.
My eyes remained closed as even more time passed, as if whatever
threw the bell through the window was just taking their
time. I'm not sure how long it was,
but eventually we heard footsteps near the cabin before
there was a knock on the door. A light shined through the
window as a man shouted that they were the police.
We were relieved and got up to open the door.
It was indeed an officer, and he started to ask us if we were OK.
As my group explained what happened, I looked back at the
object thrown through the window since there was light.
It turned out to be a bell the teacher used to end the game,
this bell being bloody. After he talked to us, he led us
back to the rec center where more police, teachers and
students were. The rest of the night was spent
there in the lobby as the police searched the area.
Parents were notified and they began to arrive to get us.
Before they did, the police asked students if they saw
anything and when they got to me, I explained everything I
experienced from being watched while hiding to our cabin window
being broken. When talking to my group
members, they said that after the window was broken, the large
silhouette of a head or something stuck through the open
window and briefly looked around.
My mom arrived the next morning, taking me away from that hellish
forest. One of the last things I
remember when leaving the place was two officers talking, one of
them mentioning a body being found.
I learned later from my parents that one of the male teachers
was found dead and partially devoured.
They found the bell he had to get the hiders to have been the
same one tossed through my window that night.
When my dad heard the details about the body being devoured
and my telling of something examining the walls and window
of the cabin, he immediately recalled our hunting trip when I
was 5. That was when he explained to me
what he saw that night for the first time.
My latest experience happened before I went to college.
We moved to a rural town near Athabasca that probably had a
population of 30 people. There was plenty of forest
around us, and being an 18 year old who had basically forgotten
my previous encounters at that point, I felt like I could take
on anything that was in the woods besides grizzly bears or
moose for obvious reasons. It was summer vacation and since
I had nothing else to do I would take my bow and head out to hunt
small game like rabbits. By August I had gone from
leaving to hunt for a few hours to leaving with a tent and a bag
of supplies to camp out deep in the forest for a night or two.
It was nice, but my last hunt of the summer before college
started pretty much ended interaction with the forest for
me for the next while. My final hunting camping trip
was pretty normal for the first bit of it, which was to be
expected. I walked into the forest for
about 30 or 40 minutes, which led me to a very flat clearing
that was perfect to sleep in a small tent.
I've made this trip to the same spot multiple times at that
point, and with the aid of a compass along with some pink
ribbons I left tied to trees, it kept me from getting lost on the
way there and back. It was very scenic and peaceful,
devoid of any sight or sound of people, just pure nature.
I set up my camp, did some hunting where I found nothing
besides some large bear prints and some dried mud.
Had this box of cheap dried hash Browns for supper and then
chilled out at my camp for the rest of the day while drinking
some coolers I brought and blasting loud music to keep any
bears away. By the time night enveloped the
forest I was ready to go to sleep.
Sometime later I woke up. I wasn't sure why, I just
happened to feeling tired. I tried to go back to sleep
until I heard the sound of plastic and cans rustling near
my camp. I froze for a moment, not
believing what I heard. When the sound rustled again, I
sat up and grabbed my hunting knife.
My groggy mind took a moment to think and I realized that
something was digging into my trash bag.
I stored any food related trash in a plastic bag before tying it
and hanging it from a tree away from camp in case bears came by
and something was definitely digging in it.
At that moment I hung it pretty high so it was either some
scavenger animal that could climb or a bear.
For my sake, I hoped it was the first option.
I just had a bow and a knife and neither would be much help
against a bear, especially if it was a grizzly.
After a few minutes of rustling, there was silence.
I still waited, keeping as quiet as I could to not draw the
animal's attention to me. As I waited, I thought about
what I would do. Some of my ideas were going back
to sleep, some were grabbing my stuff and leaving, and I even
had the dumb thought of scaring the animal off if it was still
there. I eventually figured that if it
was some small animal, I'd stay. If I got any confirmation about
it being a bear, I'd pack my stuff and leave the first chance
I had. I would check my phone
occasionally to see how much time had passed.
When around 15 minutes passed, I assumed the animal had left, so
I checked the time. Seeing that was around 2:00 AM.
Tired, I tried to settle back into my bag.
A roar sounded off in the distance, ruining any chance of
me going back to sleep. I sat up, not believing what I
heard. I wasn't sure where it came
from, but it sounded like a bear's roar.
I'm pretty sure bears only roar when trying to find a mate or
when they are defending territory.
And since it wasn't bear mating season, that meant it was likely
a territorial dispute. With the confirmation that a
bear probably rolled up to my camp, I packed my bag and left
my tent, zipping it behind me before I turned on my headlamp.
I took out my compass and figured out the general
direction of the first ribbon to follow back home.
Regardless of the 40 minute hike ahead of me, I hurried toward
the first ribbon. My hand rested on the knife
attached to my belt, just for the feeling of security, since
it's not like I'd be able to fend off a bear with a simple
knife. Thankfully, it didn't take long
for me to find my first pink ribbon.
It was pretty close to camp after all.
I think I set up a couple dozen of them, so I should come across
them every couple of minutes. During the walk, I didn't try to
be stealthy. My headlamp lit up a fair amount
of area around me and I loudly charged through the shrubs in
plant matter. When I came across the second
pink ribbon, I felt more confident about my trip back.
Things were on the right track so far.
My confidence faded somewhat when I had gone about 5 minutes
without seeing any new ribbons. They were spaced out a few
minutes apart, so I should have found the third one by now.
It was dark though, and I could barely recognize the area, and I
was kind of panicked, so my state of mind wasn't completely
there. I tried to remember what the
tree I tied it to looked like, or any kind of landmark near the
ribbon I could recognize, but nothing came to mind.
It couldn't be too far, I kept telling myself.
So I kept looking around, relying solely on my compass for
guidance. 5 more minutes passed, which turned into 10 minutes of
me searching for the third ribbon.
Hopelessness started to set in as I searched around for the
third ribbon or any recognizable landmark.
With nothing more than a headlamp on and a compass in one
hand, I started to blame myself for everything that was going on
as I search for the ribbon. I could have looked for a closer
clearing near my house to camp at.
I could have stayed back at camp for the night instead of heading
home. I could have left for home after
finding the large bear print before night fell.
I could have just walked in One Direction using the compass and
take an even longer but surefire trip back home.
I could have done any number of things to have avoided this.
I just walked around hopelessly looking for the ribbon,
insulting myself in my mind as I did.
It all became very distracting for me and I slowly stopped
paying attention to my surroundings.
All my focus was just on either my compass, the ground since I
believed the ribbon fell off somehow, or other ways I could
judge myself. This led to me walking into a
large mass that was slightly obscured by a fallen tree 15 or
so meters away. If I remember correctly, it's
dead leaves covering most of it. I stopped walking and looked up,
realizing it was a grizzly bear, the front half of it being
obscured by the fallen tree. I'm dead.
That was the first thing I thought.
I couldn't outrun one, and if I were to play dead it would just
beat the crap out of me and probably seriously wound me.
And if that were to happen, I would definitely never get home
after that. Unsure about what to do, I took
out my knife and stared at the grizzly, which still hadn't
reared its head from behind the leaves.
I stood there frozen as I waited, unsure about what to do.
The bear had not turned around, so its front half was still
covered. Despite my fear restraining me
from properly functioning, I thought it was odd how it didn't
at least move to get a look at me.
More confusion built up in me as I realized how loud I was and
how I had my headlamp on this whole time.
The bear would have known I was approaching long before I even
came across it, and it would have reacted as such.
As I slowly regained my senses, I noticed a couple more things I
was too fearful to notice before. 1st, the bear wasn't
standing, it was lying down on its stomach.
Second, there was blood. Some of it was along the ground,
some was rubbed against trees, some was on the bear.
I don't know how I felt seeing that.
It seemed like it was dead, which meant I was safe from it.
However, I didn't know for sure, and if it was alive, I didn't
know what that would mean for me.
Maybe I should walk away, or be quiet and stand still, or turn
off my light, or check to see if the bear was actually dead.
I settled for checking on the bear and forced my legs to move
me closer. As quietly as I could, I kept my
distance from the bear because all I wanted to do was confirm
it was dead. Once I could see around the
fallen tree, I could confirm it was indeed dead.
Its bottom jaw was ripped off and it looked like something
tore its neck open. Its front leg was mangled and
lifted up, exposing its chest which had been torn open, its
bloody contents looking as if they were slightly chewed up.
Not a single animal here in Alberta would have done this.
A cougar wouldn't enter a grizzly bears territory and end
up killing it for the sole purpose of eating it.
And when Grizzlies fight with other Grizzlies, they typically
don't end up in death and devouring, if I remembered
correctly. I remember staring at it in
morbid awe at this sight, relieved that the grizzly
wouldn't hurt me, but worried about what killed the grizzly.
The thoughts of my previous experiences in the past came to
mind and I tried to ignore them and tell myself that makes no
sense. I was in Athabasca, which I
think is somewhere around 400 kilometers from Jasper, and
maybe half that from where I was during my field trip.
It could not have found me here, it could never have.
That would be impossible. Why would it even follow me?
Me of all people all this way across the province.
Still, it all felt very similar, everything from it being night,
to it being in the forest, to even the partly devoured corpse.
There was one thing missing though.
As I stood there examining the dead grizzly.
I realized too late though. After thinking about all the
similarities between this situation and the previous ones,
the main difference I came to realize is that I haven't
confirmed I was being watched yet.
That thought immediately made me want to do a 360 scan of my
surroundings. Without even trying.
I simply turned my head around and felt numb.
I saw the creature standing around 10 meters from me.
It wasn't even hiding, just standing right behind me this
whole time watching me. I wanted to drop to my knees and
just die there. I didn't want to feel the fear I
felt in that moment. I'd rather have just died right
there and then as to not feel it anymore.
This was the first time I'd ever seen the creature in full.
It was around 10 or 12 feet tall, it easily towering over
me. It had a humanoid shape, its
body, legs, and arms being very similar to that of one.
Its hands were large, clawed and bloody.
Dark, tattered fur, similar to an unkempt moose covered its
body. It had a tail, a pretty long and
Bony one at that. Its head was recognizable to me,
it being very similar to that of a moose skull due to how
elongated it was. It had no antlers, not even
stumps on its head, so maybe it was a female creature.
Blood was around its mouth, where instead of the typical
herbivore teeth a moose would have, it instead had sharpened
predatory ones. There looked to be a symbol of
some sort drawn onto the forehead of its skull, and I
think charcoal. Just something dark.
The last thing I noticed the most out of place for it was the
missing pink ribbon tied around the base of a moose like ear,
protruding from the back of its skull like a taunting
decoration. Its other ear just had this
string tied to it with animal bones or something hanging off
of it. My first thought was that I was
seeing a Wendigo, not that knowing what it was would help
me at that moment. We stared at each other, not
that I wanted to, I wanted to run, but I couldn't.
I just kept staring into its eyes, or lack thereof given it
just had two empty black voids in place of them.
I tightened the grip on my knife, causing its head to tilt
slightly and gaze towards it. I'm not sure how much time
passed as we had our standoff, as if it couldn't kill me with
ease. The more time passed, the more
control I gained over my body. The moment I could move my legs,
I took a step back, causing the creature to tilt its head more.
As if curious about what I had planned, I took another step
back, then another. After backing up a few meters,
the creature took a single step forward, instantly making our
distance between each other the same as before.
When it did that, I raised my knife, as if that would do
anything to ward it off, it tilting its head again.
We kept backing up like this, me moving a few meters back with
multiple steps before it closed that distance with a single
step. I was so lost in this that I
bumped into the dead bear, causing me to turn around and
look at it. The moment my eyes were off the
creature, I heard two quick, loud footsteps and turned back
to see it only a few meters away from me, its jaw slightly
unhinged. I gave up on being careful at
that point, I had nothing to do besides the primal control of
hopelessly fleeing. I turned and ran while trying to
drop my backpack and bow that I had over my shoulders.
I successfully dropped my bow on the ground, shedding a little
weight during my run. I unsuccessfully tried to take
my backpack off one handed as I had my knife in my other hand.
Running through and cutting myself on multiple branches
didn't help. Still, the creature had not
managed or chosen to catch up with me yet.
After running through a pine tree's bunch of needles, I ended
up reaching a steep ravine. It was around 8 feet high and I
didn't see it. After running through the tree,
I fell and covered my head as I rolled down it, my backpack
providing little protection during my tumble.
When I finally came to a stop at the end of it, I just felt pain
all over me, one very noticeable burning pain on my cheek during
the fall. I think my face bashed into the
knife. I was out of breath, my body
hurt, I dropped my knife and didn't know where it was, and my
headlamp turned off during the fall and fell off my head with
the inability to see or defend myself or even run.
Being that I was in pain and out of breath, I just laid there and
hoped for the best, whatever that could have possibly been.
Maybe if I just stayed still it wouldn't find me.
Maybe it would be quick when killing me.
I just laid there with my eyes closed, resting my head on my
arms. I'm not sure how much time
passed like that. There was no sound of the
creature being anywhere near me, although that didn't mean
anything. It has been close and quiet to
me before. Eventually, I got to my knees.
I didn't know where my headlamp was, and I wasn't too keen on
feeling around for it. I took out my phone and turned
on its flashlight. I scanned around, finding the
headlamp not too far away from me.
I grabbed it, put it on, and prepared myself to turn that one
on and look around. There was no way the creature
wasn't standing somewhere near me, watching like it usually
did. Turning the headlamp on, I did a
quick look around. Spotting the creature crouched
at the top of the hill, I fell down.
It was looking down at me, likely watching me during the
entire time I laid there. Its head was tilted as per
usual, it curiously examining me.
I wanted to say something to it, ask it what it wanted, or even
just tell it to get it over with, but I just couldn't choke
out any words. I rubbed my cheek where the
burning sensation was, and sure enough, I had a cut there.
The creature lowered itself down the hill with ease and reached
out its hand shortly after I checked my cut.
I closed my eyes and waited for the obvious.
It didn't come through. Instead, I felt its hand rub
against my face where the cut was.
It then grabbed my sides and lifted me up.
Unsure about what it was going to do, I just kept my eyes
closed as it elevated me. My heart was pounding, I was
breathing heavily. The feeling was indescribable.
I have no clue how to use words to explain the feeling I felt at
that very moment. I felt something heavy and hard
rest atop my head. Confused, I opened my eyes for a
moment, realizing that as it held me in the air, it was
resting its Bony head on top of mine.
As it held me in the air like this.
I considered raising my legs and kicking it to get it to let go
of me, but it's not like I had anywhere to run if I did that.
It continued to hold me as I expected something more brutal
to happen, but it never did. It stopped resting its head on
mine and gently lowered me to the ground.
It stared at me for a few moments, then with surprising
ease scaled the steep hill, heading back to where we just
came from, presumably to finish eating the bear.
As for me, I took a moment to lean against a tree in shock.
I couldn't comprehend what happened.
I was still kind of roughed up from my tumble and I didn't know
where I was. After my moment to rest, I found
the things. I dropped, scaled the hill to
get my bow and took out my compass.
I settled on just walking SW, which was the general direction
of my town. The walk wasn't fun.
I hurt and I kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see it
following me. Around an hour of walking later
I reached a gravel Rd. which I followed for another 10 or 15
minutes back to my town and then eventually to my house.
It was around 4:00 in the morning at this point and
everyone was asleep so I just got some water and went to my
room to reflect on what happened before I went to sleep.
I woke up at around 2:00 PM which meant my parents were gone
at work. Being alone, I searched the
house for the gun safe keys which I eventually found hidden
in some random decorative candle holder in my parents bedroom.
I grabbed one of our shotguns and left to go retrieve my tent
and whatever else I left in the woods.
It was horrible heading back into the woods where I came
across that creature less than 10 hours beforehand, but I
couldn't leave a tent and blankets and other stuff out
there to rot. I never encountered the creature
again, thankfully, but when I reached my camp I didn't like
what was there. Some dried blood was dragged
alongside the tent, so I could assume who examined my tent for
a bit. It was unzipped, which meant it
learned how to use zippers since the first ever time I
encountered it. Inside my tent was my blanket
and sleeping bag, which were ruffled up as if it looked
around in there. The last thing I found was the
most messed up. Nearby, left in the charcoal and
ashes of my fire, was a dead rabbit.
Its head was bitten off and I could only assume it was some
kind of gift or offering or something.
After that, I haven't encountered anything creature
related since. By September I moved away from
college to the town of Vermilion, which is surrounded
by acres upon acres of empty fields, so no way that thing is
going to come all the way out here unnoticed.
Before I moved, I brought up what I encountered with my dad
when he got home from work because I had to.
He is the only person I know who has encountered the same
creature before he was disturbed and the last time I talked with
him he planned to move somewhere less rural and away from
forests. Looking back on all my
experiences and after some research into cryptids and
forest monsters and stuff, I have no idea what that is.
At first I thought it was a Wendigo because of the skull
head, humanoid body and how it would eat people.
Then after comparing the way they act with my experiences
with it, I don't think it is. It had a female moose skull head
instead of a male deer skull head, which could be excused.
Maybe the female moose skull head means it's a female variant
or something. I don't know, I'm not a Wendigo
expert. It never mimicked people ever,
or even spoke any words, which seems to be a thing wendigos can
do. It did eat people, but it also
killed and ate a grizzly bear and killed and ate a rabbit's
head. It had the symbol on its skull
head and it had decorative stuff on its ears.
Lastly, I don't think it's a Wendigo because it let me live.
It did chase me, watch me, and somehow follow me across the
province, but it wasn't to kill me or hurt me.
If anything it possibly likes me given that when finding me at my
weakest it just held me and rested its head on mine, even
leaving me the same animal I had been hunting at my campsite.
For me it just doesn't seem like a Wendigo.
I considered skinwalker after that, but it wasn't canine
related and I've never seen a moose around those areas
surprisingly. I feel like if it was a
skinwalker it would just be a moose and watch me during the
day and I wouldn't notice. No one would.
Not only that, the behavior and location are too different to be
one. I tried looking into other
Cryptid and folklore stuff, but none of it is similar enough to
my experience of being followed across the province or to the
way the creature looked. I also tried to remember and
draw that symbol that was on its head, but I can't remember any
of the details of it besides there being a large black dot
within a circle. Overall, I'm just at a loss.
None of this makes any sense to me, which is why I'm posting
what happened here. I hope someone can provide some
insight about what that is or what it may want with me.
As for me, I'm considering a new career choice.
The college here in Vermilion is for jobs that typically involve
nature, and after that thing found me twice across the
province, I'm pretty sure I don't want a job that takes
place in the woods. I'm pretty confident that
whatever it is, it would find me again if I did.
It doesn't seem to want to kill me.
I don't know what it wants with me.
Even if I were safe from it, which seems to be the case so
far, others wouldn't be because it had probably eat them.
I hope someone on here can provide me with some answers or
anything. If you're ever driving down
Route 106 in Michigan and you see a sign for the Greenbrier
Motel, you'd better just keep driving because there is
something terribly wrong here and the last thing I would want
is for more people to die. I started working at the
Greenbrier Motel a week ago. It wasn't a dream job by any
standards. The night shift at the front
desk, checking people in and out and doing some inventory in the
back. I liked the peace and quiet,
though. As a little rundown motel on an
isolated Hwy. it gave me a lot of time to read and play
computer games on the clock. It also helped that the owner,
Frank, didn't seem to care that I was a high school dropout with
a rap sheet. But on the very first day, I
felt that something was terribly off.
For one, there was the smell. When the wind shifted, the
entire parking lot smelled like rotting meat.
I ran to close the windows, but even then I could still smell
it. It seeped in through the HVAC
system. The motel is surrounded by deep
woods, so I figured maybe we were near the kill grounds of
some animal, or maybe it was just the endless roadkill of
deer and possums on the highway. Either way, it was unsettling
and definitely not enjoyable. But the other thing that struck
me as odd was the guests rooms. Some of them didn't have
windows, and it seemed like that was intentional.
I could see the lines in the paint, the seams outlining where
windows had once been. When I asked Frank, he told me
that some of the guests asked for windowless rooms, that they
were in high demand. He didn't elaborate, and
honestly, I was a little scared to press him on it.
Things went from strange to downright creepy, however, as
soon as Frank left. As I got set up at my desk, a
woman walked into the room. She was in her 40s maybe, with
black hair and very pale skin. As soon as she stepped inside,
she locked the door behind her. Frank left.
Right? She asked me.
Yeah, I replied. Who are you?
She introduced herself as Matilda.
She'd been working here for a decade, cleaning the motel rooms
after the guests checked out. After a few minutes of small
talk, she suddenly came up to the counter and lowered her
voice. I want to make sure you're safe
around here, she said, glancing back toward the door nervously.
So I need you to listen to me, OK?
My heart dropped. OK, whatever you do, don't ask
questions. Just check people in, check them
out and mind your own business and then you'll be fine.
My stomach did a little flip. OK, so it was that kind of
motel. Illegal business of multiple
kinds, probably all being conducted under our leaky roof.
What? What if the police come, will I
be arrested too? She gave me a blank stare.
The police say they find evidence of illegal activity in
one of the rooms. Will that get me in trouble?
I already have shoplifting on my record and can't.
She shook her head. Don't worry about the police.
Just don't ask questions and don't make eye contact or look
at their faces for too long. I swallowed.
They don't want witnesses. They don't want me to be able to
pick them out of a lineup. I thought, OK, I won't ask
questions and I won't look at them for too long, Got it?
She smiled at me. You have nothing to worry about.
As it turned out, though, I did. That night, I checked in three
people. They were almost like
caricatures. A big, strong guy in sunglasses
that looked like he'd stepped right out of the Godfather.
A woman dressed to the nines wearing more makeup than a
clown. A skinny young guy in a hoodie
that smelled like something chemical and strange.
But I listened to Matilda. I didn't ask questions.
I didn't even ask the questions I should have been asking, like
when hoodie guy gave me an ID that was clearly fake.
Don't ask questions and you'll be fine.
I kept repeating that to myself, and I kept my eyes glued to the
computer screen, never even glancing up at them.
When it hit midnight, I assumed the rest of the night would be
smooth sailing on this lonely stretch of Hwy.
It was unlikely anyone else would check in.
I pulled up Minesweeper and played some music on my phone.
My peace and quiet, however, was interrupted by the door swinging
open at 2:00. AMI glanced up to see the guy in
sunglasses, the guy who looked like he'd stepped out of the
Godfather. Damn, I knew I should have
locked the door. I swallowed and kept my eyes
glued to the computer screen as he approached.
Can I help you? I asked, watching him in my
peripheral vision. Do you have any razors for
purchase? I froze.
Razors AT2. AMI instantly got a mental image
of him slashing someone up in his room, blood all over the
sheets, soaking into the carpet. No, we don't have any razors.
I said, keeping my eyes on the computer screen.
Can you just check in the back, please?
He asked. I swallowed.
I really, really didn't want to go check.
As soon as I turned around, he could do anything.
Pull out a gun, tackle me, force me into a chokehold and keep me
hostage. But refusing him was just as
bad, if not worse. It might make him mad.
Really mad. I sat there, staring at
minesweeper on the screen, weighing my options, paying
close attention to him out of the corner of my eye.
And that's when I saw it. There was something off about
this guy. His sunglasses looked like they
were slightly too low on his face, like the eyes they were
covering weren't in quite the right place.
And not only that, but I couldn't see his eyebrows above
the frames or the contours of his brow Ridge.
Everything above the glasses was perfectly flat and smooth, like
he had no eye sockets at all. Can you check in the back,
please? He asked again, his voice taking
on an annoyed tone. Yes, sure.
I sprang out of the seat and ducked into the back storage
area. I quickly glanced over my
shoulder to make sure he wasn't following me.
He wasn't. I had half a mind to just stay
there, hiding out in the back storage room until I heard his
voice calling out to me again. Did you find them?
He sounded angry, almost furious.
Thankfully I did find a few packaged razors next to some
other toiletries we kept. I grabbed them and handed them
over. I kept my eyes trained on the
floor the whole time. Thank you.
He said, sounding pleased. And that was it.
He turned around and left. As soon as the door shut, I ran
over and locked it. I closed the blinds and sat back
down at the front desk. My heart was hammering in my
chest. All I could picture were the
strange shapes of his face. And as I sat there, I realized
something. All three guests that I'd
checked in since the start of my shift.
The godfather guy, the makeup woman, the hoodie guy.
They all had something covering their face or head.
I mean, I wasn't exaggerating about the woman having enough
makeup for a clown. She was wearing foundation so
thick that it cracked around the corners of her eyes and lips,
and she wore false eyelashes so long they looked like spider
legs and hoodie. Guy had kept his hood pulled so
tightly over his head that I couldn't see his ears and hair.
It was like they all had something to hide.
Morning couldn't come soon enough.
As soon as the day shift workers arrived, I got the hell out of
there. I floored it back to my house
and slept for a long time. I had nightmares all night about
faceless people and spidery eyelashes.
Then it was time to go back to the motel for night #2
thankfully it was a quieter night.
Although the vacancy sign glowed brightly in the darkness, no one
checked in during my shift. They must have all come earlier
during the day. So I locked the door, sat down
with a cup of coffee, and enjoyed some reading in the
quiet. Unfortunately, the quiet didn't
last long. Around midnight, I heard a loud
slam from outside. I threw my book down and ran
over to the window. The door to room 16 was wide
open. I looked around.
Nobody appeared to be outside. The parking lot and the sidewalk
were empty. The room itself was dark.
None of the lights were on. I walked over to the computer
and looked up the room. To my surprise, no one had
booked it for tonight. Should I go out and close the
door? I hesitated.
It was late. There was no one around except
for the occasional passing car. If someone had broken into that
room and then attacked me, there would be no one to hear me
scream. So I kept the door locked tight
and opened up the security camera feed instead.
As I rewound it, I saw what happened.
The door had opened and then a woman had walked out of it.
I couldn't see her face, just her long dark hair.
She then disappeared into room 22.
I checked room 22 on the computer.
It was booked to a woman named Cassandra Johnson.
I frowned. It looked like Cassandra might
be going into our vacant rooms and possibly stealing stuff.
Matilda must have forgotten to lock up the room after she
cleaned it. I sighed, open the door, and
began walking toward the open room.
I thought of knocking on room 22, but then decided against it.
Keep your nose out of other people's business.
I just lock up room 16 and go back to the lobby like a good
little employee. I walked toward the open room,
but as soon as I got close, a horrible smell drifted out of
the room, like something rotting, decaying.
My stomach turned. What did Cassandra do in there?
Throw up? Stash all her garbage in there?
I reached into the darkness of the room, bracing myself.
I flicked on the light. The room looked normal.
The bed was made, the carpet was clean, but the smell only got
stronger. I pinched my nose as I glanced
around, starting to feel nauseous.
And then I saw it. There was something on the
carpet, just barely poking out from the other side of the bed.
What is that? It was tan and folded over
itself, like a beige sheet or pillowcase had been bunched up
on the other side, but all our sheets were white.
I stepped into the room, my heart pounding in my chest.
Hello. I called out.
Nothing. The smell got even worse as I
approached the bed. Nausea washed over me.
I forced myself to keep going, pinching my nose, swallowing
down the urge to throw up. I peered over the side of the
bed and froze. There was a pile of beige,
slightly translucent material folded over itself on the other
side, but I instantly recognized certain shapes attached to it.
Awfully familiar shapes, like 5 fingers.
It looked like a glove made of skin poking out from under one
of the folds. It looked like someone had shed
their skin. I stepped back, my legs shaking
underneath me. It can't be.
I backed away toward the door, my throat dry.
Because it didn't make sense. It didn't even make sense for it
to be a murder. There wasn't any blood on it.
It hadn't been cut off someone. It was like a snakeskin, clean
and perfect, holding the shape of its wearer like a ghost.
I ran out of the room and saw, walking toward me down the
sidewalk, the woman from room 22.
Strands of her dark, straight hair hung over her face, but I
could tell through her hair that there was something wrong with
her face. Her eyes and lips were in
slightly the wrong position. She walked toward me fast.
Her shoes clicked on the pavement.
I didn't want to find out what she'd do if she caught me.
I whipped around and ran as fast as I could.
I could hear her running behind me.
She was running much faster than what I thought possible in her
heels, but I forced myself to go faster and faster until I was
inside the lobby. I clicked the lock shut and
collapsed in the backroom where she couldn't see me.
That's when the whistling started.
Just outside the door, I could hear her whistling.
The source of the sound shifted as she circled the lobby area,
looking for a way in. I heard it at the door, then at
the back, then through the side windows, then back at the front
door. This went on for an hour.
Finally, the whistling faded, but I didn't move.
I stayed there. I huddled in the back storage
room until dawn broke. As soon as the day shift
arrived, I booked it out of there as fast as I could.
I wanted to quit. With everything the way it is, I
wanted to just walk away, but I needed the money.
I already knew how hard it was finding a job with a rap sheet.
It was either go back to the job or face eviction.
So I went back. When I got on shift, though, I
pulled Matilda aside and told her what I'd seen.
I asked her again and again if my life was in danger.
Asked her what the hell was going on here if other people
were in danger too. I promise you, as long as you
mind your own business, you'll be safe.
So that's what I did. I kept my head down and for the
next few days, nothing really happened.
Sure, there were a few people who checked in that were wearing
hats or sunglasses or extra makeup, but I just tried to
avoid eye contact with them, tried to keep my head down and
my nose out of other people's business.
But then came that one night in November.
It was raining. Then I remember the rain came
down in sheets, and every so often I heard Thunder shake the
windows. I wasn't expecting anyone to
come in that night. I didn't see that many cars
driving by on the highway. The rain seemed to keep
everybody in. But then I heard a knock.
When I looked up, I saw a man staring in the window.
A chill ran down my spine. He was wearing a hoodie that
kept his face mostly in shadow, and he was aggressively banging
on the window. It was like he was in a hurry.
I grabbed the Mace I kept under the counter and slipped it into
my pocket. Then I approached the window.
Do you have any vacancies? He asked in a low voice.
I could barely hear him over the pounding rain.
The vacancy sign glowed brightly behind him.
There's no way he could have missed it.
Yeah, come on in, I said. I unlocked the door with one
hand and gripped the Mace in my pocket with the other.
He stepped inside. Rain dripped off his jacket and
onto the floor. I barely glanced at him.
I just turned around and walked back around the counter.
Then I sat down at the computer, keeping my eyes fixed on the
screen. In my peripheral vision, I could
see him leaning over the counter.
His face was only about a foot or two from mine, so close that
I could smell the stale mothball odor coming off his clothes.
So close I could hear drops of water plopping onto the counter
from his sleeve. Can you go faster?
He asked, his voice raspy in his throat.
Sorry Sir, I'm going fast as I can.
I replied, my heart starting to pound.
It's an old computer. My fingers slipped on the mouse
as I rushed to click the buttons.
I don't have all day. He growled, leaning even closer
to me. I wanted to look at him.
My eyes were itching to glance up at the man that was 6 inches
from my face, but I forced myself to stare at the screen.
Whatever the hell was going on here, I was not going to be a
witness. I was not going to look up and
find myself face to face with a Smith and Wesson.
Your name? I asked.
As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I froze.
I needed a name to book the room, that's all.
But maybe he wouldn't see it that way.
Maybe I wasn't supposed to ask for names.
Maybe that was part of Frank's understanding with certain
guests. Thankfully, nothing happened.
After a second of hesitation, he replied.
Daniel Jones. The name struck me as fake.
Common first name, common last name, but who even cared at this
point. I typed his name into the system
and completed the booking process.
He paid for the room in cash, which was another thing that
made me uneasy, but I tried not to worry about it.
I turned my back and took a key off the hook.
Room 7. I said, handing it to him.
He thanked me and then waited by the door.
I waited for a minute, then two, but he didn't leave.
Do you need something? I asked, careful not to make eye
contact. Can you escort me to my room?
Oh hell no. There was no way I could go out
there in the middle of the night with this creepy guy that was
like a death sentence. I glanced out the window and
spotted his car, a beat up sedan in one of the nearby parking
spaces. The murder scenario played out
in my head. Shove me into the hotel room.
Kill me, Stick my body in the trunk, then throw it in the
middle of the woods. Or maybe worse, maybe my skin
would end up crumpled on the floor of one of the rooms.
Maybe he'd take my form or turn me into something that sheds its
skin, like a snake that has eyes too low on its face or no eye
sockets at all. And the longer I looked at him
in the corner of my eye, the more I noticed things about him.
There were smears of dirt on his sleeves and on the hem of his
pants, like he's been digging a grave, the voice in my head
added. His face, half hidden in shadow,
was sunken and gaunt. His jaw was covered in Gray
stubble. His teeth were a horrible shade
of grayish yellow. Can't you just go yourself?
I have something that I need to do here.
My boss is going to get pissed. You can take two minutes to walk
me to my room. Damn it.
I sat there in stunned silence. He sounded furious.
My heart pounded in my ears. OK, I said finally.
My fingers curled around the Mace in my pocket, and then I
joined him by the door. I'll walk you to your room.
He didn't thank me. He just grabbed the door and
swung it open. It nearly swung back in my face.
I stepped out into the pouring rain with him.
The parking lot was like a lake and our feet sloshed loudly
through the water. The cold water seeped through my
sneakers and I shivered. I followed the man to his car,
staying a good 15 feet away. He popped the trunk and I held
my breath, but thankfully there was only a duffel bag inside.
He hoisted it on his shoulder and started for room 7.
I followed him at a distance, staying several feet away,
watching him fidget with the key.
You got a lot of other people staying here right now?
He asked as he slid the key into the lock.
Some, I replied. Not great weather for it, he
said. Not really.
The storm's supposed to clear tomorrow.
It'll be good weather then. Wow, this is taking a while, I
thought to myself. That's when I looked down at his
hands and noticed that he wasn't really trying to get into his
room. He was just inserting the key,
pausing, and then pulling it out over and over again.
He was stalling for time. He was keeping me here on
purpose. I looked up from his hands just
in time to see him staring at me.
His blue eyes were intense, studying me.
I wanted to run away, every inch of me was screaming to get out
of there, but the guy had 6 inches on me and was really
thin. He'd probably catch me in
seconds. I was never much of a runner.
I slipped my hand in my pocket, curling my fingers around the
Mace. Do you need help getting into
your room? I asked.
He shook his head. I'm going to go back to the
front desk. I said, taking a step back.
As soon as I said that, he froze.
His eyes widened as he stared at me.
Slowly, he shook his head, his lips stretching into a grimace
that showed his yellowed teeth. Don't go.
He growled, his voice barely audible above the rain.
Stay exactly where you are. I leapt into action.
I whipped the Mace out of my pocket and held it in front of
me, pointing it right at him. Don't get any closer.
My finger hovered over the trigger, and then I heard it.
Someone was whistling behind me, somewhere in the rain.
The song cut through the raindrops like a knife.
It was the same eerie tune that woman had whistled a few days
ago. I'm sorry, The man said quietly,
His blue eyes locked on mine. But I needed bait.
I stared at him. My brain couldn't even process
what he was saying. Bait.
I took a stumbling step back. The whistling grew louder.
I whipped around through the rain.
I could see someone walking through the parking lot, barely
lit by the flickering St. lamp. The Mace fell from my hands and
clattered to the ground. Then I turned and ran as fast as
I could toward the lobby. The whistling stopped, and then
I could hear loud splashing footsteps growing louder with
every second behind me. I swung the door open, slammed
it shut and turn the lock. I pulled the blinds down over
the window, panting. I opened them with my fingers
and peered out into the night. There was a woman standing in
the parking lot, the same woman I had seen a week ago.
Her hair and clothes were drenched with rain, but she was
smiling this big crooked grin that sent chills down my spine.
And her eyes were strange, wide and wild, incredibly light blue
in the darkness. It almost looked like she didn't
have irises at all, just two pin holes for pupils staring right
at my door. She took a step forward.
I ran over to my desk, grabbed my cell phone, started dialing
911. Come on, come on, operator.
I'm at the Greenbrier Motel and there's this guy and this weird
woman. I was cut off by a loud thump
nearby. I ran to the window and looked
out. The man who'd booked Room 7 was
running toward the woman. He was holding something up in
the air, a short dagger shining silver in the rain.
He's attacking her. I screamed into the phone.
The woman's face changed, her features twisted.
Her grin crept up to her eyes. Her arms cracked and stretched.
She blinked and her eyes turned pure white.
Her body twisted unnaturally at the waist so that she was facing
the man. With fast, jolted movements, she
leapt at him. Within seconds, he was dead.
She stood on all fours above him, her knees bent the wrong
way, her fingers far too long. With another horrible crackling
sound, her neck stretched out two feet long, twisting like a
snake. And then she looked at me.
I leapt away from the window with a scream.
I opened my mouth, tried to speak, but only a squeaking
sound came out. By the time I made it back over
to the window, the woman was standing there, looking down at
her. Kill.
She looked normal. Then she stepped over his body
and walked toward the rooms. To my horror, she pulled out a
key and opened room 22. Then she disappeared inside.
The police arrived a few minutes later.
I begged them to check room 22, that something horrible was
lurking inside. But then they knocked on the
door and a completely normal looking woman opened it.
I watched from the lobby. I couldn't hear that much of
their conversation over the pouring rain.
But they weren't arresting her, weren't accusing her.
They seemed to just be having a friendly chat, asking her what
she'd seen. Then they thanked her and came
back to me. We'll need to see the security
tapes from tonight, please, the officer said.
But when I showed them the tapes, they got quiet.
One of the officers made a call to someone saying something
about an infestation. The other two officers ushered
me out into the lobby, their faces serious.
They told me not to leave. As they talked among themselves
in hushed voices in the corner of the room.
Then they approached. You didn't see anything tonight?
One of the officers said, leaning in close.
You got that? But what about listen to me very
carefully? He interrupted, lowering his
voice. You didn't see anything, Just
like you never shoplifted in your life.
What? You understand me?
He asked. The silence stretched out
between us. Yeah, I got it, I said, my voice
wavering. I didn't see anything.
I left the motel that night and never went back.
I plan to never speak of what I saw, to keep my mouth shut just
like they told me to. But after many sleepless nights,
I realized that I need to warn people.
I need to warn you. I can't have another person
dying because of these things, whatever they are.
So I'm begging you, if you're driving through Michigan and see
that there's a vacancy at the Greenbrier Motel, keep driving.