I always thought moving to the cabin would be peaceful.
You know, the quiet where the loudest thing is the wind in the
trees and the occasional crackle of a fire.
Grace, loved it here. She said, the woods felt alive
like they were watching over us. I used to laugh that off.
But after what happened? I'm not so sure anymore.
The ridge loomed behind the cabin like a wall.
The trees stretched thin and Tall against the sky.
It was beautiful during the day, but at night, it was something
else entirely. The way the Shadows moved, the
faint rustle of branches. It was too.
Still too quiet. I'd talked it up to my
imagination at least until that night on the porch.
We were sitting outside wrapped in a blanket watching the Stars.
Grace was leaning against me her face lit by The Faint glow of
the lantern beside us. She was humming softly.
Something she'd heard growing up when she stopped mid note and
stiffened. Do you see that she whispered
barely Audible? See what?
I asked already feeling the hairs on the back of my neck,
rise. She pointed toward The Ridge.
At first, I didn't see anything. Just the black outline of trees
against the sky. But then it moved a flash of
pale, Almost White, slinking low to the ground.
I squinted trying to make sense of it.
A deer, Maybe. But it wasn't, it was too thin.
It's limbs too long. It's movements all wrong.
It crawled forward on all fours. Its head jerking on naturally
like it was struggling to balance itself for a second.
It stopped and turned toward us. I froze.
I couldn't see its face but I swear it was looking at me.
It's just an animal. I muttered trying to convince
myself as much as Grace. She shook her head.
No, it's not. her voice didn't sound like her call, almost
Reverend She leaned forward, her eyes locked on the thing as it
crawled into the shadows and disappeared.
I wanted to get up, grab the flashlight, and chase after it,
but my legs wouldn't move. Maybe it's a coyote.
I suggested my voice unsteady Grace smiled, faintly her eyes
still, fixed on the ridge, know she said it's something else.
I didn't sleep that night every Creak of the cabin, every gust
of wind made me, jump Grace, though seemed perfectly at ease.
She even laughed at me when I told her I had heard something
outside. Maybe it's your Forest spirit.
I said, trying to make light of it.
She just smiled. Maybe it is.
The next morning I went out to check the property.
The air was crisp, the ground damp from the rain the night
before. Everything looked normal until I
got to the edge of the clearing. Then I found something
disturbing. A circle of broken branches
scattered as if something had been lying there.
In the center was a pile of bones.
Small ones picked clean. I knelt down my stomach
twisting. They looked like rabbit bones,
but there was something off about the way.
They were arranged almost like a spiral.
I brought Grace out to see it. She didn't seem phased It's a
gift. She said, simply a gift from
what? She Shrugged her gaze drifting
toward the ridge, the forest. I laughed nervously, but she
didn't. She just stood there staring
until I finally dragged her back inside.
That night. The thing came closer, we were
inside the fire crackling low when Grace suddenly got up and
went to the window, what is it? I asked already dreading the
answer. She didn't reply at first just
pressed her hand against the glass.
Finally. She said, it's here.
My chest tightened. I grabbed the flash light and
stepped onto the porch. The air was freezing.
My breath coming out in clouds and there it was.
It stood at the edge of the clearing upright.
Now it's pale body stretched and gone its limbs were too long.
It's hands dangling. Near its knees.
It didn't move. Didn't breathe.
Just stood there watching me. I shined the flash light on it
and it flushed its head snapping to the side, like it was trying
to avoid the light. Then it dropped to all fours and
skittered back into the woods disappearing into the dark.
When I turned back to the house Grace was still at the window
smiling it doesn't want to hurt us.
She said her voice soft. It just wants to watch.
That was the first time, I felt truly afraid not of the thing,
but of her, it started with Grace spending more time on the
porch. She'd always liked being
outside, but this was different. She wasn't enjoying the fresh
air, or taking in the scenery she was watching waiting every
morning, she'd step outside barefoot, no matter how cold it
was and stare toward The Ridge. At first, I told myself, it was
harmless, Grace had always been a little more connected to the
natural world than me. And if she wanted to commune
with the trees, who was I to stop her.
But then she started talking about it.
I see it every day now, she told me one afternoon while I was
stacking firewood. She was sitting cross-legged on
the porch. Her hair, pulled back in a messy
bun, her eyes locked on the tree line.
I stopped mid-swing, you see what?
The Watcher. She said like it was the most
obvious thing in the world. It comes closer every time.
I set the axe down my stomach tightening Grace.
This isn't funny. She turned to me her face, calm
Serene, even I'm not joking. It doesn't want to hurt us.
It's curious. That's all Curious, sure.
Because that's exactly how I describe something that crawls
on all fours. Like a broken marionette.
That night, I woke up to find Grace's side of the bed, empty.
At first, I thought she'd gone to the bathroom or maybe
downstairs for a drink of water. But when I didn't hear any
movement, I got up to check. The house was silent.
The kind of Silence that presses on your ears.
The door to the porch was wide open, letting in a freezing
draft. My heart dropped.
I grabbed a flash light and stepped out side.
The moon was high, casting Long Shadows over the clearing.
Grace. I called my voice shaking.
No answer. I followed the faint tracks, in
the snow. My breath coming out in short
panicked bursts. They LED toward the woods Grace.
I shouted again, louder this time.
Finally, I saw her, she was standing just inside the tree
line. Her back to me staring at
something. I couldn't see.
Grace, I yelled running to her. What the hell are you doing?
She didn't turn around her breath.
Fogged in the cold are slow and steady like she wasn't freezing
her ass off and nothing but a sweater and pajama pants.
Do you hear it? She asked her voice.
Barely above a whisper. I grabbed her arm and spun her
around here. What, what are you talking
about? She smiled faintly her eyes
distant. It's singing.
A chill ran down my back. We're going inside.
I said, pulling her back toward the cabin.
She didn't resist, but as we walked, she kept glancing over
her shoulder, like she was leaving something important
behind. The next day, she acted like
nothing at happened. She humbled to herself while
making breakfast. Joked about how I needed to chop
wood faster and didn't mention the previous night at all.
Something was wrong. That afternoon, while she was
outside, I found something near the edge of the clearing. a
bundle of sticks tied together with twine sitting on top of a
patch of disturbed, snow At first, I thought it was just
some weird debris but then I noticed the hair Tangled in the
twine long, dark strands that looked exactly like Grace's.
I showed it to her when she came back inside.
Do you know anything about this? I asked holding it up.
Her eyes lit up. And she reached for it.
It's a gift. She said, cradling it like it
was something precious. A gift from what I demanded.
She Shrugged still smiling. The forest.
I took it outside and burned it Grace.
Watched me from the porch, her face expressionless the breaking
point came three nights later. I woke up to the sound of
something. Moving on the roof.
Slow deliberate footsteps. I lay there holding my breath.
Straining to listen. Then I realized Grace wasn't
beside me. I bolted upright and looked
around the curtains were open and through the window I saw her
she was standing in the clearing, looking up at the
ridge, I threw on my boots and coat grabbing the flash light.
As I stumbled out the door, the cold hit me like a slap but I
didn't care. Grace, I yelled running toward
her. She didn't move when I reached
her, I grabbed her shoulders and spun her around.
Her eyes were wide unfocused like she was in a trance.
What are you doing? I shouted.
She didn't answer. She just pointed toward the
ridge. I followed her gaze and there it
was. The thing stood at the edge of
the forest half hidden in the shadows, it was taller.
Now its limbs impossibly long its face a pale featureless
void, it tilted its head as if studying us and then stepped
forward, its movements jerky and wrong.
I dragged Grace, back to the cabin, my heart pounding.
She didn't fight me, didn't say a word just kept looking over
her shoulder at the thing. When we got inside, I locked the
door and shoved, a chair under the handle.
Grace, sat at the table, staring out the window with a faint
smile on her face. It doesn't want to hurt us.
She said, Softly. I didn't sleep that night,
neither did Grace. She just sat there watching the
woods. I didn't think it could get
worse. Every night since that last
encounter I had stayed up late. Sitting by the window with the
shotgun across my lap Grace, barely spoke to me anymore.
Her eyes always drifting toward the ridge, her face drawn and
pale. She claimed, she hadn't seen the
thing again, but I knew she was lying.
Flinched at every Creak of the floorboards, every gust of wind
that rattled, the windows but the worst part was how quiet the
forest had become? No birds, no rustling of animals
just silence, it was like the woods were holding their breath
waiting. That night, the storm hit the
wind howled rain pelting against the cabin, like a thousand.
Tiny claws. The power flickered and then
died completely plunging us into darkness.
I lit a lantern and tried to keep calm but I couldn't shake
the feeling that something was wrong.
Grace had gone to bed early, or at least.
That's what she told me I hadn't checked.
I didn't want to see the vacant glassy look in her eyes again.
I sat in the living room, the shotgun propped against my knee,
when I heard it, the faint Creek of footsteps, overhead.
My stomach Twisted, I told myself it was just the wind that
the old roof, was groaning under the pressure of the storm, but
then it came again. Louder, this time.
Deliberate something was up there.
I stood gripping the shotgun. My heart pounding.
Grace. I called out my voice cracking.
No, answer, I moved toward the bedroom.
The lantern. Casting long flickering Shadows
on the walls. The door was slightly ajar and
when I pushed it, open my heart sank.
The bed was empty. The curtains were drawn back and
the window was wide open. Rain soaking the floorboards.
Grace. I shouted running to the window
outside the storm raged. But through the Sheets of Rain,
I saw her. She was standing in the clearing
her arm stretched upward, her face tilted to the sky and it
was there. The thing loomed over her taller
than I'd ever seen it. It's pale.
Emaciated body was bent at impossible.
Angles its limbs trembling as if struggling to hold their weight.
Its face or lack of one was turned toward her, a gaping
black void, where its eyes should have been I yelled her
name again, but she didn't react.
She was whispering something. Her voice Carried Away by the
wind, I didn't think I just ran. The rain soaked me to the bone
as I sprinted across the clearing the shotgun heavy in my
hands. The thing didn't move, as I
approached didn't even acknowledge me.
Its entire Focus was on Grace. When I was just a few feet away,
I raise the shotgun and fired. The sound was deafening cutting
through the storm, like a Thunderclap.
The thing jerked back its body folding in on itself like a
collapsing, puppet. For a moment, I thought I'd
killed it but then it straightened its head, snapping
toward me with a sickening crack.
It turned its half decade head its Jagged toothless mouth
splitting open in what I can only describe as a grin, then it
reached for Grace. Know, I screamed grabbing her
arm and pulling her back the thing, let out a sound, a deep
guttural noise that vibrated in my chest.
It's arms stretched toward us impossibly long, its clawed
fingers brushing, the edge of my jacket.
I fired again. This time aiming for its head.
The shot hit and the thing recoiled its body convulsing.
It led out another sound. This one high pitched and
grating like metal scraping against metal.
Then it retreated skittering backward into the woods its
limbs twisting and contorting as it disappeared into the
darkness. I didn't wait to see if it would
come back. I threw Grace over my shoulder
and ran for the cabin. When we got inside, I locked the
door and barricaded it with everything.
I could find chairs the table, even the couch.
Grace didn't fight me. She just sat on the floor
dripping wet staring at nothing. What the hell were you doing out
there? I demanded my voice shaking.
She didn't answer. Grace.
I shouted grabbing her shoulders and shaking her.
Finally, she looked at me her eyes wide and filled with tears.
It was beautiful. She whispered.
I didn't know what to say. The next few days were a blur
Grace. Wouldn't leave the cabin
wouldn't eat or speak She spent most of her time sitting by the
window staring out at the ridge. I tried to convince her to leave
to pack up and go back to the city, but she refused.
It won't let us, she said her voice flat.
I started hearing things that night, soft Whispers outside the
windows, the creek of footsteps on the porch.
Sometimes I thought I saw movement in the shadows but
whenever I looked, there was nothing there.
Then one night, I woke up to find Grace standing at the
window again. Her hand was pressed against the
glass her breath fogging up the pain.
Back. She said, Softly.
I didn't look, I didn't want to see but deep down I knew it was
true. The thing wasn't done with us.
I don't know how we survived that night.
It started with Grace. Waking me, her voice trembling.
It's here. She whispered her face was pale
her eyes wide with Terror for a second.
I thought it was just another one of her.
Trances, her strange connection to the thing.
That haunted us. But then I heard it too.
The scraping sound like nails dragging across the cabin,
walls. I bolted, upright, grabbing the
shotgun from the floor. The Sounds circled the cabin,
slow and deliberate like it wanted us to know.
It was there. Grace, clung to me, trembling
her nails, digging into my arm. What do we do?
She asked her voice. Barely audible, I didn't have an
answer. I just knew we couldn't stay the
sound stopped suddenly and the silence that followed was worse.
It pressed down on us thick and suffocating Then the door
rattled. I aimed the shotgun, my hands
shaking. Stay behind me.
I told Grace. Though, my voice didn't sound
convincing even to me. the door Creak open an inch, the woods
splintering is something pushed against it and then it came The
things squeezed through the opening.
It's partly decayed body. Contorting limbs bending at
impossible, angles. It filled the room with its
presence towering over us. It's eyeless face, turned toward
me, it didn't move, but I could feel it sense it crawling into
my mind. My thoughts twisted, my vision
blurred and I felt like I was falling even though I hadn't
moved Grace, screamed snapping me back.
I fired the shotgun, the sounding in the small cabin, the
thing recorded its body jerking violently but it didn't fall
instead. It screeched a sound so loud and
piercing. It felt like it was splitting my
skull. I grabbed Grace's hand, and ran
dragging her toward the back door, we stumbled Into the
Storm, the rain freezing against our skin, the forest was alive
with noise. Branches, snapping leaves
rustling, the sound of heavy footsteps, chasing us, don't
look back. I shouted pulling Grace with me
as we sprinted toward the truck, the thing was close.
I could hear its guttural breathing feel the ground,
trembling beneath its weight. Grace, tripped, falling into the
mud. And for a horrifying second, I
thought it was over. I yanked, her up practically
caring her the rest of the way. When we reach the truck, I threw
open the door and shoved her inside.
My hands fumbled with the keys, as I climbed in the shotgun.
Clattering to the floor, the engine roared to life and I
slammed on the gas, the tires spun in the mud.
The truck lurching forward as the thing bursts from the tree
line. It was faster than I thought
possible. It's long limbs skittering
across the ground like some grotesque Spike spider.
It reached for us, it's claws. Scraping against the tailgate as
the truck finally found traction and shot forward.
We didn't stop driving. Not for Miles, not until the
forest thinned. And the lights of the Town came
into view. Only then, did I pull over my
hands still gripping the wheel. So tightly, they ache.
Grace was silent beside me. Staring straight ahead.
Her face was pale. Her lips trembling but she
didn't cry. Neither did I.
Finally, she broke the silence. We can't go back, she whispered.
I nodded we won't. We packed up the cabin.
The next day I didn't care about leaving things behind half, our
stuff wasn't worth the risk. We drove away with what little
we could carry the weight of that place.
Still clinging to us like a shadow.
I've thought about what happened to 100 times since then, but I
still can't make sense of it. Was the thing real?
Was it some kind of Cryptid or a skinwalker, or just a
manifestation of our worst fears?
I don't know and I don't want to all I know.
Is we barely made it out alive. And no matter how much grace
insists, she feels better now. No matter how far we've gone, I
still wake up some nights to the sound of her whispering in her
sleep. Sometimes I catch her staring
out the window, her gaze, distant her lips, moving
silently. And in those moments, I wonder
if we ever really escaped, but one thing is certain, we will
never ever go back into those woods.
The drive into Kayenta, Arizona, felt endless.
The desert stretched out like a massive silent void.
The Horizon shimmering under the Relentless Sun.
Lena had the music on low. Some scratchy old playlist, she
loved, but it did nothing to fill the oppressive Stillness.
The further, we drove the more isolated, it felt no gas
stations. No, other cars just endless
Sagebrush and sunbaked dirt. My phone had lost signal hours
ago and even though I tried to shake the unease, creeping up my
spine. It clung to me like the desert
dust. This is it Lena announced
suddenly turning the wheel sharply onto a gravel path that
I wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't pointed it out the tires
crunched. As we bumped, along the uneven
Road, the house finally, coming into view It wasn't much just a
single story place with whether wood siding and a sagging Port
porch. Offense surrounded, the property
the kind meant to keep something out not in.
Her Uncle Sam was waiting on the porch leaning against one of the
support beams. He looked older than I had
imagined his son creased face partially hidden under a wide
brimmed hat. You girls made it.
He said his voice deep in Gravely as he helped unload our
bags. He kept glancing over his
shoulder as if expecting someone or something to appear.
You didn't mention how far out this place was I said trying to
keep it light, but my voice betrayed me.
Sam chuckled, but it was humorless.
Solitudes good out here. But it comes with its Quirks.
He didn't elaborate as the sun dipped lower in the sky, the air
began to cool but it didn't feel refreshing.
It felt heavy almost suffocating after dinner, we sat on the
porch, watching the Stars, start to emerge.
Sam, let his cigarette the globe, briefly Illuminating, his
face. Had a visitor lately.
He said suddenly exhaling a stream of smoke, big stray, not
like any dog I've ever seen. He leaned forward, the Creak of
the chair loud in the Stillness. Things been hanging around for
days, two bold for a wild animal.
Lena brushed it off, laughing softly, Uncle Sam, you get
spooked too easily. It's probably just a coyote, He
shook his head. Coyote's don't act like this.
It's different smart watching me like it knows something.
Flicked the cigarette into the dirt and stood, you'll see.
That night as we settled into the guest room, I couldn't stop
thinking about Sam's words. The house was quiet, except for
the occasional Creek of the wind against the siding.
The window by my bed, had no curtain just a clear view of the
barren landscape Beyond. I kept staring out into the dark
half expecting to see. What?
Glowing eyes. A shadow moving against the
brush. I didn't know but the longer I
stared, the more uneasy I felt somewhere around midnight, I
jolted away, I hadn't realized I'd fallen asleep.
Lean was out cold in the other bed but something had woken me,
a sound faint, but distinct scratch scratch scratch.
It was coming from the porch. I sat up my heart thudding in my
chest, it could have been the wind.
I told myself. Or one of the dogs Sam kept in
the back. But deep down I knew it wasn't.
The sound was deliberate like claws, dragging across would I
slipped out of bed. Moving toward the window on
shaking legs. The porch light was on casting a
weak yellow glow. That barely illuminated the
space. At first, I didn't see anything.
Just the empty rocking chair, swaying slightly in the breeze.
Then I saw it just at the edge of the light, a figure crouched
low to the ground. It's black, fur, matted and
patchy. It wasn't a dog, it was too big
too misshapen. Its head was cocked on naturally
to one side and even in the dim light I could see the way its
eyes glinted catching the glow like tiny Flames.
It was staring right at me. I stumbled back my hand catching
the edge of the bed frame with a loud.
Thunk the thing didn't Flinch instead.
It Rose slowly onto its hind legs.
It's outlining growing taller and more grotesque.
It didn't move toward the house. It just stood there watching its
breath visible in the cold night air.
Behind me, Lena stirred. What's going on?
She mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from the window.
There's something out there. I whispered.
She was next to me in an instant, her eyes wide as she
peered out the window. The thing had moved closer now
fully in the light. Its body was gone, its fur
hanging in clumps and its face. Its face, wasn't right?
It looked Almost Human the features distorted like someone
had stretched skin over a skull. That didn't belong to it.
Lena grabbed my arm pulling me away from the window.
We need to wake Uncle Sam. She whispered.
The second. She said his name, the
creature's head snapped toward the door as if it had understood
it. Let out a low guttural growl
that reverberated through the room.
My stomach dropped and every Instinct in me screamed to run.
But where the thing was just outside the growl grew into a
deep unnatural scream, a sound, I'll never forget.
It wasn't an animal, it wasn't human, it was something in
between a sound that didn't belong in this world move Lena.
Hissed, yanking me toward the hallway, the sound of scratching
filled the house now, coming from multiple points, Windows
walls, the roof, it was everywhere as if the creature
was multiplying surrounding us. Sam met us in the hallway.
His rifle in hand. Get back in the room now.
His voice was calm, but his eyes betrayed him.
He was scared as we huddled in the dark, The Sounds grew louder
more. Frantic And I realized something
chilling. It wasn't trying to get in.
It was playing with us. The next morning.
The house was quiet, almost unnerving.
So Sam was already outside by the time Lena and I stumbled
into the kitchen for coffee. through the window, I could see
him pacing along the fence line, his rifle slung over one
shoulder The events of the night before hung heavy in the air but
Lena tried to act like everything was normal.
I wasn't buying it. She hadn't slept either and the
dark circles under her eyes matched.
The ones I'd seen in the mirror We should leave.
I said, quietly, as we sat at the table, The coffee tasted
burnt, but I sipped It Anyway, needing something to call my
nerves. Lena shook her.
Head were fine, whatever it was. It's gone now.
She didn't sound convinced. And when Sam walked in his Grim,
expression only added to my growing anxiety.
He dropped a bundle of firewood by the door and shook his head.
It came back after Sunrise stayed just out of range, like
it knew I couldn't get a clear shot.
What do you mean it? I asked trying to keep my voice
steady. Sam glanced at Lena.
Then back at me. I mean that thing from last
night it's not a dog and it, sure is hell isn't a coyote The
room felt colder, suddenly the morning sunlight failing to
chase away the Shadows lingering in the corners.
The day passed in a haze of tension.
Every noise, every flicker of movement outside, the windows
set me on edge. Sam spent.
Most of the afternoon, reinforcing the fence and
checking the property muttering under his breath about how it
was testing him. Lena tried to distract me by
stacking firewood near the shed. But even out there, the
atmosphere felt wrong. The air was too still.
The dogs usually loud and energetic stayed huddled in
their pens, their tails tucked between their legs and then
there was the smell, a faint rancid odor, that seemed to
cling to the breeze. What's that smell?
I asked wrinkling my nose. Lena stops stacking wood and
sniff the air. I don't know dead animal.
Maybe I wasn't convinced it smelled Too Human, as the sun
dipped low on the horizon. The tension in the house reached
a Breaking Point. Sam called aside and locked the
doors, double checking the latches on every window.
Keep the curtains closed. He said, sharply, No matter what
you hear or see, don't open them.
I wanted to ask what he was expecting, but the look in his
eyes stopped me. We ate dinner in near silence,
the scrape of utensils on plates.
The only sound by the time night fell, the house felt like a
fortress. Sam sat near the front door, his
rifle across his lap while Lena. And I stayed in the living room
pretending to watch TV. It started just after 9.
At first it was faint a soft rustling outside.
Like wind through Dry leaves, then came the footsteps heavy
and deliberate circling the house I froze, the sound sending
a shiver down my neck, Lena grabbed, the remote and muted,
the TV, the footsteps, stopped for a moment.
The silence was deafening then, came the scratching.
It started at the back door, low and slow, like, claws dragging
across the wood, the sound moved, scratching its way along
the wall until it reached the window near us.
Lena whispered don't look. But I couldn't help myself.
I turned my head. Just enough to see the curtain
twitch, as if something was brushing against it from the
outside. My breath caught in my throat,
as a shadow move behind the fabric tall, distorted and all
wrong. Then came the knock.
It was soft at first almost polite, a gentle tap tap tap on
the glass. When no one responded, it grew
louder more. Insistent until the sound echoed
through the room. Don't answer it, Sam.
Barked from the doorway. No one moved the knocking
stopped replaced by a low guttural growl.
It wasn't like anything I'd heard before.
Not an animal, not human, but somewhere in between Lena
clutched, my arm, it's playing with us.
The next few hours were a blur of Terror, The Sounds grew
louder. More chaotic scratching at the
walls, pounding on the roof footsteps racing back and forth.
At one point, we heard the front door rattled, the knob twisting,
as if someone were trying to open it.
Sam fired a shot out the window. And for a moment everything went
still then it screamed. The sound was inhuman piercing
and guttural vibrating through my chest like a physical force.
It came from everywhere at once surrounding the house, growing
louder and louder until I thought my ears would burst get
away from the windows Sam shouted.
Lena and I scrambled into the hallway pressing ourselves
against the walls. The house felt like it was under
siege the walls, groaning under the weight of the Relentless
assault. Then as suddenly as it started,
it stopped. The silence was worse, somehow,
thick, and oppressive. As if the house itself was
holding its breath, I opened my mouth to say something but
before I could, there was a loud crash from the kitchen.
Something had gotten in Sam yelled.
Stay back and disappeared around the corner.
His rifle raised Lena grabbed my hand, her grips, so tight, it
hurt. We stayed frozen in place.
Listening as Sam moved through the house.
His footsteps, slow and deliberate, then we heard it.
The growl low and menacing followed by the sound of claws.
Scraping against the tile floor. Sam fired once twice and then
silence. Uncle Sam Lena called out her
voice. Trembling no response.
And then from the Shadows of the hall way we heard it the sound
of something breathing heavy and ragged and it wasn't Sam.
I don't know how long we stood there, Frozen in the hallway,
listening to that, horrible sound.
Each breath. It took was labored and wet like
it was savoring every moment before making its next move.
Lena's grip on my arm was. Vice-like!
Her nails digging into my skin. But I didn't care.
I couldn't move. I couldn't think.
Uncle Sam Lena whispered again, barely Audible.
The breathing stopped the silence was worse, oppressive
suffocating. My heart was pounding so hard.
I thought it might give me a way.
Then slowly deliberately the sound of footsteps echoed
through the house heavy uneven, whatever.
It was, it wasn't walking like a person or an animal.
It was something else entirely the kitchen light, flickered.
Casting erratic Shadows onto the walls and I could feel Lena
trembling beside me. What do we do?
She mailed. I didn't have an answer.
Suddenly the footsteps picked up faster.
Now slamming against the floor as if whatever was out there had
dropped to all fours. It was heading straight for us.
Run, I yelled grabbing Lena and pulling her down the hall.
We bolted into the guest room, slamming the door behind us.
I pushed a dresser in front of it, my hands shaking so badly.
I could barely grip. The edges.
Lena was pacing near the window. Her breaths coming in short
gasps, it's in the house. She said her voice cracking.
It's in here with us. I didn't respond, I couldn't.
My eyes were glued to the door watching the Shadows under the
frame, as they moved, shifting unnaturally.
A deep guttural growl came from the other side low and
deliberate. As if it was letting us know, it
knew exactly where we were then came the scratching slow
deliberate Nails, dragging across the wood, the sound made
my skin crawl. Stop it Lena screamed covering
her ears, the growling stopped replaced by something even worse
a voice. It was fainted for first barely
a whisper, but unmistakably human Lena.
It hissed. Drawing out the name like it was
tasting. Every syllable Lena, froze, her
face draining of color. How does it know my name?
She whispered, I didn't have an answer.
We stayed in the room for what felt like hours listening to the
thing Pace outside every now, and then it would tap on the
door or the window. It's claws.
Clicking like nails on glass Lena sat curled up in the corner
clutching a blanket to her chest.
While I stood guard with a fireplace poker, I had grabbed
from the living room earlier. It felt useless like bringing a
knife to a gunfight Just when I thought we couldn't take it
anymore, we heard the sound of tires crunching.
Gravel outside headlights flooded the room and for a brief
moment. I felt a glimmer of hope it's
the Elder Lina said scrambling to her feet I yanked opened the
curtains desperate to see someone anyone who could help,
the Elder was standing by his truck, his silhouette tall and
commanding in the Headlights He was holding something in his
hand. A bundle of sage already
smoking. I didn't see the creature at
first, then it moved a shadow breaking away from the darkness
near the fence. It was crouched low to the
ground, its body contorted and wrong and even from inside the
house, I could hear the low guttural growl that made my
stomach twists. The Elder raised his arm and
started chanting his voice, strong and steady.
He walks slowly toward the house, trailing the smoke behind
him and the creature recoiled. It screamed, a high pitched
bone-chilling sound that made my ears ring.
It doesn't like the sage Lina said, her voice trembling with a
mix of fear and hope the creature lunged toward the
Elder, but he stood his ground chanting louder with a flick of
his wrist. He threw a handful of what
looked like ash directly at it. The thing, let out another
screen, stumbling backward, it's formed shifting unnaturally.
For a moment. It looked Human Too Human before
snapping back into its monstrous shape.
Stay here. The Elder yelled his voice,
booming, over the creatures, whales the Elder, entered the
house. His presence filling the room
with a calm but Fierce energy. He moved with purpose setting,
the sage bundle on a plate and lighting more Cedar.
The smoke curled upward filling the room with an earthy sharp
scent. It's a skinwalker!
He said glancing at us. Someone sent it here and it
won't leave until we force it out.
How do we do that? I asked my voice shaking.
He didn't answer right away instead, he began sprinkling a
mixture of Ash and herbs around the room muttering prayers under
his breath. Finally, he turned to us.
You'll have to be strong. He said it feeds on fear.
Don't give it what it wants. As if On Cue the creature
slammed against the door, the wood growning under the force.
The Elder didn't flinch. He raised his voice, his
chanting growing louder, more forceful.
The door rattled, the growls turning into screams?
Shadows danced along the walls. And for a moment, it felt like
the house itself was alive. Breathing with the energy of the
ritual. Then as suddenly as it began,
everything went still The Elder lowered his arms, beads of sweat
glistening on his forehead. It's gone.
He said, but his tone was cautious.
For now. The next morning, the Elder
walked the property with us sprinkling more herbs and
muttering prayers near the fence.
He uncovered something buried, a bundle wrapped in cloth tied
with human hair, He opened it. Carefully revealing a collection
of small bones and a piece of jewelry.
This is the curse he said, holding it up.
Someone sent it here to draw the skinwalker.
You were the target. He handed Lena a small pouch
filled with herbs. Keep this with you at all times,
he said and stay away from whoever gave you this.
Lena's face went pale as she stared at the bundle.
I think I know who it was, she whispered?
I didn't ask, I didn't want to know.
As we drove away from the property later that day, I
glanced in the rear view mirror the fence line was empty but I
got the Feeling we were still a Target and when the elders words
echoed in my mind, stay away from whoever gave you this I
don't know what to do. The desert has a strange way of
quieting sound. Even though my cousins were
laughing in the other room and the hum of the fridge buzzed
softly, the quiet outside was unnerving.
It wasn't just silence, it was the kind of Stillness that felt
alive like the desert was tense. I had just arrived that
afternoon bag. Still half unpacked in the
corner of my cousins, tiny room. The Adobe house was cozy with
its low ceilings and warm earthy walls, but it felt like it was
barely holding back the Wilderness outside.
That night after a long day at the Fall Festival.
My family crowded around the dining table, swapping stories
about people we hadn't seen in years and who was marrying who
It was the kind of harmless gossip that made the place feel
alive. Somewhere in the middle of it.
All I asked the question. I didn't plan to it just slipped
out casual and stupid. So does anyone actually believe
in skinwalkers? The room shifted.
You wouldn't think a handful of words could drain the air from a
space but it did conversation. Sputtered Smiles faded.
My grandmother who had been stirring, her tea froze.
Mid-motion the spoon clinked against the cup as she said it
down her face, pinched tight, You shouldn't speak of such
things. She said her voice sharp and
firm, like the crack of a stick snapping that wasn't the
reaction I expected. My cousins, exchanged, uneasy
glances, and even my uncle who could usually laugh off anything
looked like he wanted to bolt out of his chair. what, why I
asked trying to sound nonchalant but the words wavered, My
grandmother's eyes darted to the windows.
You just don't not hear. Not at night.
For a moment. No one said anything, the
tension hanging like the desert heat before a storm, then my
uncle cleared his throat, he wasn't looking at me when he
spoke. I've heard them, he said his
voice quieter than I ever heard it.
Few weeks ago out by my sheep pen screaming like a woman in
pain but it wasn't no woman. He didn't elaborate and no one
asked him to I wanted to press for more my curiosity,
practically screamed for it but I could feel the weight of the
room crushing down on me. My grandmother stood up abruptly
mumbling something about needing to check the windows.
That was it conversation over? No one wanted to say another
word. later that night, I couldn't sleep, I lay on the
lumpy mattress, in my cousin's room, staring at the wooden
beams above me, listening to The Creeks of the old house settling
The window was cracked open to let in the cool night air, but
it did nothing to calm me. My uncle's words played on a
loop in my head. Screaming like a woman but it
wasn't no woman. The wind picked up whistling
through the cracks of the old Adobe The soft Russell of
Mesquite branches brushing against the side of the house,
almost made me relax. Almost.
Then I heard it. It started faint.
Just a low drag like someone pulling a bag of rocks across
gravel. I held my breath, convincing
myself. It was nothing a stray dog?
Or a loose. Tarp blowing in the wind.
But it came again closer. This time.
Drag. Stop.
Drag stop. I sat up slowly, my heartbeat
drumming in my ears. The room was Pitch, Black,
except for the pale glow of the Moon slipping through the
curtains. My cousin was still asleep, her
breath steady and oblivious. I tiptoed to the window and
peered out. At first, I saw nothing, just
the yard bathed in silvery light.
The old truck sat rusting in its usual spot and the ground was
littered with scattered brush and a few broken down tools.
But then something moved near the truck.
I squinted my eyes adjusting to the faint light and my stomach
dropped. It looked like a dog, but wrong.
It's limbs were too long. Its fur, matted, and patchy like
it had been pulled from a sewer. The way it moved was a natural
jerky. And deliberate like, it didn't
quite know how to walk on four legs.
Then it stopped raising its head to look directly at me.
The eyes. God, those eyes.
They glowed a sickly yellow like burning sulfur and they didn't
blink. My knees locked and I couldn't
look away. It tilted, its head studying me
like a predator sizing up its prey.
Then it opened its mouth and the sound it made was like nails
scraping across metal a growl. That wasn't quite animal, wasn't
quite humid. I stumbled back from the window,
nearly tripping over a pair of shoes.
My breath came in shallow gasps, and I clamped a hand over my
mouth to keep from screaming. I wanted to wake my cousin, but
my legs wouldn't move. The dragging sound started again
closer. This time, it was coming toward
the house. I pressed myself against the
wall staring at the window. Terrified of what I might see
next. The sound stopped just below the
sill and for a moment, there was nothing but silence.
Then came the scratching. Slow deliberate.
As if whatever it was wanted me to know.
It was there. I bolted straight to my cousin
shaking her away. My words, tumbling out and
panicked Whispers. There's something outside.
I saw it. It's right outside.
She sat up groggily annointed first, but her expression
changed when the scratching came again louder.
This time, her face went pale. We need to wake everyone, she
whispered. As we crept toward the hall way,
the stench hit like rotting meat, left to bake in the sun.
It was so thick. I gagged covering my nose.
Whatever. This thing was, it wasn't just
an animal. I didn't know what it was, but I
knew it wasn't here by accident. It was hunting.
And it had seen me. The scratching didn't stop each
Dragon of its claws. On the door, sent shivers down
my spine, a slow deliberate sound that seemed to mock us My
cousin and I were frozen in the dark hallway.
Too scared to move too, scared to breathe.
The smell of rot still hung in the air thicker.
Now, like it was seeping through the cracks in the Adobe walls.
I tried to swallow the lump in my throat but my mouth was dry
and my heart was pounding, so loud.
I was sure it could hear me. My cousin, grabbed my arm, her
fingers digging into my skin. What do we do?
She whispered her voice barely audible over the sound of my own
panicked breathing. We wake everyone.
I said though my voice trembled so much I wasn't sure it even
sounded like me. we crept down the hall, the old wooden
floorboards creaking, beneath our bare feet, the scratching
stopped and I froze mid-step. The silence was worse than the
noise. Strained.
My ears trying to hear anything over the blood rushing in my
head. And then it started again.
This time on the side of the house, just beneath the window,
we had been looking out of early.
I almost screamed, but my cousin yanked, me forward.
We reached my aunt and uncle's room first shoving, the door
open without knocking. My uncle sat up immediately, his
face groggy but alarmed. What's going on?
He asked his voice low but Stern, there's something
outside, I blurted my voice shaking, it was scratching at
the door and now it's it's moving around the house.
My aunt, sat up now, too wide-eyed.
What do you mean? What kind of something before I
could answer? We heard it again a faint.
Thud like something heavy, hitting the wall.
My uncle's face went pale and he threw off the blanket grabbing a
flashlight from the nightstand. Wake the others.
He said his tone leaving no room for argument minutes.
Later we were all gathered in the living room.
My grandparents, my parents, my cousins and me.
The room felt too small, the air thick with fear and the rancid
smell of Decay that refused to dissipate.
My grandmother was clutching a small pouch of Ash muttering
prayers on her breath in Navajo. My grandfather stood by the door
rifle in hand, his jaw set tight it's probably just a straight
dog. My dad said though, he didn't
sound convinced, he peeked out the front window careful not to
get too close to the glass. Maybe a coyote.
It's not a dog. I said, louder than I intended.
Everyone turned to look at me and I felt my face flush.
I saw it. It's wrong.
It's not natural. My grandfather's expression
darkened. He glanced at my grandmother who
was still praying. And then back at me, you looked
at it. He asked his voice sharp.
I didn't mean to. I stammered, I just I thought it
was a dog at first, but it wasn't.
It had these eyes glowing, yellow green.
And it it was looking right at me.
My grandmother gasped, her hands.
Trembling you never look at them, she said her voice barely
above a whisper. Now it knows you her words sent
a chill through me but before I could respond the scratching
started again this time louder more aggressive.
It was coming from the front door.
The room went deadly quiet. Everyone was staring at the
door. The sound filling the space,
dragging against our nerves, like nails on a chalkboard.
My grandfather stepped forward, raising his rifle.
Stay back. He ordered his voice steady,
despite the fear in his eyes. The scratching stopped again.'.
It wasn't loud but it was unmistakable.
Like words spoken in a language. I couldn't understand.
The sound seemed to vibrate in the are crawling into my ears
and burrowing, into my brain. My stomach churned, and I
pressed my hands over my ears, but it didn't help.
What's it saying? My cousin whispered her face
pale as a sheet, don't listen to it.
My grandmother snapped, her voice fierce, She threw a
handful of Ash toward the door and began chanting louder.
The whispering stopped abruptly as if cut off, mid-sentence,
then came the thud. Something slammed into the door
with such force that the whole house seemed to shake my little
cousins screamed and my aunt pulled her close covering her
ears. My grandfather raised his rifle,
his hands steady, despite his age.
Open it, he said to my dad. What, my mom hissed are.
You insane? We can't let it think we're
scared my grandfather replied show at were ready to fight.
My dad hesitated but the thudding came again louder.
This time he muttered a curse under his breath and grabbed the
doorknob, his knuckles white. He flung the door open in one
swift motion and my grandfather stepped forward.
Aiming the rifle into the night, but there was nothing there.
The porch light illuminated, the yard the ground scattered with
dust and brush. The truck sat where it always
had and the surrounding desert stretched out, empty and quiet,
but the smell lingered and it was Stronger now.
So strong, it made my eyes water.
My grandfather, stepped outside, scanning the darkness with his
flashlight. It's still here.
He muttered. I can feel it.
That's when we heard it a sound that made every hair on my body.
Stand on end a laugh, high pitched and distorted like a
coyote imitating, a human, it echoed from somewhere in the
darkness and I could swear it was coming from every direction
at once. My grandfather, fired a shot
into the night. The sound rang out deafening in
the Stillness, but the left didn't stop.
It only grew louder more Twisted until it dissolved into a
scream. That made my blood run cold, get
back inside my grandmother yelled, pulling my grandfather,
by the arm. He hesitated his eyes, scanning
the desert. One last time, before stepping
back into the house. My dad's slammed the door shut
and my grandmother began sprinkling, Ash along the
windows and door frame her prayers fast and urgent.
We stayed in the living room for the rest of the night huddled
together, like children scared of the dark.
The whispering didn't return and the scratching stopped, but none
of us could shake the feeling that we were being watched.
Every Creak of the house made us jump and every shadow seemed to
move. When Dawn finally broke it,
brought little relief, the desert looked the same, but it
felt different like something had shifted something.
We couldn't see. My grandfather, stood by the
door. Staring out at the Horizon.
His rifles still in his hands. It'll be back.
He said, quietly and somehow I knew he was, right?
the Morning, Light did nothing to ease the tension, it only
made the fear feel, sharper, more real, The Shadows that had
hidden in the night were gone, but the memory of those sounds,
the scratching the whisperers that Unholy laughter clung to
the walls of the house like smoke.
We were all still gathered in the living room.
No, one brave enough to drift far from the group.
My grandmother Sat by the window clutching her pouch of Ash, her
lips, moving silently and prayer.
My grandfather hadn't slept. He stood by the door, his rifle.
Cradled in his arms, staring out into the open desert as if
daring it to try something in broad daylight.
I hadn't slept either Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it,
those glowing, yellow green eyes the way it moved that.
Horrible laugh. I kept thinking about what my
grandmother had said the night before.
Now it knows you. We decided to go outside
together, strength in numbers. the smell of rot still lingered
in the air weaker now, but enough to make my stomach churn
The yard looked normal at first just dirt scattered brush and
the old truck. But then, my uncle noticed the
door. Deep Jagged claw marks ran
across the wood in Long uneven streaks.
The scratches were so deep. They had splintered the surface.
My dad's swore, under his breath, running his hand, over
the marks. That's no dog.
He muttered, no kidding. I said unable to keep the Tremor
out of my voice. but the door wasn't the only thing around the
base of the house in the dirt were tracks, big enough to look
human, but wrong The shape was off with long narrow Toes that
ended in claw like indentations. They circled the house stopping
at the windows in the door. It had been watching us moving
from one side of the house to the other.
As we huddled inside, I felt my stomach drop a cold wave of
dread washing over me. Then my cousin found the fur, it
was caught on the edge of the old trucks bumper.
A tough of mangy, matted hair. She picked it up with a stick.
Holding it at arm's length. The smell was unbearable.
A rancid stench that made us gag.
It was coarse and wiry stained with something dark and sticky.
My uncle told her to drop it and immediately started covering it
with dirt. By midday my grandmother
insisted on calling a neighbor, a medicine, man, who had helped
our family before he arrived within an hour.
An older man with a weather face and sharp knowing eyes, he
didn't ask many questions just not at solemnly, as we explained
what it happened. It saw you, he said his voice
heavy, he looked directly at me and I felt like he could see
straight through me. Once it sees you at knows you
that's how it works. What do we do?
I asked my voice breaking. I hated how small I sounded but
I couldn't help it. We drive it out.
He said, simply, but it's not easy.
These things don't like to let go.
He set to work immediately Gathering Cedar and Ash, and
creating a mixture. He sprinkled around the house.
He chanted, as he worked his voice, low, and rhythmic a
language I couldn't understand, but felt deep in my chest.
He marked the doors and windows with the ash creating patterns
that he said would block the creature from returning.
As the blessing continued, I wandered toward the edge of the
yard drawn to the vast emptiness of the desert.
The sun was starting to dip lower in the sky, casting Long
Shadows over the brush. I stared at the Horizon
searching for something I couldn't name.
When I felt it again, that prickling sensation, like I was
being watched, I turned sharply my eyes scanning the landscape.
at first, I saw nothing, just the endless stretch of dirt and
rock, but then far off in the distance I saw movement A figure
low to the ground darting between the sparse bushes.
My breath caught in my throat, it was fast too fast to be
anything normal and the way it moved, jerky unnatural made my
skin crawl. I backed up slowly my heart
racing grandpa, I called my voice.
Barely above a whisper, he was by my side.
In an instant, his rifle in hand.
What is it? He asked I pointed, but the
figure was gone. I saw it.
I said my voice trembling, it's still out there.
He didn't doubt me. He just scanned The Horizon.
His grip tightening on the rifle.
Get back to the house. He said his voice calm but firm.
The medicine man. Finished the blessing, just as
the sun dipped below the Horizon.
He warned us to stay inside for the night and to keep the
Windows shut no matter what we heard.
It may test the barrier, he said, but it won't get through
not if you don't invite it in. His words didn't make me feel
any better. As Darkness fell, the house
seems smaller. The walls thinner, the wind
picked up howling through the cracks like a distant scream.
I sat by the window staring out into the night, every shadow,
and flicker of movement making my heart skip.
At some point, I must have fallen asleep because I woke to
a sound that made my blood run cold.
A faint knocking at the window, soft, but deliberate.
My grandmother's words echoed in my head, it knows you.
I didn't move, I didn't breathe the knocking, stopped replaced
by the low guttural Whispering. I'd heard the night before it
was outside, just beyond the thin glass.
Speaking in that horrible inhuman voice, I wanted to
scream to run but I couldn't all I could do was sit there Frozen
as it whispered, my name, the blessing held it didn't get in,
but that night as I lay in bed, I knew this wasn't over.
It wasn't just something. I'd seen it wasn't.
Just something that happened. It had seen me.
And I didn't think it would ever forget.
I've lived in Southern California, my entire life.
If you know anything about California, you'll know it's
very diverse up north. It's filled with mountains and
trees. While down south it's much more
city-like this summer. I decided to take a trip to Lake
Tahoe. It's a beautiful place and it
was my first time being upstate. I'm going to chop this story up
into segments to make it an easy read.
Day one. I settled into the cabin at
around 5 p.m. after an eight-hour drive.
I was very tired. I went and lay down in the bed
in the loft. It was quiet like being in a
different world. I was so used to cars zooming by
and people talking right outside my house.
But here it was silent. I fell asleep fairly quickly.
About four hours later. I jerked away.
I looked around for a bit before hearing a strange.
Tapping sound. I tried to figure out where it
was coming from but to no avail. It sounded as if someone was
tapping on the window of the back door.
I figured I was just paranoid and fell back asleep.
Day two, nothing happened this day, and I slept fine.
Day three, early morning. I woke up very early, maybe
around 4 a.m. I heard a crash coming from the
attic ladder which was conveniently placed right behind
the couch. I was sleeping on.
I didn't move. Then I heard a few footsteps.
You know that feeling when you sense someone staring at you,
that's exactly how I felt. I was on my side staring
straight ahead. Suddenly I felt somebody or
something. Crawl over me.
I felt too hands on either side of me and I could tell their
face was just inches away from mine.
Like I said, I was facing straight ahead and I wasn't
about to turn my head to see who, or what it was.
It felt like they stayed there forever before.
Finally crawling backward and off the couch.
I heard the dog, let out a muffled bark and then someone
shushed her with a quiet. Good girl. the presence lingered
for what felt like an eternity until I heard footsteps going
out the back door, Still, I didn't move.
I was paralyzed with fear. Needless to say, I didn't go
back to sleep. Later, when I felt it was safe.
I checked on my friends. None of them had left their
rooms that night when I told them what happened, they said I
was just being paranoid. I have agreed and we went on
with our day as planned. Day three later that day.
After a day at the lake with my friends, we returned to a quiet
cozy cabin. The caretakers told us, there
was a river, a bit farther into the woods about a 15-minute
walk, my friends decided to stay behind and rest.
So I took some bug spray, a small backpack with snacks and
my phone and headed out The trail was pretty
straightforward, Tall Grass flanked either side and the path
itself was thin but easy to follow.
I reached the riverbank where there were two picnic tables.
I didn't want to get eaten alive by mosquitoes but I stupidly
worn sandals. I dropped my bag on one of the
tables and started back toward the cabin.
For some odd reason, the path suddenly seemed distorted.
What was once a smooth Trail was now rough and uneven.
I noticed the tall grass on the side of the path had been
flattened as if something huge. And I mean gigantic had passed
through it. at first, I suspected a bear since the
locals warned us, they could be a problem this time of year but
the sheer size of whatever caused it made me second-guess
that I was startled but kept going until I made it back to
the cabin. And then I returned to the river
again. By now, I was a little
frightened. I kept telling myself.
I was just overreacting and should try to enjoy nature.
I sat at one of the tables and watched the river for a while.
That's one I started to feel like something was watching me.
I looked around assuming one of my friends was trying to prank
me, but there was no one. Across the river.
I noticed some Disturbed brush. It opened in to a small clearing
blocked off by two logs in an ex shape.
The longer I sat there, the more uneasy I became.
I couldn't shake the feeling that something was hidden behind
that thick brush hoping to find some sign of life.
I moved down to The Rivers Edge, but there was nothing.
No fish, no frogs, no roads, just mosquitoes a whole swarm of
them. Disappointed I went back to the
table that's when I heard it a sound I can't accurately
describe like a scream mixed with a gurgle as if whatever was
making the noise had a mouthful of water.
It was inhuman. I froze, I should have run from
my life but I just stood there, I heard rustling in the bushes
behind me. Yes, the same bushes I had been
worrying about earlier and then that scream again, even louder.
This time, it was the loudest sound I've ever heard run.
So, I did. I sprinted through the forest
but what should have been a quick run back to the cabin
turned into anything but After about 10 minutes of full-on
sprinting, I realized I was lost.
I stopped for a moment Panic. Panicking to see if anything
looked familiar. Finally, I spotted a bridge, I
remembered Crossing on my way. There, I started running toward
it wondering why that thing hadn't just attacked me when I
first froze, That thought haunted me.
I could hear it. Chasing me.
It felt like a twisted game. Every time I stopped it stopped,
too eventually. I made it back to my cabin.
Instead of going inside, I stood on the porch facing the forest
and cried. I couldn't see anything unusual
out there, but I knew it was there.
I didn't want to turn my back on it, so I stayed on the porch for
hours, silently crying, checking, my phone occasionally,
and writing all of this down. I still don't know what that
thing was. The only creature I can compare
it to is a wendigo or skinwalker.
All I know is that I will never go back to that River again.
If anyone has insight into what or who might have been out
there, I'd appreciate it. These past two days.
Have been two strange, not to be connected.
Edit last day of the trip, we burn some Sage before heading to
bed that night. Brett came to me around 4 a.m.
and said he couldn't sleep. We watched TV for a while before
hearing tapping on the back window again.
It lasted a few seconds at a time, almost an intervals.
If that makes sense. Brett managed to record a video.
We decided not to investigate because frankly, we were scared
out of our minds. After about 10 minutes, the
tapping stopped. Brett and I took turns sleeping
and nothing else happened that night until we were both in by
loud. Banging on the shed out back.
When we went to check it out, no one was there.
I'm leaving in two hours. I can't wait to get back to City
Life and leave all this weirdness behind.
Thank you for all your support and guidance over these past few
days. I really appreciate it and wish
you all the best. I think my friend and I are
being followed by a skinwalker This started a few days ago.
I don't know what we did but ever since about three days ago,
we've been noticing very odd things.
Our truck started smelling like sulfur and rotten meat and our
trailer, which is very clean smells like rotten meat as well.
We don't have any meat here, we checked.
We hear scratching at night while we're trying to sleep as
well as knocking, but that doesn't make sense because we
are in the middle of nowhere in Utah with no towns for at least
20 miles. There is also a Native American
reservation, literally 200 feet from our property.
We decided to go looking for it last night.
We walked about two miles from our truck and started to smell
sulfur. Then we both saw six or seven
foot tall silhouette running toward us.
We ran right back to the truck but it wouldn't start pretty
cliche. I know, I got out went to the
toolbox on the side, grabbed a wrench and started taking off
the intake. I sprayed some ether in and put
the intake back on and it fired up.
Needless to say, we peeled out of there.
We were doing about 53 miles per hour, heading back to our
trailer when I looked back and saw that thing still behind us
and keeping up. I told my buddy to punch it
because it was right behind us. He floored it but it wouldn't go
any faster. It can usually do around 7880
but it wouldn't go past 505. It's a Ford 6.9 IDI with a turbo
kit in case anyone was wondering.
We eventually made it the mile or so.
Back to our trailer, shut the truck off and ran inside his
fast as we could, we locked the door and covered all the windows
with blankets. As soon as I got the last
blanket up. There was something tugging at
our door and trying to open it. So, I went and held the door
shut. Then, out of nowhere, the locks
started to unlock itself. I tied in the locked position
with a bootlace grabbed a hammer.
It's all I had to defend myself and waited.
About a minute later. I got a text from a girl, I'm
interested in but who never texts me back.
Saying that she's in trouble and needs us to come get her right
now. I asked what was going on and
she said she was getting kicked out of the house.
So I got ready to go because this was my only chance with
her. I asked if she had money for
diesel and she asked me, why? I told her we were coming to get
her and she then said, why would I want to see you?
We haven't talked in months. Um what you just texted me three
minutes ago so I decided it was probably in our best interest to
stay inside that night. I started hearing my name being
called from outside by Vaguely Familiar voices, but I couldn't
quite place them. I never looked outside last
night for fear that this thing was just outside the door.
I put salt around the door because someone told me that
would help and nothing got in last night, so it must have
worked. Now it's morning and there's
almost no sign that anything happened last night.
No scratch marks on the trailer. No dents.
No Footprints or paw prints. Nothing.
So, here I am riding this and hoping someone believes me
because I need help. I don't know how to get rid of
this thing. If you read this far, I just
want to say thank you, and I will have another update
tonight. To clarify.
This post is not me, trying to seek attention.
I'm just saying I'm scared to death and don't know what to do.
There are people saying that it's fake but I'm just
explaining the events that happened and asking for help.
I appreciate those of you who are trying to help me and keep
me safe. Unfortunately, I cannot leave my
property since I have no where else to go, but I am taking the
necessary precautions to stay safe.
I'm going to the gas station soon to buy salt to make a
barrier around my trailer. Thanks for the help.
You all again, feel free to download my post if you like
all, I need is help. I understand the skepticism I
really do. As I didn't think it was real
either. The thing that really shook me
was when the door started to shake and began to unlock,
thanks for reading edit too. Another thing I forgot to
mention is that my flash light did flicker on and off a few
times. I don't know if that's
paranormal or just the battery dying, but I thought I should
mention it at edit, 3 Day 4. It's now nighttime and I have an
experience to anything yet today.
I plan on keeping a log of everything that happens.
The reason it says day four is because this whole thing started
about four days ago, even though it's dark.
I really want to capture some video for everyone and that's
what I'll be doing. I'm not going to try to piss it
off, but I am going to record. Not sure how I'll upload it yet,
but I'll find a way and be back with an update.
Thanks again to everyone who is genuinely trying to help me.
ever since I followed your advice, I've had fewer
experiences but that could just be because it was daytime Also
side note, I went to the reservation today but no luck.
My buddy and I asked everyone who drove by where the tribe is
and nobody knew. We might have to try again
tomorrow. I wish I could just call them
but I don't know where to find their number.
I'll be back with an update in a couple of hours hopefully edit
four day five. I listened to everyone's advice
and made a salt barrier. There are also a lot of people
saying that it's a demon, not a skinwalker.
So I have been researching demons.
I found one very helpful point if you don't give it the power
to mess with you, you won't get messed with.
So I did exactly that last night.
I didn't focus on it. In fact, y'all told me to pray,
so I prayed. I didn't hear any knocking or
scratching last night. No light flickering, nothing,
thank you to everyone who has helped me fight off this entity.
Whatever it is. You guys don't understand how
much you helped me. Stay calm and fight it off.
Also, if I do have any more experiences, I will try to
record it and communicate with it using an EVP app.
Not sure if the app works, but I might as well try.
Thanks again. Y'all, I'll be back with an
update later. Edit 5 and most likely final
update. No new occurrences.
I still have not gotten any help from the reservation but nothing
has happened in the last couple of days.
We also got a dog and it has an acted weird at all these last
couple of days. I think that whatever was
bothering us is gone for good. I just want to say I'm so so
glad I had you all to help me through this and keep me calm.
I may or may not post more updates, depending on what
happens next? I must preface this with a few
things. This encounter a second hand,
but it was told to me on multiple occasions, by the
person who experienced it. I am a natural skeptic and
cynic. So I can't say, I 100% believe
it. However, his telling of the
story was simple yet concise and it never varied between
retellings. I've known him for many years
and his advice and input on just about everything are well
reasoned and always helpful. So I'll take his word for it.
Even if with a grain of salt, Also keep in mind, I am not a
seasoned writer my past and present tense is may get a
little jumbled but I'll keep it as clear and accurate as I can.
Now let's get down to business. My friend will call him Marv,
like to go solitary camping on occasion to be one with nature
and experience everything that goes along with that.
He's all an avid gun collector and Enthusiast.
I don't remember exactly when he said this took place, but it was
a few years back. When he decided to go camping on
a whim, he packed his gear and a few guns, a hunting rifle and a
45 sidearms, specifically and headed out into the country onto
a vast, swath of property owned by a friend of his He had full
permission in the works. This happened near the kisatchie
National Forest in South Central, Louisiana.
I won't be any more specific than that.
Suffice it to say, it's miles and miles of forest and
wilderness. He liked to hike in pretty deep
and camp at a specific spot. He had found on a few previous
trips. These details are sparse as
they're not, really the meat and potatoes of this encounter.
After making his way in, he set up camp in his usual, small
clearing for the night. Skipping ahead a few hours.
It was late after noon when he heard leaves crunching and
twigs, snapping, he assumed it was an animal at first and got
up from cooking, something on the fire, to take a look, he
gazed in the direction of the noise and saw man, approaching
through the trees, still a good many yards away.
Marv has described as etiquette for dealing with people in very
remote places, as always being cautious because more often than
not the people he comes across are armed, just like him, he
tries to stay friendly while keeping his guard up.
Always on the lookout for ulterior motives because you
never know what some folks are up to in the middle of nowhere.
He'll make small talk with them. Find out generally what they're
doing. If he can and occasionally share
a meal. He's never really met anyone
nefarious until this situation and maybe one other, but that's
a whole other ordeal. One thing that set off small
alarm bells for him, was that he knew he was the only one with
permission to be on this property.
Secondly, the guy was not dressed for this location at
all. He said, the man was wearing a
white T-shirt short blue jogging, shorts and white socks
and sneakers Keep in mind, Marv was miles out in the middle of
the woods away from any paths roads houses or anything else?
Nobody would casually stroll into that location dressed like
that unless they were lost or confused.
It was early fall, but not quite cool.
Very normal for Louisiana. So, there were tons of
mosquitoes ticks and other insects a plenty.
You wouldn't want most of your skin exposed, if you could help
it, especially deep in the woods.
I know that all too well from personal experience.
Marvelous assumed something might be off and called out.
Hey there. Do you need help or something
loudly? Definitely loud enough to be
heard. The man kept walking forward
staring directly at him. Mars started to feel uneasy
which is unusual for him because he's typically cool as a
cucumber intense situations. As the man kept closing the
distance, Mars stood up and said loudly.
Hey man. Can I help you with something or
what the guy was now about 15 to 20 feet away from Marv.
Standing at the edge of the clearing and the forest.
Looking Marv dead in the eye. The man spoke clearly Helped me.
Marv said he was already starting to get worried at this
point because the way the man said, it made it seem like
something that didn't quite know how to talk.
At least that was his first impression.
It didn't sound right. The man still.
Unmoving said, help me again slightly more emphatic but only
slightly louder Marv said that's when he picked up on.
What was really wrong. He noticed the Timbre of the
voice was more feminine and actually sounded like a
recording being played back. The man's lip in mouth movements
were not matching the words. It was as if he was just opening
his mouth emitting the phrase, then closing it again.
Marv asked, what do you need help with?
Not daring to back up or move at all.
The man still standing motionless.
Still looking directly at Mars said, help me again and repeated
the phrase, another three times slowly but not any louder.
Now, completely unsure of what the hell was going on, Marv,
interrupted him by barking. Alright, you need to go now,
unless you actually need my help.
He continued loud and firm. Do you need my help or not?
The man didn't miss a beat, he started up with the help me
again and made. As if to take another step
toward Marv, Marv told me he did the only thing that made sense
in that moment. He drew his 45 semi auto pistol
and pointed it at the man telling him again.
You need to go, I don't care what you want.
The man grew more animated and agitated actually starting to
say the phrase louder and louder, but he neither stepped
closer nor back to weigh Marv. Did what he thought was right?
Given his predicament. Assuming he was dealing with an
unstable or potentially dangerous individual.
He discharged around into the ground in front of the man.
Here's where it gets fully, absolutely crazy.
I'm not kidding. The man stopped uttering the
phrase when silent and while still staring at Mars did a full
backflip summer salt. The kind gymnasts do backward
into the woods disappearing immediately from sight.
Yes, you read that, right? I know what you're thinking
because I had and still have the same reaction that sounds like
bullcrap. But Marv gave no indication of
lying and told me this story multiple times every time in a
dead serious manner. Marv.
Said the man back flipped away effortlessly as if pulled by an
unseen tensioned coil. He described it as completely
unnatural and totally out of place.
The man had just appeared repeated the same phrase over
and over and became almost frantic before.
Marv fired at the ground in front of him, causing him or it
to flee. Marv stood there focused on the
spot in the forest where the man had vanished.
He saw and heard no further movement.
It was as if the guy had never been there at all.
He stayed like that as the sun began to set and the normal
night noises crept in As I mentioned before, Marv is pretty
unshakable and actually stayed in the area for the rest of that
night and the next with no further incident.
When he told me and some other friends about this, of course,
we had many questions. We asked him to elaborate on the
man's speech. He said the more he thought
about it afterward. The more sure he was that it was
definitely a female voice coming from the man.
It was like he or it had heard someone say, help me.
And was mimicking it like a parrot or some other talking
bird almost like a lure. He doesn't know what it wanted.
It didn't give any indication that it wanted Marv to follow or
do anything else. It reacted immediately to The
Gunshot. And you know what?
Followed Marv has been back to the property since with no other
strange occurrences. The only other small detail I
can think of is that during the early morning of that first
night. He remembered hearing what
sounded like a gunshot in the distance.
It sounded eerily similar to his 45, he thought he might have
heard it again on his hike back out, of course, there are people
who hunt in the area so it could have just been that.
He couldn't be sure. Since this incident and one
other, which happened in a completely different location,
Marv has done some online research of the whole kisatchie
area and found. Many Legends stories and
supposed encounters dealing with skinwalkers and other unnerving
bits of Native American folklore in the region.
Not to mention mimics and other similar supposed creatures.
A lot of his encounter lines up with these tails.
There's nothing tangible to prove it, of course, but even as
a skeptic, it makes me wonder about strange things and remote
and untouched areas of our world that can't be explained.
The mornings. Here are quiet, usually, very
quiet. Silence that stretches yawns and
swallows sound hole. No birds.
No wind, just the soft Creek of the cabin settling in the cool
September are That morning wasn't any different at least
not at first. Boe was scratching at the door.
Like, usual his way of saying walk now or deal with me later,
I grabbed his leash through on my boots and stepped outside.
The air was sharp crisp enough to wake me up faster than
coffee. We started our walk along the
edge of the property where the Pines in on one side, in the
Wheatfield, sprawls out on the other.
Boe, always loved this route. No to the ground tail wagging.
Like he was on the trail of something big, but today, he was
different, his nose stayed up ears.
Twitching at every rustle in the field.
His steps weren't playful. They were cautious deliberate.
It put me on edge, even if I didn't want to admit it.
The wheat was high that year taller than me in some spots.
I hated it. I couldn't see a damn thing past
the first couple rows, and it always felt like something was
just out of sight watching. Both stopped his body stiff.
His growl started low, the kind that made your stomach knot up.
The kind that said were not alone.
Coyote's probably I muttered trying to convince myself as
much as him. But coyotes didn't usually make
bow act like this. He pulled at the leash, digging
his paws into the dirt, like he wanted to drag me straight into
the wheat. Knock it off bow, I said,
yanking him back his growl, turned into a bark, sharp and
urgent. Then I heard it a software, high
pitched like a puppy crying out, for help.
It came from the wheat. I froze.
There weren't any dogs around here that I knew of no
neighbor's for Miles. The sound came again closer.
This time. Probably some stray.
I said though, it sounded more like a question.
I took a step forward and bow went wild barking and pulling
harder than ever. All right, all right.
I said backing up we're going But as I turn to leave the
whimper changed, it stretched warbled like a record spinning
too slow. And then it was something else
entirely a growl, deep and guttural vibrating through my
chest. Bow lunged at the wheat.
His leash, cutting into my hand. Both stopped.
I shouted my voice cracking. The wheat.
Rustled, a heavy sound like something big was moving through
it. Not a dog, not a coyote,
something bigger. I gripped Bose leash Tighter and
pulled practically dragging him back toward the cabin.
The growl, followed us growing louder sharper and then it
shifted again this time it sounded human a scream tore
through the are raw and ragged like someone was being ripped
apart my feet. Moved faster than my brain could
process dragging bow along as He barked and howled like he was
trying to fight, whatever was in that week.
We reached the edge of the yard and I glanced back, just one,
the wheat was still again, perfectly still like nothing had
ever been there. Bo stopped barking.
But kept growling his eyes locked on the field.
I didn't wait to see if anything came out inside the cabin, I
locked the door and leaned against it, trying to steady my
breathing. Bo paced in front of the window.
Still growling low. I grabbed the curtain and yanked
it shut no way. Was I looking out there again?
That screamed though it's stuck. It didn't sound like an animal.
Didn't sound like a person, either.
It sounded Raw like something trying to sound human and not
quite getting it. That night, as I sat at the
kitchen table, be curled up at my feet.
I thought about the field about how still it had looked after
all that noise. I almost convinced myself.
It was nothing. Just My Imagination Running
Wild, just a stray dog or coyote.
Then came the taping on the window light at first, like a
bird brushing. Against the glass.
Then heavier deliberate, I didn't move.
Bose head, shot up his ears twitching, he growled low, a
sound. So deep at rumbled, through the
floorboards The taping stopped, I sat there every muscle locked
up staring at the curtain. Like it was going to be ripped
off at any second. But nothing happened.
The cabin, stayed quiet, except for Bose growl, and the faint
sound of wind Whispering through the wheat.
I didn't sleep that night not even a little I spent the
morning cleaning up the scratches, on my front door,
long, Jagged marks that ran deep into the wood like something
with claws. Had tried to get in.
Both Sat by the window watching the tree line growling under his
breath. He hadn't been himself since the
day near the wheat and neither had.
I the cabin didn't feel safe anymore.
Every Creak of the walls, every gust of wind against the glass
had me glancing over my shoulder.
I needed answers. Something had been out there.
And it wasn't leaving anytime soon.
I called Walter my nearest neighbor.
If you could call someone living three miles down a dirt road, a
neighbor. He picked up on the third ring,
his voice Gruff. Like he'd been expecting bad
news. What's going on, Charlie?
I told him everything. The wheat, the scream, the
taping on the window. I even told him about the claw
marks. The way I could hear how
ridiculous it all sounded. As the words tumbled out, he
didn't laugh, he didn't tell me to get some sleep or lay off the
whiskey. Instead, there was a long pause
followed by a quiet, you need to come by.
I packed Boe into the truck and headed over the drive, felt
longer than usual. The pine trees pressing in on
either side of the road like they were trying to swallow it
whole. Even Bo was uneasy his ears,
twitching at every sound Walter was waiting on the porch, a
cigarette dangling, from his lips.
He looked older than I remembered his face lined.
Like someone who'd spent too many years staring into the
woods. He didn't say much, just waved
me inside. His house was cluttered walls
lined with hunting trophies, in Old photographs, He poured us
coffee and sat down his hands. Trembling slightly as he lit.
Another cigarette. What your dealing with he
started ain't something you can shoot or scare off its older
than that old, as the land itself.
I didn't know what to say. So I just noted Walter went on
to tell me about a story. He'd heard growing up a legend
passed down from the Ojibwe. People who used to live on this
land, they spoke of a guardian Spirit.
Something tied to the woods in the fields.
It wasn't evil, not exactly. But it didn't take kindly to
being disturbed. They called it the keeper, he
said his voice low. Said it watched over the land
made. Sure.
Everything stayed in balance. But if you messed with it, dug
up, something you weren't supposed to it.
Had come for you. That's when I remembered The
artifact. I told Walter about the carved
piece of metal, I'd found in the garden last week, how I tossed
it near the edge of the field without thinking twice his face
darkened. You need to put it back right
where you found it and you need to do it soon.
I wanted to ask him why he wanted to push for more details.
But something in his expression, stopped me.
Walter looked scared, the kind of fear that doesn't leave room
for questions. On the drive home, the sun was
setting casting Long Shadows across the road.
I thought about the artifact, the weight of it in my hand, the
strange carving that seemed to twist and shift in the light.
I'd found it very deep almost like it wasn't supposed to see
daylight. By the time I pulled into the
driveway, it was nearly dark. The cabin loomed ahead.
It's Windows glowing faintly against the growing night, bow
bolted, out of the truck and ran straight to the porch.
His tail down ears flat. The air felt wrong.
Two still two quiet. I grabbed the flashlight and
made my way to the spot near the field where I had left the
artifact. The wheat was swaying though,
there wasn't any wind my footsteps, crunched against the
dirt path, louder than they should have been.
The artifact was still there half buried where I'd tossed it.
I crouched down picking it up gingerly.
It felt colder than I remembered heavier.
The carvings on its surface seemed deeper now more intricate
like they'd grown in my absence. As I stood a sound carried
through the air, a low rhythmic, whom almost like chanting.
It wasn't coming from the house or the woods.
It was coming from the field. I turned slowly shining my flash
light into the wheat, the white barely penetrated the stalks,
but the sound grew louder closer.
Bow barked from the port a sharp desperate sound that made me
want to run, but I couldn't move the wheat shifted parting
slightly. Just enough to catch a glimpse
of something moving within tall. Two tall with limbs that bent in
ways. They shouldn't the whom turned
into a deep guttural growl that vibrated through the ground.
I bolted the artifact clutched in my hand.
I ran back to the cabin with bow barking wildly at my heels.
I slammed the door shut and locked.
It leaning against the wood, as the Sound Outside faded.
Inside Bo, wooden settle, he paced the room whining and
growling at the windows. I set the artifact on the
kitchen table staring at it, like it might move on its own.
Walters words. Echoed in my head?
You need to put it back and you need to do it soon.
The chanting outside stopped replaced by a single deliberate.
Knock on the door. I didn't sleep.
Not even for a second. The knock on the door had been
deliberate too, deliberate. Whoever, or whatever, was out
there, wasn't done with me. Bolay by the door growling low,
his ears flicking at every Creak of the cabin.
The artifact, sat, on the kitchen table, cold and Silent,
as if it was waiting for me to decide what came next.
Walter's warning played over and over in my head I had to put it
back, not toss it, not leave it near the edge of the field like
I did before but back where it came from.
The problem was, I couldn't even be sure I had survived the trip.
By the time, the sun began creeping over the trees.
I was already packed. A flash light my hunting knife
and a bundle of matches. I wasn't sure I had ever used.
But whine, when I leashed him but I had no intention of
bringing him into the field. He stayed on the porch pacing
and barking. As I headed toward the wheat
alone, the early light stretched Long Shadows over the rows of
wheat, making the field look taller denser.
Every step I took along the dirt path felt like walking into a
trap. The silence wasn't natural.
Not the kind you hear when the woods are still waking up.
This was something else. The kind of quiet that presses
down on you. Suffocates.
You I stopped where I thought. I dug up the artifact the first
time. The wheat swayed around me
though. The air was completely still.
Clutching the artifact in one hand, I crouched my knife in the
other and started digging. The ground was cold and stubborn
resisting me at every scrape of the blade.
That's when it started again. The sound a low rhythmic whom so
deep. It felt like it was coming from
beneath the ground. I froze, my hands caked with
dirt, my heart hammering, The Humble slowly shifting into
something sharp and Grading like metal scraping against bone.
The wheat Russell to my left, then to my right.
Something was moving circling but I couldn't see it.
I kept digging throwing dirt behind me as fast as I could
desperate to finish before, whatever was out there, decided
to come closer. And then it stopped the sound,
the movement, the wheat, stood perfectly, still, I didn't dare
look up the soil beneath my knife.
Began to soften almost too easily.
As though. Something below wanted me to
hurry my blade, hit something hard, and I realized, I had
found the spot. The whole was deeper now more
than enough to bury the artifact but I hesitated.
A part of me felt like putting it back was a trap like whatever
I was dealing with, wanted me to finish this for reasons.
I didn't understand. The wheat shifted behind me slow
deliberate. I clenched the artifacts.
So tightly the edges dug into my skin.
My flash light flickered, casting long beams that made the
Shadows stretch and twist. I stood turning slowly.
And finally saw it. It wasn't just one tall figures
stood, just inside the wheat, their forms barely visible
between the stalks. They didn't move like they had
before jerky and unnatural now their motions were fluid Almost
Human, but there was nothing human about them.
Their limbs were too long bending in ways that defied
reason. And their faces, if they could
even be called faces, were pale voids featureless except for
faint Impressions, where eyes might have been, they didn't
advance. They just watched their heads
tilting in unison, as the waiting for me to act.
I dropped the artifact into the hole and shoved the dirt over
it. My hands, trembling the hum
started again, but it wasn't coming from the ground anymore.
It was coming from them. A deep layered sound that
vibrated in my chest and made my ears.
Ache. I'm sorry.
I said though my voice felt small and useless I didn't mean
to disturb anything. The figures didn't react the
whom grew louder sharper, like it was burrowing into my skull.
I backed away slowly careful not to trip.
Careful not to run. The wheat begins swaying
violently as if caught in a storm but the figures States
still their heads following my every step.
I reached the edge of the field and turned bolting toward the
cabin. The hum stopped the moment.
I crossed into the yard but the silence that followed was even
worse. Bow barked and howled.
His claws scrabbling at the porch.
As I climbed the steps and collapsed against the door, My
lungs burned. My hands throbbed, but I didn't
look back. I couldn't.
Inside. I locked the door and pushed the
kitchen table in front of it. Both sat at my feet whining,
Softly, As I tried to steady my breathing, For a moment,
everything was still no whom no movement, just the faint Sound
Of Wind Through the Trees. But then came the tapping, not
at the windows this time. Not at the door, it came from
the roof. Slow deliberate moving steadily
toward the center of the cabin they were not gone.
They were never gone. I should have trusted my gut,
the moment I stepped into that house.
It wasn't just The Damp smell that hit me like a slap mold old
wood and something faintly metallic like pennies left out
in the rain. It wasn't even the dim lighting
that turned every corner into a shadowy void.
Know, it was the feeling. That heavy suffocating weight
pressing down on me. As soon as I cross the
threshold, like, the house was watching me.
I knew something wasn't right, but I told myself to man up, we
were here, because we had no other choice Mission rules,
didn't matter when you didn't have a roof over your head, the
woman who owned the place sister Wilcox, waddled ahead of us her
wide frame brushing against the walls as she led us to our room.
She didn't say much just muttered something about us
making do. Her voice was thin and raspy
like the air in the house. When she opened the door to our
room, I had to bite back a grimace.
Room was generous, it was more like a shoe box.
Someone had lined with cheap paneling and called livable.
A single Bare Bulb hung from the ceiling.
Casting, a sickly yellow light, Two twin beds crammed together
with barely enough space to walk between them and a closet that
looked like it hadn't been opened in years.
This will do. She said more to herself that to
us her. Small, watery eyes flitted over
me lingered for a beat too long. Then turned to my companion,
Elder Russo, Dinners at 6:00 she added before.
Lumbering off her footsteps, heavy on the creaky floorboards.
Cozy Russo, muttered tossing his bag onto one of the beds.
His Italian accent, made everything sound less sarcastic
than it probably was. I tried to shake off the unease
as I unpacked telling myself. This was temporary, just a few
days until the mission office found us another place.
But the feeling lingered a nagging itch, I couldn't
scratch. The first night I couldn't
sleep. Russo snored Softly on the bed.
Next to mine. His steady breathing.
The only sound in the room, But something kept me awake.
Maybe it was the faint Creek of the house settling or the way
the shadows in the corner. Seemed to shift when I wasn't
looking directly at them. I stared at the closet door.
It's faded wood grain catching the light in strange patterns.
I don't know how long I laid there, but at some point I must
have dozed off. I woke up to the sound of my
name, David. It was a Whisperer soft, but
distinct. My eyes, snapped open and my
heart hammered and my chest. I glanced at Rousseau, who was
still snoring, then at the closet, the door was slightly.
Ajar I hadn't noticed it before David.
It came again this time. Louder more insistent.
My skin prickled and my mouth went dry.
I told myself it had to be my imagination, a leftover, thread
from a half-remembered dream, but the voice didn't sound like
something conjured by my subconscious.
It sounded real close. Like someone standing just
behind the closet door. I sat up my movements slow and
deliberate and stared at the crack of Darkness inside the
closet. My pulse thudded in my ears
drowning out, everything else. Rousseau.
I whispered no response. I reached over and shook his
shoulder but he just grunted and rolled over.
The Voice didn't come again that night, but I didn't sleep.
I sat there wide-eyed watching the closet until the first light
of dawn seeped through the window the next day I tried to
convince myself. It was nothing stress fatigue.
But when Rousseau asked why I looked like I hadn't, slept I
couldn't bring myself to tell him.
What would I even say that? I thought the closet was
whispering to me. We spent most of the day out on
our bikes visiting houses knocking on doors.
By the time we got back, I was bone tired.
The kind of exhaustion that made your legs feel like lead But as
soon as we stepped into that house, the unease came rushing
back. Dinner was the same Bland
casserole as the night before, served with sister wilcox's,
unsettling stare. She didn't talk much but when
she did it was always something strange, cryptic comments about
how houses have memories and some rooms are better left.
Shut That night, I made sure the closet door was shut tight
before I climbed into bed. I even jammed a chair against it
just to be safe. Russo teased me for it, but I
didn't care. You'll thank me when the boogie
man doesn't get us. I said forcing a laugh.
But the laugh died in my throat. When I woke up in the middle of
the night to find the chair moved and the closet door wide
open. The voice was back clearer.
This time. David come here, my blood ran
cold. The Voice wasn't loud, but it
carried away. A sense of command that made my
stomach churn. I wanted to scream to wake
Rousseau but I couldn't move. It was like something had pinned
me to the bed. My breath came in Shallow gasps
as I stared at the open door. The darkness inside seeming
deeper than it should have been. Like it wasn't just Shadows, but
something alive watching me. I don't know how long I lay
there paralyzed. When I finally managed to move,
I didn't dare look inside the closet.
I just reached over and shook Rousseau awake.
We're switching beds. I blurted what why he grumbled
groggy and annoyed just trust me.
He didn't argue and I didn't sleep a wink for the rest of the
night. By the third night, I was ready
to leave rules. Be damned but Rousseau convinced
me to stick it out. A few more days he said we can
handle a few more days. That was the night.
I woke up to find the scratches three long parallel lines across
my abdomen. They didn't bleed, but they
burned like fire. I stumbled to the bathroom, my
hands shaking as I stared at them in the mirror.
They were too precise, too clean.
Not something I could have done to myself. when I asked sister
Wilcox, the next morning if she had any pets, her response sent
a chill through me, No pets. She said, smiling faintly.
But you know, this house is haunted, don't you?
She didn't wait for my reply. She just shuffled off humming to
herself. Leaving me alone with the
gnawing realization, that whatever was in this house
wasn't done with me yet. The reservation felt like
another planet. The air was thinner dryer and
The Emptiness stretched forever. Rusted out cars, littered yards
like forgotten relics and the wind carried.
A faint, metallic Tang. That didn't belong to the
desert. My new companion, Elder Ramirez
was the quiet type. He was polite enough but you
could tell he'd seen some things in his five months here.
The kind of things he didn't want to talk about.
We stick to the rules here. He told me the first day, know,
staying out past Sundown, no shortcuts through the back
roads. And if something feels wrong, we
leave. No questions.
It sounded dramatic, but I didn't argue, there was
something about the way he said it.
Like he wasn't quoting the mission handbook.
But speaking from experience, Out here, the rules felt less
like guidelines and more like survival instincts.
It was a Thursday evening and we were driving back from Superior,
the sun bleeding red, into the Horizon.
Ramirez was at the wheel humming A Hymn on under his breath.
While I stared out the window watching the Shadows grow long
and sharp across the desert. We were supposed to be back
before dark, but the appointment had run late.
Now, the road ahead was cloaked in Twilight and the silence
between us felt heavier with each passing Mi.
I was about to say something, maybe crack a joke to lighten
the mood. When Ramirez slammed on the
brakes. The trucks get into a stop and I
lurched forward my seatbelt digging into my chest.
What the hell? I barked clutching the dashboard
Ramirez. Didn't answer, he was staring at
something in the road ahead. His hands gripping, the wheel.
So tight, his knuckles were white.
I followed his gaze and froze, a dog.
At least. I think it was a dog stood in
the middle of the highway. It's fur was patchy hanging in
clumps, like it had been pulled off in strips.
Its Ribs jutted out sharply and its head hung low almost too
low. As if its neck couldn't support
the weight. Its eyes though, those were the
eyes of an animal, they were dark and glassy and they locked
on to me like it knew I was watching.
Speed up Ramirez, said his voice, low and Urgent.
What? Speed up.
He snapped slamming his foot on the gas, the engine roared and
the truck lurched forward. I stared at him in disbelief.
You're going to hit it. Shut up, he hissed.
Don't look at it. Just don't look.
But I did, I couldn't help it as we barreled toward the thing.
I turned to look. And for a split second, it
looked back. The face staring at.
Me wasn't a dogs. It wasn't even human, the skin
was stretched too tight, the features Twisted into something
grotesque, like it was wearing a mask that didn't quite fit.
And it smiled its lips pulled back to reveal Jagged yellow
teeth and I swear, I heard it laugh.
A low guttural sound that cut through the roar of the engine.
I snapped my head forward, my heart hammering.
The truck jolted as we sped past and when I looked in the side
mirror, the thing was gone. What the hell was that?
I demanded my voice. Shaking Ramirez, didn't answer.
He was breathing hard. His eyes.
Fixed on the road. Don't talk about it.
He finally said don't even think about it.
That night back at the apartment.
I couldn't shake the image. Every time I closed my eyes, I
saw that face staring at me. It's dark eyes.
Boring into mine Ramirez. Barely said a word as we ate
dinner and when the sun dipped below the Horizon, he locked
every door and window in the place.
It seemed excessive but I didn't argue not after what I had seen.
It was around 11. P.m. when the knocking started,
it was soft at first, just a faint tap tap, tap on the front
door, I froze. My Fork halfway to my mouth.
Ramirez's, head snapped up his eyes wide.
Don't answer it. He whispered.
What if it's the district leader?
I asked trying to keep my voice steady.
It's not the knocking grew louder more.
Insistent my skin prickled, I moved toward the door but
Ramirez grabbed my arm his grips.
Surprisingly strong don't. I Shrugged him off.
You're being ridiculous. It's probably just he cut me off
with a desperate. Look, if you open that door
where dead something in his tone, stopped me cold the
knocking continued rhythmic and deliberate like whoever or
whatever was on the other side knew we were listening.
And then I heard it Elder a voice called softly.
It sounded like our district leader, but something about it
was wrong. The tone was off two flat.
Like it was reading from a script Elder Ramirez, Elder
Johnson. It's me, open the door. my blood
ran cold Ramirez, pulled out his phone and dialed his hands
shaking After a few ten seconds, someone picked up.
Where are you? He asked his voice.
Barely above a whisper in bed. Came, the groggy reply, why?
Send me a picture Ramirez. Demanded.
Now I heard the muffled sound of confusion on the other end,
followed by the ding of a text. Ramirez showed me the screen a
photo of our district leader and His companion time.
Stamped just a minute earlier, they were in their apartment,
two hours away, the knocking stopped.
I let out a shaky breath, but Ramirez's, grip, on my arm
tightened. It's not over.
He whispered the silence that followed was worse than the
knocking, it pressed against my ears, thick and unnatural.
And then faintly I heard it breathing heavy labored
breathing just outside the window.
I turned slowly my pulse pounding in my ears.
The blinds rattled softly as if something was brushing against
them. Ramirez motioned for me to stay
put as he moved toward the window.
Peeked through the edge of the blinds and went Ridgid.
His face drained of color and he stumbled back his hand clutching
the cross around his neck. What did you see?
I whispered my voice barely Audible.
He didn't answer, he just turned to me with a look, I'll never
forget pure, unfiltered Terror. We didn't sleep that night.
We just sat their backs against the wall, clutching whatever we
could find, that felt even remotely like a weapon.
The silence stretched on broken, only by the occasional Shuffle
of footsteps outside. And when the Sun finally Rose,
we found the footprints. Large, clawed and muddy.
They LED from the front door to the window then stopped
abruptly. As if whatever had been there
had vanished Into Thin Air. But I knew it hadn't not really.
We didn't talk about what happened that night not at First
Premiere. As wooden look me in the eye and
I wasn't about to press him. I wasn't even sure.
I wanted answers every Instinct. I had scream to forget it.
Pretend none of it had happened, but how do you ignore?
Muddy claw marks that disappear into nowhere.
The next morning, our district meeting was already set.
We drove in Silence the truck humming along the cracked
Highway The desert felt different.
Now, the vast emptiness. I'd once found almost peaceful
had turned oppressive as if every shadow and rock was hiding
something. Ramirez gripped.
The wheel tightly, his knuckles bone white while.
I kept my eyes on the horizon, avoiding my own reflection in
the passenger side, mirror. I couldn't shake the feeling.
Something was watching us just out of sight.
The meeting started, like any other Elders, Talking Shop,
exchanging stories, about rejections and the occasional
rare success. but when it came to my turn to share, I hesitated
the words were caught in my throat like barbed wire Ramirez
States silent, but I could feel his eyes on me, daring me to say
something. Finally, I muttered.
We had some disturbances knocking weird noises.
The room went quiet. Too quiet.
Everyone else. Exchanged uneasy glances and the
air grew heavy. Almost stifling Elder Hutchins.
One of the district leaders cleared his throat and leaned
forward. Disturbances.
He asked his voice calm. But laced with something Sharp.
What kind of disturbances? I swallowed hard and tried to
keep my tone light. you know, just Strange knocking a voice
outside the door. Probably just some kids messing
with us. Hutchins, didn't laugh, his face
darkened and he exchanged a look with his companion, before
nodding slowly. You saw something, didn't you?
His voice was quiet, but it cut through the room like a blade.
I hesitated but Ramirez stepped in.
We don't need to get into it. He said, quickly, it's handled.
Know, it's not Hudson, snapped his composure slipping for a
moment. You think this is a joke.
You think this is something you can just ignore.
The tension in the room was unbearable.
Finally Hutchins leaned back inside.
You've heard of skinwalkers, right?
What followed was a crash course in nightmare's.
Hutchins explained, the legend in hushed, tones his voice
steady but his hands, trembling Skinwalkers he said were dark
Spirits shapeshifters. Born of unspeakable Acts.
Murder betrayal. But they wore the skins of
animals mimic human voices and thrived on fear.
According to local lore making I contact or acknowledging.
Them gave them power over you marked you in some way.
They don't stop. Hutchinson said, his eyes fixed
on me? Once they notice, you they keep
coming, unless you figure out how to break their hold my
stomach churned. The thing on the road, the
knocking, The Voice outside. Our door had, I looked too long
listened to closely. I wanted to ask but the words
wouldn't come. That night, I was Restless.
Ramirez tried to reassure me. Mumbling prayers under his
breath. As he sprinkled the apartment
with salt and holy water. It seemed desperate almost
futile but I didn't stop him any comfort, no matter how small was
better than none. Around midnight the air in the
apartment changed. It felt heavier colder like the
temperature had dropped 10 degrees in an instant Ramirez.
And I exchanged a look and I knew we were both thinking the
same thing, then the knocking started, it was soft at first,
just a faint tap tap tap but it grew louder sharper until the
entire door frame rattled. This time.
There was no mistaking, the malice behind it.
The Sound was angry. Purposeful, like, whatever was
out there was trying to break through Premiere as grabbed a
Bible and stood near the door muttering rapid prayers.
I stayed back clutching the pocket knife.
I brought from California. It felt laughably inadequate but
it was all I had The knocking stopped suddenly.
And for a moment, the silence was worse.
Then came The Voice. Elder Ramirez Elder Johnson, let
me in it. Sounded like Hutchins.
Perfectly unmistakably Hutchins, but it wasn't him.
The voice was wrong, flat Hollow like it was coming from a broken
speaker Ramirez, shook his head, his lips, moving silently and
prayer. Then came the scratching long,
deliberate Strokes like claws dragging across, would the sound
was unbearable. Setting, my teeth on edge?
My heart pounded, as I stared at the door, waiting for it, to
give way, but it didn't somehow it held the scratching stopped
and for a moment I thought it was over.
Then I felled it a cold hand, brushed against the back of my
neck. I whipped around but there was
nothing there. Just premieres wide-eyed and
pale clutching his cross like a lifeline.
The next morning, the claw marks were there.
Deep gouges, in the wood, two precise and on purpose to be
anything natural. We reported it to the mission
office but they dismissed it as a prank we knew better, whatever
it was. It wasn't done with us.
Driving to our next assignment. The unease followed me like a
shadow. I caught glimpses of something
in the mirrors, a figure distorted an animalistic always
just out of focus. I didn't tell Ramirez, I
couldn't, but I knew one thing for sure, whatever had marked me
back on that Highway wasn't going to let go.
I should have turned back the moment I stepped out of the
truck. There's something about the way,
the forest feels at night alive watchful, but this time it was
different two still. Too quiet.
The trip started out like any other backstory and I had done
plenty of these solo outings before and I had no reason to
think this one would be any different.
I'd packed the essentials sleeping bag, snacks.
The knife. I always carry and Baxters
favorite chew toy. Just in case he got restless, We
were heading to a spot deep in Gallatin National Forest that
I'd found years ago miles away from campsites or other people.
Perfect for catching the meteor shower the drive was long but
the view of the stars from the winding Mountain Road, made it
worth it. By the time we arrived it was
just after Sunset and the fading light painted the trees and
Hughes of gold and Deep Purple. Baxter lept out of the truck,
sniffing at everything, like he was on a mission.
His enthusiasm was contagious. And for a while, I felt the
usual excitement that comes with being out here away from the
noise of the world. I got the fire going, as the
first Stars began to Peak out, sitting back with Baxter, curled
up beside me. The quiet of the woods was
peaceful at first. A welcome change from the buzz
of Every Day Life. The fire crackled, its warmth,
chasing away the evening, chill, and I leaned back to take in the
sky. One meteor streaked past, then
another, then I grabbed my phone, snapping a few pictures
to show friends later, that's when Baxter growled, it was low,
almost a rumble and I felted in my chest.
Before I fully registered the sound.
I glanced down at him expecting him to be looking at a squirrel
or some other harmless animal. But he wasn't, he was staring at
the tree line years. Flat his entire body rigid Hey
what's up bud? I said softly trying to calm him
down he didn't look at me. The fire popped loudly making me
jump and I realized the usual hum of the forest crickets
rustling leaves distant owls had vanished.
The silence was so completed, felt suffocating.
I grabbed my flashlight and stood my boots crunching on the
dry leaves. Probably a deer.
I muttered more to myself than to Baxter.
His growl, deepened sweeping the light across the trees.
I searched for the source of his unease, nothing just shadows and
the faint outline of branches swaying in the breeze.
But something felt off the Shadows were too dark, too
solid, as if they were not cast by the firelight, but by
something else entirely. And then I saw it at first, I
thought it was just a trick of the light.
A tall thin shape, standing perfectly still among the trees.
But as I kept the flash light on it, my stomach dropped, it
wasn't a tree. It was a figure unnaturally tall
and gone, its limbs too long and its head tilted to the side.
Almost inquisitively. I froze Baxter, whimpered and
back toward the truck. Hey, I called out hoping it was
just another camper who'd wandered too close.
My voice, sounded small swallowed by the trees, the
figure didn't move. I stepped back instinctively the
hair on the back of my neck. Standing on end.
The flashlight shook in my hand, as I kept the beamed on it.
That's when its head moved. Slowly jerkily, like it was
figuring out how to move for the first time the Tilt became more
exaggerated almost upside down and then its eyes, two faint,
yellowish glows opened my breath caught.
Those were not human eyes. They weren't animalize either.
Baxter in the truck. I whispered my voice trembling
the figure didn't step forward, it slid, no sound, no shift in
the undergrowth one second, it was 10 feet into the tree line
and the next it was five feet closer, it's glowing eyes locked
on me. Okay, we're leaving, I muttered
more to myself than to Baxter. I turned in bolted for the truck
Baxter right on my heels. I could hear my own heartbeat
pounding in my ears, as I fumbled with the keys dropping
them once before. Finally managing, to shove them
into the ignition, the truck, roared to life, and I slammed it
into reverse spinning, the tires as I backed out of the campsite
my headlights swept across the clearing and for a brief moment,
I saw the figure again standing in the middle of where my fire
had been It hadn't moved like it should have been able to.
It was just there. I didn't wait to see what it
would do next. The trucks get it onto the dirt
road and I floored it speeding into the dark.
Behind me, the clearing vanished swallowed by the trees, but the
silence stayed with me heavier than ever.
Something had followed me out of the woods and I wasn't sure I
left it behind. The road felt endless.
My hands were gripping. The wheels so hard my knuckles
were white and Baxter was curled into the farthest corner of the
passenger seat. Trembling Every bump in the road
sent shocks through the truck and every shadow, that crossed
the headlights felt like it could be it.
I tried to convince myself. I was just seeing things back
there, but my gut wouldn't let me.
Something was wrong and no matter how far I drove I
couldn't drop the feeling. It was still there.
I glanced at the rear view mirror out of instinct and my
heart stopped. there in the faint, glow of my tail lights,
it was The same impossibly tall figure running, no sprinting.
Only it wasn't running like a person its limbs were moving
wrong. Like it had too many joints or
none at all. Each step covering far, more
ground than it should have. It moved like a predator silent
Relentless and impossibly fast. Oh no, oh no, oh no, no no, no.
I muttered. Slamming, my foot on the gas,
the engine roared as the truck lurched forward tires spitting,
gravel irisk, and other glance at the mirror.
It was still there and worse. It was getting closer Baxter.
Barked, sharply, his hackles raised and I almost screamed, I
didn't dare look over at him. My eyes were glued to the road
watching as the headlights carved, through the endless,
dark the forest closed in, on both sides, the trees like a
tunnel. And I realized how trapped I was
There were no, turn offs, know, clearing just this single
suffocating Road. Then came the Screech.
It started low like metal grinding against metal before
rising to an ear-splitting whale that made me jerk the wheel.
The trucks were of dangerously close to the edge of the road
and I fought to keep it steady. Baxter, yelped and ducked under
the dash. The sound wasn't coming from
behind me. It was coming from above
something, slammed onto the roof of the truck, and I felt the
entire vehicle shutter under the weight.
My heart felt like it was going to explode.
I could hear it. Moving up there.
Dragging itself across the metal with a sickening scrape.
The sound vibrating through the cab I knew what it wanted.
It wanted me to look. Don't I whispered to myself my
voice shaking don't look just keep driving the roof grown.
Again denting inward just slightly the thing was Heavy far
heavier than it should have been.
My brain screamed at me to pull over to stop to do something but
my body refused to listen I slammed the gas pedal harder
willing the truck to go faster, the trees whipped past and a
blur. And for a moment I thought maybe
I could outrun it But then the weight shifted again and the
truck shuddered violently, I felt it moving toward the
sunroof. The tapping started light
rhythmic, almost playful just three quick Taps.
Like it was knocking to be led in.
I swallowed hard keeping my eyes on the road.
You're not real you're not real. I whispered gripping the wheel
like it was the only thing tethering me to reality.
The tapping came again this time harder the sunroof cover
rattled, as if it could. Barely hold the thing out.
My pulse was deafening my breath shallow and ragged.
I knew knew that if I opened that cover, I wouldn't survive,
whatever. I see Baxter whimpered from
under the dash. His nails scratching at the
floor as if he could dig his way out of the truck, then the
tapping stopped. For a brief terrible moment.
All I could hear was the Roar of the engine and the crunch of
gravel beneath the tires. The silence was worse than the
tapping. And then with no warning, the
weights, slid off the roof. The truck bounced slightly as it
hit the road behind me with a sickening thud and I couldn't
stop myself from looking in the mirror.
There it was. Lying in the middle of the road.
It looked crumpled almost broken, its limbs Twisted at
impossible, angles, but it wasn't staying down.
I watched in horror as it began to move.
Slowly at first jerky unnatural movements as it straightened
itself out. I could hear the sound even over
the engine, the crack of joint snapping back into place the wet
awful noise of Bones grinding together.
Its head turned toward me and those glowing.
Yellow. Eyes locked onto mine Through
the Mirror. Nope, I said aloud slamming the
gear shift into reverse. The truck fishtail is, I backed
away from it, trying to put as much distance as I could between
us. The thing stood fully upright
now taller than before its silhouette.
Blotting out the trees behind it, it didn't run this time.
It didn't need to the scream, came again, louder and closer
like it was tearing through my skull, I jammed the truck back
into drive and floored it refusing to look back again.
My only thought was to get to the nearest town, the nearest
light anywhere, that wasn't here.
I drove for what felt like hours but the forest never seemed to
end every shadow looked like it was moving every sound made me
Flinch, backstory stayed under the dash.
His whimpers. Now barely audible over the
pounding of my heart. When the glow of a gas station
finally appeared in the distance, I felt tears, sting my
eyes, Safety light civilization, I didn't slow down until I was
directly under the harsh fluorescent glow of the lot
parking. So close to the building that I
almost hit the wall. for the first time in what felt like
forever, I exhaled But even as I stumbled inside to beg the clerk
for help, I couldn't get rid of the feeling that it wasn't over
that it was still out there. I hadn't escaped not really the
gas station clerk looked at me like I was insane.
I didn't blame him, I probably looked insane wide-eyed shaking.
Dirt smudged across my face and Baxter.
Refusing to leave the truck barking at nothing in the
distance. I could barely get words out as
I stumbled toward the counter, my voice cracking.
As I asked if he'd seen anything strange.
Strange. He repeated his tone thick with
boredom. You mean like UFOs or Bigfoot or
something? I wanted to scream at him, Shake
him, make him understand instead I just nodded my hands gripping
the edge of the counter to keep from collapsing.
Nope, he said with a shrug popping his gum just you.
I didn't bother trying to explain further.
I bought a coffee. I didn't want just for an excuse
to linger in the bright sterile light of the gas station.
My body felt like it was on autopilot, every Instinct in me
screamed to stay put. But the rational part of my
brain knew I couldn't I had to keep moving.
Baxter's barking, reached a frantic pitch, and I turned to
see him clawing. At the window of the truck, his
eyes wide and wild, my blood ran cold, he wasn't barking at
nothing, he was barking at something.
I bolted outside my eyes scanning, The Darkness at the
edge of the gas station. Lot the flood lights only reach
so far and Beyond them was the black void of the forest.
For a second. I thought I saw movement
something tall and spindly shifting just out of sight but
when I blinked it was gone. All right, were leaving.
I muttered mostly to myself. I climbed into the truck, my
heart hammering and slammed the door shut.
I didn't bother looking back, as I sped out of the lot, the gas
station lights disappearing into the rearview mirror.
Baxter, had wedged himself into the footwell trembling and I
kept glancing at him like he might somehow reassure me.
He didn't. The roads stretched.
Endlessly ahead of me, winding through the forest like a cruel
joke. Every shadow seemed to move
every flicker of light in the trees, felt like eyes staring
back at me. I turned the radio on desperate,
for some kind of normalcy, but all I got was static.
And then the tapping started again. at first, it was faint
just a single tap like a pebble, hitting the glass, then another
and another I knew better than to look, but my eyes flicked up
to the windshield. Anyway, nothing just the
reflection of my own terrified face in the blur of the road.
The tapping grew louder, more insistent, it wasn't coming from
the windshield. It was coming from the roof.
My breath hitched, and I tightened my grip on the wheel
refusing to slow down. Not real, not real.
I whispered to myself the words more desperate each time, but it
was real. I felt the truck shutter as the
weight shifted. Again, the metallic grown of the
roof, echoing in my ears, something scraped along the side
of the truck nails or claws dragging across the paint.
Baxter whimpered, burying his head in his paws.
And I felt the Panic rising in my throat.
Suddenly, I saw it. standing in the middle of the road
illuminated by my high beams was the figure its limbs were longer
now. Stretched to Impossible
proportions and its head tilted at that sickening angle.
Those glowing eyes burned into mine, even from a distance.
I slammed the brakes, the trucks getting to a halt. for a moment,
everything was still I didn't breathe, didn't move.
And then it smiled the figures mouth stretched wide too wide.
The edges curling unnaturally as if its face wasn't meant to move
that way. I screamed I couldn't help it.
My body moved on Instinct. Slamming the truck into reverse
as I floored it. The figure didn't move.
It first just stood there grinning, but as soon as my tail
lights, hit it, it dropped to all fours and started crawling
toward me. No, not crawling.
Scuttling its limbs moved like a spider's too fast, and too fluid
and it was closing the distance faster than I thought possible.
I whipped the truck around and gunned it gravel flying as I
tore, down the road. The thing kept pace, darting
between the trees. It's glowing eyes, flickering
in, and out of view, my chest felt like it was going to burst
I couldn't think I couldn't do anything, but drive drive drive
drive. The road felt like it would
never end and the Shadows. Kept growing darker thicker
closing in around me. Finally, I saw the faint glow of
a street light in the distance. My house home, I didn't stop
until I reached the driveway, slamming the truck into park,
and bolting for the door Baxter was right on my heels, his tail
between his legs. Inside, I locked every door and
window turning on every light in the house.
My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold my phone as I
tried to call someone anyone. But the signal was still dead.
Baxter whimpered from the corner of the room staring at the
window. I didn't want to look but I
couldn't help it slowly. I turned my head there.
It was standing at the edge of the yard, just outside the glow
of the porch light. It's head was tilted, its eyes
glowing and that horrible unnatural smile stretched across
its face. I shut the curtains, my heart
pounding in my ears but the taping didn't stop.
Ellie's fever had been Relentless all day.
Her flushed cheeks and the way her tiny body radiated heat
through the thin blanket, left me on edge.
I've been nursing her through this virus for nearly a week and
tonight felt like a Tipping Point.
Every breath she took was shallow rasping as if her little
lungs were running out of patience.
I sat on the edge of the bed. One hand resting on her damp
forehead. The other clutching my phone,
the alarm was set for 3:00 a.m. time for her next dose of
Medicine. The clock ticked loudly in the
Silence of our small apartment. I couldn't sleep.
Not really every Creak in the walls or distant car engine made
me jolt upright. My heart racing when the alarm
finally blared, it startled me so badly that I nearly dropped
my phone. I slid out of bed.
Careful not to wake Ellie. Her soft.
Murmurs tugged at me. But I reminded myself that she
needed this medicine. Padding into the kitchen, I
squinted against the glow of the overhead light.
Fumbled through the cabinet for the bottle of liquid Tylenol.
That's when I saw it the light. It wasn't the warm yellow.
Glow of a Street Lamp or the faint blue flicker of a distant
TV. Know this was stark white and
harsh, cutting through the curtains.
Over the sliding glass door. It casts sharp Shadows across
the living room. Making the edges of furniture.
Look, sharper. Almost unreal.
Froze, the bottle of medicine in my hand listening.
The neighborhood was usually quiet at this hour but something
about that light unsettled me. Slowly, I moved toward the door,
pulling the curtain aside, just enough to peek out there.
It was a car parked at the far edge of the lot.
It's Bright's pointed directly into the woods behind the
building. The light sliced through the
trees catching on branches and throwing Jagged Reflections
across the ground. I thought maybe someone had just
pulled in maybe dropping off a friend or getting back late.
But the car wasn't moving. The engine wasn't running, it
just sat there. Do still with its lights.
Bearing down on the forest, like it was searching for something.
Then I saw the movement. At first, it was subtle.
Just a flicker near the edge of the light.
My eyes strained to make sense of it.
Shadow a trick of the headlights.
Know, it was an animal. Something low to the ground
slinking between the trees. My immediate thought was a fox.
They were common enough around here though.
This one moved strangely, its body seemed disjointed like its
limbs were struggling to obey the same command.
I leaned closer pressing my forehead to the cool glass
trying to make out the shape. As it stepped into the light, my
stomach Twisted, it wasn't a fox or at least it wasn't anymore.
Its body began to change the edges of its form.
Rippling like water disturbed by a stone.
One moment. It looked like a small dog, its
tail, twitching nervously and then it stretched growing
thinner taller until it resembled a cat.
But even that didn't last within seconds, its body.
Collapsed inward folding unnaturally before emerging as
something bulkier its movements. Slower heavier like a bear
dragging itself across the forest floor.
I stumbled back from the door, my breath coming in shallow
gasps. My mind scrambled for answers
rational explanations. Was it an optical illusion?
A shadow cast by swaying branches.
But the way it moved, it was wrong unnatural.
My hands were trembling, as I edged back toward the glass
compelled by equal parts Terror, and disbelief.
The creature had shifted again. Now, smaller rounder with that
gleamed, under the bright headlights.
A raccoon may be or something pretending to be one.
Its body seemed to Shimmer the edges blurring and reforming
like it. Couldn't decide what it was
supposed to be. That's when I realized my heart
was pounding. So loudly, I could hear it in my
ears. I needed to wake Paul.
He'd see this. He'd tell me.
I wasn't losing my mind. But before, I could step away
the creature paused. It turned or at least its body
shifted in a way that felt like turning and though it had no
discernible face, I felt its attention, a cold sinking dreads
settled in my chest as if its gaze had pierced through the
glass. Threw me and straight into my
core. I didn't realize I was moving
until I was already halfway down the hall.
My feet carrying me on autopilot Paul, I whispered harshly
shaking his shoulder. Paul, get up.
You have to see this. He groaned groggy and annoyed
but I didn't have time for his protests grabbing his arm.
I hauled him out of bed, dragging him toward the living
room, my hands wouldn't stop shaking and the words spilling
out of me. Didn't make any sense?
Something about Headlights, the woods, the creature.
By the time we reached the door, the light outside, even
brighter. I didn't want to look but I had
to when we pulled the curtain aside together.
The thing was closer now crawling out of the woods. it's
formed Twisted again, shrinking down into something small and
striped a skunk Relief washed over me so quickly.
I nearly laughed a damn skunk. All that panic over nothing.
I turned to Paul my voice, a mixture of nerves and
embarrassment. It's just a skunk.
I said, chuckling I Paul didn't respond?
He just stared his face pale. His eyes locked on the creature
outside. Following his gaze.
I turned back to the glass. The skunks fur rippled
unnaturally its body, spasming as it grew larger than smaller
than larger again. Its tail disappeared, its legs
elongated. And in one horrifying moment, it
looked Almost Human crawling on all fours with patches of fur
and Exposed Skin hanging from its limbs like tattered fabric.
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move.
All I could do was stare as the creature fell apart and rebuilt
itself over and over right there under the light.
Paul stared at the creature. His face slack with disbelief
his usual Gruff confidence the one that usually annoyed me was
gone. I clutched his arm, tightly
afraid to look away but more afraid not to The thing outside
moved with a jerky unnatural Rhythm, like its joints weren't
hinged, correctly it paused, under the glow of the headlights
shivering shifting. My stomach Twisted as it began
to change again. At first, it looked like it was
shedding as, if clumps of fur and skin were peeling off its
body, falling to the ground and sticky wet slaps.
But then it would reassemble itself the pieces sucking back
into its core twisting into something new.
It stretched upward its limbs unnaturally long, its back
arched at an impossible angle. For a moment.
It stood there, swaying. And I swore it looked like a
person if a person skeleton had been broken and reassembled by
someone who didn't understand how bodies worked.
Paul muttered something under his breath but I couldn't make
it out. His voice sounded far away
muffled like it was coming from underwater.
My pulse roared, in my ears. As the thing collapsed, again,
dropping to all fours with a sickening crunch.
This time, it crawled forward, dragging itself, across the
gravel lot, like it weighed too much for its limbs to support.
Its head jerked in our Direction, and I felt it again
that awful suffocating sensation of being watched.
We need to call Animal Control. Paul said, finally, his voice
strained. He reached for his phone, but I
grabbed his arm. It's not an animal.
The words came out harsher than I intended, but I couldn't stop
myself. My throat was dry.
My mouth, barely able to form the syllables.
You saw it, that thing it's not normal.
Paul has hesitated, his fingers hovering over his phone.
What the hell else? Could it be?
He snapped his voice shaking. He was trying to be rational
trying to explain this away but I could see the fear in his
eyes. He didn't know what it was
anymore than I did before. I could respond.
The cars headlights. Flickered, the light dimmed for
a moment, then, surged back. Brighter than before the
creature froze, mid krawl, its head.
Twitching to the side almost like it was listening to
something. Then without warning the
headlights cut off, completely Darkness swallowed the parking
lot and with it, the creature disappeared.
I grabbed Paul's arm my nails digging into his skin.
Turn on the porch light, I hissed.
Now he fumbled for the switch and the small bulb over the
sliding door, sputtered to life, casting a pale weak glow, over
the deck. It wasn't much but it was enough
to see the edge of the lot and the first few feet of the woods
enough to see that the thing was gone.
Paul exhaled sharply, his shoulders slumping as he leaned
against the wall. It's gone.
He said more to himself than to me.
It's gone. But I didn't believe it.
I couldn't the way it had moved, the way it had looked at us.
It wasn't the kind of thing that just disappeared.
It was still out there somewhere in the dark waiting.
I'm going out there. I said suddenly the words
spilling out before I could stop them.
Paul's had snapped toward me. The hell you are.
I need to see I said my voice trembling.
I need to know it's really gone. Are you insane?
Paul, grabbed my arm, his grip firm.
You just saw what ever the hell that was?
You're not stepping outside. But I couldn't sit here.
Couldn't wait for it to come back.
Every nerve in my body. Screamed at me to do something
anything to take control of this nightmare.
I wrenched my arm, free and grab the flash light from the kitchen
counter. Before, Paul could stop me.
I slid. Open the door.
Just enough to step out side. The cold air, hit me like a
slap, sharp and unforgiving. The night was eerily quiet.
The kind of Silence that felt wrong.
No crickets. No rustling leaves.
Just the sound of my own breathing shallow and Rapid.
I held the flashlight in a death grip.
Its beam trembling as I pointed it toward the tree line.
Just a quick look, I whispered to myself, though, my voice
didn't feel like my own just a quick look.
I Shone the light over the gravel lot searching for any
sign of the creature. The car was still there, its
engine off its Windows dark. The ground where the thing had
been crawling was empty, but the gravel looked Disturbed like
something heavy had dragged itself through it.
As I inched closer to the edge of the deck, I heard it, a
faint, wet sound like something being dragged through mud.
My flash light flickered, the beam sputtering weekly.
And for a moment, I thought I saw movement in the shadows.
A shape low to the ground scuttling just Out Of Reach of
the light. My heart raced as I stepped
back, nearly tripping over the door frame.
I slammed the sliding door, shut and locked.
It my hands shaking so badly, I could barely turn the latch What
did you see? Paul asked his voice sharp with
urgency? Nothing.
I lied, my voice barely above a whisper.
It's gone. But I didn't believe it not for
a second. I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes. I saw it.
The creature, its body, twisting and tearing apart, only to
reform into something even more unnatural.
Paul had managed to drift off of eventually his steady breathing
and unwelcome reminder of his ability to compartmentalize.
I on the other hand was wide awake perched on the couch with
a blanket draped, over my shoulders, and the flash light
clutched. In my lap like a Lifeline, the
clock on the microwave, glowed faintly in the dark 245, mm, 15
minutes until the time, it all started last night.
I stared at the slide in door, my breath fogging, the glass, as
I leaned closer, trying to peer into the darkness Beyond The
porch light was still on casting a week uneven glow over the
deck. Beyond that was an impenetrable
wall of black. I hadn't told Paul about the
sound. I heard that horrible wet
dragging noise. I didn't need to it.
Had echoed in my head. All night, a sound.
So unnatural at felt like it had been burned into my brain.
I thought about Ellie a sleep in her bed, down the hall and my
stomach clenched. What if it came back?
What if it was already here watching?
By the time, the clock clicked over to 3 a.m. my nerves were
frayed. I told myself, I was being
paranoid. That I was letting fear, get the
better of me. But deep down, I knew better.
I could feel it, the same oppressive suffocating presence.
I'd felt the night before. The air seemed heavier thicker
as if the apartment itself was holding its breath.
And then there it was a faint glow flickering through the
curtains. I froze, my grip tightening on
the flashlight. It wasn't the car.
This time the light wasn't steady or bright it pulsed dim
in a regular, like the dying glow of a firefly.
Slowly, I Rose from the couch, every muscle in my body
screaming at me to sit back down, to pretend I hadn't seen
it. But my legs moved on their own
carrying me toward the sliding door.
I pressed my face to the glass squinting into the night.
At first I saw nothing, the glow had vanished, leaving only the
weak, light of the porch, bulb to illuminate the deck.
But then just at the edge of the woods, something shifted A
shadow darker than the Knight around it moved.
My breath hitched, as the shape emerged slowly deliberately, it
was the creature, it hadn't left.
This time its movements were different more purposeful as if
it had finally decided what it wanted to be.
It crawled on all fours. Its body stretched and hunched.
Its skin Rippling like water. The weak light from the porch,
caught its face, or what should have been a face instead, there
was only a smooth featureless expanse, blank and unfeeling.
It stopped at the edge of the deck, its head tilting upward as
if it were looking directly at me.
My legs turned to jelly, and I stumbled backward clutching the
edge of the couch for support the flash light slipped from my
hands clattering to the floor and rolling under the coffee
table. Know, I whispered the word
barely audible over the pounding of my heart.
This isn't real. This can't be real.
The thing began to move again, its limbs jerking on naturally
as it crawled onto the deck. The board's creaked under its
weight, each step slow and deliberate my stomach churned.
As I watched it shift once more its body folding in on itself,
collapsing, into a pile of Limbs and fur.
When it reassembled, it was smaller more compact, but no
less horrifying. It looked Almost Human its arms
too long. Its legs bending backward at the
knees, the porch light, flickered casting the creature
into momentary Darkness. When the light returned, it was
closer. I wanted to scream to wake Paul
to grab Ellie and run but I couldn't move my body refused to
obey. All I could do was watch as the
thing pressed one long narrowed hand against the glass.
It's fingers, splayed, leaving behind a wet smeared.
Print that drips slowly down the surface.
Then it leaned forward, its head tilting to the side and though
it had no eyes. I knew it was staring at me.
I felled it deep in my chest, a suffocating weight that
threatened to crush the air for my lungs.
From down the hall at least Small Voice, broke the silence.
Mommy. The sound shattered, whatever.
Trance. I'd been under.
I turned and bolted my feet slipping on the hardwood.
As I raced toward her room, She was standing in the doorway
clutching her stuffed rabbit, her cheeks flushed with fever.
It's here she said, softly, her voice eerily calm.
It's looking for you. I scooped her up her small body
hot against mine and ran back to the living room.
The sliding door was empty. Now the deck bare but the wet
smear on the glass remained a grotesque reminder that it had
been there. Paul stumbled into the room,
bleary-eyed and disoriented. What's going on?
He demanded his voice. Thick with sleep.
I couldn't answer. I just stood there.
Clutching Ellie tightly staring at the sliding door as if the
thing might reappear. At any moment.
My voice finally came, trembling and weak, Were not safe here.
I said we have to leave now. Paul looked at me like I was
crazy but I didn't care. I knew the truth.
Whatever that thing was, it wasn't going to stop.
It wasn't going to leave us alone and it wasn't going to let
us go. When I think back to that
summer, I can still feel the weight of the forest, pressing
down on me, the thick humid, air carrying a silence.
That didn't feel right, my uncle's cabin sat miles away
from anything resembling civilization tucked deep into
the woods where the trees grew too close together.
And the dirt road in was more crater than path.
It wasn't the kind of place you found yourself accidentally.
You had to want to be there, or in my case have no choice.
It was the first time my cousin Alex had come to stay with us.
He was older than us tall and confident in a way that felt
reassuring back then. He had this way of making
everything seem like an adventure even if it was just
lugging water from the creek or chopping firewood. my siblings,
Noah and Emily adored him and I followed suit trusting him,
completely the way only a kid can We spent most of our days
playing games in the woods hide and seek tag whatever Alex
dreamed up. But there was an unspoken rule.
We didn't go past the Big Hollow Tree.
The tree stood like a sentinel at the edge of a small clearing.
Its trunk in enough for all of us to hide behind it once.
Its bark was scarred with deep grooves that looked too
deliberate to be natural like someone or something had clawed
at it over the years. Alex told us it marked the
property line and we weren't supposed to go beyond it. he
said it was because of the Steep Ravine on the other side, but
even then, I could tell there was something he wasn't saying
That evening started, like all the others.
The sun was sinking low. Turning the sky, a Dusky,
orange, and the woods were alive with the home of cicadas.
Alex suggested, we play hide and seek.
And as always, I was the Seeker. I didn't mind.
I like the chase the thrill of finding someone crouched behind
a tree or tucked into a hallowed outlaw.
But as I counted to 20 with my eyes, squeezed shut, I feel the
first prickle of unease. The forest had gone quiet too
quiet. The cicadas had stopped their
droning and even the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze
had faded. It was just me and the sound of
my own breathing. I shook it off chalking it up to
the nerves. That always came with being
alone in the woods. When I finished counting, I
opened my eyes and called out ready or not, here I come.
My voice. Sounded too loud.
Bouncing off the trees in a way that made me shiver the game
started like normal. I found Noah first, his
sneakers, sticking out from under a bush.
Emily was trickier tucked into the shallow dip of an old tree,
root that left. Alex, he was always the hardest
to find and I figured he'd gone deeper into the woods than the
rest of us dared. Alex, I called peering around
Tree Trunks and kicking at piles of leaves.
The sun had almost disappeared. Casting Long Shadows across the
ground. The hollow tree loomed up ahead,
it's narrowed branches stretching like skeletal arms.
I hesitated remembering, Alex's rule, but then I heard it a
faint rustling, like someone shifting behind the tree.
Gotcha, I said circling around, but when I reached the other
side, there was no one there. The forest felt heavy.
Now the silence oppressive. I turned to head back toward the
clearing when I saw him. Alex was standing just beyond
the hollow tree, his back to me. He wasn't moving just standing
there. His head tilted to one side as
if he were listening to something.
I couldn't hear. Alex, I called again, louder.
This time he didn't respond, my stomach tightened.
There was something off about the way.
He was standing two rigid to still I took a hesitant step
forward and that's when he turned his face wasn't right?
The Shadows distorted his features but his smile was what
froze me in place. It stretched too wide, his
teeth, gleaming in the dim light, his eyes.
There was something wrong with his eyes.
They didn't look like, Alex's, they didn't even look human,
Alex, I whispered my voice barely audible.
He took a step toward me. His movement stiff and Jerky
like a puppet being yanked by invisible strings.
I didn't wait to see what he would do next.
I bolted back toward the cabin, my heart hammering in my chest,
branches, whipped up my face and the ground seemed to tilt
beneath me. I heard footsteps behind me too
fast, too heavy to be mine. When I burst into the clearing,
Noah and Emily were already there, their faces pale, did you
see him? I gasped, barely able to get the
words out. They both nodded their eyes
wide. He smiled at me.
Emily said her voice trembling but it wasn't him.
We didn't stop running until we reached the cabin, the door,
slammed shut behind us and we shoved the old wooden table in
front of it for good measure. It wasn't until we turned around
that. We saw Alex the real Alex
standing in the kitchen. Doorway rubbing his eyes.
What's going on? He asked his voice groggy.
We stared at him, too, stunned to speak.
Finally, I managed to choke out. We we saw you in the woods his
face changed. Then the color drained from it
and his eyes darted to the windows lock everything.
He said his voice low and Urgent don't make a sound.
We did as he said, but I couldn't stop shaking outside.
The forest was quiet again, but it didn't feel right.
It felt like something was out there.
Alex didn't say anything, as we scrambled to lock the doors and
windows. But the tension in his movements
told me everything I needed to know.
This wasn't a game and whatever we'd seen wasn't something we
could explain away. His hand trembled as he bolted
the last window, the sound of the locks snapping into place,
echoing in the oppressive silence.
The cabin felt like a flimsy box made of twigs and outside the
woods pressed against it, dark and heavy.
NOAA Emily and I huddled in the living room while Alex paced
gripping, the old rifle. He kept behind the door, he
muttered under his breath too low for us to hear, but his face
gave him away. He was scared Alex, the
unshakable was scared. What did you see out there?
I finally asked my voice barely louder than a whisper.
I wasn't sure. I wanted the answer.
Alex stopped pacing his eyes darting to the window he glanced
at me then it Emily and Noah and shook his head it's nothing he
said but his tone wasn't convincing probably just some
animal messing around. It wasn't an animal.
Emily, said her voice trembling, it was you out there, but it
wasn't you, Alex's jaw tightened and he looked away.
Stay inside. Don't open the door for
anything. Got it. before we could protest,
he turned and stepped out onto the porch, slamming, the door
behind him, We all froze listening to the heavy thought
of his boots. As he moved down the steps
through the window. I could just barely make out his
silhouette disappearing into the trees, the rifle slung over his
shoulder for a long time. None of us spoke The Cabin Creek
around us. The old wood growning, as if
under some invisible. Wait, the silence outside was
absolute and that was the worst part.
No, wind, no insects. No night birds.
Just Stillness. And then we heard it a scream,
tore through the night, raw and guttural.
A sound that didn't belong to anything natural.
It wasn't Alex, it couldn't have been Alex.
It was too deep too twisted. Like the sound of metal scraping
against Stone It sent a shiver down my spine, and Emily.
Grabbed my arm, her nails, digging into my skin.
What was that? Noah whispered.
His voice barely Audible. None of us had an answer.
We stared at the door half expecting it to burst open but
nothing happened minutes stretched into what felt like
hours I started to think Alex wasn't coming back.
Maybe whatever was out there, had gotten him.
And then suddenly the door slammed open, Alex stumbled
inside slamming. It shut and bolting it behind
him. His face was pale.
His shirt torn. And there was a scratch running
down his arm, the blood dark against his skin.
He leaned against the door Breathing heavily, his eyes
darting around the room like he was still looking for something.
What happened? I asked my voice shaking, he
didn't answer right away. He moved to the window appearing
out into the darkness. It's gone.
He finally said, though. He didn't sound convinced.
He turned back to us his face, Grimm.
Everyone stays together. No one goes near the windows and
no one goes outside. Got it.
What's out there? Emily asked tears, streaming
down. Her face.
Alex, hesitated, his hand tightening on the rifle.
I don't know he admitted but it's not human.
The room fell into an uneasy silence.
I wanted to ask more but something in Alex's expression.
Stopped me. instead we sat together in the corner of the
room, the three of us pressed against each other while Alex
kept watch, As the hours dragged on the oppressive silence
returned. But it didn't feel empty.
It felt full like something was out there.
Circling the cabin, waiting. Every so often I thought I heard
faint Whispers, too low to make out, but just loud enough to set
my teeth on edge. And then as if the forest itself
decided to Exhale, The Whispers grew louder at first.
They sounded like the wind brushing against the cabin
walls, but then they became voices, familiar voices.
Emily. A voice called soft and coaxing.
It sounded like my mother come outside.
Sweetheart. It's okay.
Emily stiffened. Her eyes wide.
It's not. It's not her, she whispered
clutching my arm. Then another voice joined in.
Noah it said and I recognized it immediately it was Alex's voice
but Alex was right here sitting in front of us gripping his
rifle so tightly his knuckles were white, The Whispers grew
louder overlapping and chaotic. They called our names, each
voice more convincing than the last.
I squeezed my eyes shut trying to block them out but they
seeped into my head like a bad dream.
I couldn't wake from Don't listen to it.
Alex said his voice sharp and commanding whatever it is.
It's trying to get inside. Don't open that door. the voice
is persisted for hours clawing at our resolve, until finally,
they stopped The silence returned heavier than before and
the cabin felt like it was suffocating under its weight.
I didn't know how much time had passed minutes hours days.
All I knew was that I didn't feel safe anymore, not even with
Alex there. As the first light of dawn crept
through the cracks in the shutters.
Alex lowered, his rifle. It's gone.
He said, though, he didn't sound convinced.
We didn't argue. We were too tired, too scared.
But as the sunlight stretched across the floor, I couldn't
shake the feeling that something was still out there, just beyond
the tree line, waiting for the darkness to return.
Dawn felt like a fragile reprieve the weak sunlight
spilling through the gaps in the shutters, doing little to chase
away. The fear that clung to us.
Alex hadn't said a word since declaring it was gone.
He just sat there staring at the rifle across his knees.
Like it was the only thing keeping whatever was out there
at Bay. None of us wanted to stay in the
cabin, but the thought of leaving felt even worse.
The woods outside were too still too quiet.
As though, the trees themselves were holding a secret.
We weren't meant to know. Even the Birds usually.
So Lively at dawn were silent. It wasn't until Alex stood up
stiff and pale that any of us moved.
We need to leave, he said his voice flat pack up, whatever you
can carry. We're heading out as soon as the
sun's High Enough. I wanted to believe we'd
actually make it out of there but the tension in Alex's voice
made my stomach churn Something about the way he avoided looking
at us made it clear, he wasn't convinced we'd make it either.
We scrambled to gather our things moving quickly speaking
and Whispers Noah was digging through the kitchen drawers.
When Alex froze by the door, He patted his pockets then his face
Twisted in panic. The keys he muttered.
I had them last night. We all froze staring at him.
You had them when you went outside.
Emily said Softly. Alex, didn't respond, his
silence, set everything, the keys were gone.
And that men, one of two things, they were somewhere in the cabin
or they were out there. Alex didn't hesitate.
Stay here. He said grabbing the rifle.
Lock the door behind me. If I'm not back in an hour.
You're not going out there, Emily cut him off, her voice
trembling, you don't know what's waiting for you.
I know exactly what's out there Alex snapped.
He softened almost immediately. His shoulders sagging.
That's why I have to go. You can't, before we could stop
him, he opened the door and stepped out into the sunlight,
the door clicked, shut behind him and we locked it standing
there and stunned silence. We waited minutes turned into an
hour, the sunlight crept higher into the room, but it didn't
bring the warmth or safety. We hoped for The Quiet outside
pressed against the cabin walls, like a physical weight.
I tried to listen for Alex's footsteps, his voice anything,
but there was nothing. Just the maddening Stillness.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
He's been gone too long. I said, what if he's hurt?
What if I couldn't bring myself to finish the thought?
Emily and Noah exchanged nervous glances, but neither of them
argued, a flash light and one of the kitchen knives.
I opened the door, my siblings, trailing behind me, the Morning
Light felled, weak as though the forest itself was trying to
damage, The Shadows between the trees were long and thick
swallowing the ground beneath them.
We followed Alex's tracks into the woods, moving as quietly as
we could. The path LED toward the hollow
tree. I didn't want to go near it, but
there was no. Where else to look, as we drew
closer, the air grew colder, and the sunlight seemed to dim even
further. When we reached the Halo, we
found his rifle, lying on the ground, the woods, scratched and
splintered, There were no signs of Alex, just the overwhelming
feeling that we were being watched.
I then saw it something moved within the hollow tree, a pale,
humanoid figure crouched, just inside the Shadows.
At first, it was still its form. Blending almost seamlessly with
the bark, but then it turned its head.
And my breath caught in my throat, its face wasn't a face
at all. It was a grotesque parody of one
like it had studied human features, but gotten everything
slightly wrong. Its eyes were too wide.
It's mouth stretched far too much and its skin looked like it
had been stretched over. Something that didn't quite fit.
Alex. It said in his voice.
Emily. Screamed.
And the thing moved it unfolded itself from the Halo, its limbs
long and spindly bending in ways that made my stomach churn.
It moved with terrifying speed jerking toward us as if it's
body, couldn't decide how to function.
Run. I shouted grabbing Emily's hand
and yanking her away. Noah was already ahead of us,
crashing through the underbrush behind us.
The thing, let out a sound, a horrible guttural shriek that
vibrated in my chest and made my ears ring.
We ran without looking back, branches clawing at our faces
and legs, the cabin came into view but the thing was faster I
could hear it its footsteps too. Heavy too loud.
It was close. So close, we burst through the
cabin door, slamming it shut, and throwing every piece of
furniture, we could find against it.
The thing, hit the door with a force that shook the entire
cabin and for a moment, I thought it would break through.
But then, it stopped. We waited holding our breath as
The Whispers began again. They were louder this time more
insistent they called our names mimicking, Alex's voice, my
mother's even my own. I clamped my hands over my ears
but it didn't help the voices were not just outside.
They were in my head burrowing deep and pulling at something
primal. The Whispers stopped abruptly as
the first rays of sunlight pierced through the shutters.
The oppressive weight in the are lifted.
And for the first time, I felt like I could breathe.
But Alex didn't come back. We left the cabin later that
morning never looking back whatever had happened in those
woods. Whatever had taken Alex stayed
there but I can't forget the things face or its voice calling
out to me in the dark even now years later.
I wonder if it's still there. Waiting for someone foolish
enough to wander too close to the Halo It started like any
other hunting trip, but by the end of the day, I wished I had
stayed home. I parked my truck on the side of
an Old Logging Road, a good 10 miles from the nearest paved
Highway. The kind of place where even the
wind seems to think twice before passing through.
The forest here, always felt older.
Like, it had seen things, no one was meant to see.
But I shook it off. I wasn't the superstitious type.
This area was a hunter's dream rugged, remote and untouched no
weekend hikers or noisy, dirt bike, bikers to scare off game.
I'd been out here more times than I could count and knew the
trails like the back of my hand. But even seasoned Hunters can't
ignore the weight of Silence when it falls too hard to sudden
the first mile into the woods when smoothly enough The trail
was overgrown in places thick with brambles and roots, that
seemed to Claw at my boots. Above me, the canopy blocked
out. Most of the afternoon sun,
leaving the woods bathed in a dim greenish light I chose in
this spot because I had seen fresh Buck tracks the week
before. Big ones.
But today, the woods felt different I told myself it was
just the weather. The air was Heavy damp and oddly
still. Usually you'd hear birds
flitting between branches squirrels arguing over acorns.
Maybe the distant howl of a coyote.
If you were lucky not today today, the woods held their
breath. After about an hour, I reached
the clearing, I'd scouted early. It was a perfect setup, a small
Meadow surrounded by dense underbrush.
If anything crossed through, I'd have a clear shot from my blind.
I climbed up into the tree stand.
I'd rigged last season settling in for the evening.
The sun was just beginning to dip below the tree line.
Painting. The sky in streaks of orange and
purple. Primetime for deer.
For a while. I let the Peace of the woods
wash over me hunting. Isn't just about pulling the
trigger. It's about sitting still
blending in and letting the forest get your there.
But the piece didn't last long, the first scream cut through the
quiet like a blade. High-pitched and ragged it sent
a jolt through my chest. A rabbit.
I thought probably a hawk or a fox got.
Hold of it but the sound didn't stop it just kept going.
A horrible gut-wrenching whale that made my skin crawl.
If you've ever heard a rabbit scream, you know, it's not a
sound. You forget, but this was worse
longer louder and more desperate it, echoed through the trees,
making it impossible to tell where it was coming from.
I tightened my grip on my rifle scanning the underbrush.
The scream Rose and Fell In Waves, each one more piercing
than the last. Then as suddenly as it started,
it stopped. The silence that followed was
worse than the noise, it pressed down on me, heavy and
suffocating like the whole forest was waiting for
something. I adjusted my scope and scan.
The clearing. My heart pounding.
That's when I saw it at first. I thought it was a deer, a pale
shape. Moving low to the ground weaving
through the thick at about 30 yards away.
But something about the way it moved was wrong, it's limbs
jerked awkwardly. Like, it didn't quite understand
how to walk. I squinted through the scope
trying to make out details but the undergrowth was too thick.
It vanished behind a tree and I held my breath waiting for it to
reappear. It didn't.
The sun dipped lower, casting Long Shadows, that stretched
across the clearing. I should have felt relieved when
the pale shaped disappeared, but instead a cold knot formed in my
stomach. Something wasn't right.
I stayed perfectly still listening, but all I heard was
my own breathing. Then it came a voice soft at
first, barely more than a whisper.
Help help. Help help.
The words, floated through the trees, flat and emotionless like
someone reading them off a script.
Not a plea, not a cry for assistance.
Just a statement repeated over and over.
It wasn't the kind of voice. You'd expect to hear in the
woods. It sounded human but there was
no fluctuation no urgency just a cold robotic monotone.
I froze every Instinct screaming at me to stay still.
The Voice came from where the pale figure had, disappeared
repeating the same word over and over, like a broken record.
Help, help. Help help.
I didn't move, didn't blink. It said the word 15 times.
Yes, I counted. Then it stopped leaving the
woods so silent I could hear my own heartbeat a sharp crack.
Broke the Stillness loud as a gunshot, a branch snapping
underfoot The sound was followed by an explosion of motion.
Birds bursting from the trees, squirrels, skittering up trunks,
a herd of deer crashing through the brush, like something was
chasing them. And then nothing.
No footsteps, no voice, no sound at all.
Just the weight of the silence pressing down on me again.
I sat there Frozen my rifle. Clutched, so tightly.
My Knuckles, ache. The clearing was empty, but I
couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching me.
I knew I had to get out of there but leaving the safety of the
tree stand felt like stepping into a trap.
The forest was dark. Now, the last traces of sunlight
swallowed by the thick canopy, my flash light was back in the
truck along with my sense of security.
All I had was the Moonlight filtering through the branches,
casting Twisted, Shadows across the ground.
I took a deep breath studying myself.
I didn't know what I just witnessed but I knew one thing
for certain I wasn't alone out here.
I don't scare easy. I faced charging elk had Bears
sniffing too close for comfort. Even gotten lost in a blizzard
once. But this.
This was something different. Something, my gut couldn't
categorize couldn't prepare me for and that made it worse.
I stayed in the tree stand longer than I should have trying
to convince myself. I'd miss heard the voice.
Maybe it was a prank, some idiot messing around.
Or maybe my own mind, straining against the quiet had imagined
it. I wanted to believe that but the
way the animals had bolted the way the woods seemed to hold
their breath. It told me otherwise My fingers
ached from gripping, the rifle, two tightly.
I force them to relax took a deep breath and told myself it
was time to move. Sitting in the stand was only
delaying the inevitable. I couldn't stay up there all
night. The Path back to the truck
wasn't long, but in the dark it might as well have been 100
miles. The first step down from the
stand felt wrong. Like I was breaking some
unspoken rule. My boots, hit the soft dirt and
the forest swallowed, the sound like it didn't belong, every
muscle in my body screamed to climb back up, but I ignored it.
Survival meant moving not waiting.
Clearing was empty, bathed in faint Moonlight, that turned
every branch in Shadow into a Potential Threat.
I stayed low rifle at the ready and made my way to the trail.
It wasn't much a narrow strip of dirt winding through the
underbrush, but it was my lifeline.
I hadn't gone more than 20 yards when I heard it again,
footsteps, they were faint. Just behind me crunching, the
dry leaves. I stopped dead in my tracks,
holding my breath, the sound stopped too.
I waited listening so hard. My ears, ache.
The woods were too quiet. No wind, no, insects just the
soft Russell of something or someone waiting, I forced myself
forward. Keeping my Pace steady, whatever
it was, it wasn't rushing me yet.
The trail felt narrower than it had on the way in like the
forest had grown overnight. Branches reached out snagging at
my sleeves. My pack.
Slowing me down. I swore, under my breath, as I
stumbled over a route that hadn't been there before.
Then the footsteps started again, this time, they were
louder closer. I spun around rightful raised
scanning the Shadows. The Moonlight played tricks on
my eyes. Turning tree trunks into figures
branches into arms. I knew better than to panic, but
my hands were sweating. My heart hammering against my
ribs, like it wanted out. Who's there?
My voice was steady louder than I expected.
Nothing. Just the whisper of leaves in
the breeze. That hadn't existed a second
ago, then faint and far too. Calm, I heard it again.
Over here. Please over here.
The voice was closer now and it sounded wrong too.
Flat too deliberate like someone mimicking human speech but
missing the part where it feels real.
I didn't wait to hear more. I turned and started moving
faster. Almost running the footsteps
matched my Pace crunching and snapping, just far enough behind
to keep me guessing the trail twisted and turned each been
feeling like it led deeper into a trap.
My flash light would have helped but it was back in the truck
clip to my hat. The one I'd lost early earlier,
the Moonlight was all I had and it wasn't enough.
I risked the glance over my shoulder that's when I saw it
just for a second, barely more than a flash Somethin pale
hunched and impossibly thin darted between the trees its
movements were Jerky like a puppet with tangled strings and
its eyes. God its eyes Reflective like an
animals in the dark butt bigger. I didn't stop to get a better
look. My instinct screamed at me to
move to get out of the woods before whatever that thing was
decided to get closer. The trailer ahead was nothing
but shadows and shifting shapes. I stumbled, again my boot
catching on another route. This time, I went down hard
landing on my side with the rifle, clattering out of my
hands. For a second.
I just lay there gasping for breath.
The footsteps stopped. I scrambled to grab my rifle,
rolling onto my back to face, whatever was coming.
But the trail was empty or so I thought the sound of breathing
reached me first low, and raspy, like, it was struggling to pull
air through a broken throat. I aimed the rifle at the sound.
My finger hovering over the trigger, my hands were shaking
so badly. I wasn't sure I could hit
anything. If it came out at me, The
breathing grew louder closer. Then it stopped Silence, I
didn't wait to find out what was lurking in that silence.
I forced myself up and started running branches.
Clawed at my face. My pack, my legs, my lungs,
burned my heart, threatening to explode, the footsteps returned,
crashing through the underbrush now, matching my frantic pace,
When I finally burst out onto the gravel road, it felt like
coming up for air after being underwater too long.
But the feeling of safety was fleeting.
The forest behind me was still two still.
I didn't dare look back as I ran to my truck.
I fumbled with the keys. My hands, trembling so badly.
It took three tries to unlock the door.
I threw myself inside, locking the doors and starting the
engine in one motion. As I reversed onto the road.
I risked a glance in the rearview mirror.
It was there standing just at the edge of the tree line, pale
hunched watching. I floored it.
Gravel spitting from my tires as I tore down the road.
I didn't stop until I was miles away and even then, I couldn't
shake the feeling that something had followed me and I'll be
damned if I ever go back to those woods again.
The woods were always quiet but that night they felt weirdly
quiet. I don't know how to explain it.
Exactly. Like the forest itself was
waiting for something my boots, crunched over the dirt Trail as
Ryan and I moved deeper into the southern quadrant of Black
Ridge. It was supposed to be a routine
Patrol. Nothing about this job ever felt
routine anymore. Ryan was new.
Fresh out of training, full of questions and energy,
practically bouncing as he walked beside me.
This place is amazing. He said gesturing at the endless
expanse of trees. I don't get why people say it's
creepy. I didn't answer right away.
How could I explain the feeling that had been gnawing at me for
weeks? The forest, didn't just feel
creepy. It felt alive watching and with
all the disappearance as lately, I didn't trust it.
You'll see, I said finally. It wasn't much of an answer, but
I wasn't about to dump my paranoia on him.
The son was starting to dip below the tree line, casting
Long Shadows, that stretched across the trail, like claws.
I checked my watch. Six forty-five PM Sundown wasn't
far off, and the rules were clear, we were supposed to be
back at the station before dark no exceptions.
I quickened my Pace but Ryan lingered behind staring at
something on the ground. What is it?
I called back. Not sure.
He replied crouching looks like blood.
I froze. Sure enough.
There was a dark stain on the trail fresh.
My stomach turned as I stepped closer scanning the area.
It could be an animal. I said, trying to keep my voice
steady. Ryan, didn't respond his
attention. Had shifted to the woods on our,
right? His brow furrowed.
Hey, do you see that? He asked pointing at first, I
didn't see anything just trees and shadows but then There, a
figure small motionless, my breath caught, it looked like a
kid, maybe eight or nine standing, just at the edge of
the trees. What the hell?
I muttered kids weren't supposed to be out here.
No, one was not this late. I'll check it out.
Ryan said already stepping off the trail.
Wait, I snapped grabbing his arm.
You don't just walk into the woods after some random.
It's a kid. Chris he cut me off shaking me
loose. What if they're lost?
Something about the way, the child stood there.
So, still sent a chill down my spine.
But before I could stop him. Ryan was gone.
Flashlight bouncing as he pushed through the underbrush.
Ryan, I called after him, we don't have time for this.
We need to head back now. No answer.
Just the rustle of leaves and the distant snap of a branch.
I stayed where I was my hand hovering near my radio protocol
said we weren't supposed to leave the trail whatever this
was it didn't feel right. Minutes passed.
The forest seemed to grow darker.
The trees closing in around me. I glanced at my watch again,
7:05 p.m. my gut. Churned Ryan should have been
back by now. I grabbed my radio Ryan.
Where are you? Do you copy static?
I tried again my voice more urgent.
Ryan answer me. We need to get out of here for a
moment. There was nothing but the
crackle of static then faintly his voice came through.
Chris, I think, I Found the transmission cut off abruptly.
My pulse quickened, Ryan, repeat that, what did you find?
No responds Just silence. Heavy suffocating silence.
Screw the rules. I wasn't leaving him out there.
I drew my flashlight and stepped off the trail following the
direction. Ryan had gone.
The underbrush was thick, branches, snagging at my jacket,
as I pushed forward, every step felt wrong.
Like the forest didn't want me there.
Ryan. I shouted my voice.
Echoing answer, me. Nothing and then footsteps.
Light quick moving. Just ahead of me relief flooded.
My chest Ryan is that you The footsteps stopped.
I froze. The beam of my flash light
shaking as I scan the trees. Ryan.
My voice cracked. A faint whisper answered.
My name. Chris.
It didn't sound like Ryan, it sounded off, like someone else
was trying to mimic his voice. My heart.
Pounded as I swung the flash light around the beam cutting
through the darkness. Shadows shifted trees loomed,
but there was no one there. Ryan.
I shouted again desperation creeping in.
If this is a joke it's not funny.
Something rustle to my left. I spun toward the sound
flashlight. Trembling in my grip.
My stomach dropped. Their caught in the beam was
Ryan's radio. It lay on the ground cracked and
smeared with blood. I backed away my breaths coming
fast and shallow this wasn't right, something had happened to
him. Something bad, I then saw it
movement a figure small and hunched darting between the
trees. It wasn't Ryan, it wasn't even
human. I turned and ran, and branches
whipping at my face. Roots clawing at my boots.
The voice is followed, me faint and mocking, Chris come back.
By the time I broke through the tree line and stumbled onto the
main trail, my lungs burned, and my legs felt like jelly.
I didn't stop running until the ranger station came into view,
it's floodlights, piercing the darkness.
I burst inside slamming the door behind me.
The other rangers looked up, startled.
Where is Ryan? Someone asked.
I couldn't answer all. I could do was shake my head.
My mind replaying those voices that figure in the woods.
Later that night, they asked me to file a report.
I told them everything, but they didn't seem surprised.
They just nodded like they'd heard it all before.
The next day, Ryan's name was quietly removed from the roster,
no explanation, no investigation. just, Nothing.
And that's when I realized, whatever is out there in the
forest, it doesn't leave survivors.
The next morning Lena arrived without much of an introduction.
She was sharp-eyed older than me by a couple of years and her
posture screamed Authority. It was clear from the start that
Lena wasn't here to make friends, not that.
I wanted to talk. After what happened to Ryan.
I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes.
I saw that kid in the red hoodie or whatever.
It was standing just beyond the tree line.
Chris Lina said curtly, as we prep the Jeep for Patrol.
Here's how this works. You follow my lead.
No questions. We stick to the trails.
We don't split up. And if you hear something
anything, you ignore it, understood.
Yeah, I muttered pretending to focus on the map in my hands.
She didn't seem satisfied. I'm serious.
No wandering off. No.
Heroics, you do exactly what I say, or you'll end up like your
rookie friend. Her words hit like a punch to
the gut. What do you mean by that?
I demanded. Lena didn't look at me, she
grabbed the thermal camera from the equipment locker and tossed
it into the Jeep. People go missing out here.
She said that's all you need to know.
It wasn't all I needed to know not by a long shot but something
in her tone made me shut up the air was heavier that day, the
kind of damp heat that made every breath feel sticky.
As we drove deeper into the northern quadrant the forest
thickened. The trees towering like
Sentinels their branches clawing at the sky.
Even in daylight, the place felt oppressive.
Shadows pulled beneath the canopy and the faint of cicadas
did little to drown out the feeling of being watched.
Lena barely spoke as she navigated the Jeep down the
overgrown Trail. Her eyes constantly scan the
trees. Her hand hovering near her rifle
I tried to focus on the map but my mind kept drifting back to
Ryan. What had he seen before he
disappeared? What had taken him?
Were closed. Lina said suddenly snapping me
out of my thoughts. Close to what?
There was a report of an abandoned campsite near here.
We're going to check it out. I didn't like the sound of that,
the last abandoned campsite I'd seen had blood stains and
shredded gear, and I wasn't eager to repeat the experience.
But Lena didn't wait for my input.
She stopped the Jeep grabbed, the thermal camera and gestured
for me to follow. The campsite was a mess.
Torn tents, lay crumpled on the ground their fabric stained and
shredded a charred fire pit, sat at the center surrounded by
scattered belongings. A backpack, a child stuffed
animal, a pair of broken glasses.
My stomach Twisted animal attack.
I asked the way I already knew the answer, Lena didn't respond,
she knelt beside the fire, pit, running her fingers, over the
claw marks, gouged into the dirt, then she pulled out the
thermal camera and scan the area.
What are you looking for? I pressed trying to keep my
voice steady. She didn't answer right away,
then she stopped her body going rigid.
There she said, her voice low. She handed me the camera.
I hesitated before looking this screen flickered with faint
static. I then saw it a figure standing
just beyond the edge of the clearing.
It was humanoid but wrong. The shape was too tall, too thin
and cold as death on the thermal display.
What is that? I whispered trouble Lina said
taking the camera back, we're leaving now.
Back in the Jeep Lena's mood had shifted from Stern to outright
hostile. Her knuckles were white as she
gripped. The steering wheel, her eyes
darting to the mirrors as if she expected something to be
following us. I didn't have to ask if she saw
it too. The answer was written all over
her face. Okay, seriously I said breaking
the tent silence. What's going on out here?
What was that thing? It's not your concern, she
snapped the hell. It's not, I saw it.
I saw what it did to Ryan Lena's jaw tightened.
You don't know what you saw then.
Tell me I shouted because whatever's out here.
It's not just animals or bad luck.
People are dying Lena, and you know, why don't you?
She didn't answer, the only sound was the crunch of tires on
gravel. As we sped back toward the
station, we were halfway there. When the forest came alive, it
started with the sound of branches, snapping followed by
something crashing, through the underbrush Linus slammed on the
brakes and we both grabbed our rifles, the Jeeps headlights
illuminated, the trail ahead, but nothing moved.
Just the swaying of trees in the breeze.
Stay here. Lena ordered stepping out of the
vehicle. Like hell I will I muttered
following her. My hands shook as I held my
rifle scanning the darkness for movement.
The forest was too quiet. Now, the air thick with tension.
I heard it a low guttural growl coming from the left Lena heard
it too. She raised her rifle, her finger
on the trigger, don't move, she whispered, the growl grew louder
closer, my heart hammered and my chest as I tried to pinpoint the
source. Then from the corner of my eye I
saw them eyes. Reflective glowing staring at us
from the tree line. Not one pair but many Back to
the Jeep. Lina said her voice, barely
audible slowly. We moved in unison, stepping
backward toward the vehicle. The eyes didn't blink didn't
Flinch, they just watched and then they moved the figures
emerged from the Shadows, their shapes flickering in and out of
the light. pale elongated bodies with limbs that bent the wrong
way their movements jerky and unnatural I froze my brain
struggling to comprehend what I was seeing.
Chris move Lena barked the creatures darted toward us
faster than anything I'd ever seen.
I fired wildly the sound of gunfire deafening in the
confined space of the forest. One of the creatures fell its
body twisting unnaturally as it, hit the ground.
But the others kept coming. Lena grabbed me, dragging me
toward the Jeep as I continued firearm.
We barely made it inside, slamming, the doors, just as the
creatures, clawed at the windows their faces.
If you could call them, that were pressed against the glass
pale and featureless except for those glowing eyes.
Lena floored the gas and the Jeep lurched forward.
The creatures chasing us down the trail.
I didn't stop shooting until the headlights illuminated, the
ranger station in the distance. The creatures stopped abruptly
retreating into the shadows as if the light repelled them, We
skidded to a stop outside, the station Lena, turned off the
engine and sat there, gripping the wheel.
So tightly her hands shook. What the hell were those things?
I asked my voice barely more than a whisper Lena didn't
answer. She just looked at me her
expression, cold and distant. That's why you don't ask
questions. That night I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes. I saw those glowing eyes staring
back at me. Whatever was out there.
It wasn't human. we left before Dawn just as the fog began to
curl through the trees like pale fingers, Lena didn't say, much
as we loaded the Jeep, her face set like Stone.
I'd stop trying to get answers from her.
Whatever was going on out here. She knew it but getting her to
talk was like prying open a steel trap.
Still the silence. Wait on me.
I was on edge, hyper aware of every sound.
Every shift in the shadows. I couldn't stop thinking about
the night before the creature's, their glowing eyes the way they
moved. No animal.
I knew moved like that. No animal should We'll Patrol
the northern sector. Lina said, finally, her voice
sharp and clipped Keep your weapon close in your head on
straight. If something happens, Follow My
Lead, got it. Got it.
I muttered. Not like I had much of a choice.
The northern sector was a nightmare.
The trees were denser here, the canopy, so thick, it blocked out
the Rising Sun. The Jeeps headlights struggled
to pierce the Gloom, casting Long Shadows.
That seemed to shift and rise, like they were alive.
Lena drove with one hand, on the wheel, the other resting on her
rifle. Her eyes, never stopped scanning
the trees. I gripped my own rifle tightly,
my Palms, slick with sweat. Why the northern sector?
I asked, breaking the silence. There's been activity up here.
Lina said, without looking at me, campers heard voices, things
moving in the night. Voices.
I repeated my stomach tightening.
Like Ryan's. She shot me a glance her
expression on readable. Just stay focused.
Halfway through the patrol, the Jeep stalled, the engineered
once, then died leaving us stranded in the middle of the
forest. I could feel my pulse Quicken as
Lena cursed under her breath and popped the hood.
Stay in the Jeep. She ordered stepping out.
I didn't argue, I watched her through the windshield as she
fiddled with the engine, her movements, quick and efficient.
But something felt wrong. The forest was too quiet.
No birds, no, insects just silence.
Then from the radio, a faint crackle, I grabbed it, my hands,
trembling Lena, the radio before I could finish a voice came
through soft distant but unmistakable, Chris help me.
My blood turned to ice. It was Ryan.
Lena. I shouted Panic creeping into my
voice. It's him.
It's Ryan llenas head snapped up, turn it off.
She barked slamming. The hood shut and climbing.
Back into the Jeep now, but turn it off.
She shouted, I fumbled with the radio, my fingers clumsy with
fear the static and popped Ryan's voice breaking through
again, more urgent this time, Chris.
I'm here, please. I shut it off my heart pounding.
Lena didn't say anything as she tried the engine.
Again, it roared to life, but I barely felt the relief.
My mind was spinning torn between Terror and guilt.
What if it really was him, we drove in Silence.
The tension between us thick enough to cut the forest seemed
darker. Now the trees pressing closer
their branches scraping against the Jeep like nails, on a
chalkboard. I kept glancing at the thermal
camera in my lap half, hoping half dreading that I'd see
something. And then I did.
Lena. I said my voice.
Barely a whisper, stop the Jeep. She hit the brakes, her eyes
narrowing, as she turned to me. What is it?
I held up the thermal camera. My hands shaking on the screen
was a figure human shape, but cold it stood.
Motionless about 50 yards ahead. Just off the trail, Lena grab
the camera, her jaw tightening. Dammit, she muttered.
She turned off the headlights. Plunging us into near total
darkness. Grab your rifle, stay close.
We moved quietly, our boots crunching on the gravel as we
approached the spot where I had seen the figure.
The darkness was suffocating the only light coming from the weak
beam of lean as flash light. My grip on the rifle was so
tight, it hurt. The figure was gone but the air
felt heavy charged with something.
I couldn't explain every nerve in my body.
Screamed at me to run, but Lena pressed forward, her movements
deliberate and we heard it a low guttural growl followed by the
sound of branches snapping. I swung the flashlight around
the beam trembling as it cut through the trees.
The growl came again closer this time Lena.
I whispered my voice shaking what is that?
She didn't answer instead, she raised her rifle.
Her eyes fixed on something ahead.
I followed her gaze and froze. There were eyes dozens of them
glowing faintly in the Darkness. They blinked in unison, and my
stomach turned. Back to the Jeep.
Lina said her voice, low and steady.
Now. We moved slowly at first, trying
not to provoke, whatever was out there.
But the eyes didn't stay still, they moved closer.
And with them came, the sound of footsteps, 100s of them all
around us. Circling closing in Lena, didn't
wait. She turned and ran and I
followed my heart pounding so hard.
I thought it might burst The footsteps were deafening.
Now, the growls turning into a cacophony of screeches and
howls. I didn't dare look back.
We reached the Jeep and scrambled inside slamming, the
doors. Just as the creatures burst from
the trees pale Twisted forms with two long Limbs and faces.
That were almost human, but not one of them lunged at the
windshield, its Jagged teeth, scraping against the glass.
I fired through the window, the sound of The Gunshot deafening
in the enclosed space. Drive I shouted but Lena was
already flooring, the gas. The Jeep lurched forward,
throwing the creatures off. As we sped down the trail, they
gave chase their movements, unnaturally fast, their body's
flickering in and out of view. Don't stop Lina said through
gritted teeth, her hands tight on the wheel no matter what.
Don't stop. The creatures finally stopped
chasing us as we approached the station.
I don't know why, maybe the floodlights scared them off, but
I didn't care. We stumbled out of the Jeep
battered and shaken, but alive. Inside, the station was eerily
quiet. Too quiet.
Carter, the ranger on shift was gone.
His gear was still there, His Radio crackling faintly on the
desk. But there was no sign of him.
Lena I started but she cut me off.
Were locking down, she said her voice, cold and Final.
No one leaves this building until sunrise.
I nodded two shaken to argue but as I sat in the corner of the
room clutching my rifle, it wasn't over.
The voices were still there faint and distant.
Just at the edge of my hearing Chris, they called come back.
and somewhere in the darkness, they were waiting the next
morning, we staggered into the sunlight, like, survivors of a
war, The forest behind us loomed dark and silent, but I could
still feel its presence hungry. We didn't speak as we climbed
into the battered Jeep, Lena's hands.
Trembling as she gripped, the wheel The road out endless, when
the trees finally thinned and the small Ranger Station gave
way to the open highway. I let out a breath.
I didn't realize I had been holding.
I turned to Lena her face pale and drawn her eyes locked on the
road ahead. Never again, I muttered more to
myself than to her. She nodded once her lips pressed
into a tight line, we didn't look back, we couldn't because
if we did, we both knew we might never leave.
We are never going into those woods again.
I stepped out of the house. Roscoe's leash tighten, my grip
and immediately noticed how quiet it was.
Too quiet. The kind of Silence that feels
wrong like the world's holding its breath.
Normally, even in this sleepy Town, you'd hear something a car
in the distance, the buzz of a Street Lamp, maybe a dog
barking. But to night, it was just me,
Roscoe and the sound of his nails clicking against the
pavement. Rossco my big brindle pitbull.
Trotted ahead his ears, perked and nose, twitching.
He was in his element tail, swaying confidently.
I tried to match his energy but something about the air felt
heavier than usual. Like it was pressing down on me.
Still, it was just another walk. I told myself to Shake It Off,
We rounded the corner onto the main road where the forest
started to creep closer to the edges of the houses.
That's when I saw them the coyotes.
Three of them standing at the edge of the woods where the road
curved toward the trailhead. At first, I thought they were
just passing through. Coyotes aren't uncommon around
here, though, you usually hear them before you see them?
These though, they were silent. Still.
Two still. Roscoe noticed them too, his
ears pinned back and a low growl rumbled in his throat.
I tightened my grip on the leash easy buddy.
I whispered my voice barely breaking the silence, the
Coyote's didn't move didn't Flinch, they just stared their
eyes reflecting the pale, glow of the Street Lamp, then almost,
as if, On Cue, they started walking not away, but toward the
trail And every few steps they'd stop and look back at me, not at
Roscoe at me. I laughed nervously.
What you guys giving me a tour now?
I muttered trying to keep my tone light but the words felt
Hollow My feet hesitated but Roscoe tugged forward.
Pulling me along the Coyote's disappeared into the Shadows,
but the feeling they left behind lingard, As we approach the
woods, the smell hit me. Wrote.
Thick and sour, like something had been left to fester for
weeks. I gagged covering my mouth with
my free hand. Roscoe froze.
His fur bristling his growl, turned into a snarl and he
started backing up. Something he never did.
All right, we're turning back. I said, but my voice shook, I
yanked the leash but Roscoe didn't budge.
His eyes were locked on. Something ahead, something I
couldn't see yet, and then I saw it.
It wasn't much just a blur of movement in the trees, pale fast
and impossibly smooth. It was there then gone, like a
ripple in the Darkness. My heart.
Slammed against my ribs. I gripped Roscoe's leash,
Tighter and swallowed hard telling myself.
It was nothing. Just an animal, a deer may be.
But my gut was screaming at me to leave.
We were almost at the trailhead when the smell got stronger,
thick enough to make my eyes water.
Roscoe was shaking now, pulling against the leash to go back but
I caught sight of one of the coyotes again, it was crouched
low on the opposite side of the road separated from the Woods by
a thin stretch of gravel its head was tilted, eyes locked on
me? It wasn't moving.
It wasn't even breathing. Something about the way a
crouched made my skin crawl. It didn't look like it should be
able to stay in that position for so long.
My flashlight cut through the dark Landing Square on its face.
Its eyes, didn't even flicker. I thought about taking a picture
but I didn't want to take my eyes off.
It Roscoe started pulling harder practically dragging me
backward. Okay okay we're going, I
muttered, my voice barely a whisper I stepped back.
Then again never taking my eyes off the coyote That's when it
happened in the space of a single breath.
It was closer at least 20 feet. Closer.
It hadn't moved. I didn't see it move, but it was
there crouched in the same unnatural pose.
Its eyes still locked on me. My heart stopped. my flash light
shook in my hand, as I fumbled to steady it, but the beam only
made the coyote look more wrong more unnatural Let's go.
Roscoe. I said my voice cracking.
I didn't wait for him to follow. I turned and started walking
fast. Almost jogging.
My breath coming in short. Panicked bursts.
I glanced back once just once and saw the coyotes still there
still watching. But now standing upright
silhouetted against the tree line.
The walk home felt endless every rustle of leaves every crack of
a twig, made me jump. Roscoe stayed close to my side,
his tail tucked his growls, low and constant.
By the time we reached the door, I felt like I was being
suffocated by the weight of something, unseen I slammed it.
Shut locked it and double checked every window in the
house. That night Roscoe didn't leave
his spot by the front door. He sat there, stiff and alert.
Growling at Shadows. I couldn't see.
And even though I was safe inside, I couldn't shake the
feeling that whatever had been out there was still watching, I
thought I was losing it. sitting on the couch, I kept replaying
the night in my head, the Coyote's, the smell that thing
I'd seen darting through the trees.
My logical brain tried to explain it away.
Maybe the coyotes were sick. And the thing in the woods was a
deer moving too fast for me to process.
But none of its sat, right? Especially the way that lone
coyote had moved or hadn't moved.
Roscoe was still planted by the front door growling every so
often at nothing. In particular, I could tell he
wasn't going to let up the tension in the house.
Was thick pressing on me suffocating.
I needed to get out even just for a little bit.
So I grabbed peppers and called her over pepper.
My Jack Russell, mix came bounding up, like her usual
excitable self, wagging, her tail and hopping on her back
legs. Her energy was a relief.
Unlike Roscoe who had clearly sensed something, I couldn't
pepper seemed completely unaware of the weirdness in the air.
I told myself her Carefree demeanor was a good sign. we
headed out into the night, the neighborhood was quiet and the
streetlights buzzed faintly overhead, the Stillness that had
felt oppressive earlier now felt almost peaceful I kept to the
streets closer to the town center, deliberately avoiding
the woods. Pepper, trotted along, happily
sniffing every male box and Bush oblivious to my unease.
I even started to relax a little chatting with my wife on the
phone, as we walked I think I just freaked myself out early
earlier I said forcing a laugh coyotes are weird sometimes,
right? And that's smell.
Probably just roadkill or something.
My wife humored me though. I could tell she wasn't buying
my casual tone, she knew me too well.
Just be careful. Okay, she said and don't stay
out too long. Yeah.
Yeah I replied waving It Off. I didn't want to admit how much
her words unsettled, me pepper. And I were only a few blocks
from home and nothing felt off, not yet.
We turned down the alley that ran behind my house.
A shortcut. I take a hundred times before
the alley was narrow with tall, wooden fences on either side and
a single street light at the far end, the light flickered
erratically, casting jittery Shadows, that made the space
feel smaller than it was pepper slowed down her ears, flicking
back as she sniffed the air, that's when I saw them at first,
I thought they were people. Two figures standing at the far
end of the alley, just beyond the reach of the flickering
streetlight. They were tall easily over six
feet and brought their shoulders hunched forward, like they were
leaning into the wind. But the longer I stared the more
wrong they looked. Their arms were too long, their
movements to Jerky like Mary Annette's being yanked, Along by
invisible strings. My stomach dropped, they were
not people, their skin was pale almost translucent.
Stretched taught over bulging muscles, they were hairless
their heads misshapen and their eyes.
God, their eyes Hollow dark pits that seemed to drink in the
faint light, making the Shadows around them.
Ripple unnaturally. Pepper froze.
Her little body, trembling as a low guttural growl, escaped, her
throat. I had never heard her, make a
sound like that. Before my feet felt glued to the
ground. My mind screaming at me to move
but I couldn't The figure shifted their heads tilting in
perfect Unison, as they turned to look directly at me.
The way they moved. Made my skin crawl.
Their steps were slow. Deliberate and wrong.
Like they were mimicking the way humans walked but didn't quite
understand how The sound of their footsteps, echoed
unnaturally in the narrow alley, wet and heavy, like flesh,
slapping against concrete. Pepper.
I whispered my voice barely audible over the pounding in my
ears. Let's go.
But she wouldn't budge her growling turned into frantic
barking, high pitched, and desperate, as the figures can
continue their slow, Advance, my legs finally obeyed, and I
yanked hard on the leash scooping her up.
As I stumbled backward, my breath came in ragged gasps, my
eyes locked on the figures as they moved closer.
One of them stopped under the streetlight, its pale skin
glowing faintly in the flickering light, it raised a
hand. Long spindly fingers, twitching,
like it was trying to reach for something.
It couldn't quite grasp. The other figure paused then
turned its head toward the Shadows on my left as if it had
heard something. I followed its gaze and
immediately wished I hadn't. A third figure stepped out from
the darkness larger than the other two its movements smoother
more confident. It's Hollow eyes locked onto
mine and I felt a cold wave of dread wash over me.
This one was different, it didn't Shuffle or jerk like the
others. It moved with purpose I ran.
I don't remember how I made it back to the house my legs burned
and my chest felt like it was going to explode, but I didn't
stop until I was inside the door locked and bolted behind me.
Pepper squirmed, in my arms still barking furiously as I
collapsed onto the floor. Roscoe was on his feet.
His growls deep and resonant his eyes.
Fixed on the windows. I crawled over and shut the
curtains. My hands shaking so badly, I
could barely grip the fabric. The house felt suffocating the
are heavy with a smell. I couldn't quite Place damp
Earth and something metallic like blood.
I sat there on the floor clutching pepper as Roscoe
barked at the door outside. I could hear faint wet footsteps
on the pavement. Slow, deliberate coming closer.
Then they stopped and the tapping began.
I didn't sleep that night every time I closed my eyes.
I heard the tapping. Faint.
But deliberate like fingernails on glass.
Sometimes it was at the windows. Sometimes it was at the walls.
Always in a slow maddening rhythm.
I tried to convince myself. It was just my imagination but
Roscoe's growling and peppers. Trembling told me, otherwise
Whatever was out there wasn't leaving.
When Don finally broke the tapping stopped.
The house fell silent, but the air felt just as heavy, like it
was saturated with something unseen.
I waited until the light spilled fully into the room before
daring to open the curtains. The yard looked normal at first,
the patchy grass, the Leaning fence the Lone Tree in the
corner. It was all exactly as it should
be, but then I saw the marks on the door, deep gouges, Criss
crossed the wood, the kind you'd expect from clause or a blade.
They hadn't been there the night before.
My stomach churned. As I stepped outside for a
closer look. The air smelled, faintly of
wrote a stench that made my throat, tighten the ground
beneath the windows was Disturbed, the dirt scuffed and
Scattered at first, I thought it was just from animals, but then
I noticed the footprints, they were huge far larger than any
animal I'd seen. The shape was all wrong, too.
The Impressions were wide with long clawed Toes that dug deep
into the Earth. I squatted down pressing my hand
in to one of the prints. It dwarfed, my paws.
My pulse quickened as my gaze landed on something else,
symbols carved into the dirt. They were crude and Jagged like
someone had dragged a stick or a cloth through the soil.
Swirls in lines, that didn't make sense, but felt deliberate
intentional. I didn't want to look at them
any longer. I grabbed, Roscoe's leash
muttered, something reassuring to myself and headed for the
neighbor's house. If anyone would know what to
make of this, it was old Mr. Larkin, Mr. Larkin had lived in
the neighborhood longer than anyone.
He was the kind of guy who knew everyone's business whether you
wanted him to or not. When I explained what I had seen
leaving out the worst of it, of course his face went pale.
You saw them, didn't you? He said his voice.
Barely above a whisper, his hands shook as he set down his
coffee mug. The pale ones, I frowned.
The what They don't come around often, he continued his eyes
darting toward the window, only in the fall.
When the nights get long, they're not animals, not people,
either something else, something old Is words, didn't make sense,
but the fear in his voice was undeniable.
He warned me to avoid the woods and to keep the curtains drawn
after dark. And don't let the mark you he
added cryptically if they do they'll never stop.
I left his house with more questions than answers, my mind
racing. Mark me.
What did that even mean? I couldn't shake the feeling
that he knew more than he was letting on.
Back at home. I grabbed Roscoe's leash and
decided to retrace my steps from the night before.
It felt Reckless, but I needed answers the alley where I had
seen. The creatures looked normal in
the daylight, though. The flickering, streetlight at
the far end was now shattered. Glass.
Littered the ground catching the weak sunlight.
Roscoe was Restless pulling against the leash as we walked.
I kept my eyes on the ground scanning for any sign of the
creatures. But all I found were more of
those strange symbols etched into the dirt in Long looping
patterns, that seemed to lead toward the woods.
We didn't make it far, Roscoe, froze growling low in his
throat, his body rigid as a board.
He wouldn't move. Wouldn't even look at me.
His eyes were locked on the shadowy tree line ahead.
I followed his gaze, but saw nothing.
Just the dark outlines of trees. Their branches swaying in the
breeze. Still, I felt it.
That oppressive weight in the air.
The same feeling I had the night before.
We turned back. That night the tapping returned,
it started softly, just a faint, click click, click against the
window. I stayed in the living room
clutching a kitchen knife. Like it would do any good.
Rossco Sat by the door growling steadily while pepper hit under
the couch. The tapping grew.
Louder more. Insistent I tried to ignore it.
Tried to tell myself, it was just the wind but then I heard
the footsteps. Slow.
Deliberate like wet flesh. Slapping against concrete.
My stomach tightened as the footstep circled, the house
pausing every few feet before starting again.
I held my breath as something scraped against the front door
long slow drags that sent shivers up my spine, Roscoe
lunged at the door barking. Furiously.
My hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold the knife and
then came the voice. It was fainted at first, barely
audible over Roscoe's barking. A low guttural.
Whisper, that didn't sound human.
It called my name, not once, but twice drawn out, distorted.
Like someone trying to mimic a voice.
They didn't quite understand. I didn't wait to hear it a third
time. Grabbing both dogs.
I bolted for the garage. My car keys were already in my
pocket and I fumbled to get the door open, the dog scrambled
inside, as I started the engine my hands, trembling on the
Wheel. As I backed out of the driveway,
I caught a glimpse of them in the rear view mirror.
Three figures stood at the edge of the yard, their Hollow eyes,
glowing faintly in the Darkness. One of them raised a hand, its
fingers, twitching on naturally, almost like it was waving
goodbye. I didn't look back.
Living on the edge of a forest teaches you a thing or two about
silence. I'd grown used to it or so I
thought. The cabin my brother and I
shared wasn't much but it was ours.
Tucked into a clearing surrounded by tall trees.
Quiet was normal peaceful. Even until that night, I decided
to walk the trail later than usual.
The heat of the day had been unbearable and the cool night
air seemed like an invitation I couldn't refuse.
Luna, my shepherd mix trotted at my heels, her tail wagging in
anticipation. She Loved These walks as much as
I did. I grabbed my flashlight, double
check the batteries and stepped off the porch into the dark.
The first half of the loop was always my favorite, it's
skirted. The meadow with just enough
Moonlight to guide my way tonight.
The grass shimmered silver under the half moon, and the air was
Heavy with the scent of damp Earth.
I could see the faint outline of our cabin from the corner of my
eye, a comforting anchor as I walked Luna sniffed at the
trailing ahead, her nails, clicking against the hard packed
dirt. When we reached the forest edge,
I paused staring into the dark wall of trees.
The second half of the loop cut deep into the woods where the
canopy blocked, the Moonlight and the air grew thick with the
smell of woods. And Decay the flashlight beam
was thin swallowed by the Shadows almost, as soon as it
touched them. Still I done this walk dozens of
times before. there was no reason to feel uneasy or so, I
told myself, The woods were quieter than usual.
No rustling leaves. No chirping insects, just the
crunch of my boots and the soft panting of Lunas somewhere
ahead. I adjusted my flash light
swinging it left and right but the Shadows seemed thicker to
night as if they were closing in.
I told myself it was just my imagination, shook it off and
pressed forward. I was nearly at the bend that
marked the halfway point when I heard it.
Can you hear me? I need help.
I froze, the voice was faint, but clear, cutting through the
Stillness, like a blade. It wasn't frantic or scared.
If anything, it sounded flat practice like someone reading
lines off of script. I swung my flash light toward
the sound, but all it caught Were Trees.
Can you hear me? I need help.
The same words. The same tone?
No variation, no urgency. I clicked off the flashlight
suddenly aware of how exposed I was.
The dark closed around me like a fist and my heart thudded.
Hard enough to hurt. I crouched low gripping, Luna's,
collar to keep her from barking, but she wasn't barking.
She was growling a deep guttural sound.
I'd never heard from her before. Luna.
I whispered trying to pull her back.
She didn't move her eyes were locked on the trees, her teeth
bared, the growl rumbling in her chest like distant, Thunder.
I followed her gaze, but the Shadows gave nothing away.
The voice came again closer. Now, can you hear me?
I need help. I felt a spike of panic shoot
through me. My first thought was someone was
hurt lost in the woods but there was something wrong.
Something about the way, the voice didn't carry.
Like it should have it was too even too measured as if whoever
was speaking. Wasn't really speaking at all.
Luna broke away from my grip and bolted toward the sound.
Know I hissed scrambling after her, my flash light swinging
wildly the beam caught her for a split second, a blur of black
and tan fur disappearing into the underbrush.
The Voice called again. Louder this time, the monotony
cutting through my Panic, like a razor Luna, I called my voice
shaking the forest answered with silence.
Then it laughed low and guttural.
The sound rippled through the trees, my skin prickled, and my
knees locked. It wasn't a human laugh.
It couldn be, it was too deep too wrong.
Like the growl of an animal that had learned how to mimic us.
I turned and ran. Branches clawed at my arms and
legs. As I crashed through the
underbrush, The Flash Light Beam.
Bobbing wildly ahead of me. The laugh, followed rising and
falling, echoing from everywhere and nowhere.
My lungs burned but I didn't dare slow down.
Images. Filled my mind.
Something crouching in the dark grinning wide enough to split
its face. Watching me run when I finally
burst out of the woods in into the clearing I didn't stop.
The cabin was Insight the porch, light glowing faintly Through
The Dark. I stumbled up the steps and
slammed the door behind me. My chest heaving.
My ears straining for any sound, beyond the walls.
Luna was on the porch, waiting her fur bristling.
She stared at the woods growling low and steady her eyes fixed on
something. I couldn't see.
That night, the forest was silent, too silent.
And I knew deep down that silence wasn't the absence of
sound. It was the sound of something
watching. Something waiting.
By the time, I slammed the cabin door behind me, my legs were
shaking so badly. I could barely stand.
Luna, followed me, in her tail tucked and her eyes still fixed
on the woods outside. She growled low in her throat, a
sound that made the hair on the back of my neck, stand on end,
whatever was out there, she'd seen it, I hadn't and maybe that
was worse. What the hell is going on?
My brother, Nate came stomping out of his room.
Barefoot and holding a wrench. He must have grabbed in a hurry.
He froze when he saw me out of breath.
And wild-eyed. You look like you've seen a
ghost. I don't know what it was.
I said, gasping for air. Like I couldn't bring myself to
explain right away, not with my chest, still tight, and my ears
ringing from the Run. Something in the woods.
I, I heard someone and Luna, she just ran off.
Nate's expression, hardened, he wasn't the type to scare easy.
And I could tell he thought I was overreacting.
Still, he pulled the curtain Shut and turned the lock on the
door. Calmed down.
He said start from the beginning.
I tried to, I told him about the voice, the way, it sounded too
wrong about the laughter, that didn't belong to anything human.
Nate listened leaning against the wall.
His arms crossed his face unreadable.
When I finished, he shook his head.
You sure it wasn't a coyote they can make some freaky noises.
He said, but his voice lacked conviction and I could see him
glancing at the window just like I had I know what coyotes sound
like Nate. I snapped still shaking.
This wasn't an animal. This was something else.
Before he could argue, there was a noise outside a soft
deliberate. Tapping on the window by the
front door, Luna stiffened, and let out a deep throwed.
He growl her body coiled like a spring Nate froze.
And we both stared at the window.
The curtains were drawn tight but the taping continued steady,
an unhurried. What the hell Nate muttered
under his breath? He grabbed the shotgun from its
rack by the door and held it at the ready.
The tapping stopped. We stood there, holding our
breath waiting for it to come back. but it didn't, Instead The
Silence pressed in heavy and unnatural like the air before a
storm, I felt a beat of sweat. Slid down my temple.
Luna, broke the quiet with a sharp bark.
Her attention snapping toward the back wall.
That's when the scratching started, it came from the other
side of the cabin. Long deliberate, drags against
the wood, as if someone were running a claw or a knife along
the exterior. Nate's face darkened, he raised
the shotgun and gestured for me to stay behind him.
Slowly, we moved toward the back door.
Luna close on our heels. The scratching stopped as
suddenly as it had begun. Nate yanked opened the door and
stepped out onto the back porch, the shotgun raised.
I followed my flash light, trembling in my grip, the beam
cut through the dark, Illuminating, the yard in the
forest Beyond nothing. Just the trees swaying gently in
the breeze. The Moonlight casting Jagged
Shadows on the ground. See anything?
I whispered know Nate said his voice tight, he lowered the
shotgun and scanned the tree line, whatever it was it's gone.
I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe it was all
in my head. Some cruel trick of the night,
but then I saw them, three, long parallel, gouges carved into the
wooden post by the porch steps. They were fresh, the Splinter
still pale and raw against the Aged wood.
Nate. I said pointing, he followed my
gaze and his jaw clenched. We're going inside, he said, his
tone leaving no room for argument.
The rest of the night, was a blur of restless waiting.
We sat in the living room, with the shotgun, propped against
Nate's, kneeled at my feet, her ears, twitching at every sound I
thought the worst of it was over, I thought whatever it was
had moved on. But when Dawn broke the world
outside felled wrong. The air was too still the forest
to quiet. There was no chirping of birds,
no rustling of leaves. Just an oppressive watchful
silence. Nate insisted we go.
Check the trail though, every Instinct in my body, screamed to
stay away armed with the shotgun in a crowbar.
We retraced my path from the night.
Before the further we went the heavier.
The air seemed to get like the woods themselves were holding
their breath. We found the spot where I'd
first heard the voice. The underbrush was trampled and
there were scratches on the trees.
Deep Jagged marks that couldn't have been made by any animal.
I knew of Then we found something worse.
Near the bend in the trail was a patch of ground where the
vegetation had withered and died leaving behind a blackened
brittle Circle. In the middle of it was a small
totem. A crude bundle of sticks bound
together with a strip of leather with a piece of bone tied to the
top. The sight of its sent a shiver
down my back. It didn't belong there, nothing
about it did. Some sick joke, Nate muttered
bending down to pick it up. Don't touch it.
I said my voice sharp but he didn't listen.
He snapped it in half and tossed.
The pieces into the bushes. Let's go.
He said, turning back toward the cabin Whatever's out here.
We're not giving it the satisfaction I didn't argue, but
as we walked back, I couldn't shake the feeling that we'd made
a mistake. The woods seemed darker.
Now the Shadows longer as if they were creeping closer, I
didn't say anything to Nate, but I knew he felt it too.
I could see it. In the way he tightened his grip
on the shotgun, his eyes darting toward the trees.
That night the scratching came back.
Louder this time more insistent. And I knew deep down that
whatever was out there, wasn't going to stop.
Not until it. Got what it wanted.
By the time, the sun dipped below the Horizon, I was already
on edge. The whole day had been wronged
the silence, the Shadows creeping across the yard.
The feeling that every time I turned around something would be
there watching. Nate had said much since we got
back from the trail. He didn't need to the tension in
his shoulders set at all. We locked every door and window
in the cabin even though deep down, I knew it wouldn't matter.
Whatever was out there, didn't care about locks.
Luna stayed glued to my side. Pacing restlessly, her ears.
Twitching at sounds like couldn't hear.
She'd growl softly every now and then her gaze fixed on the
windows. Nate sat at the table, the
shotgun loaded in ready. He hadn't touched his dinner and
neither had I the cabin felt smaller than usual like the
walls were closing in. Then the first tap came.
It was soft. Almost polite like someone
knocking on the front door. We froze.
Luna. Let out a low growl, her hackles
raised Nate stood slowly shotgun in hand and gestured for me to
stay put. I didn't argue The tap came
again. Louder this time as if whoever
or whatever was outside was testing our nerves Nate moved to
the door and peeked through the curtain, his shoulders
stiffened. What is it?
I whispered he didn't answer right away.
He stepped back from the door, his face pale.
There's nothing there. He said, finally.
But his voice was tight too tight.
The topping stopped. For a moment, the silence
returned thicker, and heavier than before.
Then the scratching began. It came from the side of the
cabin. Long, deliberate Strokes against
the wood, like claws, dragging across the walls.
Luna barked sharply, the sound slicing through the tension,
Like a Knife. Nate swore under his breath and
motioned for me to follow him to the back door.
I'm not waiting for this thing to come inside.
He muttered were leaving. What if it's waiting out there?
I asked my voice shaking, I hated how scared I sounded, but
I couldn't help it. My gut told me we weren't safe
anywhere, not in the cabin, not in the yard, not in the truck.
Nate didn't answer. He opened the back door, a crack
and looked out the scratching stopped for a heartbeat.
Everything was still then a low guttural laugh rippled through
the air. It came from everywhere and
nowhere all at once. Get to the truck.
Nate said his voice, barely more than a whisper.
Now, we made it as far as the porch steps.
Before we saw the trees, the forest had moved.
I know how that sounds but there's no other way to describe
it. The tree line which had always
been a good 30 feet from the edge of the yard was now just a
few Paces away. The trees Loom tall and menacing
their branches swaying without a breeze.
I could feel them watching us, even though I knew that was
impossible. Get in the truck.
Nate, repeat repeated. Shoving me forward.
He climbed in behind me, slamming the door shut and
jammed the keys into the ignition.
The engine sputtered, but didn't start.
He tried again. Nothing.
Come on. He growled hitting the steering
wheel. The laugh came again.
Louder this time, echoing around us, it felt like it was inside
the truck curling into every corner.
I looked out the window and froze, Shadows moved between the
trees tall. Spindly shapes.
That didn't walk so much as Glide their eyes caught, the
Moonlight glowing faintly like Embers in the dark.
One of them stepped closer and I realized it wasn't a shadow at
all. It was something else.
Something wrong. It's limbs were too long.
It's movements too smooth and it's grin was too wide.
Get out of the truck, Nate said, suddenly his voice, sharp will
make a run for it, run where I asked my voice Rising, it's
everywhere. Before he could respond.
Luna started barking. Wildly!
She clawed at the truck door? Desperate to get out.
I grabbed her call her, but she pulled free and bolted into the
yard Luna. I screamed fumbling with the
door handle. Nate, grabbed my arm.
Don't he said, it's what it wants but I couldn't just leave
her. I yanked the door open in.
Ran after her, the cold are biting at my face.
Luna stopped at the edge of the yard barking at the trees.
I grabbed her collar and turned to run back but the truck was
gone. No, not gone hidden.
The forest had swallowed it the trees twisting and crowding
together like a wall. I spun around my heart pounding
and saw Nate standing where the porch had been.
Only now the cabin wasn't there. It was just him the shotgun
clutched in his hands, surrounded by trees.
The laugh came again louder and closer.
The Shadows moved circling us their eyes glowing brighter.
Nate raise the shotgun aiming into the dark, stay behind me.
He said before, I could argue one of the Shadows lunge the
blast of the shotgun lit up the night for a split second and I
saw it. Clearly it's holloways.
It's impossibly wide grin. It's too long arms, reaching for
us and then it was gone. The woods were silent again.
Nate grabbed my arm dragging me back toward what used to be the
yard the totem. I remembered the totem.
He'd snapped in half earlier. My gut told me, it wasn't just
some weird decoration, it was a warning, or maybe a seal.
We have to burn it. I said, what the totem, I
shouted we have to burn the pieces.
Nate didn't argue we scrambled back to the spot where he tossed
the broken pieces and piled them together.
He handed me his lighter and my hands shook as I flicked it to
life. The Flames caught quickly
climbing higher than they should have.
Casting strange Shadows on the trees.
The laugh faded the glowing eyes disappeared and the forest
slowly began to retreat. We stood there in silence
watching as the fire burned itself out.
I wanted to believe it was over, but I could feel it, something
still out there just beyond the trees.
Whatever we done what ever we Disturbed.
It wasn't finished with us, not yet.
Be careful. When going into the woods, you
never know what you will encounter.
It started with a dumb idea as most nights like this do.
I couldn't sleep so I figured why not.
Sneaking out was easy. My parents are heavy sleepers
and my window opens straight to the porch roof.
Within five minutes. I was out the door hopping onto
my ATV with my phone buzzing in my pocket.
I texted Ryan and Tyler to meet me at the grain silo bring
whatever. You've got, I wrote By whatever
I meant beer snacks, maybe something to make the night feel
less boring. The woods always felt different
at night like they had secrets to share if you were stupid
enough to listen. Tonight, I was stupid enough.
The ride to the silo was uneventful, but the woods on
either side of the dirt path, felt wrong.
No crickets, no wind, just the hum of my ATV and the crunch of
gravel under the tires, I shook it off and reached the silo
parking near, its rusted, frame Ryan, and Tyler, showed up
minutes later. Headlights, cutting through the
darkness, like, searchlights in enemy territory.
Ethan, you're a lunatic for dragging us out here.
Ryan said, grinning as he pulled out a six-pack from his bag.
Tyler followed holding a flash light in a bag of chips.
Shut up. You'll thank me later.
I shot back but even as we laughed, I felt it in the air
like the woods were leaning in to listen.
We hopped on our ATVs and headed toward the clearing.
The ride was bumpy, the trees closing in as the path narrowed
Tyler's flashlight beam. Bounced wildly catching Shadows
that moved, just a little too fast.
My heart thudded, but I kept my eyes, forward refusing to let my
imagination, get the better of me.
The clearing came into view, a small circle of open, space
surrounded by Towering Oaks. I'd set it up.
Months ago, dragging old lawn chairs, and setting up a fire
pit. The three of us killed the
engines and the sudden silence was deafening.
Ryan tossed. Some wood into the pit while I
struck a match. Soon.
Flames dance and cracked pushing back the darkness.
The first beer cracked open. Then another, we laughed talked
about school and teased Tyler for being Jumpy.
The firelight played tricks on his face making him look pale
and wide-eyed. you guys ever hear about those things in the
woods, he asked his voice low, Oh great, Ryan groaned.
Here we go. I'm serious.
Tyler said, leaning forward my grandpa told me about these
things. People see them out here.
Sometimes tall, skinny Almost Human, but not Yeah, yeah.
And they eat kids like you Ryan. Quipped chucking an empty can at
him. Tyler ducked.
But his eyes flicked to the trees again.
He wasn't joking. I laughed it off, but Tyler's
words stuck. The woods were so dark tonight,
the kind of Darkness that presses against your skin.
The firelight only made it worse, creating Shadows that
felt too solid. That's when we heard it a sound
like, I don't know, like a growl but deeper almost guttural.
It came from somewhere behind us.
Far enough to dismiss, but close enough to set my teeth on edge.
What the hell was that? Tyler whispered.
Coyote's Ryan said though, his voice lacked its usual
confidence. He tossed.
Another log onto the fire and the spark shot up like tiny
fireworks. The noise came again.
This time closer accompanied by the faintest snap of a branch.
My chest tightened, I stood up trying to act casual.
I'm going to check out that trailer over there.
I said, jerking my thumb toward a barely visible Gap.
In the trees, my stomach flip, does the words left my mouth,
but I couldn't back down now alone.
Have fun. Getting eaten.
Ryan joked though there was a hint of nervousness in his
smirk. I climbed onto my ATV heart
pounding. The growl came again this time
sharper, almost deliberate like it wanted me to hear.
I gunned the engine and rode into the darkness.
Leaving the safety of the fire behind.
The trail was tighter than I remembered overgrown and barely
navigable. My headlights, barely pierced
the thick underbrush, casting long, Eerie Shadows.
The silence out here was even worse.
No bugs, no birds. Just the low hum of my engine.
I should have turned back every Instinct screamed at me to turn
back, but I didn't and then I saw them two glowing eyes in the
distance. Not reflective like a deer's but
glowing a sickly Amber that burned through the darkness.
I froze gripping. The handlebars so tight my
Knuckles hurt the eyes blinked once and a shape emerged.
My breath caught. As I took it in tall.
Hunched with matted fur hanging from a gaunt frame.
It looked like it had been piece together, wrong joints, bent,
and ways that shouldn't be possible.
Legs too long arms, too thin. I tried to convince myself.
It was a coyote a sick, coyote, maybe rabbit.
But when it stood upright its head almost grazing.
The branches of I knew better. It tilted its head, like it was
studying me then it took a step forward.
I didn't wait to see what it wanted.
I turned the ATV around so fast, I nearly tipped it in Florida
back down the trail. Behind me, I heard it.
Move fast too fast, branches snapped, and the guttural growl
grew into a shriek high-pitched and unnatural.
It was chasing me. I didn't look back.
I couldn't I tore through the woods dodging trees and praying.
The engine wouldn't stall. The trail opened up into the
clearing, and I skidded to a stop nearly slamming into the
fire pit. But Ryan and Tyler were gone,
their chairs were overturned, beer cans scattered and the fire
was dying, Embers, barely glowing in the dark.
The shriek came again closer now, and I realized with a
sickening jolt, I wasn't alone. I sat there straddling, my ATV,
my chest heaving, and my eyes darting around the clearing.
The fire was nothing more than a smoldering.
Pit sending up thin wisps of smoke Ryan and Tyler's ATVs were
still there. Headlights dim and flickering
but they were nowhere to be seen.
My brain scrambled for an explanation.
Maybe they got scared and ran back home.
Maybe they were messing with me, but deep down, I knew better.
The growl came again, low and guttural from somewhere in the
trees. My stomach dropped.
It wasn't closed. But it wasn't far either it.
Moved circling stalking. Every Instinct screamed at me to
run but my feet felt nailed to the ground.
Ryan Tyler. I yelled into the void, my voice
cracking. The only response was the
crackle of damp wood collapsing in the fire pit.
I killed the ATVs engine hoping for silence big mistake. the
moment, the hum stopped the forest, came alive with sound
branches, snapping leaves rustling footsteps Heavy,
deliberate footsteps, whatever was out there wanted me to know.
It was coming, I scan the tree line, and that's when I saw them
again, the eyes glowing Amber just like before, but now they
bobbed and swayed as the creature moved closer.
My throat tightened, I forced myself to breathe gripping, the
handlebars, like, they could somehow save me.
The creature emerged slowly, stepping out from the Shadows,
like it had all the time in the world.
It was worse than I had imagined its skin hung and loose patches
fur clinging to a frame. That was all wrong.
Legs too long shoulders, hunched on naturally High.
Its head tilted at an angle. That made me feel sick.
Like it was broken. And those teeth Jagged uneven
stained with something dark, it was grinning at me.
I fumbled with the key, trying to restart the ATV the engine
sputtered, but wooden catch Come on, I hissed twisting the key
again and again the creature let out a shriek appearing distorted
sound that rattled my skull. It started toward me.
It steps quick and jerky adrenaline took over, I jumped
off the ATV and bolted weaving between trees, not caring where
I was going as long as it was away from that thing.
My breath came in short ragged gasps and my legs burned as I
pushed Harder Faster. I could hear it behind me, it's
heavy footfalls crashing, through the underbrush I don't
know how long I ran time didn't exist.
There was only the pounding of my heart, and the sound of that
thing closing in, I tripped once slamming hard into the dirt and
for a split second, I thought it was over, but when I looked
back, I saw nothing just darkness and the faintest hint
of movement in the shadows. I scrambled to my feet and kept
running. Eventually, I stumbled onto a
structure, a shack old and rotting barely standing.
It looked like something out of a horror movie, the kind of
place you avoid, unless you're desperate.
I was desperate, I threw myself inside, slamming the door, shut
and pressing my back against it. The air inside was thick with
the smell of mold and something else.
Something metallic and sour. My flashlight flickered.
As I scan the room. The walls were covered in claw
marks. Deep grooves?
That splintered the wood. A pile of old tattered clothes,
sat in the corner, next to a rusted, hunting knife empty,
cans of food. Whoever had been here before.
They hadn't left in a hurry. The footsteps outside stopped my
breath hitched, I leaned against the door, straining to hear
anything over the pounding in my ears for a moment.
It was silent. Then, a slow deliberate scratch
started at the base of the door working its way up.
I bit back a screen pressing harder against the door as if
that would make a difference. The scratching stopped.
Then came a sound that made my stomach churn the thing sniffing
Steep and guttural. Like it was tasting, the air.
My flashlight, flickered again and in its weak beam, I saw the
edges of the doorframe start to bend inward.
It was testing the door pushing pulling as if deciding whether
it was worth breaking down. I clutched the hunting knife
from the floor gripping it. So tight, my Knuckles ached
please. I whispered to no one in
particular. Please just go away.
The door shuttered, but it didn't break after a few
agonizing minutes, the sniffing faded replaced by the sound of
retreating footsteps. I waited counting each second
until the silence felt suffocating, When I finally
dared to peek out the window, the clearing was empty.
The glowing eyes were gone but I knew it wasn't over.
Not even close. I didn't stay in the shack.
My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself to run again,
trying to retrace my steps, every shadow, every rustle of
leaves sent jolts of Terror through me, I reached the
clearing where the fire had been but it was completely
extinguished. Now, the darkness, absolute The
chairs were toppled Ryan and Tyler's ATVs, still abandoned,
but they were nowhere to be found.
Ryan, Tyler, I screamed into the night but only silence answered
and then the sound returned, the growl deep and guttural from the
direction of the tree line. My head snapped toward it and I
saw the eyes again closer. This time.
I didn't wait, I ran toward the path that led home, the
creatures distorted shrieks, chasing me the entire way.
I don't remember Running Out of the Woods.
My legs just carried me, blind and automatic.
Like some Primal part of me had taken over.
All I knew was the sound, the creature, shrieks unnatural, and
echoing growing closer with every step.
My lungs burned. My legs ached but I couldn't
stop. I couldn't stop the clearing.
Finally gave way to the edge of the field and I spotted it.
Our old station wagon half sunken into the weeds.
Like it had been swallowed by the Earth.
My chest tightened with hope and Dread if I could just get to it.
But I knew that thing was right behind me.
I stumbled to the car, yanking the door, handles so hard.
I thought it might snap off it opened with a groan and I threw
myself inside. Slamming it shut and locking the
doors. The old familiar smell of dust
and oil, hit me a cruel. Reminder of all the times, I'd
played in the car as a kid. I crouched low in the backseat
panting, trying to catch my breath.
My hands shook so badly. I had to clench them into Fists.
For a moment. There was silence.
No footsteps. No growls.
Just the soft sound of rain, starting to fall pattering
against the cars metal roof. I let out a shaky breath daring
to believe I'd outrun it. But then through the fogged
glass, I saw them those glowing Amber eyes emerging from the
tree line. They floated closer unblinking
cutting through the dark like twin lanterns my heart felt like
it stopped. The creature was walking toward
the car slow, and deliberate. Its head tilting side to side as
if it were studying me, I ducked lower trying to make myself
invisible, but it was too late. It knew I was there.
I could hear it now, it's breathing wet and labored mixed
with a low growl that made my skin crawl.
It circled, the car, its Long Claws, dragging across the
windows with a high pitched Screech.
I covered my ears but it didn't help.
The sound went straight to my brain like nails scraping across
bone. I had to think I had to do
something. That's when I remembered my
dad's rifle, he always kept it in the car for emergencies.
I reached under the backseat fumbling blindly until my
fingers. Brushed against cold metal,
There it was. I pulled it out my hands,
trembling as I checked the chamber.
Three bullets. That was it?
The creature stopped scratching. I froze clutching the rifle
straining to hear through the pounding rain and then with a
sickening crunch its face appeared in the back window.
It was inches from me, its teeth bared, in a grotesque grin, I
could see the black and gums, the jagged edge of its teeth and
the Halo pits of its eyes glowing with that horrible
light. My breath hitched and I
instinctively raise the rifle. I fired.
The shot shattered, the window sending glass everywhere, but I
missed the creature shrieked. A deafening guttural sound that
made my ears ring it at the back of the car, ripping through
metal. Like it was paper, I scrambled
into the front seat, desperate to put more space between us.
The keys. My dad always kept the keys in
the glove box. I flung it.
Open my hands searching frantically.
Outside the creature slammed against the car, rocking it back
and forth, the metal groaned. And the roof started to Cave.
My fingers closed around the keys, just as the passenger
door, wrenched open. It reached inside its long
Twisted. Arm grabbing at me, I screamed
slamming the door shut on its hand over and over until it let
out a howl and pulled back. My hand found the ignition and I
twisted the key the engine sputtered come on, I begged come
on it roared to life without thinking I slammed my foot on
the gas, the car lurched forward, throwing the creature
off balance, I turned the wheel hard aiming straight for it.
The headlights illuminated its full form Too Tall, too thin.
It's limbs contorted like a spider's.
I clenched my teeth and hit the gas.
The car, collided with it, the impact sending a sickening thud
through the cabin. It crumpled folding unnaturally
beneath the car but I didn't stop.
I kept going dragging at several feet before the car stalled
again for a moment. Everything was still rain
pelted, the windshield and steam hissed from the engine.
I dared to look back the creature was lying there.
Motionless, it's glowing eyes, finally dimmed.
I let out a shaky breath gripping, the steering wheel.
So tightly, my Knuckles turned white. but as I opened the door
to get out, I saw something that made my blood run cold, the
creature's hand twitched, Know, I whispered no, no, no.
I grabbed the rifle and ran, I didn't care where I was going as
long as it was away from that thing.
The rain was blinding, the mud pulling at my shoes, but I kept
moving. when I finally reached the edge of the woods, I turned
back, it was standing there in the middle of the field watching
me Its head tilted. Again as if amused My breath
caught in my throat. I didn't wait.
I ran the rest of the way home bursting through the door and
locking it behind me. I collapsed in the entryway
soaked and trembling listening to the Rain hammering against
the windows. I didn't sleep that night, I sat
in the corner of my room, clutching the rifle staring at
the door. The next morning, I went back.
The car was their battered and bloodied, but the creature was
gone. No body, no tracks.
Just deep gouges in the dirt and the Twisted remains of the
station wagon. Ryan and Tyler were still
missing. I checked their houses but
neither of them had come home. Tyler's parents said he'd called
muttering something about the woods, but Ryan, nothing.
The worst part. That night, as I sat in my room,
I heard it again, the growl faint, but unmistakable, it
still out there. I don't know what to do.
I write this now to warn as many people as possible.
Be careful when going into the woods. there's a certain kind of
Silence, you only find in the wilderness, At first, it feels
peaceful, like you're wrapped in a blanket of trees and fresh air
miles away from the chaos of City Life.
But after a, while it gets a pressive.
Like the world's forgotten your there.
That's what hit me on the first night of the trip.
Jonah. And I had been best friends
forever. And this weekend camping trip
was our way of escaping, the stress of senior year, No
assignments. No College apps, just the two of
us a couple of fishing rods and the forest.
We pitched our tents near the edge of a lake surrounded by
towering trees. That sway gently in the breeze.
The first day was perfect. We fished built a fire and
grilled up. The one trout Jonah managed to
catch He was always better at that outdoorsy stuff than me.
We laughed a lot. Mostly at me falling into the
lake trying to reel in a line by the time the sun dipped below
the Horizon. I felt like we were exactly
where we were meant to be. But then came the night, I
should have known something was off when the Cricut stopped.
It was so gradual. I didn't even notice at first
One second, they're chirping was everywhere a comforting, white
noise and the next nothing. Just the sound of the lake
lapping against the shore and the faint rustling of leaves.
Jonah, you hear that? I whispered trying not to sound
paranoid. He looked up from the fire, the
glow casting Shadows across his face here, what?
Exactly? It's too quiet.
Jonah chuckled tossing. Another log onto the Flames.
Dude, you're just used to Portland noise.
No, honking cars are barking. Dogs out here, relax but I
couldn't the silence was suffocating.
And then came the noises. at first, it sounded like a wolf
howling in the distance that would have been creepy enough
but then it shifted The Howell turned into something else like
a bird. Call Sharp and shrill but
weirdly human like someone imitating it, it didn't stop
there. The Sounds melted together
twisting into something unnatural something alive.
I stared into the darkness. My stomach nodding.
Okay you heard that right Jonah. Paused his grin faltering for
just a second before he shook his head.
Chill out, Eli. It's probably just the wind or
some birds messing around. I didn't buy it, but I didn't
want to argue either. Jonah was the type who never
took anything seriously and I didn't want to ruin the trip
with my paranoia. We have eventually turned in for
the night, each retreating to our own tents.
I tried to focus on my breathing on the comforting, glow of the
lantern hanging above me, but my mind wouldn't let go of.
Those sounds just as I was starting to drift off, I heard
it footsteps, light and quick at first like a small animal
skittering through the underbrush. then they grew
heavier more deliberate, circling the campsite My heart
raced, I wanted to unzip the tent but some Primal part of me
screamed to stay put to stay hidden, the footsteps, stopped
directly outside my tent. Jonah.
I hissed his quietly. As I could Jonah.
What the hell are you doing? No response.
I held my breath straining to listen.
The zipper of Jonah's tent. Slid open, and I exhaled
relieved. Jonah.
I said again, louder. This time what he whispered back
annoyed don't go out there, it could be a wolf or chili.
I've got my knife. I'll check it out.
Before I could argue, I heard him step out his boots crunching
softly against the dirt. The lighter footsteps, whatever
had been circling us, vanished. Jonah moved around the campsite
his footsteps, slow and methodical.
Then they stopped and the silence returned.
My gut Twisted in on itself minutes felt like hours, I
clenched the edge of my sleeping bag.
My ears straining for any sound. Finally, I heard him again.
Heavy steps on even dragging slightly.
Jonah, I called unzipping my tent just enough to peek out.
He stood at the edge of the firelight, his silhouette dark
against the faint glow. His clothes were torn dirt,
streaked across his shirt, a long Jagged cut ran from the
center of his chest to his ribs. Holy crap, Jonah, what happened?
I scrambled out rushing to him. He stared at me.
His eyes blank and glassy for the first time since I'd met him
Jonah. Didn't have that easy grin that
spark of Mischief, his face was empty.
Jonah talked to me man. What's going on?
He blinked slowly like he was waking up from a dream night.
He muttered his voice flat and wrong.
Then he turned and stumbled into his tent.
Leaving me standing there, heart pounding, I didn't sleep that
night. How could I every noise every
rustle of leaves. Felt like a threat I sat by the
fire until the sun came up. My mind racing with questions in
the morning. Jonah.
Acted like nothing had happened. He barely spoke just packed his
gear and tossed. His bloody shirt into the woods
like it was trash. I didn't press him.
I should have But some part of me, already knew I wasn't
talking to Jonah anymore. When we got back to town
something in me was desperate to believe that everything would go
back to normal. I clung to the idea that Jonah
just needed some sleep, a hot meal, and a little time to shake
off. Whatever had happened out there.
But deep down I knew I was lying to myself.
Whatever came back with me, wasn't Jonah.
It started small, we'd barely gotten out of the car when Jonah
froze on the sidewalk outside my house. he stared blankly at the
street, the way you might stare at a math problem, you couldn't
figure out You good? I asked slinging my bag over my
shoulder. Uh, yeah.
He hesitated. Where's your house?
I laughed waiting for the punchline but it didn't come
Jonah. You've been here like 100 times.
It's right there. Oh right.
He followed me inside walking stiffly like his body.
Wasn't quite sure how to move. I brushed it off at first.
Maybe he was tired, maybe something had scared him in the
woods whatever. But then things got weirder My
mom had made lasagna for dinner her way of welcoming Jonah back.
He loved her cooking. Always piling his plate high
this time he didn't eat a bite, he just sat there watching us.
Not hungry. My mom asked smiling at him.
Jonah blinked. Like he'd forgotten.
She was there. I'm fine.
His voice was flat monotone. The Jonah.
I knew couldn't keep a straight face to save his life but now he
looked like a mannequin, his expression empty his movements
stiff and awkward. I tried to ignore it, but the
more time I spent around him, the more wrong, it felt That
night, we went up to my room to play video games.
Jonah used to be obsessed with beating me.
Always leaning into the competitive banter this time.
He just stared at the screen. His hands slack around the
controller. You're not even trying I said
nudging him, he didn't respond Jonah.
His head snapped toward me. His eyes locking onto mine in a
way that made my stomach flip. What I laughed nervously?
Dude, you're acting weird. He didn't laugh.
He didn't say anything. He just stared.
It wasn't until later when I was getting ready for bed that I
realized how bad things had gotten.
I stepped out of the bathroom and saw Jonas standing in the
hallway, perfectly still. His face turned toward my little
brother's room. Jonah, what the hell are you
doing? I whispered my voice sharp.
He didn't flinch. I asked you a question.
I said, louder this time. Finally, he turned to me slow
and deliberate. Just wanted to see how he
sleeps. I froze every Instinct screaming
at me that this wasn't my best friend.
That's really not. Okay, man.
He tilted his head slightly like he was trying to figure out if
he'd said something wrong. Sorry.
Then he walked past me back to my room like nothing had
happened. That night, I couldn't sleep.
I kept replaying his words, his tone, the way he stared into my
brother's room. Like he was studying him, it
didn't make sense. Jonah wasn't like this.
He'd never been like this. The next morning, I tried to get
him to talk about the woods about what happened that night.
He Shrugged it off. Refusing to make eye contact.
Nothing happened. He said, Jonah.
Come on, you were bleeding, your clothes were torn.
Something happened out there, his jaw tightened.
And for the first time I saw anger, Flash in his eyes, quick,
sharp and gone in an instant. I said nothing happened.
I backed off, but the unease kept growing.
Every time I looked at him, I felt like I was staring at a
stranger wearing, Jonas, skin. That night I tried to distract
myself by diving into the internet looking up.
Anything I could find about the forest.
Stories of Haunting disappearances and Cryptid the
screen. But one thing kept coming up
tails of shapeshifters creatures, that could mimic
their victims perfectly down to their memories and mannerisms.
One account stuck with me a man wrote about how his wife had
changed overnight. She came back from a camping
trip distant and cold watching him with a Predators gaze.
He described hearing her voice outside the house when she was
supposed to be asleep inside, I slammed the laptop shut.
My pulse racing Jonah, wasn't Jonah.
The realization settled over me like a weight.
I couldn't shake every little moment.
His stiffness, his silence, the way, he stared at my family, it
all fit, something had taken him.
Something was wearing his face and I had no idea what it wanted
around midnight. I heard Footsteps in the
hallway, They were heavy and deliberate stopping right
outside my door. Eli Jonah's voice called softly.
I froze, you awake. He asked his tone.
Sweet and calm but somehow off I didn't answer the door knob
jiggled, Eli. Let me in.
I need to talk to you. I stared at the shadow of his
feet under the door. My heart hammering in my chest,
the doorknobs stopped moving, but he didn't leave.
He stood there, silent waiting. And then he said it.
It's okay. I just want to see how you
sleep. I didn't sleep that night, I
didn't know if I'd ever sleep again.
The next day, Jonah was gone. He left without a word.
No note no text. At first, I felt a strange mix
of relief and Dread relief that I didn't have to see his Halo
alien eyes watching me anymore and Dread, because I knew this
wasn't over. Whatever Jonah had become he
wasn't done with me. That night, I barricaded myself
in my room, I piled my dresser desk and even my mattress
against the door, I sat on the floor, with my back, against the
wall, my mom's gun, and my lap. I'd stole in it from her draw
that morning, feeling ridiculous, and terrified all at
once. I didn't even know how to use it
properly, but it felt better to have something anything to
defend myself. The house was quiet too quiet.
The kind of Silence. That makes your ears strained
for any sound, no matter how small.
I stared at the Shadows stretching across my room, every
Creak of the floorboards outside making my pulse Spike and then
just after midnight I heard it. I knock at the front door, it
wasn't loud or hurried just three calm.
Deliberate Knocks. My mom was at work and my little
brother was staying at a friend's house.
So I was alone, at least I thought I was I crept to the
window peeking through the blinds, my stomach dropped Jonah
was standing on the porch. His face illuminated by the pale
glow of the porch light. Eli.
He called softly, his voice carried through the still night
too loud, and too clear. It's me.
Let me in I stayed silent hoping he'd leave.
Come on man. He said his tone light almost
cheerful. I just want to talk.
I clenched the gun tighter, my fingers, trembling he knocked
again harder this time. Eli.
He said his voice shifting taking on a sharp edge.
Don't make me, wait, when I didn't answer his tone changed.
Again it softened warm and familiar.
Eli, please, it's Jonah your best friend.
Don't you trust me? My breath caught in my throat.
He sounded so much like the old Jonah, the one I'd grown up with
for a split second. I wanted to believe it was him
but then he started laughing, it wasn't a normal laugh.
It started low and guttural bubbling up into something,
high-pitched and maniacal. The sound scraped against my
nerves, like nails on a chalkboard.
Let me in Eli, he whispered his voice suddenly right outside my
bedroom window. I whipped my head toward the
window, my heart slamming, against my ribs, the blinds
rattled, as his hand, slid across the glass, you can't hide
forever. He said his voice, dark and
syrupy. I'm coming in.
The front door rattled? As he began pounding on it, the
sound echoed through the house, each blow more violent than the
last. I backed into the corner of my
room, the gun shaking in my hands, the pounding, stopped
abruptly, and the silence that followed was worse.
Eli, a new voice called my mom's voice.
Sweetie. It's me, Let Me In My Blood ran
cold. Mom.
I whispered my voice cracking her voice came again, soft, and
pleading. I forgot my key.
Please honey, open the door. No, I muttered shaking my head.
That's not you. Yes, it is.
She insisted her voice rising in Pitch.
Open the door. Eli you're scaring me.
I clamped my hands over my ears trying to drown her out the door
to my bedroom rattled as something pressed against it.
Eli, my mom's voice said now deeper distorted, don't you love
me? Stop it.
I screamed tears. Streaming down, my face.
The rattling stopped replaced by heavy dragging Footsteps, in the
hallway, they moved past my door heading toward the stairs.
I scrambled to the window. Appearing outside, Jonah was
gone but the front door was wide open swinging.
Gently in the breeze. Then I heard it a wet sloshing
sound coming from down stairs. It was fainted at first but grew
louder, like something heavy and slimy was being dragged across
the floor. I pressed my back against the
wall, clutching the gun to my chest, the sound stopped
directly below, me, and the ceiling creaked under the weight
of something. Massive, my heart pounded, as I
heard it, start climbing the stairs.
Slow. Deliberate steps each one
heavier than the last. I aim the gun at the door, my
hands shaking so badly, I could barely keep it steady.
The steps stopped outside my room.
Eli Jonah's voice said, low and guttural.
You can't hide from me. The door splintered as
something, slammed into it, the dresser shifted, the barricade,
barely holding, I screamed pulling the trigger, the gun
roared, the sound deafening in the confined, space, the door
cracked and something wet splattered against the floor.
The pounding stopped I held my breath listening to the silence.
Then I heard it a wet slithering sound followed by a low guttural
laugh. You can't kill me.
Eli Jonas said, his voice distorted in layered like 100
voices, speaking at once the door burst open and I fired
again, but it was too late. The thing that you used to be
Jonas stood in the doorway, it's human facade melting away.
Its skin sagged and tore revealing a mass of black oily
tendrils riding beneath. Its face my face stared back at
me, it's lips. Curling into a grotesque grin
your turn. It whispered.
I don't remember much after that, just pain and darkness.
If you're reading this, stay out of the woods and if someone you
know, comes back wrong, don't wait, run.
The first thing I noticed about Uncle Jack's house was how
exposed it felt. It was bigger than anything I'd
ever lived in, but it didn't feel safe.
The walls were not really walls, not like normal houses.
They were glass almost every single one.
Florida ceiling Windows stretched across the entire back
of the house facing nothing but endless trees.
It felt like stepping into a fishbowl with the woods watching
from all sides. Danny thought it was amazing.
He ran from room to room. Pressing his hands and face
against the Windows like a kid at the zoo.
Look Lizzy. You can see everything.
He shouted his voice. Echoing through, the cavernous
space. I didn't feel like looking the
trees were too close, their dark branches, Tangled, like a net.
That could snare the house at any moment.
The whole place felt wrong. Pretty cool.
Uncle, Jack's voice startled me. He was standing behind me
grinning like he just won an award.
I designed it myself. Seamless, living with nature.
It's what the Magazine's call Modern rustic.
I forced a smile and nodded but all I could think was how easy
it would be for something or someone to see us without us
seeing them. The forest pressed in on the
house dense and unrelenting the nearest neighbor was miles away.
I hated it already. That first night, I couldn't
sleep the guest room, Uncle Jack gave me was at the far end of
the house separated from the rest of my family, by a long
hallway that seemed to stretch forever.
My room was small, but it had the same glass wall, facing the
woods, no curtains, no blinds. Just an uninterrupted view of
pitch black trees. I lay there staring at the glass
too scared to close my eyes. The forest outside was
completely still, no wind no sound, just Shadows, deep
endless Shadows. My heart was pounding and I
didn't even know why I told myself.
I was being ridiculous. That nothing was out there, but
then I heard it tap. Tap tap, it was faint, but
unmistakable, I sat up in bed. Every muscle in my body froze,
in the sound came again, slow and deliberate.
It was coming from the glass. I didn't want to look but I
couldn't stop myself. I slid out of bed and crept
toward the window. My bare feet, cold against the
hardwood floor. The tapping stopped my breath,
fogged up the glass, as I leaned in close peering out into the
darkness. There was nothing, just the
trees. Their branches, swaying slightly
in the still air. but the ground near the edge of the woods
looked Disturbed, like something had been moving their I stared
for what felt like forever waiting for something to move.
Go to sleep. I whispered to myself backing
away from the window. I climbed back into bed and
pulled the blanket over my head. As if that could protect me.
I didn't sleep. The next morning I tried to
forget about it. Danny was already outside
running through the yard and waving a stick around.
Like it was a sword. My mom was busy in the kitchen
with Uncle Jack, talking about something boring, like,
paperwork or groceries. I decided to check out the yard
hoping, the sunlight would make me feel less uneasy Look at
this. Danny yelled dragging me toward
the edge of the woods. He'd found something in the dirt
a deep Groove carved into the ground Jagged and messy, like a
giant claw had raped through it. It's just an animal.
I said quickly pulling him away but the truth was, I had no idea
what could have made a mark like that.
It was too big too. Deliberate.
I glanced at the tree line and thought I saw something a shadow
moving between the trunks, but when I blinked it was gone.
That night, I couldn't shake the feeling that the house wasn't as
empty as it seemed. The windows felt like eyes and
the woods outside felt alive, like they were waiting for
something. I didn't tell anyone about the
tapping or the shadow, not even Danny.
He just laugh and my mom had enough to deal with.
I went to bed early, hoping that if I fell asleep fast enough, I
wouldn't have time to think about the Glass Wall or the dark
shapes in the trees. But as I lay there, staring at
the ceiling, I heard it again. Tap, tap tap this time, it
wasn't faint. It was loud.
And deliberate like someone or something was trying to get my
attention. I gripped the blanket tight.
My heart hammering in my chest. I didn't move.
The taping stopped but then I heard another sound soft softer
almost like scratching tracing along the edge of the glass.
I wanted to scream but I clamped my hand over my mouth.
Slowly, I turned my head toward the window.
The glass was empty just like before.
But then in the Moonlight, I saw them marks long and thin etched
into the surface of the glass. They hadn't been there before.
I didn't sleep that night either the first time I heard it.
I thought I was dreaming. I woke to the sound of my mom's
voice, soft and calm calling my name from somewhere down the
hall. Lizzie.
She said her tone, so, warm and familiar, it eased.
The knot of fear that had been sitting in my chest since we
arrived Lizzy, I need, you still have asleep, I pushed the
blanket off, and swung my legs over the side of the bed.
The house was cold and the floor creaked beneath my feet as I
shuffled toward the door, her voice called again.
This time from the living room Lizzie come here, I need your
help. Something about it, didn't sit
right? The hall way was Pitch Black and
the farther, I walked the less, her voice sounded like hers.
There was a sharpness to it now an edge that didn't belong to my
mother. It grew deeper as I approached
the living room almost guttural but still unmistakably calling
my name. I stopped just before the living
room, doorway, suddenly Wide Awake.
The room Beyond was bathed and faint.
Moonlight spilling in through the massive glass wall outside.
The woods were a wall of Darkness, the trees swaying
ever. So slightly, my mom wasn't
there. No one was just the empty couch
and the Silent Forest. I blinked hard and stumbled
back, the fog of sleep clearing all at once.
My heart raced as I realized I wasn't dreaming.
I turned and ran back to my room.
Slamming the door shut behind me.
I crawled into bed and pulled the blanket over my head
shaking. For the rest of the night.
I stayed awake listening for the voice to call me again.
It didn't The next morning, I convinced myself.
It had to be a dream. I didn't mention it to anyone.
Not even Danny. He wouldn't have believed me
anyway, but the uneasiness stayed with me, following me
through the day. Like a shadow.
Danny, spent the afternoon, exploring the woods again.
I didn't want to go with him this time.
Not after what I had heard. I stood by the window instead
watching him run through the trees with the same stick.
He'd been playing with since we got here for a moment,
everything seemed normal until he stopped.
He was standing near the edge of the woods staring at something
on the ground. I could see his shoulders tense,
the sticks slipping from his hand.
Then he turned and sprinted, back toward the house.
His face pale by the time. He bursts through the door, he
was out of breath, his eyes wide.
There's something out there. He gasped.
It's dead all. Torn up.
What's dead? I asked my stomach sinking.
I don't know. Some animal.
It's huge though. He hesitated glancing back at
the door. I think something dragged it,
there. Were marks claw marks.
Uncle Jack overheard and brushed it off saying it was probably a
coyote. But Danny wouldn't stop talking
about the claw marks about how deep?
They were, how whatever made them must have been massive.
I tried to push the thought out of my mind, but when I looked
out the window again, I swore I saw movement between the trees,
a dark shape slipping behind a trunk The second time, the voice
called me, it wasn't my mom. It was my dad.
It had been years since I heard his voice but I recognized it
instantly. Lizzy.
He called his tone pleading. Lizzie come talk to me.
I sat up in bed my head spinning, I knew it wasn't
possible. He wasn't here, he wasn't
anywhere. But his voice was so real.
So desperate that I found myself standing and walking toward the
door. I felt attached.
Like my body was moving on its own.
The living room was the same as before.
Silent empty and bathed in cold Moonlight.
But this time there was something new, a figure stood by
the glass wall, its back to me, staring out into the woods.
It looked like him, but something was off.
His shoulders were hunched, his posture, Ridgid and His Hands
hung limply at his side's. Dad.
I whispered my voice trembling the figure turns slowly and I
stumbled back its face wasn't my dad's it wasn't anyone's.
Its skin was smooth and pale like whacks with Halo
depressions, where I should have been.
Its mouth was stretched into a wide unnatural grin.
I woke up in my bed. Gasping for air. my heart was
pounding, so hard at felt like it would burst the room was
silent, but I could still feel its presence like a lingering
shadow in the corner of my vision.
For the next few nights. I refused to leave my room after
Dark. I kept the door shut and stayed
under the covers too scared to even peek out the window.
But something changed in Danny. He started acting strange.
I caught him standing in front of the glass wall.
One night. His face inches from the glass.
His hands were pressed against it and his breath fogged up the
surface. Danny, I hissed stepping closer.
What are you doing? He didn't answer he didn't even
blink. His eyes were fixed on something
outside. But when I looked all I saw Were
Trees, I grabbed his shoulder and shook him, and he finally
snapped out of it blinking, like he just woken up.
What he said, confused. What's wrong?
You were just standing there. I stammered.
Did you see something? He frowned, rubbing his eyes.
I don't know. I don't remember.
That was the first time but it wasn't the last.
I started finding him there. Almost every night staring out
at the woods. His face blank and His Hands
trembling No matter how many times I asked, he couldn't
explain why the tapping on the Windows came back louder and
more frequent. Scratches appeared on the glass
faint, but deliberate like something was trying to carve
its way in. and sometimes just before I fell asleep, I thought
I heard Whispers soft, raspy and too faint to understand, but
always calling my name. I wanted to believe it was just
in my head but deep down, I knew it wasn't.
Something was out there waiting for me to let it in.
I woke up to the sound of footsteps at first.
I thought it was part of a dream.
The kind that lingers just long enough to blur the line between
real and not But then I heard it again.
Soft, deliberate shuffling steps.
Moving down the hallway, outside my door.
My heart in my throat as I stared at the ceiling.
Every nerve in my body on high alert.
It wasn't mom, her steps were brisk and purposeful.
Not this slow. Dragging Shuffle.
And Uncle Jack's gate was heavier louder.
This was something else. Something wrong.
I held my breath straining to listen the footsteps stopped
just outside my door and for a moment, all I could hear was the
blood pounding in my ears then. Slowly, they moved on.
Heading toward the living room. Toward the glass wall.
I sat up the floor cold beneath my bare feet.
My first instinct was to run to Mom's room and wake her up, but
something stopped me. A poll Like An Invisible Thread.
Tugging me toward the door. I cracked it open just enough to
peer into the hallway. There.
At the end of the corridor was Danny.
He was walking slowly, his movements stiff and unnatural
like a marionette being dragged Along by invisible strings.
His head hung low and his arms swayed, limply at his side's.
Danny, I whispered but he didn't stop.
He didn't even flinch. Panic flared in my chest.
As I slipped into the hallway, following him at a distance.
I could hear a faint sound now coming from the direction of the
living room alone. Mournful moan like the Cry of a
wounded animal. It wasn't loud, but it felt
close to close. Danny reached, the living room
and stopped in front of the sliding glass door.
I crept closer, staying low, my pulse pounding in my ears.
The glass wall loomed before him the forest Beyond bathed and
pale moonlight. The trees were swaying again but
not like they had before. This was violent chaotic like
something massive was crashing through them.
Branches snapped and cracked and the moaning grew louder
reverberating through the house like a low guttural.
Whom I watched in horror as Danny reached for the lock on
the sliding door, his hand trembled, as his fingers,
brushed against it. And for a second, I thought I
saw something move in the shadows beyond the glass.
Danny know, I whispered as loudly as I dared rushing
forward, I grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked, him back,
just as his fingers touched the lock, his eyes were glazed
unfocused. As he turned to look at me
Lizzy, he mumbled his voice distant Halo there, waiting for
us. The moaning, stopped the forest,
fell eerily silent. The sudden quiet almost more
terrifying than the noise had been.
I froze gripping Danny's arm as my eyes darted toward the glass.
And then I saw it a shadow moved between the trees too fast, too
big. It darted closer weaving between
the trunks like a predator closing in on its prey.
My breath caught as it stepped into the Moonlight.
It was humanoid. But impossibly tall its limbs
grotesquely elongated. Its skin was dark and shiny
almost wet and its face was a blank featureless void.
No eyes, no mouth. Just smooth black nothingness, a
crouched low. Its limbs bending on naturally
and pressed its hand against the glass.
It's fingers were long and thin and sharp claw, like tips that
scraped against the surface. The sound sent a shiver down my
spine, it tilted its head as if studying us and I swore I could
feel its gaze even though it had no eyes.
Lizzy Danny whispered, his voice trembling.
It's going to get in? No, it won't.
I whispered back though, I didn't believe it.
The creatures claws dug into the glass leaving, deep Jagged,
scratches it leaned closer. Its head tilting back and forth
in jerky unnatural movements. The glass grown under the
pressure spider, web cracks forming around.
Its hand, I grabbed Dany and pulled him behind the couch out
of sight. My heart was racing so fast.
I thought it might stop, altogether.
I clamped a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet.
Trying to steady my own breathing.
For a moment. There was silence.
And then the sound of heavy ragged breathing, filled the
room. Deep.
And rhythmic coming from just beyond the couch.
It was inside. I shut my eyes, tight willing,
it to go away Danny's small body trembled against mine and I
tightened my grip on him desperate to keep him still the
breathing grew louder closer until I could feel it hot and
damp against the back of my neck.
And then just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped the air
felt cold and empty and I risked a glance over the edge of the
couch. The living room was empty.
The sliding glass door was closed, though.
The glass was marred with deep claw-like gouges.
In the dirt, just be on the glass.
The creature had left something. A series of symbols scratched
into the ground Spirals and jagged lines that seem to pulse
faintly in the Moonlight. I didn't wait to figure out what
they meant. I pulled Danny to his feet and
half dragged him down the hallway.
My legs shaking so badly I thought they might give out.
We burst into Mom's room, slamming the door behind us.
What's going on? She mumbled groggily sitting up
in bed. Don't ask I whispered my voice,
trembling Just lock the door. Don't open it until morning.
She didn't argue though, I could tell.
She didn't believe me. I climbed into bed with her and
Danny, keeping them both close and stared at the door until the
first rays of sunlight crept through the window.
We left the house that morning for good and I've never looked
back. When Ryan and I first rolled
into the reservation, I couldn't drop the feeling that we didn't
belong. It wasn't just the place.
It was the way people looked at us.
No Smiles. No nods of acknowledgment just
cold blank stares that followed our car.
As we bounced over the uneven dirt road, The Village itself
felt Frozen in Time Crumbling adobe houses leaned
precariously, under the weight of years.
Rusted out trucks, sat abandoned in dry patches of Earth.
Even the air. Felt strange, two still two
heavy like it was pressing down on us.
The only sound was the occasional Creek of wood in the
wind though. I never felt the wind on my
skin. When we pulled up to the meeting
spot, a small group of Elders waited for us.
Their faces were lined and expressionless except for the
oldest woman who seemed to hold the weight of the entire
reservation in her sunken eyes. She stepped forward.
Her voice firm, but quiet. You'll stay in the camper by the
Mesa. She said, gesturing toward the
barren expanse of desert Beyond The Village.
Stay inside after dark, keep to yourself.
Ryan shot. Me a look but I Shrugged A
camper on the edge of nowhere, didn't sound great, but I wasn't
about to argue. The drive to the camper was
short, but the farther we got from the village, the more
isolated I felt. By the time we parked the sun
was starting to dip behind the Horizon.
Painting the desert in deep Reds and purples.
The camper sat Alone dwarfed by the looming, shadow of the Mesa.
It wasn't much to look at faded paint, a busted screen door and
a set of uneven steps that creaked ominously as we climbed
inside. The inside wasn't any better.
It smelled, faintly of mildew and the overhead light
flickered. Like it was deciding whether to
work or not. A tiny table and two, rickety
chairs sat in one corner and a narrow.
Bed was crammed against the opposite wall.
Ryan, dropped his bag with a sigh.
This is cozy. He said his tone heavy with
sarcasm. I chuckled trying to keep things
light. Hey, at least it's got four
walls. That first night we settled in
early with no TV or Wi-Fi, there wasn't much else to do.
By the time, the last Light faded from the sky, we were both
in our sleeping bags, staring at the ceiling.
The silence was deafening. No crickets, no wind, nothing
just the occasional grown of the camper as it settled into the
cold desert night. I must have dozed off at some
point because the next thing I remember is waking up to a sound
a low rhythmic thud at first. I thought it was just my
imagination but then it came again louder.
This time, I sat up my heart pounding in my chest, Ryan.
I hissed. Did you hear that?
He groaned half asleep. Hear what?
Before I could answer the entire camper jolted, it felt like
someone or something had slammed into the side of it with full
force. Ryan shot up wide-eyed.
What the hell was that? He whispered the camper rocked
again harder this time. My stomach dropped, as I
realized it wasn't just shaking. It was moving being pushed. the
sound of heavy, scraping footsteps, surrounded us,
circling the camper, The walls grown under the pressure.
And I swear I heard something breathing deep and guttural just
outside the thin metal shell. Ryan scrambled out of his
sleeping bag and crouched under the table.
Get down, he hissed. I joined him gripping a flash
light. So tightly, my Knuckles, ache.
The rocking continued, violent and Relentless as if whatever
was out, there was testing the camper strength.
Shadows flickered through the tiny windows but I couldn't make
out anything distinct. Then came the whispering Lowe
and faint like a breeze carrying voices, just Out Of Reach.
It didn't sound like English or any language I'd ever heard. my
skin prickled as The Whispers grew louder, almost chanting,
but still impossible to understand Ryan's face was pale.
His eyes darting around the camper.
This isn't normal, man. This isn't right.
I didn't respond. I couldn't my heart was
hammering in my chest and my mouth felt dry as sandpaper.
The rocking stopped suddenly and the silence that followed was
worse. It felt alive pressing in on us
from all sides. We stayed under the table for
what felt like ours, barely daring to breathe.
Finally the first light of dawn crept Through the Windows
casting weak, gray beams across the camper.
The silence remained, but the oppressive weight in the air
began to lift. When we finally stepped outside
the ground around the camper was littered with tracks.
Not human tracks, not fully, and anyway, they looked like animal
prints but something about them was Wrong too, large too deep
and some of them ended abruptly as if whatever made them had
vanished Into Thin Air, Ryan stared at them.
His voice. Barely a whisper What the hell
is out here? I didn't have an answer but one
thing was clear. Whatever it was, it wasn't just
the desert Playing Tricks on us. By the third night, the fear had
settled into my bones. I hadn't slept more than a few
hours since we arrived and neither had Ryan during the day,
we tried to act normal making rounds in the village, but I
could see it in the way Ryan's hands shook when he held his
coffee cup or how he flinched at every stray noise.
I wasn't doing much better. Every shadow felt too long.
Every gust of wind carried. A sound that made my stomach
twists. That morning we'd found more
tracks around the camper. They crisscrossed the dirt like
something had been pacing circling.
The prints were bizarre, too. Large to belong to any normal
animal. And some were shaped, like,
hands long, bony fingers pressed into the dirt.
One track looked as though something had dragged its foot
leaving deep gouges in the ground.
Ryan wanted to leave. I couldn't blame him.
We're sitting ducks out here, man.
He said pacing, the small space inside, the camper whatever's
out there. It's messing with us.
I don't think it's just animals. I tried to sound calm rational.
We've got a job to do. We can't just leave.
Ryan stopped and glared at me. You think this is normal, you
think a coyote or a bear or whatever leaves that He jabbed a
finger toward the window or the edge of a claw.
Mark was visible on the Camper's side.
You're fooling yourself. If you think this is going to
stop. He wasn't wrong but I didn't
know what else to do. The Village Elders words.
Echoed in my head. Stay inside after dark, keep to
yourself. I hadn't taken it seriously then
but now it felt like a warning. I had been stupid to ignore.
That night the camper felt smaller than ever.
We sat in silence listening to The Faint creaks and groans of
the structures, settling into the Cool Desert Aire.
Ryan, Sat by the window holding a wrench, he'd found in one of
the drawers. It wasn't much, but I could tell
he fell better having something in his hands.
I had the flash light, the same one I had gripped like a
Lifeline two nights before. It didn't feel like enough.
The first sign of trouble came just passed midnight.
It was subtle at first, a faint shuffling, sound like footsteps,
dragging through the dirt. I sat up straining to listen and
the sound grew louder circling the camper.
Do you hear that? I whispered Ryan nodded his face
pale its back. The footstep stopped abruptly
replaced by a heavy scraping noise as though, something sharp
was dragging across the metal exterior of the camper, the
sound move methodically, starting at the back and
creeping toward the door, my chest tightened as a group
closer. Suddenly the entire camper
jolted throwing us off balance. The shaking was stronger than
before more. Deliberate.
Whatever was outside, wasn't just testing the structure.
It was trying to get in. The walls grown as the forcing
crease and the small table toppled over with a crash.
Get down, Ryan hissed, pulling me to the floor.
We huddled in the corner. The flash light beamed darting
wildly across the room as the camper rocked violently.
The sound of claws, scraping against metal was deafening and
underneath it. I swore I heard that whispering
again. Low guttural, an
incomprehensible. It wasn't just one voice.
It was a chorus layered and distorted like a broken radio.
Evan, what the hell is that? Ryan's voice cracked his rent
trembling in his hand? I didn't answer, I couldn't my
throat felt like it had closed up and all I could do was stare
at the door, waiting for it to burst.
Open the whispering, grew louder, more, insistent until it
felt like it was inside my head. I clamped my hands over my ears,
but it didn't help. And then just as suddenly as it
started, everything stopped. The whispering, the shaking, the
scraping, all of it, vanished, leaving behind an oppressive
silence that made my ears ring. Ryan and I stayed where we were
too afraid to move. Minutes passed, maybe hours
before we finally worked up the courage to look outside.
Slowly, I pushed open the door. My flash light casting, a thin
beam of light, onto the dirt. The tracks were everywhere.
Again, Chris Crossing each other in a chaotic pattern.
Some of them ended abruptly as though, whatever had made them
had simply vanished. I shown the flash light toward
the edge of the Mesa and for a split second, I thought I saw
something. Move a shape tall and thin with
glowing eyes, that reflected the light like an animals it
disappeared before. I could focus on it slipping
into the Shadows. Like smoke Ryan, grabbed my arm,
we have to go now. I didn't argue This Time by
morning, we were on the phone with our supervisor, begging to
be relocated. The Village Elder didn't seem
surprised when we told her we were leaving.
She just nodded and said, it's better this way.
But as we packed up the camper, I couldn't shake the feeling
that we were being watched. The air was too.
Still the silence too heavy. I glanced toward the Mesa one
last time, half expecting to see those glowing eyes staring back
at me. We left before Sundown the
tracks outside. The camper already being erased
by the shifting Desert, Wind. I told myself it was over that,
whatever was out, there would stay behind.
But deep down, I knew the truth. Months had passed since Ryan and
I left the reservation. I told myself, I'd moved on that
the nightmares would fade But deep down, I knew the truth.
What ever had stalked Us in that Barren?
Stretch of New Mexico, wasn't just some local Superstition.
It was real and I wasn't done running from it.
When the assignment came to pick up my new partner, Noah from the
airport, I hesitated. The route would take us back
through the edges of the reservation, the same place
where everything had started. The same place, I'd sworn never
to go near again. But I couldn't exactly say no,
not without explaining why. And who would believe me?
So, I shoved the unease down and hit the road.
I met Noah, just as the sun was dipping, below the Horizon
painting, the sky and streaks of orange and red.
He was younger than I expected with an easy smile that made him
seem like. He had no idea what he was
getting into. I envied his ignorance.
Before we left the supervisor, pulled us aside, his tone was
sharp, the kind of seriousness that makes your stomach.
Drop your driving through a dangerous area tonight.
He said no stops. I don't care how badly you need
a break. If you have to go do it now.
Noah laughed nervously. I'm fine.
Really? I'll just hold it.
The supervisors eyes darkened. I'm not joking.
There Are Rules out there. You stop.
You'll regret it. I didn't say a word.
I just climbed into the driver's seat and waited for Noah to
settle in. as we pulled onto the highway, I caught the supervisor
watching us through the rearview mirror, his face, a mask of
quiet dread the first half hour of the drive was uneventful, but
the tension in the car was palpable Noah tried to make
small talk asking questions about the job, the area.
But I barely heard him. My focus was on the road on the
ever encroaching Darkness. Every shadow felt too long.
Every flicker of movement, just outside the headlights, made my
pulse Quicken The reservations boundaries were marked only by a
rusted sign that flashed past in the Gloom.
I gripped the wheel tighter as we crossed into the no-man's
land of empty desert and Jagged Hills.
The road stretched on endlessly swallowed, by the night.
About 20 minutes in Noah shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Hey, he said his voice hesitant. I think I actually do need to
stop. My stomach dropped?
No, I said flatly were not stopping.
Come on, man, I really need to go.
He said a nervous laugh creeping into his voice.
It'll only take a second. Know, I snapped more forcefully.
This time. Hold it.
We're not stopping here. Noah frown, but didn't argue for
another 10 minutes, he squirmed in silence.
Before finally blurting out, I can't hold it anymore.
Just pull over, please. I hesitated my Knuckles white on
the Wheel. The road ahead was empty silent
except for the hum of the engine.
Against every Instinct screaming at me.
Not to I ease the car to a stop. Fine.
I said, through gritted teeth, but stay by the car, don't
wander. And if I tell you to get in, you
get in fast. Got it.
Noah said already, unbuckling his seatbelt.
He hopped out leaving the door open as he walked a few Paces
into the darkness. The second he was outside, the
are changed. It was subtle at first, a shift
in the wind, a sudden Stillness the distant hum of insects
stopped replaced by an oppressive suffocating silence.
My heart pounded in my chest. As I scan the darkness, the
headlights casting. Weak beams into the void.
Noah, I called out my voice tight.
Hurry up. Almost done.
He said his voice drifting back to me that I saw it movement in
the shadows, just beyond the reach of the headlights.
At first it looked like an animal a large hunched figures
slinking through the scrub but as it drew closer, its
shapeshifted, its limbs stretched on naturally its body
twisting in ways, no living things should move.
The figure stepped into the light and my blood turned to
ice. It was massive easily 7 feet
tall with the head of a wolf but the Torso of a man It's glowing.
Amber eyes locked onto me, unblinking the creature bared,
its teeth Jagged and too long. Its lips pulling back into
something that looked like a grin.
Noah, I screamed, slamming my hand on the horn, get in the car
now. He turned confused, but froze,
when he saw the creature for a second, he didn't move.
Then as if breaking out of a trance, he bolted back toward
the car. The thing lunge.
Its limbs moving too fast. Too erratic.
I reached across in yanked, Noah into the car, slamming the door
shut as the creatures Claus rake to cross the window leaving deep
Jagged grooves. I floored the gas, the tires
kicking up gravel as we tore down the road, the creature gave
Chase its distorted body loping, alongside the car on all fours
before Rising onto two legs. I glanced at the speedometer 70,
80 90 miles an hour and it was still there, it's glowing eyes
locked on us. Its mouth open in that horrific
toothy grin, Noah was screaming clutching the door handle like
it might save him. What is that thing?
What is it? I don't know.
I shouted my voice cracking just don't look at it.
The creature slammed into the side of the car.
Nearly sending us off the road. I gritted my teeth pushing the
car as fast as it would go for, what?
Felt like an eternity, it stayed with us.
It's Shadow flickering in and out of the headlights.
And then just as suddenly, as it appeared, it veered off into the
darkness. Vanishing between the hills, I
didn't slow down, not until we were miles away.
The safety of City Lights, finally breaking through the
horizon. Noah didn't say a word as we
pulled into the parking lot. He stepped out of the car
shaking and stared at the claw marks on the window.
What the hell? Did we just see?
He whispered. I didn't answer.
I didn't have one. All I could think about was the
supervisors. Warning no stops, you'll regret
it. And I did.
Because even as I stood there, my knees weak, I couldn't drop
the feeling that it wasn't over that those glowing eyes were
still out there waiting for me to slip up again.