This true story took place in a small Georgia town back when I was 14 years old (19 years ago).
Growing up my family lived in the middle class/lower middle class part of town. My favorite aunt on my mothers side loved about a 7 minute walk away from us. Each day after school, I would go to her house and just hang with her. (though she was my aunt I never really referred to her as that. I always called her by her first name. She was the cool aunt in the family for sure. Gwen (my aunt would always catch me up on the neighborhood gossip every time I came over. So one day we were outside my aunt was pointing at something and I looked and, it was this old man who was tall, lanky, very wrinkled skin. He wore a hat that resembled a fishing hat just with a feather in it. He had on causal dark pants, a dingy yellow collar shirt with stripes and black suspenders.
“Marie? My aunt said” “ You better watch out for that man right there”. I asked, “what’s for? Is something wrong with him”? My aunt replied, “Yeah something is very wrong with him. He’s always outside looking at the trees talking to them. Then at night you can hear him out there hollering”. “Well Gwen, I said”. “He looks very old so maybe he just has some dementia or he’s one of those old people who talk to themselves.” “I don’t know. Maybe, said Gwen.” To be fair guys, I really thought he had dementia and all that stuff. I mean hey, the guy looked pretty harmless to me.
I used to get off the busy stop by my aunts home sometime and would have to pass his house sometime. This particular day I saw him, he looked like he was scared to death and I learned why. I literally saw my aunt over there talking to him actually trying to calm him down. “Come on now Mr Clifford, everything is alright. You got too hot that’s all. The heat makes you see things sometimes”. I heard him reply back to her saying, “ I know what I saw! I see it everyday. They in the trees and they want me. I know they do”. I interjected out of curiosity.
“Um sir, Hi. Im Marie. You seem troubled. What is it that you see”? He looked at me and his eyes were, red, teary eyes and black. “Young lady, I’ve got a debt I gotta pay. That’s why they be after me”. He started stammering and said, “If you see them, don’t look at them. Ju—- rrrrunn. Dddd—-don’t look back no matter what”. My aunt spoke up, “My Clifford you gonna be fine. Just go in the house and lay down”. She pulled my arm and walked away. “Didn’t I tell you to not talk to him and to walk away”? I said, “Yeah but you said that—-“. She cut me off mid sentence”. “I know what I said Marie. Go in the house and do that homework so you can leave early”.
During this time it got dark around 5-5:30. I feel asleep doing my homework. My aunt was in the bath so I just hollered out, “ Hey I’m gonna lock the door. I’m gone home”. She replied, “Alright baby be safe”. As I started to leave I looked over at mr Clifford’s house, so decided I would go check on him at least. When I knocked in his door he answered it with a shotgun. “what you want girl”? Me looking at the gun then him then back at that gun “Sir I actually wanted to check on you, you seemed so afraid earlier”. he pulled me in the house this man had like 12 locks on the door and bars on his windows.
“Sit down“. He said. “ Back in my day I did a lot of mean things to people. I hurt a lot of people because they were a different race from me. Someone of your race (African American) it was ignorant, I know. I followed the wrong crowd of people and ended up doing a lot of hateful things. I hurt somebody so bad they left the earth. But what I didn’t know was this persons family did the dark stuff. (He’s referring to roots/black magic at this point). Everybody that was involved has been mysteriously dead or went missing. Now every night I see the persons face in the trees. He looks like the devil, like a monster. Along with 3 others. Every night they in the trees trying to get me. To be honest I’m scared and probably deserve this. I tried to apologize but it got worse. Just by you being here makes you in danger”.
At this point I believed him but was not to sure of the “things in the tree” as he called them. But boy would I find out. so I left his house and walked on my way home. The streets were dark and quiet ( I don’t think I could ever think of a time when it was this dark and quiet which was eerie) as I proceeded to walk, I heard this rustling in the trees and it was a lot of trees.
Every time I walked I heard it move. Every time I stopped, it stopped. If I went faster it went faster. If I went slow it went slow. I’m only about 4 mins from my house, but it feels like eternity. I started to hear voices that I knew were not of this world coming from the trees. I heard this cackling and screeching in between it all. But I made the mistake of looking up at the trees as I was told not to. And what I saw will haunt me (still does) for the rest of my life.
When I looked up I made eye contact with it or them or whatever it was. The eyes were like a burnt orange red color, and the teeth were all sharp. It jumped out the tree. It was something like a man but it looked like a bird or something (that’s the best way I can describe it) it had these chains wrapped around it with a ball like a ball and chain and it started to chase me as the other ones were in the tree running. I tripped in the driveway of my home and I flipped over to look behind me in the process. It took the ball and chain and through it at me and it caught my leg and literally tried to take me away by dragging (this chain with the ball had these spike like things on it) I still have the scar on my left knee from it.
It must have picked up something it the atmosphere because it backed up and left. And went back that way towards Clifford’s house. I never told my parents what happened. I told them I got caught on bob wire and cut myself. I stayed out of school two days. One of those days I went to my aunts and there was nothing but police and emt and the corner at Clifford’s house. I asked my aunt what was going on.? “Marie, they found Clifford dead early this morning”. “What happened”? I asked. “I don’t know. His home health nurse come in and found him dead with his eyes and tongue cut out”. I got sick to my stomach hearing that.
I walked away to catch my breath and I looked up and saw these 3 women this is what I heard them same. “The work is done. Father and nem can finally rest”. The lady came up towards me and said, “You be careful little girl. The trees have no secrets. What you do in life wrong can come back on you in the most painful ways”. I turned my face a way for literally a second and they were gone.
I know this is going to be hard to believe and honestly I didn’t want to believe it. This is why I don’t look in the trees at night and haven’t in years.