Have you ever looked evil in the eyes? What if those eyes were all too familiar. My name is Desmond and this is my story.
Believe it or don’t, I really don’t care. I just can’t keep it in my head any longer.
This story begins as many do… with one stupid choice. My friend Carlee had heard of a campsite in Arizona rumored to house something supernatural. I won’t give the name of the location in case anyone gets the bright idea of going there. Carlee was nice, but lacked common sense so when she told me that she had been dared to spend the night there by her sister, I tried talking her out of it. I’ve always believed there are things out there that we don’t understand. What I don’t believe in is tempting fate and I felt that that was exactly what she was doing.
Carlee brushed me off and that’s when I made the one stupid decision… I offered to go with her. I know how that sounds but I actually had a plan. Carlee hates driving so I googled camping locations in the same fifty miles. I told Carlee I would drive and planned on taking her to a different location. I was just trying to keep her out of trouble.
We were half way there when I stopped at the rest stop. My plan was working perfectly. Carlee was on her way to a peaceful, boring campsite and I felt I had done something good. I finished my business and walked out of the restroom.
I never noticed the rock half popping out of the dusty ground. I hit it with my foot, losing my balance. I stumbled and tried to catch myself, semi-succeeding as I didn’t hit the ground. What I did do was land awkwardly on my right foot causing my ankle to roll. Damn if that didn’t hurt.
It clearly wasn’t broken but it was painful to put pressure on. I limped back to the SUV. Carlee asked if I was okay and offered to take me to the hospital but I knew nothing was broken. What I should have done was tell her we needed to turn back around but I didn’t. I was feeling guilty for lying to her and didn’t want to disappoint her more. I told her I was fine.
Unfortunately Carlee demanded to drive so I could rest my leg. She put the address in her GPS and we were off. My plan was ruined. What I should have done was refused to go but I knew if I did that I would have to tell the truth and I didn’t want to risk causing issues in our friendship. On we went.
It took us a couple more hours but we got there. There were no other campers in sight.
‘Great sign!“ I thought to myself. I pondered on how my dumb ass was here. I took a calming breath. Just because a place is rumored to be a certain way doesn’t mean it actually is that way. Maybe I was getting myself upset for nothing.
As I hobbled out of the SUV, I felt a little silly for my paranoia. The place seemed like a regularly valley. It was hot but there was a light breeze.
We put up our tents a few yards away from each other. We found an old fire pit to pitch next to. We knew it was going to be cold when the sun went down.
The next few hours were spent with laughter as we shared stories between each other. We roasted hotdogs on a roaring fire as the sky darkened.
It was ten at night and not a single abnormal thing had happened. This was turning out to be just a fun camping trip. Around midnight we went to our perspective tents and drifted to sleep. Carlee was disappointed that nothing had happened. I was relieved.
I was woken up by the sound of Carlee whispering my name as she forced her way into my tent. I looked at my phone. 3AM: the witching hour. Carlee looked frazzled as she began to ramble.
“There’s something out there. I heard this, this howling! I don’t know how you slept through it.” She said in a panic.
I was immediately awake and was going to peek out of the tent when she stopped me.
“No! What if it sees us!”
I took a deep breathe. “We need to get to the car. Where are the keys?” I asked.
“In my tent.” She whimpered. This was bad.
“Okay, I can’t run with my leg so I’ll jump out and make a distraction. I have a knife. It will have to do. You run to the tent and grab the keys. Ready?”
She nodded. Just as I was leaving the flap I heard her say “thanks Derek.”
Derek? I would have given her a look if it wasn’t for the sight that met my eyes.
The other tent was in shambles. Clothes were thrown about the campsite. That’s not what scared me. There was blood. Too much for a human to lose and survive.
Something told me to turn around. I watched as Carlee left my tent. Her gate was different and she had a chilling smile on her face.
“You called me Derek.” I said, a chill going up my spine.
“… I forgot what she called you.”
My mouth was dry as whatever this thing was advanced. I was going to die.
… No, no I wasn’t. I grabbed the knife and stabbed at the top of ‘Carlee’s’ stomach. There was a minor wince of pain that turned into a shriek as I pulled the knife down all the way to her pelvis.
A black goo began spilling from her. It was too dark to be blood. I pulled the knife up again but this time she pushed me with an inhuman strength. I hit my head on a rock. The last thing I saw was this thing limping away from the campsite. Everything went black.
That was three months ago. The DNA of the blood matched Carlee’s. This was now a murder investigation… and guess who there number one suspect is?
I’ll probably get off on insanity. I almost don’t care. I have too many questions now. The first one: did it die? God, I hope so.
And my second question; the one that really gets me. If I saw Carlee when it attacked, who did she see before she died?