This happened a little over 7 years ago. Back then, I was just a stupid teen who did shit to make myself look better than I am. That’s how I ended up getting lost in the woods. The town I live in isn’t big but it isn’t small either. It’s a mountain town and is surrounded by miles and miles of forests. The woods themselves have had many rumors and tales that surround them.
One such rumor is that back in the late 1800s, a murderer killed his victims there but it was never confirmed. Another rumor was that there was a werewolf that lived in the woods. Regardless of the rumors, over the years people from town had gone missing in the woods. Some were found and some weren’t. Most of those found were found dead. As a teen, my friends and I thought it would be a smart idea to do a test of courage in the woods.
Not too bad, right? Well what I wasn’t expecting was that my friends would use the ‘test of courage’ to prank me and leave me deep in the forest, alone. Some friends they were but I guess that is to be expected from teenagers. Anyways, they promised that some would wear blindfolds and be led in the forest by the others and then left there to find their way out together. It was just me who was left in the forest.
At the time, I cursed them and kind of just laughed off the whole thing. But as the day grew longer and the forest got darker, I soon didn’t think it was funny. I had never had a good sense of direction. The best I could do was navigate which way was east and west because of the sun, but it was now dark. Yeah, I know; I live in a mountain town but can’t navigate through the woods.
It would’ve been much easier if it was daytime, but it was night and every little sound put me on edge. I had eventually fallen asleep sitting against a tree. My sleep was mostly restless until I heard the sounds of something massive moving deeper in the forest. It wasn’t shake the ground massive, but it was massive enough to make noise.
This quickly brought me back to my senses as I got up and ran in the opposite direction of the noise. I ran and ran until I got to the river. I couldn’t swim across due to the current so I just stayed near the river edge. I could no longer hear those sounds so I relaxed a bit. I stayed by the river until morning.
Normally most people follow the river to find some form of civilization but the river near my town didn’t come anywhere near the town. I knew I had ended up running deeper into the woods. I was thirsty but didn’t want to take the chance of drinking contaminated water so I decided to suffer. I knew I had at least 3 days to go without water. After that my chance of survival was slim.
By now, I was seriously cursing my friends. I worked my way back the way I had run to hopefully find the town. It was easier now that it was daytime and I had thought I was doing pretty good. Despite the fact that I was tired and thirsty I felt in a little better spirits. By about mid-day I had to stop for a break.
Exhaustion was catching up to me fast. I was also still on edge about whatever had made that noise last night. A little after dusk it began to rain. I stopped to take cover under some trees. It also provided me some time to take a rest. That was until I heard the same noise as last night
It sounded much closer than it had last night and it was getting closer. I could almost make out the sound of feet hitting against the ground as whatever it was ran towards me. I took off running hoping that it wouldn’t catch me. I didn’t anticipate a hill and tripped and slid down it. I hit a few trees on the way down, receiving many cuts.
I finally got to the bottom and hit my head hard. I was dazed and disoriented. I knew my head was bleeding, I could smell my blood. I could hear whatever was chasing me. It was sliding down the hill as well. Even in the rain, I could hear it growling and snarling. Was it a wolf?
I struggled up, fighting against my pounding head and aching body. I continued to run. I could tell that it was gaining ground on me. It was just a matter of time before it caught up. I just hoped I was running in a way that would lead me to the town or a road. The rain had finally stopped but I still slipped on the mud as I ran.
It was still chasing me. I could hear it growling and snarling as it’s massive feet slipped against the mud. I saw a pair of headlights and the road. I rejoiced. I had finally gotten to a road. Despite my protesting legs, I tried to pick up my speed but failed and instead slipped. I slid all the way to the road.
I rolled over and saw the massive beast that had been chasing after me. It was a werewolf. Or what you could call a werewolf. It was massive in size, much bigger than any body builder. The car was getting closer. I got up and ran out into the road to be seen. The car slammed on breaks and fish-tailed a bit before stopping.
The driver got out, and came to me. It was a police officer.
“Please, help me,” I said as I shivered
We heard the werewolf and the officer pulled out his gun. It came right at us and he shot it. It let out a howl and staggered a bit. The cop continued to shoot it until it ran off. After that he got me in his car and took me to the hospital. To keep things peaceful he had me promise not to tell a word of what I saw.
At the hospital, despite the questions, I simply said I got lost and fell down a hill. It wasn’t a lie but I didn’t tell the full truth. After what I witnessed I can understand why the cop didn’t want me to tell anyone. If people knew what I had seen in those woods, it would cause a town-wide panic. Even those that wouldn’t believe me would still be affected by the panic and fear of those that did.
All I was left with was the thoughts of if the town officials knew of what was in those woods? If so, why don’t they close off the woods so no one could enter them? While I couldn’t tell the townspeople what I saw, I figured I could tell you all. I don’t really care if you believe me or not. Well actually, it might be better if you didn’t believe and not let something like this cloud your mind.
I have since moved from that town. It’s probably been about 3 years since I moved. But in those 4 years that I had to stay, I lived in fear. My friends didn’t understand why I cut them off and didn’t know why I was so angry with them. If they hadn’t pulled that prank, that probably wouldn’t have happened. But I am partially to blame since I agreed with the test of courage.
Anyways, stay safe out there people. And don’t make any dumb decisions that could endanger your life like my friends and I did.