I messed with something I shouldn’t have, and now it’s ruining my life
I can’t remember exactly when everything started to happen. If I had to pinpoint it I guess it would have started around the camping trip. Camping has always been a tradition for me and my mates. Ever since we first became friends we’ve set some time once a month, to head up to our favorite spot, camp, drink, and have a total blast. The drive-up was pretty normal. We were all stoked to be back. When I finally turned on the driveway to our spot I noticed something strange. There were a variety of dead animals littering the ground. I know it’s cliché and we should’ve left immediately but we as a people are very critical of our memories. Would you stop doing something that you look forward to every month over some dead animals in a forest? And the weirdest part was there wasn’t a single sound in the forest. Not a single bird or chime of a bug. No wind either, it was like the whole place was dead or something. I’m not stupid, or at least I thought I wasn’t. When the forest is silent like this, it means only one thing. There’s a predator that’s lurking around. I called my mates who were a little ways behind and told them the situation. Once Again we loved camping, so it was a no-brainer to continue our tradition, but as a precaution, we agreed to keep our guns on our persons.
When we finally arrived at the site, we were dumbfounded. The place was trashed. Ripped-up paper and plastic were everywhere. Clothing as well. And in the dead middle, was this weird freaking shrine. Burned Candles were placed on the ground around this log. And on the log sat this mid-sized statue. Next to the statue were 4 homemade creepy dream catchers. It was like someone was out here worshiping this thing. I was beyond mad. This was our property someone messed with. And we had lived our whole life growing up here. No way I was letting someone trash this place and put this stupid thing here. I picked up a thick branch and smashed it all to bits. I grabbed all the trash, put it into a pile, and lit that crap all on fire. Right, when the fire was lit I noticed the forest was back with its busy noises. The birds were chirping and the bugs were making their normal noise. Even the wind was back.
Later that night we had forgotten all about the creepy shrine and the trash. We were mid-way through our beers and smores when we heard a loud metallic scratch coming from where we parked the cars. Right after that all of our car alarms went off. We loaded our rifles and went to check it out. All of our tires were slashed if you can even call them tires. They were ripped so badly that it was just a big mess of rubber. There were also deep slashes on the sides of the trucks. And then The forest was back quiet again. We luckily had enough service to contact the ranger’s office. During the call, there was a rustle to our left. With the combined anxiety and beer, we didn’t take a chance. Each of us fired off 6 bullets. Any bear or big cat would have, at the very least run off right? This thing was still moving around “Bro what Is that”? I asked. A second later I heard my voice coming where we shot at, “bro what is that”? We all looked in terror at each other. How is this possible? My voice came from the forest, but I was standing by the trucks with my friends. That’s impossible. This thing kept repeating the things I had spoken all night in my exact voice.
We didn’t care about the trucks at this point as we all ran down the driveway. A couple of minutes later and the forest noise was back. We were in the clear. I had never been so happy to hear a cricket in my life. We later ran into some rangers and we got a lift home. Of course, we didn’t mention the voice but we told them about the animal and what it did to our car. They told us it was most likely a massive ticked-off bear. Hmm if they only knew.
A couple of days later some “stuff” started to happen. Knocks at my doors and windows at odd hours of the night persisted for about a week. Totally normal right? I mean probably a bunch of teenagers playing a dumb prank. I put this to the back of my head and reassured myself that they would eventually get bored. A couple of days later, and I threw that idea completely out the window. Covering the ground was A mixture of dead animals. What the heck, I thought. No teenager would take it this far. I knew whatever that thing from the mountain, had followed me. I went out and purchased a camera system and hooked it up. That night I sat in my living room holding my rifle acting as if it would even do anything. I heard a hard knock on the door. When I looked out I could see a figure standing on the pathway. It was hard to see as it was dark but I knew it was that thing from the mountain. In the same voice, it called out to me. “Hey, could you open the door, it’s freezing out here”. What the heck? What is this and what does it want? “Get the hell away from me”! I yelled. “Get the hell away from me!” It answered back, still in my voice. All of my courage drained at that moment. I’m not scared to admit it, I was crying as I phoned the police. By the time the police arrived, it was of course gone. Luckily I still had the camera though. I gave them the footage they said they would look into it.
In the following weeks, I started to notice the thing had started to follow me. Out of the corner of my eyes, I would notice a figure wearing a hood, and as soon as I turned my head to look at it, it disappeared. I know I didn’t imagine it. And I also knew it wouldn’t hide for much longer as it was starting to get bold, and I was right. One night I was walking to my car and as I was about to get in I was pushed hard to the ground. Looking down at me In the same voice it calmly said: “let’s see how far we take this game”. “Wait, Please,” I said in fear “leave me alone, I didn’t mean to mess with you”. “ We’re just getting started”. It whispered back to me. When it took off its hood I couldn’t believe it. It was me. It looked exactly like me. Same eyes and mouth, same scar on my left cheek, and same hair. It was like looking into a mirror. And to top it off, it already had my voice. “I’ll see you around”. It said as it gave me a wink and walked away.
The next day I knew something was wrong when I woke up to see more than 100 notifications on my phone. This thing had made videos with my full name saying awful things. Racial slurs, and how I was going to shoot up buildings. Videos of me saying I hated my family and how I wanted to kill all my friends and much more. Remember, It looked and sounded exactly like me plus it used my real name. All the notifications were from my family and friends outraged as to what the thing had said, thinking it was me. There was this girl I liked and we had been seeing each other for a little. She stated I had said disgusting and hateful things about her all morning and that we we’re done together. What was I even supposed to say? Something has taken my face and voice and is ruining my life. Later on in the day, I received a text, not from social media, but from my bank saying my transaction was complete. “No freaking ‘way’’ I whispered. It had emptied my whole bank account. I quickly called and told them that I did not make this transaction but they told me that I walked in and did it. While on the phone with the bank I heard some commotion outside. Expecting to see the figure I had grown to hate, I looked outside the window. What seemed to be the whole police force surrounded my house, with their guns drawn. I was instructed to step out slowly and lay on the ground with my hands on my head. And I was arrested on the spot. I was told I was being charged with robbery and 3 murder charges.
It took a little for the details to come out but they said I walked into a store, robbed the place, and shot up the store before fleeing. In total three people were killed and 4 people were in critical condition. I told my lawyer that I didn’t own that type of firearm and they made a mistake. He told me They found the money from the bank transaction and the amount that was stolen. Plus the gun that was used in the crime was stashed in my shed. I told him about the dead animals. “That’s not normal”? I asked “is it ‘’? “They all had knife marks on their body” he answered. “And guess what they found in your trash can”. “A knife matching the animal’s blood”. “What about my friends”? I asked. “They were all there”. “They were brought in for questing”. He said with a cold face and tone. “And, What did they say”? I asked, practically falling off my chair. “They said no voices were coming from the woods, and that it was just a big bear”. “What, no we all heard it.” “WHAT ABOUT THE CAMERAS” I screamed. “I gave the cameras to the police, It would show the figure”. My lawyer shook his head. “From the view we got, there was no one in sight”. “Plus the cameras picked up no sound”. My lawyer told me I was screwed and that three witnesses saw my face. What was posted on social media that morning didn’t help me either. On the first day of court, I immediately was charged with grand robbery, three accounts of murder, and 4 accounts of attempted murder with more charges on the side.
In total, I was given five life sentences with no chance of parole. I had to be placed in isolation because of my so-called dangerous behavior and I was forced to talk with a psychiatrist. She of course told me it was all in my head. she tried to force me to believe that there was no shapeshifting creature that had ruined my life and that I had a bad mental breakdown. She said it was normal behavior to blame someone else for what I have done. I don’t know who to trust. I think the psychiatrist is the shapeshifter and is trying to ruin my mental mind. It probably messed with my friends too. Because we all heard the voice. They can’t lie to me anymore.
I’m staring at the makeshift noose I tied as I type this. I’m done with the pain this thing caused me. In only a couple of weeks, this thing has managed to ruin any relationship I had with my friends and family, emptied all my funds, and managed to commit a crime and blame it all on me. I’m not giving this thing the fun and satisfaction of its continuous attempts to ruin me.