It’s watching me. Right now. Outside of the window.
Even with the blinds shut, I know it’s there. It had peeked inside while they were open. When it isn’t around I can see it in my head because it’s something you can’t just forget about. It’s too awful.
I live in a nice town called Ferndale that has a lot of construction and real estate arising in the community, and the other day I decided to go for a late night bike ride. The dinner I made for me and my dog was wonderful and I had gotten a particularly large amount of laundry done which is rare for me, so I was in sort of a cheerful mood. The kind that makes you play out your impulses, mine just so happened to be riding my bike a little after midnight.
I’ve been really stressed from work lately. My bills are catching up and I’m working overtime to pay for it. The weather is clearing up too and I have wanted to be outside as much as possible lately. I haven’t even been able to walk my dog too much because of work. By the weekend, I’m too tired to move, having been basically locked indoors from work and go home to sleep. This past week I took off work one day and was able to take Scythe for his awaited walk. When the sun set, I still had a huge spike of energy and remembered that I still had a joint my co-worker gave me.
I don’t really smoke much and I’m not a guy that rides their bike often, but I enjoy a bike ride just as much as the next person would. I made the decision to throw a hoodie on, get on and go for a spin.
What was further inviting me to go for this bike ride, was the fact that there was a new catwalk that stretched over the highway, and the highway was under construction. I am really into the aesthetic of urban areas and was looking forward to being up there alone and away from life’s stresses. It would be nice to be outside without my dog for once as well. I love my big guy, but alone time is nice too.
There would be no cars, or anyone there and I could enjoy a few good minutes of a high view of the city, even just the surrounding area and gaze up at the moon and clouds peacefully. But I couldn’t be more wrong. There was something there.
Something I’ve never seen before.
I was making my way around the small forested area that bordered the end of my street. Turning left, I rode down the sidewalk that was lit by the high powered street lights and led to one of the catwalk entrances up.
The night breeze felt wonderful, like a caressing of mother nature herself, yet within those moments I felt a little unsettled because of the night sky. That sudden pull of terror of a night stalker, ready to lunge at you and stick you up for whatever you have in your pockets. Or a drunk, disheveled or angry person ready to attack you, forcing you off the bike. Or even a murderer lurking in the shadows.
None of those things came as I made it up the catwalk and I was eventually at the top staring down the long path that lay before me. The moon illuminating and casting shadows on the cement below from the iron bars that fenced the path.
It was up there where I felt more at ease as the view around me was nice. I slowly biked along taking it all in and took a deep breath. Once I got to the middle, I parked my kickstand up, lit up the joint and the next few minutes were nice. Enjoyable, even. With that, I decided to continue this journey and go the distance. I put out the smoke, turned the bike toward the opposite way I came and biked on.
The way the paths lead up and down were not a spiral, but almost in the directions a staircase would go. Side by side as each side ascends and descends further. The catwalk was pretty large and the surrounding area was littered with the city’s equipment. When you get down to the bottom of the catwalk, you’re immediately looking at the crater of a construction zone with the highway that’s being rebuilt.
But when I got to the final turn and on to the sidewalk leading to another area, I slammed on the breaks.
The tires squealed and the feet I saw that made me stop were dragged behind the catwalks support pillar and out of view.
At first, I thought it was a drunk person moving fast behind the pillar in the dim lights. But the feet were in the position of someone laying on their back. The area in front of me where they were pulled in had a large garbage bin with various construction equipment left out around the area. To my right was the empty highway and no homes or any human life until you got over the catwalk.. Dirt and debris littered the area, and I heard something croak from behind where the feet were dragged.
I was frozen in confusion and horror, a cold wave of fear came with the breeze and a horrible smell wafted up into my nostrils. I gagged. Then very slowly.. I backed away, my bike had the tik noise the freewheel makes.
Something then came out into view very deliberately. It was almost too dark to see with the very dim orange glow of the street lights and the sunken landscape making things look like a bad dream, but the thing I was now looking at was absolutely real. It wasn’t something even my wildest dreams could conjure up. It was an absolute monstrosity.
The thing looked like a dog with a tumor on its snout. Its dark, mangy hair led down past its head like some kind of twisted animal. The large black pupils were almost as beady as dolls eyes and they darted around. It looked short, or at least in a crouching position.
What I saw next will haunt my memories for the rest of my days on this planet. The creature had its strange and misshapen mouth around a mans head. It was gnawing at the top with blood spilling from sharp teeth just above his lifeless eyes that were rolled in the back of his head.
The creatures eyes shot up staring at the sky for a moment. Our gaze then met and very suddenly and sniffed the air like a predator getting scent of its prey.
It’s eyes widened.
I wasted no time I had no other choice but to get on my bike and just go. I quickly tunred 90 degrees, running with the bike and got on giving myself some momentum. I made it out and I turned my back to it, but just as I got to the path leading back up.. I heard words from below that made me almost lose control of my bladder.
“I.. find ..you.”
The voice was warbling and sounded like an ill person. I did not look back. I just rode home in a panicked frenzy. I wanted to forget I even saw that and possibly move out of the country.
I got home and locked all of my doors and windows. I remember going towards the kitchen to see if I had any booze or beer and thankfully I had both. I drank enough to calm my nerves and to gather myself to be less shaken to the core from that thing. I’ve heard about Skinwalkers, mimics and a variety of creatures, but this seemed more like a dogman. That’s the only way I can describe it. How it spoke, is way too much for me to think about.
I live alone but have a husky, Scythe, and he was waiting for me with his favorite toy near the couch. I pet him and tried saying he was a good boy, but I was so scared and out of breath that nonsense just came out. He whimpered and moved away from me..
He ran into my room and the house grew quiet. Which was very unsettling. The only weapons I have are the kitchen knives and a small pocket knife which I had with me. I stood in the front room for a while in the dark, because I was too petrified of even making the slightest noise or doing anything that might attract attention. That thing said.. well it said it would find me.
Needless to say, sleep was not on the list for things to do.. but at some point I did end up falling asleep on the couch gripping the pocket knife.. All night I kept thinking I heard something outside.. Moving around.. Sniffing at my windows.
At around noon I was snapped awake by the sound of sirens outside, I flung the knife around screaming. Nothing was there. Just my dog next to me who woke up just as suddenly. Scythe grunted and went back to sleep. I chuckled and just sat there for the better part of twenty minutes, still not wanting to move.. after a while, I wanted to eat. I made a quick meal and decided that I would take a peek out of the windows.. if I could move the blind just a little, then maybe it wouldn’t notice.. nothing was there but my back yard and the street in front.
Every time I went to turn a corner I’d expect to see that thing in my house but after some convincing that it didn’t find me.. yet, I finally pocketed the knife and sat down on the couch. I also became aware of the fact that the sirens outside did not stop. It was actually louder now and close, like near my house. They finally stopped after they were close enough for my dog to become concerned.
The TV.
I turned it on to the news. There were a few segments on politics, schools and whatever food was to be featured for some cooking show.. then a commercial.. Maybe it was in my head, I thought. Maybe I was just too stoned and imagined that.
Then came the flashing headline of breaking news. Just five blocks away from my house under the catwalk was a body. They described that it was unidentifiable. The cameras only caught glimpses of the body bag being hauled away.
I turned the TV off..
I was now fully convinced that what I saw was real and after me. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.. With no other solid ideas, I went online and looked shit up obsessively, only to find the next creepy urban legend or movie monster you’d find anywhere else online, but I wasn’t really convinced. I had never seen or heard anything like this before. The dogman. I felt like I was at a dead end and now a creature from my nightmares was hunting me.
There was a knock on my door about an hour later. Scythe growled. “Quiet boy.” I said softly but as stern as I could. He listened.
Knocking again, heavier.
“I need you to open up, this is the County Sherrif!” The burly voice commanded.
I quickly shot up. Why were the cops here? Is it about.. the man? It’s too coincidental to not be about what just happened. Maybe they were asking people about it? I made my way to the door.. but I slowed my pace when I thought to myself about all the crap I read online obsessively. How some of those things can mimic someone’s voice, I didn’t know what to believe. I was almost too scared to look through my door’s peephole, but when I did there were only two police officers there. Seeing two people there reassured me enough to open the door, quickly thinking that it couldn’t possibly mimic a Sheriff and a deputy at the same time.. and wear both of their clothes.
When I opened the door, the biggest one on the right immediately stepped forward.
“Hello sir, may we come inside and.. have a little chit chat?”
At this point, I wasn’t really sure what to do, so I let them both in.. Maybe they could help. I offered them both water bottles and they both quickly declined then motioned for me to sit down in the living room. The big one sat across from me and the other stood off to the side.
“I’m Sheriff Donnely. Listen up, I’m gonna cut to the chase here. We’ve picked up some footage from city surveillance. Your bike matches the description of the one we saw near a crime scene. I walked past your house because we are canvassing the area.. and noticed the bike.. in the front yard..”
He paused then leaned closer
“It seems that in the footage you stopped abruptly and turned around to leave..” He paused again. “Did you see something, son?” He finally asked.
“Well.. I.. uh..” I stammered out. There was no point in keeping quiet. “I saw someone’s legs moving.. I just got a little weirded out and took off..” I said.
The Sheriff took a deep breath in. “Are you sure that’s all you saw? Why wouldn’t you call us then?” He asked.
“I figured it was a drunk guy getting.. mugged or something plus I didn’t have my phone with me.. all I saw were legs. I didn’t feel safe anymore and took off..”
I didn’t completely lie. I was just unwilling to state that a dogman had killed that person and was now after me.
He sighed.
“As a citizen, it is your duty to report any suspicious activity to local police. I’m sorry son, but I’m going to have to keep you in mind if anything else comes up. You’re off the hook for now, but I’ll be stopping by soon.” He looked over at the deputy and nodded. The deputy pulled out a notepad and pen. “We already got your address, whats your name and phone number?”
I gave him my details and they left. Staring at me and glancing over to me the whole way out until they were out of view and down the street. This made me feel both better and worse as I could be a potential suspect, but also having the thought of them probably patrolling the area. Maybe they would get reports of creatures creeping them out.
I doubted that would even happen though.
At about 9:30 PM, I decided to try drinking some nyquil, seeking to sleep without having my thoughts run wild. The weather said there would be heavy rain around one in the morning so, that also reassured me enough to think that it was going to be a little more relaxing as the thought of rain was calming to me and maybe that thing doesn’t operate in the rain.
Dogs don’t like to get stuck in the rain, I thought.. I went to bed and drifted off, Scythe at my side.
I don’t know what time it was, but it was raining and I had to pee and I was groggy as hell from the Nyquil. I hadn’t noticed at the time, but Scythe was gone when I got back into my room. He normally doesn’t leave my side unless something is going on. I sat down on my bed hearing him whine in the hall.
“Scythe, what is it buddy?” I groggily asked him. Then I immediately realized the situation. I almost covered my mouth.
Scythe walked into view and whimpered again. He looked at me and then at the window to my right. He whined again..
There were flashes of thunder and downpour became a lot less calming but far more horrifying as I noticed my blinds weren’t turned to full shade. I looked around in my room and found my pocket knife, then crept closer to the window. There was another flash and with it, I noticed something wrong.
It was right there. Outside of my window. The flash was brief but I got a good look at it. It was hunched on all fours, sniffing around the bottom part of my window. It looked like a large sick and shaved animal, but the drenched hair that matted down to its spine told me it was that thing I saw.
The limbs were elongated but bent at an unnatural angle, resembling a sort of predator stance searching for its victims scent.
Very slowly.. I crept closer to the twisting handle, trying to not look out there and just close the blinds all the way so it wouldn’t see me. It was still on the ground, doing something. There was total darkness at one point, and I slowly turned my head as the blinds were about to be closed. The lightning flashed again and I nearly collapsed when it was on two legs now. Despite the rain It looked like it was sniffing the air.
Scythe barked and a loud roar followed by a bang from the other side jolted me into panic. It slammed into the house and it shook the room. I was so scared that I couldn’t move my body. Scythe barked again and growled at me, further pulling me out of it. I grabbed my phone and keys as quickly as I could and grabbed some clothes from my dirty hamper.. it slammed into the house again and I bolted out of the room with Scythe, slamming the door behind me.
“I.. FOUND.. YOU!”
I stood there for a moment in pure disbelief and the glass shattered. I wasted no more time and ran for my front door and to my car with my dog.. We got out into the rain and I did not care anymore if that thing heard me, I had to try and escape with my dog! We got in the car, I started it then peeled the hell out of there.
I didn’t look back and called the police right away. I told them everything.. they couldn’t deny me then. They said they would send people and I told them I was going to get a room far, far away and that I won’t be going back there unless police escorted me. I gave them my address and hung up.
I booked a room almost 200 miles away and I convinced the owner that my dog needed to be with me and that I was attacked by an intruder. The guy was understanding and gave me the “nicest room” he had. It was a Motel 6 so I didn’t expect anything spectacular and I didn’t care.. just as long as I was away from that thing.
I wish I could say that this story has a happy ending.. but it doesn’t. The reason why I decided to write this because Scythe began whining again and I heard it from outside the door in the hotel room.
Then around to the window.. the blinds were open slightly.. it got a good look inside.. and I got a good look at it.. I didn’t sleep at all.. it seems to operate at night, because when the sun comes out it’s gone.
I’ve only been home once and that was to file a police report about an intruder who’s description isn’t even close to what it actually was. The police are all convinced it’s some psycho dressing up in a Halloween costume trying to murder people.
The thing was, when they investigated my window, someone said they found hair in some of the glass.. they assumed it to be my dogs, because it didn’t match any DNA analysis when they checked. I was asked if I wanted to be taken into protective custody and I did for a few weeks. They said they would bring “specialists” to investigate my house.
Everything seemed to calm down, but a week into my protection, there were more victims. The woman and her son were found torn apart in a baseball field.. The police have told me that it would be a good idea to move and I did. The whole thing is under investigation, still being written off as a killer, but the truth is still following me.
It hasn’t done it yet, but I know that my horrible demise will come in the dark hours of night. Maybe its just taunting me. Because occasionally, in the dead still night and even in my new rental.. hundreds of miles away from where I first saw it.. over and over.. I hear that twisted voice repeat the words
“I eat you.”