We’d been travelling along California’s coastline, me and my wife, wanting to expose our 5 month old child to the world’s natural beauty. 2 hours in, we reached a beach. Never in my life had I wanted to hit reverse so fast. Something was not right here.
The sky was completely matted with grey, except for the tiny cracks of blue that were trying to escape out of it. The sand was black, and this was not a location known for having sand rich in iron. The strangest part though, was the water; it looked like a pit into hell. Simply a void of black, it looked nothing like the sea. This blackness carried on as far as both my eyes could see. I asked my wife at the back of the van with our child to look for a lodge nearby; we’d run low on fuel, and needed to recharge on it before we could hightail it the fuck out of there. The image of that sea had been imprinted onto my frontal cortex.
“James, we need diapers!” my wife yelled from our bedroom. It had been an hour since I’d seen that horrific thing that had probably once been a beach just like any other. Stupidly, in our excitement and haste to get going, we’d forgotten to pack diapers, for our child, so I was now heading to the grocery store to replenish our supply.
For a place in the middle of nowhere, this store was rather large; I was impressed. I strolled into the baby aisle, and picked out what I needed, well rather, my child. Suddenly, I remembered we didn’t really have much food either, just a bunch of cheeto packets as we hadn’t exactly been thinking very long term about this. I decided pasta was on tonight’s menu, starting with tomatoes. On my way to the vegetables, I stepped on some bright red tomato juice, some of it splashing onto my jeans. It stained. I swore under my breath, walking forwards, and that’s when I saw it; a bald person.
Now, I’m not discriminating against bald people, personally, I dig the no-hair hairstyle. But this was no ordinary bald person, it was Danny DeVito! I’m just joking. This person appeared 76% normal, save for arm like projections floating around its body, two of which were twisting a person’s head and body in opposite directions like a licorice stick. Ah. SO. It wasn’t tomato juice. It was blood.
I heard it groan “7 more…” as I ran the fuck out of there. Adrenaline pumped through me as I ran all the way back to the entrance. But this was one of those stores where you can only enter through the entrance, and similarly, exit through the exit. My legs were shaking. I had to run back…to that monstrosity? I didn’t want to die, I’d just started my life. My wife, I thought of her golden hair and her kind blue eyes as she held our babbling little goofball. I had to get out while I still could.
I’d only seen one bald person insofar, I could probably make it. I hedged my bets and went for it. The vegetable aisle was adjacent to the exit. If the bald person, or creature, fuck if I know, had moved along in search of new prey it’d be easy to get away. Unfortunately, I am not a lucky person. My hopes of escape were shattered, and then reignited as I noticed it was sitting down to consume its catch, and subsequently, appeared somewhat distracted. This was my chance.
I stepped slowly and quietly along the opposite corner of the tomato stand where it was, making steady progress towards my destination. “7 more…” I heard as I heard the crunch of what could be none other than human cartilage. I gagged. It chewed something squishy next - “7 more…” - I moved forward, not even imagining what it could be next. Hell, if I didn’t get out while I could, I would be next.
Everything was going ok, given the circumstances. And then I fucked up. I stepped on a tomato, spilling its bright red guts everywhere. I flinched as I saw a speck of it land on the atrocity’s shiny, bald forehead. I prayed it wouldn’t be noticed, that it would be too entranced with its feed. But like I said earlier, I am not a lucky person. “7 more…” is what I did NOT hear.
I thought I was going to die. I really did. I jumped up and started sprinting towards the exit, oblivious of the fact that there were no cashiers nor customers. The glass doors slid open as I jumped towards freedom. I lay relieved on the grass, glad I’d once more be able to feel its touch and go home to my family. We’d get out of here and enjoy life in our tiny cottage, ignorant to the world’s problems in our little bubble.
Finally, I worked up the courage to look back at the store as I sat up on the ground. I never felt as stupid as I did in my life at that moment. I saw a hand shooting towards me. I tried to crawl backwards with my two hands, but I was too late. I looked into that bald person’s two black voided eyes that I didn’t see before as its weird extendo-arm thingy pierced through my chest. So 10 feet still wasn’t enough huh…I coughed, covering my mouth with my hand and saw it splattered with blood. Bright red blood, everywhere. Seeping from my chest, my mouth, an explosion of colour really. The grass looked kind of nice with this contrast in colour. Hahaha I think I’m going to die. “6 more…”, I heard faintly, as I noticed everything around me was kind of getting harder to see, darker, blurrier. I hoped that my wife…my child…would never see a bald person the same way I did. I hoped Tony would warn them at least. I’d hate to see my family destroyed over this tiny hiccup…
I’d like to start off by saying although I am the original author, these events are not mine to tell, well actually, that’s debatable. My best friend was road tripping around California, and was on videocall with me the entire time, as he had schizophrenia and was off his meds at the time (medicare problems), and did not trust himself to be safe around his wife and child, so I was pretty much a safety measure to notify the police if anything went wrong. But what I’ve seen, I know the police are helpless against. So I will describe my friend’s story from his perspective, even though I was only there by proxy, as I saw everything and it is not a hallucination. We are no longer on video call as his phone has somehow been destroyed. I do not have his wife’s number so I do not know his family’s fate.
All I can say is if you see a bald person, run. I’d be happy to answer more questions about this terrifying incident, to the best of my knowledge.