I was a dumb kid, and so were my friends. There were about ten of us, give or take a few depending on who was allowed out. Summers in our town were boring. We spent day after day roaming around on our bikes, avoiding the deep woods like our parents told us to. None of us were considered cool, so can you really blame us for jumping at the chance to hang out with someone who was?
We were messing around as we always did on the outskirts of the forest. We were all pretty surprised to see Ricky Clark, a popular 17 year old at our school, walking towards the woods by himself. Without saying a word, we began to pick up our stuff to leave, assuming his friends were gonna get there soon. To our surprise, Ricky shouted out to us, “Hey! Where are you guys going?” We all stopped and stared until one of us said ‘nowhere’. He reached us and began talking like it was a regular thing and we soon realised his friends weren’t coming - he had come here on his own, bored enough to be our friend. An hour or so of talking and joking around went by and it was clear he was getting bored again, when he said, “I’ve got an idea; let’s play truth or dare.”
I know, it was dumb of us to agree and of course the first thing he dared one of us to do was go deep into the woods. The kid he dared to do it, Miles Fraser, got spooked pretty early on and Ricky laughed, so we all laughed too. The game quickly went from truth or dare to who can get furthest into the woods. By the third kid’s attempt, Ricky was unamused by our cowardice, but still told me to try. I took a few steps in and admitted I couldn’t do it. I stood there whilst Ricky called us all names and kicked the dirt. Whilst everyone was distracted by him, I saw something in the woods.
It looked like a man in a bunny costume hiding behind a tree, except it couldn’t have been hiding, because it stared right at me and waved. I couldn’t take my eyes off it until Ricky said my name. “Charlie!” I looked at him blankly. “Go on. Go deeper.” Before I could protest, he made fun of me for being a wimp. I looked over to see the bunny man was gone and, wanting to impress the cool older kid, I marched further into the woods. I got further than anyone else had and, feeling accomplished, I turned back. As I headed out of the forest, I heard something. The crunch of twigs and leaves under feet, a faint laugh. I began to pick up my pace. When I saw movement out the corner of my eye, I ran.
Seeing my red sweaty face and how fast I’d sprinted out of what he believed to be an empty forest, Ricky pointed at me and laughed. Angry at him for making fun of us, I dared him to go in, and stupidly called him names for not doing it already. This pissed him off and before I could take back what I said, he was gone. I called his name and tried to apologise but he just kept walking. That was the last anyone saw of Ricky Clark. Andy, the oldest in our group, tried following him, despite his sister begging him not to. He didn’t make it out either and a week later, Andy’s best friend went looking for him, never to be seen again.
Two or four other kids I didn’t know also went missing that summer. Every time I passed the woods, I saw the bunny man. I stopped going anywhere near the forest, but that wasn’t the last time I saw it. One night when I was around 19 years old (7 years after the original incident) I swore I saw it again, but this time it was in the road. In the dead of night, it wandered the street, covered in dirt and God knows what else.
I’ve always felt guilty for sending Ricky into the woods, causing two of my friends to go in too, but I made up for it. I was there for their searches, and eventually their funerals. I comforted their families, I was there for Andy’s sister. I’m not the only one to blame. The bunny man is the killer, not me. I don’t deserve to be punished this way.
You see, I have four daughters that I love dearly, who I’ve never told the bunny man story. We rarely visit my parents, usually they come to us, but my wife insisted we go see them - plus she wanted to lay flowers at the edge of the forest. She took our two youngest with her to do so and it’s obvious our 5 year old saw something. She keeps talking about the ‘big rabbit’ and drawing it. I trusted that as long as we don’t go near the woods again, we’ll be safe. Then my 13 year old came to me and said she saw someone in a filthy costume in the backyard the other night. I assured her the doors and windows are all locked when we go to bed and we’ll be fine.
Today my mother told me a girl and boy in the neighbourhood went missing recently; snatched from their beds whilst their parents slept. I’m terrified for my girls, but mostly for my 13 year old. She went out on her bike earlier today and she isn’t back yet. We told her to be home by 7pm and it’s 1pm now, so there’s still plenty of time. I’m just worried she’ll go somewhere where no one can see her or worse, close to the woods.