I was about seventeen, I was living with my dad and his girlfriend for a short period of time. I was in my room playing my game and noticed they started getting rowdy the next room over. It was around midnight, and I could tell they were drunk. They did this constantly, and it doesn’t really phase me anymore, it just starts getting annoying. I knew it was going to last for hours, so I grabbed my hoodie and snuck out my first-floor bedroom window, cause the last time they did this, the cops had to be called, and I just didn’t wanna deal with that.
We lived on a reservation in Midwest America, so it gets damn creepy at night. The best way I can lay it out is it’s on one huge stretch of road, and I live in the area which everyone called the new housing which was on one end of the reservation, and I had to walk to garret hill, which was on the other end of said reservation, just to see my grandpa. Which meant I had to walk a mile of road that luckily had street lamps. so I started walking. Me and Grandpa were fairly close and would let me crash there from time to time, and I bet he was awake right now, so I didn’t have to worry about waking him up.
Coming up in my right is the high school, nothing to report, just empty, with bright lights, with the school sign saying ‘Have a good Summer, warriors!’. Then immediately on my left is the school dormitories and the church, which stood a good five stories, it was dark, clearly empty, and it just gave off this very eerie vibe, due to the fact it used be a catholic reform school for native youth, i knew this because my grandpa used to go here, he’d tell me stories of what they used to do to them as kids, some harmful, and some very harmful. I was already creeping myself out with these stories and just kept walking.
I tried to calm down, tried to put those thoughts out of my mind, and it seemed to work for a second. But noticed up ahead the road seemed to look longer, with more space in between of what looked to be three or four more streetlamps that are left on the road. The houses on the left were completely empty and have been for a while by the looks of it. On the right was a pasture of unkept grass, about as tall as my neck. But due to the road being on an inclined surface, the grass was about as tall as my knees, and i could see as much the street lamp i was under could illuminate, which was still a large sum of grass. Reluctantly, i kept going.
At this point, I felt uncomfortable. But thats sounds crazy, why would I feel uncomfortable in a place I know like the back of my hand? It just didn’t make sense. But in the moment, it just felt unfamiliar. Almost otherworldly. Next thing i know, i hear the sound of rustling. I stop and stare out at the grass. i was under one of the streetlamps, which allowed me to see pretty far. But it felt like i was seeing nothing, like my mind was playing tricks on me. i felt stupid and try to continue forward. Just then the rustling came back, and when i looked back it stopped. Now i know i wasn’t crazy cause that was clear as day. i widened my search pattern, looking up, down, right, and left. Then i looked far back, where the light barely could reach, hovered slowly from left to right. The moment i saw it, my heart stopped completely.
It was a dark figure, about a foot taller than the grass. The more my eyes adjusted, the more he stuck out. My knees felt weak, and all i could hear was my breathing. i couldn’t use my voice, i was frozen, didn’t know what to do. Then i see him retreat into the grass. I guess he thought i didn’t know where he was, so he just crouches back down or something. I try to play along, and just keep moving forward. But just as i thought, the rustling came back, it was getting louder, as he was getting closer, thats when i started running, i reached the entrance to the dirt road to lead up to my grandpa’s house and kept running. But stopped when the rustling stopped.
i don’t why, but i looked back at the rustling grass, and immediately wished i didn’t. Under the last streetlamp in the road, stood a tall figure about ten feet tall, wearing a trench coat, and a top hat. i freaked out at the sight of this, and booked it down this unkempt, grassy knoll, that was a shortcut to grandpas. I feel my lungs burn like gasoline, but knew i couldn’t stop. Then i heard the same rustling through the grass that didn’t sound like footsteps. it sounded like it was hovering, but still pushing over the grass. It was constant and it was getting louder. Then I hear an ear-piercing growl that sounded like the devil himself. It said the words, “COME HERE!”.
In one stride, i make it onto the gravel, leading up to the front door to grandpas, immediately letting myself in. I slam the door, lock it, and start breathing out exhaust. Grandpa comes to see whats going on, armed with a rifle. But sees me on the ground, sweating bullets, with tears in my eyes. it took me a moment to calm down and tell him everything. To my dad, to the creepy nature of the school, and to the tall figure. He seemed rather silent on that subject. i asked him about it see if he knows anything, but he didn’t answer my question. He told me to rest up and said i could sleep on the couch. End of that discussion. So i did just that, grabbed a blanket, laid down on the couch, turned on the TV, and just dozed off.
I woke up the next morning and saw my uncle sitting on the recliner as it looked like he just got off work. i said hey, and basically told everything that i said to Grandpa last night. He just said,”I think you met the tall man”. i didn’t know who he was talking about, but i pressed on. He explained that the Tall Man was a spirit, that prey on lonely souls at night, and sightings are always the same: ten feet tall, wearing a trench coat with a top hat. One woman claimed she saw him behind the building where they park the buses. said he was as tall as them.
I asked if he ever met him, he chuckles before he says in his rez accent, “i was getting cigarettes one night. it was late, no one was outside but me. i had to cut the trip short, cause on my way there, i saw him under a street lamp. i couldn’t believe what i was seeing. i got so scared i booked it back to the house.” i asked him, “Then what?”. “I quit smoking” he chuckles to himself. Then i brought up Grandpa and the fact that he didn’t wanna talk about it. “It took his sister,” he says, leaning in like he’s telling me a big secret. My eyes widen with curiosity, and pressed for more details.
He leans in, “long time ago, when grandpa was much younger than you, his sister was older, and she was rebellious, didn’t take any shit from the priest and nuns. She was punished day in and day out. But she never gave up her spirit, until one night she tells your grandpa, she’s running away and he’s coming with her. remember, these places didn’t have roads yet, so it was all open field. They hasted their escape and had to run from the priests. but Grandpa was lagging behind, just a lil guy, so she had him hide in tall grass, they thought they escaped. but a tall figure comes from behind them, your grandpa gets scared, and runs out of the grass. the priest finds him. They try to find his sister in the grass, but they couldn’t find her. He thought she escaped, then he says this shook him to his core this very day, in the distance they hear a bloodied murdered scream, and knew she was gone.”
i had to process all of that for a second until he said this last thing. “that’s why he made an oath to never talk about him or say that name again”. i guess there were some stories Grandpa didn’t like to share. i guess for good reason. i see him through a window on his porch, drinking coffee, in his own headspace. i guess our conversation, brought back some old memories. i just hope it won’t happen again.