You know the older we get, the more life seems to throw at us. From work to college; free time seems to constantly dwindle away from you. I’m a victim of this sad fact, but sometimes responsibilities just can’t be avoided. Take my black Labrador biscuit for example; she loves going for walks. So much so that I have to take her every single day. Fortunately for me, my grandpa left us a big 10 acre piece of land upon his passing. Now there was nothing really on this land except for some old sheds and hen-houses. Safe to say it was always a peaceful stroll. One night however, work and school kept me away till very late.
Whenever I finally returned, biscuit was dying for her daily walk. There was a problem though, it was pitch black dark outside. Usually we went during the day; but her whining was way too much. I knew I wasn’t getting out of this. So I grabbed biscuits leash and prepared to head out the door. Before I could go, my mom would try and stop me. Telling me that it was late and I should just go to bed. Biscuit wasn’t up for negotiating though, as her tail wagged like a windmill. I promised her I’d be careful and return once the pooch did her business.
It was a very humid and cloudy night, you couldn’t even see the moon in the sky. The only thing that lit my path was a small flashlight. Considering this, I would nudge biscuit to hurry up. Unfortunately for me, the dog took her sweet time. She sniffed around and even stopped to roll in the dirt. Meanwhile, I stood next to her impatiently tapping my foot. I was very tired and could hear my bed calling out my name. Sometimes I wondered why I pushed myself so hard. Personal problems aside, we would soon come to the old chicken coup. Whenever my grandpa was alive; it brimmed with plenty of hens and roosters. Now, the small building looked like it would crumble with the tap of a finger. As I moved closer; I could hear a small commotion coming from inside. I figured it was just a rat, so I continued on with our stroll.
As we walked away however, something came scurrying out. I quickly grabbed my flashlight and aimed it at the creature. It was a large brown rabbit; as cute as a button to me. Though to biscuit, it was more of a late night snack. She would forcefully pull away from me and chase after the poor bunny. I yelled at her to leave it alone; but she wasn’t listening to me. When a predator has prey in its sights, why would it. Before I knew it, they would both disappear into the deep woods. I followed suit, but stopped just before hitting the entrance. It was so dark and the trees seemed utterly massive. Like they would swallow me up if I went inside. Honestly I thought about waiting for my dog to return on her own. Though as a loving owner, I couldn’t take the risk of her getting lost in this maze. So against my better judgement; I entered into the darkness.
Inside I could hardly see anything at all; my flashlight was more or less useless. I didn’t know where I was going or where biscuit could be. To make things simpler, I began calling out her name. I yelled and yelled, but I didn’t hear anything…not even the crack of a limb. This got pretty annoying as it was late and I was ready for bed. I tried to shout even louder, but there was no sign of her. My choices were limited to turning back or walking even deeper. As this dog was a loving member of our family, I just couldn’t leave her behind. So I delved further into the abyss, uncertain that we would reunite. Everything was so quiet, not even the tiniest croak from a frog was heard. It was pretty weird, like I had slipped into another dimension where it was just me. Where were the deer, possums and armadillos. More importantly…where was my dog?
After a while, I wondered how deep I had gotten. I forgot my phone, so there was no way to see how much time had passed. All this aside, I couldn’t help but have this eerie feeling in the back of my mind. Call it a hunch, but it felt like I was being watched. There weren’t any living creatures in my view, but there was something out there. Regardless I kept going, eventually coming upon a large clearing. There were but a few trees; with the night sky visible for the first time in forever. I wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but my job wasn’t done yet. So I had to keep searching. But just then; the sounds of whimpering filled the air. That cry was unmistakable, it was biscuit. I pointed my light in every direction; desperately trying to reunite with my furry friend. Finally, I would see her lying beneath a tree.
I ran up to my dog and kneeled down next to her. At first I thought she was hurt, but this didn’t seem to be the case. Instead she was shivering in fear and refused to move from this spot. Since her leash was still attached, I began to tug on it. For some reason though, my poor biscuit wouldn’t budge. Not knowing why, I began to shine my flashlight and investigate the area. Biscuit was as big as a bear; I didn’t think anything could spook her to such an extent. My search didn’t yield much either; as the woods seemed empty. I was puzzled as to what was wrong; the dog acted like she saw a ghost. Before I could do anything else however, biscuit would jump to her feet and begin to growl. Her fangs were shining and every hair on the animal’s body stood up. I had no idea what was going on; but I noticed her gaze was fixated at the top of a nearby tree. I then shined my light and saw something that shook me to my core.
Standing in the tree was a massive creature straight out of an urban legend. The being was at least seven feet tall with pale leathery skin. Its eyes glowed bright red like a vehicle’s tail lights. Not to mention a set of massive wings that wrapped around it’s body like a cape. Whatever this thing was, it must’ve hated flashlight’s. As whenever the beam hit its face; the creature let out a horrifying shriek. Of course this was my signal to run, I then grabbed biscuit by the leash and bolted. Me and my dog ran and ran, refusing to look back at that demon. Though no matter how fast we were; I could hear it’s flapping wings right above us. I couldn’t believe this, we were actually being chased by a monster. My lungs felt like they were about to explode from all the running. So naturally I started slowing down. What happened next however, had me convinced I was going to die. As the creature made a quick landing in front of me, blocking my path.
I was in shock and froze as he looked upon me with those God forsaken eyes. The glow they gave off was hypnotic; like the being was peering into my soul. I was so scared, to the point where my bladder let loose and urine ran down my leg. The monster then reached one of his long white arms out at me. I swore that my legs moved closer to him on their own. Before he could cause me harm however; biscuit would jump into action. My brave girl would take him to the ground and bite into his chalky flesh. The creature would let out a blood curdling screech as she did. Meanwhile, I was still paralyzed in utter terror. In my mind, I knew that this thing was way stronger than biscuit. There was only a matter of time before it overpowered and hurt her. I for one refused to lose my sweet pooch to this freak.
So I clenched my fist and pushed all the fear deep down inside. While they fought, I ran up and snatched my dog by her leash. With all my might I then pulled her off and started running. As we made our escape, the creature kept on with it’s horrible screeching. It was so loud…I felt like my ears were going to bleed. Regardless we had to keep moving…it was our only option. Thankfully, we would finally make it out of the woods. This was no time for breaks though; as we sprinted all the way back to my house. Upon arrival I slammed the door and rushed to my mother’s room. There I informed her of our terrifying near death experience. Of course being an old school country girl, she refused to believe me. No matter what I swore on, she just shook her head. She told me that I was just tired and needed to get some rest. That if anything it was probably a bat or something. In anger, I found myself stomping out of her room. I knew what I saw and would remember it for the rest of my life.
Figuring no one else would believe me, I just went to bed. That entire night biscuit cuddled next to me…still shaking with dread. The next morning life would go back to normal; it was time for me to wake up and go to school. I really wanted to just stay in bed and recover from what happened. Unfortunately since my grades weren’t all that great I couldn’t afford to miss. Biscuit stayed in the bed and I headed out to my truck. As soon as I took my first steps into the yard, I noticed something odd. There was this strange green liquid staining the ground. I bent down to investigate further; but it was dry to the touch. It sort of favored blood from the look, but there was no way to be sure. Deciding to shrug it off, I went on with my day. When I made it to my vehicle however, my calm morning would end. As my driver’s side door had a set of deep claw marks carved into it. There were four by my count and they definitely weren’t here yesterday. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew the horrifying reason for this. That thing followed us home last night…it knows where I live.