My day started off pretty normal. At 06:30 my alarm woke me up and I proceeded with my normal routine such as: I showered, brushed my teeth and threw my hiking gear on. I’m a pretty avid hiker, wouldn’t say very experienced but I know what I’m doing, so I go every weekend when I can. Around 07:30 that was when I was ready to drive to my chosen hiking route (Basalt Mountain, Colorado), this was about a 3hr drive from where I live so I was pretty exhausted by the time I got there after being up so early.
The hike started off great, the sun was beaming down on me and I could hear all the birds singing and all the critters running around in the forests. Along my route that I chose, there was gorgeous views and amazing scenery so I stopped whenever I could to take in the views and just live in the moment. A few times I stopped to make myself a coffee and to take some stunning photos for my friends back home in the UK, however, by the time I got to the top I realised it was getting dark. This is when I noticed I was walking back in the dark. This is where it started to get creepy.
On my way back down I had a sharp feeling on the back of my head. Like someone was watching me. I chose to ignore it and carried on walking. The thing is though, the more I walked and the darker it got, the feeling kept getting more intense. In an act to distract my self I whistled the tune to my favourite song, this is when I could hear someone walk behind me in the distance, but not too far to not hear them. Too far to see them though. I kept glancing behind me and kept seeing nothing, looked to my left and right and still nothing. As I kept on walking I could still hear it following me and that sharp feeling of being watched was getting unbearable.
About 40 minutes has passed since setting off back down and I didn’t notice whatever was following has been slowly getting closer. I realised this when I looked behind me, about the 100th time, and this time I saw a deer. This wasn’t a normal deer either. This deer looked like if it was dead, but somehow still alive. It had red glowing eyes locked right onto me, its skin all patchy and some of it hanging off too. Bones where sticking out off its limbs and chest, blood also dripping from its mouth. It just wasn’t natural. By time it sunk in to what I was looking it at it started walking to me at a fast pace. That ain’t normal either I thought. Then it hit me. I’m gunna die if I don’t run. I flung my body around and started sprinting for my life, with every ounce of energy I had. That’s when I heard it. That shrill scream from behind. Sounded half human, half coyote. The human half sounded like a death scream. It sent chills down my spine and my shit into my pants.
Footsteps were getting faster and closer behind me, but I kept on pushing. My legs where burning and my lungs screaming. I wanted to quit. That’s when it was close enough I could hear it grunting, I was shitting myself.
After running for what felt like an eternity later, I built up the courage to look over my shoulder. This was a mistake. What I saw was no longer a deer. What I was looking at was roughly 7ft tall, it had abnormally long limbs and it was insanely skinny with barely any muscle on its frame. What skin it had was grey and hanging from its limbs and torso, just like the deer. Some of it was human skin, some of it was animal skin. From what I could make out the animal skin could have been from a deer or even a coyote. What creeped me out the most was its face… well lack of. Two hollow and black pits replaced the eyes and it had a gaping mouth with bloody razor sharp teeth. Panic truly set in. Then I heard the scream again, at the same time it swiftly swung its dangly arm at me which had pointy sharp long fingers attached at the end of it. Ducking out the way of its arm it managed to tear a chunk of flesh from my right shoulder.
Blinding with pain I tripped and fell down an embankment, rolling down it I missed a few trees but smashed into one of them. Winded, I feebly tried getting up but to no avail this was useless. My ankle was severely sprained and I had no strength to get myself up off the ground. In a desperate attempt I dragged myself into a bush so it couldn’t see me, it was pitch black at this point. Rummaging around in my backpack like a mad man I clung onto my knife. Laying there in agonizing pain and wheezing I could hear it grunting walking around looking for me, I was shaking uncontrollably. I thought I was gonna die.
After laying in the bush for what felt like hours, listening to it patrol the area around me and grunting, I had a moment of stupidity. Looking out of the bush I no longer saw the 7ft figure, I saw the silhouette of a deer feet away from me. With every ounce of courage and energy I had, I leapt out of the bush throwing my body and my knife at the deer. Driving my knife into its skull, I could hear the crunching of the bone and the squelching of flesh and a could viscous liquid cover my hand. At the same time an inhuman scream, similar to the screams before that came from the deer. The deer fell limp and so did my body next to it. Hoping I killed it and it’s not gonna kill me I passed out from exhaustion. Waking up hours later with the sun beaming down on my face with its warm rays I realised I was still alive. However, the deer must be as well. Getting up and looking around there was no sight of the deer nor my knife, just a blood trail going back to where I was running from. Then I heard the same scream again from the same direction. Panic rushing my body again, I sprinted down the trail, still hearing the same scream over and over getting closer, and getting back to my car, throwing myself into it and sped to the closest hospital.
That’s the day I truly believed Skinwalkers are real… and I managed to survive. Somehow.