You’ve read the title by now.
My cousin is missing.
She dissappeared from her hospital room, and nobody has any idea where she is. I’m the only one who seems to care anymore. Nobody believes me when I try to tell them it was her, the woman from the woods. She’d taken my cousin, I knew she had, no one else could have. But nobody believed me. They all said I was crazy, another Myrefall resident driven insane by the local myth.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
In most small towns, you’ll hear a story or two about a creepy house in the woods, or ghosts residing in old hospitals or libraries. Myrefall had its fair share of stories, of course. But one stuck out to the town, and those who visited.
They called her Morrigan. She apparently resided in an old cabin in the woods behind the local convenience store. I never really believed it, it got passed around so much that nobody really knew what the real story was. But a few details were agreed upon. The house was in that woods, somewhere, her name was Morrigan, and you could only see her at a specific time in the night. A little after midnight, some people said 12:32, some said 12:01, nobody was exactly sure. But it had to be that specific time in every story, if you wanted to see her.
My cousin had always believed in the paranormal, and this story particularly sparked her interest. She’d been obsessed with it since we were kids. Sometimes when she’d come over she’d recite to me the newest version of the story she’d heard. She’d sit on my bed and stare at me with those big eyes until I finally started laughing and she’d get all upset and tell me it wasn’t funny. She always took the stories so seriously, she’d get upset if I even smiled at a scary part. But I’d always listen anyways, as intently as I could, even though I’d get bored. I couldn’t help it, Julie was my favorite person in the world. Since our mothers were sisters, we were always around eachother. We’d been constantly together since we were born, and we were still best friends as teenagers. By the time we were 16, Julie still hadn’t gotten over her obsession with the story. Actually, it had gotten worse. She’d spend hours in the woods every weekend, looking behind the convenience store at every chance she got. It was a little weird, sure, but I’d go with her anyways.
Except for one time.
One fucking time.
I was busy that day. I had work from 9-3, and after that I was going to my boyfriend’s house. I told Julie I could go with her another time, and she seemed disappointed and said she’d go alone.
She didn’t come home for days.
5, to be exact. Her parents called me when she didn’t come home on the first night, and I’d told them I hadn’t seen her. On the 2nd day, some friends and I went around the woods looking for her. We found no luck. On the third day her parents called the police, and a group of people in town went searching. I stayed home. On the 4th day, I thought about going out on my own. I decided against it. On the 5th day, she showed up on my doorstep in the middle of the night. I brought her inside, and called her dad. He came and got her, and I thought all was said and done.
I saw her at school a few days later, and something felt wrong. There wasn’t that light in her big eyes, and she was avoiding all of her friends, and me. I tried to approach her, and she started walking in the opposite direction. Everytime I saw her, her eyes were glued out the window. She was always staring at something, something I couldn’t see.
After a week of this, her mom took her to a therapist. She told me Julie needed the help, that something must have happened during those 5 days, something none of us were qualified to deal with. Her mom said it wasn’t my fault, that Julie should’ve known better that to go in the woods alone.
Thinking about it now, I think it was my fault. Maybe nothing would have happened if I’d just gone along. That’s besides the point.
Julie wasn’t getting any better, infact her mental state seemed to be deteriorating quickly. Her mom had checked her into a mental hospital at this point, and I visited her every day.
Even when I tried to talk to her, she’d just sit in the chair by the window, staring over at the woods. I wish I knew for sure what she was looking at, but I can’t say. But I can make a guess.
On the 16th day of Julie being in the hospital, I went to visit her again. Something was off today. This time she was staring at the courtyard, not the woods. And this time? I could see something too.
There was a woman standing in the corner of the courtyard, just out of view of the cameras. Her skin seemed waxy and grey, her black hair was stringy and matted together in some places. She was wearing a white dress, it looked like it was straight out of the Victorian era. It was stained with yellow, red, and brown. A mix of dirt, blood.. and well. What looked like piss was building up at the bottom. I could see her bare feet sticking out from under the skirt, and I started to get worried. The ground was so hot this time of year, you could probably cook and egg on it. I was worried she was a patient who had gotten out, and nobody knew. I started to stand up to find a doctor, but Julie grabbed my wrist. Her big eyes were even wider than normal, and she looked panicked. She was gripping her nails into my skin for dear life, and for a moment I froze and looked over her. She looked sickly, her skin felt waxy against my own, and her ginger hair was matting together at the ends.
I finally regained my ability to move, and I ripped my arm away from her in a panic. There was blood beading up from where her nails had been. I ran off to find a doctor, and by the time we got back, Julie was gone. There was no sign of struggle, not even a sign she’d ever gotten up from her chair.
Even now I wonder what happened that day. I’ve spent nights worrying about her, about where she could’ve gone. I’m starting to think she may not even be alive anymore.
I’ll push that thought out of my mind for now, it’s not gonna help my mood at all.
I’ve been looking into the whole Morrigan thing recently, because I really do believe she took my cousin. Even when no one else believes me, I know she did.
Apparently she was a real person. She was actually born in Myrefall, and raised here too. Morrigan isn’t even her name apparently.
Her real name was Victoria Morgan, apparently. She was the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in town, infact some even regarded them as THE wealthiest family in town. I couldn’t dig up much about her, probably for good reason, but from what I could gather, her family didn’t like her much. She had this odd fascination with death according to some articles. Even when she was a kid, shed go off into the woods and bring back dead birds and rabbits. No one was sure if she killed them, or if she found them dead. I’m assuming they didn’t want to know, so they didn’t ask. That tends to be how things go in this town.
I found a picture of her when she was alive in one of the old newspapers. I recognized her black hair, and the white dress, but everything else looked different. Her skin looked less grey, more pale and rosey. Her eyes were visible, a vivid green color. And her hair seemed done up in a bun with some curls framing her face. She had some small beauty marks across her cheeks, ones that I hadn’t seen when I saw her outside the hospital.
As much as I didn’t want to admit it, she really was gorgeous. She was a monster, sure, but she was a really pretty monster. I realized I was getting distracted, I was supposed to be looking for information about her, not just staring at her picture. I needed to find Julie.
Her death wasn’t covered much, I only found 2 articles about it. They both told the same story.
Even though her family didn’t exactly care about her much, they still supported some of the decisions she made. Like living in the woods with her close friend from the day she turned 17, to the day she died. The other girls name was Marsha Walker, and there was hardly any information about her online. Besides one picture of her and who I assumed was Morrigan. Marsha looked a lot like Julie, I thought. The same big eyes and dainty nose. The thin lips that curled up when she smiled. The long, curly ginger hair. It made me sad to look at. I really, really miss Julie.
Some sources said that Morrigan and Marsha were in love, that they moved to the cabin in the woods to hide from their families. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true.
Apparently Morrigan had died the night of the wedding her parents arranged for her. She was to marry some rich dude from Addervale, but she had unfortunately been found dead in her cabin. No one was entirely sure what had happened, but she was found with multiple stab wounds. Some say they were self-inflicted, while some say the murder was an act of jealousy by Marsha. I believe the self-inflicted theory more. I’m getting off topic again. Apparently Marsha had been convicted of a different crime and hanged shortly after. The town had damned her to hell before her death, but I don’t believe in that stuff.
Now you’re probably wondering where this story is going. If I ever found Julie.
I didn’t. I still haven’t.. It’s been almost a year since she dissappeared. Why am I writing this then? Because I’ve been seeing things. Well, not things, rather, her. I’ve been seeing Morrigan for days. Everytime she’s closer than the last, and yesterday I saw her outside my living room window. As much as I’m scared, I’m also not. If this means I get to see Julie again? I’m not complaining. Besides, now that I look at Morrigan closer, she’s still rather pretty. Maybe it won’t be that bad.
I’m logging off my computer now. I can hear her outside of my door, and I’m getting tired. My boyfriend is asleep in the bed beside me. I wonder if she’ll take him too. I hope she doesn’t. I’d like for it just to be us.
Joshua: ×××-×××-×××× or, Myrefall County Police Department: ×××-×××-××××