The call that mom died was soul crushing. Her Alzheimer’s had gotten pretty bad and, apparently, she walked off into the woods one night and never returned. They still haven’t recovered her body, but the consensus is that she’s not coming back. The search went on for a month before we started planning the memorial service.
But you don’t need to hear about that. It’s the effects of her death that matter. Now, obviously I’m devastated over it, but I wasn’t as close with my parents as I should have been. I mean that in both the relationship sense and the physical sense. They sent me to live with my aunt Brynn when I was around seven years old. At the time I didn’t know it was going to be a permanent thing— it was all so sudden. One day I was living a quiet life in the middle of nowhere with my parents, the next I was with Brynn in the crowded city. I’d only met her a handful of times before then, so that mixed with the culture shock of my new surroundings was uncomfortable to say the least. They wanted me to get a proper education at a good school, but I don’t know why they couldn’t have prepared me a little better. It’s not like they didn’t care; they visited as often as they could and called me every day.
Jesus, I keep ranting. Anyways, mom’s death pretty much broke my dad. They’d been married since eighteen and I’ve never seen any two people more in love. I was mad on their behalf when the police investigated my dad to check if he had any involvement in whatever happened to her. Obviously, they didn’t find anything on him. Dad was so quiet after that. We couldn’t get ahold of him over the phone, so me and Brynn had to drive for hours to visit. Even then, it took him a while to answer the door and he was pretty unresponsive when we tried to talk. He just stared into nothing with a distant expression. His black hair was almost completely gray. Clearly he was distraught, so Brynn and I decided that being isolated in that tiny house wasn’t good for him. He didn’t have much to say when we suggested he move to the city. From the little we got out of him, it seemed like he was both pained and attached to the memories the house brought him.
I have to say, being back brought a sense of nostalgia. I remember running around in the yard, cutting firewood with my dad, cooking with mom— Anyways, um, his health was worsening and he couldn’t stay there. And, unfortunately, he was starting to show signs of dementia as well. I’m guessing it was caused by her death, but I’m not a therapist. Eventually, after a month or two, we got him to agree. As fate would have it, the lease on my apartment was almost up. One thing led to another and there I was, moving back into my childhood home. The timing was good and someone needed to take care of the place while dad was gone. Plus, I’ve always been a fan of nature and it was so much quieter in the woods. Even at night, I couldn’t hear crickets chirping. Absolute silence.
The biggest downside at the time was that if I needed to buy or do something, I’d have to drive about thirty minutes over to the town nearby. But it was worth it. I felt closer to my mom and got to remember some of the things I’d forgotten. Like, there were still marks on the kitchen doorway where she measured my height. And where I’d carved a drawing of me and my imaginary friend on the back of the shed.
Everything was great for a while. But then I saw it. Two months in. It was the middle of the afternoon and I was just walking outside when I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I was being watched. As I turned around, I noticed something on the road. Before I could get a good look at it, it ran off into the woods. I went back inside for a while because I was scared it was a black bear or some other animal. But, I didn’t see anything for a few months after that. I’d pretty much forgotten about it until it ran in front of my car as I was driving home. My heart practically leaped out of my chest as it raced onto the road just a few feet ahead of me. I slammed the breaks and swerved the car, scared at first that it was someone’s dog. The tires screeched across the road and the car tilted slightly as it pulled to a jolting stop. I hadn’t heard or felt anything collide with the car, but I still grabbed my flashlight out of the glove box and opened the car door. Despite the warm weather, a chill ran up my spine when I heard it scamper away. That definitely didn’t sound like a dog’s feet against the pavement. It was pretty quiet, but the steps of its paws were uneven and soft, so it didn’t have hooves or long nails. Regardless, I stepped out of my car and shone the light around. No blood anywhere, no animal to be seen. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up again and I glanced into the silent forest. I couldn’t hear anything walking around, which was an issue since the animal was just there and had only moved what sounded like a couple of feet. As far as I could see, it had disappeared.
Needless to say I was a bit unnerved when I got home that night. I wondered for hours what the animal might have been and where it could’ve gone. I thought about it over and over, picturing what I’d seen. It didn’t exactly look like a dog, I realized. Its back was arched and its legs were too long and bent at the wrong angle. But I summed it up to the bad lighting and panic of the situation.
I saw it more often after that. Something would move on the side of the road occasionally, then more frequently. Never once was I able to see it clearly or long enough to tell what it was. But it was certainly starting to scare me. Sometimes it was shorter and sometimes it was taller. Of course, I couldn’t be sure that it was the same animal every time, but I didn’t see animals very often. Even then, they were usually birds. Also, I kind of had a feeling. A horrible, sickly and dreadful feeling that I can’t really compare to any other. Whatever this animal was, it was horrible. Adding to the horror of the situation was the fact that people’s pets were starting to go missing. Cats, dogs, even a bird at one point. Missing pet posters were popping up everywhere, both on trees near the road and even in town.
I spent less and less time at the house, choosing to go to the town’s café instead. The town was pretty small, a place you’d drive past and forget about almost immediately. I had a few vague memories of heading into town. Once watching a movie with my parents in the small one-screen theater, waiting at the mechanic with my dad until our car was fixed, waiting again as my mom used the payphone to call someone. And I remembered begging my mom to buy me and my imaginary friend each a cookie at the café.
It was pretty empty in the café, just as I remembered. I sat down at the same booth I always sat at, the same one that me and my mom sat at eighteen years ago. The table’s corner was chipped and the seat across from me had a small tear on it, revealing the stuffing inside. I took a deep breath, getting a whiff the coffee being brewed behind the counter, as I put down my laptop. I was just about to open it when I saw the missing poster for ‘Mittens,’ a tabby cat I’ve seen on the side of the road before. It made me think of the animal I kept seeing. Was it killing these pets? There had to be some reason they were suddenly disappearing—
“Damn, another one?” Maddie said, startling me. She noticed my reaction and giggled, “Sorry, didn’t realize you were so deep in thought,”
Maddie was one of the two baristas in the café. She was the more talkative one and was the one who always took my order. But by now she’d stopped asking, since I only ever got the same thing: an omelet and caffe mocha, both of which she placed down in front of me.
“You okay?” She asked, tucking her brown hair behind her ear. I could never quite place it, but Maddie looked familiar. She was around my age, but I didn’t have many specific memories of anyone in town from when I was younger.
“Um, yeah,” I glanced at the poster once more before meeting her eyes, “I just— I keep seeing this weird animal around my house,”
“Ohhh, that’s creepy. What is it?”
“No clue,” I immediately regretted bringing it up. Talking about it made me uncomfortable.
She nodded towards my laptop, “How’s the book coming along?”
“Slowly,” I said as I opened my laptop. In the brief moment before the screen turned on, I caught a glimpse of myself and the bags forming under my eyes, “Haven’t been getting much sleep lately,”
“Why’s that?”
I shrugged, “I’m not sure,” That was a lie. The house had… changed. What was once a peaceful setting had become unsettling. Nothing significant; I wasn’t rushing to move out of the house or anything. Still, I kept the curtains closed.
Maddie lingered there for a moment, only moving when I looked back up at her, “Well, let me know if you need anything else,” She said with a smile before leaving. I spent the rest of my time trying to write, though I didn’t make much progress. Eventually I just gave up and ate my cold food, thinking about the animal in the woods. It really confused me. Its height was inconsistent and I had no clue what it could be. When I drove home that night, I saw it moving away from the road again. As I parked my car, though, I felt watched again. I looked around but couldn’t see much in the darkness. Still, I had to go inside. I sat in my car for a minute, trying to convince myself that I was being paranoid. A minute turned into a few minutes, the feeling not going away. I took a glance at my rear view mirror and could’ve sworn that I saw a pair of eyes staring at me from the woods. But, of course, there was nothing there. After spending too long being stuck in my car, I finally decided to just get out. My heart was racing and I felt like a moron. It was probably a dog or something. Why was I getting so worked up? Still, when I opened the car door, my brain screamed at me to shut it. My breathing quickened and I practically ran to my house. I was thankful that, since my neighbors were far away, I didn’t have to lock my door. Unlocking my door would’ve taken too long and I may have ended up sleeping in my car in that case. I slammed the door shut hard enough to shake the wall and immediately locked it. I cursed myself for being so scared. What was the point of locking the door if it was an animal?
That thought made my hair stand up and I regretted thinking it. Animals could only do so much when you were in your house. People though, that was a different story. But no, it had to be an animal. The thing I’d almost run over didn’t look human. I willed myself to think of other things, but still wasn’t able to sleep that night. As soon as the sun rose the next day, I left my house to go into town. As I closed the door behind me, I noticed something on the street. Someone was standing there. This startled me as I hadn’t seen my neighbors before. My eyes rested on them for only a second before they ran off into the woods. I got goosebumps and stood frozen for a while. I felt that horrible sickly feeling, but far more intense than it had been before.
Worse than that, the person I’d seen was not normal. They had no clothes on their dark skin and their eyes were completely white. And, strangely, hidden beneath my feelings of fear and nausea was a sense of familiarity. Of course, I didn’t process all of this at once. The only thing I felt in that moment was a primal fear that I’d never felt before. Despite my brain screaming a multitude of instructions at me, my muscles were paralyzed. A cold feeling shot from my head to my feet and my heart was pounding against my ribcage. I stood there for who knows how long before shakily retreating back indoors. Once in the house, my body jolted into action and I locked every door and window, my whole body trembling. My mind was reeling for hours as I processed the person, or creature, I’d seen.
What was it? Was it the thing I kept seeing on the road? Was it a person? Certainly not a normal one. And why were they next to the road all the time? Were they hurt? But then why would they run? Had I even seen them correctly?
Was anything I’d seen even real?
I considered the past few weeks and how surreal they had been. I’d been more scared of this thing than I’d previously realized. Even before having seen it, I had a horrible feeling. There was something wrong with it. It wasn’t real, right? I was mistaken, or delusional. That would be a whole different issue. I didn’t know what to believe. I sat for hours until I finally called Brynn.
“Hey-”
“I think I’m going crazy,” My voice came out raspy and weaker than I’d intended. Speaking my thoughts brought tears to my eyes; it made it more real.
Brynn took a moment before responding, “Are you okay? What happened?” She said in a calm voice with an undertone of concern.
“I just—,” I glanced at the drawn curtains, “…I saw someone— something. I don’t know. I don’t think they’re real- I’m scared to leave the house,”
“Okay, what did you see? Do you need me to head over there?”
God, I felt like a child, “It— they, um… their eyes were weird. Like, it didn’t look like they had pupils, and they were staring at me when I left my house—,” My voice cracked as I spoke. Talking about it just made me feel worse. What if it was listening? I wasn’t going to check, “I don’t know. I keep seeing things. Stuff on the side of the road. Maybe I’m hallucinating, I don’t know,”
“Okay, take a deep breath,” I heard her moving around, “I’m heading over,”
Even though I was relieved that I wouldn’t be alone, I did notice that it would be night by the time she arrived. Something about that made me feel sick, “Are you sure? Don’t you have work tomorrow?”
“Work can wait,” I heard a door close and, shortly after, the sounds of her car starting up.
I couldn’t shake that dreadful feeling, “What about dad? Will he be okay?”
“He’s been self-reliant for years, I think he can handle a night alone,” She paused, “Do you not want me to go?”
“No, um—” I didn’t know why I was acting so odd. It was good if she came over, I’d be able to calm down, “I’m just… nothing. I—” I stopped as a twig snapped outside.
My heart began to race again. My breathing was quick and my skin became clammy as I listened. Brynn’s voice startled me, “Are you okay?”
It took me a moment to find my voice, “…Yeah,” I said, barely above a whisper.
“What’s happening?”
I didn’t want to speak. I wanted to run and hide somewhere in the house, not stay on the couch in the dark, empty living room, “Nothing. I just— I heard something outside. A branch,”
“I can hear you’re scared. What do you think it is?”
I was silent for a long moment. I didn’t want to say it, “It could be a deer,”
“Do you think it’s a deer?” I didn’t answer, “Honey, you’re gonna be okay. I’ll be there in a bit,”
I only realized once I was lightheaded, but my breathing was still too quick. I tried to take a deep breath, but it was difficult to get the air down past the lump in my throat. I shook my head. What I’d seen couldn’t have been real.
“Saul? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just anxious,” I said, running a hand through my hair and finally catching my breath.
“When’s the last time you slept?”
My face flushed as I tried to think of an answer. It had been a while since I fell asleep for more than a couple hours, “A few days,”
“And have you eaten anything?”
“Um, not much,”
“Okay, I’ll be there in a few hours. I need you to go eat something in the meantime. Can you do that for me?”
“Yeah,” Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be able to stand up. I was still shaken and felt weak after the adrenaline rush. After a few minutes, I willed my legs to move and I stood. The air around me felt so still and empty. I walked into the kitchen, turning on all the lights, and continued talking to Brynn. Time passed slowly, but I felt slightly better after I ate and Brynn assured me everything would be fine.
But Brynn never arrived that night. She paused our call when my dad started texting her and never called back. I tried reaching her multiple times during the night, failing each time. I spiraled to a worse state than I was in before. Now I was alone and had no clue what happened to Brynn. That ended up being another sleepless night, despite how exhausted my body was. Similarly, the next day, and then the next, I got no sleep. I didn’t leave my house, didn’t even look out the windows. My phone died at some point or another, but I didn’t know where my charger was and was too tired to look for it. Those two days were horrible. I was exhausted but unable to sleep, scared but unsure of whether what I feared was even real.
Eventually exhaustion got the better of me and I fell asleep on the couch.
For how long? I don’t know. I just remember being awoken by knocking at the door. I was still tired, but the knocking made me jolt upright. It went on for a moment longer before pausing. Then silence. That silence felt like an eternity, “Saul? Are you in there?” A familiar voice called out.
Hearing my name made my skin crawl, but I realized that it was a person’s voice. I wanted it to be Brynn’s, but it wasn’t. It took me a while to realize that it was Maddie, since she’s probably the last person I expected to hear at my doorstep. I got off the couch and made my way to the front door, reaching for the door handle. But, as my fingers touched the cold metal, my body froze. What if it wasn’t Maddie? I’d spent so long hiding in here, I didn’t feel like letting it in after three days of hiding. I pressed my ear against the door and listened, not hearing anything. When she knocked again, I nearly fell back, “This isn’t the right place, is it?” I heard her mutter under her breath. I heard footsteps and rushed over to the nearest window. Low and behold, it was actually Maddie. I hurried over to the front door and opened it, feeling the sun for the first time in days.
“Maddie!” I called out, and she seemed startled. She stared at me for a moment before walking over, a strange expression on her face. It was then that I realized I must’ve looked like shit. I’d been too excited to see another person to notice.
She stopped on the other side of the doorway, “This is really your house?”
That wasn’t what I expected her to ask, “Um, yeah, why?”
“And how long have you lived here?”
“Well, I recently moved in. I used to live here when I was younger though—”
I was cut off as Maddie hugged me. I didn’t know what to say, so I was relieved that she spoke next, “It’s been so long,” She said as she stepped back. She scanned my face for a moment before continuing, “Yeah, I didn’t recognize you either. We were friends before you moved. Remember? We used to try and catch fishes down at the lake,”
It took a second for my brain to recall the memory, “Oh. OH! Maddie! Yeah, it’s been a while,” Recalling my childhood was a welcome distraction from my current state of mind, though the breeze that pushed into my house brought me back to the present. I glanced into the woods for a brief moment, “Um, do you want to come inside?”
“Sure! I’d love to catch up,” She said, stepping past me, “Wow, it’s the exact same as I remember it,”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I was staring into the woods again. When a twig snapped nearby, I almost panicked. But then I saw the source. In the dark underneath the trees, I could make out the silhouette of a deer. I immediately felt like an idiot. Locked myself up in my house for two days because I heard a deer step on a branch and was convinced there was some sort of demon stalking me. Jesus, I needed a therapist. Behind me, I heard Maddie giggle.
“They didn’t get it fixed?” She asked as she touched a corner of the wall that was missing a small chunk. That damage, I remembered, was caused because of us while we were running around the house.
I shook my head as I closed the door, feeling stupid but somewhat relieved at the same time. I still had to sort out why I was seeing that weird creature, but I was more certain that it was in my head. Maddie and I caught up with each other. We talked a little bit about our childhood but mostly spoke about what was happening recently. Though it’s how I’d spent the past few days, I didn’t mention that I’d been hiding from a creepy creature stalking me from the woods. Our conversation wasn’t too important, but I felt a lot better afterwards.
That feeling was soon stripped from me once I charged my phone. I had a few missed calls from yesterday, most of them from dad and one from the officer working on finding my mom. My heart sank. I wanted them to say that she was found, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. I called dad, though it was Brynn who answered after just two rings.
Before I could get a word out, Brynn spoke, “Saul? Are you okay?”
“Um, yeah. Are you?”
Brynn sighed, “Yes, right. Sorry about the delayed communication. I got into an accident as I was driving over. Nothing to worry about,”
“What happened?” I asked quickly.
“Nothing. An animal jumped in front of my car and I swerved so I wouldn’t hit it. The only thing that was hurt was my car and phone. Now what’s going on with you?”
I felt sick and ignored her question, “What animal was it?”
“Honey, I’m okay. I’m pretty sure it was a dog,”
“Was it big with a black coat?” I asked, failing to moderate the panic rising in my voice.
She paused, “How’d you know?”
I sank down onto my bed and took in a shaky breath. Every time I made my mind up about this thing, it threw a curveball, “The same thing happened to me recently,” She was about to say something, but I spoke first, forcing myself to say it, “I don’t think it was a dog,”
“It—,”
“Or a bear,”
She sighed, “Is this about the person you saw?
Her tone caught me off guard. She sounded sad, “Well, yeah,”
“Have you seen it again?”
“Not really,” I said, glancing out the window
“Have you gotten more sleep?”
“Yes, but I’m telling you. I saw that thing crawl in front of my car,” I said, a chill running up my spine as I recalled the night it happened.
“We… we can talk about this later. That isn’t the reason I called,” My stomach flipped as I remembered what this was probably about, “They found… they found something,” I couldn’t see her face but I could tell it was difficult for her to say, “Your mom, they found some of her hair in the woods. And there was some blood,” Tears sprang to my eyes. I knew she probably wasn’t coming back, but I didn’t want to hear about what they found left of her.
After a moment of silence, I spoke up, “Is that all?” I asked quietly.
“Well, I—,” Brynn paused and I could hear a voice in the background, “Oh, um, your dad wants to speak with you,”
I sat up as she passed the phone along. Dad was still pretty quiet and I was curious about what he had to say. I waited for him to speak, but heard nothing, “Hello?” I listened closer and heard a few raspy croaks from the other end. I heard Brynn worrying about him having a sore throat in the background, “Are you okay?”
Dad coughed and paused for a moment before saying something odd, “Is the line broken?”
“Um, no, I can hear you,”
“The line cannot be broken,” He said, and for the first time in a while I heard distress in his voice.
“What’s this about? Is something wrong?”
“Is the line intact?”
Brynn interjected, “Okay, I think that’s enough for now,” She said as she took the phone. I could vaguely hear my dad’s protests in the background. Brynn and I spoke for a little while longer before ending call. Nothing significant happened that day. It happened at night.
That was the first night I’d been able to get a proper sleep, so needless to say I was annoyed when I randomly woke up. I was still groggy and didn’t know why I was awake, but I decided to use the bathroom and get a glass of water before going back to bed. As I was filling my glass, though, I heard something. A repetitive series of dings. I looked around but I could tell it was coming from outside. I thought the sound was familiar, so I approached a window and parted the curtains. My suspicions were proven when I saw a car idling just down the road. Trying to look past the headlights, I noticed something concerning about the car. The doors were left wide open, no driver in sight. The dings went on and on and, as I stared, I noticed something else. I recognized the car. It was my dad’s car.
It wasn’t smart to barge out into the night with no weapon and still wearing my pj’s, but my dad was acting weird earlier and now his car was sitting abandoned on the street. At first I was walking, but as my concern grew so did my pace. Eventually I was running until I reached the car. Passing the blinding headlights, I moved to the driver’s seat and glanced inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the fact that it was unoccupied. No blood or signs of struggle. Honestly, I was expecting to uncover some horrifying scene when I looked inside. Still, something had to be wrong. And as I thought that, I noticed the empty shotgun shells on the passenger’s seat. That made me even more concerned. Living in the middle of the woods meant that my dad had a shotgun at the ready, but only for self defense as far as I was aware. I didn’t think he hunted, but even if he did, why would he come here and in the middle of the night? I got concerned over his mental state and checked the back seats to see if there were any more clues. What if he was worse than we thought? He could be in danger. Just then, I heard a shot ring out in the distance, causing me to jump. I stepped past the car and stared into the woods, though I could see nothing, “Dad?!” I called out, receiving no answer.
If he was tired and in a bad mental state, I couldn’t let him wander off into the woods with a gun. I couldn’t let nature take my only other parent. As I was heading back to my house to grab my shoes, I had another thought. What if he was trying to… he wouldn’t use it on himself, right?. That gunshot— no. Cold sweats broke out on my body and I sprinted towards my house. I rushed around frantically, wrenching on my shoes and heading back outside. As I passed my car, I flung the door open and grabbed my flashlight. Then, I ran. I ran in the direction of the gunshot, praying that he was okay. He wouldn’t do that, would he? Did Brynn know he left? Probably not. There were a few times where I almost ran into a tree, but my mind was too panicked to be careful. I stumbled over the uneven ground more than a few times, but it was hard to even think. Thoughts, horrible thoughts, were rushing through my mind. I ran for so long that my lungs burned. Even then I continued, occasionally calling out to my dad. My legs ached but I ignored the pain. Adrenaline carried me for a while, but I eventually tripped. It was bound to happen with how recklessly I was running, but I caught myself on a tree. My foot had slipped on some leaves. Though, when I looked down at them, they looked strange. I shone my light down at where I tripped and almost threw up. Blood. A trail of it.
I fell back against the tree as my chest tightened and I tried my best not to freak out. There wasn’t much I could do, though, since my heart was already beating far faster than it should’ve. I tried to breathe but it was nearly impossible. I couldn’t think. All that was going on in my head was that I was going to find my dad’s dead body. I felt like I was going to asphyxiate right there. The air didn’t seem to be reaching my lungs. I sank down to the floor, my eyes latched onto the blood stains on the ground. Trail. Someone— something maybe— was dragged. Maybe, hopefully, he was hunting for some strange reason. Maybe he was alive. I had to check. I had to be sure. My heart was still pounding against my ribcage but I eventually got my legs to work. Pushing myself off the ground, I started forward again, though now at a much slower rate. I followed the blood trail, which went on for longer than I would’ve expected, desperately clinging onto hope that my dad was alive. I walked for who knows how long, the only sound I heard being my uneven breathing. That was until I heard something ahead of me. Leaves being stepped on. I took a deep breath and lifted my flashlight higher to see further down the path. Something was moving just out of the light’s range. My first and only thought was that it was my dad. I sprinted towards the mass on the ground, stopping dead about eight feet away from it.
Definitely not my dad.
The person I’d seen before, if I could even call it a person, was on all fours. I immediately got an image of the animal that had run in front of my car. This thing. It was this thing. Up close, I could see some disturbing details I had never noticed. They weren’t dark skinned, their entire body was burnt and charred. A charcoal-like smell wafted from them and their skin was cracked. Their limbs seemed too thin, as if their muscles had shrunken. And, maybe even grosser, their face was hovering just above the ground, licking the blood off of the path.
My joints locked up and I stared at it for a moment. The creature ignored me as it continued to lick the blood from the floor. When it put one hand forwards to move in my direction, I instinctively took a step back. As my feet crunched the leaves beneath me, it’s head snapped up to look in my direction. Its eyes seemed to bore into me. We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Then it took a step forward.
My body snapped into action and I whirled around, bolting in the opposite direction. Behind me, I heard it running on all fours. My first thought was to run into my house. It was then that I realized that I didn’t know where my house was. I used to play in the woods when I was younger, but it was always during the day and I always made sure to keep track of where I was. In my panic to find my dad, I hadn’t focused on where I was going. I didn’t dare look behind me as I ran away, even when I heard it getting closer. And closer. I forced my legs to go as fast as they could, but it was faster. But then it stopped. I suddenly couldn’t hear its feet on the ground. Even still, I continued to run. I didn’t look behind me once. But I still wasn’t safe.
Suddenly, just a few feet ahead of me, it crawled into view. I don’t know where it came from, but I tried to stop. It was too sudden and I fell backwards, slamming to the ground with a thud. Ignoring the pain that radiated from my arms and back, I scrambled to prop myself up. It was too late. I froze as the creature slowly crawled around me just five feet away. It observed me with blank eyes, circling me. I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my rapidly beating heart. After a few very long and uncomfortable moments, it stopped circling and instead moved closer, crawling parallel to my body. I was frozen up until it reached my legs. I pushed myself backwards away from it, shaking too much to even try standing. It matched my pace and got closer and closer until we were face to face. Its odor burned my nose and I felt like throwing up. So close, I caught a disturbing glance into one of the bigger cracks on its face, spotting some sort of burnt red and yellow tissue inside. It tilted its head to the side and leaned forwards. I couldn’t think, I could barely breathe. Speaking of breathing, I could hear it raspily trying to suck in a breath. But, strangely, there was a faint gurgling sound coming from inside of it. All of a sudden, though, it backed up slightly. Then it reached a charred hand towards my face, its black and overgrown nails sharper than they should’ve been. As its skin stretched with its movements, I could hear the burnt skin cracking.
I was going to scream, back away from it. But it beat me to it. Starting from its feet, a red light glowed from in between the cracks of its skin. Within seconds the light spread through its entire body, ending with its eyes. It opened its mouth and screamed, releasing a breath of hot air into my face. Even the interior of its mouth glowed red as its ear piercing screech filled the woods around us. Then it backed away. Actually, it seemed to be dragged away by some force I could not see. It clawed at the ground, trying its best to fight whatever was taking it away. Moments later, it disappeared into the darkness. I stayed there for a long while, confused and horrified, unsure of what just happened. Time passed and my heart rate slowly returned to normal. I felt like crying, or screaming, but my brain seemed to be severed from my body. So I laid there.
Eventually I heard something. Even then, it took my body a moment to grab my flashlight and look around. My heart stopped for a moment when I saw the silhouette of a person. Before I had the chance to panic, I realized that it was my dad. I cried out in relief and didn’t get up, my muscles aching too much to move. My adrenaline had run out and I could feel everything. My back still hurt and my lungs burned, even though my breathing had mostly returned to normal.
Dad was silent. He slowly walked towards me and it took me a minute to realize that he was covered in blood. I was concerned that he’d been hurt, but then I saw what he was holding. In his right hand was his rifle, and in the left was the severed antler of a deer. Blood dripped from it and skin still dangled from where it had been torn off. My dad followed my line of sight and discarded the antler, approaching me. He looked at me with a complex expression. There was a mix of sadness, guilt and fear in his eyes. He reached over to help me up, but when his bloodied hand touched my skin I recoiled. Neither of us spoke. Even though I had a million questions to ask, I didn’t have the energy. Instead, I stood and let him lead the way back home. On the way over I looked at just how much blood was on his body. Most of it was on his arms, though some still stained the front of his pants and shirt. We walked for a long time until we reached the house. His car was still on and my front door was still wide open. Once we were inside, I opened my mouth to speak, but he moved past me and into the bathroom, leaving his rifle leaning against the wall. I heard him turn on the sink but he’d left the door ajar, so I walked over, “What happened?” My voice wavered as I said it, though it came out a bit more accusatory than I’d intended. He didn’t answer, “Dad, what’s going on?” I asked louder this time.
I heard him take a breath, “Are you okay?” He said with a tired voice.
“No! What happened? Why are you here? What was that thing?!”
It took him a while to answer, “The line is almost broken,” He said, sounding like he was about to cry.
“What the fuck does that mean?!” I didn’t intend to sound rude, but he was being so vague and I was tired of not knowing what was going on.
“Darcy—” He choked a sob.
I froze. What did mom have to do with any of this? My brain immediately went to the darkest places it could think of, “What about mom? Do you know something?” There was fear in my voice now. I was praying for a good answer. He sniffed and turned off the sink. After a minute or so, he opened the door, having cleaned most of the blood off his arms and collecting himself, “What does this have to do with mom?”
He walked past me again and across the house. I watched him as he entered his old room. Currently, I’m sleeping in the guest room. I hadn’t touched or moved a single thing from theirs so far. Still, he walked in, shutting the door behind him. I followed and listened as he opened his desk drawer, shuffling some papers around.
I knocked, “Dad? What are you doing?” He didn’t respond, “Can we talk about what happened?” He stayed in there for another few minutes before opening the door again. He paused for a moment as he looked at me, then walked back into the living room and grabbed his rifle, turning to leave, “Wh— Where the fuck are you going?! You need to tell me what’s going on!” I rushed over and walked in between him and the door.
“I can’t,” He said as he brushed past me.
“What the fuck do you mean you can’t?! Just open your fucking mouth and tell me!” I was livid. I was being stalked by a strange creature that he likely knew about, but he wasn’t telling me anything. He paused with his hand on the knob and glanced at his open bedroom door for a long moment until I followed his gaze. Nothing. When I looked back to him, he’d opened the front door and walked outside, “So you’re just leaving?!”
“Yes,” He called back sternly.
“I thought you died! You can’t just leave!” Despite my protests, he got into his car and drove off.
I stood next to the door, dumbfounded, for a few moments. Then I slammed it shut. How could he just leave? After everything? I paced around for a while, considering what just happened. Once I was a little calmer, I wrote this out to see if anyone knows what this thing could be. Clearly my dad isn’t going to be very helpful and I need to know how to handle this. As I’m writing it out, I’m thinking of searching my parent’s room for answers. I’ll update if I find anything important.