ITS REAL!? All of the shit on this website is real!?
That was my reaction all those years ago when I was thrust headfirst into this world of boogey men and cryptids. Now though starring at the bleeding corpse of this ‘dog thing’ I’m only mildly surprised they usually don’t get this close to the property. Anyway, the only other emotion I’m feeling right now is disgust, there’s a bit of blood on my left boot. Which SUCKS cause I just finished cleaned the gore from the other day only recently. Sticking my foot into dirt I try my best to clean it off. Once done i headed back to my pickup, it’s an old Isuzu i got for dirt cheap. Usually when i drive him most of his engine lights turn on and he leaks oil from point A to point B but apart from that he’s alright. Also, the cars a he, there’s a reason why i got him for dirt cheap. See the thing is he’s haunted, but not in the convectional way. See there’s a spirit of what I assume to be either a golden retriever or a malicious entity that came to like me for whatever reason. Also, his name is Buster, how I came by this truck is a story in itself. Which i may or may not post here so talk to me nicely alright.
That was my reaction all those years ago when I was thrust headfirst into this world of boogey men and cryptids. Now though staring at the bleeding corpse of this ‘dog thing’ I’m only mildly surprised they usually don’t get this close to the property. Anyway, the only other emotion I’m feeling right now is disgust, there’s a bit of blood on my left boot. Which SUCKS cause I just finished cleaned the gore from the other day only recently. Sticking my foot into dirt I try my best to clean it off. Once done i headed back to my pickup, it’s an old Isuzu i got for dirt cheap. Usually when i drive him most of his engine lights turn on and he leaks oil from point A to point B but apart from that he’s alright. Also, the cars a he, there’s a reason why i got him for dirt cheap. See the thing is he’s haunted, but not in the convectional way. See there’s a spirit of what I assume to be either a golden retriever or a malicious entity that came to like me for whatever reason. Also, his name is Buster, how I came by this truck is a story in itself. Which i may or may not post here so talk to me nicely alright.
Instead of finding the corpse of a canine with ridiculously bright blue eyes and a bad case of the mange i find nothing. Stopping just where the corpse should be disturbed earth and a trail a dark blood heading off into the undergrowth. So, i have two options i could just leave it as it is and write a report or i could go get it… damn. Sighing I hold up old reliable and head deeper into the forest. I can already feel my head pound as i imagine the lecture I’d receive from the big guy. Buster lets a small mechanical whine and hold up my hand telling him to stay I need to be done with this.
Following the obvious trail of blood and dirt it doesn’t take long for me to find the culprit. See the corpse didn’t magically get up and run away i made sure it was dead when i was you know killing it. No see it was stolen by another creepy crawly. A pale and hairless person had their back turned to me gorging itself on my kill. Sneaky bastard, I hadn’t had heard him approach. Their skin was pale and completely devoid of any hair, this was one of the skinnier ones and it was alone. Good so this would be easy. They were as dumb as rocks with the only thing being mildly threating about them was their incredible bite force and arms ending in spikes, Luckly there was only one of them.
Moving as quietly as I could I got closer to the thing. Making sure not to disturb the under growth or snapping any twigs. Though I doubted I needed to be so careful, the thing was a messy eater, and nothing could be heard over the squelching and tearing noises it made as it ate. Once I was quite literally on top of the thing, I turned old reliable so the thin part was facing the creature and raised it above my head. Making sure I was aiming for the things neck I swung down hard. My aim was true, and the shovel whistled as it cut through the air. Sadly, though I didn’t put enough ‘oomph’ into the swing. So instead of cleaning severing the head from the body, the shovel only imbedded itself in the things neck. It let out a terrible screech that cut through the afternoon air. It tried to jump away from me, catching me off-guard but my grip was strong and I was able to hold on to old reliable, the only problem was I lost my footing as the shovel was yanked forward and I wound up falling face first it to the gore of what was left of the fleshgaits meal. Great. Letting a disgusted groaned I slowly stood up trying my best not to heave as I did.
The fleshgait had only managed to take two more steps before it succumbed to its wounds, and by wounds i mean the shovel sticking out of its neck. It twitched four or five times before succumbing to its wounds. Wiping the mess from my neck and face and I got to freeing my shovel from the creature’s corpse. At least I got paid extra for two bodies instead of one this week. The thing had died on its stomach with its arm dug into the dirt. Placing my foot on its head i tried to yank old reliable from its neck. It took three tries before I was able to the shovel from its neck. It was in their deep.
Stretching I shaded my eyes against the setting sun its orange glow cut through the overgrowth sending rays across the forest floor. Leaves slowly fell from the trees carrying with it the smell of red maple and blood. Birds chirped and called out to each other from above and a brook bubbled nearby. This view was spectacular and would’ve have been perfect, if not for the smell of rotting flesh…wait rotting flesh? Ah fuck me. A chorus of yips and animalistic calls sounded from deeper in the forest. Scanning the trees wildly my eyes landed on a group of humanoid shapes making a beeline for me. There were four fleshgaits, six counting the ones coming from my left. With my training, a weapon and a little courage, I could take them out with little difficulty. Getting into position and gripping old reliable I readied myself. When the first fleshgait broke through the nearby tree line I sprang into action like a marathon runner i bolted…in the opposite direction the freaks had come from. I wasn’t a hero, and they weren’t paying me enough for this bs.
My feet carried me with the momentum only a person running for dearlife could. I broke branches and crushed leaves as a mad dash to buster. It only took me a minute to reach him. Chucking Old reliable into his bed I rushed to the driver’s side and yanked his door open as quickly as I could. Buster let out a surprised rev as I shut the door behind me and franticly fought to buckle my seat belt. Three of the fleshgaits followed me and I watched as they approached buster with caution. I could feel them try to get into my head already names of people I had never met begun swimming through my head as well memories of them. Mary a friend I came to hike with run from two of the fleshgaits chasing her. Fear shot through me as I realised, I was close to leaving a friend behind.
O god those things were gaining on Mary. I reached for the door handle ready to throw it open and let her in. Buster jumped into action kicking up dirt as he drove us away. As Buster drove down the dirt path my mind begun to clear, the fake memories slowly faded they hadn’t had enough time to take root. The fear at loosing Mary had been crippling but now it slowly faded and my pulse slowed. There was no Mary. As though to sooth me Buster turned on the radio but the only thing he was able to catch was static. Closing my eyes and leaning back I relaxed letting Buster take us home.
I suppose now would be a good time as any to introduce myself the names Ryker, badass cryptid hunter and babe magnet. Okay no, but seriously, names Josh and I’ve been leaving in this part of the woods for about two years now. See my life was pretty much normal for the first fifteen years until something happened and it wasn’t. I was left in under foster care and drifted between homes for a while and by some sheer bad luck picked up by the agency. So, for most of my younger years i was trained by them. I’m not at “liberty” to say what that training was or what the agency was so don’t ask. For the first few years I did pretty well until I didn’t. I could come up with a hundred excuses to why I failed, reoccurring nightmares, shitty sleep schedule my instructor was a prick etcetera you get the idea . Anyway, they got tired of me pretty quick. After a while they sent me of to my first real mission which was secure an ‘active’ area. As you’ve already guessed it this was the place.
For the first year it was chill I barely had to do anything I would usually avoid all the spooky stuff until my handler put a stop to my goofing off. Now if I don’t deal with a certain number of cryptids a week then I won’t be able to feed myself. Hence the fact I was burying a mangey dog earlier, see the thing is I found a work around. Instead of carrying the corpse of whatever small-time cryptid I caught that week all I had to do was grab a piece of it as evidence and burry the rest. Now for the big question why I am telling you this, well why not I’m in the middle of nowhere with albeit a bit slow and i want to share some stories with you to pass the time. Anyway, that’s enough about me I’ll tell you the rest later. Leave any questions you’d like in the comments and I might answer a few of them. Anyway, see you’s next time, I guess. Josh out.