You may have noticed that I haven’t been on here for a couple of days. Let me tell you why…
After what happened to Roger, I knew that I had to leave.
As soon as that ‘thing’ had left the house…after hearing it suck the blood from it’s long spindly claws…I just ran. Part of me wanted to run to Pendle’s cabin, but I thought that would just prolong the nightmare. I wanted out! So I ran for the main road, thinking that I could just hitchhike out of here and return to normality.
Only that didn’t work.
The main road which passes the forest was about a 3 mile walk from Roger’s cabin. I’m not exactly an athlete, however, with fear propelling me, I was sure that I could run the distance in 25 minutes or so. I grabbed a torch and bolted through the front door, running straight into the dense forest. This time I didn’t care about the noises, or the moving shadows, I just ran as fast as I could, using the overwhelming feeling of impending doom as fuel.
As I reached the main road, for the first time in such a long time I actually felt that I was safe. The normality of the road signs and chevrons on the bend ahead shone brightly in my torchlight and the shadows didn’t seem as formidable. Then, when I noticed two tiny bright lights in the distance, a tear of pure happiness fell down my cheek.
I’m safe.
The tiny lights grew and a low rumbling sound pierced the air around me as I walked slowly down the edge of the road towards my saviour. That’s when I saw it. The long pale face in the bush opposite me. As the car drew closer, the face crept higher as the ‘thing’ stood upright and glided from the bush towards me. It stood there, directly in front of me, staring, as if it were sizing me up for it’s next meal. Dried blood had coagulated on the white hairs of it’s bony greyish chest. It’s eyes seemed even larger than they had before and it felt like they were penetrating my mind, searching for something.
I stumbled slowly away from this terrifying creature or human, or whatever it is, and that’s when I must’ve fell backwards. I faintly remember losing consciousness as the roar of an engine grew louder and the woods lit up for a second, before it fell silent again and my eyes closed with the acceptance that the end has come.
I’m going to die.
It was yesterday that I woke up. My whole body ached and as I moved my head to check my surroundings, a sharp pain shot through me. I moaned as I resumed my previous position of laying flat on my back, realising that I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It was still dark as I searched for anything that could tell me where I was, but all I could see was rocks and moss pushing through the darkness. Fear started to crawl back as my eyes acclimatised to the deep abyss surrounding me.
I was in a cave.
My body trembled as I began to sob. I tried to quiet myself, but it was no use. My sobs echoed through the cavern and I started to panic that whatever had brought me here, was going to come back. I tried to sit up slowly, thinking that I could just get up and run out of this place, however, as I moved my legs, I met resistance. Thick vines had been tied around my ankles and secured around the weird rock formations below me. I pulled at them with my hands, desperate to rid myself of this physical restraint and mental torture. They were so tightly wound, that I felt myself clawing at my skin each time I pulled and ripped at them. It seemed like I was getting nowhere when I heard a faint grunt from down the tunnel, making me stop instantly.
All I could hear now was my quick shallow breaths, however I could sense a change in the atmosphere. The air felt thicker and I felt as though I was being watched. My eyes frantically searched the darkness around me, almost wanting to see something to confirm that I wasn’t alone. I sensed movement in front of me and, despite the intense fear controlling me, I called out.
“Who’s there? Where am I?…ANSWER ME YOU FREAK!”
I took a sharp intake of breath and immediately wished I could retract the last sentence, knowing that I had probably initiated a showdown with my shouting. But nothing happened.
I immediately returned to clawing at the vines around my ankles. My fingers were now getting wet with what I can only imagine was blood from the self-inflicted scrapes of my fingernails. This didn’t stop me though, I was adamant on releasing myself from the clutches of this freak. I even think I would’ve cut my own feet off for freedom, at this point. I had to get away. It was no use, however, because as soon as I started to notice that I was making progress with the vines, I was forced to stop.
I could smell it before I saw it. The distinct smell of mud, the metallic tinge of blood and a pungent body odour, filled the air as a dull shape in the distance grew larger. The ‘thing’ was here and it was gliding towards me slowly, making a low gurgling noise. I pushed my arms against the cold mossy cavern floor below me and tried to shift myself upward, away from the creature, wincing as the restraints restricted my movement.
“Please…let me go…please…”
The ‘thing’ didn’t react at all to my pleading. It just continued to move closer to me, until it was stood right at the bottom of my feet. I resisted the urge to gag as the smell invaded my nostrils, making my stomach churn and I began to wonder if this creature had the same senses as me. I’m almost entirely sure that it could see so much better than me in the dark, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be affected by the overwhelming stench of death that it reeked of.
My thoughts were interrupted as the ‘thing’ crouched down and raised its arms either side of me. I started to scream as it slowly slid over the top of me, resting on it’s long pointed claws, dyed red from the blood of my friend. I pushed my arms against the icy coldness of it’s bony chest and desperately wiggled my legs against the restraints, as it lowered itself down on to me. Then I felt a sharp claw press against my neck, forcing me to stop my assault.
I let auto-flight take over for the next few minutes while I escaped deep into the safety of my mind, away from the realism of what was happening. Away from the pain. Away from the quickening grunts. I became a teenager again, at the beach with my mother, jumping over the waves on the shoreline. I wish I could’ve stayed there forever. It was pure happiness.
I can imagine you’re now thinking ‘How on Earth are you writing this?’. It must seem to you that I must now be dead. But let me tell you, I am alive. In actual fact, I’m totally ok, apart from the deep cuts on my ankles from those bloody vines. It let me go. It cut the vines with one little scratch from it’s claws and let me walk right out of there.
The cave isn’t that far from my cabin. It’s well hidden, but I still don’t realise why I didn’t see it before.
The weird thing is, I feel different.
I’ll let you know if anything else happens.