Some of you may be wondering, given the title, if I actually did travel to another dimension.
Let me give you the story of my experience. My brother, along with my friends, are now gone, killed by those…things, as I can only describe them. I just wish, I hadn’t gone down that road, then everything would’ve been normal. I just wish, it was all just a nightmare. But it was all real. Very fucking real.
Before I tell you what happened, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Stephen Mendoza, and I’m currently an exchange student who’s studying at the University of Hawai’i on the Big Island. I was just a normal person, majoring in Liberal Arts, and attending history club. My brother, Daniel, was also part of the club too, even though he majored in Psychology. He and I, along with a large group of friends, got together most of our free time, eating at a cafeteria while talking about our lives in the mainland to some local friends we made. They were taken aback as to how different our cultures were, and the interesting stories and tales of Native American folklore, in comparison to Hawaiian folklore.
But enough of my background and life story. I suppose you’re now wanting to know about that road I’m talking about. Well, for starters, it exists. If you see a road with a sign on it that says “NOHO IWAHO”, then I strongly suggest you listen to that sign and turn back. I certainly will now, after that horrifying experience. The experience that lead to my brother’s demise, and those things. I will not forget their faces, their bloodthirsty faces. Those creatures, things, whatever you wish to call them. I just wish I never let my curiosity get the best of me.
Well, it all started, when my brother, along with my friends, Darrion and Robert, were on our way, to a bar to drink, a bar Darrion told us about. Of course, Darrion couldn’t drink, he was the designated driver of course. Sucks to be him I assume, haha. Even though we were on our way to the bar and following the path that lead to it, I felt that we may have gotten lost, somehow. We’re not familiar with these tracks, but luckily, one of our local buddies were. He said that the bar is just a few miles away, but there’s a road that’s long and curvy that leads to it. We didn’t see any other, quicker option to the bar we meant to head to, so we decided to just drive off.
The pathway eventually lead us to a hill, with trees surrounding both sides, obstructing the view of the full moon, as well as the ocean. As I continued driving, I caught glimpse of what looked like a bright rectangular object, in the distance. As we got closer to it, I realized it was a sign. On that sign were two words in Hawaiian: NOHO IWAHO.
“NOHO IWAHO” I said. “What the fuck does that mean?” I then asked. My friend, Darrion, told me what it is and pronounced it right. “It means: STAY OUTSIDE.” Stay outside? But from what? Is this a private property? I asked myself these questions as I looked at the GPS on my phone. It was very interesting to see that this roadway is not visible on the phone map. Robert had a regular map of the island and pointed us to where we’re at. To our surprise, this road was not included on that map either. The road appeared to be “off-grid” in some sense, and I noticed that it was a long roadway that almost looked like a shortcut to the bar. “Come on guys!” I said. “I think it could be a shortcut or something.” Darrion however, was not happy. “Why the hell do you think that sign is there!? It could be some kind of Top Secret military facility or some shit. Let’s not go through there.” he said angrily. My brother, Daniel, was taken aback, after looking at the Google Satellite images on his phone. “Guys, there’s nothing there at all.” he said.
We all looked at his phone, and it clearly showed the road we’re on, but no road or buildings on that particular roadway with the sign. “Then I guess that’s just an old roadway and something used to be there.” I said. Nevertheless, we all just wanted to get to that bar. Since there were 4 of us, there needs to be at least 3 people voting to go through that road. But if two against two, we need to discuss this once and again and vote again. I know, I know… it sounds silly. But I just wish there was a fifth person with us. We did ask our other buddy, Michael, if he could join us, but he unfortunately refused. So as we all voted, it was decided whether or not we should take that roadway or continue down the long route. Of course, I decided to let my curiosity get the best of me, when I voted along with Daniel and Robert, against Darrion, who would rather take the long route. He wasn’t happy, but we all voted to go anyway, whether he liked it or not. I now damn my curiosity, and myself
Thus, I decided to drive us through that roadway in front of us. Moments after I drove into the road, I suddenly felt this chilling sensation. Its the kind of feeling you get when something is wrong. “Guys, I get that terrible feeling something is wrong here.” I said. Daniel and Robert laughed, while Darrion kept his mouth shut and looked down. Only after a couple more minutes have passed, I felt like I was suddenly about to pass out. I looked to my brother along with my friends, and they were surprised to see my reaction. “Stephen, are you alright?” Daniel asked me. Even though the car was staying on the road, I felt like I was about to pass out. “Stay with us, Stephen!” Robert said anxiously.
Just then, I suddenly felt my mind go dark, and I blacked out. I could hear my brother along with my friends screaming at me to wake up, before everything went quiet. I cannot completely recall what I had seen during my blackout experience, but I did recall this one particular vision in my head. I saw, my brother, along with my friends. They, were being torn apart and eaten, by these shadowy looking things in front of me. I was in the car alone, and they were outside, being mutilated by these things. I was horrified, about to break down in tears. Just then, I heard my name to the left of me.
Stephen.
It whispered.
I looked to my left, and saw something I wish I hadn’t. It looked like a female entity. It had a blue face, along with red eyes having no pupils or anything visible. Just red. It smiled at me with its sharp teeth, and then broke my car window, snatching me out of the car. That’s when I woke up. I slowly began to hear everyone in the car screaming my name. I then looked at them as I slowly became aware of my senses and my vision. To my shock, they all looked like they had seen a ghost. “Stephen, what the fuck happened to you?” my brohter asked me. “I don’t know. I just suddenly passed out.” is all I could think of. “No bro, you were still driving perfectly fine, but your eyes looked like they rolled in the back of your head.” Daniel said. That alone made me wonder, did something happen to me? I felt shocked, no explanations for what happened to me. Nothing. Even though Daniel was a psychology major. He would pass this off as something to do with the brain. However, even he looked surprised to see that.
After a few moments, we suddenly reached a clearing, that by all accounts, should not have existed. I drove as far as I could, only to see we were in a ‘different’ place. To the right of our car, there was a huge lake with what looked like trees in the distance. But to my most shocking surprised, I looked up into the night sky, only to see that there were much more stars then there should’ve been, and the moon? It still looked like our moon, but it wasn’t glowing a white color as usual. Instead, it sported a purple color, and I was amazed, but also terrified. What the fuck did we get into? I turned to see if my brother and my friends could see the same thing. Daniel was looking at the moon as well in shock. “I gotta be dreaming.” he muttered to himself a few times. Darrion and Robert felt the same way. I then asked Daniel to pull out his GPS, to see where we ended up in.
Daniel, was astnoished and terrified.
“The GPS is unavailable. It’s not showing anything.”
“Are you sure your phone’s not working properly?” asked Robert. “My phone is definitely fine.” Daniel then explained. “But this means that we’re not even on Earth. We’re nowhere near any location that the GPS registers.” After hearing this from Daniel’s mouth, it rendered me speechless. He’s after all, a psychology major as I said. To see him freak out about this, means we are truly in another world. As we began to ponder on the events happening before our very eyes, I noticed a building far off in the distance. “There! That could be it, the bar!” I said happily. But Darrion nodded his head ‘No’ to me. “I know what the bar looks like. That’s not the bar.” Then what is it? I suppose the only way to find out, was to get closer and closer to it. That’s what I thought at that very beginning. I just wished I turned back the moment I saw that building.
As we got close enough and got a good look at it, I noticed something was off about it. The sign on that building, didn’t seem normal at all. In fact, it looked like a language that was completely ‘alien’ to us. If you remember seeing those ‘vampire’ symbols from the first ‘Blade’ movie, or those symbols in the second ‘Transformers’ movie that “Sam Witwicky” was drawing while unconscious of his actions, you’ll get an idea of what we were seeing. “Guys, I don’t fucking like this! Let’s get the fuck out while we have the chance!” Darrion yelled out. But his words fell onto deaf ears, words I should’ve taken to consideration. It was only for a few moments that we got to look at the symbol.
Then suddenly, without any warning, figures started pouring out of the building, looking at us. When my brother Daniel looked at them, he said they looked like ordinary people with bloodshot eyes. “I’m guessing they smoked too much weed.” I jokingly stated. Robert and Daniel was cracking up at my joke, only for Daniel to stop laughing as the figures began to approach us. That’s when Daniel was about to scream when they got close enough. They, didn’t look human at all. They had human-like features, but these things were far from human. They all shared the appearances of that same female entity I saw in my vision. As they got closer, they stopped and looked at us for a few moments. “Hello?” my brother asked. One of the figures walked up to the car window, and then proceeded to lean down.
That was when we saw its face, for the first time. We all started screaming. The figure then looked like it was sniffing something, but its nose seemed to bend in a way no human-like nose would do. Then it smiled at us, revealing sharp, carnivorous teeth. Then in a split second, it broke the passenger window and snatched my brother out. I was horrified at the sight. I was about to get out to rescue my brother, only to turn to my window and see… that very same entity from my vision, smiling at me. It broke my window and snatched me as it did in the vision, revealing sharp teeth, with black tar-like liquid coming out of its mouth and dripping out of my face. As I broke out from its grip, it then slashed at me. That slash came in contact with my shirt, causing a rip on it. My friends all got out of the car and attacked those things, trying to save me and Daniel. But to my horror, I saw my brother, being torn apart and eaten by them. I was shocked and in tears. Darrion snapped me out of it as several other figures started approaching me. “Get back in the car and get the fuck out of here!” he yelled.
I did as he said, as he and Robert desperately fought off the creatures, only to be overpowered. Then Darrion looked at me, one last time, in his final moments of life. “LEAVE!” he yelled. This time, I didn’t stick around. I listened. In my rear view mirror, he and Robert started getting torn apart and eaten. I felt like I was about to vomit, but I had to hold myself together and drive the fuck out of there. The only way I could get out, was the way we were heading. If I head back there, they would rip me apart. I noticed another roadway surrounded by trees. I drove through there, hoping like hell it would take me out. I felt the same feeling of passing out again, as I drove through. Only this time, I didn’t see the vision. It was just pure blackness in my mind. I woke up, only to see I made it out. As I drove off, I saw the sign again. But this time, something was completely off.
The sun was dawning, and the moon was white and fading in the morning sky. I could see clearly, the same sign, only now, there was no road. It was just a forested area next to the sign. No roadway, no way in. Nothing. I began to think this was all just a terrible nightmare. However, looking in my car, I saw on one else in it. Just me. I stopped, and got out of my car. I could see dried-up blood on it. That’s when I realized, to my horror and sadness, it was all real. Very real, in fact. Not to mention morning? Have we been gone for hours? It only felt like an hour or two, wherever we went. A driver spotted me. He noticed the blood on my car and thought I got into a horrible accident. He called 911, and I happily anticipated for the response team to arrive.
While waiting, the driver pulled up in front of me and asked if I was okay. I did not know what to say, but I also had no logical explanation. After telling him what happened and that we meant to head to a bar, he laughed and thought I was crazy. “Am I correct to assume you guys drank too much?” he then asked. I would laugh, but I know for certain I’m not drunk, and I was too horrified and shaken up to even laugh or joke about it. This was fucking serious.
A police car arrived.
He began to ask questions. The guy who spotted me, chimed in. “I think this guy drank too much. He said he saw blue things come out of a building with weird symbols, and rip his family and friends apart and start eating them.” Of course, that was part of the explanation. The cop found it funny, but had to take it seriously. I was being serious, and told him everything that happened. I even showed him that sign with the forested area, and told him there was a road there last night, and we went into it. Both the driver and policeman saw the sign, but they both thought I was going nuts.
I was arrested under suspicion of drunk driving and negligent homicide, and perhaps, even murder. After arriving to the police station, I was being interrogated of the incident, so I told them everything that had happened. Of course, the cops didn’t want to believe me. But there was one policeman, the chief himself, who was surprised at my story. Of course, my suspicions were confirmed when he then asked me this one question.
“Was there a full moon that night?”
I then recalled what I saw that night. “Yes. I did see a full moon, along with an ocean. We went on top of a hill that appeared long and curving.” I said. “I see.” The chief said. “He might as well be innocent.” the chief then told the others. “Wait, what?” asked the cop that arrested me. “How the hell is this guy innocent? There’s blood on his car.” I thought it was going to be the end of me at that moment. I’ll be in jail for a murder I did not commit. “Since you don’t believe me, I suggest we have this young man take a lie detector test, as well as few psychological tests, and get a measurement of breath from him if he’s drunk. From what I’m seeing, he doesn’t look drunk.” the chief then explained.
“What’s that?” one of the cops noticed, looking at me. He walked up to me and saw something on my face. He rubbed it off, and saw that it was a black, tar-like substance. Not to mention the tear on my shirt that was clearly visible. The cop then instructed me to give me their shirt, as they hand me a new one, while taking the black substance for testing.
A few hours have passed.
After going through all of the processes, and after going through the tests and passing all of them, I was let go. When I returned to college, Michael was happy to see me, but his smile dropped when he saw my face. “Dude, are you okay? Where’s Daniel and the others? Did they head home?” But no, I explained and I told him everything. He thought I was crazy, until the chief of police shortly arrived. “Stephen Mendoza, correct?” he asked. “Yes sir.” I said. “I’m sorry we haven’t met. My name is Keala Ho’opii. I’m the chief of police for the Hawaii Police Department. The reason I came here is because I wanted to inquire you about the events that took place.” I then asked why. “Because I believe you. I believe you’re telling the truth, young man.” he then told me. Michael’s eyes went wide and fearful I was telling the truth.
As I thought, he asked us to come with him into his car. While he was driving us to the location, he revealed to us the following:
“After reviewing all of your tests and studying the substances and your shirt, it was clear to us you were telling the truth about your experiences. That substance that was on your face, was of unknown origin. But not only that. The reason I believe you is because, something similar happened years ago, to one of my friends who told me about it. Why I believe him? Because I was there too, that night.”
This little statement from him, made me realize once again, it was all real.
“My sister and my best friend were with us at the time. They never made it back. But unlike your friends who have been torn apart and eaten, they were turned into them. Me and my other friend were the only ones who made it out.” the chief continued. He then took out a picture of himself, his two friends, and his sister, and upon looking at it, my eyes went wide with fear and I felt my heart pounding rapidly. It was HER, but human in the picture. When I saw her that night, she wasn’t human at all. She looked like those things. I was horrified.
“You saw her, didn’t you?” Keala asked, and I looked at him and nodded with tears rolling down my eyes. “She was the one who left that substance on my face, and gave me that tear on my shirt.” I said in a whimpering voice. The chief then looked down, and tears rolled down his eyes, having received confirmation that his sister is truly, one of those things now. “That picture was her final picture. It was taken a couple of hours before it happened.” It was heartbreaking to hear, this is her final picture with her friends and family. We approached the site, with the sign still being there. “Do you see that sign, Michael?” Keala asked, and Michael nodded in approval. “I’m going to tell you and Stephen here this warning, and I need you both to consider it. Do you understand?” he asked both of us, and we nodded in agreement.
“In the time of a full moon, a road manifests here. NEVER GO THROUGH IT.” Keala instructed us. We nodded in approval once again, and he drove us back to the campus. I will never forget that night. It’s a night that will forever haunt my memories, and my dreams. I still see the face of that woman, whom she looked as a human, and how she looked now, as one of those things. The thought of such things that can make one’s blood run cold just by turning into one wrong lane.
In time, my family back in the mainland became aware of the story along with my brother’s death, and I explained everything that happened. I’m not surprised they somewhat believed me, as our family is known for talking about the various folklores and certain beings like skinwalkers and ancestral spirits. They also grieved over the death of my brother, and I blame myself for having taken that road in the first place.
Now, I will never forget the instructions the chief of police gave me. I will never forget, the clear instruction of that sign.
NOHO IWAHO. STAY OUTSIDE.