I was driving down a lonely country road on a dark stormy night for hours, I hadn’t seen any signs of civilization for miles. Nothing but trees as far as I could see.
How long had I been driving for? I never even noticed the sun go down.
Driving through a forest without crossing a road or seeing any signs of life was making me more worried by the second.
Gas light suddenly started to flash, still nothing but trees. I was just about to pull over when I saw it.
A flash of light from my car’s headlights against some kind of reflection. Rain started to fall with awful timing and I pressed harder on the gas pedal to reach that flash in the darkness. It was like my own beacon of hope.
I eventually reached a large black iron gate. The curled steel stood ten feet tall and fifteen feet wide, looming and swaying, half open in the wind. I parked my car just outside the gate and saw a few “no trespassing” signs that have been nailed to the trees nearby.
The droplets of rain started to fall more heavily on my head and I ran back to my car. I tried to turn the key but the engine had died. Great. I grabbed a flashlight, got back out in to the rain and shined my light past the gate.
There was nothing but a narrow gravel road that plunged into the darkness of the trees ahead and I was unable to see the end of it.
Without really knowing where I was and with my dead engine, I decided that I had no other choice but to follow the road that lead into the trees. I mean, there’s a gate and signs, there must be a house nearby, or a phone, I thought to myself. It felt more like I was preparing myself, for what would probably be a long walk ahead.
Armed with my flashlight, I approached the closed half of the gate and pushed it open. The long, eerie screech of the cold, stiff iron was enough to make me feel even more uneasy than I did already.
The rain fell heavier with every step and I was constantly shinning the flashlight between my left and right side. Trying my best to see anything through the dense forest on either side of me. I guess I am much more afraid of the dark than I thought.
The trees continued to sway and moan with the rain and the wind, all the while my footsteps crunched on the narrow gravel road. I suddenly heard a branch snap and I immediately turned my light to the left and found nothing. Another snap, to the right, and again I found nothing under the thin beam of light of my flashlight.
The walk seemed to be endless, with the occasional snapping branch. I continued to walk straight on with my head up. Trying my best to focus on the road ahead and ignore the sounds around me.
This time I heard a very loud thump behind me. I really did not want to look, but I could not help but think; whatever it was is big enough for me to have heard and felt it through this noisy storm. With that in mind I stopped, breathing heavily, yet trying my best to listen for any other clue as to what was behind me.
Slow and heavy footsteps started to crunch on the gravel towards me. I remained motionless until the steps were so close that I started to feel hot breaths on top of my head.
In that moment is when I bolted down the road. I had no idea how much further I needed to go, and at that point, I really didn’t care. Running as fast as I could, thankfully, I did not hear anything chasing me.
After some time, I dared to slow down, listening for anything that might be chasing me. I turned my head and my flashlight left and right into the trees on either side of me.
Nothing.
No footsteps, no snapping branches, no heavy breathing. At this point, I had gone too far now to turn back. Turn back to what? I’d be no safer sleeping in that car than I was now; alone and exposed in a dark forest on a stormy night.
After a moment to catch my breath I continued on. A few moments later and that is when I saw a light.
I had finally reached the edge of the dense forest. From what I could tell through the rain: there was a small wooden cabin in the middle of a large, empty field. There was a flickering light to be seen through a window. I took one step past the tree line in disbelief, then suddenly I heard a deep growl coming from behind me.
I screamed and immediately started to run. This time, I heard a loud roar and loud footsteps running behind me, chasing me. When I reached the cabin, I wrenched the door open and slammed it shut as fast as I could, putting all of my weight against the door. The thing on the other side of the door started pounding, scratching and tearing at the door. Its snarls and howls terrified me so much that I managed to hold my ground during the fight of my life.
After what seemed like hours, the thing outside the door ceased and retreated with a low growl. I took my chance to grab a nearby chair and wedged the door shut. After I made sure the door was secure, I took another moment to make sure I didn’t hear anything outside, except for the storm of course.
I decided that it was safe enough and I started to look around. The small cabin only had two rooms: a kitchen with a small round table and three chairs, in which I stood, and a threshold revealed the room with the flickering light.
I cautiously entered the next room, welcoming its warmth in my cold wet clothes. There was nothing but an old bed with torn sheets to the right, a lit cast iron fireplace in the far left corner and a high backed armchair facing the blazing fire.
I looked again over at the old bed and this time I noticed traces of what looked like blood on the torn sheets. My attention then turned to the huge cushioned armchair sitting alone, facing the fire. I slowly approached it from behind.
I looked over the top of the chair and down upon the long dark tangled hair of a little girl curled up in dirty, ragged and torn clothes. I quickly got myself in front of the chair and started to shake the girl awake.
“What are you doing here alone? There’s a monster out there! Where are your parents?”
The girl didn’t move, but I started to look around frantically as a familiar low growl started again, and this time it was coming from inside the room.
“I couldn’t help it, I was so hungry” I looked down to see the girl staring up at me with the brightest yellow eyes I had ever seen.
Terrified, I fell back on the ground and was frozen with fear as I watched the little girl crawl over the back of the chair. Growling, slowly growing and her hypnotizing yellow eyes never left mine.
I continued to stare in shock, unable to move or scream as she shifted into a mass of fur and teeth. I heard the same fearsome roar one last time before she finally lunged at me, claws out and teeth barred.
-–
I was lucky that day, or unlucky, however you want to look at it.
My family called 911 when they didn’t hear from me and police managed to track my phone to the cabin where I was found, barely alive.
Alive, if that’s what you want to call it. My legs don’t work anymore and now I am blind because of the damage the creature caused in the attack. I wouldn’t even want to know what I look like, a small miracle.
Police never found the girl, or the creature. I don’t know if they believe my story, they think I was just in shock.
I just had to get that night off of my chest, it’s been haunting me for years.
They say I was attacked by a bear, for the size of the claw marks all over my body.
Believe what you want, I know it was no bear and she won’t ever let me go.
The fact is; even though I can’t see anything, I only see dark when I’m asleep. Everyday in my waking moments, I still see those terrible yellow eyes.