All grew silent, and the forest stood still. The hoarse sound of my shallow breathes sounded 10 times louder in the still silence. The creauture that’s in this forest is nowhere to be heard or seen. Looking back, I should have grabbed something to protect myself, even if it was a sharp fucking stick. I relise now, how close I was to joining those cultists in death.
I was tired, in constant pain, and in constant fear. Minutes turned to hours and I noticed the forest was getting thinner. The amount of space to walk was decreasing in size. After a moment of realization, I turned around to go back. That’s when I saw it, or rather I saw myself.
I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. and then my doppelganger was moving towards me. I noticed his hand, he was holding something. He was holding a knife. He went into a full sprint, and his face distorted. I felt my soul leave my body, and turned around and did my best to try to outrun him. I knew with my injurys I couldn’t gain much distance, but I had to try. I tripped over a rock and fell forward. I turned around and noticed he was standing over me. Smiling, he lifted his knife and plunged it down towards my chest. I closed my eyes and waited for death to take me. But then nothing happened. It was silent again, I opened my eyes and a faint maniacal laugh echoed into nothing.
I was alive, I breathed a sigh of relief but then I broke down. I just wanted to leave this forest. I couldn’t take it anymore. When I got control of my emotions again, I knew I had to keep going. After what felt like 10 minutes, I came across a crossroads in the path. I could either go left, right, or straight. I decided to go left, but that was a mistake. I know that now. At the time I was just tired, I didn’t think it could get worse.
The scene I saw still haunts me. Dismembered body’s in the trees, blood on tree trunks. So…… much fucking blood. It was a scene from hell itself. I couldn’t take it, I was sick. I fell to my knees and threw up. When I get up a minute later, I noticed that at the end of the path was a cave entrance. The same cave entrance that started this nightmare. When I got closer to it, I could hear screams from inside, maniacal laughter then more screams. I can’t get them our of my head to this very day. Against my better judgment, I entered the cave.
As I was walking through the cave the twist and turns got nauseating. And then that creauture found me again. The same creauture that tore those cultists limb from limb, and I think this is its home. It screamed and then laughed as it chased me. I fought through the pain and fear and went as fast as I can through every turn. Eventually I saw it, an exit from that cave. I jumped through, hitting a grassy plain and passing out.
I woke up in a hospital, IVs in my arm, and a cast on one of legs. My whole body looked like it was beaten to shit, and I could see spots where I was bleeding heavily. I turned my head a noticed my parents to my side, they looked disheveled and looked at me like they were looking at a ghost. Later I found out, I was reported missing 5 months earlier, and that a hiker found me passed out outside of a cave a day ago.
It’s been 2 years since, and I still have not fully recovered. Every once in a while, I’ll hear it. I’ll see something out of the corner of my eye that resembles that thing. All I can say is that I am glad to be away from that forest. But something keeps trying to lure me back. I pray that noone ever goes through what I did.