Six months ago, my partner Jenna and I moved from the city into a ranch-style house with plenty of acreage and forestland for a backyard. Our house isn’t isolated per se, but our nearest neighbor is half a mile away, which feels pretty far since we were urbanites our whole lives. Still, we’ve dreamt of leaving the city for a long time, and we’re very happy here—or at least we used to be.
It was around 2:00 AM, Jenna had already gone to bed, and I had been awake in the living room on a Netflix binge. After the last episode ended, I let my dog outside to go to the bathroom before I headed to bed. My dog didn’t come back into the house right away, so I went outside to find him standing in front of the forest line, staring at something in the darkness with raised hackles, making a deep, guttural growl I had not heard from him before. He’s a pitbull mix and the sweetest guy I’ve ever had, so seeing him so unsettled put me on edge.
I walked over to my dog and couldn’t see anything, but I had an uncomfortable feeling that sent chills down my spine. I can’t even accurately describe to you what the feeling was at the time, but I felt in my bones that something was very wrong. There had only been one bear sighting in these woods a long time ago, and my dog wouldn’t be threatened by a small animal like a squirrel. So, what had upset him so much? In an attempt to scare off whatever it was, I shouted, “Get out of here!” as loud and threatening as I could. I immediately heard something hit the ground with a thump underneath a tree and take off deeper into the forest. While their fleeing should’ve made me feel better, it did exactly the opposite. The noise of the feet running away was undoubtedly human. I’m well aware of what animals sounds like when when running, and whatever was hiding up in the tree watching me was not an animal.
I called the police immediately, but by the time they arrived, there was no sign of anyone on our property anymore. The frustrating thing was that the police had tried to tell me that I had probably mistaken the noise of an animal for human feet. The cops went on about how it was late, dark, and my mind fed into the fear, making up the worst-case scenario. They took down my statement and instructed Jenna and me to reach out if the trespasser returned. Unfortunately for us, they did.
Around the same time two nights later, we suddenly heard noises coming from the backyard, which quickly turned into laughter and hysterical screaming. We looked out the window and saw three figures obscured in the darkness running around in a circle. Honestly, I have never been more terrified in my life. Maybe it’s because I watch too many scary movies, but I felt like I was about to experience a real-life version of Us or The Strangers. The figures disappeared into the night, but, to our horror, the figures reappeared and started sprinting around the perimeter of our house, banging on the exterior walls and windows. We think the voices were more masculine than feminine, but there was no we could know for sure. Jenna had already called the police, but we were worried they wouldn’t arrive in time. I ran to my bedroom, grabbed my handgun, and shot three rounds into the sky once I returned to the backyard. The figures startled, screamed, and fled back into the woods. The police arrived and took our story more seriously this time since the trespassers tagged our house with black spray paint. Can an animal do that? Nope.
Thankfully, that was our last encounter with the strangers. I’m not sure if my gunshots scared them or what, but I don’t care to know the reason why. A week later, my neighbors encountered the same people, and I felt terrible because I should have warned them. The strangers only visited my neighbors once before leaving for good. I’m assuming the strangers were just stupid kids wanting an adrenaline rush and a good laugh, but what if they weren’t? What would’ve happened if I didn’t have a gun to scare them off, or what if they were planned to seriously harm us? Again, I don’t care to know. I just don’t want them to show up ever again.
Since then, we’ve installed video surveillance and motion sensor lights. We’ll stay more vigilant in the future and hopefully prevent other people from picking us as targets for their cruel and terrifying schemes.