The Bad Place. That’s what the locals in my small town call the woods that circle our little slice of paradise.
There are many different rumors that the residents murmur about to each other but I don’t think anybody really knows what waits in those woods.
Devil cults, child eating witches, creatures from beyond and even aliens are some of the theories that float about.
They are all bullshit if you ask me. But what isn’t bullshit is those woods have definitely earned their nickname; The Bad Place.
Hikers have entered and have never come out, kids have dared each other to enter and vanished, dogs and cats have run off into the woods just to never be seen again.
If you stick to town, you’re safe. The only rule is don’t go too deep into the Bad Place or you’ll just become another statistic.
I live in a small house just on the outskirts of town. There’s an entry to the Bad Place about a hundred feet from my front doorstep.
At night I keep my door locked and shotgun by my side, ready to fire at anything that comes from those woods. Nothing ever has except for sounds, horrible sounds.
The sounds of children screaming and crying out for help. I think it’s the trees. Once the woods have you, they become you and can even communicate with you.
That’s just speculation but it’s the only thing that makes sense. Their cries nearly tricked me the first time I heard them.
I’ve told the local sheriff and his deputy but it always falls on deaf ears. They’re just as terrified as the rest of us. Who can blame them?
Bo, my six year old chocolate lab, sleeps in my room every night. He whimpers when the wind blows at night.
I’ll never forget my journey into the Bad Place. The night Bo got out and chased after a monstrous Buck into the woods. This wasn’t a regular looking Buck either.
He had red beady eyes with torn up flesh hanging from his body and crooked antlers that were broken in half and dangled loosely.
I grabbed my shotgun, flashlight and started towards the Bad Place. I moved as quickly as I could. It still surprises me today that I wasn’t more reluctant at the time.
The wind became cold as I progressed deeper into the woods. The trees grew closer together and the woods began to swallow me.
A sinking feeling filled the pit of my stomach. My heart pounded in my chest like a drum. I was terrified and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t call out Bo’s name. My throat tightened more and more every time I tried.
I managed to cry out to the woods… and they answered me. The dense trees suddenly started to open and spread apart from one another like a crowd allowing someone to pass. The wind quickly ceased. It was quiet. The woods had become eerily still.
There was no signs of Bo anywhere. I looked in every direction. And then… a whimper. I followed the whimpering to a pile of tree limbs. Bo was lying near it.
A strong gust of wind blew, knocking me to the ground. I gasped as I landed on my back. The wind entered me and filled me.
Bo and I ran back to our little cabin. I never spoke a word about going into the woods because I fear how people would’ve reacted.
For the first few months things were normal. And then it all started… the nightmares, the visions, and the transformation.
My nightmares started to become extremely vivid. They varied in context but all had a similar ending. It always ended with the woods taking me back.
The visions became increasingly horrifying with each passing day. It went from hearing children crying to seeing their dead mutilated bodies wrapped in tree vines. They stalked me wherever I went. It got so bad I had to move from my cabin to an apartment in a bigger city.
I can still hear the woods calling me back. The trees whisper my name and the wind blows for me. The Bad Place is in complete control now. I can feel it in my heart. I know it in my mind.
There’s something growing inside of me. I can feel it moving in my stomach. The pain is shooting to the rest of my body. My skin has started to dry up and become a wood-like texture, flaking off in good sized pieces.
Maybe I should go back. Maybe I should give it what it wants… me.