I’m posting this because I need to tell someone about the last time I saw my best friend Jason.
Back in high school Jason and I were inseparable, we took all of the same classes, went to the smoker’s pit at lunch for our mid-day cigarettes and the occasional joint, skipped classes together, and since he lived next door we even hung out with each other every morning and night. That was until the middle of 12th grade. See 12th grade was when Jason started dating Patricia. Patricia was your typical quiet girl who always had her nose stuck into a book. Her looks were very plain but she was wicked smart and when you got to know her you realized she was one of the nicest people.
In new relationship fashion, he began to change. He quit smoking because she asked him to, started pulling his bootstraps up in classes so no more screwing around or skipping, each night he’d go to her house to “study” but knowing her they probably actually studied. This left before school and weekends for us, that was until he started meeting her before school bringing her breakfast and spending weekends with her reading and hanging out with her family. It hurt but I understood this happened with new relationships and high schoolers in general.
It had been 2 months since they started dating and 3 weeks since the last time we hung out when he showed up at my house. He climbed up to my window at 3 am knocking loud enough to wake me up and even though he did it frantically he was soft enough to not disturb my parents. I let him into my room and I asked him what was up. Jason had a crazed look in his eyes, almost as if he was about to become unhinged.
“They’re going to get me, man, they are going to get me”. He frantically told me.
I grabbed him by the shoulders asking what the hell was going on and who was going to get him.
“The people in the trees”.
This was when I started thinking, with him sounding this crazy he must have been having a terrible high.
“Hey, hey you’re safe here, why don’t you come lay down, I’ll get you some orange juice, and help you ride this thing out” I tried to reassure him.
He turned back around staring out my window at the tree outside. A gentle breeze blew the branches ever so slightly. Jason got up running towards the window. He started screaming “it’s not safe, it’s not safe,” over and over and over again. He suddenly jumped out the window two storeys. When I made it to the ledge he was already limping, running away.
My parents came in because of Jason screaming. I did not want to rat him out but I was worried given his state. They went over to his parents and when they hadn’t seen him the four of them called the police.
It has been 5 years now since that night. Even with all of the searches, news reports, and Facebook posts no one has seen him, That was, until yesterday.
I was doing some hiking in a national park a few hundred KM from where I saw Jason last. I do this trip a few times a year to just destress, so I know this place well. This time I decided to take a “secret” trail that only regulars of the park know. It’s always quiet and comes to a beautiful scenic waterfall.
During my hike as I was reaching a bend in the path that led to the last little bit of the trail, I heard slurping and tearing noises coming from up ahead. I knew there were bears in this forest which is why I always came prepared with bear spray. I pulled it out of my backpack and proceeded forward cautiously. I came across a clearing while hiding behind some brush. In front of me, I could see someone on the ground, they looked like a hiker from the boots they were wearing. Someone in severely tattered clothes was hunched over the top half of the body with their back to me.
I called out asking if they needed help as from what I could see it looked like there was an accident. When the hunched-over figure turned around my stomach dropped to the floor.
“Jason?” I asked surprised.
He didn’t respond, his black sunken eyes pierced into mine. It was Jason, his facial features looked the same as they did the day he ran away from me but, his skin was dried and peeling, almost translucent in some places. Blood covered his mouth and neck, and he had little bones jutting out of his forehead reminiscent of a crown.
I stared at him and then I stared past him at the half-eaten corpse behind him.
“What the fuck is going on Jason?” I screamed.
As I turned ready to run away a man and a woman jumped out blocking my path. They both had that dry peeling skin and wore tattered clothes. The man’s nose looked like it had been ripped off and had scarred over whereas the woman had a jagged bone pierced through her jawbone. I backed up as fear gripped me, tripping on something and falling back, cracking my head on a rock and passing out.
I woke up for a split second with the man and woman knelt over me with hunger in their black soulless eyes and then again when Jason pulled them off of me. When I finally woke for good it was pitch black outside. I got up and ran as fast as I could back to my car. I made the trek in two hours when it would usually take three. Rustling followed me from a little bit off the path all the way until I exited the forest. I got in my car, turning it on. As the headlights reached the treeline I could see Jason standing there starting, making sure I left.
I know Jason had pulled those creatures away saving my life and I’m pretty sure he protected me all the way back. My best friend protected me even when he wasn’t fully him anymore. I don’t know what to think of this.
I put an anonymous tip into the police when I got back, about where the hiker’s body was, but I knew if I said anything else no one would believe me. So, I’m turning to you guys to at least tell what no one else will believe.
Update can be found here