I can’t explain or fully understand what it was to this day. All I know is that I haven’t felt ‘normal’ since. I suffer from anxiety so I’ve always been used to the occasional scratching but ever since my run in with this…. presence… my scratching escalated, to the point that I would wake up with scratches down my chest and blood in my nails accompanied with bruises on my arms and legs, as if I was having a one v one with myself in my sleep.
I guess you’re wondering what on earth i’m talking about so i’ll get to the point. I had been with my current boyfriend for about 9 months and we were taking our first vacation together. He wanted me to see his old hometown so we organised a trip to Switzerland. I haven’t done much travelling in my life so my eyes were filled with awe as I took in every scenic view of this pristine land. From the snow-capped crests to the glistening blue waters, it almost looked like a still painting.
We were staying at one of his friend’s for the duration of our trip, I have this mentality where I need to have some form of exercise, I can’t go two days without turning into a bad depressive cycle convincing myself that I am fat. There was no gym near and my french wasn’t the best so I was unsure of how to even ask to sign up. I resorted to running, a way to help keep this sort of body dysmorphia in check all while exploring the area. After a few days of running the same route I decided to take a different path which passed by some woods. I decided to take this up as my new running path, it looked so peaceful and completely undisturbed. I switched between running and walking for nearly an hour, the woods seemed to go on forever.
Over the blaring music in my ear I heard an odd ringing sound, I took my right airpod out with confusion and stood completely still, I heard it more clearly this time. It was the sound of a hand bell being shook vigorously. My body has never been good at the whole fight or flight mode, instead it gets stuck in the middle and freezes. The only thing racing was my heart, I swear it was ready to jump out at any given moment. Suddenly the bell sounded as though it was right beside me and I heard a rustle in the bushes. Out popped a little dog with a bell attached around its neck. I breathed a sigh of relief seeing it. I looked around to try see if it’s owner was anywhere but I hadn’t seen a single person since I entered.
The dog trotted ahead of me, the bell ringing with each step. I followed it for a little bit until it disappeared into the trees again. It struck me as odd but I decided to carry on with my run, I heard the bell every once in a while against the sea of timber but did my best to not think much of it. Everything else along the way seemed pretty normal asides from the odd snap of twigs around me but it was probably just some small woodland creatures. My boyfriend told me the only thing that could really harm me out here was deer and even then I believe they would be more scared of me than I would be of them.
I noticed it was starting to get dark so I decided to turn back. I had reached the area where I saw the dog with the bell. Except this time it was completely silent. Almost too silent..? That’s when I noticed it. Ahead of me in the middle of the path was this white smoke, rising up from the ground. I stopped in my tracks, I grabbed my phone shakily and tried to ring my boyfriend. Except there was no service. At all. My only option was to take a video. The one I am looking at as I write this. I put it in slow motion and it looks like a figure forms from whatever this was. I realized my only option was to walk through it as it was the only way back to the house. Every inch of my body screamed as I began to creep towards it. Just before I was close enough to touch it, it disappeared. I walked into the space where it was and looked either side. Nothing. Now i’m not a know it all about nature but I can confidently say that this is not a normal occurrence for woods.
My flight mode decided to finally work for once as I found myself running until I was out, I took a glance back and ran back to the house to tell my boyfriend about what just happened. Of course he had a bit of an odd look on his face when I told him, not really believing all of this, that was until I showed him the videos I took. His face turned pale and the only words he got out was “What the fuck”.
It’s safe to say I haven’t been in any woods since but writing this all out has something inside me wanting to go back there. No. Not wanting. Needing.