I bought a house in the middle of the woods. It was cheap for its almost perfect place in nature and I would be a mad man if I even hesitated to think about buying it back then.
Sure, some may say that it is haunted or cursed, but I do not believe in the paranormal and with that I had nothing to lose. In the few decades I have lived here, nothing strange occured. I have been minding my own business, harnessing crops and vegetables for my own survival. I always liked the thought of a simplistic lifestyle and no connection to the outside world. I even insisted that the previous owners leave the key on the doorstep, so I would not meet them. I do not like other people. I do not even remember the last time I spoke to one.
I usually go on a walk at midnight. I only have to sleep for about. hours a day. I don‘t know when I adapted this skill, it feels like I have been doing it forever. I love to see the stars that shine brighter than I have always seen them when I was living somewhere else. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, no light dares to fight against the stars. It is beautiful out here and the warnings of a beast that roams the forest make me giggle sometimes. The Beauty out here would not allow some deformed creature.
My strolls usually take two hours, but recently I have been increasing it. I was feeling very awake and not tired at all, so I decided that I would take a different route as before because I was able to observe my surroundings sharply. As I was looking to my left I saw a dense cloud of fog that invited me for an adventure off course.
As I walked into much deeper fog, I noticed that the ground becam softer and wetter. Whenever my shoes touched the ground a sound of wet dirt was released. I did not have to think about what this mysterious area was, I knew that the area I lived in used to be moor, but due to forestation, it became less interesting.
Now I might admit that I got scared when I heard leaves and grass rattle in the distance. It was not loud, but it was the only thing I could hear. The wind was taking a break and the fog rose out of the wet earth without making a sound. The rattling had all my focus and I stood still for a second. My mind was completely surprised by this sound. I knew that whatever it was, it was tall enough to make the leaves shake. Maybe it was the beast that I was warned about.
I am no normal person, I admitted that already. My first instinct was not to run away and get home safely, but it was to attack. I knew where the sound came from and I was wide awake, so I just sprinted towards it, almost falling into the mud. It started running too, but I was faster.
I jumped and threw the beast onto the peat. The entire ground shook. A cloud obstructing the moon made it impossible to see what monster was now screaming in my face, but it did not take long before I could see it. I could already hear its heartbeat and I smelled its fear. It smelled good.
I tried to say something to it, but since I have not done so in years, my voice was just a complete mess. As it screamed, I noticed that it was just a boy, a human. I let him go and shivered in fear. I looked into a puddle of water next to me and saw my reflection.
Magenta eyes on a deformed face stared back. It took me a moment to realize that there really was a creature in the woods.
It was me.