His shoulder was broken, the arm hanging limply at his side like a loose bag of sand. Sweat forced itself out of the pores on his face and skin peeled off the burns on his hands. It wasn’t a good position to be in under the circumstances and the situation didn’t seem likely to improve, but he did have one thing working in his favor; he didn’t care if he survived.
“Are you alright?” I asked, cringing at the ludicrousness of the question.
He looked up at me, his eye swollen nearly shut.
“Yeah, I’m just peachy,” he said, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“Sorry. I just don’t know what else to say.”
“Isn’t much to say is there? Unless you wanna talk about… “
“No,” I said before he could finish the sentence. “Let’s talk about how we’re gonna get you down from here.”
He leaned over, wincing as he did, and peeked over the side of the cliff.
“How about you give me a little shove? That should do the trick.”
“Very funny. You know I’m not gonna do that.”
He glared at me.
“Then maybe I should give you a shove and make things quicker.”
“How about we focus on the positive?”
“You know this only ends one way. If you try to save me, you get killed in the process. Especially with… “
“We don’t know for sure, ok?” I said packing up the supplies we had and trying to form some kind of plan to keep us alive long enough to get to safety. “Besides, we’ve been best friends since what, grade school? If I haven’t already been tempted to toss you off a cliff, I’m not gonna start now.”
I stepped over to the edge and glanced down. The wind whipped me in the face, sending a chill through me. Even though it was spring, there was still enough chill in the air to make me shiver.
I watched as the sun headed toward the horizon. It would be dark before we got out if I didn’t hurry up.
My right knee collapsed as he kicked me in the back of my leg. I stumbled, my knees hitting the ground hard, rolling me toward the edge. My hand shot out and grabbed the log, saving me from a horrible death hundreds of feet below.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I said, lying on the ground and breathing hard.
“I told you, this only ends one way. Might as well get it over with.”
I stared at him not believing what I was hearing.
“You’re serious?” I said. “I thought you were just being… you.”
“Look at me. I’m in excruciating pain, my shoulder’s a mess, I have burns on my hands, and I’m not gonna be able to climb down. And even if I could, there is no safety from… “
“We have to try,” I said. “I didn’t bring you here to die.”
“I wish you wouldn’t have brought me here at all.”
“There was no way to know this was gonna happen.”
He stared at me, doubt filled his eyes.
I turned away and focused on filling my pack with what I hoped was the right combination of supplies. I couldn’t make the pack too heavy because I needed to lower him down and possibly carry him too.
I tied together all the rope we had and double-checked the knots.
I clipped the carabiner to his climbing rig, checking to make sure it was still intact and the fire hadn’t damaged it.
I stepped back to admire my handiwork. He was doing the same.
“Really?” he said. “This is your big plan?”
“Sure,” I said, smiling, proud of myself and my ingenuity.
“Why not just ring the dinner bell for every predator as you dangle me like a carrot?”
“You know what, you’re right,” I said. “It’s not worth all this trouble.”
I raised my foot and shoved his good arm, sending him toppling over the edge of the cliff.
I heard him scream as he fell and then silence.
“Thank God,” I said sighing. “I was getting so tired of listening to his whining.”
“I heard that,” he said from over the edge.
I stepped up and peered over.
He was dangling there ten feet from the top of the ledge.
“Oh, dang, I thought I killed you,” I said, chuckling.
He looked up and saw me peeking over.
“You bastard!” he said.
“Well, isn’t that what you wanted? For me to throw you off the cliff? How’s that working out for you?”
He glared daggers at me.
“Makes you appreciate life when you think you’re about to die, doesn’t it?” I said.
“You’ll pay for this.”
“For saving your life? Ok, I’ll take responsibility for that.”
I began the long, arduous process of lowering him down. I only hoped I had enough rope.
After a while, the strain took its toll. I was exhausted and sweaty. My hands slipped and I had to quickly recover to keep him from smashing into the ground. I managed to slow the rope at the cost of my hands getting rope burn.
I tied it off to a tree and leaned over to check on him.
“You ok?” I yelled.
I couldn’t see exactly what he was doing. It looked like he raised his arm, but I couldn’t tell. I grabbed my binoculars and peered down only to see he was giving me the finger.
“Same to you,” I yelled. “I need to take a breather. Will you be alright for a few minutes?”
His answer was to slump his head.
I guessed he was taking a nap.
I sat next to the log and got out a bottle of water, taking a long drink. After a few minutes, I pulled out my knife and cut some strips off of the bottom of my shirt, wrapped them around the palms of my hands, and tied them off.
‘Why didn’t I think of that before I started lowering him?’ I thought.
I was about to start another session of lowering when I saw the rope vibrating.
‘That’s weird,’ I thought.
“What’re you doing down there?” I yelled, stepping to the edge and looking down.
My spine turned to ice when I saw nothing.
He wasn’t there.
“Adrian!” I yelled.
No response.
“Adriaaannn!” I yelled again, quickly pushing away thoughts of the Rocky movies.
I pulled the rope and it came up with no resistance. I reeled in the entire length and at the end, there was no sign of Adrian.
The rope didn’t look like it had been cut. It looked like it had been torn, or… chewed.
I stared at it for a long time. Memories of the horrible events that led up to this moment overwhelmed me. I collapsed to the ground in fear. My eyes darted around like my head was on a swivel. Every tree became a hiding place for that thing. I could feel it lurking behind every bush.
My mind started replaying when the trouble first started.
We made it to the top of the cliff and celebrated by starting a campfire and making some coffee while we set up our tents. Adrian was actually in a good mood if you can imagine, and we stayed up by the fire until well after midnight.
The following morning, his mood changed.
“Way to keep me up all night, a-hole,” he said, pouring a fresh cup of coffee and looking like he needed it.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play innocent,” he said. “You know you were hanging around my tent, circling it late last night, growling and pawing the ground, trying to scare me.”
My eyes went wide as he talked.
“I swear, I was in my tent the whole time. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.”
“Then what was making all the racket?” he said with doubt creeping into his eyes.
“Maybe I was snoring and you heard that.”
“Trust me, this wasn’t a snore.”
“Well if it wasn’t me, then… “ I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wait a minute, I know what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?” he said looking at his coffee cup.
“You’re trying to scare me with some campfire ghost story, hoping I’ll wig out.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not some campfire story, it really happened.”
“Yeah, ok,” I said making it clear that I didn’t believe a single word.
“I mean it,” he said, starting to get angry.
“Ok, ok,” I said. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
“You better… “ he started saying and then stopped. His eyes were focused on something behind me.
“I’m not falling for that,” I said, refusing to look until I heard a branch snap behind me. I turned and saw…
***
I shook my head to clear the memory.
“I don’t want to think about that right now,” I told myself. “I need to focus on finding out what happened to Adrian.”
I stood and checked my supplies, then double-checked to be sure the rope was securely tied to the tree.
I avoided looking around for fear of what might be lurking. Then, once everything was set, I stared down at the deadly ground that waited for me to make a mistake, muttered a quick prayer, then jumped off the cliff.
Rappelling down was more difficult with a pack on my back and rags wrapped around my already rope-burned hands. I took it slow, working my way down the same way Adrian had gone.
I also went slow for fear of finding… what I didn’t want to find.
I knew it was possible, so I made sure to be as quiet as I could. The rock face was rough and I did my best not to knock loose any pebbles or do anything that would announce my presence. In a best-case scenario, his rope got frayed on the rocks and broke. I hoped I would find him laying on an outcropping nearby, unconscious but alive.
As I descended, I noticed an opening in the rock wall. My rope was in a straight line with it. I imagined Adrian’s rope was too. I stopped and swung myself over to the rock face, grabbing a bigger rock and pulling myself to it.
I pulled my rope up and stashed it, then climbed down the side of the opening. There was a small ledge in front of it that I landed on and peered inside.
It was dark as pitch. Even though the sun had just set, it seemed like daylight couldn’t penetrate the darkness.
I pulled out my flashlight and slowly explored the opening with it.
It turned out to be a large cave. I stepped inside and walking upright my head easily cleared the ceiling by a good three feet.
Curiosity overtook me as I shined the light around this newfound hall of mysteries. There were no markings on the walls and the floor was rough like the cave had formed naturally instead of someone making it. But then why would someone make a cave halfway up a cliff face where it’s nearly impossible to get to?
I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know the answer.
As I continued inside, the air became cooler. I hugged myself and fought off a chill. This cave was much bigger than I originally thought. I walked a short distance before I noticed the smell.
Actually, it was two smells that intertwined with each other. The first was the smell of fire. Not like a rushing wildfire coming to burn me to a crisp. More like a campfire.
The second smell was much less encouraging. It was the smell of decay. Some animal had died in here, there was no doubt about it. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if perhaps I had explored far enough.
My wondering ceased when I remembered why I was here in the first place. Adrian was still missing. If he had come down here, it didn’t seem like he was coerced. At least I didn’t see any sign of drag marks on the ground or a struggle. But then again, it was hard to tell on the rough rock floor.
I suddenly stopped, unsure of what to do. The passageway split in two. I shone my light at the right one, and then the left. Neither seemed to show any clue of which was the correct path. I stared at each for a long moment then mentally flipped a coin and went right.
As soon as I took a few steps I could feel a strong wind blowing in my face, carrying the smells of fire and rot with it. I nearly backed up and took the other path, but this was where I was most likely to find Adrian. At least I hoped I would.
As I walked, I noticed a slight glow ahead. I turned off my flashlight and followed the ever-increasing light. When I turned the corner, I saw Adrian lying on the ground in front of the fire. He didn’t seem to be injured, well, at least not any more than he already was. I didn’t see any blood near him. I did, however, see a pile of bones tossed in the corner behind him.
It disturbed me to see the pile and think about my friend’s bones eventually laying there.
I took a step forward to go check on him then suddenly stopped. The huge rock that had been sitting by the fire suddenly moved. I recognized it right away from the size and the color of the hair that covered it.
I stepped back out of view and began shaking. I knew I only had two options. Kill this thing, or hide from it.
There was nothing in my bag that would kill it. I didn’t have a gun with me and I doubted a pocketknife would do the trick. I had to find somewhere to hide until it left. My mind ran in circles trying to think of a hiding place when it dawned on me.
I turned and went back to the other passageway as quietly as I could. Once there, I stepped inside thinking it would be a long cavern like its counterpart. However, it was almost immediately blocked.
I shone my flashlight on the blockage and was horrified to find it was piled up with clothes.
Shirts, pants, shoes, and even the occasional backpack. It was all piled nearly to the ceiling of the cave, and more disturbingly, each article had blood on it. There didn’t seem to be any that escaped damage either. Most were ripped or chewed, probably like their unfortunate owners.
I remember hearing about hikers going missing in this park, but I thought it was just normal stuff like in any other park. People get lost or fall into some hidden crevasse or ravine.
I guess not.
My mind screamed for me to get out of there, fast. But I needed to know Adrian was ok, and somehow try to rescue him. Although at the moment that seemed impossible.
The longer I stared at the clothes of these poor, helpless victims, the more it formed into an idea. I grabbed some of the clothes and pushed them aside, digging my way toward the bottom of the seemingly endless pile. I wondered how many missing people it took before a major investigation started.
I reached the bottom, and took my pack off, setting it beside me. Then I pulled clothes down on top of me, leaving a small space for me to peek out through.
There was just a hint of light coming from the mouth of the cave, but it was rapidly dwindling. I slowly unzipped all the zippers on my pack so I had easy access without making a sound when I needed something.
I settled in and tried to make a comfortable seat out of the clothes. My conscious was not happy using the clothes of murder victims for comfort, but I saw no alternative. If I ran, that thing would hunt me down. It already found us once.
I must’ve been more tired than I thought. Once settled in, I fell asleep almost immediately.
***
I turned and it was there. I wasn’t even sure what it was. It was dark and hairy. It stood on its back legs but hunched over as if readying for an attack.
I was petrified.
“A- Adrian?” I said.
“What?” he hissed.
“Is that what you heard?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking so,” he said quietly, barely moving his mouth as if the monster wouldn’t attack if you didn’t speak.
“What do we do?” I said through clenched teeth.
“How the hell should I know?”
It was circling us and moving closer at the same time.
Its sharp teeth dripped with drool.
“Did you bring a gun?” I said.
“No, did you?”
I slowly shook my head.
It stopped and looked at me as though it understood the whole conversation. It stopped lurching and stood to its full height. It must’ve been at least eight feet tall.
It lunged at me with incredible speed. I screamed and tried to run, but my foot got caught on the log and I fell over backwards knocking the wind out of me. In the end, that was a good thing. The monster lunged at my torso. But since I fell, my torso was laying on the ground with the rest of me.
It flew through the air, sailing right over me.
I looked over at Adrian and saw his pocket knife in his hand. The monster saw it too. It narrowed its eyes at him and snapped its jaws. I was surprised by how much its head and snout reminded me of a dog.
This was my thought as I lay there on my back, helpless, unable to breathe.
I watched as it lunged at Adrian. I saw him plunge the knife into its chest and it howled in pain. It never slowed, even as he stabbed it, it merely twisted in the air as it grabbed his arms, pinning them to his side. I heard the crunch as they both landed together on top of Adrian’s shoulder.
He screamed as they continued to roll right into the fire. Adrian tried to push his way out of the flames, severely burning his hand by grabbing a burning piece of wood and swinging it in a huge arc, smashing into the face of the monster.
It whimpered and growled, then disappeared as quickly and silently as it came.
It took me a while to be able to move. When I could, I crawled over to Adrian who was laying still beside the fire.
“Are you ok?” I said rolling him on his back.
He screamed in pain as I rolled him onto his injured shoulder.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Get away from me,” he said as I helped him to a sitting position and looked at his burned hand.
“Are you alright?” I said.
“Yeah, I’m just peachy.”
***
I woke with a start but didn’t know why. I reached for my flashlight and was about to turn it on when I heard the sound of sniffing.
I froze. Every ounce of concentration was on being as still as possible.
The sniffing got louder. I didn’t dare even open my eyes for fear it would somehow see them and that would be it.
I could feel its presence getting closer. I fought back the panic that would make me do something stupid like try to run. I just closed my eyes and thought about the last sunrise I had seen, hoping it wouldn’t be the last one I would ever see.
I felt the snout touch the layer of clothes right in front of me. And then it paused as if it was deciding if it wanted to eat me now or save me for a snack later on.
The monster withdrew so silently, I barely knew it was gone.
I waited for it to return. I knew it was waiting for me to make a move so it could catch me. But I didn’t. I sat still as a statue for what seemed like hours.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to move. I had to stretch.
I stood and stretched my arms and legs, still quiet. When I sat back down and made sure I was covered by clothes, I risked a little bit of light through my hand to get a bite to eat.
Opening a granola bar without making noise is a tedious job at best. It took me a half hour, and after I ate, my only reward was thirst.
I sipped on my bottle of water, avoiding the temptation to gulp It down. I didn’t know when I would be able to fill it.
I checked my watch, it was one in the morning. At the same time, Adrian had heard the growling. I took a chance that this thing would be out hunting at night.
I pushed my layer of clothes off of me, grabbed my flashlight, and went to check on Adrian. I stepped carefully and kept my light pointed at the ground, just in case. My ears strained to hear any sounds. Of course, there were the echoes of my footsteps making me whip around thinking the monster was right behind me.
I made it to the main cave without having a full panic attack. The fire had burned low, and a dull orange glow lit the walls. I found Adrian lying in the same spot as before.
He didn’t seem to be moving. I leaned down and listened for breathing.
I could hear a faint breath.
“Adrian,” I whispered, shaking him. “Come on, man, we gotta go.”
He moved a little.
“Adrian,” I said looking around to be sure it wasn’t sneaking up on me. “Adrian, come on.”
He opened his eyes just a slit and put his hand up to shade his eyes from the light.
“You still with me, buddy?” I said.
He tried to speak, but nothing came out.
“Here, drink a little water.”
I gave him a few sips and he perked up a little.
“Why?” he rasped.
“Why what, buddy?”
“Why… are… you… here?”
“I came to rescue you.”
“Leave… me.”
“I’m not gonna do that.”
In the distance, I heard a howl. It chilled me to the bone. I wondered how far away it was and if it was celebrating another victim.
“Ok, listen, I’m gonna go, but I’ll be back when I’m sure it’s out of the cave.”
I gave him another drink.
“You hang on, ok?”
He closed his eyes and laid his head back down.
I stared at him for a moment, then jumped up and ran out of the cave. I turned at the fork and buried myself back under the clothes, turning off the light as soon as I was set.
It wasn’t five minutes later I heard something lumber by in the cave. I had cut it too close. I needed to make mental notes of when it went out.
I stole a glance at my watch. It was 1:37 in the morning.
I drank the last swallow of water and lay down in my nest of clothes.
***
I woke up sometime later. The cave was dimly lit. I could see a bright light coming from the opening, but it didn’t penetrate all the way to my nest. I could see the walls near the opening, but not much else.
As I watched, a massive shadow blocked my view. It was standing right in front of me.
I became still as a stone.
What was it doing? Did it know I was there? Was it toying with me?
Sweat poured off my brow. I knew I was about to die.
I gripped my flashlight tight knowing that it wouldn’t do much to the monster, but at least I’d go down fighting.
Something fell on top of me.
It wasn’t very heavy, so I knew it wasn’t the monster. I waited for a long moment until I heard it walk away before I used the flashlight to see what was on top of me.
I shone the light on the pile and found new clothes. There was a shirt, shorts, underwear, and a bra.
I knew it from the monster’s latest victim.
My heart went out to that poor woman. I wished there was something I could do to help her, but there wasn’t. I was barely surviving myself. My water was gone. I had three granola bars left, and that was the last of my food. I had to do something before I didn’t have the energy to escape.
This was my chance. Usually, the monster kept to a schedule, I assumed governed by hunger and thirst. I knew it wouldn’t go out again for hours. I could leave. I could sneak out and be gone without it knowing I was ever here.
But I couldn’t. I had to rescue Adrian.
But why? my mind said.
‘Because he’s my friend,’ I thought.
Would he leave you behind?
‘Of course not. He’d be doing exactly what I’m doing now.’
Really? That’s why he tried to trip you and throw you off the cliff?
‘That wasn’t real. He was just joking around.’
He didn’t seem like he was joking. He seemed like he wanted to die and take you with him.
‘He was just upset.’
How upset do you think he’d be waiting here in this cave to rescue you?
‘Very. He’d probably be wigging out. He never was much for small places.’
Do you think he would’ve left you by now?
‘Maybe. But the important thing is, I’m not him.’
You could leave right now.
‘No.’
Who cares if you save your friend and die in the process?
‘I do.’
Do you really think that thing doesn’t know you’re here?
‘What?’
That thing is playing you. It’s stalking you, waiting for you to make a mistake.
‘No, I’ve outsmarted it. I’ve learned its routine.’
Keep thinking that. Maybe you can outsmart its teeth as it’s chewing you to pieces.
‘I’m not leaving yet. End of conversation.’
I waited for a response that never came. Even though I had decided to wait, there were things that still bothered me.
Was it toying with me? Did it really not know I was here? Why hadn’t it killed Adrian yet? Was it leaving him alive to bait me in?
The more I thought about such things the more I felt panic rising inside me.
I pushed the clothes aside and the dull glow shone from the mouth of the cave. It called to me. It told me the coast was clear, that I needed to go right now.
I felt my muscles tighten, getting ready to rise and run out of the cave.
I pushed the clothes over more, clearing a path, when suddenly I heard something. I quickly and quietly buried myself under the clothes. I had barely stopped moving when I heard the monster lumber through.
It paused in front of the clothes, sniffing the air, then turned back toward the mouth of the cave and disappeared.
I waited for a full minute before I breathed a sigh of relief.
My own ingenuity had nearly gotten me killed. I was sure that thing wouldn’t be going back outside for hours, and yet it had left within minutes. I began to doubt myself and my own intelligence for taking such a risk.
It was time to leave.
I dug out from under the clothes and started for the mouth of the cave. Then I stopped and turned back. I had to try one more time to get Adrian out.
I went deeper into the cave, to the main room with the fire pit. There was a freshly made fire, which told me I didn’t have much time.
Adrian was still lying there beside the fire. I went to him and leaned down.
“Time to go, buddy,” I whispered.
He didn’t answer me back.
“I know it’s gonna be tough, but you need to try.”
I grabbed his shoulders and gently shook him.
“Come on, man, you gotta wake up.”
His eyes didn’t open.
Something about his shoulders felt wrong. Aside from the fact that one of them was either dislocated or broken and should have caused him excruciating pain, he didn’t twitch. The other thing was the shoulders felt cold. Not just a little chilly, they were stone cold.
“Adrian?”
I pressed my fingers against his neck and felt for a pulse. There was nothing. His neck felt cold as well. I pushed him and his body clumsily rolled over onto his back. I tried to move his arms and legs but couldn’t. Rigor had already set it.
I stared in disbelief. My friend was gone.
Not only was my friend gone but I had wasted all this time trying to rescue him. Maybe I had killed myself in the process.
I wiped the tears from my cheeks and pulled Adrian’s body back into the same position. My only chance was for this horrible monster not to know I was here.
I stood next to the fire, letting the smoke wash over me in the hope that it might somehow cover my scent.
After a couple of minutes I looked back over at my friend, said a silent goodbye, and walked back out of the cave. I stopped at my hiding place and climbed inside, hoping this would be the last time I waited for death to pass by.
I settled in and took a nap to prepare for my escape. A short while later I woke up hearing the monster pass by.
I waited.
When I thought it was time, I slowly and silently packed my backpack, then stood to leave.
As strange as it sounds, I knew I would miss this place. It had been a refuge of safety for the last two days, even though it was a constant reminder of death.
I stood at the edge of the pile and tried to rearrange them so that nothing looked amiss. Then I turned toward the mouth of the cave and started making my way out.
It was late afternoon and the sun shone brightly in my face, blinding me. I hadn’t realized how bright the sun was until I was without it for a couple of days.
As I stood at the mouth of the cave, my first problem presented itself. I looked over the edge and it was a good fifty to eighty feet to the ground.
That would be why people left the cave alone. They couldn’t get to it.
I searched the surroundings, looking for a solution when one presented itself. There were vines hanging from the trees that looked like they might support me. The problem was they weren’t in reach. My arm would need to be a foot or so longer.
They sat so tantalizingly close that I had to try leaning out to grab one. That ended when I nearly stumbled off the ledge and fell to my death.
I searched for any other way, but there was none. I just had to go for it.
I backed up a few steps, then took a deep, cleansing breath and ran. I jumped at the last minute and grabbed for the vines.
My hands wrapped around them but I was already falling and I had to wrap my legs around them too and squeeze for all I was worth to slow my descent. My hands and legs were burning as they slowed me, but I didn’t dare scream. The cave was still too close. Even sliding down the vines may have been too loud.
My hands were failing. I didn’t know how much longer I could hang on. My fingers let go one by one and I fell.
I landed on my back and the backpack cushioned my fall. Fortunately, I had only been around ten feet from the ground when I did. It still knocked the wind out of me and left me laying there helpless as I looked back up at the cave opening. Only I could no longer see it. It must’ve been invisible from ground level.
Once I could breathe again I focused on getting out of here. I stood and tried to get my bearings. The sun was setting so I knew which way west was. It was around two miles to the south where the trailhead was. My car, my salvation, waited there for me.
I made my way through the trees and headed south when there was an opening. Before I knew it, I had run across a trail.
I stepped onto it, feeling more relieved than I had in days.
Then I heard something in the brush behind me.
I froze.
I turned toward the sound and saw the predator.
It was a mountain lion. Not the horrible monster I had just escaped, but it didn’t matter if this cat was hungry, I’d be just as dead.
I tried to nonchalantly continue walking on the trail, hoping it would lose interest.
My walk turned into a power walk, and still the lion followed. It seemed to be closing the distance between us without breaking into a run, yet.
I tried to remember what to do in case of a mountain lion attack, but all I remembered was, ‘Don’t run’. I thought of this as I power-walked away from the pursuing cat that was getting closer by the minute.
Suddenly I was hit from behind. The lion had jumped on me. Fortunately, it had jumped on my pack. Its weight held me down, making me helpless as it climbed up my pack heading for the neck.
I covered my head and neck, hoping to survive. I could feel its hot breath against my fingers. I knew an attack was imminent.
And then it stopped. It lifted its head and I could hear it sniffing the air. In an instant, it leaped off of me and was gone.
I sat up and looked around, not believing my luck when I noticed the forest had gone silent.
‘The only reason a predator runs away like that is there’s a bigger predator in the area,’ my mind reminded me.
I had a very good idea which predator had scared it off.
This was it. Fight or flight.
I jumped up and ran at a full sprint down the trail. I didn’t know I had that much energy left after the last two days, but death is a great motivator. And I knew this thing wasn’t coming to congratulate me for escaping its lair.
My legs burned.
I had a stitch in my side.
My backpack was throwing off my balance and I nearly fell.
But I could see the trailhead. There was a glint of metal that was on the front bumper of my car. All I had to do was keep going.
I could hear panting behind me. My footsteps weren’t the only ones running on the trail. It sounds more like a gallop behind me.
For a fleeting moment, I almost stopped to see if I was being chased by a horse, but I knew that would be a fatal mistake.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the keys, pressing the button and unlocking the doors. I didn’t want to make the same mistake I’d seen in dozens of horror movies. I was one of the ones screaming the loudest when the victim dropped the keys.
I ripped open the driver’s door and dove inside. I had just shut it when a nightmare landed on the hood. I stared at it for a moment, transfixed by this horrific apparition.
It looked like someone had taken a dog and turned it into a horrible beast. It was massive, at least eight feet tall. Its fangs were sharp and red. They drooled onto the windshield as the red eyes stared at me.
It reached back with its paw and smashed into my windshield, nearly breaking through.
I woke from my stupor and started the car as it smashed the windshield again, this time breaking through.
It shoved its snout inside and snapped at me as I put the car in reverse and floored it, turning hard and making the beast tumble off to the ground. I threw it in drive and stomped the pedal to the floor.
The car lurched forward with rubber screeching in protest. I gained momentum when the monster landed on the roof with a crash. It began pounding over and over. I saw claw marks coming through the metal and into the cloth on the ceiling.
In desperation I began swerving back and forth, trying to shake the monster loose. Metal and rubber protested at my maneuvers with the extra weight on top. I wondered if the car would flip and end my escape in bloody fashion.
So far, the road had been a park drive that was never meant for such speeds. I knew there was a hard turn coming up and I wouldn’t make it as fast as I was driving. I slammed on the brakes, sending the monster flying.
I stomped on the gas and swerved around it, continuing to gain speed. As tempting as it was, I knew if I had tried to run it over, my car would never survive. And right now survival was all that mattered.
I looked in the rearview mirror and impossibly, it was catching up to me. I saw it leap, trying to land on the car again, but I swerved in time, leaving it only asphalt to land on.
I made another hard turn, and I was on a state road.
The monster followed me, but I was able to get enough speed to finally escape.
I breathed a sigh of relief as I sped toward town.
***
I didn’t bother going home, I went straight to the police department.
After waiting a half hour to make it to the front desk, I was finally interviewed by an officer.
When I started my story, he seemed to be only mildly interested. By the time I was done, there were six officers standing around, listening.
“That was one heluva story,” the officer said looking around at the other officers smirking.
“It’s true,” I said.
The officer sighed as the others dispersed.
“I’m sorry, son, as entertaining as that was, I’m too busy to go chasing around the woods hunting after some urban legend.”
I took a piece of paper off his notepad and wrote down a series of numbers.
“What’s this?” he said, when I handed it to him.
“I had my GPS with me,” I said. “Those numbers are the location of the cave that has all the evidence you need.”
“Listen, son, without something concrete, there’s no one who’s going out to the middle of the woods chasing a fairy tale.”
“Well maybe that’ll help,” I said getting up and setting my backpack on his desk. I opened the zippers and dumped clothes out of them.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is this?”
“Concrete,” I said. “These are the clothes of this thing’s victims. If you take DNA samples from the sweat and blood on them, you might find matches to some people who have recently gone missing.”
“You’re serious,” he said, looking from the clothes to me as if just waking up.
“Yes,” I said as I got up and started toward the door. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
I walked out leaving several officers staring at the pile of clothes.
I got into my destroyed car, hoping it would start, and headed home.
The entire way I kept glancing in the rearview mirror.
After all this, there were two things that captured my thoughts.
One, I would be barricading my house as soon as I got home.
And two, I wouldn’t be sleeping soundly ever again.