It was late night. My now-boyfriend (I’ll call him Jake) and I were getting ready to sleep in an acquaintance’s playhouse in her backyard. The structure is about 5x8 with 3 windows and a fence directly next to one of the windows. The windows are large and close to the ground. Suddenly, I notice two shadowy figures through the cracks in the fence. I see what appears to be two people standing very close to the fence, about 1.5 ft away from the playhouse. This is near the alley. One is about 5’9 and the other 5’2. No details were visible; just silhouettes. Fearing the cops were after him, Jake hides under the blanket and goes to sleep. I grab my knife and begin my vigil, because something told me that wasn’t what was out there.
Then, the scratching at the bottom of the wall begins. Whatever this was circled the playhouse and aggressively scratched, darn near constantly. It sounded like the size of a raccoon, but I could not despite every effort catch a glimpse. This was bizarre. I spent about 2 hours listening to this creature sometimes make slow circles, sometimes very quick. I heard it walk on the tiny porch. Meanwhile, the larger figures outside the fence move just enough to know they are alive, but never step away from where they were standing.
At first, I was paralyzed with fear. This was until I figured that whatever this was, may well smell weakness. So I summoned up every ounce of the willpower I never knew I had. After a bit of wrestling with primal terror, I was calm and ready to fight. Although a bit angry at these fuckers that were invading my property (fence is offset from the alley so there is a nook of grass not visible from much elsewhere). The small creature walked over to the door and seemed to be pawing and sniffing, causing the hinges to rattle, desperately wanting to get to us for whatever reason.
The way the window was angled, I should have been able to see it. The only gap in my sight was about the size of a rat. After living in a tent for some time, I know what rats sound like. This one would have to have been Extremely rabid and raged out to maintain this loudness and not give up. We had no food or aromatic drinks. Rabid rats at that stage would tend to blunder, and this thing was doing anything but that. It was focused. Also, it didnt make any noise other than scratching. I would expect hissing, or at least an errant squeak.
This continues for around an hour. Sometimes I move around and look out at weird angles trying to determine what the hell this is. Jake, lucky enough he is, is a heavy sleeper and was under a lot of blankets so didn’t wake up. Later, the sounds got steadily louder and started expanding, for lack of a better word. That crescendoed in aggressive scratching completely surrounding the playhouse, all the walls and roof, from more points than I could count. Still able to see nothing.
My psyche was on fire, but not with fear somehow. I accepted death. I became euphoric for a few minutes as I figured I should enjoy my last time on earth. The blazing joy faded, but I remained calm and happy. The scratching calmed down, and after about half an hour, it petered out. The figures outside the fence were gone, but they hadn’t been for long. I didnt see them leave because I was probably watching out one of the other windows.
I woke up Jake because I wanted the help of a man to be on alert and defensive, because I thought they hadn’t gone far yet. We had been good friends for a couple years. At that time, him and I had been growing closer romantically, but only for a bit more than a week. I swallowed my pride because now or never was the time for the truth, and said “I love you.” He said it back, and I was so relieved and happy.
I racked my brain, and neither him nor I can think of any logical explanation other than a creature not yet known to science. He heard the scratching before he fell asleep, but at that point it wasn’t alarming. He agreed that it was about four hours from when he fell asleep to when he woke up. The scratching never ceased for more than a minute or two during that time. On another night when he was camping with his friend, he heard aggressive, loud, and unexplainable noises of a much more dramatic nature, but this is a story for another time. Suffice to say we believe there are cunning, hungry beasts with vocal, athletic, and sensory capabilities beyond imagination. These and other errant bizzare sounds remind us of stories of wendigos. I dread to think, but the figures outside the fence I could have just been one; the shorter one being the hind legs and the taller one being the front. The top of the figure(s) were in shadow. If that is the case, it was could have been throwing its voice and creating the scratching noises itself. Three creatures or one?
Theoretically, it could have been a rabid rat that just happened against all odds to stay out of sight, and I went into psychosis when I heard it all around me. But neither I nor my family has any history of hallucinations. I believe that I remained too composed to imagine such a thing. The figures could have been cops after him or robbers hiding out coincidentally at the exact time. I don’t think so though. Thank god these creatures sensed that we were not to be trifled with and wouldn’t go down without a fight. I used to be a scaredy cat about every noise at night. My mindset towards this and life in general has improved since then, because I realize I am capable of much more mental strength than I believed.