I was only around twenty-three and freshly married to my husband when this all happened. Of course, we had that newlywed puppy-love during the honeymoon. We were inseparable. And, of course, this led to us conceiving our son. I couldn’t tell you how excited Luke (my husband) and I were when the test came up positive. He immediately started listing names that he wanted. Most of them were boys’ names.
I really didn’t care what it ended up being, I was just happy that I was finally going to be a mother. I’d wanted to be a mom, ever since high school. Something about motherhood always seemed so fulfilling to me. For nine months, this organism grows inside you and you just begin to love it unconditionally, despite how sick or swollen it makes you feel. And those feelings of love are turned up by 200 degrees when you finally give birth to the baby.
You just want to comfort them, to spoil them, but most importantly, protect them. Well, at the very least, that’s how I felt during my pregnancy. The first three months were uneventful, and went by in a flash. I went to all four of the prenatal visits. The baby was developing quickly, it was quite funny actually. He was just a clump of cells barely two months prior and now he looked like a malformed puppy. Then eventually 6 months came. My stomach was huge at this point and Logan, the baby name we’d decided to name them whether it was a boy or a girl, was becoming more restless than ever.
They would kick my stomach, my back and even my bladder sometimes. Honestly, I knew that I would feel sick and achy throughout the pregnancy but I had never expected to feel like I was dying. The best way I could describe the pregnancy was as if I had a parasite, feeding off my body.
One day, I was in the kitchen washing the dishes and Luke was away at work. At the time, we lived in this cute little cottage that my grandmother left me in her will.The cottage, well, house if I’m being honest, had the highway in the front and the endless woods in the backyard. The kitchen was placed facing the woods and it actually had a sliding door that led to the back porch.
Anyways, there’s a window above the sink. I thought it was a great addition at the time, I could easily keep tabs on Logan when they started playing in the backyard and do what I needed to do. But even daydreams of my unborn child couldn’t shake off my growing paranoia. The leaves of the trees surrounding my house had died off in the autumn, their thick, twisting bark turning them into an unfriendly sea of blacks, grays and mottled browns. Like harbingers of death, I could see the faces of fate in the intertwined tree-branches, but they were gone the instant I blinked.
The silence bothered me as well. There were no birds to wake me in the early mornings, no cicadas screeching in the dead dark night- just silence. But that day, I finally heard the wood’s first noise. I think I was washing a pan or pot when Logan kicked my bladder. I gasped from the sharp pain, dropping the pan in the sink.
I hunched down and stared down at the floor, my vision started to become blurry. I quickly stood up and limped to the dining table, leaving a trail of urine behind. I sat down on the chair and began to take heavy breaths as I closed my eyes. I counted to 30 in my head as the pain began to fade out. But by the time I got to 23, I heard it. I opened my eyes and looked around in confusion.
“What the hell was that?!” was the only thought that crossed my mind.
The noise came back again, making me jump slightly. It sounded close to the house this time- and in my state, I could hardly fend for myself. The noise could be best described as a scream, but it was something distinctly different. It sounded like nails being dragged against a chalkboard, or a falcon with a broken voice box, wheezing as it tried to wail, or worst of all, the cry of a gargling child. The scream echoed again, but this time for much longer.
As the sound rang out,I limped over to the sliding door to peek through the glass. I couldn’t see anything in the backyard so my eyes peered over to the woods. The screaming continued as I tried to pinpoint the source among the trees. The entangled branches of the wood made it impossible to see anything beyond them- more like an intricate prison than natural life. But then, I saw it. I couldn’t really make out what the hell it was, or, the life form it was attempting to mock; all that could be made out was a disgusting gray blob thrashing around in the dirt. My heart was beating so fast at the sight. I slowly stepped back from the door as… whatever it was outside was having a temper tantrum. The screams began to become more spread out and shifted to a more guttural wail.
I wasn’t really waiting for whatever animal to notice me so I quickly went upstairs to the bathroom and waited for Luke to come home, which would be another 2 hours or so from then. The wails continued as I hid out in the bathroom. I texted Kyle and asked him when was the earliest he could get home, which he replied a few minutes later saying that he could get home around 5 p.m
But of course before he even got home, the wailing had faded out and now I’d probably looked like a crazy pregnant woman. When Luke did get home, I explained what happened. I think I said something along the lines of “There’s some weird ass animal out there screaming, can you go check it out?” or something.
Luke tried to tell me that it was nothing to worry about, but of course I wasn’t swayed. I probably would’ve checked myself but I had to think about the safety of my child. So after a few minutes of back and forth, Luke relented. He put on his hunting boots, turned on the flashlight of his phone and headed out. I watched him step into the woods from the sliding door. He disappeared into the shrubs and trees, the only thing I could see was the stream of light from his phone. It was only around five to eight minutes before I saw the light from Luke´s flashlight turn off. Thankfully, I saw him make his way back shortly after. But I noticed that he was slightly pale and looked shocked. When he got inside, I asked what was wrong.
¨Well, you were right about there being an animal out there¨ Luke said. ¨Whatever it was, it’s long gone. But I think it would be best if we set up a fence soon.”
¨What? Why?¨ I asked, my voice slightly shaky.
¨Well, take a look,¨ Luke told me as he handed me his phone.
I took his phone with a glint of suspicion in my eye and looked down at the picture.
The limp bodies of six wolves were strewn across the ground. Their fur was bloodied, deep cuts and infected gashes covered their bodies, some of their older wounds dripping thick yellow liquids onto the disturbed ground. Their bones were bent in all the wrong directions, poking through, or even worse, gone from their body completely. One was ripped entirely in half, with thin tendrils of skin hanging off its hind legs, like a popped balloon. Its front was dropped elsewhere - or at the very least, I couldn’t see it in the photo. Others were brutalized, beaten flat, their skulls splintering through grievous head-wounds, and their mouths hanging ajar, their once-yellowed teeth stained cardinal; as if they had the voice to cry for help.
I gagged, retching, with a few tears welling in the corners of my eyes, and handed Luke back his phone face-down and shut off.
¨What the hell does that?¨ I asked him.
¨I really have no clue, Jess.¨ Luke said. ¨I want to say maybe a bear?¨
That night, we didn’t get much sleep. Though Luke wouldn’t say it, I knew he was worried about whatever was out there. I wanted to think that it was a bear, a badly deformed bear.
The remaining 3 months didn’t go by as smoothly. My health just got worse and worse. I was puking every morning and some days I couldn’t even get out of bed. My muscles were sore and my bones felt like jelly. One restless night, I heard it. It was a noise but of course living right next to the woods means that you’re going to hear noises of animals.
But something about this noise felt wrong, something deliberate. It was very early in the morning and the sun still hadn’t come out. I’m surprised I even heard, it was so soft and quiet. But I had been awake since midnight, body in immense pain and drenched in sweat. I sat up in bed, wondering what I just heard.
Cluck
It was coming from outside from the window across from me. Thick curtains covered any possible view. I uncovered my legs and slid them out of the bed. Slipping on my loafer slippers, I slowly made my way to the window.
Cluck
As I hobbled towards the window, the clucking became frequent. Eventually, by the time I finally made it to the window, the soft clucking had shifted into a piercing cicada-like noise. Unfortunately, Luke was a deep sleeper so there was no chance of him being woken up by the noise. I reached out a shaky hand and grabbed the curtain. With all the courage I could muster, I slowly pulled it back.
I could barely see it. The only way I even noticed it crouching under the window was due to the pale moonlight. It noticed me quickly and looked up to stare back with its large black glossy eyes. It stopped making the noise too, leaving us to stare in the silence of the night. My eyes followed it as it stood up on its legs. Its skin was anemic and gray, moonlight reflecting off its back. The thing was gangly, its head twitching sporadically. But surprisingly the skin on its arms was loose and flabby, slightly resembling the sleeves of a kimono.
As it inched closer to the window, my heart was pounding through my chest and I could feel tears well up in my eyes. Its face was skeletal and gaunt, having the same gray skin like the rest of its body.
The mouth had to be the worse part. Black gums protruded where lips should have been. The teeth were like large needles and all nested close together. It looked like the thing was grinning at me.
But even to this day, I still remember its eyes. Despite being almost entirely pitch black, they gave us a whole range of emotions. Loss, mournfulness and somberness were at the forefront but there was something behind those as well: a sense of awe and hope. The Creature placed its ¨hand¨ onto the glass window. It was more of a claw with long, knife-like fingers that were covered in calluses alongside the palm. It began to do a caressing motion of sorts towards my cheek, which was now soaked in salty tears.
The Creature let out a hauntingly familiar screech. This caused me to scream at the top of my lungs and fall backwards onto my ass. Then the next things I remember were the noise of the window being shattered, Luke screaming and The Creature towering over me. It grabbed me by the hair and placed me under its arm. Luke tried to help but a baseball bat was no match for the claws on that thing. It single handedly broke the bat and threw my husband against the wall. It proceeded to toss me out the window, which it shortly followed. It then grabbed me by the hair again but it didn’t pick me up this time as it proceeded to run on its three free limbs into the woods. I used the last of my energy to cover my baby bump with arms as I hit trees and rocks. Eventually, I lost consciousness.
I don’t know how many hours or days I was out for. All I knew was that I woke up in a spacious den of sorts. Roots were on the ceiling and the ground was made of hard dirt. Sunlight illuminated from a makeshift door or hatch. I tried to get up, but I felt a sharp pain in my legs. I looked down to see that they were broken, snapped like twigs. But each had a sturdy tree branch wrapped with rags torn from my nightgown acting as makeshift casts. I was alone and the noise that could be heard were the sounds of my shallow shaky breaths and the occasional rustle of leaves outside.
The reality of the situation was beginning to set in. I was now this thing’s captive. I tried to move but lacked the strength, pain spreading throughout my entire body. I laid down on the dirt floor and tried to regain my strength. But all of sudden, the hatch opened up. A brief sense of relief came over me as I felt the bright sun on my skin. Someone had found me and I was going to be rescued! My hope was quickly shattered as I saw that creature hop down into the den. In the sun, I could see its disgusting body in full detail now.
Its body was covered with old scars and fresh cuts. The creature’s mangled breasts hung heavily and its distended stomach betrayed the weight it carried. It had the corpse of a large bobcat under its arm while two large birds were hanging from its bloodstained mouth. My eyes widened with fear as the thing plopped its hunted games on the floor and closed the hatch.
I watched as The Creature crawled over to me, its hungry eyes studying me carefully. Placing its face mere inches away from mine, I could feel its rancid breath wash over me. I closed my eyes shut and wrapped my stomach, preparing myself for the worst. But instead, I felt it gently stroking my cheek.
I opened my eyes and the Creature lifted me up and sat me against the wall. I was in complete shock, The Creature paying no mind to my confusion. It walked back to the dead animals and dragged them towards me. It placed the birds in my lap while it kept the bobcat.
It took its claws and ripped the cat’s abdomen open, grabbing the poor thing’s internal organs and stuffing its mouth full. It looked up to me as it ate, emitting a low, guttural growl. The Creature pointed to my lap. I looked down at the mutilated birds in my lap and looked back up at The Creature.
I understood what the thing wanted from me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I reluctantly reached out and picked up one of the birds. I bit down into its flesh, eating its dirty flesh and bloodied feathers. I gagged and had to fight the urge to vomit. The Creature was satisfied with my compliance and moved closer to me. It continued devouring the bobcat. I don’t know how long we sat in that dimly lit den, the noise of flesh and muscle being torn apart filled my ears.
This would be my life for the next week or so. The Creature would leave the den when the sun went down and come back when it came back up. It would usually come back with animals that it hunted for us to eat. Then it would usually “examine” me. Feeling my heavily swollen stomach, making sure that my legs weren’t healing too quickly and “bathing” me with its disgusting blackish gray tongue. And when it was tired, it would take me into a corner and cuddle me like I was a teddy bear. Even when the Creature was asleep, I was still trapped by its grip. But I kept my eyes peeled and prayed for an opportunity that would allow me to escape. As the week progressed, this was beginning to fade into a fantasy for me. I slowly began to accept this fate
But one night would change everything.
The day and night had been pouring with rain, so The Creature had stayed and was asleep for the majority of the day. I was in The Creature’s arms as per usual, but I was wide awake. My body was sore and the pain made it almost impossible to fall asleep. I stared up at the den’s hatch, as that was the only thing I could do besides staring at the wall or ground. The Sun had now given itself to the Moon, as it shined through the cracks. I cherished the times that I was able to see and feel the light on my skin. That time down in that dark den made me more appreciative of the little comforts that we often take for granted, like taking a walk in the sun or having a comfy pillow for when you have a headache.
But anyways, I stared at the hatch for what felt like hours, probably was. But my hatch-watching was disrupted when I heard the heavy noise of steps above us. My eyes widened. Was it another person? Was someone going to rescue me at last? But I noticed it resembled more of a dog running on its four legs, making its way closer above us. It stopped right above us, snarling and growling. The Creature had woken up and had left me to investigate the sounds.
Suddenly, I heard the footsteps above us sprint towards the hatch entrance. The thing broke the wooden hatch in two slashes with its claws. The Creature defensively backed up in front of me and began to growl.
Another Creature hopped down into the den, illuminated by the moonlight. It’s appearance was similar to The Creature, with vile gray skin, bony clawed hands and the same disgusting mouth filled with sharp teeth. But this “Intruder” was much broader and larger than the other Creature, even on all fours. It also notably had less flaccid skin, being more muscular. In the available light, I could see that The Intruder missed one of its large black eyes. Its face and body was covered in scars, markings and bruises, much more than his counterpart in front of him.
The Intruder began to snarl at The Creature, leaning its bald head slightly towards us. The Creature growled violently and tried to make itself look larger. The Intruder inched closer to the Creature, causing the growling to get louder and louder. Things went haywire when I crawled out from behind the Creature. I really didn’t want to be crushed if they did start fighting. The Intruder tackled The Creature into the wall and onto the ground. They began to tussle and roll around on the ground as they beat on each other.
As chaos engulfed the den, I looked up at where the hatch had been. The moon shined down upon me and beckoned me to follow it. I knew what I had to do. I began to crawl over to the other side. Reaching there, I took my hand and dug them into the dirt wall. The Creatures were still fighting so they didn’t bother to stop me. Pain shot through my legs, but the adrenaline helped me push it to the side as I climbed up to the opening.
The feeling of rain on my skin felt like I was being reborn. I dragged myself deep into the woods. I dragged myself away from the den and never looked back. By memory, I crawled towards the highway. It was grueling, but I eventually emerged and fainted onto the road. Supposedly, someone had noticed me and quickly came to my aid. They had contacted the authorities and shortly thereafter, I was sent to the ER in critical condition. I underwent extensive treatment and rehabilitation. I still, to this day, can’t walk right or for too long but I should consider myself lucky I can even walk at all.
Physically, I began to heal but the time in the den would still haunt me. Plus it was a double whammy when the postpartum depression slapped me across the face. Detectives try to ask me what happened and who kidnapped me but I was just a shell, barely giving them a concrete answer. Eventually they dropped it and left me alone.
But Luke was overjoyed to have me and the baby back. He sobbed and apologized for “failing” to protect me and Logan so many times that I would need 7 hands just to count them. Speaking of Logan, I gave birth to him around a month later. He was a healthy and happy baby boy. He’s around 8 now and he’s still as cute as ever. We now live in the suburbs and have, I hope, integrated ourselves pretty well within the community. Luke has drinking buddies, Logan has so many best friends and I attend book club meetings with some fellow moms every Tuesday.
But those things still lurk in my mind. I’m able to push them away for a while but they still come back. I still have questions, and maybe someone knows what those creatures were. But as I grow older, I’ve realized that some questions are better off unanswered.