Called it

When I was younger I used to love seeking out adventure and excitement. I enjoyed reading about cryptids and monsters that lived in the forest. It's so funny how one camping trip can change someone's perspective so fast. You want to know what I mean, don't you? I guess one story can't hurt. So like all good stories, let's start with Once Upon a Time.

My companions and I had started our excursion into the forest at daybreak. The day was warm and inviting, we hiked far into the wood seeking our prize spot to set up camp. The leader of the trip, Jason, told us about an old cabin left to rot here in the woods. He had said it was haunted, but then again he always loved to exaggerate. Kelly, the group planner, had been nervous about running into any animals like bears or wolves so she constantly reminded us to keep a lookout. Oh, if only she knew that bears and wolves never went near the cabins. I had been fairly excited at the time, I have loved the forest and its inhabitants since I was a child. I remember I had joked about how this was the perfect setting for a horror show to take place. I was such a fool back then.

By noon we had hiked almost three miles so we sat down to rest by the trail. Jason and Kelly made small talk while I went to explore, when I stumbled on an odd sight. Up in a tree, maybe 20 feet off the ground was a hunter blind all ripped up and broken. This was odd because this area had been a no hunting zone for almost 2 year. From the ground it looked like the blind had been crushed but that wasn't the strangest thing. About 10 yard away from the blind was a backpack, also shredded and destroyed. On closer examination I also saw it was coated with dried blood, at the time I assumed it was animal blood. It still freaked me out though, finding a random bag in the woods that's covered in blood is not normal. Searching the bag I found an ID for a man named Kyle Walkings. I hoped he had just left his bag in the woods after a hunt, but wasn't sure. Walking back to the tree I climbed to the blind finding it as bloody as the bag. My stomach churned as I saw a set of giant claw marks etched into the tree behind the blind. The feeling of being watched gave me goosebumps. Not wanting to stick around I began climbing back down, ripping a chunk of my jacket off when a branch I stepped on snapped. I left the blind and returned to my companions to continue our hike. I didn't mention my discovery to the others, not wanting to cause alarm.

Just before nightfall we found the cabin Jason had spoken of, it was indeed old and decrepit. Kelly had said if I recall "You know what we could camp in the cabin." Jason had leaped at the idea while I was rightly reluctant. In the end we went into the cabin and set up our supplies. There was nothing much in the cabin besides an old rocking chair and some "animal" bones, but the roof was well enough for us to stay. It took no time at all for Jason to start hearing things and claiming he had seen something in the woods.

Just after dark is when his claims became more palpable. Kelly had come in carrying some logs when it first happened. The sound of a tree splitting in half shook our bones and made Kelly drop the firewood. I had said that it was just an old tree falling in the woods somewhere, Jason said that it was a beast, he had been trying to scare us. An hour later we heard it again closer, this time followed by a sickening howl that sent chills down my spine. Around now is when Kelly started to get nervous, he started ranting about an old story her grandpa had told her, about a monster living in the woods. Jason, although also frightened, tried to comfort us, saying we were safe in the cabin...I had even believed him.

By around midnight Kelly had drifted off in her sleeping bag, while Jason and I kept watch. We didn't talk, only watched the edge of the woods, jumping at shadows that the moonlight cast. The silence was ominous and long until we heard the cry of a beast call, so close to us. Jason said he was going to look and see what it was, but he didn't have to. Within seconds of the declaration the door of the cabin was ripped from its rusted hinges, crashing to the ground in splinters. In its place stood a creature of nightmares. It stood almost 15 feet tall, its skin as white and sickly as a corpse. Its oversized hands had claws instead of nails. But none of these features are what brought a scream from my mouth, but the pale white and empty eyes that saw into my soul. Before I could reach for anything to defend myself, the monster reached out and grabbed at Kelly who had sat up at the sound of the door. I can still hear her screams as the creature slid its claw down her body, opening her as if it was nothing. Behind me was a window, taking the chance I dove out of it and ran to the wood. Behind me I heard Jason yell, turning to look, I saw him pick up the old rocker and slam it against the creature's body. The chair shattered and the beast let out an ear splitting howl. It dropped the still screaming Kelly and grabbed Jason. I watched in terror as it ripped his spine from his back and hung him like a coat from the ceiling.

The voices of my companions crying in pain and calling for help echo through the forest. I ran as far as I could before I collapsed in a heap by an old oak. There I sat shock setting in like a shot, my companions were no longer crying for help leaving the world silent. I don't know how long it took before I stood and started walking further into the woods. I must have gotten turned around because after about an hour I found the clearing we had rested on at the start of the trip. I stumbled into the clearing and stopped dead in my tracks. The beast stood there carrying my comrades in its arms like sacks of flour, its eyes looking into me, its being covered in the red crimson of blood. I couldn't move out of terror, I waited for it to run at me and slice me open like it had done to my friends. Instead it dropped a bag at my feet and walked away dragging the corpse of Kelly, still in her sleeping bag, behind It. I did not retrieve the bag until it was well out of sight, it was my hiking bag, on top of it lay the chunk of my jacket I had left the day before. I walked on the trail until the sun rose high into the sky, I found a radio in my pack and called the forest guard.

Why the beast did not kill me, I don't know but his eyes will stay in my nightmares as long as I live. Jason had said the cabin was haunted, but he was so wrong. These woods are not protected by a spirit, but hunted by a curse. If you ever go into the woods and see two white eyes, run and hope it doesn't catch you. I knew something was wrong when I found the blind and the claw marks. I had joked about the trip being a horror show but I hadn't meant it. I had called tragedy to us and left unscathed. It's been almost five years since that happened and I am so close to finding the beast, I just need a way to call it back.