I don’t know where else to turn anymore. I just have to get this message out. Please don’t think I’m crazy. Please just hear me out.
I live in a rather large U.S. city. I saw them the first time in early October, when we had several days of heavy rain. I was walking home at night, I don’t remember why, or even what day it was. But it was definitely October and the sky was dark from the late night and the thick clouds.
It was pouring without end. Maybe that’s why they came out – so far I’ve only seen them after heavy rain.
I was on a street near my apartment block and I didn’t really pay much attention to my surroundings. There are some rough areas nearby, but my area is quite safe – it’s okay to walk with headphones in your ear.
First I thought it was a dog. This thing was cowering at the end of a blind alley. It looked completely black; that’s why I saw it – it was darker than the green metal fence behind it. This thing was just sitting, in a hunched, nearly round posture, leaning against the fence. Its head was bent forward and covered by its long front legs.
Maybe I was walking too loudly, I’m not sure if it was really me. From one second to the next this thing unfurled; that’s when I saw the face. The body was a lot like a stray dog – it stood on its four somewhat bent legs and the thin ribcage was clearly visible. But the face wasn’t like a dog. It had clear, white eyes, a flat bump where a human would have a nose, and small, human-like teeth.
It stared at me for two or three seconds, then the bent legs began to move forward and this thing crawled into a manhole. I was stunned. I thought I had just gone crazy. Then a hand came out of the manhole and I watched as it pulled the manhole cover back in place.
I ran home.
While brushing teeth in the morning I remembered the scene and laughed; I was sure I must have seen it wrong – after all the rain made the whole scene slightly blurry.
I would have forgotten about that night. But the blind alley was on my usual route home from the bus stop – and from that day on, once in every few nights, I saw the manhole cover open.
Every day I walked past that alley and every day I wondered what I saw. And by the day my urge to check, to just look inside the manhole grew.
At the end of November, another late night, I was walking home with too much liquid courage in my bloodstream. Liquor overrules brain. Curiosity overrules fear.
I didn’t even approach slowly. I saw the open manhole only twenty to thirty steps away and shambled towards it. I looked around, didn’t see anything suspicious, approached the hole – and nearly tumbled inside when I leaned to look inside.
I didn’t see anything except the top three steps of a metal ladder and darkness below that.
I suppose you could say I wanted to be a good citizen. My brain thought it would be wise to close the hole so that nobody would fall inside. I kicked against the manhole cover, it inched forward and I kicked a second time, stronger.
The hissing started straight behind me. I knew that they were close; then I turned and saw the white eyes and bared teeth of a small human-like face on a frail, crippled body. It was crouching on its legs, the hands stretched towards the floor. Its eyes were on me and the hissing, almost whistling sound was directed at me.
It didn’t move. It hissed at me; I raised my hands and slowly took a step back. It still remained in place, with air pushing through its broken and stained teeth.
I took a second step backwards, careful to navigate past the manhole. A third step; but before my foot touched the ground I felt a small hand gripping my jeans.
It was only instinct. I kicked backwards, my foot crushed against something hard, a loud grunt followed; the thing in front of me leaped forward, I broke out to the side and ran. I was sprinting away, but the thing was closely behind me; the sound of four bare, bony feet hitting the cement followed me around the corner, and then abruptly stopped. I kept running; from behind me came a short hiss and a growl. When I looked back I saw its short, black hind legs disappear around the corner.
I don’t know if I just never paid attention. Maybe they were always there and I just didn’t see them. But since then I see all the open manhole covers; in my area, in neighboring areas, all across the city. Now I always make sure to stay far away.
Maybe they know that I know about them; maybe they’ve always been hidden in plain sight.
But since November I’ve seen more of the bony, hunched creatures. After heavy rainfall I saw several hiding behind bins and trash; when the first snow fell I saw two huddled together behind cars in a back alley; a few I saw crawling below a pedestrian bridge.
Today I saw another one. I walked through the air, still clean from the wet snow that fell in the afternoon. Just two houses down from mine I saw movement in a basement window. I shifted my eyes, looked closer while walking past the window – suddenly a bony, black hand slammed against the window.
I ran. I think nothing followed me. But the hissing still rings in my ears.
