Short Scary Stories

Second Chances

The following is a true story with real people and real media attention. I am going to try to be vague in areas which would expose my identity, but if you are able to figure out who I am I ask that you please respect my privacy and not try to contact me in any way other than the comment section here.

I am not a writer. I’m sure that will be obvious to some of you but I’m confident that I will be able to express myself in a readable manner. I’m simply a grandma who made an account to tell this story. After carefully reviewing my options, I chose here as my outlet because even if I am not believed, you will at least pretend to. I don’t think I could bear being called a liar or being laughed at after sharing something this intimate. You will be the first people to hear this story in its (almost) entirety.

It was late spring back in a time where you might have been hearing the Buggles on both the TV and radio. My husband of two years and I were doing what we loved most, enjoying the great outdoors. We had already visited most every national park and forest on the West Coast of the United States, but this time we were at a place that was special to us; a place that seemed to call to us. To us, the beauty of this wilderness was almost spiritual. This isn’t a place we visited; it is a place we explored, a place we engulfed ourselves in, a place we felt compelled to know every nook and cranny of.

We were slowly working our way up a calf-deep stream to a waterfall that we had found on a previous trip. The difficulty it took to get to this waterfall and the fact that there was no trail made us feel like we were the only humans to ever see it, even though I’m sure that isn’t the case. We were about halfway to our own private paradise when I felt the need to tinkle. I got out of the stream and pushed my way through about five yards of bush to a tiny clearing where I felt comfortable enough to do my business. As I was getting started I had a weird sensation. I’m not going to be able to explain it perfectly with words but I’ll do my best. It was a vibration. I could hear and feel it. It was very feint, but I distinctly heard a soft buzzing and could feel it gently pulsating through my body. My instincts told me something was wrong but I ignored them and finished up with what I had set out to do.

When I got back to the stream my husband was gone. Much happened in the next few seconds. I was surveying the forest all around me to see if he too might have gone off to use the bathroom but I didn’t see him. My thoughts were racing. Was he hiding from me? What is that buzzing? I called out to him but there was no answer. My head was on a swivel… where did he go? I saw him a hundred yards downstream from the direction we had came. Just as I caught a glimpse of him, he turned left and disappeared into the woods. I knww something is wrong. I could feel it. I started sprinting down through the water as fast as I could, falling on submerged rocks every few steps. I was completely soaked with a mildly sprained ankle when I get to the spot that I saw my husband vanish into the darkness of the forest. I noticed that the vibration was much stronger and louder, but I didn’t take time to think about it. I started in after him.

On solid ground, I was making much better time than I was in the stream, but it was at the expense of my body. I could feel the branches and thorns of various vegetations cutting me to pieces, which I suppose helped me forget about the pain in my ankle. I kept pushing forward. After about thirty seconds to a minute of running (which felt like a marathon), I saw my husband’s bare back up ahead of me. As I was yelling his name and crashing through the forest, I noticed his clothes placed neatly on the ground. I didn’t stop to think about it at the time. My husband was not moving; just standing there naked, so I slowed my pace and started walking towards him. I was within twenty feet of him then, so I was just saying his name instead of yelling it. When I called his name it was an odd feeling: I heard myself saying it, but it felt as though the voice was coming from worlds away. I realized the vibration was buzzing through my body so violently that I quickly pondered how I wasn’t not falling apart. The noise was almost unbearable. (For lack of a better way to describe it, I am just going to relay the strange thought that flashed in my head that day many years ago.) It sounded like a never-ending pterodactyl cry, but distinctly electronic at the same time. I was soon standing directly behind my naked husband, gently calling his name… but he was not responding. I delicately put my hand on his shoulder, and as my palm made the slightest contact, he swirled on a dime and his hand shot out and grabbed my neck. His eyes were looking upward and to the right. I had some strange thoughts as I lost consciousness. How did he see me with his eyes like that? Is this what they mean about eyes rolling back in the head? How am I going unconscious so quickly? It must be supernatural. (I found out later that there’s a blood choke which puts you out in about eight seconds if you’re grabbed just right.)