Night in the woods

Night Stalker

Mae trudged home in the cold, dark and windy night. It was autumn so it was very cold, colder than it usually is in the forest. The trees were very big so the moons light barely got through the tree's leafs making it hard to see the ground under her feet. Mae's father forgot to come pick her up from her friend, Greg's, Night in the Woods party.

"Just like the train station..." The dark blue haired girl sighed as she hugged herself tighter to keep herself warm from the cold wind that flew past her; she staggered slightly as she reached the entrance to her home town. The town sign reading 'Welcome to Possum Springs!' In big, bold writing, Mae only groaned as she walked home. As she was walking she kept getting the feeling she was being watched and followed but thought it might be one of her friends... Really she thought it was Greg. Angus and Bea wouldn't follow her in the middle of this night and creep her out. Mae was too busy looking around for her blond haired friend that she didn't see the curb; she tripped and fell only to yell out.

"Who put that curb there!?" She shouted before pushing herself up from the ground and dusting off her already dirty cloths before she started walking again but as she was a little drunk she started walking out of Possum Springs and back into the never ending woods. She had been walking for a bit now but had picked up speed as she had gotten an uneasy feeling, stopping at a thick tree she looked all around her but only saw the darkness of the night. "Snap!" The sound of a branch snapping echoed throughout the woods, Mae snapped her head around to look behind her but again saw nothing but the night.

"T-This isn't funny Greg! I know it's you so just come out already!" she called out to no one and no one answered, but there was a high pitched screech. Mae covered her ears before frantically looking around in fear till she caught a glimpse of something. She started to back away, her hair standing on end.

The creature's head looked her way and seemed to perk up at the sight of her, it let out a menacing growl before it started to move his skeleton-like legs her way. Mae ran. She ran and ran but she didn't know where, she was lost. The thing was still after her, she could hear the leaves and sticks snapping and crackling under its spread out feet. Its growls and groans made Mae run faster till she could run no longer. Now hiding in a hollowed-out tree she stayed pressed up against the wood, her heart beating like a drum as she panted like a dog to try catch its breath but soon held it as she heard the creature stop running and start stalking around looking for her. Glancing out she got a better look of the thing. It was big, very big. Its legs seem bone like and a thin layer of skin plastered over its bony legs. Its feet unlike anything Mae has seen before, toes spread out like it was meant to have webbed feet, claws small but sharp. Its head... No. Its mouth covered around the outside with sharp spines, the same going down its back along with two shark-like fins. The one big black eye looking around for the small frightened girl, hidden within a tree. Mae sank down to sit on the cold dirt before her mind was filled with Greg's words, him describing a monster, and it fit the one chasing and now looking for her.

"The Night Stalker... The Night Stalker is real!" she yelled in a frightened tone before slapping her hand over her mouth and shaking with fear. Did it hear her? She hoped it didn't but alas hope was not on her side. The Night Stalker started to ram the tree she hid in causing her to scream and hug her knees close to her chest, its horrifying screech piercing her ears and ringing her skull. She heard the tree begin to give way, cracking and snapping as The Night Stalker rammed the old tree. Mae got another glimpse of it face causing her to whimper and hide her head in her knees, hot tears ran down her cheeks and she soon closer her eyes tight when she hear the top of the tree snap and fall to the forest floor. She knew this was the end... It could easily get to her now and there was nowhere to run or hide, it would always find her.

She waited for the pain to come, for its unnatural mouth to clamp down on her. But nothing...

Opening her eyes, she looking around and saw that nothing was there. The top of the tree had fallen but The Night Stalker was gone, vanished. Looking past the trees she saw light.

"It's morning..." She said as a whisper. Never once did she move from inside the now broken tree, she couldn't move, frozen with fear of what just happened. Her body shook with fear, she whimpered at the thought of the creature that was close to ending her life. Mae sat there for what seemed like hours, not wanting to move until she heard her name being called by three voices she knew very well.

"Mae!" Angus called with his deep yet monotone voice.

"Where are you?!" Bae, her voice being croaky and dead, and lastly there was Greg.

"Maaaee!! Come on out! Your parents are really worried about you!" His voice was more childish and loud than the other two. Mae shakily, got to her feet and ran to her friends. Once close enough to them, she hugged Bea close. Her friends were happy to know she was ok, as were her parents though none of them believed her when she told them why she was out in the woods. They all said it was just a myth or a story, Mae never pushed them and never spoke about what happened after that day but it was hard for her to forget its horrifying screech. From then on Mae knew never to spend a night in the woods or the monsters that linger there, waiting for some unfortunate soul to get lost in the maze of trees and darkness.