"Okay", I thought to myself. "How do I get back to the car? This person trapped me." I thought about going to the other side, but I'd never be able to find my way in those woods. Even if I could I'd be on the other side of the lake, and there wasn't another bridge for miles. "Damn", I said aloud again. I would have to confront this person, say I'll leave and never come back, and get to off this terrible bridge. I shuffled some more in the dark, heading back the way I came.
A minutes later the moon came out again, and I saw it. A figure was coming my way. The bridge was only lit for a few seconds until the moon again disappeared behind a cloud.
I shuffled forward, my shaking leg almost falling through a gap. The moon came out again, and it was much closer-only about 200 yards away, but still it looked like just a shadow. The moon disappeared again and I shuffled forward, now shaking so much I thought I might fall.
When the moon came back out, I stopped cold. The figure was closer now; only about a hundred yards away, and I could make out its unusual features. It was limping forward, it's arms swinging as if they were sewn on. Greasy black hair hung down to its knees, and its head was tilted to the side. But the face-that's what made my blood turn cold, made my stomach feel sick. It was off-white with a green hue, and blank-no eyes, nose or mouth, just a wrinkled texture like a pumpkin that had rotted. I prayed that the next cloud wouldn't cover up my only light again, but my prayer went unanswered-darkness fell again.
"It's someone in a mask, it's someone in a mask, it's someone in a mask" I tried telling myself, but something in me said otherwise. The way it moved was just...unnatural. I tried backing up slowly, almost tripping. "How cold is this water?" I thought. "How high am I? Wait, what am I thinking?! Why is that an option?! What are my other options?!" I looked up and saw the moon, just about to reveal itself. My legs were shaking like Jello, barely holding me up. I had the feeling someone gets just before they bungee jump, though I didn't have a bungee cord.
Moonlight crept out from behind the cloud one more time and I caught one glance-one terrible glance. It stood ten feet in front of me, head tilted to the side. I was wrong about one thing-it did have a mouth. A hideous smile spread wide across its blank face, it's wrinkled skin spread to reveal black gums and jagged teeth. "Daniel" the smiling mouth said. It took one step forward.
Instinct took over, like when your hand pulls back after touching a hot pan; my legs threw me sideways, my mind not even calculating how far I needed to jump to avoid the concrete foundation below. My stomach dropped, but I didn't even look at the water I was headed towards; I didn't straighten out or prepare for the impact-for all that time, as the cold air rushed past my body, the image of that grotesque smile was imprinted in my mind. Only at the last second did I twist and avoid my back hitting the water first as I narrowly missed the concrete. Even submerged in icy water, all that was on my mind was her smile. Even shivering in my boxers on the car ride home, all I could see was Genevieve's smile.
