Compilation of Local Writers' Stories

When I Was a Kid, My Best Friend Michael Went Missing

Michael was that one friend that if you saw me, Michael would be there too. We were either at his house or mine. Both of our parents accepted it Just fine and it was almost like we both had an extra family. So when I found out Michael was missing, naturally I was a wreck. I was also terrified, as I know what took him. I told our parents and the police what had happened but they never did believe me. This took place back in 2003.

It was summer break and Michael was over at my house. We were bored just playing video games in my room when Michael came up with an idea for something fun to do.

"Let's go the old train bridge behind shakers, at night!" He practically shouted.

"What? Why?" I asked.

"Because I heard Chris Bennet say him and Charles went there and they seen a weird looking dogman or something!" He seemed pretty excited about this horrible idea.

I thought for a moment about whether it was a good idea or not. After a few seconds I decided it wasn't a bad idea. After all, nothing bad happens in our tiny town.

"Sure, why not..." I rolled my eyes. "What are we gonna tell our parents?"

"You tell your mom and dad you're coming y to my house, and I'll tell mine I'm going to yours." He said proud of his little plan.

I knew it'd work, they don't even bother to call Michael's parents anymore because of how often we slept at each others house.

"Alright then, what time?" I have to admit, the idea of sneaking out sounded pretty fun.

"Midnight, meet at the entrance."

"Ok, see you then." I said as he grabbed his bag and got ready to leave.

After he left I got a bag around with some snacks and snuck my dad's flashlight. The idea seemed better and better as time went and I found myself pacing around until it was time to tell my parents I was going to Michael's.

"Alright just call when you get there sweetie!" My mom hugged me goodbye.

"I will, See you tomorrow love you!" I yelled as I ran to the front door, closing it loudly behind me.

I ran the whole 5 blocks to the old train bridge, excited to get our fun night started. Michael was already there and wave excitedly as I rounded the corner into sight.

"Let's get this shit started!" He shouted while doing a little dance.

I laughed and danced along. We were so thrilled about the idea there was something supernatural we could possible see that we didn't even think of what we would do if whatever we were looking for could be dangerous. We'd both heard of the dogman plenty of times throughout our lives, its sort of a legend here in Michigan.

After a few hours of just talking and hanging out we decided it was time to get quiet and listen for anything that sounded out of place. We sat quietly for over an hour hearing absolutely nothing before we started to get bored.

"Chris is a fucking liar dude..." Michael said bummed.

As soon as he finished his sentence we heard a twig snap, sending our heads sapping in the direction we heard the noise. Everything was so quiet that it gave me goosebumps. Even in my young age I knew it was too quiet. Normally you could hear crickets and frogs ringing throughout the night, but there was nothing. Michael must've noticed it too because he had the same look of confusion on his face that I did.

Snap.

Another twig broke, only this time closer. My heart was beating through my chest as I immediately started to regret our plan. Michael grabbed a nearby stick to use to defend ourselves, just in case.

"Heeeey boyyss!" A loud, very creepy whisper came from the bushes across the trail.

My blood froze and a deep sense of dread filled my entire body. That voice did not sound normal at all. Like someone hadn't spoken a word in their life, but somehow figured out how to talk for the first time. I felt like I was gonna pass out from how scared I was, but I didn't move a muscle. Michael looked equally terrified and sat just as still.

I noticed slight movement coming from behind the tree and nearly shit my pants. We were actually gonna see the famous dogman and I was utterly terrified. This was by far the worse idea we'd ever had.

A head slowly emerged from behind the trees about 5 get away and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Its eyes were only spaced maybe half an inch apart, so wide open and looked completely insane. The smile on this thing was so wide it should've split its cheeks wide open. It's teeth looked like a person's only there was way too many, and too big. It's head was halfway in between a man's and a dog's. It was maybe 7 or 8 feet tall, I don't know for sure but it was huge.

Out of nowhere a stick flew in air and hit the thing square in the face. I sat shocked as its smile slowly faded into a look of pure rage.

"Michael what the fuck!" I shouted as I got up to run.

Michael scream and was right on my heels. I'd never ran so fast in my life. We heard what sounded like a wolf howl followed by branch's snapping and heavy footsteps. The chase was on... We were running and screaming our heads off. The thing was laughing and snarling as it got closer and closer. We ran towards Michael's house as he lived closer and didn't have far to go, maybe 2 blocks. I didn't think we had a chance in hell at making it. I notice a few porch lights flick on as we ran and screamed at the top of our lungs.

"What's going on out there!" A man's voice shouted.

As soon as we heard his voice the heavy footsteps that were now right on our heals stopped. We kept running until we got to Michael's front door, banging on it furiously to get his parents to unlock it. After they finally opened it we ran in bawling our eyes out, talking at the same time telling his parents what happened. Obviously they didn't believe us and said we possibly pissed off a black bear and were lucky to get away. They were furious that we both lied about where we were going and called my parents. They were pissed too and came and picked me up, lecturing me the whole ride home. They didn't Believe me either and grounded me.

Once home I went straight to my room and passed out soon after. Sometime in the middle of the night though I woke up to a tapping on my window. Confused I rolled over, half expecting to see Michael but what I saw gave me nightmares for weeks. The creature from earlier was staring through my window smiling that awful grin, only this time it's face was covered in blood...

"Mom!" I screamed as loud as I could crying hysterically.

After they came running I told then what I saw and got yelled at again. I begged and begged for them to believe me but they wouldn't, shutting my door behind them.

The next morning I woke up to what sounded like my dad shouting and my mom crying. I went downstairs to see what was going on. As soon as my mom seen me ran over to me and squeezed me tightly, apologizing profusely.

"What mom? What's wrong?" I was starting to cry too as I had a horrible pit in my stomachache.

"Michael is missing, his bedroom window was smashed and they only found traces of blood on the window..." She barely choked through tears.

My body went numb and tunnel vision set in. My best friend wasn't just missing, he was dead. I knew what happened. He was the one that threw the stick at the thing so it came back for revenge. It came by my house to show me the fresh blood, taunting me...

After tons of police interviews and months of searching and finding nothing they determined Michael was dead and closed the case. There was a funeral held for him and it was one of the hardest times of my life. I'm 29 now and I still think about Michael and how horrible his death must have been. After our encounter I became obsessed with the dogman and after research I've read that the dogman only attacks if provoked. It came back for Michael because he attacked it. If he would've just ran I fully believed he would still be alive today... So if anyone ever runs into the dogman just whatever you do, don't provoke the thing... Walk or run away, you just might live.

***

Author: Tsunami-war

Site: Reddit - NoSleep

Date: 21/09/2019