CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio - "I guess the forest demon can't swim" Creepypasta

Episode Date: June 1, 2021

CREEPYPASTA STORY►by moonlifeless: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comm...Creepypastas are the campfire tales of the internet. Horror stories spread through Reddit r/nosleep, forums and blogs, rather than word of mouth. Whether you believe these scary stories to be true or not is left to your own discretion and imagination. LISTEN TO CREEPYPASTAS ON THE GO-SPOTIFY► https://open.spotify.com/show/7l0iRPd...iTUNES► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...CREEPY THUMBNAIL ART BY►Harrison Magby: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/2Ax2eSUGGESTED CREEPYPASTA PLAYLISTS-►"Good Places to Start"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7YCb...►"Personal Favourites"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEa2R...►"Written by me"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX6RA...►"Long Stories"- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...FOLLOW ME ON-►Twitter: https://twitter.com/Creeps_McPasta►Instagram: https://instagram.com/creepsmcpasta/►Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/creepsmcpasta►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreepsMcPastaCREEPYPASTA MUSIC/ SFX- ►http://bit.ly/Audionic ♪►http://bit.ly/Myuusic ♪►http://bit.ly/incompt ♪►http://bit.ly/EpidemicM ♪-This creepypasta is for entertainment purposes only-

I was travelling in my mum's van. The back trunk was packed with sports gear, banquet utensils and kitchenware. I was trailing 80 kilometres down an unfinished road, though the speed limit was set higher. I'd always felt uneasy travelling in places I'd never been, because I had a tendency to miss a turn and get lost. The drive from the small town to the condo is only supposed to be 30 minutes, but I've been driving for 45 already and still hadn't yet reached it, nor had I seen any signs.

It was a clear day in the road with a few clouds in the sky. The air was crazy hot and my face was sweltering. I was already blasting the AC on the dash to its highest setting and set all the vents pointing to my face and my pits. I don't do well in the heat. It was not my decision to go out there at the time. My name is Weston. My family calls me Wes or Wesie

if they want to get on my nerves. and a family reunion was the very reason for my long drive. Eventually, me, my family, my grandparents on both sides, a wide range of my cousins, aunt and uncles, would all congregate to a large and busy new condo being built out in the middle of the wilderness. One of my uncles had snatched it up right away as soon as he was being marked for sale. The turnover will be massive, was something along the lines of what he said. They were only building a few of the years.

properties out here, as the place was previously a protected National Park. Due to budget cuts, the conserved property line of the land was cut back, allowing for the sale of new infrastructure to be built around the deeper parts of the park. And who wouldn't want a beautiful, small, secluded mansion in the middle of the forest? I'd been allowed to show up a few days earlier before the rest of the family arrived in order to prepare the house for them. I had most of the amenities, while my cousin, Reese, had shown up the previous day with a truckload of food. So together, we could just unpack everything, explore, and hang out by ourselves until the rest of the family arrived.

This would have been the relaxing bit of the vacation if it were not for the fact that I hated Reese. Reese was like the frat boy without a fraternity, the jock without a team, the gangster without a gang, the bully without a crew, A one-man band of off-key violins, kazoos and broken bagpipes. Just an all-round douchebag. That and he hit to my sister at the last family reunion. It was so awkward for everyone involved

as my sister was ignorant to his advances. She was thinking that his motives couldn't possibly be anything but innocent because we're all cousins. The road swerved around a sharp bend and suddenly I saw the turn off. I slammed the brakes and dried dust from the tires

flew into the air. I looked back at the driveway and did a six-point turn on the narrow road to man back around. I rolled into the large dirt driveway, still partially under construction. The lot was quite huge. I could see a large pile of bulldozed trees and rubble in the corner. The driveway would have definitely been big enough for some of my uncles to come. They own large motorhomes and camper vans that were basically small houses on their own.

unlike the road, the house and the yard were essentially completed. Though it was two stories high, it didn't quite peek over the trees, leaving it shaded, and stay well hidden. But it was no quaint cabin in the woods and was built modern style. I could hear a faint thumping of base coming from the upper floor of the house. Good to know Reese had settled in. I parked and clam it out of my van, grabbed a large duffel bag of gear, and started lumbering up towards. the house with it. The music got louder as I entered through the door

and I started yelling for Reese. Hello, it's Wes, I shouted. I received no answer and immediately started losing the energy to care enough for his attention. I dropped off the bag in the corner of the room and went back to the van to continue to unpack things.

Miraculously, Reese appeared after bringing in the final lawn chair into the house. So, because he raised an open bottle of beer me. Good to see you made it. He offered a second, unopened bottle to me. I shook my head.

I don't drink, I stated. I was pretty sure he knew already. Come on, there's no one else around. The fact that I'm underageed isn't the reason I don't drink, I push back. We'll get some liquor in you before the week is up. I groaned at the thought of him

and some of my uncles, tiredly pushing beer down my throat. I doubt that. but I didn't want to antagonize him more. Which one is your room? I asked. Top floor, the big suite, claimed him for myself. First come first serve. Great, then I'll pick the one opposite. He flipped me the bird and smiled.

He then chugged the rest of his first beer and belched as he started to open the other one. I believed he was being deliberately extra immature in my presence. I made my way to the basement, which had a billiard table and a couple more rooms. I thought of playing a game, but I didn't know where the balls were, and I would either play by myself or with Reese. I'd prefer a nap. I put my back in the quiet room in the corner. It was almost soundproof, as I could barely hear Reese's bass thumping through the walls. I was tired, sweaty and hungry.

I changed my shirt and cursed myself for not bringing more clothing as I did in account for how many I would soak through. back then I was slightly bigger and didn't have a lot of muscle I just got out of high school and without gym class I was starting to let myself go I went upstairs to the kitchen looking for food the kitchen contained lots of snacks a freezer full of meat some cupboards full of junk food and a fridge full of beer

too full of beer there wasn't a lot of room for other food of actual substance who gave Reese the shopping list I went to find him. There was a living space on the third floor. He'd already set up the game console to play some first-person shooter. You know this is going to be kids at the reunion, right? What are they going to eat?

I asked. Don't worry about that. They got hot dogs and cheese. He raised the controller at me. Want to play a few rounds? Nah, I'm starving. I guess I'll make some hot dogs then. Ah, me too, thanks.

An extra cheese. I didn't say anything. I knew that if I made food just, Just for myself, Reese would probably have claimed it from me. I retreated back down the stairs and started boiling some water for the hot dogs. It was my preferred way of cooking them. I began toasting the buns and realised the oven element and the toaster were just adding to the already sweltering temperature. I looked for the thermostat while contemplating sweating on Reese's hot dog.

I couldn't find it along the walls. However, as I was looking around, I noticed the kitchen had a lot of. large glass sliding door that faced a pool. I looked eagerly at the cover and top, wondering if it had been filled already, and if the filters were set yet. I walked over to the glass and stared longingly. Then I opened the door to notice the latch was broken. Was that my concern?

I need to remember to tell my uncles about it, but it wasn't like we were worried about rubbers in the area, just more concerned about an overly clever bear. The door slid open and I meanded out to the edge of the cover and lifted it. Unfortunately, the pool was empty. I thought we should fill it before the family got there, though I definitely wanted a dip for myself, thinking about how cool the water would be. I looked around for a hose and stuck it into the open pool cover flap.

I turned the water on full blast and watch it pour into the cement pool, noticing it was going to take a while. I ran back inside to finish making the hot tub. dogs and then went back up the stairs to feed Reese. We actually played some video games together. Each of them a different variation of first-person shooter, and each of them a different variation of ways to lose to Reese. The longer we played, the worse it got.

He would annihilate me and refuse to just be on my team and play against the computer or the campaign. Eventually, I got tired of it and gave up. Reese badgered me. Oh, really? you sure you don't want to try again. I think you got real close last line to take him one of my lives. I was starting to get scared.

No, thanks. I think I'm going to go outside and explore. I said, knowing that he would not join me. Nature was on his thing. Ah, suit yourself, Boy Scout. Reese turned back to his game. Hey, I'm filling the pool, by the way. Could you check it every once in a while?

Make sure it doesn't overflow before I get back. Hey, that's a good idea. Swim suits summer. Nice. He gave me a thumbs up. Ah, totally, I forced a response, hoping he wasn't making any sort of reference to my sister. As I headed outside, I made the detour to check the pool before I left. The water level had risen, but not by much.

It felt safe to leave to go on the hike in case Reese decides to flood the place. I headed out into the wilderness, going slow and making note of the direction that I came. Eventually found a hiking trail nearby. I knew there were some in the area. They probably used to be bigger and more populated before the construction started. As I followed it down, I noticed some deer tracks. They were very obviously imprinted in the mud, but I couldn't tell you how old they were. Actually, they could have been goat tracks, but I wasn't sure.

The sound was deafning, and by that, I mean it sounded like you were deaf. The trees were just so thick, it blocked out all. All of the sound are echoes. There was no breeze rustling the branches and barely any birds tweeting. If there was any wildlife, they had other places to be apparently. Even though I was outside, I couldn't help but feel claustrophobic. The woods were a mix of different types of leafy trees and tall pine trees, with leaves that were alive at the top but seemed more dead at the bottom.

The other trees were all thick and stumpy, and there were not that many young trees. It made it feel like a very old forest. It also smelled amazing and the shade was keeping me cool. I trotted down the trail. I was still sweaty but managed to enjoy myself. Not huffing and puffing, but still getting my exercise. The trail must have been easy at one point, but when I was on it, the ground was covered in branches and dead leaves of debris.

Like a storm had passed, I guess this was a part of the park's trail they stopped carrying for after the budget cuts. There were even large rocks I had to scramble over. I couldn't tell where they had broken off of and rolled from. I began falling around as I climbed over things. I imagined I was running through an obstacle course. I'd jump off a low rock onto another rock and limbo under a branch. I would swing around trees using branches to give myself momentum.

I hopped from rock to log to dirt mound. I started huffing, but I felt like a little kid again. The trail sloped down, and instead of carefully and wherewardly walking, I flew as I descended, kicking my legs behind and forcing them forward fast enough to catch my next step, just enough to stop me from somersaulting head over heels. The ground started evening out again, but I still had some speed going. I saw another odd shape and darkly colored boulder up ahead and mentally prepared to leap over it like a show horse. My large body thumped the earth As I bowed forward Each foot hitting the ground hard

Counting my steps And preparing for which foot I would press off of I picked up my already max speed As I galloped to the black rock And jumped high like a track and field star Wait, what the hell? I shouted midair When I landed

I almost rolled my ankle And I stumbled to do a double take on the object The boulder Upon closer look Wasn't actually a boulder and as I stared at it I began to sweat harder than when I was running up the rocks

It had an odd bent shape to it And was black leather I immediately thought it was a Dealing body in a jacket Deformed, broken Then tossed into the woods to be decomposed and forgotten But it wasn't that I extended my foot and poked the corner

With the end of my shoe It tipped over A seat I asked the internet animate object. It was indeed, as I was examining it, a seat. Looked like an uncomfortable car seat. I first thought dirt bike, since it was on the trail or a quad bike, but it just

didn't seem to make sense. I thought maybe there's a secret tree house or cabin, and this was a furniture item of that place, but that was reaching even further. Maybe something exploded and it landed here, and there's all sorts of vehicle parts all over the place. My mind continued its mental gymnastics, making up more and more impossible things to the backstory of the seat. But then, it instantly was recognisable. A seat to heavy machinery.

Like a backhoe, bulldozer, excavator. It was becoming clearer the more I thought about it. Also, the more I looked at it, the more I convinced myself that I was right. There were these machines in the area, and there was some clearing and construction going on. It had to be, and one of the workers, seeing that it was broken, dumped it out here as garbage. Disgraceful, overpaid litterers, I thought out loud. But that really didn't make sense either. There was a dump truck for all the forest debris, and they could have just put it in there.

And if they were going to dump it, why all the way out here? I bent over to touch the leather armrest and rolled it over. It was shredded on the opposite side. the seat was cut deep into its interior by what looked like a large knife like someone slashed it a few times as an anger relief practice as I was holding the seat at an angle to get a better look at the damage my fingers slipped on the leather and it rolled back over I became aware of how sweaty I was at the time

though shaded in the trees my body was worked up over the excitement of the dashing and parkour I did along the trail I saw that the sun had dipped a little further behind the branches and realized how much time had passed. I decided to turn back. I thought about looking the seat back with me, but just thinking about it made me more tired and sweaty. Instead, I kicked and booted it off the trail into some ferns.

Out of sight, out of mind, I said with the turn and waltzed myself back up the trail. When I reached the house, I stopped by the pool to see how much it had filled. It was almost full. Enough to swimming, but, Just below the deep end ladder to be difficult to pull myself out of. A little bit longer and I could dip my feet in the cool blue liquid. I reached my hand out to feel the temperature.

It was chilling as it was just out of the cold water tap. It seemed like ice water compared to the hot summer air. I shivered with delight. I loved the cold, but I knew it was going to be a shock to my sweaty body. I figured I would wait just a little bit longer for the pump to heat it up. I went inside to change into my swimming shorts Upstairs I heard video game music But it was looping

I climbed at the steps and peered into the room To find Reese had passed out in the beanbag chair And the game menu was up I thought it was a great opportunity for my own peace and quiet I decided I was going to stay up and see the stars I grabbed my phone and headphones Then went to find the pool lounge chairs I set them up around the deck

And got comfy in one of the fathers from the house in the shadow of the tree. Shame they couldn't leave a few more trees for shade, I thought out loud. I shifted the pool chair to add more of a recline and got comfy in it. It was one of those sort of hammock types where you feel like you're falling into it. I turned on the tunes and started playing some dumb puzzle games on my phone. We hadn't got an internet connection out there yet, but I really thought it was a conspiracy by the parents to not install it out there before the reunion,

forcing us to get closer. I took a big breath and sighed, soaking in the precious quiet and private hours I would be able to have before the weekend started. The sun was going down behind the trees and shadows were growing. I was disappointed I wouldn't be able to see a nice sunset, but figured the stars would be worth it anyway.

It would be wonderful to see them without the city light pollution. Out here, the only lights were from my phone and the window on the third floor of the house. It was the perfect night. A very fast hour went by. I noticed the changing animal sounds as I heard more crickets and other books. The day birds had gone to the nests, but I could swear I heard an owl. I expected to see more, but the park was so vast that you'd have to be really lucky and keen-eyed to see anything of notice,

or maybe some night vision goggles. It got darker and darker. Eventually I noticed one after the other, little stars start. started to appear. I turned off my phone and set it down so I could let my eyes adjust to the smaller ones. Just minutes and a few sweaty blinks later, the Milky Way showed itself and it was gorgeous and huge. After a while, I started feeling very small and aware of myself. My mind slipped into retrospective thoughts and existentialism. Overthinking, I began to be mindful of my loud breath and started to breathe and command. Wait, that wasn't me. I looked towards the house. The light was still on,

so Reese still should have been up there. Appeared across the still pool water, but didn't see anything towards the dark trees. I looked away from the house and more towards the direction behind me, the direction of deeper in the woods. Just then, I thought I saw a quick flash of eyes reflect in the dark. My back muscles tightened up and my hair stood up. I instantly still. I instantly still. started sweating more than I had all day. I kept on staring into the nothingness, hoping that I didn't actually see anything or that it would go away. But then I heard a twig or branch snap,

and I instantly remembered the existence of bears and cougars. I gripped the sides of my chair. My buddy and mind debated whether I should slowly peel away or make a mad crazy dash to the door. A blast of air hit the side of my face, and I freaked. I tried to jump off the lounger, but I fell. My leg slipped through the space

in the slot to the chair and my anger was caught in the fold. It felt ironic at the time because it felt like I was caught in the latches of a bear trap and was about to be eaten by a bear. But, it wasn't a bear. Nothing came out of the darkness.

It towered over me. I'd say it was almost nine feet tall and embodied the word darkness. Every inch of it was covered in jet black, wispy hair. As it lumbered nearer, the hair swayed like water. Its face was covered in the hair as well, but I could see its eyes, beady blackness and expressionless.

Where I assumed his mouth was supposed to be, it dripped with saliva that landed by my feet. Though it stood on two legs, its arms were gangly and hung down to its ankles. I screamed. My arms pushed myself backwards in a clumsy manner. I sometimes slipped

and I would slam my elbow into the concrete but pain was not the first thing of my mind. I gained a little bit of distance from the creature. I could see it breathing heavy and fast.

He, it went. It pivoted towards me and its knees bent. Getting ready to pounce? I scrambled away faster kicking my trapped leg, trying furiously to fling the heavy chair off. Instead, I managed to land my foot

on the ground and gave a hard push. I propelled myself backwards enough to land on the edge of the pool. My tailbone hit in the corner before I splashed into the water. I sank and looked up in fear. I waited for it to follow me in. But through the surface, I saw its black silhouette against the starry sky and pushed away from the wall, swimming towards the center of the pool. With my clothes heavy and the chair still wrapped around my ankle,

I began to sink. I was running out of air. I needed air. I pushed my arms harder against the pressure of the water. My chest hurt. It was cold. I felt my ears start ringing and my head wanted to explode. I kicked ferociously at the chair that entangled my leg.

My shoe at that point had soaked with the water and became heavy enough to easily slide off. After that, it was easy to just slip out of the plastic folds that had grasped me. With a chair gone, a dead weight was dropped from my body, and I finally was able to gain some momentum upward. A final, exasperated push from all four limbs let me breach the surface. I sputtered and gagged from the droplets that lined my throat. Violently wretching and treading water, my body ached with a desire for a steady ground to puke on. Gulping the fresh night air, I slowed my thrashing. With the white wash gone and my eyes clear, I turned back to where I fell.

To my dreaded horror, the demonic figure was still there at the edge of the pool. its paws or hands or whatever it had clutched the corner of the water, leaning forward with freakish intent. Almost like a statue, it made no noise, but I could see its chest pulsate quickly in the dark, like a tired dog panting after a run. I expected it to growl or bark as I stared at it, but I still couldn't make out a mouth amongst the black fur-covered face.

Not wanting to see its teeth, I turned and started paddling towards the opposite side of the pool, Very quickly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movements in the shadows. Was it trying to get me at the other side? Terrified, I turned my attention away from the edge to see legs. The creature moves so swiftly, running on all fours and taking giant, almost graceful strides. It was about to reach the edge of the pool closest to me. I immediately stopped paddling towards it.

I braced myself for it to pounce on me, and imagined suffocating in fur, water and possibly sharp teeth pierced my skin. The creature did not slow down as it neared me. It charged and with one hand grabbed the edge of the pool and with the other it reached out and swiped me. I screamed. It did not come close, but I couldn't help but shut my eyes in fear. When I opened them, I saw a clawed hand.

Almost human, except with longer fingers reaching for me. It was desperate to grueling. grab my shirt or my skin and pull me towards it. Yet, it did not want to jump in the water. A thought appeared. Can't swim, can you? You stupid thing, I screamed. I don't know why I said that, but I wasn't thinking clearly.

It didn't even react at all to me screaming at it. I thought it would try again, play it smarter this time. In the water, I took off my shirt and my other shoe. The clothes, except for my undershorts, were no longer weighing me down. I slowly paddled to the edge of the pool opposite to the sliding door of the house. It moved cautiously along the edge of the pool, its beauty eyes staring down at me. I remembered my swimming lessons from elementary school. I forced myself to take big long breaths to try and slow my heartbeat down.

I dove under the surface, down deeper in the pool steps. My plan was to push off the wall and race the beast of the door. I remembered the latch was broken, but maybe I could delay it long enough to lock myself in the bathroom or one of the bedrooms. Then I would scream Reese to call 911. Underwater, I raided both feet against the wall and shifted my weight. Right, as I was about to kick off, a long black hand appeared in front of my face. I couldn't help but scream underwater. I snapped my mouth shut and ducked.

With a quick hard force for my legs, I shot away from the wall, trying to gain as much distance as I could. underwater. I had already lost so much air, and I was panicking again, and I needed to resurface. When I did look ahead, I saw no creature. I swam like a mad fish, wishing at the time I had fins. I didn't bother look behind me, but as my arms strogged the water ahead of my face, I peaked out the side. Through strokes, I caught a glimpse of the monstrous being lumbering on the deckside. One of its arms now wet and skinny Not thinner and scraggly I tried to swim faster

But my lungs could not keep up with the strenuous demand And I was losing speed But I reached the edge I pull myself up and got one foot on the ground But then It leaped I thought it would lose speed at the sharp corner I thought it might slip

Instead his long black legs Stamped down on the inner side of the pool's edge its nails claw the cement and gain leverage and in response I used my other foot to send myself backwards back into the water I sank down once again facing the creature

I saw no change in expression no show of frustration like it didn't have a hunting instinct and it just wanted to kill me out of spite territory dispute or some other hidden purpose I swam far away enough from the edge and resurfaced

I was more than exhausted at that point. I just wanted to lie down. And that gave me the brilliant idea to play dead. Maybe if the creature just wanted me dead and didn't want to weep me, it would be satisfied. I tried to slow my breathing down. It was hard enough after the mad dashed to the door, and lactic acid started building up badly in my forearms, and the sight of the horrific demon-like thing didn't help either.

I thought about faking a drowning, but was too tired to bring. pretend to thrash about in the water, so I just rolled over onto my back and relaxed. Looking at the sky helped me get my breathing back to a normal enough pace, where I was able to take deeper, bigger breaths. I bobbed and floated for about a minute. The water rolled over me, and I held my breath when my face was covered. I was doing the best dead man's float I could. The break I gave my arms helped them feel better. They swayed lifelessly in the water. Out of the reflection I saw a shadow fly through the air. For a moment, I thought it was a bird.

Out of nowhere, a rock hit the back of my head. My teeth knocked and pain shot through my skull. I turned myself upright and looked around to see a pool chair flying in my direction. I raised my arm and protected my face from the chair. The object clashed into me with great force. My head went underwater unexpectedly and a flound about getting back up above the surface. My chest hurt from the exhaustion.

The muscles stung in my arms and legs. I was taking big breaths now. I thought if it could force enough air in my lungs, it would help me keep float better. Once I inhaled, some more water droppers got caught in my throat and I had a coughing fit. The fit only made it worse for me to keep my head above water.

I swallowed and yelled, exasperating my voice. I noticed movement in my peripheral vision. It wasn't from the creature. Through glazed eyes, I saw its shadow, just frozen there at the water's edge. This other shadow came from the house's top window. It was Reese. Reese! I screamed.

My throat croaked out the sound like a pre-rebescent boy. Help! I continued to cry. I even attempted waving my arm for attention. But as I whirled away, I saw the shadow duck away and disappear. I cried out his name a few more times till it was just turned to crying. I sobbed as my slight glimmer of hope faded just as fast as it came. I continued to cry and swallow water.

I could barely keep my mouth up. My body ached a swing to the edge, but my mind feared getting ripped apart or eaten by the creature. Then my leg cramped. The pain shot through my thigh like a metal pole had been rammed through the bone. I held onto it and started to start to the bone. sinking. I was so tired, I just wanted to hold my leg for a little bit. But then I needed air, so my arms exerted the extra effort to lift my body back up. Then my arms started cramping, not as sudden as my newly dead weight of a leg, but a slow burn of the muscles. I started sinking

again. Curling my body into the fetal position, I descended into the dark waters. My ears rang until they popped. A new pain entered my head. I thought for a second time, maybe I could kick the bottom with my good leg and shoot back up to the top. Why was that pull so deep anyway? Or maybe it wasn't, and it just seemed like it at the time. I really needed air. When I got to the bottom, I kicked to the ground lazily. It barely got me up.

I sank back down and kicked again. I needed air. Everything was moving in slow motion. The pain was stronger, but I cared less about it. it. I tried harder to push to the water, which was beginning to feel more like a sludge. I grabbed my throat and squeezed. My lungs demanded air immediately. I just wanted the release of holding my breath. I struggled harder against gravity, the weight of it pulling me down harder the longer I went on. My mind rang out and darkness invaded the sides of my vision.

I think I'd breathed in some water. The pain was going away. I started floating. I felt a little peaceful, like I wasn't going to care if I was going to drown. I saw a light, it shimmered and wavered like liquid. Then a dark spot appeared in the centre until it grew. Then I saw nothing. It was actually two days later when I woke up in the hospital. I saw my sister and my cousin talking to each other while sitting in two chairs next to my bed. My sister's back was to me and Reese was leaning in, speaking in a low-tone voice.

I stared at him for a long time before I coughed. Reese looked up. Oh damn, he said as he caught my eyes. My sister turned to see me and gasped. You're awake, thank God. She got up and awkwardly hugged me while I was in bed. That's when I realized all my muscles hurt and I could barely move. I'm going to call Mom and Dad, she said as she grabbed the cell phone from a chair and left the hospital room.

Reese just kept looking at me. I stared back. What happened? I asked. What do you mean? He said in a stern and cold voice. He went for a swim and you got cramps and then you drowned. I called out for you, the monster. What are you talking about?

He cut me off and glared hard at me. I saw you whaling around in the pool and I called the cops. I don't know, CPR, but I got you out of the water. I started stammering my words. baffled and wondering if I was crazy. I clearly remember the sound and sight of that creature. If you saw me struggling, why didn't you come out earlier? My voice squeaked.

I wanted to grab his shoulders and shake them, desperate for some confirmation that I hadn't hallucinated that fear. I could only lay, accusingly, on the hospital bed. Reese was silent. I could see anger grow on his face like he was holding something back. and I knew You did see it, didn't you? And you were too scared to come down to help me

That's why, isn't it? Shut up, I saved your ass, Reese yelled. You just got a cramp and yelled and drowned, okay? I knew at that point no one would believe me if I said anything And Reese would have fought me the whole way Because he needed me to shut up And he really needed it to not be real I shut up from that point on

It was of me getting better reached the rest of the family That arrived at the condo I missed the reunion as I recovered Nothing out of the ordinary happened While everyone else had stayed there Reese never talked to me again Except through our fathers

My dad said in particular That Reese had convinced my uncle To sell the house in the woods It was already worth more than what he had bought it for And I'm not sure what Reese said to his dad to make him sell it right away, but we never went back to those woods again. Our next family reunion was booked at a resort

by a popular beach full of people. But I never talked to Reese as he avoided me the entire time. So, he was never brought up again. But I've never forgotten the fear. Not the fear of water, but the fear of what makes you choose to drown yourself instead of facing whatever horrors those would produce at the night.