Creepy - The Desolation of Sentinel Peak Firewatch Will Haunt Me Forever

Episode Date: June 13, 2022

It doesn't want us there...***Written by: Kyle Harrison***Bonus episode: "A bad trip on mushrooms showed me something that I still don't know how to explain" written by Zachariusfrost and narrated by Jimmy FerrerContent warning: animal sacrifice***Find our reward tiers and how to get your bonus magnet at patreon.com/creepypod***You can also subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/creepypod***Sound Design by Pacific Obadiah***Title music by Alex Aldea Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the bloody disgusting network. No. This is creepy. A podcast dedicated to sharing the most famous chilling and disturbing creepy pastors and urban legends in the world. Whether these stories truly happened or simply fabrications is for you to decide. These stories may contain graphic depictions of books. violence and explicit language. Listener discretion is advised.

Creepy presents. The desolation at Sentinel Peak Firewatch will haunt me forever. Written by Kyle Harrison. Our plane cropped over the horizon. The endless woods meandering and covering every inch of land for miles around the forested area, effectively isolating it from the rest of the earth by mountains on almost all the sides. Within the bowl-shaped valley of greenery, it was easy to spot where we were headed. The blackened tower stood out like an altar of ash amid the lush furs. As we got closer,

a memory flashed in my head about the conversation I'd had with the Chief Forest Officer, Vince Wesley, only the day before in Ontario. The incident happened over the winter break. A couple of blokees from Cali came in to do the watchman duty for some extra bucks. Probably needed the cash for the holidays and heaven's sakes you know we've been so short-handed lately nade it's not like i had a choice i figured they'd basically be holed up in the tower for a couple of weeks with nothing to do but whack off and smoke weed or whatever they seemed harmless he told me so then what happened i remember asking paul said it was arson he thought it was an accident i guess that's why they called me in huh the expert.

I didn't bother telling him it had been almost four years since I've been involved in any official investigation like this. Truth be told, I was a little like those kids, eager for cash and down on my luck. Since it seemed like an open-and-chuck case, I thought I'd be here for a day at the most. Slowly we declined toward the south part of the lake shore. The plane gliding gracefully across the top of the morning fog as I got a better look at the firewatch station. It surprised me to see how much of it was still standing.

From this angle, at least half the building looked like it was untouched, perhaps more. Built a steel and stone and a mix of cement and wood, it should have collapsed if the fire was as intense as Vince claimed it to be, especially if it served from within. As a seaplane came to a stop, I stopped an officer coming to meet me. His smile was warm and friendly, but a few bruises and a cast on his knee told me, the older man. man hadn't had a very pleasant Christmas. You must be the inspector, Nathan, right? He said as he leaned on his good leg.

Just call me Nate. Sorry, it took a little longer than expected to get here. I heard I find a pilot that wants to fly this time of year, I guess. I told him as I gathered my things. I hadn't packed much, again, expecting this to be a short trip since the station itself was not much larger than the average two-bedroom cabin, not even a change of clothes. He told me that the place seemed to have a bad mojo about it, and he hoped my stay wouldn't be long. We stood there for an awkward moment while he peered up towards a stairwell that led to the main lookout, maybe speculating what had happened.

Then he clasped his hands together and helped me with my backpack. Well, the tower isn't going anywhere. Let me show you where you'd be staying, he said. The seaplane captain waved us off, and then we were alone. As I watched its reflection disappear from the surface of the water, I realized just how alone out here we were. The valley seemed endless. The sky was so quiet, and the tower suddenly seemed a bit more imposing as I stood there at its feet. Have you been up there since it happened? I asked.

Immediately it got skittish and told me that he didn't want to mess up the scene of the crime. Something about his reply left me wondering if you might be hiding something. I nodded absent-mindedly, wondering why it even considered you might have any information to give me. So I pulled my pack a little closer to me and followed him down a winding trail towards what looked like a small recreational vehicle. He said it was the best they could do given the circumstances. I wasn't complaining. I could tell that Sentinel Peak was a pretty lonely place besides a lookout. Not much besides trees to look at, I thought.

There were two small beds, a few cabinets, many kids. kitchen and toilet and maybe enough food for a few days. I don't really think that I'm going to be here that long, I told him, as he offered me a cup of coffee. Paul told me that this was a lot better than outside. Bears and these parts get hungry this time of year since there's not much else in the area to eat. They get a little desperate, he commented.

We both pulled up a chair and I got the feeling that if I was going to get this investigation done, it would require that I cooperated with them. So the bodies. Well, that attract bears too? I asked. There weren't any bodies, he told me. And he guessed that whoever did it would be high-tailing out of here after the deed was done. I thought they died in the incident, I said, recalling what Vincent told me. He said that if they did die, then the fire ate them up.

Then he changed to say that maybe they went missing altogether. Honestly, his flip-flopping was mighty suspicious if you ask me. Something about what he was telling me didn't add up, so I decided to change the subject. You mentioned earlier in how many people come here, right? So what's the lookout tower for? According to him, there was a lumber company a few miles east of here in the valley. Or at least there was one until a few years back. COVID didn't pass them by, and the company fell into bankruptcy.

So it's just sitting out there untouched, they leave all their equipment behind? That's what seemed to happen around here. People come and try to make this area theirs and Mother Nature fights back, pushes his back. He said he often felt that they weren't welcome here, that there's a force that doesn't want us here. There's the first extremely serious thing he'd said since I arrived. I sat there for an awkward moment as he stared at me, stone face,

and then laughed, almost uncontrollably. He didn't seem to be happy to be here either. I sighed and looked down at the coffee, realizing I didn't really feel comfortable being here longer than necessary. I stood up and stretched and told him I'd go up to the lookout and see what I could find out. He kept insisting that I wait, but I didn't want to. I needed answers and the weirdo wasn't giving them. The air around me felt still, and I walked up the trail toward the tower, my imagination playing out what I might find.

As I took a first step onto the wooden stairwell, the entire lookout made a call. creaking noise and I froze for a moment, wondering how secure the place was. It didn't look too unstable, but it didn't make me feel safe when every step I made caused more noise to resound through the valley. As I climbed above the tree line, I felt like I was going into the clouds, getting a chance to see the forest from a different view. Here at this level, it was an ocean of furs and pines, easy to get lost in, or drown in the endless green. The signs of the fire became evident when I made the next round of steps. Some of them bent and warped by the flames.

Then it got worse to next level, turning completely to black ash as I reached the top. The door was barely on its hinges, a gentle breeze inviting me to go in and see what had occurred. I took out my smartphone to get a good bit of light as I saw the sun was beginning to set over the forest and went in. The smell of ash mixed with burnt flesh as my tiny light illuminated the destruction. There really wasn't a part of the small building that hadn't been completely burnt up by the fire. Books and furniture were blackened or completely disintegrated. The metal chairs were melted and twisted. The computer was broken and leaning towards the center of the room.

It seemed clear that the fire had started there, near where a small coffee table had once sat. And his place now is a deep scar that seemed to infect the very ground. A dark black spot that spread out its tentacles in all directions. Yet then as I turned toward the other side of the fire watch, I realized that most of it was untouched, as though the flames had mysteriously stopped when reaching a certain intensity. The couch was sitting there, looking toward the inferno as though entertained by the emulation. And beyond it, the kitchen looked perfectly intact. Why didn't the volunteers simply use this as their exit strategy?

I wondered as I stepped toward the tiny restroom and saw where one of them had spent their final few moments. The corpse was darker than the starry sky that was meshing with the old building. His body collapsed and hugging the toilet as though he'd been vomiting. Yet the appearance of his body, frozen now by the after effects of the inferno, did not indicate that this man was hiding here and hoping to remain safe from the blaze. Instead of told me that whatever had happened was swift. Someone expected that they hadn't even had time to protect their bodies they'd hurled into the port of John one last time.

How was that possible? I've studied quick brush fires for most of my life in this job, and I'd never seen one burn so powerfully and so quickly. And the second corpse was nowhere in sight. And the second man escaped and just decided to bolt? The fire was to be considered intentional, according to the brief report that Paul had given me, and his number one suspect was this missing man, oh sure.

I decided I needed to find out more about them as I checked the kitchen for any evidence of using the back entrance to get out and climb down. Yet I couldn't seem to find any accelerant or a cause for the blaze itself. It was as though it had simply appeared out of nowhere. I knew not to prejudge the entire situation, but something wasn't adding up, and I felt like I was being lied to. I can think of many reasons why that would be, most of them involving money. I took pictures of the burnt office one more time and prepared to leave, resolving to get the truth from Paul that night. Another thing that was off was the entire vibe of the fire watch.

I've always felt that when I visit the aftermath of an incident like this, they're devoid of life. Yet as I left the empty building, I had this eerie feeling someone was watching me. There's a force that doesn't want us here, Paul had said. I had no idea if he was being serious for it was just another part of this strange case. there were too many questions. I stopped midway down the tower to take a smoke and look out at the tree line. The sun was down now and all I could make out were the dark outlines of the furs and cedars.

Forest stretches out like an ocean here, and you can watch the wind ripple across the tops of the trees like gentle waves. But what I saw that night wasn't the wind. I was thinking about just forgetting this whole thing, signing the paper and calling it a night when I saw something move in the trees. Then I realized it was actually a tree itself. One of the dark cedars seemed to gently walk across the horizon as though it had legs. I fumbled and tried to make sure I wasn't seeing things. It was so dark I thought my eyes had been playing tricks, so I ran up toward the tower to use the spotlight and get a better look.

I angled at the best I could, trying to get a good idea to where the strange tree disappeared to and then turned it on. A long stream of light pierced the night. What I saw, I'm not sure I truly believe or understand. The tree looked like it had a face. Sharp bark, contoured and open in a hollow hole that formed a mouth with sharp edges of broken branches that were menaced teeth. Its body was as wide as a house. Its legs were taller than a giraffe. They seemed to spread out and cover the ground, twisting and snagging the soil as it moved toward the fire watch.

I heard a low bellowing noise, like a grenade going off and then a sharp piercing shriek. Immediately I shut the spotlight off and I ran. I pushed down the stairs and toward the trail, running for Paul's trailer. As I got inside and slammed the door, his face was a look of confusion and amusement. Don't tell me you didn't hear that, I asked. He switched off his TV and shrugged. He told me eventually all the woods started sounding the same and asked me what I saw. I took a moment to recompose myself and stood up straight.

I told him it was nothing. I was just tired. He muttered that I looked worse than that and offered me some food as he grabbed his book. He was beginning to wonder what was taking me so long up there. It was nearly morning. I found myself looking like a drunk girl at a frat-house party peeking through the blinds to make sure he was right. It only felt like 20 minutes at the most. Paul stood there for a moment, probably trying to decide if I'd lost my mind before turning to brew his coffee. He asked what it was like up there as he munched on his breakfast.

I sat down and still unsettled by all that had seen and trying to make sense of it. I asked if you could tell me more about the volunteers. I took up my recorder to be sure I didn't miss any of the details. He seemed surprised I was now taking things so seriously, but when I had he was. head and obliged the request, speaking directly into the microphone. He said they seemed like nice enough fellas, and that he never really bothered to get to know with them. This time of year he's further south where they expect to see campers coming in for the holiday,

and that no one ever really bothers with Sentinel Peak, and it's almost forgotten entirely. So you weren't here when the fire happened, I guess? He said he came to do a check on them. The volunteers were supposed to check in with the ranger's office on a semi-revement. weekly basis and they'd missed a couple times. It was a rookie mistake, but he wanted to be sure. When he got over the ridge, he saw the smoke rising and called it in. Vince said you thought it was arson, though.

Why would you jump to that conclusion, I asked. He said he guessed he should have brought it up earlier, but a park been getting threats lately. I asked what kind of threats, like from a tree hugger or something? Paul laughed, but nodded as he sipped his coffee. He said Sentinel Peak is a row. relic and they want it torn down, let the forest grow up and push us out. He said before the incident, he was really considering that to let the ghosts have the place,

saying again that nature doesn't want us here anyway. I thought about what I'd seen only moments prior, and I asked him what he meant, if the fire watch had had issues in the past. He admitted this wasn't the first time they'd lost some volunteers. He realized that Vince was. said and told me that. He said it was one of the main reasons we can't keep good folks. Everyone scared they'll wind up disappearing.

I asked them about the other incidents, and he said they weren't anything like this. But here and there, one of the volunteers would go missing from the Firewatch. Their partner usually had to finish it all up solo, though half of them pack up and leave. I mean, he said he would do it too if his only help disappeared. When you say vanish, it makes it sound like they don't just grab a flight and go home. Are you saying these people are never seen again? Why haven't they been reported? I asked.

Paul looked at me like I was joking and he sighed before explaining that people go missing in the woods all the time. They don't have the budget to search unless someone reports them. He said that these folks had disappeared. No one cared. I put down the recorder, recalling I'd only seen one corpse in the firewatch. But something different happened this time, I commented. as I looked out the window toward the burnt building. I told him I needed him to identify the body

and asked if he could if he got a good look at the kids. He seemed surprised but went along with it as he grabbed his coat and we walked toward the tower. My hope was once we realized which body was in the tower could help us begin a search for the survivor to determine if it really was arson or something else entirely. As we stepped in, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Paul held his hand over his mouth as we closed the door

and I took a second look at the devastation. Everything had changed. Unlike before, when I was looking at the front half of the building, now everything in the kitchen was torched and destroyed. The living room and bathrooms seemed unfazed, and the body had encountered earlier was also missing. Instead, as we walked into the desiccated kitchen, I saw a different corpse covered in ash.

This one was staring out the window, looking straight towards the trees that I had seen moving only a few hours ago. It looked like they'd been preparing to bite down on an apple when the fire engulfed him. Paul admitted that he couldn't tell which one it was and apologized as he tried not to gag. But my head was still spinning from the strange change in the room. There was no way I'd seen the same devastation earlier. I pulled my phone out and looked at the photographs confirming I hadn't simply been seeing things. This isn't natural.

It wasn't arson. It was an accident either. In fact, I'm not sure what happened here, I told him. I let Pollock the pictures had taken to Judge's reaction. His face told me it was just as baffled as me and frightened, too. He told me he didn't think we should stay there. I disagreed. I told him something unnatural was going on here,

and that's exactly why we needed to stay and set my equipment down on the couch. I told him if we stay, we could reveal what caused all this. He seemed uncomfortable, but couldn't give me an excuse to leave, so we both started gathering samples with burnt materials from the kitchen to test. It could reveal a lot about the fire, I told him, as I checked the time. It was strange. It felt as though no amount of time it passed since we arrived, yet I was exhausted. Was something affecting us mentally here as well?

We kept gathering materials for another hour or so as I felt my energy drained more and more. Before I knew what was happening, I felt they needed collapse. on the couch and rest. Paul was complaining that he was feeling nauseous. He said he thought it was to burnt bodies and asked how I could stomach any of this. He heard him and closed my eyes trying to relax as I let my mind unwind.

Instead, it wasn't long before I felt that I was unraveling. Paul grabbed my shoulders and shook me awake. His eyes confused. He was yelling at me, asking me why I was asleep as he pointed out the window. He asked me if I could hear it. It was the booming noise again, the one that made my entire body tremble. I stood up, my knees wobbling as I heard the ground toward our towers start to crumble.

What is that? I asked. Paul showed her that he couldn't see anything and that had been going on for ten minutes. He thought that whatever it was was going to tear us apart. I raced to the kitchen to get a better look. The glowing eyes of the strange monster in the trees making me want to run the other way. Instead of swath, the fire pushed itself into the tower. were covering the counter next to me and making me leap back. The entire counter was covered in flames.

Paul grabbed a fire extinguisher and dealt with a small inferno as a monster bellowed and the firewatch shook. I yelled that we needed to get out of there as I ran away from the kitchen. Paul was standing there at the counter trying to protect what little was left. Instead, the flames covered his body of the white ants attacked an invasive predator. It made it seem like the fire had a mind of its own. Immediately I ran from the tower not bothering to look back. I could hear the gigantic noises from above and I was sure that if I hesitated for even a moment the entire fire watch would fall down on top of me.

I didn't stop running until I made it to Paul's trailer. I found the radio and called Vince's station. Mayday, Mayday, this is Sentinel Peak requesting assistance. There's only static as I heard the creature moving about outside trying to find me. I could hear the crackling of fire. Was it really going to burn down the whole forest just to exterminate me? I hunched down and waited for the woods to become silent again. Then I heard Vince on the radio.

Sentinel Peak, do you copy? I grabbed the receiver and shouted, There's a fire! Send help right away! All the Rangers need evacuation immediately! The radio filled with static again and then died. Then I heard a knock at the door. Instinctively, I grabbed the nearest object to use as a weapon, a ladder opener and stood by the door to let the stranger in.

To my shock and confusion, it was Paul. You're alive? How's that possible? I saw you burning up. He didn't even show signs of scars on his body. He looked just as confused as me. Who the fuck are you? He spat back. Is this some kind of joke? It's Nathan. I came here to inspect a fire. I kept my distance from him wondering if he was even the same person I'd met the day before.

Had the fire done something to him, recreated him somehow? Paul mumbled something into his walkie-talkie and then answered, What fire? We walked out of his trailer and I looked up at Sentinel Peak. It appeared untouched by any blaze at all. The world? I said as I started to run toward the stairs. There were no sense of ash or burns or anything that had seen before.

I heard Paul shouting to me as I raced at the top. I needed to see the inside of the fire watch. I needed to understand what was happening. As I stepped into the tower, I found myself looking at a brand new office. Polished furniture, a full pantry. It looked like nothing had been used. Paul stormed in behind me, demanding that I explained to him what was going on. I tried to tell him that there was a fire here that he died.

Maybe I died too. It was making me nauseous. I was seeing flashes of this other fire watch where Paul was devoured by the inferno and I was the one trapped in the bathroom. We were the ones who came here. We're trapped inside a nightmare of our design. That creature.

It made us a part of the forest. Paul was reaching for his gun, clearly disturbed by everything I'd said. He warned that I had to leave. I tried to make him listen. I tried to tell him, we had to stop it before it happened again. But instead of listening, he fired a shot straight toward me.

I ducked down in the boat of the propane tank right behind me. The explosion forced me toward Paul. A burst of fire consuming the front of the station. The entire fire watch was covered in an inferno within mere moments. I found myself trying to grab a hold of the splintering wood as a tower crumpled. I was being swallowed up by the devastation, seeping into the very ground. I lost consciousness at some point, hardly able to move from the blast. The fire watch was gone, but something else now was rumbling toward me.

It was the giant. I tried to move and to run, but instead I realized my body was trapped by the rubble of the collapsing tower. The monster was reaching down, its massive branches digging up the debris and picking me up as a ragdoll. Vines encircled my legs to prevent me from being able to escape as I was swung up towards the giant's neck. Its glowing eyes were looking into my soul, and it opened its sharp, bark mouth to spread fire over my body. My skin was burning. I felt paralyzed, and I was becoming

a part of this massive tree creature. As it happened, I saw forest being scorched in front of my eyes. I was taken on an astral journey through the body of this creature. I saw its kind, helplessly watching his man came and tore down the forest, fighting back and taking all they could. Sentinel Peak was one of the few places these creatures still called home, and then the forest rangers built the station. I saw how the tree had to watch on the sidelines as its own brothers and sisters were destroyed.

I felt its pain every time they attacked the forest. It happened not once or even a dozen times, but thousands of times, and yet the creature could do nothing. By some miracle, maybe magic or the sacred power of the land itself, the tree found the will to walk and to attack. The fire watch needed to be taken down, for these people had no purpose here. I recall Paul's words about how useless it was, and now I could see why. These people were wasting resources that belies.

long to the forest. This was a fight that humanity would lose. I watched as the tree monster used its newfound strength to burn the tower down, the fragments of the earth sorting into different pieces. Each part of the scattered memories were the earth itself, broken and disjointed more than any mere words could convey. It was trying to put itself back together and frozen in time itself, and we were causing it more and more suffering.

The giant said nothing, letting me experience all these painful things as I was transported at the edge of the valley, watching that the destruction of the fire watch put itself back together again. Then the tree was silent and frozen, as if never a monster at all, and I was as human as I'd always been. I stood there for a moment, looking towards Sentinel Peak and trying to make sense of the strange otherworldly experience I'd had. I'd been given the gift of seeing the world. to the eyes of nature, understanding its pain. I saw Paul walking toward me, waving his arms and looking like a fool. Another typical human destroying this blessed land.

He must be the new recruit. Come on up, the place is waiting for you, he said. He guided me and told me all about the fire watch and its long history, but I wasn't listening. I was looking at the place and how easy it would be to torch it. I waited for him to leave and thanked him, checking my phone and deleting the old photos. The past was removed. Nature healed itself the way it always does, and now I can play a part and make sure it's completely cured. I douse the firewatch and gasoline, and then I look toward the forced horizon as I set a match,

and let the fire begin to burn. I am part of the desolation now. I am the ash that smolders and lingers and returns to the. the earth. This place will be forgotten. It will return to what it once was. But we of the forest, we will continue to remain. Forever a memory of this suffering we can endure.

For your bonus episode, Creepy Presents. A bad trip on mushrooms showed me something that I still don't know how to explain. written by Zachariah Frost and narrated by Jimmy Ferrer Pallucinogenic drugs are something that people seem to either really love and use regularly or something they've sworn off forever. To me, nothing is better than a night with good friends tripping balls in the middle of the woods and bursting into fits of laughter until our jaws feel like they're about to fall off. One of my favorites has always been psilocybin, or a magic mushroom.

as they're most commonly known. Those little purple-gold bastards will put you in another dimension of giggles for hours on end. Yeah, the nauseam bouts of vomiting kind of suck, but it's a small price to pay to visit an alien landscape. A lot of people are put off by hallucinogens due to their fear of having a bad trip. It's good to be aware of the risk, but out of hundreds of trips I've had, I've only ever had one I'd classify as bad.

It was the last time I tripped, and it was really bad. I still don't know exactly how much was the trip and how much was real, but it's the reason I'm here writing this today. It was a warm summer Friday night, and I had just gotten off work. My buddy Cody had texted me during the day and wanted to know if I wanted to go out and have a bonfire. I, of course, quickly expressed my interest and returned to the home to get ready for the night. I met up with Cody and his girlfriend Lexi several hours later. Cody had a wide, devious smile on his face when I arrived, and I knew instantly he had something he couldn't wait to tell me.

What are you all happy about? I asked, buckling my seatbelt in the back seat of his truck. Check it out, man, Cody said, fumbling. for something in his center console. He retrieved a bag several seconds later and tossed it to me. Merry Christmas, he said with a smile. The bag was stuffed with a familiar and welcome sight, dried silozybin mushrooms. I removed one from the bag and admired it in my hands. It was dotted with streaks of purple azure and smelled absolutely rancid, all normal sides of good-quality shrooms. So it's going to be one of those nights, huh?

I asked my smile mirroring his own. Hell yeah, Cody replied with a raspy chuckle. From there, the three of us made our way out to meet up with another couple of our friends. We rendezvoused with Alex and Jovin and Chelsea soon after. Cody unveiled his bag of goodies in both guys, expressed equal excitement as I had. Oh, shit, it's going to be a good night, Jovan said, with his infectious laugh. Our group headed out from there to grab the usual supplies. We picked up a few pallets from Cody's work.

Stop by the liquor store and headed to our usual spot. I live out in Oregon. And our go-to bonfire area is a place called Goat Mountain. It's pretty remote, some 15 miles south of Estacotta. Lots of wilderness. Offroading trails and abandoned logging sites dot the area. People know this about the place and regularly camp in the area, but usually you never run into them because the place is so vast. The area is nice for several reasons.

First of which, is that cops rarely patrol it, because their cruisers have severe difficulty traversing the unpaved trails that lead up to it. A trucker, Jeep is pretty much a must in order to get here. Second is that, as far as I know, nobody lives in a car. in the area. You can make all the noise you want up there. Nobody's going to complain or come looking for you. It's our own little haven, shared by others who know the area, and pleasant escape from the bustling and overtime's overwhelming city. So, we began our trek, supplies in tow with Cody's truck barreling towards the destination. Lexi was in shotgun while Chelsea and I sat in the back.

Behind us, Alex and Jovan stayed hot on our trail and Alex's 98 cheap wrangler. The roads quickly turned from smooth pavement to uneven dirt paths. Trees stood like Templars on either side of the road, and the forest itself seemed to beckon us onward. We, of course, we were all too eager to oblige. We made good time, and within a half hour we arrived. at the usual spot. The area is a sort of a pit or a small valley on the other side of a relatively steep trail.

Makeshift fire pits were scattered about the area, while shotgun shells, beer cans, and cigarette butts littered the area. It appears we aren't the only ones who visit that spot anymore. It honestly pisses me off that people come out here and leave shit all over the place. Like, really? If you're going to go camping, then at least pick up your trash. or at the very least burn it. I'm no hippie, but I'll admit,

I'm a bit of a stickler when it comes to not leaving a mess. Nothing worse than an area you love being overrun by garbage. Despite the initial irritation of the trash, we soon had our gear unloaded and a warm bellowing fire roaring in the background. We wasted no time in cracking open a cold one and setting up the tents. The sun had just begun to set by the time we finished our set-up.

Cody then eagerly distributed the shrooms among the group. Lexi and Chelsea both elected not to participate, which only meant more for the rest of us. Cody had maybe a half-ounce or so, meaning that each of us took roughly an eighth, with Cody taking a bit more. I chewed on the grimy mushrooms. A taste not entirely dissimilar to stale popcorn, entered my mouth.

Some people can't stand the taste. One of those people being Jovin, who looked as though he was about to vomit as he downed them. Shit tastes like ass, he commented. A scowl on his face as he downed a large swig of cores. Well, they do grow in cow shit, you know. Cody replied with a laugh that was echoed by Alex. Lexi and Chelsea gave shakes of their hands from around the fire, as the four of us guys struggled to down the dried mushrooms.

After it was done, we grabbed another round of beers and sat in eager anticipation of the desired effects. For about an hour, we sat, reminiscing on past parties and various debaucheries as we waited for the trip to kick in. I felt my stomach began to turn as we sat there, which is a bit of the same. actually a good sign. Silas Ivan is essentially food poisoning, like mold or something. It makes you feel like shit for a bit, but that's how you know it's working. It's always a slow malaise at first. A subliminal inclination that makes you feel like something about the world

is suddenly very different. The weirdness is gradual, starting with the moderate tufts of distortion in the trees in the sky. I always describe it as the world begins to sing, which when I'm sober sounds like nonsense, but during the trip it makes perfect sense. The world around you seems to just take on an entirely different form as your perspective gives in to the chemicals. For some reason, this is just about the funniest damn thing you will ever see. And soon after the fits of giggles began.

Chelsea was busy telling a story about some girl who tried to fight her at a party when Alex suddenly burst out laughing. Chelsea looked to him, clearly annoyed that Ian interrupted her tale. You're tripping balls over there, aren't you? She asked with a laugh. Alex calmed down suddenly. His eyes darting back and forth as hush giggles escaped his lips. I feel like shit, bro, Jovin said. "'Go puke. It'll enhance the trip,' Cody replied.

"'I never actually have found out whether that rumor was true or not.' Javan shook his head and pressed his hand to his face. "'No, man, I'll be good.' Cody then looked to me. "'You feeling it yet?' Cody's eyes seemed to bulge from his sockets. And for some reason his slightly pudgy exterior combined with the blonde facial hair in that moment of dismal lighting reminded me of a walrus, and I burst out laughing, and Cody followed suit right after.

The three of us continued to laugh for several minutes, all while the girls giggled of themselves and made fun of us. Javan, meanwhile, had gone to relieve himself away from the group. Silence suddenly befell the group, only for it to be pierced seconds later by the sound of Javan wretching somewhere in the woods. This, of course, elicited another bout of last from Cody Alex and me. We then heard the infectious cackle of Javan from the shadows who had now also joined in in the laughter, and Chelsea shook her head. Idiots. She and Lexi shared a laugh as Javan returned to the group.

Man, I splattered on my Jordans, Javan said, with a laugh while using a towel to wipe the muck from his feet. Why do you even wear those out here? Cody asked with a laugh. A full brunt of the trip really began to hit me then. Around me, the trees appeared to breathe in and out, like a pupil rapidly dilating and constricting. Lexi began to play some trap music from her phone. Cody's truck and Alex's Jeep also appeared to breathe.

And when combined with the music, they appeared to dance to the crimson light. of the fire. I giggled to myself, juvenile, like a kid who had just swiped a cookie from the jar. We continued to chuckle at asinine things and observe the now distorted world around us. A full moon now beamed brightly overhead, illuminating a cluster of grinning clouds that seemed to sneer down at us. In the woods around us, I saw the shadows dance and contort in a bizarre display. Lexi then paused her music and things fell suddenly silent. That was when I first heard it. In the distance, I thought I could hear the faint humming sound of something.

I perked up and cocked my head to the side, trying to better hear the faint sound. What is it, Lexi asked. I put my hand up as a distant sound. sounds of what appeared to be a low humming echoed in my ears. Do you hear that? The others cocked their heads. Sounds like humming or something, I replied. Am I just tripping, or?

No, I hear it too, Chelsea interjected. Probably just someone blasting music, Cody said. Alex rose to his feet and began to saunter away from the fire. He paused some 20 feet away and slowly turned back. I think it's coming from that way, he said, extending a pointed finger towards a cluster of trees. He lowered his hand and then he turned back to us, a gleaming smile on his face. You guys up for an adventure? He asked with a chuckle. Hell no, man. I ain't trying to die tonight, Javan replied. Oh, come on. on, you'll be fine. It's probably just some people partying. Cody, you down?

Cody took a swig of beer and pondered the proposition for a moment. Yeah, fuck it, let's do it, he said with a shrug. Zach, you down? Alex asked me. I shrugged. Sure. Why not? Cody and I both rose to our feet and beckon, Javan. Come on, Javan, let's go, Cody said. Javan shook his head. Hell no, man. Come on, don't be a pussy. We're just going to go see what's up, Alex replied. Javvin gave a deep sigh and downed his course.

And then with a groan, he stood, as well. Be grudgingly ready to follow. Be careful, please, Lexi said to Cody with a pleading glance. Come with us, Cody replied. Lexi and Chelsea both shook their hands. "'Nope,' Lexi replied simply. "'Somebody's going to watch the stuff. "'Fine.' Cody said, rolling his eyes and turning away.

"'He walked over at Alex's spot, and Javan and I followed. "'The four of us soon disappeared from the light of the campfire "'and entered the now chilly woods. "'Luckily, the full moon beamed down overhead, "'making visibility surprisingly good for that time of night. Shadow seemed to stare at us around every corner, and the trees almost seemed to try grabbing us as we passed. Our journey was mostly silent, albeit with sparse giggles emitted every now and then.

The strange humming sounds grew louder, and as we drew nearer to the source I recognized it as some kind of chanting. That should have been where we turned and high-tailed it out of there, but we were dumb. We had gone for maybe ten minutes when we rounded a corner and saw something. Cody, who led the pack, paused and lifted his hand up. Then I saw it, further down the trail. Maybe a couple hundred yards. There was a bonfire.

Dude, I don't know about this, Alex said, turning to the rest of us. I crept closer and stood beside Cody at the front. Come on. They're just having a bonfire, Cody replied. Shrugging off, Alex's concern. What the hell was that sound then? Alex replied. Cody's head swayed on his shoulder before he began walking once more. Cody, hold up to it.

Cody wasn't listening. He walked across the trail and disappeared into the woods on the other side. I groaned. Now with a deep pit of dread opening in my stomach. Nonetheless and against my instincts, I followed him. I entered the trees on the other side and took cares not to make a lot of noise. I saw Cody some 30 yards away crouching behind a tree. I tiptoed over to his position and crouched down beside him.

Cody jumped as he heard me, but then relaxed a bit. I saw fear and his wide dilated eyes then. Dude, he pointed out beyond our position in the direction of the bonfire. The chanting now sounded almost like a group of monks performing a Gregorian mantra of some kind. I crept up to Cody and peered around him. The bonfire was now completely visible, a massive pyre burning some 50 yards away. Around it stood a dozen or so people, all dressed in white robes with hoods up. There was some sort of emblem on their chests, but it was too far to discern what it was.

All of them were holding hands around the fire, chanting their ungodly chorus in unison. My first thought was that we stumbled upon a Ku Klux Klox-Kul-Las. plan, Rally. Alex and Javan then emerged behind us. Javan peaked around the tree. Oh, hell no! His words elevated almost to a shout. Alex quickly seized him to prevent him from making any more noise.

But it was too late. I watched from the shadows as the chanting stopped. And those in the group turned their head towards our position. It was then. that I saw something truly disturbing. Underneath their huts, I could see their faces, but something about them was just unnatural. It looked as though they wore faces of animals,

but in the dim light it was impossible to confirm. My heart began thundering in my chest, and I felt my knees trembling beneath me. The group stared in our direction for what's, seemed like ours, motionless, and still clasping hands with one another. We were adequately hidden in the brush, but if they decided to go investigate, then we would have no choice but to make a run for it. Luckily for us, they didn't, and eventually they turned back to their pyre and resume their

activities. It was then I took a closer look at the fire itself. In the midst of the crimson flames, I thought I saw something shit. shaped like a skull. Not a human skull, more animalistic. We continued to watch enamored by the bizarre spectacle. After several more minutes, they stopped and released one another's hands. They stood in silence for a moment.

As only the sound of dancing cinders filled the atmosphere, then someone moved toward the center of the group. This one was different. and the others, though. You wore a robe as well. But his hood was down, and on his head was an elaborate mask of some sort. I counted at least six spiraling horns about a foot in life. The face of the mask looked to be the skull of some predatory animal, perhaps a bear or a wolf. He strolled into the center, silently, and turned his back to the inferno. The flame stood almost as tall as he did. He stood only a few feet from the voracious fire, and I wondered how he could possibly bear the immense

heat. Another person then approached him, as a bizarre clucking noise became audible. The second member held a cage of some sort which housed something within. The one with the elaborate headdress and lifted both of his arms and began to speak. I listened, trying to decipher his words for a moment, before realizing he wasn't speaking in English. I don't know what language it was, actually. But to me, it sounded like Latin, or some other archaic dialect. Goosebums sprouted all over my skin as I looked on. Cody shot me a glance, an almost petrified look as to ask, should we go back? Neither of us spoke, though.

The man then appeared to finish his monologue, and the others in the group chanted a phrase in unison. Resurghemos. The leader lowered his arms, and his assistant opened the cage. The leader then stuck his arm inside and pulled back, withdrawing a live chicken that clucked and fluttered furiously. The poor brothered. The bird was held by the man upside down by its feet for only a moment before the man slid a blade across its throne.

The chicken squawked in a frenzied, terrified tone as blood began to trip from its neck. The man then took the dying bird and flung it into the bellowing flames. The bird's body entered the inferno with a sickening squawk of pain before being quickly devoured by it. The flames then lurched upwards by at least five feet for only a split second. By that point, we began to move away, completely horrified by the events that we had just witnessed. As we scurried away, I heard something echo from the flames. It sounded like a deep, guttural laughter. Cody and I stopped as Alex and Javan took off backwards to the camp.

We turned back to the fire and I could scarcely believe my eyes. By this point I was peeking into my trip, so what I saw may not be entirely accurate. The flames shifted, and the logs within began to crumble as if someone had struck them. The logs fell aside, and from beneath them I saw something begin to sprout upwards. It was dark, blacker than soot, and impossible to discern its appearance. We didn't bother sticking around to see anything else, though. Cody and I took off running, frantic and no longer wishing to see whatever the hell that thing was. I felt twigs and branches smack my face and body as I went hurtling through the woods at a toward rate.

A cacophonous roar emanated from behind us. Followed by the sound of pain shrieks. The ground beneath me seemed to distort and shift as I ran. Force itself seemed intent on restricting me. Several times I fell, only to regain my footing and keep running. The shadows seemed to bite at my heels every step of the way. And in the distance, I heard the serenade of manic laughter, lamentations bolster into a storm.

Finally, Cody and I reached the camp and found Alex and Javan already loaded up in Alex's Jeep. What the hell's going on? Lexi asked as we entered the site. We got to go. Come on, Cody instructed. Alex and Javan took off seconds later, with Alex's Jeep screaming back down the hill. We quickly doused our campfire and loaded into Cody's truck. The tents and other supplies were left behind. As nothing else mattered in that moment aside from the escape, Cody's truck roared to life within seconds, and we were flying down the trail which had led us to the site. Alex and Javan were already long gone by that point.

Cody quickly but carefully navigated the crumbling trail, and soon we had reached the bottom and emerged upon the dirt rome. Cody gunned it as soon as we were on the flat ground, and his truck began barreling back down the mountains. Lexi kept urging him to slow down, and I'll admit I was nervous of his driving in that moment as well. In the rearview, I saw Cody's eyes, stretched hot, and I'm blinking as terror coalesced within them. Chelsea kept asking me what we saw, but I never found the words to be able to answer her properly. I kept thinking I saw flashes of whatever it was in the flames on our way out at the side of the run. I still don't know whether I actually did, or if it was an illusion of my hallucinating mind. We made it back to Cody's house sometime later and found Alex and Javan it beat us there.

We all just sort of sat around in Cody's basement, not really saying much of anything. Eventually the night grew late, and the others fell asleep. I didn't sleep a minute that night, though, as I could have sworn I heard distant laughter on several. occasions. That was all over three years ago, and I have since gotten over the incident, at least for the most part. I've never tripped mushrooms again since that experience. Thought alone terrifies me.

None of us have ever really talked about what we saw that night either, but maybe that'll change soon. I had almost forgotten about this entire fiasco until a couple of days ago I saw something that caught my eye. It was a news article from a local paper, claiming that two bodies have been found on Go Mountain. They were both burned beyond recognition and had to be identified by their dental records. It was everywhere in the news for a few days and created quite the hubbub around here. Now suddenly it's just gone.

I can't find a trace of it anywhere. I don't know what happened with it, but it's clear there's something that someone doesn't want to. getting out. That may be the most troubling aspect about all of this. I know all of this sounds crazy, ludicrous even. I know the mind of a hallucinating individual is not one easily trusted, and I know the things I've written here seem incredible. But at the same time, I've been through trips dozens of times before, and I know what I

saw. And I know it's the truth. And now I know that whatever it is, it's still not there. For more information on this podcast, including how to submit your own story for consideration, please visit creepypod.com. You can also follow us at creepypod on social media and YouTube. Stories told on this podcast are done so through Creative Commons Share-A-like licensing, or with written consent from the authors. No portion of this podcast may be rebroadcast or otherwise distributed without the express written consent of the creepy podcast production team and the stories author.