Just Creepy: Scary Stories - 4 Disturbing TRUE Horror Stories From Subscribers | True Scary Stories To Haunt Your Dreams

Episode Date: June 23, 2023

These are 4 Disturbing TRUE Horror Stories From Subscribers | True Scary Stories To Haunt Your Dreams Linktree: https://linktr.ee/its_just_creepy Story Credits: ►https://www.reddit.com/user/juju12_18/ ►https://www.reddit.com/user/Therealholygamer/ ►Jesse►Tate V Music by: ► Myuu's channel http://bit.ly/1k1g4ey ►CO.AG Music http://bit.ly/2f9WQpe Business inquiries: ►[e-mail] #scarystories #truescarystories #justcreepy 💀As always thanks for watching! 💀

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Did you know if we switched to Verizon, we can get four phones for $0, plus four lines for $25 a line? Call me back. Me again. That's just $100 a month for four lines on unlimited welcome, plus four phones, no trade in needed. Call me. It's mom. America's Best Network, Verizon, that's the one we're talking about.

I'll send you text. America's Best Network based on Root Metrics, Best Overall Mobile Network Performance, U.S. second half, 2025. Four new lines on a limit and welcome and auto pay. See Verizon.com for details. This story takes place in a very small town in the northeast region of the United States in the summer before I went off to college in 2015. After I graduated high school, my parents decided to move to a smaller, more affordable house

about 45 minutes north into the mountains. We stayed in my childhood home because the public schools in my area were the best in the state, and my parents really valued my education. I ended up going off to an amazing university, and now I have an incredible career because of my excellent education. As most people in the United States know, amazing public education usually means higher property taxes. My parents got to the point where they could not afford the taxes on their 4,000 square foot home anymore and decided to sell it just after I graduated from high school.

Their home is humble, and it sits on a beautiful piece of land on the side of a beautiful mountain. The trees are always so green, and there is a lot of. wildlife around. They don't have many neighbors either, as their driveway is about a mile and a half long, but this is what they chose to live in after I went off to college. In August of 2015, we moved into this new house. I wasn't planning on staying long as I was getting ready to head off to college as a freshman for the first time. We decided to have a little housewarming party, with a bunch of family friends and my best friend at the time as well. My dad was manning the barbecue, you, my mom was making drinks. We were playing with our dogs. It was a grand time, and everyone had

so much fun. My dad had built a brick fire pit in our backyard. Just to set the scene for you here, the fire pit was about 30 feet from our back patio door, and we had a picnic table and other seats all around. Behind the seating was the tree line. It was so dark sometimes at night, you needed a flashlight to see 10 feet in front of you. With the fire pit lit, you couldn't see someone unless they were either sitting next to you or across from you in front of the pit. My best friend decided to stay the night, and we asked my dad if we could make s'mores. As it was getting a little chilly as it does in the late summer in the northeast at night, my parents left us outside with my dog, Nino. Nino was a huge 100-pound black lab and pit bull mix. He was such a loyal and incredible dog that my dad trained as

his right hand. He was our protector, as he could run extremely fast, was very strong, and alerted us when something went bump in the night. Side note, he passed away a week before I got married in 2022. He was 17 years old and lived an adventurous life with my parents, hunting squirrels, laying out in the sun and running amok. Nino laid in between us, facing the tree line, and my best friend was to my right. Our backs were to the dark, dense tree line, our first mistake. We were laughing, joking and eating s'mores together, planning for the future, and generally excited about going off to college together. She decided to play some music, and we just relaxed, feeling content and at ease. It was the perfect summer night, until Nino started growling. I saw his ears perk up and his head

turned to the side. He then sat up and continued to growl. My best friend and I both looked at each other thinking Nino just saw a stray animal or something non-threatening. This area was known for lots of deer and rarely a coyote or wolf. As he was trained to help my dad hunt deer, we assumed it was a buck or fawn in the distance behind us. We went back to singing along to the music playing and talking about our fall 2015 class schedule. Again, Nino started growling. Our second mistake, we did not call out for my dad. We didn't even think there was a problem until Nino started barking repeatedly. This time, louder and more vicious. He stood up and started barking as if alerting us to activity beyond the tree line that we could not see. We stood up as well,

the fire obscuring our view. My best friend took her phone, paused the music, and turned on her flashlight. She started to walk towards the edge of the tree line with Nino by her side, still growling and barking, alerting us to not go any further and to call for help. We stood still in silence, listening. I was too afraid to even breathe at this point. She started walking into the woods, and when she shined her flashlight she saw a figure, someone peering behind a tree, a man with a green shirt and green pants on, about 5.11 with glasses too. We screamed and ran as fast as we could inside, leaving the fire unattended in this creepy man behind the tree. What we did not know at the time is where this man came from.

We crashed through our front door, breathless with Nino tailing behind us, and startled my mother, who was washing dishes and cleaning up from the party. She was talking to my dad about something they saw on the news, and I think we cut him off mid-sentence to explain that there was a man dressed in all-green lurking behind a tree in the woods. We didn't know how long he was there or if he was still there, but we were both crying. I remember feeling extremely sick like I was going to throw up. My dad jumped up, grabbed his shotgun and headlamp, and ran outside with Nino.

My mom gathered us into the living room, shut all of the lights in the house off, and locked the doors. She told us to be quiet and that she was going to call 911. As she did that, my best friend and I shook in fear. We were anticipating gunshots and screaming, but never heard any. My mom, now on the phone with 911, described what we saw to the operator. I heard my mom say, oh, in an alarming way. At this point, my dad came back inside, and my mom let him know that the police were on their way to us.

Being in a small town on the mountain with less than 10,000 people means that we don't get our own police force. We get the state police every time there is a call made to emergency responders. My dad put his gun away and waited outside for the police to show up. To our bewilderment, they didn't just send one police officer, but ten and an entire SWAT team and helicopter to circle the area. We were rightfully terrified. I was practically having a panic attack at this point. The police officers came inside our home and asked my best friend and me what the man was wearing, what he looked like. If we were able to discern any scars or tattoos, we explained the weird

matching green outfit and the glasses. The officer excused himself and alerted the police and SWAT members outside of our description. They started to search the woods behind our home with guns drawn, flashlights, and the helicopter circling above. They advised us to stay inside, and that they would let us know when, if they found something. After about 25 minutes, we got another knock on our door. It was not one but two officers this time. My dad let them in, and they began to explain the situation. One officer explained that we must have seen on the news that a convicted felon from the prison about 20 miles away, escaped into the mountains. The police set up a perimeter 10 miles around the prison, but the convict escaped them yet again. The outfit the man was wearing as well as our

description signaled to them that the escaped convict was 100% lurking through our remote, densely wooded backyard that night. The all-green outfit was a standard issue for prisoners in my state then. They did not, however, find the man near us after 25 minutes of searching. He was still out there. The officers let us know that they were going to have a squad car stay and watch our house for a few days, as they were unable to locate the fugitive and believe he is still an active threat to our safety. That night, and for three nights after that, we all slept in the living room together. My dad's shotgun was within arm's reach of him at all times. Later that week, we got another knock on our door from the officers stationed outside of our home. They let us know that the man

was back in police custody and that we were safe. They advised us to get security cameras and how sorry they were that this happened to us. After that, my parents spent about $10,000 on security cameras and fencing for our backyard. It is now all fenced in, and we have about four cameras to watch the tree line at all times. I guess you never know what will happen or what goes bump in the night.

To the escaped convict and perhaps murderer who watched my best friend and I sing along to 2015 pop hits from your hiding hole behind my parents' isolated home, let's never meet again. Now this is something I really want to talk about to be sure that everyone is cautious and stays level-headed at all times.

Now for context, I lived in the middle of nowhere in Canada. It was an old town that had quite a few abandoned buildings due to the absence of residents. Me and many friends were tired of the lack of entertainment options for us, so what we did was explore these abandoned buildings. Prior to the experience I'm about to talk about, we never had anything too crazy happened to us. Occasionally we'd see a small bit of blood-like liquid,

and we did see a pentagram on the ground from someone who went to a house previously, but nothing too bad, until the last time I had gone exploring abandoned buildings. Now when I was younger, I used to go to a daycare that was part mental hospital. Weird combination I know. It closed down due to a lack of patience and a lack of children at the daycare. I decided to go back there with my friends a few years ago. For context, I was 15 when this happened, and most of my friends were the same age. When we did get there, it was rather cliche. day. There was fog, it was rather dark, and there was a light drizzle of rain. We went to the main gate which was padlocked shut. We decided to help each other hop over it and made a ton of noise.

We were laughing and giggling the whole time, unsuspecting of what was to come. We looked around the small play-play slash park with flashlights we had on our person. Even with our somewhat powerful flashlights, our visibility was rather limited. We decided to enter the decaying building. glass and dirt crunched under our feet as we stepped into the daycare section of the complex. There were still old Legos, wood chips from previous furniture, old torn dolls, and toys strewn about. The further we walked around the daycare section, we naturally became more and more silent, until all we could hear was the crunch of the dirt under our feet. I found some crayons in a plastic container in the corner of the room.

I walked over to pick them up, when all the sudden we heard a loud crash coming from behind a metal door leading to the psych ward part of the building. My friends and I all looked at each other. As a whole, we were a group of five, and most of them were very bold and brash. We all looked at each other when my friend Brian suggested we go and look to see where the sound came from. Personally, I was not too fond of the idea, but with my group of friends, there was no way anyone was going to decline such a thing. We all stacked up on the door and opened it. It was rusted to the floor, and we heaved to get it open. As we walked in, the metallic cites. smells and must became stronger, with a hint of something else which I couldn't put my finger on

at that moment. We walked in, our flashlights pointed in every direction with Brian leading the group. The hallways were tight, and to the left and right were the occasional metal doorway, some with doors open. I felt slightly claustrophobic, and it felt a little hard to breathe. As we continued, Brian shone his flashlight into a room and recoiled. We all stopped walking as Brian slowly entered the room. What is it? I asked him. I thought I saw someone here. It seems all fine now. To be honest, I thought he was just messing with us to increase our anxiety.

But looking back, I think he was completely honest. He backed out of the room and we continued walking deeper into the psych ward. When another friend swiftly told us to stop, we came to a halt and all listened. In the distance ahead of us, we heard the subtle pitter-patter of footsteps echo through the hallway. We all looked at each other, fear in each of our eyes. Brian continued walking toward the sounds. We considered turning back for a second without Brian, wondering if some ghost or something was in the building.

But we couldn't do that to him. The closer we got, the more I felt like I was being watched. When finally we entered a room on the right, which had the smell of rotting meat. In front of us was a dead deer. Its innards were spilled all over the floor, staining the concrete. A friend of mine had a very weak stunts. and vomited all over the floor. That's when we heard whispering from somewhere. Brian shone his

flashlight on the corner of the room where a man with short hair was standing with his head down. He wore a bright green t-shirt stained with what I assume was blood and torn beige pants. He did not have any socks and his feet seemed damaged. He was twitching sporadically and continued to mumble even after we saw him. We stared at him for a solid 30 seconds before he made his first true movement. He looked up at us with a haunting grin that sent shivers down our spine. You guys here for the feast? He said each word with varying inflection and energy. This kicked us over the edge and we bolted out of that room all the way back to the daycare center.

The door was still open and we decided to try and slam it shut, but the rust and pure weight of the door almost kept it open. It took three of us pulling with all of our strength to close it. And just before we did, I could still see the silhouette of the man watching us. his white teeth being the only other human feature I could see. As we sat behind the metal door catching our breath for a second, all looking at each for confirmation that we all saw the same thing. After a little bit of labored breathing from each of us,

we heard a light tapping on the door. That's when we decided that it was time to leave. We booked it out of the vicinity completely and ran home. A year after we visited that spot, police went back to do a routine search of the area and found the man. It was stated that this guy used to go to the psych ward before it closed down. He escaped the facility he was transferred to and lived off of the wildlife around the complex. When the cops brought him in, he had a series of diseases from eating raw meat.

His mental condition was much worse than before. There were future rumors that he did kill someone in the forest while searching for food, but nothing has been confirmed. In the end, guys. Be careful, especially in dangerous areas such as abandoned buildings. and creepy dude, let's not meet. It was a normal day in late September of 2021. I had just got off work and was going to pick my then-girlfriend up at her house

and go out for a night drive. Before I begin the story of what happened that night, there are a few things to keep in mind. I drove a single cab dodge truck. Behind the seat, I kept a bag with emergency supplies like medical supplies, an emergency blanket, MRE, and a water bottle, as well as a flashlight and a handheld radio.

Under the seat was my pistol. I always kept it under the driver's seat with my knife in case of emergencies. It was around 5 p.m. when I picked up my girlfriend. We drove to a local diner in my hometown, then we went to some of our favorite spots first before eventually going to our final spot of the night. There is a local dam with walking trails near my hometown in Alabama. We drove up the windy road to the parking lot where the trails start,

but our intention wasn't to go walking. We made sure that we were alone and then started to enjoy our night. After about ten minutes or so, we heard screaming that sounded like a man up on the trails. We heard branches snapping and running through the trees. I got my pistol, strapped on my knife, and grabbed the bag from behind the seat. I got on my headlamp and turned to my girlfriend.

Stay here, turn on your radio, and lock the doors. I gave her a knife, and she started asking what was going to be. going on. There's someone up there who needs help. I'm going to go find him and bring him back here. Don't open doors for anyone other than me, okay? She nodded, and I closed the door and started up the trials. Hello? Is anyone there? Can you hear me? I heard the screaming again. It sounded far off, but I could still hear it. Help, help me! I tried to listen for running, but couldn't hear any. Hello? Is anyone there? I'm here to help. I gripped my pistol in both hands. I grabbed my pistol in both hands and swung my head around trying to locate anyone who might have been in trouble. I started

walking up the trail when I heard the man again, this time sounding like he was up the trail a bit. Who's there? I have a knife. I stopped and waited before I said. I'm here to help whoever was screaming. Do you know who or where he might be? I started to walk again when I heard the screaming again, but this time it was different. Hello? I'm here to help. It sounded like my voice, but it was distorted and weird. I loaded around into the chamber before I turned to walk down the path towards the truck when I heard, Hey, over here, from my left side just behind me.

I turned and saw two red eyes glowing from behind a tree. I froze, not sure what I was looking at. It was tall. Around seven or eight feet, it has white skin that was tight around bones that could be seen through the skin like paper. Its teeth were long and yellow, gleaming in the headlamp glow. What the... The words fell out of my mouth as,

I finally got the courage to run down the trail. I grabbed my radio and clicked the button, but it wouldn't turn on. I kept running for the truck, hearing footsteps behind me, closing in on me. I reached the truck and tried the handle, opening the door and jumping in. I turned the truck on and peeled out of the lot. My girlfriend screamed at me asking me what was that, why was I screaming, and what was behind me? I told her that we needed to get out of the woods. I looked behind me in the rearview mirror and saw the same red orbs as they gained closer and closer to the tailgate. We made a turn up a hill and felt the tires skid beneath us. We were almost clear of the tree line when the radio turned on, and out came the most ear-splitting roar we'd ever heard followed by the

words, Don't come back in my voice. I got my girlfriend back to her house and did extensive research on the area. It turned out that multiple sightings of what was known as a Wendigo had been reported as far back as 30 years. One thing's for sure. When to go or not, I'm never going into those woods again anytime soon. What they did to your family, you're lucky to make it out alive. Streaming on Peacock. These men are going to come after me. Taking them out. It's my only chance. Put a bullet in her head from the co-creator of Ozark. Looks like a family was running drugs. Execution style killing it's rare for the keys. And it leads on who they might have been running for. The cartel killed my family. I'm going to kill them. All of them.

M.I.A. Streaming now. Only on Peacock. Several weeks ago, my life changed, along with the lives of my two best friends and the course of our lives. With the crunching of gravel under my lone sock, I attempted to steady myself against the flank of my car. In a half-graceful maneuver, I pulled off my baseball cleat, chucking it into the invitingly open cabin. As I glanced upwards, I was met with the mischievous smirk of my friend Logan, visible through the window. A sudden imbalance threw me off guard as Logan swung open the door. My supporting hands slipped from the car, sending me tumbling to the asphalt below. A chorus of laughter filled the air from Logan and Blake, as they merrily captured my ungraceful moment on a Snapchat video.

Jerk! I yelled as I laughed with them. Heaving myself up, I tugged my gym shorts into place and tossed the white baseball pants into the car. The sun, now a mere sliver on the horizon, kissed the crests of the distant flat-iron mountains, painting a brilliant canvas of orange bands reflected off the languishing clouds. Sliding my feet into my everyday shoes, I picked up my remaining gear. Carrying it to the car's back, I tossed it in haphazardly with the rest of my bag and my friend's catcher equipment. As I attempted to slam the trunk, an errant aluminum bat poked out, stubbornly blocking the way. I adjusted its position, and with a satisfying thud, the trunk door finally closed. Giggles rose from the car interior as I sank into the driver's seat.

Blake and Logan, locked in a playful debate over who had music privileges, squabbled over the Bluetooth. Bro, nobody gets your music, Blake retorted. Well, you only play white girl music, Logan shot back, a hint of defiance peeking from behind his purple sports shades that were dramatically framed by his black perm. These waning spring days of our senior high school year were special, filled with delightful shenanigans. I realized I would miss these petty squabbles as the inevitability of college loomed, set to scatter us across the country.

So I savored every moment of their bickering, even as I pushed the start button, and my mom's outy growled to life. Soon we were on our way out of the parking lot, waving and calling at our teammates as they walked from our school field to their cars. I took off my hat and let the wind from the open sunroof

mess with my hair as we put down all the windows. I saw a group of my teammates up ahead and smiled, putting my tongue to the corner of my mouth, I pushed down on the gas pedal, and the German engine roared as we sped past, spraying them with the signature Colorado dust. Our homes were scattered across Boulder, mine nestled in Pinebrook Hills, Blake settled in Old North Boulder, and Logan's just beyond West Fraser Meadows. This meant carpooling was a breeze, with everyone's houses conveniently falling along the same route. Our raucous sing-alongs filled the vehicle as we whipped down the isolated back road

separating Old Bend Ranch from a sprawling suburban project under construction. The evening air swirled through the car, expelling Blake's lingering cigarette smoke as we sped past empty fields. As we darted past barren fields, dusk began to unfurl its velvety blanket over the desolate road with the shimmering lights of boulder

gradually inching closer. A sense of reckless abandon nudged me to push the speed limit, a level of audacity that under normal circumstances would have seen us behind the bars of a county jail, or at least surprised the local sheriff. As I screamed the words to classic pop songs and glanced over to gesture for my friend to blow the smoke out of the car, I barely noticed the buck sauntering onto the road's shoulder, directly into our path. Its eyes, caught in the harsh glare of the right headlight, shimmered a terrifyingly bright yellow. My heart pounded against my chest as I slammed the brakes, but time was against us. Crap! I barely managed to blurt out as the Buck's body collided with the right fender,

a sickening crunch echoing above the blaring music as it was thrust under the right tire. The impact sent the car lurching violently to the right, and I desperately tried to regain control, yanking the wheel while pushing the brake pedal to the floor. I oversteered, and the Audi skidded sharply to the left, veering off the road and onto a wide dirt shoulder. We spun wildly before the car finally came to a jarring halt. No, no, no, I stuttered, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I unbuckled my seatbelt and stumbled out of the car. Logan and Blake, equally stunned, emerged from the vehicle and circled to inspect the damage. I glanced at my mom's sedan, not yet a year old. The front right fender was the most obvious casualty, hanging forlorn

off the bumper and crumpled inwards. The sheer sight of it, against the backdrop of the now eerily silent night, brought a sinking feeling of dread. I'm screwed, I muttered, futilely trying to bend the twisted metal back into shape. A subtle rustling from the field of dry grass beside us drew my attention away from the car. The undulating grass seemed to merge with the wide dirt shoulder, creating an eerie chasm between us and civilization. Logan, can you shine your flashlight? I asked. Eyes. drawn to a peculiar shape rising from the sea of swaying grass. I'm on low battery, but sure, he replied, his voice shaky.

The beam from his flashlight cut through the darkness, barely illuminating a few feet into the brush. However, it was enough for a pair of bright yellow eyes to catch the light, glistening like a feline's in the dark. Coyotes, Blake questioned, taking an instinctive step back toward the safety of the white sedan. The eyes hung ominously a few feet above the grass. A height common for a coyote, but something about them made my blood run cold. The wind, growing increasingly fierce, tugged at my baseball jersey, chilling my skin as I strained to penetrate the looming darkness.

Where's the deer? Blake started. His words choked off by a horrific sight revealed in the red glow of the taillights. He stumbled back, a guttural scream erupting from deep within him as his phone slipped from his trembling hands, disappearing into the dense grass. "'Holy crap!' I yelled, clutching at Blake's shirt as an unseen force attempted to drag him into the undergrowth. "'What the hell?' Logan cried, rushing forward to aid Blake. His light fell on a monstrous hand, its long black fingers ending in vicious claws that were dug deep into Blake's calf. Blake's screams of agony tore through the quiet night as blood oozed around the ghastly appendage,

soaking his baseball pants a dark crimson. In his eyes I saw pure, undiluted terror reflected back at me as he writhed in agony, the claws unmercifully going through the muscle. I slung my arm under his, straining against the incredible strength of the creature hidden in the brush. Logan's hand darted into the back seat, retrieving his baseball bat. With a roar he swung it into the brush, the metallic twang resonating in the air as it made contact with something solid. Time stretched unbearably, every heartbeat pounding loudly in my ears as we battled the unseen menace. I dared to glance up, only to be met with the sight of two faintly glowing yellow eyes set deep within a skull-like face. A gaping maw opened, revealing rows of sharp teeth before it clamped down on Blake's calf.

With a final guttural snarl, the creature disappeared back into the undergrowth. No! I screamed, pulling Blake away from the blood-soaked grass and into the dim red glow of the taillights. His calf was a mess, a grotesque sight that sent a wave of nausea roiling through me. Blake sobbed through gritted teeth, his face contorted with unspeakable agony. Logan, get in the car, I barked, shaking him from his stupor. Together we hoisted Blake's substantial frame into the back of the car, slamming the door shut behind him. As I sprinted towards the driver's side, the grass ahead began to part ominously. A sound, a chilling mix of Blake's screams and a haunting howl, erupted from the underbrush.

Heart pounding, I jabbed the start button, Blake's blood. staining my fingers. The Audi roared to life, its powerful engine punctuating the unsettling silence. No sooner had I slammed the gas pedal to the floor than a gaunt, dark figure burst from the brush, lunging towards the car. Its guttural scream was the last thing I heard as the car pulled forward. Something slammed against the car, and a deafening sound of scraping metal as whatever this thing was, gripped the open window sill of the back left passenger window. The windows were still down from our time before, and I jabbed the collective window button, raising them to no avail as the creature's hand slammed against the glass of the back window. It hand thudded harshly against the

glass, then smashed through the glass, sending a shower of crystalline cubes across the back seats. With an incredible strength, its terrible hands braced against the roof of the car and began to lift. Shrill screams filled the interior as adrenaline surged through me, causing me to stomp on the accelerator and the digital RPM gauge to redline with the roar of the eight-cylinder engine. The back left wheel found traction, screeching against the asphalt, and the creature was thrown off balance by the sudden acceleration. The car slammed back to the ground with a crash and lunged forward once more. The creature was losing its grip, and it knew it. With one final desperate swipe, its elongated claws tore through the side of the car, slicing into the muscle of my

bicep and digging through my cheek in a searing agony akin to touching a burning stovetop. The leather headrest behind me was shredded as the claw carved through the metal doorframe and disappeared into the obscurity of the night. I jerked the wheel and sped off down Lehman Road, the sing-along songs blaring on the radio. We had forgotten to disconnect it. I risked a glance back at the chaos unfolding. Logan sat, swiftly wrapping his jersey around Blake's leg to create a makeshift bandage, hoping to coax the blood into clotting. The thick crimson drenched the black leather seat and stained the white and blue pinstriping of the baseball pants. Blake's anguished sobbing and the rhythm of his breathing slowed as the fabric made contact with his exposed injury. Hurry, get to Clark

Memorial. We need an ambulance, I exclaimed, my mind still reeling from the shocking encounter. No time, Logan shrieked, his face drained of color by the gruesome scene in the back seat. Blake's head rested on his thigh. He bit into a towel to muffle his screams as Logan yanked the shirt tighter around the wound. I easily exceeded 110 miles per hour. The car roaring through stop signs and intersections towards the brightly lit parking lot barely a mile away. Red trickled down my arm, and I realized with a start that I was injured too. The searing pain in my bicep radiates down my arm and shoulder with each bump in the road. The sounds around me morphed into a a slow, muffled cacophony. I felt detached from myself, my arm weakening as a warm sensation trickled down my face. I assumed it was blood. I jerked the wheel to the right, and the car leaped over a speed bump, scraping with a sickening sound as I swerved into the emergency bay. I honked the horn wildly, hoping to draw the attention of the on-duty attendant. The car came to a jolting halt, and my head slumped forward onto the wheel as the edges of my consciousness started

to blur. I blinked as they wheeled me out of the battered carcass of the white car, a trolley trailing behind me, which I assumed carried Blake. As we were rushed to wherever our fate would be decided, my consciousness slipped away completely. The police report stated that we had veered off the road due to intoxication, as Logan had a white claw as we were driving beforehand. They concluded that we had collided with a tree, with branches causing the deep lacerations in my arm and cheek. The report detailed that Blosses were driving. Blake's leg had been mangled in the wreck, attributing this to sharp metal fragments and shards of glass strewn inside the car. Logan and I were questioned by the police due to the nature of the

crash and the condition of the car, and Blake underwent a grafting procedure where his older brother donated cells and tissue in an attempt to reconstruct the gash in his calf. My mom, after my condition stabilized and her worry subsided, respectively whooped my tail for totaling her car. That creature still sits there, waiting for me in every single. shadow, every crack of a branch, and in every creek of a floorboard. But I will never allow myself to take those country roads again, because there are reasons why roads are left empty, and now I know why. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website, to

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