Just Creepy: Scary Stories - Scary Forest Stories | National Forest, Skinwalker, Deep Woods, Cryptid Encounters

Episode Date: September 10, 2022

These are 3 Scary Forest Stories | National Forest, Skinwalker, Deep Woods, Cryptid Encounters. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/its_just_creepy Story Credits: ► shorturl.at/vX157 ► shorturl.at/pFKLV ��� shorturl.at/glnpR Music by: ► Myuu's channel http://bit.ly/1k1g4ey  ►CO.AG Music http://bit.ly/2f9WQpe Business inquiries:  ►[e-mail]

You said this place was steps from the water. We just haven't found the steps yet. How much did we save? Enough. Enough to get lost. Or you could book a stay with Hilton. Welcome to your ocean front room. Just steps from the water.

The Hilton sale is on now. Book on Hilton.com or the Hilton app and save up to 20% to get the stay you expected. When you want savings, not surprises. It matters where you stay. Hilton for the stay. The following journal excerpt was discovered by a surveyor for the U.S. Forest Service. If you have any information that may identify or locate the missing person in the case,

please contact local or federal authorities. March 17, 2022. I started hiking and backpacking with my father when I was around 12 years old. My mom passed away giving birth to me, so my dad was the only parent I ever knew. He did his best to try to keep me interested in things that typical little girls enjoy, but I never took to them. During the day, he worked as a store manager for an agricultural supply company, but on the nights and weekends, he worked on our small farm. He raised livestock to make additional income, as well as planted a few acres of corn. While this took up the majority of his day,

he was careful to include me to make father-daughter time, feeding cattle, mending fences, harvesting corn, and running the tractors became our evening routines. Over the years, our little farm prospered and grew. Dad was able to hire some additional hands which freed him up for more leisure activity. I can still remember our first hiking trip. Dad surprised me with a new hiking pack and pair of boots. My eyes sparkled as he told me we'd be spending the entire weekend hiking and camping on a local trail. With how hard he worked, we had never had the time to take a trip of any

kind that I could remember. A few scattered visits to family members in other states, but nothing like this. This was an adventure. He made me wear the boots while we worked on the farm that week to break them in. My mind raced with the possibilities. We had slept in the tent in the backyard dozens of times, but never in the woods. Thoughts of spotting wildlife, setting up camp, and the smell of eggs frying over an open fire filled every vacant moment of my day. And that's exactly how it went. It was magical. We spent three days hiking beside a rushing stream,

sleeping under the stars, and cooking delicious meals on a beat-up iron skillet. Over the years, my tomboyish ways softened a bit, but my love for the outdoors never faded. Dad and I went hiking or camping at least once a month until he passed away three years ago. I still go as often as I can. It makes me feel close to him.

Occasionally I find myself talking to the memory of him as I sit around the embers of my burning fire. Last year, I started to develop an interest in ultra-light backpacking. If you're not familiar, it's essentially long-distance hiking with the least amount of gear and weight possible. If you give me something to sleep in, something to sleep under, and something to cook with, I can live in the woods for weeks at a time. I still carry dehydrated food and water ration with me. But otherwise, it's bare essentials. Three meals a day, and enough water for two, will get me started.

The planning process always involves finding trails with available water sources. Boiling and bottling keep down on the amount of weight that I have to carry. My foraging skills are improving, but they aren't up to self-sustaining level quite yet. My work as a freelance writer lets me stay out on the trails longer than a traditional job, which has been a blessing. So, as long as I make it back to the old farmhouse five or six days a month, I can do enough work to keep the bills paid. Otherwise, you'll find me in the forest. I've been on the trail for four days now.

This time, I'm planning to stay out a bit longer than usual. Typically, I aim for five days, but ten is my target for this trip. I'm on a trail in the Appalachian Mountain Range and heading toward a waterfall that some backpacking blogs recommended. It should only take another day to reach, so I'll enjoy two days there before heading back. Time to set up camp for the evening. Lorry March 18th, 2022 So, I still haven't found the waterfall.

I followed the maps I printed off before heading out. The first few days, everything looked exactly as it was described. But this afternoon, the directions didn't seem to match up. I was supposed to cross a wooden footbridge, earlier this afternoon, but when I reached the stream, there was no bridge to be seen. I thought about trying to wade through, but I still can't tell how deep the water is and the stream is wider than I had anticipated. Seems like a bad plan, being out here by myself. If I get swept off or bogged down, I'm in trouble. Cell service hasn't been much of a help. After a few attempts to look at my whereabouts

on Google Maps, I've given up. There is a bar of service. but the loading wheel spins like a tire going down the hill, and the map never loads. I wasted a lot of time by hiking back and forth on the side of the stream, looking for the bridge. Maybe it washed away. Some of those posts were from two or three years ago. The trail itself doesn't seem to receive much maintenance either. I'll give it another day of looking, but I'll need to head back soon. Food will start running low, and there hasn't been much to forage or gather.

I'm bummed out, but it happens. If I don't find the falls this time, I'll give it another try in a month or two. I'm feeling a little bit winded from all of the searching today, and it's getting dark. Better set up camp. Better days ahead. Lori. P.S. Setting up camp was quicker than usual tonight.

I ended up stumbling into an abandoned camping spot. At first, I thought someone was still there. After a closer inspection, it's a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of obvious someone left a lot of gear behind. Too dry rotting shirts hanging from a tree branch. A sleeping bag filled with dead leaves and animal droppings still sits by the stone fire ring. The fire ring came in handy. I usually have to set up one myself, but someone took care of that for me. There are even enough dried logs piled up to keep me from having to gather my own. But I'm still a little irritated that someone dumped their gear and bailed. Stuff like that was getting more common these days.

It's a great way to mess up natural habitats, like the world isn't full of enough garbage. March 19th, 2022. I didn't sleep well last night. It started to rain around 12 a.m. and I had only set up the sleeping hammock for the evening. The weather report before I sat out showed clear skies and no precipitation, so I hadn't tied a tarp overhead. Dad wouldn't have been that lazy. I should have listened to him. There was a lot of noise in the woods as well.

A few breaking tree branches and rustling leaves. The wind didn't seem that bad, but I guess it was enough to cause some of the old tree bows to give way and rattle on the forest floor. Some of the noises sounded almost rhythmic, though. There was a handful of times I thought I heard a distinct rustling of footsteps in the leaves. But my mind must have been playing tricks on me. I even pulled out my night vision trail cam

and scan the area surrounding my camp. I didn't see a thing, though, other than trees, of course. Most of the animals in this forest bed down during the rain anyway. Not to say something couldn't have snuck away from its den for a midnight snack, but it wasn't a good night to be out and about. I should know, it took me nearly half an hour to secure a tarp over my hammock before I could get back to my waterlogged sleeping bag. My sleeping bag is still soaked.

Hope it dries out before bed tonight. I'm not hopeful. On a high note, I found the bridge today. Looks like I decided to walk in the wrong direction. I walked about a half a mile past the point where I had originally run into the stream, and there it was, in all of its wobbly, splinter-filled glory.

It wasn't much more than some crudely nailed plank supported by some logs settled into the stream bed, but it held up for me to cross it. I still can't decide if I'm going to try to try to make it to the falls this trip or not. It's a long way to go, and I already lost lots of time. If I don't hit the falls by afternoon tomorrow, I'll turn back. Don't want to get stuck out here without any food, hoping for a dry night of sleep. Lorry March 22nd, 2022. What the hell is going on? Two days ago, I turned on my phone to look through

some pictures from the hike so far, and it was filled with photos I had never taken. I spent another day trying to hike toward the waterfall before I saw them. There were more than 40 pictures of me sleeping from various angles. I always sleep with the netting of the hammock zipped, but some of the pictures are of me with the zipper open. The dates on the pictures start on March 16th. Someone had been following me almost the entire time. A video on my phone from last night even shows someone taking dehydrated food from my pack and dumping them on the ground. brown workboots grinding the food into the ground.

You can hear them breathing like a marathon runner the entire time. The last pitcher was the worst. Whoever took the pitcher was holding a hunting knife inches from me. I've been traveling for a day and a half with no sleep. When I found the pictures, I grabbed my pack and left my hammock and sleeping bag. I know I should have grabbed it, but I panicked and didn't want to stick around for another minute. Some nutcase in the woods is following me, and I'm at least three. days from making it back to my car on the trailhead. That is, if I don't stop to rest. I told myself at first

I would just walk non-stop until I got back, but I'm already exhausted. I've got to get some rest. Maybe I've lost them. To make matters worse, that crappy little wooden bridge was gone when I got back to the stream. I know I was in the right place because the log piling's in the stream are still poking out of the water. I'm going to have to swim or wait across. I'm going to have to swim, or way to cross, I hope I make it. What other option do I have? God help me. Lorry. March 23rd, 2022. Crossing the stream didn't go well. I tried to toss my pack to the other side, but it landed two feet shy and splashed into the moving water. I couldn't afford to lose the last bit of food I had, so I dove in and swam after it. The effort was more energy than I should have expended.

but my options are running out. It's getting dark and I'm still at least a day away from my car. All of my clothes are wet and there is only enough food left in my pack for one more meal. I'm going to make it tonight and try to get a little bit of sleep. My phone is still out of service and I haven't been able to reach anyone for help. I'm afraid I'm going to die here. I'm scared. I just want to go home.

I want my dad. I think I just saw a camera fly. Go off in the wood line. If anyone finds this, please tell. The author of this journal is still unidentified. Have you ever heard of the Black Hill Forest? If you didn't, I can't really blame you. The aforementioned forest is rather obscure.

But we're getting off subject. My background isn't of importance, nor is my name. However, what I can tell you is what I know about the Black Hill Forest. What it truly is. It's been 20 years since I found my way into the Black Hill Forest, 20 years since I saw things a person wasn't supposed to lay their eyes on, beheld beings best left unknown, and witnessed events even now I can barely comprehend and understand.

This is the story of a 10-year-old boy who ventured into the Black Hill Forest. Not much is known about the forest, as many of the maps simply mark the forest as forbidden. and the grown-ups refused to tell me why none of us could go there. Siding, I'll tell you when you get older. The whole town seemed to be wary and fearful of the forest. In the winter, when the first snow starts to fall, and the trees have completely lost their leaves,

the forest would resemble spikes, warning us to stay away. It didn't help that the closer you got to the forest, the more blackened and charred the ground seemed to become. It was a cloudy day as far as I can recall, and it had been snowing. The day started out, as it always did when I was younger. I ate breakfast and got ready for another day of school.

The school bus route was, strange, to say the least. At one point, on its journey, it would get really close to the Black Hill Forest. I'm not even sure why it moved along this path, but it always did without fail. And we would be within spitting distance to the forest every time we went to and from school. and I could glance into the areas between the spiked trees. That fateful day, as our bus moved along its unchanging path near the Black Hill Forest, as I stared out the window, pointed toward the forest, the bus suddenly collided with something.

I barely caught a glimpse of the thing when it let out a shriek. The thing was alive, and it was angry. I can still hear the sounds of the metal buckling and bending, and the frightened screams of my peers as the dark thing began to smash the bus in anger. I could only get a few glimpses of the thing, its yellow eyes and deer-like appendages before something impacted my head, knocking me out.

I woke up after who knows how long, inside what remained of the bus. The front half of it had been smashed. The remaining half was badly damaged. There was no one else in the wreckage, but I visibly saw what I can only assume to have been blood on the floor. I was unharmed, no injuries, no car,

cuts, no broken limbs. I was just fine. I don't know how I survived whatever it was, but I got up and grabbed what I could and slowly exited the bus. The first thing I noticed when I left the wreckage was the ground. I could see beneath the thin layer of snow, the blackened ground. And then I saw the trees, those familiar spike-like trees. That thing, whatever it was, dragged part of the bus into the forest. If that thing wrecked the bus with such ease, what else could be hidden amongst the spike-like trees? My mind raced, thinking of the countless possibilities of what might lie within the forest. I knew I had to leave, so I started to try to get my bearings. In one direction, the bus wreckage, in another, a clearing among the trees. And in a third one, I saw what looked like a creek.

I walked, the gentle snow sloshing and slurring underneath my feet. With each step, the snow piled on, the air grew colder. Nature did not seem to care much for my situation, and the snow continued to fall. But I continued, wandering forward in a single direction, hoping that perhaps I could leave the forest, but no matter how much I walked, I could not see the edge at the forest. Its stillness was baffling. The emptiness. the lack of any life, the isolation and nothing aside from the spike-like trees.

As I walked through the forest, I realized what the forest was, unnervingly quiet. Not a single noise emanated from anywhere. The silence only broken by my own breath and steps on the powdered snow. The spell of simply wandering through the cold was broken when I discovered a cave. Cold and exhausted, I moved into the entrance. As I walked through the rocky formation, the damp, warm air of the cave welcomed me. The darkness compared to the starch-white landscape of snow outside was strangely welcoming. I sat down, on the rocky stones below me, and rest my head against the wall, exhausted.

As my eyelids adjusted to the darkness, I saw something on the cave walls. A wall painting. The painting looked a lot like cave paintings from ages past. But it seemed, well, different. Instead of the red and orange and black color that most cave paintings had, these had only black. This one depicted not Hunts or some long-forgotten tribe, but instead the forest itself.

The spike trees, the blackened ground, things that the longer I stared at, the more I got lost in their seemingly incomprehensible form. In the center of all of the paintings, nothing, just a sheer indescribable mass of darkness, and from it all manner of beasts seem to emerge. The painting seemed to ramble on, as if ancient artists were trying to put disjointed memories together and paint them down. The beasts being peaceful in the next section, rage. Humanoid beings emerged to seal away the darkness, or gods arising to reconcile with the

darkness. And then, nothing. The painting abruptly cut off on a final image of darkness and thousands of yellow eyes. As my mind was lost in the painting's majesty, I heard a rumble emanating from deeper in the cave. Then yellow eyes peered out of the darkness. I couldn't make out its form, but it was big as the cave itself. I saw dark red, fluid-like liquid starting to form on the cave floor. It smelled of decay. It smelled of decay. I looked around. The thing's eyes fixed onto me as I was struck with fear. It let out an inhuman roar, almost identical to the roar I heard when the school bus crashed into that thing. Then I heard screams, but it sounded distorted, almost like it was mimicking dozens of the screams from the bus crash. The shadows started to almost dance as the thing started to move

towards me. Without a second thought, I ran out of the cave. My tired, legs nearly tripping on the uneven floor. As the snow slashed under me, I turned back to the opening of the cave. I saw the thing, dragging itself out of the cave, before letting out another great roar that shook the forest. In the sunlight, I could make out its form, and it didn't make any sense. Its body was decaying, portions of its skeletal structure visible, its skin as dark as the ground, its bones misshapen and twisted and limbs. It was a little. It was a little. It was a very deer-like, standing on its hind legs, all being completely worn out and beyond functionality. It was almost human. It was massive. Its form casting a long shadow. It dripped a dark liquid

substance that appeared as soon as it hit the ground. It shouldn't have been alive, let alone moving in such a state. No, how was that? How was it alive? I didn't wish to see any more and started running. With no sense of direction, no care for finding my way out, just getting away from that thing. I heard a deep, blaring roar loud enough to shatter glass. I recoiled in pain, my hands instinctively reaching for my ears. I turned behind me to see that thing dragging itself towards me. I heard trees, falling down and crashing under the ground as I heard thundering steps of the beast. It's deafening, lonely roars as it chased after me. What was that?

I cried at the top of my lungs as I ran between the mighty spiked trees. The beast knocked down the trees like they were nothing. Their grand tall structures crashing under the ground with a great force and thundering crashes. It cut through the trees like a warm knife through butter. It didn't want to give up the chase, the hunt for me. It wanted me. The trees seemed to narrow in and blend in as if trying to slow me down, as the beast kept its pace behind me, no matter how fast I ran.

The quiet constantly broken by the beasts roars, and my ever-tired gasps for air as it followed me. As I ran through the endless forest, I noticed that there was less and less snow on the ground, and more of the blackened ground revealed itself to me, until any trace of snow was gone, and all that was beneath me was black soil, the thing still followed.

As I ran, I saw others like me. Some looked to be lumberjacks. Others looked to be cartographers. People who got thrown into the forest. They just had their pale white bones lying perfectly on the ground, resting against trees. As I looked back, the beast again slashed its great limbs and another several trees were fallen. Its yellow eyes forever fixed on me. Its decaying form carrying nothing more than to take me.

It dripped that same black liquid and produced the ever-familiar blaring roar. My leg started to give, and I felt as if I needed to collapse. I now began to see ornaments made of spiked tree branches dangling from the trees. They displayed images that I could not put into words, and on the ground, effigies of creatures, beings, and charred remains of what I could only assume was a ritual. I kept running. Emerging from the blackened ground, I saw something I saw something I. I never expected to grow in such an empty wasteland. A pale white rose, a sign of innocence in such

a barren black wasteland. Up ahead, I saw countless more roses, their pale white glow in the stark contrast to the blackened ground and spiked trees, densely collected around a massive frozen lake. Hesitant, I looked behind me, only to see the beast a couple hundred yards from me, and without a second thought, I ran onto the ice. Lucky the ice was capable of holding my weight as I ran across, almost slipping on the ice several times. I then noticed that the beast wasn't following me. Its thundering steps went silent, and I turned around, expecting it to be in spitting distance, but it was standing by the frozen lake. It stared at me, its yellow eyes staring at me, never taking its gaze off of me.

It didn't even try to step on the ice. Its limbs refused to move forward. took this as an opportunity to take a breather, and I collapsed, my hands resting on my knees. Then I noticed something in the center of the lake, standing on a small island. On it, a single tree. Not like the others in the forest rested on black charred soil. The tree was crooked, bent, twisted beyond recognition. Its branches bent and molded in such abstract shapes. It was as if you were trying to describe a tree to a man who had never seen one. With no other place to go, I decided to cross the ice and move towards the island. As I was a few feet from the tree, the beast let out a great roar, turning back. It swung its arms wildly, as if it were trying to reach me, but it didn't

dare step onto the ice and simply grabbed the cold air. As I stepped closer and closer to the island, its roars grew louder, louder and louder. But once I stepped foot, it, and I stepped foot, and, and I stepped foot, but on the soil of the island, it immediately went silent. It was then I noticed the stone tablet resting by the tree, reading it aloud, I uttered the words into the cold air. In the beginning, God created heavens, the earth, the great empty. God disregarded the great empty and left it as empty as the world was before creation, before God.

God has long left, but his mistake of creation still lingers. The hatred creation seeps itself into the heavens and the earth, corrupting the works of God, blackening the soil and destroying man's mind. The gateway to the great empty is here, beneath the soil, beyond the veil of reality, at the center and edge of everything, and at times end and beginning. As I read the last word off the tablet, I heard crackling above me, and the tree that stood above me was no longer a tree, instead of its wooden bark, it now was rotten.

Its branches were now a series of small bone-like structures, and along its trunk, human eyes stared unto me. I leapt back in fear as the thing screeched with rage, and its pupils contracted. It let out another screech as it contorted its branches and swung its rotten-like branches as if it was trying to grab me. What the? I backed away from the tree, and then,

I tripped on a rock protruding from the ground, and I stumbled backwards and broke the ice I was standing on. I fell down into not freezing cold water, but pure nothing. I simply fell, fell, and fell as the world faded far from my view, as I fell not onto something, but into nothing. Pure nothing, not black nor white, just the sheer absence of either. Do you know those sensory deprivation chambers? The ones that dull your senses significantly. If you were to enter them, I've been in a couple in the past year or so,

just for curiosity's sake. They don't even compare to what the void was like. There was utter nothingness in the void, time, space. The real world seemed to just blur as my ears picked up nothing. My body unable to feel anything, and my eyes unable to detect a single, photon of light. That empty, it's enough to drive a man insane. I screamed, yelled, and cried under the darkness, but no sound emanated from my mouth. I tried to move, but my limbs wouldn't obey me,

so I simply stared into the void, into the vast darkness, and I felt something had now fixed its attention unto me, its countless eyes, its formless form, its sheer darkness, It stared at me from the timeless, ceaseless void. I could feel it was ancient, far older than the earth, the sun, and every star, perhaps even older than the universe itself. My mind started to buckle as my fickle mind tried to cope with the sensory deprivation, and I could feel things slipping their way into my mind. I could feel them.

I could feel things dancing in the void, things far greater than any star, things that snuck into the real world through cracks in reality and things that plagued our dreams all their eyes oh god their eyes why do they stare why do they not do anything and why do they hate you why do they stare oh god their yellow orbs

their ever-changing forms the void no sense feeling beyond eternity beyond the heavens beyond earth there was nothing but me I could hear them talking, screaming, roaring corruption. It spread across all worlds. It corrupts all. It takes all.

It took the forest. It took the soil. I will be embraced by darkness, expanse. I shall be taken by the great void. I awoke outside the forest beside the bus wreckage. I stood up as my eyes adjusted to the light. I started to hear the sirens, the police, the ambulance, and crying parents.

The paramedics picked me up and examined me. While I stood in shock, the eyes of the beast and the void's sheer emptiness was still echoing in my mind. It has been ten years now, and nobody knows what happened to the others who were on board that bus, and why I was the only survivor. They asked me what had happened, but I didn't think they would believe me if I told them, so they simply listed it as a mad accident. They assumed the bus crashed and the others were taken away by wolves, and I somehow spared, the only survivor.

That is what they seemed to want to believe anyway. It's been ten years now since the incident. Nobody wants to talk about it, let alone what happened. I occasionally go to the site where the crash occurred, where I constantly debate to myself whether I should go back in and see what else the forest held. Maybe answer some lingering. questions on what had happened on that day. Like, who were the people who came into the forest before me? What the forest was? Or hell, jump into that lake again, to feel the absence of sense and

meaning. Now, at this point, you might be wondering why I'm even telling this story at all, why I would even indulge you in something like this. It's because on my most recent visit, I noticed something odd about the charred black ground of the forest. It grew further They're out. 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. MIA. Streaming now. Only on Peacock. Tape one. The Road. All right, so my name is Grayson, and I'm recording this for anyone that either wants to hear it, or anyone stupid enough to go into the Hagwood Forest.

Go there at your own risk. You don't want to know what's waiting for you in there. Unless you do, then listen on. I'll tell you everything that happened to me. You can choose to believe me, or just brush it off, just saying. It was about two months ago. Three of my friends and I wanted to go lodging in the woods for, at least a week for a bit of downtime. Life had hit us hard the last few weeks and we just wanted a break.

So, I decided that we should go to the Hagwood Forest and stay in one of the cabins for a while. They loved the idea and said that they would start getting ready the same day. After about two days, we were ready for the trip. Now if you're listening to this, then that means you either know how to get there and how weird the drive here is, or you just found this on the internet. Just outside, Johnsonville, Tennessee, down weak drive for about 10 miles, then take five rights, two lefts, and you're there. I recorded the whole experience, so you'll hear some of the videos in the back while I'm talking. I'll stop now and let the video play out. We recorded it because it was one of the few times we ever got together and wanted to remember it. But now, we just want to forget it,

but we never will. It started out like normal. We pulled our stuff in the back. back, got in the car. I start the engine and started to drive. A little after we started, I turned on the camera. Okay, it's on. Here we go. I said under a heavy breath. It's good to hang out with you guys again. It feels like it's been ages. James said with lots of excitement in his voice. Yeah, it's good to be back. James said shyly. James has never been one for talking. He's always been a bit of an introvert, but he opens up more around us, so that's good at least. I just hope we'll get to see some cool stuff while we're there, said June. June and I have been dating for about two years, and she was excited about the trip.

I'm glad that she was, and it made the trip even more enjoyable. About 15 minutes later, we made it to the light outside of the weak drive and stopped. There were no cars out at this time. It was about 7.25 in the morning. I stopped the car at the light, then I turned to tell everyone in the car. All right, are we ready? I said with much excitement. You bet we are, said Matt, laughing.

Only because I was doing this for a bit of fun before we started the longish drive into the forest. After a little banter, we started our drive. Now, if you are driving to the forest from the town, the speed limit is 45 down weak drive. It would usually take about 13 minutes to travel 10 miles at 45 miles an hour. But it takes about three hours to get to the first turn. That's 10 miles away. That's the first thing that we noticed on our trip. Hey, you said the first turn was only 10 miles, right?

James mentioned. Yeah, I did, I said back. Well, it's been two hours since we left town. James responded. Everyone looked at their phones for the time. Holy crap. June exclaimed, recoiling backwards. Okay, I've been down this road plenty of times.

It only takes about a half hour to get to the highway. I mean, how many miles away are we from the turn? Matt said with concern and confusion. 3.5 miles away. 3.5 miles away? I said, still confused all to hell. That's the thing about weak drive. It only does this when you have the intention of going to the forest.

An hour later, we made the first turn. Finally, Matt said with much relief. Okay, okay, so five rights and two lefts, right, Grayson? James said. Yes, James, five rights and two lefts, I said back. Wait, that doesn't seem possible, June said in response. How can you do that without getting back to the same road? And that's the thing about the journey.

It may not make sense. but you'll get there anyway. I can't tell you how or why it happens, but it does. Now, the road that we traveled on after our first turn is 15 miles an hour. It gives you a great view outside the car windows as you drive along. Hey guys, it's 5 o'clock. James said with a hint of anxiety in his voice. Okay, so I guess we'll get there a lot later than anticipated.

I said in a similar tone. We kept driving down the road taking every turn, that we needed and made it to the entrance of the forest. We turned into the small parking area and there was no one else in the lot. Nice, we have the whole place to ourselves. I said with more enthusiasm than I thought I had in me. We then started unloading our items from the car, clothes, bathroom stuff, and all the other things that you would need.

Hey guys, I said, yeah, James responded. Do you see that in between the trees over there? I questioned. The camera focused in on the spot. What I saw was a large dark figure in between the trees. It was about the size of half the tree it was standing next to. It was staring directly at me. As it did, it slowly wrapped one of its arms around the tree

and opened its hand to expose seven long, sharp fingers. The rest of its body was perfectly blending in with the dark shadows of the forest. Its eyes were yellow, almost glowing slightly. but I had a feeling that they were not lights of hope, but something more sinister. That's when Matt walked up next to me. No, nothing but the shadows of the trees and the trees themselves, he said.

I looked back and it was gone. I kept a footnote on the thing I saw and went back to unloading, with the now apparent feeling that we were being watched. Tape 2. A mystery stirs. It was James who first saw my unease on our watch. The leaves on the path crunching underneath our steps. The cold breeze moved through the trees. I had been looking around randomly a bit more quickly than the others,

and also allowing the camera to follow my eyes so I could capture everything. Hey man, you okay over here? he asked. Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little on edge, that's all. But he could tell that I was more than that. I knew that James was very observant. He notes most things around him. As we walk down to the cabin, we take in the forest air and smell pine and oak.

Then June, who was in the front, stopped. Soon, everyone else. I walked up next to her to see what she was looking at. It was a small deer standing in the path eating some grass. But she looked frightened. So I looked past the deer and saw what she saw. The same figure from before, everyone else saw it too. So now I know I wasn't crazy.

In a small whisper I said, I told you I saw something back there. All of us were frozen, not making a single sound or movement as we watched the deer eat grass, and the thing stood a good 30 feet from the deer. We waited about a minute. My camera pointed at the deer and the thing,

in plain sight, passed it. We all were about to move when the creature ran to the deer, snatched it, and ran off in the blink of an eye. It almost made no sound. All of now with looks and shock on our faces, we exhaled almost at the same time. Then we heard the scream of the deer, very far off in the forest, to our left. We all looked at each other.

What just happened? Matt exclaimed. Well, a dark creature from the forest took a deer deep in the woods and had a meal. June said sarcastically, with a shaky voice. Let's just get to the cabin before anything else happens, James said. Yeah, I replied. We walked down the path with no other incident. We got to the cabin and opened the door.

It was a large building with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a good-sized kitchen with a small bar next to it. There was also a large living room in the middle with a large window making up one side of the room. Wow, this is better than I thought, said Matt. Well, I wanted us to have a good time, so I got the best, I said, a little nervous. You did well, James said, with you. with a calming hand on the shoulder. All right, let's get unpacked.

Then meet in here, I said, trying to lighten up the mood. We all went into our separate rooms and did as I said. We all went and sat on the couches and turned on the TV for some background noise. I say we stay in the cabin for the first day and relax, Matt said.

All in favor raise your hand, I said playfully. Everyone raised their hands. All right, so it's decided then. We'll stay here for you. tomorrow. I said, I'll get us drinks, James offered as he stood. As we all talked, James walked over to the small bar and went to grab us some drinks. When all of the sudden, there was a crash of glass hitting the floor. All of us looked in James' direction to see what he had dropped, an empty shot glass on the floor, and was looking straight in the mirror. I started to stand when James says

trembling in fear, don't. It's here. The thing that we saw, It's hiding in the room opposite the mirror. The room he is describing was the closet with some general cleaning supplies in it. We then just stayed as still as we could. It's moving. And as he said that, I saw a hand slowly come out of the closet, then the rest of its body. The thing was about 12 feet tall and towered over us. It had long legs that were about five feet tall with the body of about six feet.

The neck and head made up the last foot. Its arms went so far down, the tips of its fingers were only just a few centimeters off the floor. The thing's sharp, pointy fingers were about... The things sharp, pointy fingers were about a foot long. Its feet looked normal enough if it wasn't for the fact that the thing's body was darker than the night sky. I saw them the first time I saw it, but now I was sure. Its eyes were glowing yellow. It walked slowly around the room.

It appeared to be examining us. None of us looked into the glowing orbs that were its eyes, but we did follow its movements. It walked over to all of us. I wouldn't say that it was sizing us up, but more or less examining what we were. After its examination, it slowly walked back to the closet,

went inside and closed the door. After a minute, June walked over to the door and opened it. It was gone. At the same time, we all let out a breath. Okay, so we were. what happened? Matt asked, shaking with every word. Well, I think that it was examining us, I said. What? How can you say that? We could have been hurt, June exclaimed. If it wanted to get us, it would have done that, but it made no move to touch one of us. I merely think it was just

interested, James commented. I mean, Grayson, you said that no one had stayed in the cabin in years, right? Yeah, the only time there is someone up here is when someone comes to clean the place, I replied. So, it's safe to assume that it was interested in the fact that there were someone here for longer than it was used to. You know, that makes sense. Matt said under breath with exhaustion. Okay, I say we all try to go to bed, then we'll talk about it in the morning, I suggested. Okay, that's fine, said June. To bed then, I replied. tape three day one the first move i woke up around 8.30 to a nice bright sun and clear skies overlooking the small valley outside the window i didn't remember there being a valley outside the back windows but i shook it off as

nothing and went into the main area of the cabin the main cabin area was coated in sunlight from the big window that made the back wall i looked over and saw that the big tv was on quietly playing the morning news. In the kitchen, June made us four cups of coffee and handed one to me. Good morning, she said with a yawn. Good morning, I said back. Didn't think we got the news out here, I said. She just shrugged and sat on one of the couches, and I sat on the countertop facing the TV. So, have the other two come out yet? I said. They're taking showers, so they'll be out soon, she replied. After a few minutes of casual talk, James and Matt came out of their rooms. Good morning, Matt said, drying his head with a towel. Good morning, replied June, handing them cups of coffee.

We all went to the couches where food was laid out. How did everyone sleep? James asked. The room was quiet for a few seconds. Everyone looked at each other. Yeah, I actually did, Matt said in almost a whisper. let's not dwell on it. All we need to do today is try and relax while we're here at the cabin, and tomorrow we can go out and see some places in the forest, I said in response. They all nodded their heads, and they went to do their things around the cabin. I went and got the camera.

I walked out of the main area and turned the camera on. I looked around the room with it, and walked around the area showing off everything the cabin had to offer. A few minutes of showing off the place later, I grabbed a ladder out of the closet. I did my best to forget what happened last night, but I can't. I don't think anyone could forget that.

Why do you have a ladder? Matt asked from behind me. I was going to place a camera up here, pointed it toward one of the low-hanging beams at the far end of the cabin. I want to keep it there so it can document while we go about the day. I replied, sounds cool.

He sat back and walked off. I placed the camera on the beach. beam, climbed down, and put back the ladder. Everyone was in different parts of the house, so there was a good amount of silence. I went over to one of the couches, drink in hand, and sat down to watch some TV. I turned it on and there was static. Damn, no signal, I said annoyed. Everyone else walked into the room right after. Damn, that sucks. No TV? James said, sitting down. That's when I noticed the sound of rushing water, almost like, we were by a waterfall, and there were no waterfalls within a mile's hike from the cabin,

so it was definitely out of the ordinary. Hey, what's that noise? June questioned. Sounds like water, Matt said. I went to look outside and there was a view of a valley, but in a different spot. Hey, I remember seeing the waterfall on the other end of the valley yesterday, I said. So, James replied, I'm saying that because the same waterfall is next to the cabin now. everyone went to look where I was looking. They all had some of the most questioning faces I'd ever seen.

So, did the house move? Or did some rocks fall? Matt questioned. That's way too large for some rocks, I replied with a bit of a chuckle. So you're saying that the forest is moving? James replied, yes. For the rest of the day, we decided to forget about it and have a good time for today. Let's just say drinking started at about lunchtime. For the rest of the day, we went without incident, and about nine o'clock we all went to bed.

Tape 4. Day 2 and 3. The Lake. After I woke up, I got the camera and turned it on. After that, I placed the camera on the bed and got my hiking bag packed, and went to meet the others in the main room. All right, is everyone ready? I said. They all in confirmation nodded their heads. Okay, let's go, I replied.

walking out the door. So where are we going? James asked, behind me. Over to that large lake in the valley. Then we'll spend the night camping and returning the next morning, I said with a bit of enthusiasm. After that, we went outside and started on the path to the lake. As we walked, we took some time just to listen to the world around us. The crunch of leaves under our feet,

the moving of leaves in the wind, the occasional chirp of a bird, and the rushing river near both. by. It was peaceful. Around an hour of hiking later, we took a break. We placed our bags down and sat on the edge of a calmer part of the river by a log that stretched across it. It's beautiful here, James commented. Yeah, only about another 45 minutes and we should be there, I replied. We all got up, put our backpacks on, and started walking again. The hike in total was about three miles long. It had been about five miles since our river stop when we finally know.

noticed something. Some of the trees were different. As we moved, we started to notice that the trees would be in the same spot of our vision, the path going in abnormal directions, and at time sudden dizziness, like when going fast on a roller coaster. Man, what is going on in this forest? Matt complained, throwing his hands up in the air. What do you mean? asked June. Don't play it off. We have all noticed. This damn forest is changing. No, moving. What do you think of all this, James? I exclaimed. Well, the lake's right over there, he said, pointing over to the shoreline that wasn't there before. We all walked over there to the water, and sure enough, the lake was right there.

At this point, we all just accepted it and unloaded our bags to set up tents in a small clearing by the water. We'd gathered sticks since it was getting dark and made a fire. Well, tents are all set. Fires burning, and we have drinks. Matt said, holding a drink up in the air. It was fun to finally not be on edge for part of the trip. The four of us just sat there by the fire, looking at the lake, a small radio playing music quietly in the background, taking in the cool air of the night. It was peaceful. About 11 p.m. we all called it a night and went to our tents. I laid there, closing my eyes, taking in all the sounds of the forest and the lake water moving in the wind. Then there was a snap of a brand.

A loud one. Then loud, heavy footsteps started walking in the same sand near our tents. Whatever it was, it was big. I heard it walking around until it got to my tent. I heard the crunch of dirt under its feet and even the movement of its limbs. For a second I saw a glimpse of its shadow in the tent. It was the creature from before. The only difference this time was its mouth was open.

Through a small clear piece of plastic in the tent, I could see it. I saw its ungodly big mouth. Four long arm-like appendages were coming out of its back, lifting it about a foot and a half off the ground. It moved slowly, observing everything. I then moved, only a little, and I guess it heard that because I was now looking right into its eyes. The two yellow glowing eyes eclips the silhouette of the creature.

As we were facing off, there was a crack of a branch in the woods. I looked over in the direction of the noise, and so did it. It crept toward the noise, then stopped. It turned back to me. I don't know why this thing had such an obsession with me over the others, but I don't want to find out. I saw it take one step and sped over my tent. At this point I could feel its cold breath on my face.

Its teeth looked sharper when up close. It had an awful stench that came from it, and just standing around it made the air feel as if it was in the negatives. We stared at each other for what felt like forever. Then, in the blink of an eye, I, it was gone. Matt, June, James, and I all got out of our tents and slowly gathered by the fire and started a new one. We all sat in silence for five minutes before we finally decided to go to bed, just sitting there under the blanket of stars listening to the sounds of the nighttime forest.

It was calm enough to put anyone to sleep. We woke up around eight in the morning to the sun rising over the mountains and birds chirping in the trees. I stood out of my tent and took in the scenery. Thankfully, I woke up in the same place this time. I thought as I walked out of the tent. I took the camera out and placed it on the spot that looked over the camp. I looked over to the shore of the lake and saw James sitting there, toes in the sand. I walked over and sat next to him. Good morning, I said, trying to start a conversation. He stayed still, looking out over the water. You okay? Yeah, I'm fine. James replied. still looking toward the water.

Why did it take interest in you? He said, turning his head to look at me. I recoiled at the question. It took me by complete surprise. I didn't even consider that, I replied. So what was it like? I mean, being so close to it, June asked, walking up behind us. I'm interested too, Matt exclaimed, also walking up.

Well, the first thing I can think of is its eyes. they felt hollow, almost empty, but the glowing yellow of its eyes filled that. Its breath was also cold. I could almost see frost on the tip of my nose. Now that I think of it, the air was really cold too. I said in almost a calm voice, Wait, it felt cold?

Matt questioned, to my right. It also had teeth, sharp teeth that could possibly cut without even touching skin. But its breath also smelled like death, or as close as you could get to death. It moves fast, too. I saw it move across 50 feet in a matter of seconds, I said. Looking into the water, damn, that's, that's, uh, I've got nothing, James said.

Well, that's in the past. We are here now, and let's enjoy the now. While we still can, Matt said, standing up. Looking back, I feel that I should have been more affected by what happened, but at the same time, I think that I was so traumatized that I didn't even process it correctly. Anyways, enough focusing on that. After our conversation, we decided to have fun and forget about what happened. All day, we took time to focus on relaxing and being one with nature, as some would say.

After our day of fun, I grabbed the camera, forgot to turn it off, and we went to the tents to fall asleep with no incident for the whole day. Tape 5. Day 4. The Bunker I don't know what time I woke up, but very little light and a slight echoing noise all around me took me by surprise. The ground that the tent was on was hard and cold. I picked the camera up and saw what was on it. Crap, need to replace the battery, only just then realizing the echo in the room. I replaced the battery and turned on the camera. I unzipped the tent and looked out. On the other side of the tent was a good-sized concrete room, with only three yellow lights shining enough light to see.

The other tents were in the other room, too. Hey, wake up, I exclaimed. I heard the tents shuffle, and everyone got out and assessed the room. Why are we in a room? Why are we in a concrete room, James said, freaking out. Hey, calm down. Let's huddle up. Near the burnt wood over there.

Is that a fire? June said. Yep, Matt replied. Let's sit down for a minute and gather ourselves, I said, calmingly. We all walked over to what used to be the fire and sat down. Do you have to bring the camera? Matt said, annoyed. If we didn't have it, anyone that would come and find us would know nothing and find nothing, idiot. June said, it's the only proof we have.

She was right. We had no other proof of what happened and what will happen. It was the last thing we had. We all sat around for a few minutes until James said what we all were thinking. Should we look for a door? We all nodded and went to explore what seemed to be an infinitely sized room. The fire was in the center. That's what the conclusion we made when starting. From the fire, we walked in four separate directions

and counted how many steps from the fire to the wall it was. On three, we started counting. I guess that room just started to. stopped past where the light passed. From the fire to the edge of the light was 40 steps, and I guess the walls were about 48 steps. If only I knew. June was finished before the rest of us. 43 steps, she said with a raised voice. 47 steps, I said in the same tone. 56 steps, James said. We waited three minutes for Matt. 530 steps, Matt exclaimed.

We seemed only to hear the echo of his voice. James June and I ran back to the fire and looked toward the direction that Matt went. We looked at each other, then ran back to the black void. A minute later, we heard steps as he came into view. What's with the box? June asked. I almost fell on it. I haven't opened it yet, but it's worth a look, he said, placing the box on the ground and opening it. In the box were some MREs, flashlights, and other surveillance.

survival gear. Well, this is expected, Matt said. I also fell to metal rectangle on the wall with a door handle. He found a door. A door, I thought. I thought about what could be on the other side. A staircase, the outside, or a room? As I finished the thoughts, we were all packed and nodded at each other. We turned on the flashlights and started to walk. For the first minute of walking, it was just black. Then we saw the door. We stopped just by. before the thing. It was rusted all over and had an old dirty metal sort of smell and shook only a little now and then. A breeze. There was wind on the other side of the door. Matt reached for the door and opened it. It groaned loudly and was hard to open due to the large amount of rust

on the hinges that were now flaking off. When the door opened, we aimed our flashlights down the new dark hallway that was pressed before us. "'Crap,' James explained. "'I was a little. I was hoping for some stairs that let outside. Let's go, I said, taking the lead down the hallway. We stayed silent while walking down the long dark hallway, keeping quiet out of fear to see if we could hear anything. There were doors on either side. We tried them all, and none of them would budge, not even any sign that they would move. About ten minutes later, the hallway widened into a large room. We aimed our flashlights around to reveal more of the room. A light-dripping sound of water, hitting a puddle on the ground echoing through the room. It was longer than what our flashlights could light.

We could see two pillars holding the ceilings up and two more at the edge of the light. Hey, two of you, go to the other side of the room and shine your lights back at us, I said. Why? Matt asked. So we can see the room, duh, June set back. She and James went to the other side and placed their lights to the floor, pointing up. Matt and I did the same. The light and Lights reflected off the walls, illuminating the room with a faint glow. We all took a minute to take in the surroundings. Four pillars kept the ceiling from falling. Small coffee tables and chairs lined the room.

Old vintage machines were placed on one of the walls. A sign above the door set bathroom. Next to the other door was another hallway. On the last wall, there was a large window that looked into a room that we couldn't see. But there seemed to be a faint red glow far into the distance. What kind of place is this? James questioned. It looks like some sort of break room, I said. And how might have you guessed that, Matt said, annoyed.

The counter with a coffee machine and microwave on it and the fridge next to that, I said, pointing toward the wall with the vending machines. Oh, I guess that would make sense, he said in response. We then got some chairs and sat them in a circle in a random spot in the room and sat down. All right, first question. What the hell is this place that we're in? Matt said. Well, I would say that we're in a bunker of some sort, James said, shivering over how cold it was. And why do you say that, Matt returned?

The shapes of the rooms are too simple, and the fact that everything is made of concrete? The better question is, how did we get here? I think I might know, I replied. Remember how in the cabin when we woke up, the best of the best of the best of the best of the building was in a completely different spot. Yes, June replied. And on the walk to the lake, it took a surprisingly short time to get there, I returned. I think that whatever happened there happened last night, or if it's still night. Have any of you tried your phones? James asked. Everyone pulled out their phones. None were turning on. Damn, out of battery, June said.

We all just sat around for a while and looked at all the different things throughout the room. Everything looked normal and everything looked pretty up to date up until the wrapper of the candy bar sitting in one of the vending machines. The wrapper showed that it expired in 1985. 1985, older than I expected, I thought, hey, guys, this place is older than you may think, I shouted. Why? James asked. Because the candy in the vending machine expired back in 85. What? Matt said. Coming out of the bathroom, I then turned my attention back to the wall with the big window and walked over to it. Hey guys, so if this place existed back in 85, and if back then the US was looking for ways to

get the upper hand on the Soviets, and this was a bunker, could this be an observation room on the other side of this window? I said. With a hint of curiosity, everyone then looked at me. What? Matt questioned. It only makes sense, James said. But if that's the case, then we might want to get out of here because I don't want to find out what's down here. So, down the next hallway we go? June asked. Onward, I replied. We quickly grabbed our gear and started down the hallway. This hallway felt unnatural.

There was something off about it. We all could feel it. The deeper we got, the more strange things happened. After about four minutes of walking down the hallway, a strange particle started floating about. It was almost snow-like, but far colder. On each side of the hallway, the doors started appearing. We took our time to investigate and show as much as we could on camera.

Some rooms just had an operating table, a light, and a set of tools on a small table. Interrogation rooms? About seven minutes into our walk, deep fog started to set in. The air started to get hard to breathe in. What the hell happened here? June asked. I don't know, but I think our government bunker theory has been proven, James replied. We walk some more until we came to a four-way intersection of hallways. Well, isn't this perfect?

Four directions? Four people, Matt said. No, we're not splitting up, I said. That's the last thing that we need to do. We stick together, I said sternly. They recoiled back with surprise on their faces. I'm sorry, I just wanted to have a nice vacation. Hey, we'll make it through this, and afterward we'll have an interesting story to tell, James said, placing his hand on my shoulder. Now let's get out of here. The wall with the window was on the right side when facing the hallway from the room, so we went right.

Down this hallway, there were larger doors that led to full-on operation rooms, cold storage rooms, and decontamination rooms. The place was a maze, a labyrinth of hallways and rooms of the same stuff. It was more of the same until we found a stairwell, a stairwell that went down farther than we could see. We looked up and saw a sign that said, lower levels, officers and higher-ups only. Tape 6. The Lower Levels. Even they keep secrets from themselves, James said, looking up at the sign, What do you mean, I asked. What I mean is that even if you're...

allowed to work in this place, you don't really know what's going on here. We all took a second to look around what might be down here. I shivered at the thought of going down there, but we all had been exploring for hours, and there didn't seem to be any way up, so this was our only option. We looked at each other for reassurance that we all agreed and started down the stairs. The walk down was unstable. They were rusted all to hell, and some of the steps fell completely off. Most of them just fell on the stairs below, but one fell down the middle shaft and we decided to listen. We waited and waited to hear it hit the floor below, but we heard nothing. It must be so far down, the echo didn't reach us, I thought. After that, we moved more carefully. It was only after 35 minutes

did we make it to the bottom. At the bottom, we found the step that fell and a door, a door with a faint red light shining through the fog. So, there is power here, June said, anxiety filling her body. The light kept blinking on and off. An alarm, I thought. With me still taking the lead, we walked forward. More particles floating in the air started appearing. Open doors on either side of the wide hallway. All of the rooms made for different experiments. What the hell were they doing down here, Matt said. Hey, I found an office over here. I exclaimed. They ran over and we entered the room.

It's clean, I questioned. I can't breathe in here, June said. Well, at least the light works, Matt said, flicking on the light. With the light on, the room revealed to be a conference room. A large table sat in the middle with 11 chairs surrounding the table. There was also a projector on the far end that faced toward a large white surface on the other wall. Stacks of paper were all over the room. Large filing cabinets lined the wall, filled with folders.

I took in a deep breath of clean air in the room and walked over to the table. The others joined me, and we all sat down to rest. James reached for the folder that was laying in front of him on the table. Dark creature, James read aloud. What, Matt asked. What this folder says, James replied. He proceeded to open the file and start taking out papers, research documents, analysis papers, official reports and pictures.

Most of the pictures and papers described what we had seen above ground. A tall, dark creature with glowing yellow eyes. We all got to James' side of the table, and he gave us each some papers. Origin unknown appears an old cave writing in native carvings. The natives referred to it as a dark creature that is not part of our natural order and does not belong here. I read aloud. From what I've read, it seems to have the... abilities that we have seen, but is suspected to have more, James said.

Mine says that his blood is an extremely good energy source, and that one gallon could power New York for almost 15 years, June read. We looked over to Matt to hear what his paper said, but he seemed to be covered in fear. His eyes wide and muscles tensed up, but breathing almost calmly. Mind says that they found where it came from by looking at ancient writings in the area and found a door to another world, he said. I'll explain the rest to you. What they found behind the door was a world that was dark and cold.

Dark clouds covered the sky. A purple hue covered everything, and vibrant red lightning would trace the sky at random points. Dense forest and old vacant cities that had been destroyed. Large mountains surrounded the valley that the door opens to. There are more of the creatures in that place, and something else. In the reports and the pictures, it described a large towering monster that was almost as large as Everest. It had appendages that stretched outward for miles and was as dark, maybe even darker than the creature we saw.

There wasn't much information on the creature beyond that. I grabbed the camera and I placed it at the end of the table and made sure to capture everything, for proof. We decided to take as much information as possible with us. After talking, we decided that we needed to go there as soon as possible. We got our stuff and headed toward the door. That's when a loud thump came from the other side of the door. My hand stopped on the doorknob. Frozen in place, I felt small vibrations reach my hand when the creature stomped.

I slowly put my ear to the door trying not to make a sound. Through the door, I heard steps get louder and the door get colder. Within a few seconds, the doorknob felt ice cold, and frost started forming on the metal. The air became dry and we could see our breath more clearly, and the steps got louder. A muffled growl from the creature could be heard on the other side. It huffed as it took a breath. I quickly looked around the room at everyone, and as I did, the creature stomped on the ground outside, causing a vibration in the floor and the table where a pen sat.

It's as if time slowed down at that moment. The pen bounced up a little off the table and started rolling off until it hit the ground with a loud thud. We locked eyes and ran under the table behind anything that we could find. I went to dive under the table and slammed myself against one of the sides. At the same time, the door was thrown open, and a loud thud, the creature stepped into the room. A thin layer of frost now started to cover the room. The room fell silent, so silent I could hear my heart beating. I moved as slow as I could to get the camera where I could see at least where the creature was.

Through a small sliver at the bottom of the table, I could see the ever-absorbing blood. black legs standing in the doorway. I could hear the deep gargling growls of the creature scanning the room. A crackling, fleshy sound filled the room, then five more limbs touched the ground and lifted the two original legs. The new limbs slowly take steps around the room. The steps sounded more like needles being stuck into the ground. Its joint sounded like they were breaking with every joint. I go to look over to my left and see James's eye through a gap. Behind some of the cabinets, his eyes were wide with fear looking back at me, his mouth covered by his hands to not make any noise. One of its legs stepped down onto the ground, startling both of us.

James kept his eye on me. Another lake stepped down in front of us, and the creature started to bend down. The crunching sounds of it moving almost made me nauseous. Before the creature's head got down to our level, I mouthed to James. Play dead. I quickly set the camera down and made myself look limp. I held my breath in, closed my eyes, and waited. Only from the camera do I know what happened in that moment.

For me, all I could do was listen. Its head was now down at our level, its glowing eyes scanning for any movement. It first looked over in the direction of James. Looking over every detail for any sign of life, it must not have seen anything because now it had its eyes on me. It slowly moves forward, as if it's being cautious so as not to provoke a dangerous animal. Its eyes scanned every inch of me. I could feel its cold breath on my face

and smelled the god-awful stench coming out of the creature. It slowly started to move away, keeping its eyes locked on me. I did my very best not to move. I could feel my joints starting to hurt just by trying to stay still. Its head eventually left the underside of the table and lifted. Once I heard the cracking of its bones

as it was starting its way back up, I opened my eyes and let out a long, silent breath, almost coughing due to the particles in the air. I looked over at James, who I could see past the thing's bony legs. He looked back at me and let out a sigh of relief, then immediately breathed back in when one of the legs moved and stomped on the ground. The creature made sort of a hellish chirping noise as it explored the room. The stomps of its feet vibrated the room, shaking everything.

A pencil or pen dropped on the floor, the creature stomped over to it, making a growl of disappointment once it found the item. It lost interest in the item and walked to another area of the room. As it did, I slowly took off my bag and tried to find something, something heavy. I landed on a heavy metal water bottle. I took it out of the bag and crawled over to the edge of the table. I looked out and saw the door, the lightning peering into the room, fog filling the space. I arched my arm and tossed the bottle into the hallway. The bottle hit the wall and under the floor of the hallway, with banging the metal to concrete, the bottle made a few loud banging sounds that echoed down the hallway. The creature snapped to look at the door and

sprinted toward the table, vaulted over, and ran out of the room down the hallway with lightning speed. Its body snapping and crackling with every movement, the room shaking and a guttural, horrifying roar erupted from its mouth. The further it was, the warmer everything got. Once I knew that it was gone, I got up and closed the door slowly. Hey, it's clear, I spoke, looking around the room. James walked out first, looking around. That was smart, James said, walking up to me. Matt and June walked out from where they were hiding.

Dang, that was something, Matt said, walking to me and James. June walked up and hugged me. I patted her on the back and she let go. So what now? she asked. Now we get out of here, I said. We all fixed our packs and I placed my hand on the cold metal door handle. Here we go, I said, opening the door. When the door opened, there was silence. Total, absolute silence. I poked my head out and looked both ways, shining my flashlight with it. The only thing that I saw were objects floating in the air, the fog and lights blinking slowly in rhythm. I took a few

steps into the hallway and signaled the others to follow. Once everyone was in the hallway, we started to walk back in the direction we were going, in the same direction as the creature. Tape 7. The Creature and the Tree We walked for who knows how long, down never-ending hallways and large rooms meant for various purposes. The dust was almost an inch thick on every surface. We found a large barracks a few hours into the walk. I turned on the camera and started recording. There were bunk beds on either side of the room, all of them very messy. Waving the flashlight around, I went to each bed, looking at all the things that each person had. Each one had a life. Looks like they left in a hurry, June said. Well,

most of them, Matt said, pointing his flashlight toward a dark stained blanket. There was also dark stains on the ground below the sheets, and a trail had left leading to the door. door on the other side of the room. The door led to the kitchen where the room had a shiny red color to it. There were dent marks in some of the cabinets and some of the utensils were missing. All of the sudden the intercombeaped on. Eerie white noise sounded faintly from the intercom on the ceiling. I felt my stomach drop and my body turned cold. I looked toward the others and they were just as shocked as I was. I slowly walked out into the room with the beds. The slow, faint red glow of the lights outside of the room only just making their presence known. Then loud bellowing of hellish

screams could be heard from the intercom. The horrifying sound filled the room. I fell to the floor of shock and felt fear overwhelmed me. The screams were distorted, some almost sounding reversed or gargled. The sound continued for another minute, then slowly faded back down to the white noise. I opened my eyes slowly and sat up. I was shaking, barely. able to keep the flashlight in my hand. The camera tipped over after dropping it. Facing me, I looked toward the kitchen. Matt, June, and James all looked at each other and looked at me. What the hell was that? James said, shaking out of fear. I don't know, but I think we need to get out of this room. Something tells me that we just heard where the screams of the people were in this room. I said, trembling still.

Yeah, good idea, Grayson. Let's keep me. moving, Matt said, standing, almost falling. I got up and walked towards the doorway. I moved my hand onto the doorknob and turned it slowly. I poked my head out to make sure everything was clear. I looked right, just fog. It was clear. I looked left, also fog, red-tinted fog, but it was clear. The intercom noise stopped when I looked left and everything went silent. Not a single noise or vibration. I motioned them to come along, and June handed me the camera. I turned left out the door and waited for them to come out. We walked for a few minutes down the same looking hallway before a faint noise could be heard. It was muffled and echoed past us in the other direction.

It sounded almost like yelling or moaning of a whale. I still can't place it. I felt the sinking feeling return and looked toward them. Matt looked almost as pale as snow, and James's eyes were almost as wide as golf balls. I then looked at June. She had the same expression and kept going, flashlight and camera in hand. As we walked down the hallway, the noise only filled the area more and more. We walked a little more and found a turn at the end. I turned the corner and the flashlight went out, but the other flashlights were still on. I walked back around the corner and the flashlight was turned back on. Oh crap, I said, under my breath. I look back at the others.

Why did this have to be us? Matt said. What do you mean, Matt? asked June. We were just trying to have a good time, and now, now we're going to be lost in this bunker concrete, that we can't find an exit too. Matt said, pushing his hands to his face. Hey, listen.

We're not going to stay lost down here, I said, placing my hand on his shoulder. Let's go and get out of here, okay? I said. Okay. Matt responded, standing up. I looked toward everyone and walked back around the corner and the flashlight turned off again. All I could see in front of me was black and the occasional fading in and out of red light. The sound coming from down the dark hall.

I stayed still for a good, well, felt like an eternity until I took my first step. Then the next, and the next. The others still followed behind, all of us doing long breaths to keep as calm as we could get. All there was now was a faint red glow of a red light through the fog, the sounds of our footsteps and breaths, and the faint louder noise down the hall. We could have turned back, but there would be no point in doing so. We don't even know where the creature is, so we continued. The more we walked, the louder the noise got. After a while, the sounds of our footsteps changed.

It sounded like we were stepping in some squishy material. The ground was slippery and my shoes. were wet. The air got stuffy, but still. It felt cold. I went to feel the wall, and it felt like touching uncooked chicken. A substance was dripping from the walls and ceiling, and I swear it felt like there was a pulse moving through it. We moved along until, "'Ow!' I said. "'What?' Matt asked, in a sudden panic. I ran into a wall. I felt around to my left and found a wall. I looked over to my right and saw the wall. I looked over to my right and saw a a large red light coming from the fog. The sound that we have been hearing was almost deafening now.

It filled the room and made the walls vibrate. We walked toward the light and entered some large room. The light in the fog lit up some of what was surrounding us. We looked back into the hallway and saw that the hallway's floor was covered in remains. The wall of the room that connected the hallway was dark gray concrete and had symbols carved into them. As we looked, a shadow appeared on the wall and we turned around. There was something in front of the light, the creature. It was looking in our direction. We quickly ducked down and walked out of the light. From the dark, we saw the silhouette move in search, making those familiar noises it makes. We stayed absolutely still. We watched it scan its surroundings. It totally focused, not bothered by anything, not even the deafening

hellish yelling. I heard Matt go to move and a rock slide under his shoe. It felt like time had slowed down. I looked over at the creature who was already looking in our direction and starting to move. I turned my body to move, dropping the camera on the floor. I kicked off and tossed myself towards Matt, the creature moving faster than what I could see, and before I knew it, I hit the floor where Matt was. June and James were in shock, still frozen, not moving, not moving, not. not breathing. They looked over to me and I to them. Tears slowly fell down their eyes and mine. We knew what just happened, but we couldn't let it stop us from getting out. We couldn't. The horrific noise stopped and we looked over to the light. Nothing. Total silence. We couldn't even

hear if the creature was in the room. We didn't even know how big the room was. I grabbed the camera and made sure it was still recording. I looked over to them. They did the same. We looked back over to the light and heard the intercom system turned back on. The same white noise playing through and the red light starting to flicker. I stood up and the others did the same. I took one step at a time, walking towards the light, June and James following just right behind, all of us making sure not to make a noise.

After about 45 steps we reached the light. It was just a light. We looked down at it for a second, only for it to turn off. The intercom turned off as well. Pitch black surrounded us, and the only thing that you could hear was our breathing. We made, no moves. The only thing that provided light was the camera. I slowly held it up to my face and pressed the night vision button.

The camera went dark for a second, then switched to night vision. With the camera, I could see the edge of the room. The only thing being that edge, almost a quarter mile away, the other wall too. I looked up at the wall to the left of the door and saw a window. The window from the room we stopped in. Then I looked over to the wall opposite the hall. There was a large tree thing in the center of the room, larger than I think any known tree. I quickly threw over my backpack and grabbed my flashlight.

I pointed it at the direction of the tree and turned it on. The fog helped illuminate the room. The tree's shadow made it seem bigger somehow. It was dark. almost perfect black. It had thin lines of purple substance coming from a large door-looking opening at its base. We started walking toward it.

The ground turned from concrete of the room to an almost soil-like substance. Once we were a good 500 feet from the tree, the muffled yelling came back. Only this time we knew where it was coming from, the hole in the tree. We walked closer and began to see purple flashes of light coming from the upper area.

Through it, there was a forest-crowing, clearing that led out to a large grouping of destroyed buildings in the background. Above us in one of the branches of the tree, we heard a growl, then smaller branches snapping as the creature was charging toward us. It then jumped and landed on the ground between us and the door. Its tall lanky body and glowing eyes now walking toward us. The muffled yelling still coming from the door was still unknown, but it was still walking towards us. It stopped four feet from me and leaned forward. I was now staring directly to its eyes and in them. I saw only death, pain, and suffering. It raises its left hand and

touched my forehead with its cold finger, and everything started to fade. I feel myself hit the floor. I hear two muffled screams and two others hit the floor. Then everything fades to black. Tape 8. Home The next thing I know, I'm laying in the cabin. Both June and James are there too. I hear the muffled noise of a door being kicked in, and I see blurry figures looking at June and James, and one comes to me. They try to say something to me, but it's just muffled. I try to get up, but I can't. Then everything fades to black. I awake to the sounds of a heart monitor to my left. I open my eyes to see if one of them works. I look over to the window on my left. It's sunny. I see clouds

moving across the sky outside. I see the sign too. Knoxville Hospital. I take a look around the room and see my camera on the desk to my right. I pick it up and open the screen. I look in the files and see everything is still there. I go back to the camera and press record. I place it on the table and look back and see June and James waking up on the couch. Hey, how do you feel? June asked, placing her hand on mine.

It felt cold, almost metal. Well received, I responded. How long have we been here? I asked. Looking out the window, about a week and a half, James responded, walking over. A doctor walked through the door, sat down and rolled over to the side of the bed. Well, look who's awake, he said. All right, as far as we can tell, you aren't really damaged anywhere. Well, except your left eye.

I'm sorry to say that you won't be getting that eyesight back. But your eye is now a deep purple, he stated. waving a pen around. Anyway, you'll be able to get out of here by the end of the day and go back home. You'll also be prescribed medication. You'll need to take them when needed and not take them with alcohol, he said. I looked over to him. What do you mean my eye is purple?

I asked. He picked up the mirror and held it to my face. There were scars all over my left side. My eye was slightly faded, but definitely purple. So the end of the day, right? I asked, still looking at my face. Yeah, we'll come release you in a few hours. Rest up, he said, walking out of the door.

A few hours later, the doctor came in and discharged me from the hospital, and we walked to the entrance. The doors of the hospital opened, and I stepped outside, and I don't think I could put into words what I felt to feel the cool autumn breeze on my face, to feel the sun warming the area around us, just for a moment. I forgot all about what happened and just took in the fact that I was alive with my friends. We found my car, got in, and drove to our small town

a good few miles north of Knoxville. I dropped James off at his place and just hugged him. We both cried tears of happiness because we were just able to have this moment. After that, June and I drove back to our place across town. It's been about two months since that day. We have lived happily since all that happened. I've found that James is now more open to people,

and that after all, June and I have experienced together. She wants to get married. But I don't sleep well anymore. I get nightmares of that place, of Matt. I've had his parents ask where he's been, but I can't say anything. Only that I haven't seen him for a while. I started recording these tapes a few days ago. I guess to try to comprehend everything that happened.

It's something that I haven't put much thought into lately. Now that I've said everything I needed to, I finally put this whole thing behind me. But sometimes I look outside, only to see two yellow circles looking back at me.