Yesterday, I was enjoying myself at a nice local restaurant in the town center late in the night. After finishing a refreshing hot meal, I saw a mysterious man in a hooded black robe in the corner of my eye.
He walked by my table and dropped a small slip of paper and proceeded out the door.
Making sure the strange man was gone, and that no one was staring at me, I grabbed the note, hesitantly unfolding its edges.
Hands trembling, I held the unfolded scrap of paper higher towards the ceiling light.
HE'S HERE, IN THE FOREST.
After blankly staring at the bold words, I flipped the paper around and saw a sketch of a man. After a closer inspection, I noticed he had long arms that reached his feet, not only did he have long arms, but he had about six tentacles coming out of his back. He wore some kind of formal suit, black and white, and his face had no features on it.
He's here in the forest?
I suddenly remembered that there was a forest behind my small cabin, which was filled with dead trees covered in snow.
After paying for my meal, I left the restaurant and walked home, pushing away my thoughts about the forest and the man. It was pitch black outside and the air felt chilly. There was no one around, the moonlight revealed snow-covered roads and trees and houses around me.
After trekking across inches of fluffy snow, I arrived back in my home. The first thing I did was pull my boots off and heading towards my bed.
I couldn't sleep. Thoughts about the faceless monster, the note, the hooded man, came rushing back into my mind. The horrifying image of the spider-like monster sent shivers down my spine. I felt like I was being watched.
It was completely silent, like everything was frozen in time. I felt like I was being watched, but from where?
Instinctively, I peeked out my bedroom window.
Is that the man in the suit?
… No, that was just a tree.
Restless, I jumped out of bed and pulled my boots on. The snow had melted and made the carpet moist. I decided to venture into the forest and figure out what was going on. I reached for a flashlight in the kitchen, grabbed a few AA batteries in the drawers, and left, locking the door behind me.
I walked into the forest, the snow and branches crunching below my feet. So far, I have seen nothing special. But then I heard a crunching noise behind me.
I turned around, waving my flashlight in a panic to see. A wave of relief washed over me, it was only a squirrel.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I moved onward. I stopped to face a huge tree; it was unlike any of the skinny short trees.
After circumnavigating the monstrous tree, my flashlight revealed a crumbled sheet of notebook paper taped on the tree. In haste, I grabbed the paper and gazed intently at it.
ALWAYS WATCHES, NO EYES.
I noticed that this note was written in the same handwriting as the previous one. I folded the note in half and shoved it in my coat pocket.
After a couple of steps, my flashlight dimmed and turned on and off. I started to get a head ache, and heard a high pitched sound. Then I heard loud, heavy footsteps resonating throughout the whole forest.
Each step I took my heart beat a little faster. I felt like I was being followed.
When my heart felt like it was ready to explode, I turned around and pointed my dim flashlight ahead.
He was there.
He stood there, watching me without eyes, standing still like a tree.
His intense stare captured me and rendered me unconscious.
A few hours later, I woke up clutching me head throbbing with pain. The skies were dark as ever. The moon was the only source of light at this time.
I tried looking around for my flashlight but to my dismay, found nothing. I got up and started walking.
I didn't know where to go, but I needed to get out of this place.
I tripped on a metal object imbedded in the thick snow, it was my flashlight! I hoped that the batteries worked, and they did!
Just as I flipped the switch, I heard the echoing footsteps again. Moving forward from tree to tree, I tried hard not to look behind me.
Is that a small building?
I cautiously walked to the building and inspected it. There was a door frame without a door so I walked through it.
Once I was inside, I noticed the many short hallways and dead ends. The floors were tiles, similar to those in the bathroom.
I walked deeper into this weird labyrinth. My heart beat so violently it echoed.
The menacing footsteps grew louder – it was following me.
I found an empty room with a wooden chair in the corning facing the entrance. Tired, I sat on the chair and turned my flashlight off. After what seemed like five minutes, I felt a coldness shiver through my spine and heard the high pitched sound again.
I saw a faint outline of a tall man. I gasped. In a panic, I turned on my flashlight and he was gone. I left the labyrinth and went back into the forest.
A fence hindered my progress of escaping. Using the last of my energy, I climbed the five foot metal fence. The sun was rising, and the footsteps and the high pitched sound were gone. After making it over the fence, I felt relief and walked towards my house.
Suddenly, I heard the high pitched sound again, almost leaving me deaf. I felt myself being dragged over the fence, and back into the heart of the forest. My head hit a boulder which left me unconscious.
I awoke to the pain of the tall man eating my brain. I felt the warm blood and flesh pouring down my head. I groaned in pain and fell into a deep sleep, never to be wakened again.
