White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

2 days before the Resurgence

I was never one for ghost stories. You might say I didn't believe in them and that supposed scares were just people playing pranks like those killer clown videos on Youtube. With fake blood, fake bodies, the works. The truth is, I didn't really care for them. My friends would joke around a lot with these stories and scare the pants off us when we least expected it. Naturally, I took no part in it.

One day, when I was watching a football game, I overheard one of my pals say something he claimed was true. During a camping trip in White Mountain, he got lost from his fellow campers and was totally stranded. And it was already nightfall, which he interpreted to be a bad sign.

Scary stories set in the woods are too cliche if you ask me. There could be almost anything, from ghosts to werewolves to zombies. I even heard the legend of the Michigan Melon Heads; kids with oversized heads and white eyes who escaped from a hospital where horrific experiments were performed on them. They roamed the woods near Saugatuck, tapping on car windows to attract attention.

Peter said to have encountered something in the woods. An animal. Nearly as big as a bear, but quick as a wolf. The darkness shrouded it from sight, so all he could see was a pair of big, glowing purple eyes that watched his every move. Every time he grew brave enough to investigate, he'd head in the eyes' direction with a swiss army knife in hand… only to find the spot empty.

Everyone laughed it off, as opposed to me who just shrugged it off. Based on the look on Peter's face, I'd have to say it's what he expected. I could tell he was questioning the outcome before he even began. Another friend mockingly asked why the thing didn't attack him like in most stories.

For that, Peter didn't have an answer. Instead, he had a look of surprise on his face. Almost like he never expected that to be brought up. When I looked at him, I could've sworn he was asking himself that same question.

I never thought of that story again for two weeks. That day, I found myself in that same forest he was lost in. Unlike him, I was going solo to get away from the bustling city life of Manchester. Up to that point, I had forgotten about his little story, and even if I hadn't, I would've still dismissed it.

I think it was around a half-hour past midnight when I heard something that stirred me from sleep. I stepped out of my tent to the sounds of barking and growling wolves. They were close, but not too close to be any danger to me. I wondered whether or not I should take caution with the local wildlife.

Suddenly the growls turned into panicked yelps and pained whines. Cutting above the cries of the canines came another sound. A sound like a screaming banshee. A shriek pierced the night and stabbed through my being. I kid you not, my soul seemed to quake at that noise. It was the cry of an animal… but not like any animal I knew.

I took my camera out of my bag, determined to get to the bottom of this. I started to wander out of the campsite, close to where I heard the noises. The beam from my flashlight swept around the ground, but I found no trace of what had happened.

Well, almost no trace. There were drops of blood, tufts of fur, and footprints. Some of them were pawprints and the rest… the rest were something else. They belonged to a big animal. A big, clawed animal. There were two sets of them, meaning the animal was quadruped. The footprints stopped before leaving the clearing… and just stopped. I didn't understand how a pair of footprints could just stop cold. It was like a period at the end of a sentence.

I didn't let that stop me, though. On a hunch, I walked in the direction of the footprints to try and follow the cold trail. There was little light to guide me, only the brightness of the full moon and the beam of my flashlight. And everywhere I looked, I saw darkness.

Then, something moved out of the corner of my eyes. A shadow darting in and out of view. Every time I would aim my flashlight in the direction I thought I saw movement, I saw nothing. Nothing but tree branches. I thought I was losing my mind.

But I managed to catch something just as it fled the light. Something black and long, almost like a snake. It vanished just as quickly as I detected it, leaving me wondering if I had only imagined it.

My heart was pounding like crazy. I was being watched and I knew it. But just what was out there, waiting to strike? I had little in the form of weaponry, and thrown objects were bound to be useless against it.

A loud snap echoed through the dark behind me… and what happened next was a blur. I remember spinning around and holding out my camera, clicking the shutter. In a flash of white light, the forest around me exploded with brightness. In that brief moment, I made out the creature's form as it recoiled in pain and cried out in alarm.

Its howl was haunting, as if I had jabbed something in its amethyst eye. It was big, just as Peter had said. But this was no wolf, nor a bear. It was… something else. It was completely black, resembling one with the night. It reared up on hind legs and shrieking into the dark, and I could see what looked like wings on its shoulders.

My instincts kicked in then, and I was wondering why it didn't happen sooner. Perhaps I was too frozen at the sight of the creature. But it didn't matter now, as I was running for my very life.

Another scream, this one louder and with a hint of rage into it. I could hear my panicked breaths as I stumbled through the brush, the beam of my flashlight darting all across the forest. Was I going to live? Was I going to die? Those questions flipped around in my brain like a coin.

I heard loud thudding footsteps behind me. It was gaining on me, and fast. Impossibly fast. A loud, thunderous roar brought my ears to the brink of bleeding, and I instinctively zigzagged to the side. Just as I did so, I heard the creature botch its landing from a pounce and tumble along the forest floor with the sound of snapping twigs and crunching leaves. It snarled in frustration, buying me more time to escape.

Unfortunately, that time was only five seconds.

Something big and heavy slammed into my back, knocking me to the ground. My blood froze immediately and goosebumps formed on my skin. All my terrified, unblinking eyes could see were two orbs shining in bright purple colors. Its pupils were dilated, almost feline-like in structure. They gazed upon me while a deepened growl originated from the abyss of its dark, nigh-invisible form.

I knew this had to be the same creature Peter claimed to have seen that night. And now, I was in that same position, with mere moments before my brutal execution. I never turned my gaze away from the animal atop me, believing that by doing so my fate would be sealed. The sounds, almost like that of a reptilian, continued to echo in my ears in a warning. But, curiously… the beast did not strike.

Instead, it stared. It examined me like a pet would do with its first toy. The amethyst spheres that stood out among the blackness hovered over my trembling, sweaty form. They blinked for a second, temporarily covering them with the same darkness as the rest of its hidden body.

Then they narrowed aggressively, signaling it was finished toying with its meal. I squeezed my eyes closed, awaiting the inevitable…

Crunch!

But nothing came. At least, nothing I felt. Was it swift enough for my death to be painless?

I realized that was not the case, for everything that had been with me seconds before was still present now: my quickened heartbeat, my panicked gasps for air, and the fearful, terrifying sensation washing all over my body. And I felt no pain. No torn skin, no bleeding wounds, and no breaking bones.

I thought to myself; if not me, then what did that sound belong to?

The creature slowly retreated off my form, lifting its front foot from my camera. Or rather, what used to be my camera. It was now a smashed, shattered mess of metal with parts and components scattered on the ground. The picture I snapped with it- the picture of the creature even I didn't get a chance to look at- was gone forever.

I heard the animal turn its back to me and prepare itself to leave. But before it did, it turned its head to my awfully confused face. As I slowly stood from the ground, I looked into the creature's eyes. Another growl, softer this time, left its throat. And the eyes… to this day, I could have sworn it was trying to tell me something.

I don't know what exactly, but if I had to guess, it might have been warning me and telling me to leave. Leave and never return.

I was tempted to shine my flashlight on it and reveal the creature fully. But I feared doing so would further agitate it and prompt it to smash that as well… and probably separate my head from my shoulders with a single swipe. Instead, I stood still and silent as the creature bounded off into the trees. Its dark form jumped onto a branch and leaped off, vanishing into the darkness. Even after it had left, I was unsure of whether it was truly gone.

The trek back to my campsite, packing everything up, and leaving the forest was all nerve-racking. I could almost feel the creature from afar, watching me from the trees. I felt like it was always watching from afar, leading me to question whether its gaze really was burning into the back of my skull. I would jump at the slightest noise, my relief minuscule when a small creature was revealed to be the culprit. Or as I viewed it, the creature's food.

The apex predator of the night never showed itself to me again, yet its presence was everywhere. I was haunted by shadows I believed to be its shape, and by objects I fearfully mistook for its eyes. But all the while, I question why it did not choose to kill me. Why it was merciful.

Perhaps it was focused not on me, but the camera. Did it know I had captured evidence of its existence? Was that why it reduced my camera to scrap? If so, perhaps I was not the first to encounter it this way. Perhaps Peter went through the same thing.

But without solid proof of its presence in the forest, I knew no one would believe a word I said about it. Because of this, I kept my encounter a secret, just as it ensured to keep its own existence one as well.

Just two days later, our world changed. Reports of strange winged creatures- identical to the creature from the forest- were coming in across the Eastern Seaboard. The Wraith, as I would come to call it, remained elusive. Unlike the others, it did not show itself. Instead, it remained secretive and on the move. When night fell, people would catch glimpses of a dark figure flying through the night sky and avoiding anything with a bright light. Video feeds and pictures alike were useless, as the shape was too dark or blurry to make out any features.

Those who witnessed it would name it "the Shadow", and its mysteriousness brought fear upon them. It could be the most dangerous creature of them all… if the public deemed it real. Instead, the Shadow became an urban legend. A myth. A rumor.

But the rest were, as well. A long time ago. And now that they've proven to be real, how long will it take for the Shadow to do the same and step out of the darkness?