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The pain in my ankle worsens. I’ve gone from sprinting to hobbling over branches, using trees as support. I’m not sure how far I’ve made it when my ankle finally gives out, and I tumble, landing hard on the wet forest floor.
Kneeling on the ground, I gasp for air.
I’d really like to know if whatever growled is following me. But I can barely hear anything over my thundering heart and the rain. Hopefully, I outran whatever is in the forest with me.
I’m doubtful, though. Even with my recent paranormal-inspired fitness routine, I’m not much of a runner.
It’s dark, and I can’t see anything that looks like a path. I need to get out of here. How the hell does one get their bearings at night, in the middle of the woods?
There’s probably a road close to where I was tied to the tree. But going that way means I might come face to face with whatever was there with me.
I’d rather take my chances with dying of exposure. Isn’t dying of hypothermia like going to sleep? I much prefer that over being mauled to death by the thing that growled.
I pull myself up, gingerly testing my ankle. Putting weight on it is excruciating, to the point where I can’t feel my broken thumb or other injuries.
Instead, I get back on the ground and start fishing around in the dark, looking for a walking stick. Themoon is bright, but there are enough clouds that I’m still fumbling around.
I’m still pawing at the ground when I notice a faint light in the distance – my heart soars.
Someone is looking for me!
I wave my arms and yell, trying to flag them over. The light continues to make its way towards me, but there’s something weird about how it moves. It isn’t sweeping or consistent like a flashlight. This light seems to blink. It’s in one spot at one moment, and then less than a breath later, it reappears ten feet ahead.
My brow furrows as I try to rationalize what I’m seeing. Maybe the flashlight batteries are on the fritz?
I’m lying to myself because no human can move that fast.
I start to crawl backwards, trying not to draw more attention to myself. Considering I was screaming and waving a second ago, I recognize how stupid that is.
The creature gets closer, and it’s definitely headed in my direction.
Oh fuck.
It’s another ghost. But unlike the other PG-13 ghosts I’ve been seeing, this creature is something that has crawled straight out of my nightmares.
It has a humanoid shape, but parts of its body look like they have melted. It’s as if the earth is sucking down on the creature’s life force for the sake of overstaying its welcome. Its arms are elongated, and its fingers just about touch the ground.
Something is hanging limply down at its chest – a jaw. It takes me a second to realize it’s a jaw because the creature doesn’t have much of a face. There are twohollow, sunken-in indents where the eyes should be. The mouth opens to a gaping dark hole.
Its skin is a pallid grey, with thin black veins networking over its skin. The creature is facing my direction, and even though it has no visible eyes, Iknowit’s looking at me. And it’s coming for me.
I keep backing up, staying low to the ground as the creature advances. I try not to take my eyes off it because every time I blink, it appears a little bit closer.
As the creature approaches, I smell the stench of rotting meat.
I blindly back up until my feet hit something solid. When the rest of my body presses against said solid thing, I realize I’m an idiot.
In my panic not to look away from the creature, I backed myself into the hollow of a fallen tree. The only way out is forward and around.
Snapping my head to look back at the monster, I scream. It’s directly in front of me now. Its mouth opens even wider, like a giant snake. The gaping maw hangs around the creature’s waist as it descends onto me. The black void that fills the cavernous mouth looms just above my head.
This is it. It’s going to eat me.
With that realization, exhausted and still stricken with grief, I give up.
I can’t outrun this. I’ve probably escaped death far too many times at this point. Instead of letting my terror consume me right along with the creature, I stop screaming and shut my eyes.
Maybe Jackson and I can be friends in the afterlife. The thought brings me peace. At least I won’t be alone anymore.
