Scary Stories

She had heard stories about this place, from the time she was a small child. Stories of monsters materializing out of the shadows, of hikers disappearing without a trace, of unexplained noises in the night. She had always scoffed at those stories.

“Ridiculous!” she declared. ”Just sick people trying to scare kids.”

But she had never challenged those stories. Never visited this place to prove the stories all wrong.

Until now. Tonight. A full-moon night at the end of August. A first-and-last visit before she left this town - forever, she hoped - to go off to a faraway college.

It was shortly before sunset when she arrived at her chosen spot. Under the trees, it was already dark; they seemed to loom over her, rather threateningly. She tried to laugh off that creepy feeling, but wasn’t entirely successful.

She had prepared carefully for the night ahead: flashlight with extra batteries; “space blanket” to chase the early morning chill; a ground cloth to sit on, and a tiny tent to sleep in. ("As if I’m going to sleep!" she thought.) Also, of course, lots of snacks: nuts and dried fruit, crackers and cheese, and a bag of Oreos. And her phone. ("As if I’d go anywhere without my phone!")

She set up her tent on the tarp, threw her sleeping bag inside, then sat cross-legged with her back to a big hemlock tree and settled in to wait. She pulled out her phone for company, although she had promised herself that she wouldn’t use it to contact any of her friends. This was supposed to be a “solo challenge” just between her and the Big Scary Woods. She snorted derisively, laughing at herself and all the children through history who had been gullible enough to believe the stories.

Evening settled in, and the woods became darker. She felt the chill of evening, and wrapped the “space blanket” around herself for warmth. She opened up the Oreos and started munching.

With half of the Oreos gone, she dug out the nuts from her backpack. Took a sip of water from her canteen. Peered into the dark woods.

She must have dozed off, sitting there, because she woke up some hours later. At least, she guessed it was some hours later. It felt later, but when she looked at her phone to check the time, it was dead. She flicked on the flashlight. Also dead. Changed the batteries and tried again. Still dead.

Dead phone, dead flashlight; now she was getting scared. Where was that full moon that was supposed to light the night? She got up to look for the moon, but saw no trace of it through the dense trees. She strained her eyes, but could see nothing in the heavy darkness.

The sudden crash of a fallen branch - behind her somewhere, in the darkness - made her jump. Panic rose in her. She spun around, straining to see, straining to hear. She heard footsteps, heavy, slow, somehow stealthy.

“Who’s there?!” she shouted, really scared now.

A snarl. She spun to her right. A growl, behind her. Another.

A hot streak of pain scored her back from neck to waist, ripping her body open.

"The stories are true…." she thought incredulously. And everything went dark.