Summary: Lacy Lovett finally moved into her dream home after craving some independence from her family. The house was old and falling apart but it was everything. She was willing to rebuild its decrepit walls and ignore all the creaks and sounds that came along with it, until she couldn’t anymore. Will the old White House be the one thing to crack through the non believers hard exterior?
Word count: 6244
The banshee in the mountains 🫣👻❣️
Summary: Brothers, David and Henry Moore were avid hikers. They spent most of their lives hiking through the Appalachian Mountains. They knew it like the back of their hands. They grew up hearing all the stories and tales of what lies within the mountains but they never wanted to believe any of it, that is until one sunny day when they took the hike that changed their lives.
Word count: 2949
The Wendigo in Algonquin Park 🫣 👾❣️
Summary: Élodie and Olivia took a weekend trip out to Algonquin Park every year since they were in high school. All the trips were the same, they’d camp in the same spot, do the same activities and eat the same foods…but this one was different. They were being hunted.
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Fan Fiction
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Pedro Pascal
Marcus Acacius:
Ad Glorium Rome 💔
Summary: She is trapped in this arranged marriage, forced to play the perfect wife to a retched man who can't do anything for himself, let alone anyone he's supposed to care for. She's hoping for some divine miracle to fix this whole situation she's been forced into. He’s the general of Romes army, never married, known for his brutality on the battlefield, and his gruff handsome looks. He’s never thought about love like this, that is until he sees her. Long dark hair, the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen, and in need of someone who truly can treat her the way she deserves. Will they prevail through the odds, or will it all come crashing down?
Total word count: 21,857
masterlist 🥀🔥🍭
part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7 part 8 part 9
Din Djarin:
The knight in beskar armour 🔥🍭❣️
Summary: This was a normal bounty, nothing special. Just the same monotonous work, day after day....till he found her. She was just a woman, alone in an unknown place, fearing for her safety and feeling helpless. She knew he was her only chance to escape this hell and he didn't want a burden to follow him but there was something about her, was she a means to a greater reward or was she going to be the end of him? Could time spent and journey's travelled together melt the cold exterior of the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy? or will it cause everything to crash and burn? Din had no answers, but he needed to find out.
This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession…
Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist I to his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.
Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to u gravel their husband’s dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can be broken only by death.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Emotional, verbal, and physical intimate partner abuse
Gaslighting
War, famine, and plague
Blood and gore
Consensual sexual content
Sadomasochism
Self-harm
Body horror
Violence and murder
Alcohol use
Depression and mania
Brief mentions of:
Sexual assault (not directed at any named character)
everything is 100% written by me, fuck ai <3 I hope you enjoy reading this one and feel free to let me know what you think <3
I am not native american so I'm sorry if some of the lore here is off, but I grew up in southern Ontario and have heard plenty of stories about Wendigo as well as other native folklore and so I wanted to base it off of that but the story is also pulling from the general cryptid lore I've read and my potential encounter with a wendigo. (which is written out at the end of the story) If you are Algonquin First Nations and you notice if anything is completely wrong and/or bothersome please let me know and I'll make sure to fix it <3
xoxo - TheatreDesLestat
Summary: Élodie and Olivia took a weekend trip out to Algonquin Park every year since they were in high school. All the trips were the same, they’d camp in the same spot, do the same activities and eat the same foods…but this one was different. They were being hunted.
In the south-central area of Ontario, Canada, there is a beautiful provincial park known as Algonquin Park. It spans across 7,653 kilometers and is full of wildlife like moose, deer, black bears, and eastern wolves. Unsurprisingly, the area is also rich with native folklore; the most popular stories tend to be about Pagwadjinini (puh-wuh-jih-nih-nee), Memegwesi (meh-meh-gway-seh), and most common, The Widjigo (wee-jih-goh) also known as Wendigo.
It was a beautiful mid autumn day; the air was chilly, and the trees were various shades of red and orange. The sun was bright and added a needed warmth as winter was slowly crawling its way back. Olivia and Élodie were driving to Algonquin Park to camp for the weekend. Every autumn since high school the pair would make this trip. They were lifelong friends who did everything together; they understood each other better than anyone else and believed each other without a second thought, neither one of them had very many friends beside the other one. They both felt as if they didn’t need anyone else, so it was just the two of them, and they were inseparable. They drove along highway 60, entering the east gate of Algonquin park, admiring the trees as they did, “I’ll never get tired of seeing this, I swear. Like look at all the trees! I wish it looked like this all year long.” Élodie excitedly exclaimed in the passenger seat of Olivia’s old Honda civic. Olivia quickly glancing over at her as she softly laughed, “I love that you’re always this excited even though we see every year.” The girls laughed as they talked about anything and everything, making their way to the camp site. Olivia let out a soft squeal before turning the radio up, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac began to play loudly through the speakers as they sang along emphatically. They drove down the road, bopping along to the music that continued to blast through the speakers.
They finally pulled into the campgrounds parking lot at 3pm, Olivia turned off the car and sighed as she climbed out of the driver's seat, stretching in place as she looked around. Élodie joining her soon after, “it seems emptier than normal, there's less cars.” Élodie said as she walked around the car to the trunk, Olivia following as she helped grab the bags, “Yeah...it’s almost eerie.” She chuckled as she said it, but she kept glancing back at the cars. They always camped in this spot, and it was always busy; it was strange. With a huff, the girls pulled everything out of the trunk and sorted out who was carrying what; they pulled a cooler behind them together as they began the small hike to their camping spot. Olivia sucked in a breath before saying, “Do you think we’re going to see a moose again? I wish we took a picture of it.” Élodie chuckled before Olivia continued, “No one believes me when I tell them how close it was! You know what? I'm waking up early tomorrow to see if one is around, I need to get a picture.” The girls softly laughed before Élodie abruptly stopped walking, looking confused as she watched the trees in the distance. Olivia asked “what” repeatedly as she began to get scared. After a few moments, Élodie turned to Olivia and shook her head, “I just thought I saw something... but I think it was just the plants blowing in the wind or a deer or something, come on, let’s get to our spot so we can eat.” She continued to walk, adjusting her bags as she did, Olivia glanced at the spot she was watching, worried about what she could have seen. “Next time tell me when you think you see something, you scared the shit out of me.”
The girls looked around the familiar clearing before dropping their bags and pulling out their tent. “I had to buy a new tent. When I checked the old one was full of holes, I don't know if it was from a mouse or moths, but it was bad.” Oliva began to unpack the tent, dropping poles and fabric in a pile on the grass, placing her hands on her hips in a huff, “I probably should have read the instructions at least once before we got here because I'm lost.” They laughed as Élodie knelt down to help put the tent together, mumbling under her breath as she read the instructions, “I swear you bought the most difficult tent you could find.” Olivia let out a gentle laugh before jokingly apologizing. She looked around the clearing, admiring the quiet that surrounded them, taking a deep breath as she relaxed. “I’m so glad we still do this.” Élodie hummed in agreement as she continued to work on the tent. A soft crack came from behind the trees, gaining the attention of Olivia. She kept her eye on where she thought the sound came from; Her brain nearly convincing her it was bear, so she quickly grabbed some bear spray out of her backpack before watching the trees once more. Élodie glanced up from the tent that was almost built now, sheepishly looking around Olivia to see what could have made the sound. With a heavy sigh, Olivia broke the silence, “I think it was just a bunny of something.” She turned back around to set up their small collapsable table and the two chairs. Goosebumps ran up her arms as she shivered. The feeling of being watched was unmistakable, but she tried hard to push the feeling away.
The tent was finally finished, and Élodie stood up and stretched. “Even though putting this thing together was horrible, it is nice to have a bigger and nicer tent.” She walked over to where Olivia had set up the table and chairs, dropping dramatically into one as she looked over at Olivia with concern, “Are you okay? You seem quiet.” Olivia was snapped out of her deep thoughts before insisting she was fine, she claimed that the drive just made her tired and maybe she didn't sleep enough last night, but still, everything was fine. Élodie said okay because she didn’t want to pry, but she knew something was bothering her. They were ingulfed by the near silence that surrounded them; the only sound was the birds chirping happily as they flew through the trees. They sat there for a while enjoying the serenity.
Olivia’s chair creaked as she finally stood up; the sun was beginning to set, and so she decided that they should start the fire and make dinner, motioning for Élodie to help her pick up some sticks. They both scoured the ground for the perfect sticks, dropping the good ones into a pile six or so feet from their tent. Olivia bent down to configure them perfectly; she was usually the one who built the fire, just as Élodie usually built the tent. Once she deemed the heap of sticks acceptable, she pulled out her box of matches, Élodie standing by with some dry grass in her hand, ready to light the fire. It took a moment for the fire to catch the sticks; Olivia was gently blowing on it to strengthen the flames. It took a few minutes before Olivia decided the fire was fine, hopping up from her spot before happily clapping. Élodie brought over the bag that contained their food for the trip, pulling out a few hot dogs and placing them onto the skewers. They sat by the fire, laughing as they chatted about everything and anything. After finishing their food, they cleaned up anything that might have fallen before grabbing their chairs and moving them closer to the fire. The air began to feel damp as the sun slowly retreated behind the trees, leaving them shivering. The sun was the only thing keeping the cold away now as the winter air felt like it blew in every night.
Élodie let out an affable laugh as she took a drink of her canned cider, the liquid leaving a comfortable warmth as it went down. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but as she was sitting by the fire with her best friend on their annual trip, she didn’t mind having a few drinks throughout the weekend. Olivia sat next to her, laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes as she brought up a memory from their first Algonquin trip, “Oh my god... do you remember when we first came up here and decided to camp out at Tea Lake and I decided that I knew how to fish?” she laughed harder as she recalled the memory, Élodie almost spitting out her drink as she laughed, “Oh god, yes! I’ll never forget the look on your face when you actually felt the fish pulling. You were so excited and then it pulled you so hard you flew into the water. I was trying to help you up, but I was laughing too hard.” She took a second to catch her breath before continuing, “Thank god for that random family that was hiking past us, if it wasn’t for them, I think we would have been stuck in the water for the rest of the night.” The pair laughed loudly as they finished their drinks, throwing them into the makeshift garbage can. They proceeded to talk about all the fun memories from previous trips as the night when on. The fire slowly faded, and the bugs grew louder as they sang their little songs, welcoming the moon as it rose high above the trees.
The night was calm and cold; a quiet rumble started far across Algonquin Park as a storm made its way across the forest. Subtle flashes of light lit up the night sky just as the rain started to fall. Olivia and Élodie jumped up from their seats as they felt the rain; they ran to grab anything that would get destroyed by the water and threw everything into their tent, laughing as the rain picked up. They folded the chairs up and pinned them underneath the cooler to keep them from blowing away if the wind got bad. The fire was almost extinguished now, so they decided to leave it. The fire would be fully out any minute now because of the sheer amount of water that was coming down. After double checking around them, they decided everything was secure enough, so they climbed into their tent. Élodie pulled a towel out of her backpack and placed it at the opening of the tent just to make sure the water stayed out. They sat quietly as they listening to the rain pelting outside of the tent, the comforting silence was disturbed as Olivia spoke, “Is this a bad time for me to say that I forgot to check what the weather was supposed to be like this weekend?” Élodie snapped her head around to look at Olivia; her mouth slightly open in disbelief before she burst out laughing, Olivia quickly joined her.
They laughed for a while as the rain slowly stopped. Both Olivia and Élodie pulled books out of their bags to read before they went to bed; their camping lantern occasionally causing the light to flicker against the fabric of the tent. The night felt serene as the sounds of the water dripping of the trees almost echoed through the clearing. Before they knew it the both of them had drifted off to sleep. They slept peacefully and completely undisturbed for hours. Olivia slowly opened her eyes and yawned; she glanced over at Élodie and saw she was still peacefully sleeping. Realixing as it was still dark out; she rolled back over and closed her eyes. As she did, a distinct cracking sound rang out from outside the tent. Her eyes shot open and her heart raced; the sound was close to the tent. It sounded like it was creeping around the tent, slowly walking as if it was stalking them. Olivia waited a few moments to see if it would leave on its own, but it sounded like it kept circling the tent. She was shaking as she gentle woke up Élodie, immediately holding her pointer finger to her lips to keep her from speaking. Élodie sat upright and frantically looked around as her breathing quickened; she looked at Olivia almost panicking as she heard the sound. They looked at each other with fear in their eyes, both unsure what to do. They didn’t know what kind of animal it was or if it was a person messing with them but neither one of them wanted to check. They continued to wait in silence, hoping whatever it was would back off.
It felt like hours before whatever it was slowly walked away; both of them sat quietly just in case it decided to walk back. Olivia shifted before she crawled over to the opening of the tent, taking a deep breath as she slowly unzipped it, leaving just enough room for her to poke her head out. She looked around as much as she could while listening for any sound she could possibly hear, but it was silent. She couldn’t see anything out there either, so she unzipped the tent fully as she climbed out, Élodie gently grabbing her ankle to stop her, “what if its right behind the tent or if it's not far away and it's looking this way?” She spat out nervously. Olivia put her hand out as a way of calming her, “It’s ok. I heard it walk away; I'm not going to fully look... I’ll just peak around the tent.” Without saying anything else, she climbed out and cautiously looked behind the tent. She couldn’t see anything in the clearing or near the tree line. Whatever it was, it was gone. She bent down and motioned for Élodie to come outside. The sun had begun to light up the sky ever so slightly, aiding Olivia as she extended her search to behind the tent. Élodie begrudgingly joined Olivia and brought the camping lantern out with her for some extra light as she helped look around. “Look at the hoof prints! They look weird, like they're big but not big enough for a moose, maybe it’s a baby.” Olivia scratched her head as she looked closer, the look of the hoof marks making her completely baffled. “Also, look.” Élodie said as she pointed to the tracks, “They're placed weird; they're way too close together to be from an animal. It’s like whatever it was, was on two feet.” They looked at each other; fear and confusion firmly planted on their faces.
They barely spoke as Olivia made breakfast. Neither one knew what to say, but the overall feeling of fear and bewilderment emanated through the air. They were both trying to rap their heads around what that was but couldn’t. They’ve been coming out here for years, and neither one of them had experienced anything like that, nor had they heard about anyone else who had. Theres been plenty of dear that have passed by their tent before, and there was even the moose that Olivia is still mad that she didn’t get a picture of, but Élodie was sure whatever that thing was... It was walking on two feet. They collectively decided to shake off what happened. Figuring they’ll never come up with a rational explanation; the girls wanted to enjoy the weekend, not dwell on the one scary thing that has happened in that clearing. “Do you still want to go and try to catch some fish?” Élodie sighed, hoping to distract her friend. Olivia quickly lifted her head up from her food and looked at her with a very serious contemplative look on her face. Her mind ran wild with anxiety inducing thoughts. What if the thing returns when they were gone and destroys their stuff? What if they get too far away from their spot and get lost? What if someone steals their stuff? Élodie placed her hand on Olivia's thigh in an attempt to disrupt her thoughts, “Hey, we don’t have to. I was just asking because that’s what you said you wanted to do.” She sweetly smiled at her as her own anxiety grew. Olivia was never one to get anxious like this. She was the levelheaded one, the one who always had the rational response, the one who always pushed others to lighten up and relax. Seeing her like this was nerve-racking.
Olivia took a deep breath as she placed her plate down, swallowing to clear the anxiety that crawled up her throat. Turning her attention to Élodie, “Don’t forget to grab a few drinks to bring with us. The last thing I want is to be stuck out there, bored and without a drink.” A large jovial smile planted on her face, “Can you tidy up while I go pee?” Élodie laughed as she said yes, watching her friend grab her bag before walking just beyond the tree line.
Olivia’s hands shook as she grabbed her bag. Her nerves were wrecked but she was refusing to ruin this trip because of some weird anxiety. She repeatedly reminded herself that there was no point in getting this worked up over some animal, and animal that was just looking around because it smelled their food or maybe was just curious about their tent but either way, she let out a slow breath as she walked towards the trees. Her eyes were locked on the bushes that grew not far from the clearing. She refused to look around much just in case there was something else that was waiting to scare her. She walked deeper into the trees, stepping over the slippery rocks and the occasional soggy log, trying hard not to trip. Her eyes planted on the ground as she tried to clear a spot to go pee. She finished what she needed to do and stood to readjust her clothes. She was about to turn around to head back to the campsite when she heard a snap. She held her breath as she looked around, the sound came from behind her, but she couldn’t see anything. Olivia squinted her eyes in hopes it would help her vision adjust to the dim lighting better, but it was no help. She waited for a few beats before dragging her eyes away from that spot. Slowly, she began to walk back. She was aware of every movement she was making, cringing when she made the slightest noise. Just as she thought she was in the clear, she heard it again. The distinct sound rang out like it was the only sound among the trees. Her blood ran cold as she apprehensively turned. “Hello?” She yelled out quieter than she wanted to, hoping the sound would scare off any animals. Silence. So, she tried again, louder this time. Still nothing. Olivia began to sheepishly walk backwards. She would occasionally look over her shoulder to make sure she didn't get hurt or surprised by anything, but never long enough to really take her attention off of where the sound came from. As she glanced over her shoulder once more, she heard a soft, airy whistle. Her head snapped back around to look, and as she did, she saw something in the distance. Large antlers stuck out from behind a tree, they appeared to be well over six feet in the air. Olivia froze; her breathing nearly stopped entirely as she watched it. She only turned to run when it looked like the thing was beginning to move again. She ran as fast as she could, tears started to fall down her cheeks as she heard whatever it was moving behind her. She took one final look behind her as she exited the tree line. The creature slid back behind a shadowed tree, turning its antlers away from the light.
She continued to run, keeping her eyes locked on the camp as she screamed for Élodie. She nearly collapsed at her feet when she made it back. Élodie pulled her into a tight hug and tried to soothe her frantic crying. “Shhh it’s ok. It's ok.” She kept repeating her attempts at soothing her for what felt like hours before Olivia slowly pulled away. Olivia knelt onto the grass and placed her hands on her thighs, taking deep breaths as she tried to regain her composure. Élodie joined her before asking what happened. Shaking her head, Olivia tried to speak but the words couldn’t come out. She shakily grabbed her friend's hand, hoping it would ground her. Élodie handed her some water and helped her take a sip. “I saw it.” she said, it came out hoarse and was barely audible but Élodie heard her. “You saw what?” she gently asked, “The thing. The thing from last night. I’m sure I saw it.” She almost yelled as she snapped her head around to look at where she had seen it. Élodie nervously glanced at where she was looking before helping her friend off the ground, “I believe you. It’ll be ok.” She led Olivia over to one of the foldable chairs and tucked a blanket over her legs when she sat down. “It was huge! It had these massive antlers, but it wasn’t like a moose. It hid behind a tree as I ran, and I heard it whistle.” Olivia nervously bit her fingernails as she recalled what she saw. “It was like seven feet tall or something, but I swear it was on two legs, there's no way it would have been able to hide behind the tree if it wasn't.” Élodie nodded her head as she listened. She’d occasionally look over her shoulder to see if anything waited near the tree line. The fuzzy picture of what she thought she saw in bushes when they first arrived in the clearing replayed in her head. “We can leave if you want to. I don't want you to be worried the whole time we’re here.” Olivia shook her head no. They only took this trip once a year and she didn’t want it to be ruined because she got scared by some weird animal. “Maybe we can just pack up our stuff and move to a different spot, one closer to the car, just in case.”
The girls hastily packed up their camping gear and cautiously hiked back to the car. Olivia clung to Élodie’s arm the whole way, frequently looking over her shoulder as they walked. Élodie talked aimlessly about her family and what they’ve been up to lately in an attempt to distract Olivia. She knew nothing was going to take her mind off what she saw. The description Olivia gave her was running through her own head too. She’d never heard of anything like that. Well, maybe she heard a few tales now and again, but none of that was real. The only thing she could think of was that it was a deformed deer or moose. That was it. She tried to shake off the thoughts, but she knew it would be in the back of her mind for a while.
They made it back to Olivia’s car and threw their stuff in the trunk. “If we go ten minutes down the road, there's a camping spot next to one of the lakes. It’s only like a minute walk away from where you park.” Élodie chirped as she climbed into the passenger seat, Olivia followed and sat in the driver's seat, starting the car. She drove down the road as she followed Élodie’s vague directions, eventually pulling into the small parking lot. Olivia watched the small lake sparkle under the sunlight as Élodie pulled the gear out of the trunk. She breathed slowly as her mind wondered, causing her to get lost in thought. Pictures of the thing she saw flooded her mind, her brain still trying to rationalize everything. Her hands shook as she held them firmly on the steering wheel. Her knuckles started to turn white as she squeezed harder, the airy whistle playing on repeat. The sound was haunting her mind. She startled out of her daze when Élodie gently knocked on the window, a delicate smile plastered on her face. The door opened and Élodie held her hand out to help Olivia stand. They divided up the bags and walked the short path to the new campgrounds.
Élodie dropped the bags and stood at the edge of the water with her hands placed on her hips, “I know we kind of decided the other spot was our go to, but this one is stunning.” Olivia walked up to her, wrapping her arms around her waist and placed her head on Élodie’s shoulder. The pair stood there for a few minutes admiring the sunlight that reflected off the lake. Olivia let out a deep sigh as she lifted her head to look at Élodie, “You’re right... this one is quieter too. I like it.” They both enjoyed the quiet surroundings before setting up their stuff. Élodie once again put the tent together as Olivia set up the table and chairs. Grabbing a few water bottles from the cooler, she walked up to Élodie and sat down next to her, “Do you need any help?” She asked sweetly, handing the bottle to her best friend, “Thank you. No, I'm good, it's easier the second time.” Olivia smiled as she sat back, looking around the campgrounds as the wind blew through her long hair. A deep sigh exited her lips as she flopped back against the grass; she looked up at treetops feeling the warmth of the sun on her face as her anxiety felt like it melted away.
Élodie finished building the tent and glanced over at Olivia, seeing her finally relax after the events of this morning was refreshing. She joined Olivia by laying down in the grass, looking up at the treetops just as she did. Watching the birds soar through the air above them calmed the looming anxiety. The sounds of the crickets and the last cicadas chirped softly, filling Olivia and Élodie’s ears with their song. The pair looked at each other with a silent, comforting look. They laughed and chatted for a while before they decided to get up. “So, do you still want to go fishing?” Élodie giggled as she asked, Olivia craned her next to look at her with a laugh, “We might as well. Theres no point in wasting the rest of the day now.” She giggled as she climbed to her feet. She walked over to the bag that held their fishing supplies and grabbed what they needed. Élodie eventually stood up and walked closer to the water to see if it was a good spot. Carrying over the fishing rods, Olivia handed one over to Élodie. “I think this spot is good! It looks-” she was cut off by a loud snap coming from behind them. The girls nearly screamed as they quickly turned around, Olivia bumping into Élodie as she instinctively tried to hide. Their hearts were beating out of their chests as Élodie yelled out. “Who’s there?” she repeated it a few times before a man slowly walked out from the trees. The man approached with his hands in the air to show he wasn't a threat, “I'm sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.” he softly chuckled before continuing, “I was just making my way back to the main path, I didn’t realize anyone was camping here. I swear I'm just passing through.” He had put his hand back down now and smiled at them. Both the girls continued to breathe heavily. They apologized for yelling at him before saying their goodbyes, the man waved goodbye as he continued along the path.
After a beat, they just looked at each other. No laughing or comfort came from either of their mouths. Olivia shook her head before casting her line into the water, Élodie sighed as she followed her lead. Neither one wanted to talk about it again for fear the anxiety and worries would bubble up once more.
They spent the rest of the afternoon fishing. Neither one was very good at it, but they did catch a smallmouth bass which caused them to squeal in excitement and nearly drop it back into the water, finally placing it in the bucket of water that Olivia eventually remembered to fill. They stood at the edge of the lake for a few more hours before they both decided to give up and celebrate the single fish they caught. Élodie excitedly ran around picking up some sticks, yelling about how she was going to build a fire so they could cook it. Olivia watched her, chuckling to herself as she helped clear a safe spot for the fire. As Élodie built the fire, Olivia prepped the fish. “You know, I didn’t actually expect us to catch anything...” she paused for a moment, “I lied, I was hoping we wouldn’t catch anything because this is disgusting.” Olivia said as she held up the now prepped fish, faking a gag. “Yeah, that’s why I ran to make the fire. I know it’s normally your job, but I wasn’t touching that thing.” Élodie pulled up the chairs and placed them next to the fire as the flames slowly began to grow. Before she sat down, she grabbed the cooler and pulled out the bagged veggies that Olivia remembered to pack. She made a platter of veggies and some fruit she cut up, handing it over to Olivia so she could place the fish once she was done cooking it.
The sun once again leisurely fell behind the trees as the moon took its place. The girls ate their food and boasted about catching the smallmouth bass. In all the years they’ve attempted to fish in Algonquin Park; they'd never caught a fish big enough to eat. “I just realized we should have posed with it.” Olivia yelled out as her fork was almost at her mouth, disappointment creeping into her features. “What? like half the men on tinder?” Élodie nearly choked as she laughed, Olivia replied with an enthusiastic yes as she threw her hands in the air, nearly spilling her food into the fire. “Listen, we know that we can actually catch a proper fish now so next time we will! I’ll remember, I promise.” They both settled back into their chairs as they finished eating. Once they tidied up, they returned to the fire and watched the flames dance with the wind. “I’m sorry for scaring you earlier. I genuinely thought it was life and death, but it was just a weird deer.” Olivia said out of the blue. She chewed on the inside of her lip and never took her eyes off the flames. Élodie cleared her throat and thought for a moment. She knew Olivia well enough to trust her instincts, so if she was panicking about whatever she saw then it must have been panic worthy. Plus, it aligned with the strange thing she saw in the bushes. She turned to look at Olivia; her long hair blew in the gentle breeze and allowed her to see the worried look that planted itself on her face. Élodie studied her face, “Look... we’re supposed to leave tomorrow afternoon and till then let’s not dwell on it or even think about it. Ok?” Olivia finally dragged her eyes away from the fire and sheepishly smiled, “Ok.”
Olivia rose from her chair and pulled out the battery powered radio from her backpack, “I’m going to put on some music to keep bears and whatnot away.” She said as she set it up on top of the cooler, adjusting the antenna to catch any signal she could get. It took a minute to find something within the static. The only station it could pick up was a classical music station, Élodie looked at her friend, “I'm fine with that of you are. It’s a lot better than the static that's for sure.” Olivia silently agreed as she straightened her back before she made an attempt at ballet. She held her hands above her head in a sad O and twirled around the fire on her tiptoes. 21 Hungarian dances blared from the speakers and Élodie clapped along, encouraging her friend to keep dancing while occasionally yelling at her to be careful around the fire. “I swear if I have to throw you into that freezing lake because you caught on fire, I will!” She joyfully laughed as Olivia pulled her from her seat to dance with her. They danced along as best they could to The Nutcracker, neither one knowing the dance. They danced and laughed and sang along to the instruments until the sun went down. They finally sat back down in the chairs as the fire slowly faded out. Olivia yawned hard, causing Élodie to follow suit. “I kind of want to go to bed early tonight.” Olivia dramatically turned her head to look at her friend, “Maybe all the bad dancing wasted your energy.” Élodie stuck her tongue out before picking up the water bucket and dumping it on the remainder of the flames. “How dare you! I'm obviously a professional. Next time you want to see that magnificent show, you’ll have to pay.” She stormed off into their tent with fake outrage, tripping on the lip of the tent as she laid down. “I doubt with that clumsiness you’re going to get very far.” Élodie rebutted as she joined her, grabbing the small lantern before zipping them in for the night.
Élodie tried to stay up and read as long as she could, but her eyes felt heavy. Olivia had long since fallen asleep; she softly snored as she was tucked into her sleeping bag, sleeping peacefully. She finally closed her book, accepting defeat. She glanced at her watch to check the time; it was only just after 11 but she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Dimming the lamp before she tucked herself into the sleeping bag. The music still played on the radio that was sitting outside their tent, acting as a sleep aid as it lulled Élodie right to sleep. Hey eyes drifted close and her breathing steadied. Soon enough both the girls slept soundly. Not even the loud chirping of bugs or the random small wildlife passing by could wake them. It was peaceful.
It couldn’t have been more than three hours before a deafening shrill shriek rung out; it travelled across the lake and echoed off the trees. Both girls sat up before they even properly opened their eyes. The soft classical music had now been replaced by a constant static. The bugs had gone all but silent, and the sound of their erratic breathing filled the tent. They looked between each other, both beginning to think the sound that woke them must have come from the radio. Olivia shifted slightly to turn on the lantern but as she did, the sound happened again. This time it was louder. It was closer. In a panic, the girls slammed into each other trying to scurry away from the opening of the tent. They could hear each step it took. Each step was calculated; they were slow and steady.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
The sound of the hoofs slowly stomping through the grass was undeniable. The smell of decay was being carried on the wind, and it filled their nostrils. The girls instinctively covered their noses to try and block the smell, but it didn’t work. The beast made its way around the campgrounds, casually circling them.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
Olivia squeezed Élodie’s arm so hard she was losing feeling, but she didn’t care, that was the only thing keeping her from passing out. Élodie closed her eyes hard and took a deep breath. She listened to the methodical thumps till she was confident it was behind them. Taking a sharp inhale before she lunged forward and tried to open the flap as quietly as she could, Olivia’s silent plea’s going unnoticed. Élodie let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as the flap dropped. Shakily, she crawled close enough to the opening to peak around the side. Tears formed in her eyes as the fear took over; she tried to blink them away so she could see. Olivia was right behind her, grabbing her leg and biting her own hand to stop the sobs that threatened to fall out of her mouth. Élodie feebly crawled a few inches forward and hesitantly lifted her gaze from the floor. All the colour drained from her face and she broke out into a sweat as Olivia repeatedly asks, “what is it?” through tears. Élodie froze. She was unable to move a single muscle. Olivia silently cried as she forced herself to crawl next to her friend. A single sob escaped her mouth when she saw it.
The thing was standing slightly hunched over; despite that it was huge. It had to be at least 10 feet tall, and it looked emaciated. Its ashy, gray skin was tightly stretched over its body almost exposing its human-like bones, and its eyes had sunken deep into its skull like head. A huge rack of antlers perched on top of his boney head and creaked every time it rubbed up against the trees. It took slow steps and almost dragged its long arms, occasionally moving the long claw like fingers to brush the grass. It let out a deep, inhuman, guttural growl as it stalked around. It’s slow, calculated steps thumped against the cold, damp earth. The smell of death and decay wafted around with each gust of wind, it was sickening.
Olivia tried to shake her friend out of her daze, “Élodie please, we have to run. We have to get to the car.” she spoke just above a whisper, “come on, let’s go. Now.” She cautiously leaned back, glancing behind herself to mentally make a path back to her car. Élodie finally looked away from the beast, her face impossibly pale, and she looked like she was going to be sick. Her shaky hand pointed in the direction of it as words tried to come out, “Wendigo.” was the only thing she could manage to spit out. “I know, I know. But we have to leave right now.” Olivia said as she forced her voice to be strong and steady. Olivia did her best to quietly lead her friend to where they could run. She and Élodie moved as fast as they could while crouching; neither one taking their eyes off the Wendigo as they moved.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
The menacing sound taunted them. Olivia dragged Élodie behind her as she switched her gaze to the path in front of them. “Élodie.” She sharply spat as she yanked her. Élodie torn her eyes from the wendigo and looked where Olivia was looking. “Run.” is all she said before breaking out into a full sprint, Élodie right on her heals. They maneuvered as best they could through the dark trees, almost entirely relying on muscle memory to get to the car. The ground was muddy and slippery from the previous night's rain, making it hard to run as fast as they needed to. As they began to believe they made it out, the wendigo let out another ear-piercing shriek. Élodie started to sob as she ran, and Olivia reached behind to grab her, “We’re almost there.” She tried to encourage her but her voice shook. Just then, it sounded like Élodie was screaming for her. She looked back in a panic and saw her friends pale face, “That wasn’t me!” She yelled in complete horror. Olivia snapped her head back around; her breath caught in her throat when she saw the moonlight reflecting off the car. They began to run faster now that they could see the end goal; they pushed through the pain that started in their lungs and migrated throughout their legs. Just as they reached the car, the familiar thumping began again.
*thump* *thump* *thump*
They scrambled into the car and Olivia tried to start the engine; it screeched and rumbled as they started to yell. Élodie kept her eyes on the trees and saw them sway. The wendigo pushed its way through like they weighed nothing. She saw its antlers as the creature rapidly approached. It was faster than anything they’d ever seen, and somehow it felt like it was holding back. She screamed loud for Olivia to get the car started, “I’m trying!” She frantically screamed back as the engine finally kicked in. The car pulled out of the parking lot as fast as it would allow, the wendigo closely following behind. It screeched and screamed as it chased them, mimicking Olivia’s cries and screams. Olivia pushed the car to go faster than she's ever driven it. She followed the highway knowing it was the quickest way out. Élodie sat turned around in her seat, tears streaming down her face as she watched in horror as the wendigo had no issue keeping up with them. The sun was starting to rise; they had been driving for nearly an hour now. “Why won’t it give up!” Olivia yelled as she glanced at it in the rear-view mirror. “I don't know. But it can’t chase us forever, can it?” The wendigo let out an earth-shattering scream as it ran into the trees on the side of the road, moving alongside them. It was trying to hide as it continued to pursue them. The sun was almost fully up, and it reflected off the water and lighting up the highway. They lost sight of it as the road turned, but they heard it. The unforgettable shriek shook the trees and travelled with the wind. It sounded far away; they finally lost it.
Olivia continued to drive well above the speed limit as she feared the wendigo would pop out from anywhere. Their breathing began to settle as the adrenaline was wearing off. She kept her focus on the road as she knew they were getting close to the east gate, and they’d be free. Olivia gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white and ached. Élodie had turned around now and did up her seatbelt, holding onto it with her right hand as if that would keep her from floating away.
The large stone building came into view as they drove closer to the gate. They made it. Olivia couldn’t help but laugh. Her laughter filled the quiet space; it eventually spread to Élodie who began to laugh so hard she had tears in her eyes. Olivia let off the gas a little, ensuring the car was now following the posted speed. There was no need to speed now. They got out. Élodie reached over to turn the radio on, wiping the tears from her eyes as she sat back in her seat. She watched the trees pass the car window as she bopped her head along to the music. Olivia began to hum along as the opening notes of Dog days are over by Florence + the machine happily played.
They sung and hummed along to the radio as it played several songs, Élodie finally deciding to speak, “Let’s come up with something else to do next year. A new tradition.” She said through a huge smile, “Agreed.” Olivia laughed before abruptly stopping, “I really wish I got that picture of the moose last year though.”
Thank you so much for reading, and now here's my own short potential encounter with a Wendigo. <3
quick word count: 382
So this happened a year or two ago. I was out walking my very elderly dog at the time, more like pulling her along in a wagon because she couldn't walk anymore but I was with my mom and brother. We were walking down the street in front of our house, walking towards a small parkette that caps the end of our neighbourhood. This park sits right in front of a decent sized forest. Now normally the park has a lot of singing birds and small bunnies and squirrels that roam around in the grass away from the playground, but as we walked closer to it, there was nothing. Mind you, that wasn't completely out of the ordinary for the area, it has always had moments of weird silence because of various foxes or coyotes scaring everything as they walked through. But anyways, as we walked closer we all saw this scrawny, tall, and gaunt looking thing with long arms and it kind of jogged across the grass and into the forest. None of us had seen anything like that before but it guaranteed was not human. We all kind of looked at each other a little scared but mostly confused and our poor dog tried to jump out of the wagon as she was so scared. This was really weird for her as her back legs were pretty much paralyzed and she also couldn't really see or hear very well either. As soon as we realized what she was doing, we tried our best to comfort her but every time we tried to walk closer to the park, she'd freak out again. So we turned around and decided to walk the other way. We kept hearing a weird whistle in the distance which we chalked up to someone whistling in their backyard but again my dog HATED it. After we got back home, I decided to google it because it reminded me of something but I couldn't remember what. My brother jokingly called it a Skinwalker but as it turned out, it fit the description of a Wendigo. Now I'm not saying with 100% conviction that it was BUT If it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck, than its a duck, If you know what I mean.
Anyways, thank you so much for reading. I appreciate it so much. Please let me know what you think and feel free to share your own cryptid stories if you have any <3
if you want to read more of my stories, here is my masterlist:
*this is not to shame anybody. if you used to use chatgpt in the past but have stopped, kudos to you, this post still includes you. if you are still using chatgpt, then I guess I can’t stop you — but if you ever decide to stop using it in the future, you may then claim your star too
Hello I wrote a horror story based on finnish folklore if you'd like to read. Decided I can put it other places than reddit
Usually when people go missing it happens with a slow descent of veil of confusion and dread. Where assumed sick leave extends a bit too long until the next time you see their face again is on a lamp post or the local newspaper. It’s a slow burn of agonizing uncertainty and fear.
That wasn’t the case for Anna. I was right there with her when she disappeared. For her whereabouts I was the last person to see her yet I was the only one left with questions.
It was early May when we were walking home from school, opting to cut through the patch of forest as we often would. Marrassilta was a typical finnish town, where one couldn’t walk a mile in any direction without coming to a forest or a waterfront - or both. The path stomped clear with roots of the pine trees lifted almost as if natural staircase edges wasn’t just our doing, many locals freely traversed the woods and some parts of it were kept clear to lay out a ski track on during winters.
Even such a small patch of a forest across a hill between neighborhoods was growing thick enough that if you didn’t know any better, you would expect the start of the trail to lead you somewhere deep in the wilderness, not the road right across some 1000 feet or as the locals would say, 300 meters.
Anna was following behind me as the path squeezed too narrow to walk side by side. Both of us had tripped enough times on this path that I was sure she and I kept our eyes on the ground for any mischievous roots pushing higher than expected. I still remember our conversation as clearly as yesterday. We were calculating how many times we would be able to go swimming during the upcoming summer break before Anna had to go spend a portion of the vacation with her dad in a different town.
“I can always ask to stay here but I doubt-”.
It took me a few steps in silence before I realized my friend had stopped mid-sentence. Pausing I realized her footsteps behind me had ceased at the same time as her words. And when I turned around, I saw nobody. Confused, I looked around and called out for her. The steep hill path down I saw the red tiled rooftops of the neighborhood houses but no sign of Anna tumbling or rolling down from having tripped. Then I peered into the trees on both sides of me. Anna’s bright pink and yellow jacket would’ve been easy to spot but I only saw shades of green and brown. I broke off the path to check behind the thickest trees around even though from the path it was obvious nobody would’ve been able to fully hide behind them. Once I was sure Anna was absolutely nowhere in sight and wouldn't respond to my calls, with the bubbling panic and anxiety in my chest spreading out to the rest of my body I did the only thing I could think of as a scared and confused 14-year-old. I ran home and called my parents.
I would’ve preferred that people reacted as if she never existed. Her being a figment of my imagination would’ve made more sense - would’ve put me in less distress - than what followed.
“Honey, what are you saying? Anna? I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me, but it’s going to be okay. I’ll be home in an hour. Dad will be in two. Just eat and drink something. See you soon, ok?” my mother’s confused but calm voice responded to my frantic attempt to explain what had just occurred.
At that moment my thoughts wandered aimlessly grasping for explanations. My imagination offered me many solutions, among them that Anna was dead, and had been since last summer.
We had been swimming in the local lake, against our parents’ instructions trying out small dives to observe the underwater world. Anna tried it at a spot where her toes barely touched the ground.
I genuinely thought then she was going to drown.
“DON’T TELL MY MOM”, her terrified voice echoed in my head.
For an hour I sat with the idea that she did drown that day and I had been with a ghost or something..
If only.
They told me Anna moved away.
They told me that it had been almost half a year since her family left to live in a different city. When I insisted that was impossible - that I had just spent the whole school day with her - they gave me sympathetic smiles and my mother hugged me stroking my hair. She assured me I could go visit Anna in her new home during the summer break. Choking with tears and having difficulty breathing I knew what they were saying was not true but why would my parents lie to me after what had just happened? I felt like I was negotiating between reality and my mind asking them which city she moved to. They were very nonchalant in telling me they could not remember the name of it which immediately broke the mental bridge I had prepared to build to calm myself down.
My parents believed I had fallen asleep after getting home and had a very realistic dream. I knew I had not been dreaming. I knew Anna had been with me through the school day and our classmates and teachers saw her. My next lifeline.
The next day in school I asked our homeroom teacher about Anna but she told me the same as my parents. Anna had moved away about half a year ago to a town whose name escaped her at the time. It was unacceptable. I broke down in front of her and was sent home.
I didn’t go to school again until August. I spent our 2-month long summer vacation between grades visiting therapists and psychiatrists.. As far as everyone knew, Anna had simply moved away and I was confusing a realistic dream as a memory. I was prescribed drugs to help with night terrors and disorders I didn’t have. It didn’t matter how many times I insisted on what I experienced was real, it only led to the doctors debating what other medication I was in need of.
A week before school would start again I found myself sitting at the weekly session with the therapist. I must have appeared as a grumpy and uppity teenager, hanging my head and not saying much. In truth I was just so dejected. Nothing I said mattered. I had begun a battle in my head between what I remember and what everyone else told me was real.
“Look, Jade”, the therapist smiled at me with professional warmth, ”I know it must have been hard to have your best friend move away. Do you think you might have had similar experiences with being abandoned as a child maybe?”
I looked up at her once and shook my head back down.
I didn’t know if Anna would’ve actually counted as my best friend. She was just the only one I got along with in our class. It helped that Anna had close family members that were bilingual so she was more fluent in english than most of our peers.
She was the first and only one even counting teachers who pronounced my name correctly. Unfortunately The Revenge of the Sith had just arrived in the theaters during the spring and summer prior to my start at the new school and the boys of my class quickly decided our teacher’s mispronunciation of my name during the introduction sounded close enough to Yoda. I’m sure some of my class thought it was lighthearted joking around while a select few definitely did it only out of malice but the entire class - except for Anna - since day one agreed on what they’d call me instead of my actual name.
Still with nobody able to tell me the name of the city Anna supposedly moved to and memories of that day she vanished still feeling like clear memories instead of a dream, for the first time I dreaded returning to school. I would’ve gladly skipped a year.. or two, but all the adults involved with me said it would benefit me more to see my classmates and get back to the routine - that it’d bring me back to normalcy.
Arriving at school on the first monday of August that year I felt like the whole school gathered at the yard waiting for the bell to call us in was staring at me. Normally I would’ve scanned between the clusters of students for Anna. I instead met eyes with some of the girls in my class, who immediately turned to say something to each other covering their mouth with their hand.
At that moment I froze and didn’t move even as the bell rang and the masses of students started to drag themselves to class. I stared at the slightly wet asphalt ground wondering if everyone at school knew why I had not shown up to class for the rest of May. Where I had spent the entirety of June and July at. The boys in my class delighted in picking on me with their lazy nickname and I didn’t know the native language enough to be able to even talk back to them. Were they going to latch onto my ‘situation’? Was I already branded with all kinds of stigma and a host of new titles to my name? Was that all I had to look forward to combined with adults trying to pull me into their reality and - without Anna - not a single friend to lean to?
I almost stood there in front of the school for the entire first period until I realized everyone would soon crowd around me for recess. The thought of facing a single person in the school took hold of my feet and walked me away setting home as my destination.
Walking home I had to pass by the place.
The start of the path through the small piece of a forest where Anna disappeared.
Ever since that day I found myself now scared of the forest. It didn't matter if it was a tiny patch of trees in our backyard or a proper deep woods. Just looking at any cluster of trees made me feel claustrophobic, like the trees were siphoning my breath for themselves.
My legs refused to move when I reached the spot. I stared at the treeline while wanting to, but unable to look away.
Even this small area of woods nestled among the neighborhood felt more like a yawning mouth of a green cave, leading to the suffocating embrace of bark and foliage. I felt like a million life forms were staring back at me, hiding among the shrubbery and the leaves and all of it. The forest was like a single life form exhaling, breathing right in my face, taunting me, scaring me. Then, breathing in and taking my own breath with it again. Forcing me to breathe in its rhythm.
I had avoided even going near any trees ever since that day. Granted it was challenging considering the ecology of Finland, but that’s how scared of the woods I had become.
I wondered. If I now stepped on the path where I last saw Anna, would I disappear too? Would everyone then also think that I had simply moved away. Would anyone look for me?
And most importantly, would I find Anna wherever I’d disappear to?
I don’t know how long I stood there at the edge of the path. It could’ve been hours or only minutes. It felt like days. My mind kept bouncing inside my skull. The fear was telling me to simply ignore it, go home and pretend everything is normal. The sadness of how everyone treated me pushed me to go and at least try. It’s only about 300 meters. Probably nothing is going to happen. Then I can go home and cry.
At that moment I didn’t feel like crying though.
I took a step holding my breath. Then another. And another. Breathing out. The forest sighing around me almost like it was welcoming me to its embrace. I looked around. I still felt the same feeling of the trees themselves watching me. Glaring at me.
‘I’ll soon be out of you’, I thought, starting to walk up the hill.
My eyes kept darting as I wanted to keep watch for anything moving but also at the ground to look out for those ever-treacherous roots pushing high. Wet grass and pine took over my sense of smell. I used to like that scent but now it felt like someone stabbing my nostrils with tiny needles. The wind shifting the leaves sounded to me like whispers telling me to hurry up and leave.
“Anna..”
Suddenly I felt this strange new feeling. The kind of immense dread that starts creeping up your spine but the moment you realize it’s there it lunges up in your chest seizing your hear and mind.
The forest was completely silent. The whispers were gone. Sounds of the birds and bugs seized.
I couldn’t move a single muscle. I couldn’t even blink. Everything stood still in surreal silence.
I started to try and struggle. In my mind I wanted to shake my entire body, but nothing happened. I wanted to scream but my mouth wouldn’t open and my vocal chords stayed frozen.
Then, a sound like waves of the ocean. My heart pumping, blood rushing, ears pulsing. I blinked. I breathed out. My body jerked violently, throwing me onto the ground luckily missing any rocks or painful parts of the uplifted roots.
I couldn’t help but let out a small cry of anguish. Whatever just happened to me was the most terrifying experience I had ever felt and the void of unknown that caused it made it all the worse.
I couldn’t do it in the end. The silent minute of nothing in the world moving right after I braved to step into the treeline told me to give up. So I did, I turned right around, not even finishing to go through the path. If the hill hadn’t been so steep I would’ve run back down.
When I reached the edge of the treeline again I was met with a blue wall of a house. That gave me a pause until I realized why it did. The houses on this side of the hill were cream yellow. The ones on the other side were baby blue like this one. Had I mixed the directions when I fell down? No, that was impossible - I hadn’t even made it to the top of the hill before that.
“No, that’s crazy”, I thought to myself. Maybe I had hit something while falling or maybe I was just confused from the mental rollercoaster that my life had been lately. I shook my head and went to look for the street sign just to be sure.
Peikonkuja 6. That was indeed the street name on the other side of the hill. I must have passed the top after all. There was no other way to explain it.
The wind carried whispers from the trees I left behind, tickling my ears. It was almost as if I was being taunted or mocked. Poor girl, so confused and flailing after her friend moved away.
NO. Anna disappeared. I was not going to let that memory get muddled into a comfortable lie.
I headed home. My eyes scanned the asphalt beneath me tracing all the details to try and empty my mind. I would go home, eat something and maybe try to sleep. I felt exhausted..
Without looking up from the ground I turned from the asphalt to the familiar dirt road that led to the porch of our house.
It was a standard, finnish single family house. Behind the porch was a type of an entrance room. It was colder than the other rooms so I chose to take my shoes to the following hallway so that they’d be warm next time I took them off.
From the hallway you could see into all the rooms of the first floor, which were only the large living room and the kitchen. I almost walked into the wall as I turned right to go get something to eat from the kitchen. To my left was the door to the bathroom.
“What..?” I looked behind me. Kitchen.
I broke into cold hives.
Getting mixed up on the side of the hill was one thing, but confusing the layout of my own house? Something was wrong.
This was not my home.
I looked around searching for an explanation. My eyes darted from the room entrances to the walls. Family pictures. Something about them made me nauseous. I got a glimpse of what were the pictures I’d gotten used to seeing on the hallway walls but something about the pictures made me feel ill - so ill that I could not get myself to study them further.
A creek of a floorboard upstairs almost shook the soul out of me.
“Mom?”
No answer.
“...Dad..?”, my voice quivered.
Without a response I could hear a figure walk up to the top of the stairs. From where I was I could only see the feet first as the person descended.
I quickly moved back towards the entrance as I realized the person was walking backwards down the stairs.
I screamed when the person’s head came to view, perfectly facing towards me.
Looking at it felt like picking on a scab.
It looked like a person, but walking backwards, face and head completely turned around almost like an owl’s, naturally facing the same way its backside did. I only had a moment to study its face but it was enough to click why the pictures had made me feel like spreading my breakfast on the floor.
It had an almost normal face, but just enough was wrong with it to know it was not a human. Its eyes, ears and mouth were all flipped upside down. When it blinked, its lower eyelids lifted up. When it smiled, it flashed what should’ve been its lower teeth. Or was it frowning?
I had to shake the veil of confusion from weighing me down and rushed out the door. I left my shoes where I dropped them. When I saw the creature pursue after me I knew I’d never see those shoes again.
When I reached our yard’s front gate I couldn’t help myself. I turned around to see it stand on the porch, backside and face towards me. It’s unsettling eyelids blinking up, upside down mouth in what I was sure now was a heavy frown.
For a good 10 seconds we stood perfectly still, neither of us moving. Then I took a step back. It took a step forward. I froze again and waited. It didn't move. Then I heard something.. it was mumbling. I strained my ears to try and hear what it was saying but it all sounded gibberish although melodic.. was it singing? Chanting?
I wanted to get away from it but when I started to slowly back away, it in turn slowly approached me. Its insistence on keeping the same distance was maddening, like it was tormenting me on purpose.
I sped up still fearing to turn my back to it. I felt like if I did, it would immediately close the gap. It sped up to keep up with me. I started to cry. Why wouldn’t it just come grab me? Why was it torturing me? I couldn’t even see where I was backing into but looking away from it was going to be the bigger evil, I just knew it.
We advanced in this nightmarish dance to the unknown until suddenly its mumbling changed. I was fully able to hear what it was saying”
“Pass the… pass the… pass the…”
It was repeating the same but never finishing the sentence. When It raised it’s voice into an angry shout I reached my breaking point.
“PASS THE WHAT?!” I screamed at it while crying.
My eyes flung forcefully up to see the sky and the treetops.
Sharp pain at the back of my head.
The branches hanging over me like the trees were looking down at me if I was ok.
I was not. I wanted to close my eyes as the earth pulsed pain through my skull, radiating to the rest of my body. It then bubbled and came back up. I was just in time to turn on my side to let it out. Then I cried the rest of it onto the pine-needle covered dirt.
I looked around. I was in our neighborhood. I looked where I came from. No monster. I was facing the forest. Behind me, I already knew, I’d see my house in the distance.
warnings: themes of grief, parental loss, death, mentions of suicide/mental health issues, alcohol abuse
Why does everything I ever love always get snatched away from me? It's a question that doesn't have an answer, or at least not one I want to hear.
Before Blackwood turned grey, there was colour. It didn't feel heavy. It felt warm, like.. home. I remember the smell of my father's dusty old work jacket when he'd scoop me into his arms after work. The feeling of my mother's soft hands in my hair while she hummed to a song I didn't know imbedded into my mind.
I watched her fall apart. Day after day the lights her eye dimmed and dimmed until they were empty. Her voice a low hum as she whispered to herself in quiet corners of our home, so often that she eventually stopped seeing us at all. She tried to tell the truth, but no one understood her. My father tried to help. Dragging her from doctor to doctor, therapist after therapist. The bright fluorescent lights and waxy floors of those offices I can never forget.
She went until she couldn't anymore. Until the voices in her head were louder than any doctors or me and my father. And one day, the anchor just.. snapped. She was gone.
My father stayed but he was never really there. The house now drained of any warmth it once had. Now all that's left is silence and the sharp, sour smell of the beer he drank everyday. Bottles began to pile up. Brown glass filling the trash in the kitchen. I tried to talk to him, but he'd never respond. He just sat there staring into the space my mother used to take up. I'd ask him if he was hungry, or if he'd seen my shoes, but he wouldn't even blink. He was a ghost long before he actually became one.
I heard her before I saw her. Her soft voice humming that same song. I looked up and there she was, across the street standing at the edge of the woods. I didn't think. I just-
"Mom..?"
For the first time in months my father moved. He scrambled out of his chair, knocking over a cluster of empty bottles that shattered against the floor, but he didn't care. He was already out the door. His eyes wide and fixed on the trees. He stumbled into the street, legs heavy and uncoordinated. The world around him had faded. All he could think about was getting to her. Forgetting about cars. Forgetting that the woman he was running toward was already in the ground.
"Dad, stop!" I yelled after him, but he didn't hear me. My blood ran cold.
By the time the brakes screeched, it was already too late. They hadn't seen him. It's too dark. Everything happened too fast. One minute I was with my father and the next he was lying in the middle of the street. Dead. Hand still reaching for the woods. Everything went still after that. No more humming, no more drinking. Just me, standing on the porch of a house I could no longer call home.
Nona and Poppop came for me that night. The drive to their house was long and loud with the sound of Poppop's breathing. He didn't wait until we were inside to start.
"That drunken fool," he muttered, hands gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles lost their colour. "What was he thinking? He had a child to look after, but he'd rather chase a bottle into the middle of the road."
My throat felt tight. I couldn't sit back and let him say those things. Not when I knew what really happened.
"It wasn't his fault," I said to him. "I saw her. I saw mom. She was standing right there. He-"
The car stopped.
Nona didn't wait for me. Her hand came across my face in a sharp slap that make my head jerk to the side. The heat of it lingering on my cheek, throbbing in time with the beat of my heart.
"Stop spouting nonsense, Kaida," she hissed, eyes bright with fear she tried to cover with anger. "There will be absolutely no talk of ghosts around here. That's how we lost your mother, and I'm not about to lose you too."
I looked out the window at the Blackwood fog, tugging my father's jacket closer to my body. I didn't cry, but from then on, I learned to keep my mouth shut.
This story was inspired by the tales I was told growing up about banshee's. I am not from anywhere near the Appalachian mountain's so I apologize if somethings aren't accurate. Anyways, I hope you enjoy and please feel free to let me know what you think <3
xoxo TheatreDesLestat
Summary: Brothers, David and Henry Moore were avid hikers. They spent most of their lives hiking through the Appalachian Mountains. They knew it like the back of their hands. They grew up hearing all the stories and tales of what lies within the mountains but they never wanted to believe any of it, that is until one sunny day when they took the hike that changed their lives.
In the middle of nowhere somewhere up in the Appalachian Mountains, brothers Henry and David Moore decided to spend the day hiking. Walking along a trail they’ve been on way too many times to count. They were sure they knew every tree and every bush up there as they spent most of their childhoods playing and hiking up in the mountains. They grew up hearing the stories and tales about what lives in the mountain; which are forever ingrained in their brains, even though they didn’t necessarily believe in the stories; they still were cautious. During these hikes, they've seen and heard plenty of unexplainable things, but nothing could ever stop them from going back. Up in the mountains was the one place they felt truly free. The breeze that blew through the trees, and the chirping of the bugs was a rare comfort for them. The sights, smells, and the sounds of the mountains made them feel at home.
This day was no different than any other hiking day for them, the sky was bright and blue, the sun was warm, and the forecast was clear. It was perfect. The brothers headed out early in the morning as they planned to spend almost the whole day up there. Double checking their bags for everything they needed before leaving the house. They discussed their game plan for which routes they were going to take and which lookouts to stop at as they made their way to the beginning of the trail. The boys were almost giddy as it had been a little while since the last time they did this. It had been raining every day for the last few weeks, and it didn’t feel safe to go up there. The risk of landslides during the rainfall was extremely high, and they didn't want to get stranded up in the mountains, or worse. Since this was the first day back on the mountain for them, the boys made sure to be extra cautious.
As they made their ascent, the older boy, Henry, took it upon himself to talk about all the scary stories he knew about the mountains. Knowing it would make poor David nervous, he described the Mimic he supposedly heard one night coming from the trees. He told him about how it changed its voice to sound like David’s as it tried to lure him far off the path, but being the smart, quick thinker he is, Henry knew not to follow it. David kindly reminding him that that story doesn’t scare him anymore as he’s told it nearly a thousand times now and he didn’t believe him anymore. David also made sure to point out that he’s never heard a real mimic or anything like it. The only thing he heard was Henry getting smacked by their grandmother after pretending to be the mimic to scare him late one night. Henry rolled his eyes after being reminded and huffed as he began to walk a little faster, pointing out the clearing up ahead. The two of them stopped to look out over the small clearing, waiting to see if any wildlife was there. To their disappointment, nothing was there, not even a bug making sound or a bird chirping could be heard. The ground had clearly been torn up from heavy rain fall, so they assumed the animals left it for now to settle. They swiftly moved on and continued on the path, bickering as they did so. They walked for hours before stopping to have lunch; they found a rock to sit on as they ate their sandwiches and talked, enjoying the scenery around them.
A cold wind picked up and blew through the trees, startling the birds. The boys looked up as quite a few birds leapt out of the trees and flew together as if they were fleeing. They froze before turning to look at each other, not a word was said between them, but they both knew the other one was confused by that. They had never witnessed the birds react to the wind like that. Now, they know that up in the mountains, the weather can switch very quickly as they've been caught in more rainstorms than they'd like to admit, but never had the birds reacted like that to the wind coming through. Henry finally breaking the silence between them, "do you think a storm’s coming?” David saying he couldn’t tell, but since the birds left and now the bugs were getting quiet maybe it was smart they headed back. Henry was the first to stand and pack his bag back up before leading David down a path that he swore was a quicker way to get back down. The path was steeper than expected, and it led them more west than he thought it would, but Henry was insistent that he knew exactly where they were. They walked for an hour before they stopped in front of another clearing, only this time Henry didn’t recognize it. A large portion of trees had been wiped out by what looked like a bad landslide, which caused a large cliff face to show. Henry walked as close to the edge as he safely could before calling David over, pointing out beyond the cliff and gesturing for him to investigate the valley below.
David's jaw dropped as he got closer, tightly hanging onto a tree as he peered over the ledge. Deep within the valley looked to be an old, abandoned town. There weren’t more than five buildings still standing, but you could see the remnants of several others. The boys looked at each other in shock, both unable to speak. They knew about the random abandoned towns within the mountains, but they've never seen one. Henry admitting that maybe that had walked farther west than he thought, laughing before helping David move away from the ledge. The excitement ran through them as they continued walking, the boys almost buzzing as they made up theory after theory about why it was abandoned. Their minds ran wild as they both walked on, reminding each other to tell their whole family about it. Their grandmother might know something about it; she seems to know all the lore about the mountains, or about everything in general.
The sounds of the birds slowly got louder as they made their way farther down the mountain. David confidently stating that they must be getting close to the base as faintly in the distance they could hear a few other hikers. Most people didn’t venture too far up as they feared getting lost. Which they fully understood because it wasn’t hard to get turned around up there; the trees had a way of making you forget where you are when you least expect it. Henry looked up at the sky through the tops of the trees, watching as it began to darken. “it’s probably going to rain” he said nervously, telling David to hurry up a bit because he didn't want to get caught in it if they could help it. They picked up the pace even though they were tired. Getting to the bottom when their clothes were all soggy was far from ideal; the damp really sinks in deep. They made it to a familiar outcropping and decided to take a small break. They were about twenty minutes from the bottom, but it got steeper after this point, so they wanted to rest their legs. They saw a woman standing about thirty feet away and with her back facing them, just looking out through the trees, her hair slightly blowing in the gentle breeze. They acknowledged the other hikers as they walked past them as well, saying hi and even helping one man who almost slipped on a wet log before sitting down to rest. David took out a granola bar and slit it in half, handing one half to his brother. Once again, the sounds of the mountain got quiet; the boys instinctively scooting closer together as the silence began to unnerve them. Both their heads moving on a swivel as they watched their surroundings, Henry making sure to find a clear path just in case they had to make a run for it.
The bugs and birds had never behaved like this before when they were out there. It all felt eerie. Henry turning around to look behind them, the woman caught his eye again as she hadn’t moved. He gently hit his brother on the shoulder and gestured towards her with his head, David turned to look at her, quickly turning his head back to Henry in confusion, “what?” He said, not understanding why his brother was bothered by her. “Look at her.” Henry said sounding almost scared “she hasn’t moved.” David shrugged his shoulders as he stood up to get a better look. The woman slowly letting her head fall to her right shoulder before letting out a loud shriek, louder than humanly possible. She turned around to face them now, the boy falling backwards together, covering their ears as they saw her face. Her mouth was open as if her jaw was broken, and her eyes were completely dark, as if there was nothing in the sockets. She tilted her head down to look at them before letting out another shriek. Henry grabbed David by his jacket and yanked him hard to get him to run, never letting go as they ran as fast as they could. Henry yelling to not look back as he pushed David in front of him, quickly looking over his own shoulder to see the woman still standing there, slack jaw and black eyes watching them as they ran.
They finally made it to the bottom and ran faster than they ever had as they saw the beginning of the trail, not stopping until they were far from the tree line, “what was that?! What was she?!” David frantically yelled as he looked around in a panic, trying to catch his breath. “I... I don’t know! I’ve never seen that before!” Henry replied, equally as out of breath. “Whatever that was, it’s gone. It didn’t follow us.” He took a deep breath before grabbing David again and walking right next to him as they made their way home. The front door creaked as they let themselves in. The house smelled like fresh bread as they dropped their bags and sat down at the kitchen table. Their grandmother stood by the sink, washing the bread pans as she asked them how their hike was. The boys quickly said it was fine as they grabbed some bread and butter and stuffed their faces. Neither one could bring themselves to talk about that woman. Grandma Moore brought over a few glasses of water for them and sat down, “what did you see?” she asked softly, “You’re never this quiet after your hikes, come on now, I've heard it all, let it out.” The boys nervously glanced at each other before the words came spilling out, talking over the other one in a panic. She stuck her hand up to stop them both after a few minutes as she stood up to grab homemade broom off the wall, handing it to Henry as the boys looked at her in confusion, “You better sweep that energy and those memories out of this house before she comes back to haunt us all.” She said simply. The two of them stood up before doing as she said.
Neither one understood why, but they knew not to question it. They took turns sweeping the floor, leading the dust and everything else out the front door, continuing to sweep everything off the front porch. Once they were done, they both took a deep breath as they stood there, looking out at the mountain. Admiring the view as the sun began to set over the top of the trees, and the mist began to hover over the ground. The mountains were always so hauntingly beautiful, something about the way everything surrounding the mountain moved made it feel different. Maybe it was because it was older than trees and land animals as we know them, or maybe it was the rich folklore that haunts every inch of the mountain range that made it so beautiful. There were endless amounts of stories and tales told by everyone; every surrounding family had ghost stories about the Appalachian Mountains. The native tales intertwined with the stories brought over by the Scottish and Irish immigrants created some of the deepest lore and beautiful traditions as far as the mountain range went.
Henry and David walked back inside after sweeping to help their grandma with dinner before their mother got home. She had recently gotten a job in town which meant that the boys didn’t see her for almost the entire day now. They all lived in their grandma’s childhood home; the house was built by the very people who immigrated there in the 1750’s and had been slowly fixed up and rebuilt after bad storms came through. The house felt like it was the center point of their family; it was as if it was a family member itself. Henry and David’s grandma believed the house was sentient; it was its own being now. A being that has stood the test of time. There were stories about how the first inhabitants blessed it, making it a living being to protect their entire family from danger. The boys never believed any of this but still enjoyed hearing the tales passed down for so many generations. It felt too fantastical for them, of course they believed it when they were children but as they grew and experienced life, it made no sense anymore. It was all just stories, none of which were true.
They laid out the plates and utensils on the dining table and set out four cups for everyone to eat, their mother walking through the door as they finished. The boys ran over to hug her before being told to sit. They did as their mother said and sat at their respected spots at the table. They all ate dinner while discussing the events of the day, Henry only briefly mentioning the mystery woman they saw, but as he did their mother froze before slowly putting her fork down on the plate, “Where was she?” she asked calmly, “What was she wearing?” She asked as she looked at their grandma nervously, who softly touched her arm to soothe her. Henry looked around at everyone nervously now; he didn't think it would scare his mom hearing this as she hadn’t particularly believed any of the stories herself. He stuttered but couldn’t get the words out before David spoke up, “she was standing near one of the outcroppings we stopped at in the mountains, it's not too far out, just a little bit west.... She was wearing this white dress, and she had long dark hair and dark eyes...or maybe no eyes? It was hard to tell.” He spat it out quickly, worried they were in trouble now, but their mother shook her head and stood up to clean up the dishes, telling them to help their grandma get to bed. The boys glanced at each other before standing and doing as they were told. Confused as to why their mother was now upset, hearing their random stories or scary adventures never bothered her before, why was this one different?
After getting her to bed they made their way back into the kitchen to talk to their mother, “Mom...” henry said “What's wrong with that woman? Who was she?” His voice almost cracked. She didn’t answer; she just stood at the sink looking out at the mountains. Slowly, she lifted her hand to point out the window, the boys joining her as she watched. The woman was there. She was standing at the edge of the forest watching them, her head still tilted but her mouth was closed, an extremely mournful look on her face as she watched them back. Their mother slammed closed the curtains above the window as she turned to look at them both, “Banshee.” is all she quietly said, her face nearly as white as the porcelain plates they ate dinner off of. Her hands gripped the counter behind her as she tilted her head down. The boys looked at each other, confused. They knew what the banshee's were as they heard all the tales but they weren’t real.... Were they? Before either of the boys could fully open their mouths to speak, they heard it. They heard the shrieks and screams she had let out on the mountain. It sounded like it was coming from right outside the front door. The boys jumping into their mothers' arms as she helped cover their ears, soothing them. The shrieking stopped and they all slowly looked up together, they watched as the woman was gliding across the floor, mouth still agape. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning to look at the three of them. She let out one more shriek as she flew towards them as fast as a bird, disappearing just before she reached them. Leaving a cold breeze in her wake.
She was gone, but the terror still remained. The boys looked around to make sure she was gone, but before they could stand up, they heard a thump. Their mother let out a loud gasp and ran upstairs, letting out a sob as she made it upstairs. They knew what was happening but just looked at each other. The stories are true.
this was written completely by me ( Fuck AI ) and I hope you enjoy this, I really enjoyed writing it so please let me know what you think <3
xoxo - Theatredeslestat
Summary: Lacy Lovett finally moved into her dream home after craving some independence from her family. The house was old and falling apart but it was everything. She was willing to rebuild its decrepit walls and ignore all the creaks and sounds that came along with it, until she couldn’t anymore. Will the old White House be the one thing to crack through the non believers hard exterior?
It was a rainy, cold day in the middle of October and Lacy sat on her bed with a book in hand as she gazed out her window, admiring the fog that started to creep down her street. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there trying to read, but she knew it had been a while. As much as she wanted to finish her book, she just couldn’t. There was this nagging feeling deep within her stomach that had been present ever since she moved into this old house. She had hoped that after a few weeks the feeling would pass because it must be anxiety from moving, but the feeling hasn’t budged and she’s been moved in for almost a month now. That feeling arguably was getting worse, sometimes causing a chill to run up her spine. Dropping her book down on her bed, she stood up, blew out the vanilla scented candle on the nightstand and made her way to the kitchen. She turned the corner and stopped in front of the sink that was still full of last night's dishes which she was too tired to wash. Lacy sighed and rolled up the sleeves of her sweater before scrubbing them, making a mental note to get someone to install a dishwasher for her. While finishing up, she looked around the kitchen, admiring the old cabinets. This house was around a hundred years old and had all the cracks, creaks, and leaks to prove it, but it was everything Lacy had dreamed of. Ever since she was a little girl, she had dreamed of owning an old house with a huge garden where she could grow as many different fruits and vegetables as she possibly could. So, when she saw this house as she drove past on her way to work one morning, with a for sale sign proudly placed out front, she knew she had to have it. She knew nothing about the house, but it felt like it called to her. It was surprisingly cheap; she figured it was because of all the work that may have to be done, but it still seemed low even for that. Mind you, she wasn’t complaining, in fact she was overjoyed it was as cheap as it was because there was no way she was going to be able to live out her dream otherwise.
The house was covered in old white siding that was beginning to fade as time hadn’t been the kindest to it and had two floors, an attic, and a crawl space that could be accessed by climbing underneath the back deck. The upstairs had three bedrooms and one small bathroom; the main bedroom was positioned at the front of the house and had a beautiful bay window that tends to fog up with every little change in temperature, and had white lace curtains that flowed with every small breeze as if it was made of water. The house was sold with everything inside; some of the furniture inside was older than the house itself. Even though the house was old and needed some serious fixing in spots, it was still obviously well loved. The previous owners must have lived there entire lives here; all their decorations and old clothes sat in neat boxes in the cold damp attic, left to sit as time passed on indefinably. The house felt warm and welcoming; it felt as though it sat patiently, waiting for someone to come and make it their own again. And that’s exactly what Lacy did.
Lacy Lovett was just a woman from a small town in the middle of nowhere, a small uninteresting town where almost nothing ever happened. The town had its fair share of ghost stories and spooky places, but she never believed in all that, in her mind it was just stories told by adults to scare kids into behaving. Her mother, Caroline, was a pharmacist who spent more time at work than she did at home, despite this, Lacy was really close to her mom as she would hang out at the pharmacy after school and tell her all about her day before her mother told her to go home for dinner, and her father, James, was a retired literary professor who volunteered at the local library and teaches free lessons on the weekend for anyone who’s interested. She had no siblings and never knew her extended family beyond the random pictures that existed in her childhood home. Her mother didn’t talk about her family, no matter how much Lacy asked when she was little, Caroline would always say the same thing, “sometimes the people in front of us are the only ones that matter.” and Lacy would sigh knowing her mother wouldn’t tell her anymore but as she grew her interest in that left, if her mother didn’t want her to know, then that’s ok. Her father, on the other hand, had story after story about his family back in England. He would tell her about all the little adventures he went on as a child in Cornwall. His favourite story to tell her was how he travelled here to go to university and fell in love with her mother and never looked back. He always told her about how her grandparents would visit them when she was young and loved to bring her sweets from England that she’d eat in one sitting, making herself sick. They sadly passed when she was six years old and James had a falling out with his brother shortly after, so they haven’t seen each other since. So, it was just them. They moved ten years ago to this town after James decided to retire early and pursue the hobbies he never had a chance to do, maybe it was a mid-life crisis or a mental break but either way Caroline agreed as long as he still helped out with some of the bills.
As Lacy grew up, her love for books grew with her. So much so, that after high school she managed to get a job at the small bookstore near the town center and has worked there ever since. She’s now the assistant manager and is being prepared to take over once the owner, Mr. Walace, retires. She always told her dad that she was going to work at the library, have her own bookstore, or become a writer. She flip flopped between those three options constantly, so when there was a job available at the bookstore, she knew that that was the best option. She tried to write in her free time but never really got very far and finally decided that maybe writing wasn’t for her, but reading was. Lacy hadn't moved out of her parents' home yet because it was only a five-minute drive and, in all honesty, she worried her dad would be lonely without her mingling around the house. But after seeing that old house, and telling her parents about it, they encouraged her to go for it; they all agreed that every Saturday they’ll still have dinner together no matter what and that her dad would help her fix it up.
After buying the house and living there for the past month, she felt like she was out of place. She loved the house more than anything but couldn’t shake that uneasy feeling. She tried repainting walls, getting new nicknacks, clearing out all the old broken furniture but nothing helped. It was almost like the feeling got worse...She started to feel like she was being watched. Every time this feeling began to creep back up her spine, she’d tell herself out loud “it’s an old house, that’s all. Theres nothing there, it’s not real.” Lacy may have been a serious nonbeliever when it came to the paranormal, but this house was testing her. As she stood at her sink, washing the dishes and admiring the architecture of the house, she could hear a creaking sound coming from the staircase. It sounded like someone was creeping down the stairs as if it were trying not to get caught. Lacy snapped her head around fast and grabbed a dirty knife from the sink before slowly approaching the stairs. With each step she took closer to the stairs; her heart began to pound harder and harder. She could hear her blood rushing through her ears. She stood at the foot of the stairs as she tried to slow her breathing before shouting out, “Hello? Is anyone there?” Her voice was shaking more than she meant it too, so she took a deep breath before yelling once more. “Come out! I won't press any charges if you just leave right now!” She waited for what felt like hours before giving up and turning around to walk back to the kitchen, rubbing her face to rid it of the frustration and stress that was building. “I'm losing my mind.” She sighed. Lacy finally finished washing the dishes and put everything away before walking to the living room, trying hard to avoid looking at the stairs as she passed them once more.
She plopped herself onto the couch with a deep sigh and turned on the tv to distract herself. She aimlessly scrolled through the various streaming apps, bored by all of them. She finally decided to put on one of her comfort shows and pulled out her phone to order dinner for tonight as she didn’t want to stand with her back turned to the stairs to cook. At least while she was in the living room, she could glance at the hall through the archway if she leaned over to her left. She made a mental note to fix the main light in the hall so there would be more light than what would just come from the window. Her brain started to think hard about all the weird things that seemed to go wrong since she moved in, that light died, one of the windows in the spare room cracked, a few shelves fell completely off the wall, and she was convinced the window seals had all gone bad because the cold and damp would randomly get pretty bad inside the house. She tried to chalk it up to the house being so old, but it was strange how it seemed to be rapidly falling apart since she moved in. As she sat there, deep in thought watching the show she had put on, it looked like a shadow had very quickly passed the archway that led to the hall. She jumped off the couch and clutched her phone against her chest. She stood in place, too terrified to check if it was actually anything of just her mind playing tricks on her. She tried her hardest to keep her breathing calm as she slowly leaned down to grab the tv remote to turn off her show; she wanted to see if the creaking would start again, or any sound for that matter. Straightening back up, she took a deep breath and waited. Her eyes quickly gliding around the living room and briefly over the little bit of the hallways that was visible. The sun was setting now, so the light coming in from the windows was beginning to fade, and the hallway was getting increasingly darker. She sighed again and told herself it was nothing but as she went to sit back down, she heard a quiet knock. It was quiet enough that she definitely wouldn’t have heard it if the show was still playing.
Her blood ran cold and she took out her phone to turn on the flashlight. Then it happened again and again and again, only this time the sound sounded like it was further away, almost like it was gradually walking down the hall away from the living room, knocking on the walls as it went. “What the fuck.” She said under her breath as she crept towards the hall, stopping in the archway and shining her flashlight to once again see if anything was there, but she saw nothing. Nothing had moved or had fallen; it looked the way it always had. The cracked paint on the walls, the faded wood floors, and the old chandelier was exactly how they always were, but it felt as if the air was thicker and colder; her breath almost visible. She stood in the archway, staring down the hall, waiting for something to happen, her mind thinking through all the possibilities it could be but constantly circling back to things that go bump in the night. Gradually getting angry as she waited for anything to happen. It was unclear if she felt angry at herself for even entertaining the idea of something paranormal or if she was angry at the house for making her think anything like that could even exist, but before she could tell herself off the doorbell rang, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. She swiftly jogged to the door and peered out the large window on the door, seeing a delivery driver walk away and she remembered the food she had ordered. She opened the door to grab her food but before she could turn around to walk back to the living room, she heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering. Unsure of where it came from, she turned around and began to angrily walk into the kitchen to put the food down so she could investigate. Lacy stopped dead in her tracks when she reached the kitchen because a cabinet that she knew was closed, was open, and a single glass cup was now on the floor in pieces. Lacy knew she for sure that all the cabinets had been closed and that they were way too stiff to open on their own.
None of this made sense; none of this was logical anymore! Somone had to be playing a trick on her. Theres no other explanation, but the thought of someone being in her home without her knowing was terrifying. Lacy tiptoed around the broken glass and placed her food on the counter before pulling out her phone and calling her dad. She figured if he could come here and help her look around it would calm her nerves a little. “Hey dad, I know this sounds really stupid but there's been some weird sounds and broken glass and just a whole bunch of stuff happening and I'm kind of freaking out a little bit. Are you able to come and look around my house for me? I know it’s ridiculous, but I don’t know what to do.” He chuckled on the other end after she finished rambling and said of course, he told her he’d be there as soon as he could but not to worry too much. It was just an old house after all; weird stuff is bound to happen. She hung up the phone and began to clean up the glass, trying her hardest to distract her mind as she did. Once cleaned up, she grabbed a fork from the cutlery drawer and ate as she waited for her dad to arrive. She swore she could hear the stairs creaking again and could swear she saw another shadow go past the archway, but she put it out of her mind. Before she knew it, her dad had entered her house and called for her, “Lacy? Where are you?” She yelled back that she was in the kitchen, and she could hear his heavy footsteps moving down the hall to get to her. “So, what happened?” He said as he appeared around the corner. She closed her eyes and began to explain everything that had taken place, looking at her dad in desperation as she finished. He nodded his head and told her that they were going to look around the whole house together. Lacy begrudgingly agreed and followed closely behind her dad as he checked each and every room, every dark corner, and every little hiding spot.
There was nothing. Not a single person or presence was there. This frustrated her more because there had to be something! She didn’t imagine this, and it was way too consistent and strange to just be from the house being old. Her father sighed and turned to her, “I don’t know what to tell you sweetie, there's nothing here. It’s probably just the house settling or something.” Seeing the stress on Lacy’s face, he tried to lighten the mood by hugging her and teasingly saying, “or maybe it’s a ghost.” She immediately pulled away and looked at him with a serious glare, “that’s not funny. I was actually terrified.” He laughed and hugged her again before they both walked downstairs, “I thought you didn’t believe in any of that? Since when are you a little chicken?” “Since this house seems like it wants to play tricks on me.” She replied. Lacy crossed her arms over her chest and lead her dad to the front door, slipping on a pair of shoes as she walked him out to his car, “Look, I genuinely do believe all the sounds and weird things are just the house. The house I grew up in, in Cornwall, was quite old and weird stuff was a frequent thing. You get used to it. Tomorrow I can come over and fix up the hall light if you want. That should help keep your eyes from playing tricks on you. Ok?” Lacy nodded her head and exhaled a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She stood on the curb as she watched him drive away, kind of dreading heading back inside. She finally walked back to the front door, glancing upwards when something caught her eye. She could have sworn she saw someone, or something walk away from the window in the guest room. It had to have been her imagination because they checked everywhere. There was no chance someone was in the house. It was impossible. She shook her head and headed inside, making her way into the kitchen once more to tidy up before she went to bed as it was starting to get late.
She walked into her bedroom and changed into her pj’s before going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. She intentionally made sure she didn't look at the stairs and just kept her eye on the bathroom. The last thing she wanted before bed was to freak herself out again over nothing. She finally snuggled up into bed, cozy under the covers as she drifted off. She was woken up in the middle of the night by what sounded like someone calling her name but as she opened her eyes, she could see someone climbing onto the end of her bed, slowly creeping up towards her. She let out a blood curdling scream and tried to scoot up towards the headboard. The person hastily backed up against the wall across the room and stared at her. Lacy felt like she could barely breathe as she stared back. The person looked to be a woman. She wore a flowy white gown that gently blew in a nonexistent breeze, and her head was bent down in an uncomfortable looking position but made it so Lacy couldn’t see her face. She quietly repeated Lacy’s name again and tried to say something else, but it came out almost as a cough before slowly walking out of her room, dragging her feet as if she could barely lift them, disappearing into the hallway. Lacy laid there in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. She began to sob and cried till she eventually passed out from pure exhaustion.
Lacy finally woke up when she couldn’t ignore the sun blinding her behind closed eyes. She opened them and froze, slowly she looked across her bedroom and into the hallway, checking to see if that woman still lingered somewhere. To her relief, she was nowhere to be seen. Lacy shakily stepped out of bed and went about her morning routine, constantly checking around her out of paranoia and fear. She wanted to believe it was just a bad dream, but it felt too real. It felt like she was really there, she felt the pressure as that woman crawled up towards her. She heard her name being called. Maybe it was a bad night terror because she scared herself so bad yesterday; it had to be. That woman couldn’t exist. Lacy took a shaky breath as she walked very slowly down the stairs. She decided to get ready for work and leave earlier than normal; she needed to get out of this house. Grabbing her jacket and bag that she left by the door, she left the house and locked the door with shaking hands. She looked at her car and debated taking it. Maybe the cool morning air would help soothe her; she had plenty of time to walk to the cafe near the bookstore before work to grab something to eat. There was still two hours before she had to open the store anyways, might as well kill time.
She walked down the winding road, listening to the pretty songbirds. She stopped walking to admire the park she used to run around as a kid; it was more faded and rusted than she remembered, but it still brought back fond memories. She smiled at a lady pushing a stroller past her, deciding to move on and continue her walk. As she did, her mind kept wondering back to the woman from last night, she could remember every detail of her dress, her hair, and even the way she walked. Normally if it was a dream, the memory of it would have begun to fade by now, but it was still just as vivid as it was last night. What if she was really there? She shivered, both from the thought and from the damp that tried its hardest to seep into her bones. She shook it off and kept her head high as she turned the corner and spotted the cafe. Quickly making her way there, she went inside and ordered a black coffee and a croissant. Sitting at a table at the front of the building that overlooked the town square. It really did look hauntingly beautiful this time of year. The damp ground that was plastered by red and orange leaves glistened as the sun came in and out behind the clouds, most days here were gloomy, but it felt almost comforting. She smiled as an older man walked past the window; he was walking a small black and white dog that seemed to want to chase every leaf that blew in the gentle breeze, it reminded her of a childhood friends' dog, small and hyper but very sweet. She never had any pets like that herself, besides the small goldfish she won at a fair when she was eight. She always wanted to get a cat or a dog but the worry of not having enough time for them always stopped her.
Lacy finished her breakfast and looked at the time on her phone; she still had forty-five minutes until she needed to head to the bookstore, so she decided to wander around the town square for a little while. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a nice little walk around town; it had to be when she was in high school. She walked around and looked up at all the beautiful trees. Autumn was her favourite season by far; the smell of the decaying leaves was refreshing after the stink of summer, and the colours changing always made the trees look so pretty. She passed by the town hall which was this large Georgian style building that loomed over the square, casting endless shadows when the sun was out. She remembers taking a small tour of the building when she was a kid, at the time she thought it was boring but maybe now she could appreciate the history of it. This town did have a surprisingly long history, and a lot of stories. Lacy cleared her throat and continued walking along the road, turning her head to look at the old cemetery. She recalled a memory of her friends daring each other to walk in through there; they were all too scared, but she happily strutted through like it was nothing. I guess when you don’t believe in ghosts and demons and all that, places like cemeteries really have nothing to be afraid of. She let out a sift chuckle and continued to walk towards the library that sat behind the town hall. The building was large and had a clock on the front that would chime with the hour. She figured her dad was already in there reading up on whatever hobby he decided to pick up this week, that man didn't know what taking a break was.
The clock let out a loud chime, letting her know it was time to head to the bookstore to open up for the day. She turned on her heals and happily walked back to the square. She did the usual tasks she needed to do before opening and quickly fixed up the display in the front that showed off the new releases they had. Mr. Walace had told her he was setting it up yesterday and to just make sure it looked nice before she opened. The day went by faster than she would have liked. As the day went on, the dread of returning home started to bubble inside her; she kept reminding herself that her dad would be over tonight to fix the light in the hallway so she wouldn't be alone for a while. She sighed before closing the shop and tidying the place before grabbing her jacket and bag and locking the door behind her. Lacy walked to her parents' house as she figured her dad was coming over anyways; he might as well drive them both there. She let herself in and called out for her dad who promptly let her know he would be right there. “Hey sweetie, how was work?” he asked cheerfully, “it was fine, kind of boring today. But the new books we got in were a hit so that was nice.” He hugged her gently and grabbed his bag of tools that sat near the door and led her out to his car. “Your mom says she’ll join us in an hour or so, she’s just finishing up at work.” Lacy replied with a subtly mhmm and sat in the passenger seat, looking to her right side as the water droplets ran down the window. The drive to her house was quiet and unnerving, not for her dad, but for her. The pit in her stomach grew exponentially the closer they got. James pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, collecting his tools from the trunk. “You coming or what?” he said teasingly, she sighed and slowly exited the car, dragging her feet as she approached the door, refusing to look up at the upstairs windows just in case she was there.
Once inside, her dad made his way right to the hallway to do what he needed to do, Lacy gently put her bag down and hung up her jacket and slowly walked to where he was. “You know, as old and as broken as this house is, it’s still beautiful.” Lacy nodded in agreement, biting her tongue as to not spill about the events of last night. She didn’t want her dad to worry about her or worse, pity her. He was never the type to poke fun at Lacy, but he would make little jokes about her fears as a child. He never meant any harm by it; he actually thought it might help her see that whatever was scaring her wasn't truly scary, but it made her feel small. It made her feel like nothing she could say would be taken seriously, even though she understood why he did that; it still stuck with her. Her mom, on the other hand, always tried to fix what worried or scared her. Caroline was an avid believer in the paranormal, and even though Lacy was not, it was still surprisingly comforting when she would tell her little ghost stories to cheer her up.
It was boring standing behind her dad, watching him fix the light. She wasn’t scared to look around the hall now that she wasn’t alone. The fact that someone else was there with her brought her the relief she desperately wanted last night. “Do you want a drink?” ask Lacy, hoping that a task might keep her entertained at least a little. “A beer would be nice,” he replied, strained. Lacy walked into the kitchen to grab the drink for him, stopping as she looked outside the kitchen window. A small bunny was sitting in the middle of the yard, watching her. She tried to pull out her phone to get a picture but as she looked back up, the bunny was gone. She stood there for a moment waiting for it to come back till she heard her name being called and so with a disappointed sigh, she took the beer over to her dad, cracking it open before handing it to him. He thanked her, took a swig, and placed it on one of the steps leading upstairs. "What did you need?” She asked, her dad looking at her mildly confused. Lacy made a confused sound before saying that she thought he called her. An uncomfortable tingle went up her spine, she cleared her throat before speaking again, “There was a bunny in the back yard, it was the first one I've seen here.” She said as she walked past him, looking out the back door to see if it had come back. She stood there looking outside for a while, watching the fog roll in once again. She was taken from her thoughts when she heard a bottle fall, swiftly turning her head to look at what happened. “I must have put it on the edge of the step.” Her dad said as he picked it up, walking to the kitchen to grab something to clean up the spilt beer. Lacy’s blood ran cold as she walked back the front of the stairs, she saw where he put it, it was nowhere near the edge. It shouldn’t have fallen. She glanced up to the top of the stairs and could’ve sworn she saw a white smudge move just out of sight. Lacy froze. She knew it was that woman again. She didn’t want to believe it at all, but there was no other explanation now. “I got some paper towels to wipe it up, I put the bottle in the sink because it cracked.” Her dad said as he began to wipe it up, lacy took the paper towels from him and told him to worry about the light; she can clean this up. She kept looking upstairs as she cleaned, hoping whatever that was would show itself again; she wanted her dad to see it. Maybe if he saw it too than she wasn’t crazy. Maybe then there would be some kind of proof or explanation that her dad would have.
Time passed quickly as her dad fixed the light; nothing else had happened. Lacy turned her head to look at the front door as her mom entered, carrying pizza. “I figured you guys would be getting hungry, so I got some pizza.” Lacy walked over to her mom, hugging her before taking the box and carrying it over to the dining room. “I’ll be done in a minute, just have to put the new bulb in and then we can eat.” Her dad said as he turned back to the light fixture. Caroline followed lacy to the dining room but stopped near the bottom of the stairs, looking at the top as if she could sense someone was there. Turning to look at Lacy, whose face was now pale, “I know you don’t believe in anything, but you can always tell me if something is happening.” Her mom said, as she warmly smiled and patted her shoulder. Lacy grabbed some plates from the kitchen and sat down at the table with her mom, her dad sitting down next to them as they ate. They talked about their days and what they planned to do this weekend. When they all finished up, Lacy carried the plates to the sink and told her parents to take the leftovers. She knew they'd just end up rotting in her fridge. Her parents said their goodbyes and Lacy waited out front of her house as they climbed into her dad's car and drove away, sighing as they drove out of sight. She walked back inside, closing and locking the door behind her before grabbing a drink from the kitchen. She decided to watch some tv before heading to bed but as she walked past the stairs, she could smell vanilla. It was kind of faint, but it was noticeable. Shaking her head as she made her way to the living room, assuming the smell was on her clothes. She sat down on the couch and began to watch her show, ignoring every little sound she heard. She didn’t want to freak herself out like she did last night; she just wanted a peaceful sleep tonight. She pulled out her phone to check the time, only to see that it was dead. Lacy swore it still was 50% while she was eating, but she tried to convince herself that it wasn’t because if it had died that quickly than the phone must be on its way out and she couldn't afford to buy a new one right now.
She looked outside and saw that it was dark and so she decided to turn off her show and head upstairs to read before she went to sleep, pausing briefly at the bottom of the stairs before making her way up. Putting on a brave face as she walked into her bedroom, freezing as she saw her vanilla candle was lit and had obviously been burning for a while. She hadn’t been upstairs all day, and she didn’t light it this morning before work. “What the fuck.” She said out loud, she cautiously walked towards the candle, but before she could get close, it blew itself out. Lacy jumped back and spun her head around to look for any signs of someone, or something. She didn’t see anything but still refused to move. She felt a cold breeze blow through her room and a chill ran over her entire body. She slowly turned her head to look at the doorway. Nothing was there, but she could hear faint footsteps creeping up the stairs. She ran to her door and slammed it shut as she locked it. The door felt cold, as if someone had left the window open, but the window in this room didn't open anymore. She tried to breathe quietly as she pressed her ear to the door. As she was about to pull away, she heard someone breathing on the other side. It was undeniable. The breathing sounded raspy and laboured. Lacy slowly walked backwards, away from the door. The air in the room was getting noticeably colder; she could see her breath, and the windows began to frost. She abruptly stopped walking when she heard the breathing begin behind her. Tears began to fall down her cheeks with no way of stopping them; she’s never been this scared. Her whole body froze as she felt a shaky, boney hand softly grab her shoulder. The thing let out a raspy breath and started repeating her name, “Lacy....Lacy... Lacy” as if it was trying to coax her to turn around.
The hand on her shoulder squeezing harder as it dug it’s fingernails in. Lacy let out an uncontrollable sob, “please stop.” is all she could get out. The thing let go of her shoulder, but she could feel it moving around her, agonizingly slow, as she began to shake. The lady now stood directly in front of her; she could smell her. She smelled like decay and dampness, and she could feel her breath on her face, her putrid breath. Slowly the woman tilted her head up to try and look at Lacy, her bones cracking as she did. Her icy hand reached up to rest on Lacy’s cheek. “yooouu...” is all it said before letting out a chocking sound. The pair made eye contact, and it took everything in Lacy not to faint. The woman's face was terribly bruised, and there was blood pooling at the edge of her mouth; her eyes were almost bulging out of her head. She slowly scratched her fingernail down Lacy’s cheek, almost drawing blood. Lacy’s eyes began to flutter; her heart slowed as she saw the room go dark. She fell backwards, catching herself on her bed. Seeing the woman dragging herself towards her as her visions came in and out. The last thing she saw was the woman perched on top of her, smiling. Her rotten teeth visible as she slowly leaned in, “yoou...are...miiine.”
