Legend has it that there’s a monster that roams the woods.

Each reported sighting has

described it differently. Some say it’s a large deer, others say it’s a demon. The most common

theory however, is that it’s a strange hybrid of many creatures. No one knows for sure though

what it is, if anything at all. There’s never been any picture evidence of the monster, so many

people think it’s another bigfoot-type myth.

Local kids have made a habit of daring each other to hunt the monster. None have ever

taken it seriously though, either not caring enough or being too scared. Well, it was that way

until today. A young boy named David decided that with the help of his friends, he would solve

the mystery of the monster in the woods.

“This was such a stupid idea,” Wren grumbled, pulling his coat closer to his body. “Why

did you guys even make me come with you on your little ghost hunt anyways? We’re only gonna

find more trees and snow.”

“Whining about it won’t change the fact that you decided to come with us,” Albert

replied, wiping the fog off of his glasses. “It was gonna be just me and David going, but Aiden

wanted to tag along, too, and we couldn’t just leave you out.”

“Also,” David added, “It’ll be fun. And even if we don’t see the creature, we can be the

ones to put the stupid rumor to rest.”

Everyone silently agreed, and continued walking, lost in their own thoughts. Snow

danced around David, making him shiver and pull Albert a bit closer for warmth. His legs were

starting to tire out, making trudging through the thick blanket of snow ten times harder. He

hadn’t at all prepared for it to snow, and wondered how he hadn’t gotten hypothermia yet. He
wore only two layered hoodies and some sweatpants. He had to stick his hands in his pockets to

keep them from going numb. As he walked, he looked at the passing trees, who seemed to also

be clinging to each other in the cold weather. We’ve already made it this far, he thought. We

might as well keep going.

After what felt like hours of walking, Aiden spoke up.

“Are you like, 100 percent sure we haven’t been walking in circles? I swear I’ve seen that

tree like ten times,” he said, pointing at one of the trees.

“Aiden, we are in a literal forest. All of the trees look the same,” Wren groaned.

“No duh you’re gonna see similar trees,” Albert added.

“Geeze, it was just a question. You guys don’t need to bully me over it,” Aiden said.

“Guys, wait,” David interrupted while stopping. “Do you see that? In the distance.”

The rest stopped as well and looked ahead, Albert shining the flashlight higher to get a better

look. The light showed the dim outline of a structure, which looked like a small house.

“I think it’s a treehouse,” Albert commented, squinting to see it better.

“Treehouses are in trees, stupid,” David said, giving Albert a playful push.

“It’s probably some cabin,” Aiden stated.

“Well whatever it is, we should go check it out,” Wren said, starting to walk towards it.

“Anything is better than being out here in the cold.”

David looked towards the others, and Aiden shrugged before following Wren.

“I guess we’re gonna go do the exact thing that you’re not supposed to do in a horror

movie,” David joked before Albert pulled him towards the others.
 When Wren got past the final step before the door, he tried to twist the handle before

quickly recoiling his hand.

“What’s wrong?” Albert questioned.

“The metal is freezing,” Wren whined. “Have Aiden open it, he’s the only one with

gloves on.”

“Fine,” Aiden groaned before reaching for the handle.

They all stood for a bit, waiting for the door to swing open. But, it never did. Aiden just

stood there trying to turn the handle but it wouldn’t budge.

“Let me try,” Albert said.

Aiden moved over to give him some room, and Albert tried the door knob. After failing,

he began shoving the door.

“I’m just gonna take a wild guess and assume the door is frozen,” David sighed.

“Wow, how’d you know,” Wren said sarcastically.

David rolled his eyes and started looking around for another entrance while Albert

continued trying to break open the frozen door. He circled the house, searching for any holes in

the wall or an open window. The most he could find, however, was a locked, rusty cellar door

that had been hidden beneath the snow. It had many large dents in it, as if someone had been

trapped inside. David shuttered at the thought before carefully inspecting the piece of wood that

barricaded the doors shut. The wood was damp from the snowfall and looked as if it was about to

fall apart. David was able to easily slide the wood out and open one of the doors. The basement

was pitch black, and he didn’t want to go down there without a light.

“Hey, Albert! I need the flashlight real quick!” David yelled.

“Yeah hold on, we’re using the heat from it to melt the ice!” Albert replied.
 David sighed before reluctantly pulling his phone out from his side pocket. He checked

the battery level before turning the flashlight on. He would have to make the trip to the basement

quick so his battery didn’t die while he was down there.

While descending the staircase, David noticed a trail of muddy water going from the door

to farther in the basement. It looked fresh, and he wondered how it got down there if the doors

were locked. He thought back to the dents in the metal, and began to feel uneasy. This isn’t a

good idea, he thought. What if there actually is something down here. Just as he was about to

turn to leave, there was a loud crash in front of him. He moved the light from the floor to eye

level, and his heart stopped. Illuminated a few yards in front of him was a creature, its glowing

eyes focused on him.

David had no idea what it was. The creature had huge, boney antlers like a deer but the

long ears of a rabbit. It had a thin wolf-like body, its bones clearly visible through the greasy coat

of fur stretched around its frame. Its claws were long and overgrown, clicking on the concrete

floor as it took a threatening step closer. Mud was sprayed across its body, creating a foul smell.

The creature began making a low growl in the back of its throat, snapping David out of his

thoughts.

He bolted up the stairs, the monster sprinting after him. The only thing keeping David

from turning into its next meal was the muddy water on the ground. The creature kept slipping,

its legs sprawling out from under its body. David flew out of the basement, and frantically closed

the door. He began panicking when he couldn’t find the block of wood. The monster’s steps

were quickly getting louder, and he knew he didn’t have enough time. He grabbed a random

branch from the ground and shoved it under the handles before sprinting towards the front of the

cabin, praying his friends had gotten the door open.

ice melted.”

“Why are you running?” Aiden questioned.

Right when the words left his mouth, the monster made a horrific screech before the

sound of the metal doors bursting open echoed through the forest.

“Oh, you actually found the monster?”Wren asked.

“NO DUH I FOUND THE MONSTER,” David yelled. “NOW OPEN THE DOOR

BEFORE IT EATS US!”

Wren decided to finally take the situation seriously, and shoved the door open. They all

ran inside, and David took one last look out. He saw the creature running towards the door, a

twisted grin on its face, before slamming it shut. Wren and Albert pushed the kitchen table

against the door, buying them some more time to escape.

The monster bashed its antlers against the door, trying to break the wood. David

frantically looked for somewhere they could go. There was no way they could outrun the

monster, they could only fight or hide. And he knew they would never be able to defeat it. As

David looked around, a twig caught the back of his hood. He looked up and saw a giant hole in

the roof. A tree branch was sticking halfway through it. David grabbed the twig that had been

caught on him and pulled it. The branch remained in place. David had a great idea. It might’ve

been crazy, but it was their only shot at survival.

He grabbed the sturdiest chair he could find and placed it under the branch. He stood up

on the chair and tested the branch one more time to make sure it wouldn’t fall.

“Guys, come over here!” David called out.

and they agreed. They all took turns getting on the chair and climbing up the branch to the roof,

Albert going first to help pull the others up while David stayed on the ground to support their

legs.

As David stepped onto the chair, preparing to follow his friends, the monster’s antlers

smashed through the wooden door. David’s heart started racing, and he clawed for the branch.

The higher he got, the closer the monster was to getting in. David was just about to grab Albert’s

hand, when the door completely blew open. David lost his grip, and went tumbling back down to

the floor. The creature blew air out of its nose, and stomped the ground. David scurried towards

the corner of the roof, trying to find a weapon to defend himself. There was no way he would be

able to get to the roof while the creature was standing there. His only option now was to try and

buy himself some time.

His friends screamed above him, but all he could hear was the beating of his own heart.

He had to think of something, and he had to think of it now. Wren and Albert tried throwing

things at its head, but it wouldn’t take its eyes off of David. His eyes brimmed with tears, cursing

himself for not being prepared. He glanced over towards the window, hoping the monster

wouldn’t charge with his eyes not focused on it. He saw the light from the sun peaking through

the trees. He had no idea they had been out for so long, and a wave of exhaustion washed over

him.

He was about to give up, when a loud shot suddenly rang out. The creature turned its

head to look out the door, and David saw his opportunity. He ran to the chair and jumped up on

it, gripping the branch. He began frantically climbing, only taking the time to make sure he

didn’t grab a rotten or weak branch. The monster noticed him climbing up, and charged towards
him. David swung his legs up, and he nearly escaped the creature’s long antlers. He continued

climbing, trying to avoid the monster’s attacks. Albert grabbed his hand, and pulled him onto the

roof. David flopped down, trying to catch his breath. He didn’t have long though, before the

monster began using its long claws to dig into the wood, crawling its way up to the roof.

Everyone started to panic. There was no way they could jump down unhurt, and even if

they did they couldn’t outrun the beast forever. As the creature’s head appeared through the hole,

David accepted that trying to escape was pointless. He grasped Albert’s hand and stared into the

monster’s eyes. The sky was even brighter now, and he knew that soon his parents would wake

up.

David closed his eyes, the rotten stench of the monster’s fur getting stronger every

second.

“I’m sorry,” David muttered, not trusting himself to speak any louder. He didn’t want to

cry in front of his friends, they already had enough to deal with.

When he thought he could feel the creature’s hot breath on his face, there was a blinding

light. He peaked open one of his eyes, and saw that the sun had finally risen above the horizon.

The monster turned to look as well, and let out a puff of air. It scurried back into the woods, only

stopping once it was in the dark of the trees again to give David one last look before continuing

to go deeper into the woods.

They all sat in stunned silence, trying to process what had happened. David choked back

a sob before laughing. He didn’t know why he was laughing, maybe it was because of the

exhaustion. Or, he was grateful to be alive. Either way, he knew he wanted to just go home and

curl up in his bed. Maybe he could wake up and forget all about what they saw. Maybe, they
could all continue their lives without giving this night any more than a passing thought. He knew

that would never happen, they would never forget. But he wished he could.

They walked back home in silence. No one had dared to say anything since they got off

of the roof. They were all trying to understand what had happened. The details were already

starting to get fuzzy in David’s mind, the lack of sleep finally catching up to him. They hobbled

through the forest, seeing the edge of the woods in the near distance.

“So, uhm,” Wren mumbled. “Can we all agree we had some group hallucination? There’s

no way that just happened.”

He was answered by the screech of the creature echoing through the woods, still on the

hunt for its next victim.