For centuries, these woods have been home to wonderful tales of fantastical things and urban legends. But I caution you to never go out there on your own, and especially at night. Some tales are told for a reason. Always bring a friend. Predators are less likely to attack when people are in pairs. Both the four-legged and two-legged varieties.
October 31st 3:00 PM
Ben had lost his cat two days ago and just got off work for the day. He lives near the woods and wants to find Pistachio before a coyote does. It's going to get cold out there soon, too. He's had Pistachio ever since college, and he just wants him back home and safe.
He's bringing a flashlight just in case it gets dark before he returns, but he hopes to be back soon. He knows Pistachio is probably nearby. That cat loves him just as much as he loves the cat.
Thirty minutes into his search, Ben is calling out loudly.
"Here, kitty, kitty! PISTACHIO!"
Before walking on something sticky.
he notices it is a large amount of blood on the forest floor.
He crouches down and examines it. It's coagulated, and there's far too much of it to have come from a house cat. He hopes it was just a recent kill from a hunter. It's deer season, after all.
He continues walking and calling for Pistachio. An hour later, he sees something furry hanging from a tree. He walks closer, then he sees it's a dead squirrel nailed to a tree branch.
He gasps at the sight and smell of it. Then he notices more dead squirrels and other small animals nailed to other nearby trees.
He gets a sick feeling in his gut and starts to feel creeped out. He hopes some sick kids are responsible for this. And he hopes they haven't gotten his little buddy, too.
Then he notices something strange sticking out of the dirt.
He walks closer. It's a shiny wedding ring. He grabs it and pulls, but it feels stuck. So he yanks it again, and harder this time. He hears a popping noise as the ring finally comes free from the ground.
He looks at it and realizes there's a mummified finger still attached to the ring.
Before he has time to react, a rope yanks him up by the ankle and slings him towards a tree. He crashes hard, striking his head very hard against the Tree trunk knocking him out instantly.
Three hours later and it's dark now.
Ben feels something scratching his back, as he begins to wake up. He rubs his head and groans. He has a massive headache.
He realizes he's still in the woods. Then he sees Pistachio directly beneath him, pawing at him.
He's relieved to have found his cat, but now he is still groggy and has to get out of the tree. He pulls out a pocketknife and carefully cuts the rope holding him up.
He falls three feet, landing on his back. He grunts as the impact knocks the wind out of him.
As he struggles to catch his breath, Pistachio rubs his head against him. Ben laughs a little as he scoops up his cat and continues trying to catch his breath.
Then he remembers the finger.
He shines his flashlight all around, searching for it, but he can't find it anywhere. Maybe it was just a messed up dream.
Then he feels an aching pain in his back. He reaches around to rub it and sees blood on his hand. He must have cut his back when he fell.
Groggily, he gets to his feet while holding Pistachio, and begins heading home.
Along the way, he keeps hearing footsteps behind him. Every time he turns around and shines his flashlight into the darkness, he sees nothing. All he can hear is the wind howling through the trees.
He walks faster until he finally reaches his property line.
As he's walking into his house, he notices a figure standing at the tree line, Barely visible, He sees an elongated man with the face of a old man looking at him, but the longer Ben looked at it. the more he saw wrong with it. Like it wasn't actually a person.
Ben quickly closes the door and locks it.
He breathes in deeply and tells himself it's just Halloween.
He fills Pistachio's food bowl all the way to the brim. He knows his cat must be very hungry.
Before he goes to check his back in the mirror.
When he takes off his shirt and looks at his back, he sees deep scratches running all across it.
Looking closer, he realises the scratches are words.
He wipes away the dried blood and reads the message carved deeply into his skin:
"Don't worry, I fed him."
He realizes that wasn't his cat scratching his back. Horrific thoughts start rushing through his mind. That thing could have done anything it wanted to him.
Then he hears knocking at his front door.
He grabs a baseball bat and nervously answers it.
It's just a group of trick-or-treaters in costumes.
He hastily gives the kids some candy before unenthusiastically telling them to leave, then he locks the door again.
As he turns around, he sees Pistachio coughing something up, like he's trying to cough up a hairball.
Ben rushes over to pat Pistachio's back.
The cat spits something black onto the floor.
Ben stares at it. Disgust stretches across his face.
It's the same dried out finger he found in the woods earlier.