A Horrifying Tale

Being terrified is a little like falling in love, it happens quite slowly then all at once. I was driving alone at night as I had many other times before, but this time felt different. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched. This happened all the time as a kid, this time I chalked it up to being tired physically and mentally after covering weekend shifts. Still, as my drive home wore on, the feeling only seemed to grow. I would catch movement out of the corner of my eye, hear occasional sounds barely louder than my engine noise. Finally I saw something more concrete, the glint of moonlight off an eye. Eyeshine is hardly rare for woodland creatures, but this seemed different. It was too big, much much too big. Unless there was a mountain lion in my passenger seat, I could not explain and eye this bright filling so much of my field of view. Of course it blinked or I did and I lost it in the night. Satisfied that my own eyes were just playing tricks or that there was some other mundane explanation, my nerves calmed because I just didn’t see anything for a while. By the time my car broke down I had forgotten it, now I had bigger problems. About half way through fixing the problem, suddenly I went into high alert. My hair stood on end and I had goosebumps. I don’t know why I felt this way, my face was buried in the hood so I didn’t see anything. Still, it felt like every cell in my body was screaming for me to run, lock myself in my car, anything but keep my back to the forest. I started to move but before I could even reach my car door I felt something slam into my back, knocking me to the ground. I looked up to see that same terrible eye as before. I thought I was hallucinating before but now it was clear that I was face to face with the paranormal. No creature I know of had an eye this big, maybe a giant squid but if that was in the middle of the woods I’d be just as terrified. What was even more concerning was it seemed to only have one eye, massive and bulging from an unidentifiable face. It darted around, inspecting every part of my petrified body. The movement was so unnatural, as if it was physically incapable of looking at one thing for more than an instant. It felt like forever but after what was probably only a brief moment, I regained some composure and began to get up, to run, to fight, honestly I don’t know but staying down was clearly not a good plan. As I rose, I saw what I felt on my back moments before. I hesitate to call it an appendage, claw, or horn as all seem to fall short in their own way. It was mobile but certainly not prehensile, it could also lock in place and be as rigid as a steel beam. Imagine a rhinoceros beetle mixed with half of a crab claw emerging from above the eye and that might give you some idea of what I was seeing. It touched me gently once and I was again helpless. It barely made contact but the whole thing vibrated my body til I was paralyzed. After that, this creature scooped me up with this appendage and pressed me against the top of its head. To my horror, we left the ground. I can say with near certainty you’ve never felt fear like I did that moment. All semblance of control or understanding was stripped from me. Paralyzed, in the air, and being carried by some monster unknown to me or this world, nothing compares to this, nothing could prepare you to be so helpless. As we flew I was able to get a better look at the creature. Its wings were unlike anything I had seen before. They were membranous and stretched from its wrists to its feet like a bat, but they were wet and moved unnaturally, flapping from the center rather than following the movement of the arms or legs. Pulsing fluid filled veins stretched out perpendicular from the central mass of a body. These wings were the only thing, other than the eye, that wasn’t coated in a leathery carapace. It was as if someone had pulled out an internal organ to form the membrane required. In the moonlight I could make out the texture and color of its skin. Despite being a semi-flexible chitinous material it looked most similar to a corpse, one battered and bruised then left to bloat, decomposing in water. A sickly mottled purple gray I could not imagine a reason for evolving on this planet or any plausible lineage. Finally, we landed in the crook of an enormous gnarled tree, a nest built of sturdy branches that seemed much better constructed than what even the most ingenious of birds could manage. Still paralyzed, I was released and left to lie in the nest. To my horror, but not my surprise, I found bones, human by the look of it. My worst fears had been confirmed, I was to be food. This was no alien abduction where I was returned safely but presumed insane, I was in my final hours or so I thought. Of course, the fact that you are reading this lets you know I lived, but I had no such reassurance. A small victory was reached as the creature flew off again. I imagine it went in search of more food, perhaps another of its kind to share in the spoils or offer me to. Whatever the reason, I was terrified but I knew I had to make the most of the opportunity. I tried to move but couldn’t. Even if I could crawl from the nest, I couldn’t climb down and the fall would kill me. I had no idea how long the paralysis would last, I just had to hope I could recover before the thing returned. I managed to reach some of the bones that were left, a rib I thought I could use as a club or a spike, maybe even a tool to help me climb down. Just as I thought I could move both legs enough to begin a descent, the creature returned. It swooped down and its wings migrated into its body cavity with a horrible squelch, as if it was swallowing this part of itself with one gulp. I knew this was do or die, if I didn’t act now I would certainly end up just like whoever left these bones here. Almost on reflex, I stabbed the rib into the still open slot where the membranous wings retreated. A horrible guttural sound erupted, filling the night with the alien screams of this creature. As it closed its monstrous eye I took the second opportunity presented and I punched with all my meager strength. Still, with such a vulnerable target and it already wounded from my first assault, it fell back tumbling out of the nest. The adrenaline coursing through my veins fought my still numb muscles and I climbed out as best I could. I expected to see the creature reeling on the ground, but it was nowhere to be seen. I still heard faint sounds from somewhere and I saw the shine of fresh blood on the leaves but the thing itself must have escaped. All the better for me I thought, nothing worse than fighting a wounded animal. I ran, or hobbled, as fast as I could in the direction I hoped my car was. I finally made it to the road and walked along until I found it. I called a friend and waited in my locked car until he arrived. I didn’t know how to tell him what happened and he didn’t pry. I didn’t have proof anyway. Even if I wanted some I wouldn’t dare, I’ll never risk going through those woods again. Still, some people don’t know and some can’t leave well enough alone. If you’re traveling where I was, watch out for the one eyed, one horned, flying, purple people eater.