The Walk Home

When I was a kid in school I had to walk home through a small wooded area. It wasn't a forest by any means, covered mostly by smaller scrub oak, but the trees were dense. A dry creek bed ran through the length of it as well, providing a natural path through the trees. Being that my family lived a fair distance away from the closest neighbors, I was often alone on my walks home. I occasionally came across a deer or two and of course, the squirrels were there in abundance. You got used to the usual sounds of the woods - the chirping of the robins, the snapping of twigs from the deer, and the breezes blowing through the leaves. So when the sound of a distressed scream fills the air, it tends to stand out.

I froze, coming to a stop in the middle of the dry creek bed, listening. Had I imagined the noise? I stood there quietly for what seemed like forever, listening for the sound to come again, but it never did. I slowly continued down the dirt path, treading lightly as to not make too much noise for fear I'd miss the sound should it happen once more. I walked on for some time, eventually working my way to my normal pace once more. The thought of the sound slowly moved to the back of my mind, but only for a short while, as the blood-curdling scream rang out once more. Chills ran rampant over my body as this time, the sound was much closer. I slowly turned in circles, searching the trees for the origin of the noise, but of course, there was nothing in sight.

Needless to say, I became quite nervous as I stood alone in the trees. The birds had gone quiet and I was left with nothing but the sound of the light breeze blowing the dead leaves through the trees and across the ground. I didn't have to wait long for the scream to happen once more, as the chilling, high-pitched wail filled the air all around me. I covered my ears and doubled over in fear, the sound, like a banshee on my shoulder, piercing my eardrum with unfathomable force. A scream of my own tore through the din around me.

I took off running down the creek bed, trying to outrun the scream that still carried on. No matter how hard or fast I ran, I couldn't get away. I halted once more to catch my breath, feeling a burning in my lungs to go along with the incessant howl that bombarded me. As I stood upright to run further, the scream stopped and silence blanketed the woods once more. Fear grew within me as I turned in circles, trying to decide on my next move.

Slowly, the air grew cold around me, as if I'd stepped into a freezer. A mist formed with every breath I took. A quiet crackling broke the silence behind me. As I turned around to find the source of the noise, the crunching and snapping grew louder and my eyes fell upon something that I will never forget. A figure was appearing before me. The bare feet materialized first, grey and pallor, covered in dirt. The legs were scratched and bruised, leading to a ratty dress that, at one time, would have been considered cute, but was now torn and muddy. As the arms appeared, I saw they too were enveloped in bruising, the grey skin hardly visible. The long, blond hair appeared, twigs and leaves woven into the tangled mess. Finally, her face materialized, just as grimy as the rest of her. Her eyes were dark and lifeless but seemed to be piercing right through me. She casually tilted her head to the left, without taking her eyes off me.

I hadn't moved in all this time. My feet were firmly planted on the ground out of fear, and a tiny bit of curiosity. My mind had gone blank, but thoughts eventually returned, filling my head with all sorts of questions that I didn't want the answers to. Her mouth began to move as she straightened her head. I closed my eyes in anticipation of the screams I'd heard earlier, but it never came. It began as a low groan, black liquid oozing from her mouth, changing the groan to a muffled gurgle. As a fearful tear began to roll down my cheek, she opened her mouth once more. A single word escaped her blackened lips:

"Go."

A loud snapping noise erupted from in front of me as the ghastly figure vanished in a misty grey swirl. As silence returned, I wasted no time in running for my home. The usual sounds of the forest had returned not long before I emerged from the trees. I ran into my empty home and locked the door behind me, waiting for my parents to return home from work.

I debated whether or not to tell anyone about the terrifying experience, but ultimately, I kept it to myself. That is until I'd heard about an incident that had occurred in the woods not long after I'd been confronted by the ghostly being. About a week later it was reported on the news that the remains of two kids had been found in that area. A local man had been taken into custody after he'd led authorities to the location of the remains. He spent a lot of time on the streets and not many people knew him but had seen him around. He'd apparently been watching the woods after school had gotten out, looking for kids who'd walk alone in the woods. When they identified the remains of the kids and ran their pictures in the paper, I was shocked to see the familiar face of a blond girl staring back at me. My blood instantly ran cold.