Oda scoffed at Henry and said, I don't know how you think I ruined
your life. Henry. You chose to listen to me. That puts it
all on you. Henry went to rush him, but I quickly grabbed his
arms and mentioned to him that he has to calm down so we can get
the answers that we need. Pile driving him out of his wheelchair and into
the floor wouldn't help our calls at all, So Henry made his way back
over to stand beside us. You knew good and will what that incantation was,
and it was all for your own personal gain and none of mine.
I have carried this burden for years. My wife has passed away, and
my boys want nothing to do with me now, Henry said, pointing his
finger at him. This conversation would go back and forth forever, neither accepting
blame for anything. These two bickering back and forth, We're not going to
get us any answers. John looked over at me, rolled his eyes and
shrugged his shoulders. Look, mister Welding, we came here to ask you
for your help. Henry doesn't live on the property anymore. My wife and
I do you know what we've been dealing with, and we need to know
how to take care of it. Henry has explained everything to me, and
I know what went on back then. Otis rolled himself over to his dresser,
pulled out a manila envelope and laid it on his bed. He motioned
for me to come over. He poured out all the contents and went through
them, page after page of what appeared to be information on what he knew
about the dog Man and the big Foot. He shook the envelope once more
and a necklace fell out. It was tarnished, but the ambulant on the
end was a shiny purple stone. It was fixed in the middle of a
heavy metal ring. I picked it up and held it up to the window
and the light shimmered through it. What's this, mister welding, I asked.
He held out his hand for me to hand it back to him.
I laid the necklace into his wrinkled palm, and he laid his other hand
over top of it. This is what I wore for protection against the dog
Man when I lived on my property. This necklace was given to me by
an old medicine man. If you want to believe that it's the only thing
that kept me alive. Whenever they came close, the amulet would glow.
I knew when that happened it was time to go in. It never failed
me, Otis said, But there's no need for me to keep this anymore.
There certainly isn't any dog man that's going to get me in here,
unless you're talking about Nurse Judy who comes to give me my sponge bath.
He laughed. Even Henry couldn't help but crack a smile at that one.
Now look here, you old coot, Otis said to Henry. You can
think what you want about me. I'm too old to care. Now.
More than likely, I'm going to live out the rest of my days here
in this facility being taken care of. But you still have to fend for
yourself. I know that you no longer live in that house, so there's
no reason to carry that old curse around. You may find what you need
in that stack of papers. It has everything all of my research from the
time I started until the time I got put in here. I don't even
remember what all is there. I haven't had to look through it, and
honestly, I haven't cared too, that was from a long time forgotten.
So whatever is in there you can use. If there's a way to break
the curse, feel free to send those hell hounds back to my old property,
and you can tell the county I said to shove it in the process.
We think its first time, and we all left. We thanked the
lady at the front desk on our way out. Henry was quiet on the
drive back. I could only assume that he was simply taking everything in.
I'm sure that seeing Otis again after so many years was unnerving for him.
In his eyes, his life had been completely destroyed after meeting him. To
be honest, whether Otis wanted to admit it or not, he was responsible.
We got back home around dusk and went inside. Connie had prepared dinner,
so we all sat down to eat and talked about our trip to see
Otis. I know that I led you all to believe that I was just
as taken aback about these things as y'all, and I'm really sorry for being
dishonest. I appreciate you all taking the time to help an old cook like
me. I didn't want to get you involved in any of this, and
I'm sorry that you have to be, Henry said. Connie reached over and
laid her hand on his. We will find a way to break this,
one way or the other. I won't let you sacrifice yourself for us or
anyone else. There has to be a better way. After dinner was cleaned
up, we laid the contents of the manilla envelope on the dining room table.
We started separating the papers into categories. When stack was Bigfoot and the
other one was dog Man. I also laid the necklace vertically across the tops
of the two stacks. That's an interesting looking necklace, Connie said. Did
it belong to mister Welding's wife. I tapped the stone and said no.
He said he actually wore this for protection. Otis said that when he wore
this and the dog men were close, the stone would begin to glow.
He said that's when he knew it was time to go back inside, and
he also said that it never failed him. I'm interested to see if it
still works, Connie said, maybe we should test it out. I glanced
over in her direction. I wasn't interested in going on some disastrous trip to
see if a stone would save our lives. That was about as preposterous as
Henry thinking his whistle would save him. Let's start by first looking through all
this research that Otis has painstakingly documented. First, Connie, we shuffled through
all the papers and Otis's chicken scratch handwriting until we were all cross eyed.
Henry had given up on finding anything to break the curse about an hour beforehand.
I was about ready to be finished myself. None of this was getting
us any closer to helping Henry than when we first started. I put all
the papers back into the envelope and slid the necklace in last. I tossed
it to the side of the table and went to get a shower. Connie
had already left the table and went to the bedroom before bed, I went
and checked on Henry. He was sitting up watching television, but he wasn't
paying any attention to what was on the screen. What's up, Henry,
how are you holding up? I asked, before I sat down beside him.
He was quiet for a while, and I just sat with him.
I knew that this was all taking a toll on him. He carried this
secret around for many years. If anything, the good thing is he's finally
free from at least that burden. He can finally get this off of his
chest and relax. He's in a safe place here, surrounded by friends.
What if we don't find it, mark, Henry asked, still glaring at
the television. What if the only answer is the one that we're trying to
avoid. I got up and walked to the fridge and grabbed two beers.
I handed one to Henry and sat back down. We're going to figure this
out, buddy. Don't worry. We'll keep searching until we find the answer.
I could only hope that I was right. This wasn't exactly my area
of expertise, and we were all still learning about these cryptids, having Henry
show up and finding out that he has some blood curse on him with something
else that we would all have to learn about and quickly. But I could
see that even though we had only began the search for the answer, Henry
was already feeling like he should just give up. He felt like all was
lost and there was no hope. I looked over at him, and he
had leaned back on the couch with his eyes closed. I took the near
empty bottle of beer from his hand, covered him with a blanket and went
to bed. John and Marie came over the next morning, and we all
sat on the front deck, drinking coffee and enjoying the sunshine. Henry walked
out a little later and joined us. Marie hadn't been with us for a
while, so she had to be filled in on everything John, or some
things, but not everything. That's so bizarre. Marie said, what are
you guys going to do? The only thing we can do, Marie,
just keep hunting, so to speak. John said. Just then, the
pigs in the back started squealing, which set off the chickens, and in
turn they set off the cows. We all jumped up. Something had to
be back there. You guys had a round back. I'm going to go
through the house, I said. As I ran inside, I tore open
the middle of envelope. Now would be a great time to see if this
thing works. I ran out back and met the others. But everything looked
fine. But I knew that our animals weren't going to start a ruckiss like
that over nothing. I held the necklace up to the sun as it glistened
through it, showing all of its purple tones. Nothing the necklace didn't glow
at all. I guess that was just a lie too, Henry scoffed.
That doesn't surprise me. Coming from him. A large rock flew out of
the woodline and landed with a hard thud near the cattle. Bigfoot. That
could be why the necklace didn't glow. He said it glowed when the dog
men were around, but he didn't say anything about Bigfoot. Maybe what he
said wasn't a lie after all. But I couldn't blame Henry for jumping to
conclusions. Marie was stuck tight to John's side. We all tried to see
through the brush, but it was just too thick. We thought that we
saw a slight shadow, but it's hard to say. I told you animals
don't belong out here, Henry said, And this is why you guys are
bringing in all kinds of critters from them being here. Now, it looks
as if Bigfoot wants a country sampler. Dog Men don't throw rocks. That
was definitely a Bigfoot. Just as he finished his sentence, he let out
a long, loud whistle. We could hear whatever was out there moving away
from us in the woods, and hearing that allowed us all to relax a
little bit. He once again looked at me with a smile and a wink.
Maybe he thought he was communicating with them. No matter what, it
was gone and none of us really cared about the Why what is that necklace
that you brought out, Marie asked. It looked similar to something I think
that my mother always used to wear when I was a young girl. We
all turned to look at Marie. Could it be possible that her mother wore
a necklace the same as this for the same reason. She said that she
experienced dog men at her house, and she saw one when her mother was
out hanging up clothes. But is it possible, that's the question. It
would be a stretch. This is a dog man necklace, Marie, Connie
said, taking it from my hands. If you have this necklace with you,
or you're wearing it and there's a dog man near the purple stone will
glow. It's really cool, isn't it. It's like a protection stone.
Marie took it from Connie and eyed the stone enveloped in the heavy metal rain.
Yes, this is exactly like the one my mom wore. I remember
it perfectly now. She never really went anywhere without it, at least when
we were at home. John turned to Marie. You said you had seen
one of these dog men at your house growing up, once while you and
your mom were doing laundry, and then once again before you left for college.
Did your mom ever say anything to you at all about this? Marie
thought for a while and said, well, no, she didn't. I
knew the day we were hanging laundry to dry, she went inside and asked
me to finish, And when I left for college, she didn't come outside.
She stood inside the door and waved. As I pulled off. John
appeared as though he were letting all this run through his mind. I could
see him questioning everything I was right. Then, Why would a mother leave
her child out to finish laundry knowing there was a dog man around? Plus,
she let her daughter leave and didn't join her outside before she left.
Wouldn't a mom want their child to be safe over their own safety. I
know Connie and I didn't have any children, However, I would think that
that's how it is, or how it should be. Any idea where your
mom got that necklace, Marie Henry asked, No, I have no idea.
I just know that she always had it on as far back as I
can remember. Are you guys thinking that she knew what the necklace meant and
that's why she always wore it, Marie asked to me. John said it
would make sense, But why she and tell you about these dog men and
you had to find out about it all on your own. It's something that
I definitely don't understand. With all the threats to our animals and the property
gone, we all went inside. A plan was what we needed, so
we all gathered in the living room to talk things through. I think at
the end of the conversation, much to the girl's dismay, me and the
guys had all agreed that we should camp out. I was totally against the
idea at first, but if these things are gathering up near the house,
maybe if we stayed near the second Creek we would be safer. Plus,
we were now armed with more knowledge than we'd ever had before, and we
had our detection necklace. If this thing actually worked, if not, I
always had the hulk hiding inside me, wanting to come out as long as
Henry would be nearby. I actually think it would be a smart idea if
we got Ashton involved in this, and he and I can stay near the
cave where the big Foot was throwing rocks at us, and then you and
Henry can stay here near the second creek, John said. Marie stormed off
and stopped right before she bolted out the door. This is ridiculous, John,
and you know it. If you want to go out there and put
yourself in danger with no regard for me, fine you go right ahead.
You're a grown man and I don't control you. But I don't want to
hear a damn word about how close you came to dying out there. The
door slammed behind her and she drove off in the truck, dust flying up
behind her. I had a feeling that Ashton's wife would feel the same way
Marie did, probably to a higher degree since Ashton had children. This isn't
worth breaking up marriages over. Honestly, this isn't technically their problem. It's
mine and Connie's property, not theirs. I understand them wanting to help,
but with the toll it's beginning to take, maybe we should reconsider our plan.
I'll tell you what, John, I'm going to take you home.
Seeing as how Marie left in your truck, there has to be a different
way to handle this. It's either going to have to be just me and
Henry who go out there, or maybe we need to come up with a
different plan altogether. I'm not going to break up homes over this. I
couldn't blame Marie. I knew how crazy doing that would be, but I,
for one, was tired of dealing with this. And now it's not
just the cryptids on our property we're dealing with. It's helping someone else other
than ourselves. Henry is a good enough person not to leave us here with
our own mess to deal with on our own. He doesn't have to stay,
but he does. He wanted to clear us, as well as himself
from this terrible curse that he unintentionally brought to our property. Connie, Henry
and I sat out on the back deck later that day, surveying the woods
where the rocks flew from the trees and landed in front of us. We
had to figure out something to do. All the work we had put into
this thus far would be useless if we didn't. How about the two of
you go into the woods, take the necklace and everything you would normally take
to camp Mark. You're armed with whatever this is that you feel when Henry
and the dog men are around, and you also have the necklace. I
don't want you to put your lives in danger, but this is getting monotonous.
Then the rest of us, whoever wants to, can stay here at
the house to back you up if you need help. It's the only way,
Connie said. Henry looked at me and smiled. She has a point,
you know. It's the only way that really makes any sense when you
look at everything as a whole. You're the current property owner, and I'm
the previous owner who started this whole thing to begin with. We have to
be the ones to put an end to it once and for all. After
talking to Marie, John was able to calm her down. The new plan
was discussed and agreed upon. Henry and I would be the ones to go
out into the woods camping. The rest of the gang would set up at
our house to keep an air out. I was able to rent some equipment
to help us navigate a little easier, and I also rented a flear camera.
It would allow us to see both the Dogman and the Bigfoot if they
happened to be lurking about. Henry and I walked back into the woods straight
back to the second creek to set up camp. We arrived there shortly before
dusk, so the woods were still noisy with birds and other things scurring about.
Well, I reckon, all we have to do now is wait once
the sun goes down. That should be when the real fun begins. I
know for a fact that you and Connie hadn't out here at night, and
Ashton hadn't spoke of it either. That would mean that no one else has
been out here since I was here last. Henry said. That will spark
some curiosity. I hate that we can't be in both places at one time,
I told him, But I think we're positioned in the best place for
the dog men. The big foot are closest to the cave, not over
here. Yeah, not too much to worry about with bigfoot, Henry replied.
I had to take his word for it, because the last running we
had almost ended in the concussion. We stoked the fire once again and the
sun had finally set. With the flames and flying embers, more than likely
any small animals would avoid this area, leaving only our sounds and the sounds
of the dog men. Currently, however, everything was quiet except for the
insects and frogs. Henry and I sat talking about many things that evening,
and it made me even more determined to help him. He was a genuine
soul, and you don't find many of those around these days. He had
a big heart and family meant more to him than anything. Now what family
he had left wanted nothing to do with him. It was heartbreaking to hear
him talk about it. Then silence fell across the whole area, like a
large hush pushed through the trees. Henry and I both looked at one another,
barely taking a breath. We listened intently for anything, but it was
so quiet it almost hurt your ears. Just across the top of the trees
a short distance away, we heard a big foot whistle and then a tree
knock in reply. I wonder what they say when they do that. Is
it just the location signal? Are they saying that they sent someone or are
they saying there's danger? I had always heard on the shows that I listened
to that the people in the woods would yell or knock on the trees to
see if a bigfoot would talk back to them. But do they really know
what they're saying? I would have to say that that would be doubtful at
best. No one really seems to know too much about them showtime, Henry
said, with a smile. Now we wait to see if the dang dogs
come. The Bigfoot sound as if they're still positioned near the old cave.
Is that why you always sat nearest the first creek, Henry, because the
Bigfoot were mostly there? I asked? He chuckled. Yeah, boy,
I knew they wouldn't let anything get to me. They would just whistle,
and I would whistle. I felt like I was safe there. I never
had anything like you and John experience. Happened to me in that spot.
These were strange beings that solidified for me. Then what happened to us was
a one off with a rogue. Maybe when Henry did that incantation spell,
it brought over more than he bargained for or opened up something he wasn't expecting.
Then again, none of this was expected. It wasn't supposed to happen
the way that it did to begin with, do you reckon the Bigfoot know
about what you did? Henry? I asked him. You know, with
the spell, you said that the Bigfoot were here first. Do you think
they were able to sense what was happening. I absolutely do. Mark.
Bigfoot are a lot like us, in my opinion. There's something special about
them, though different. They carry something we don't or can't. I don't
know what that may be, however, but they were able to keep these
things away until I did what I did and then flooded the area. Now
I think there's a turf war. That's why you see the big foot near
the cave where some of the dog men reside, and the other dog men
up here where we are. I thought about that for a minute, and
it dawned on me, Henry, are these the same dog men from the
same pack? Dogs have the same pack that they're with most of the time.
Do you think these dog men near the cave are one pack and these
up here, who seem to be more sinister are the ones from Otis's property.
Henry was silent as he took that in. I was beginning to think
that the idea never crossed his mind. But to me, the answer was
clear. If this was the case, and I'm leaning forward to be the
ones at the cave are the ones that have been here all along and are
easily controlled by the Bigfoot. If not, and they're all in the same
pack. These that are up here would be in the cave as well,
but they're not. And in that case, the one I shot wasn't rogue.
The one I shot was from Otis's property, and therefore wouldn't be under
the control of the bigfoot here at all. You're right, Mark, I
can't say that I ever thought about that, but it definitely makes sense.
That's the only thing that it could be. The dog men that came from
Otis's property probably tried to assert their dominance here and failed, so they're separated.
Now they're two packs, none of them good, I might add,
but these could be far worse here, Henry said. Just then, twigs
began to snap and crack, and the hairs on the back of my neck
as well as Henry's began to stand on end. I started to feel myself
get angry. When Henry looked over at me, he knew At that same
moment the necklace glowed a bright purple. They were here, somewhere in the
dense forest, but we couldn't tell which side they were on. I held
up the flear but it wasn't showing any heat signatures, which was very bizarre.
He and I both stood up, waiting for something to rush us through
the dense vegetation. Their behavior seemed different this time. The other times that
we were here they were almost toying with us, small growls here and there.
But this time it's as if they knew that we knew the secret their
true whereabouts. These were vicious, snarling growls that came from the bottoms of
the dog's feet, all the way through their boisterous lungs and out their mouth
and snout. My mouth went dry and my heart raced. They're definitely here
somewhere, Mark be ready. This is what I felt when I did that
ritual. But I thought that I was sending the ones here out, not
calling more in. Suddenly the woods exploded with the sound that I'd never heard
before. It was almost like a steam whistle, and the trees fell left
and right straight in front of us. Henry and I both jumped backwards,
and although the fear ran rampant inside of us, we stood our ground.
I thought for sure this would be our last night on earth. Everything flowed
your mind when that happens. I thought of Connie and our life together,
how far we'd come over the years, as a couple our hunting trips together.
I was glad that John and Ashton hadn't come with us, especially Ashton.
As the sounds grew closer to us, the necklace shone brighter and brighter.
Right before I felt we were going to meet our demise, the necklace
began to vibrate and it started making a humming sound. We could see the
red glow of the eyes from these creatures coming through the trees. There had
to be at least three of them. I was in shock and was thrown
right back to the night I had shot that one. These eyes looked just
like those. As Henry held the necklace up, the stone spun in circles,
still glowing its bright purple shade. Just then, a bright flash came
from the stone, and the necklace grew dark once again. Henry and I
stood there silently, gasping for air, fears still racing through our veins.
There was silence, no more twigs snapping, and no more cracking. The
red eyes that just moments ago had felt like they were inches from our face
were gone, and everything had once again fallen silent. I'm sorry, what
the hell just happened? I asked Henry, in bewilderment. Henry looked just
as confused as I did. He stood holding the necklace and looked around.
The only noises we could hear were the pops and cracks from the campfire,
and the crickets and frogs started up again. I wonder if Otis knew that
it would do that, Henry said, with his eyes wide open. I
doubt he did, because if so, he wouldn't have gone in when it
started to glow. He would have just stayed outside and let the necklace do
what it does. That or did he know but was too afraid to stay
outside and see if it was true or not? I guess I can't say
that I blame the old man for that, I sighed alongside. This just
keeps getting weirder. This is stranger than any fiction story I've ever read.
Henry, he did say that an old medicine man had given it to him.
Maybe he believed that it only glowed as a warning, but did nothing
else because he didn't give it time to If he went inside when it started
glowing, then you're right. He probably didn't know that it would make them
go away if they tried to attack here. And I walked back over to
set by the fire. Both quiet for some time before we started talking again.
We just listened to the sounds that surrounded us, crickets, frogs,
and finally the small little steps of the smaller animals on the forest floor.
After about an hour had passed, I called Connie on the walkie. I
wanted to let them know that we were okay, and I told her some
of what had happened. I told her I would tell her more in the
morning, but Henry and I were going to try to get some sleep.
You just do what you have to do to come back home, Mark,
I'm not kidding. Don't try to be some kind of hero out there,
Connie said sternly. John and I will be right here waiting, just in
case you need us. I assured her that all would be fine. We
set up some cameras along with some voice recorders, and Henry and I crawled
into the tent, leaving the camp fire going. It felt like only a
second had gone by, and I heard noises like something walking outside our tent.
Heavy footfalls landed right next to my head. I was as still as
I could be. I heard some small grunts, and I was hoping that
it would be picked up by the recorder that we'd set out. The necklace
lay in between Henry and I, and it wasn't glowing. This had to
be Bigfoot. I sat up and saw that the campfire was still going just
enough to cash shadows. Yeah, definitely at Bigfoot. The shadow that sprawled
across the vinyl of our tent was large, and you could see the strands
of hair hanging from the creature's on arms. I didn't have a sense of
fear, but I was curious. Henry had told me just enough about them
for me to respect them, but to not be afraid of them. I
already knew from the other night what they were capable of. The creature milled
around our campsite for a little bit, and then I heard the footsteps walking
away. Then a growl came out of nowhere. At that point, the
stone illuminated once again. A lonesome howl broke out from the trees behind us.
Henry woke with a start, and I quickly quieted him so he didn't
scream. Bigfoot yells surrounded us, and tree knocks could be heard from a
distance. It sounded like a full on vocal war. They were both preparing
to fight, and Henry and I were stuck in the middle of it, with