Now, when what are your putting? I got a screen going on here
something just because my dog. Something killed your dog? My dog. We're
flying through the or over the trade. I don't know how it did it,
okay, damn, and I'm really confused. All as I saw was
my dog coming over the fence, and they did when you hit the ground.
I didn't see any car and all I saw was my dog coming over
the fence. Damn. Why what are you're putting? We got someone or
something crawling around out here. Did you see what it was? Or was
it was? Standing up? I'm out here looking through the window now and
I don't see anything. I don't want to go outside. Jesus, point
you be hello, get the boddy out here on the out there. I
thought of a bitch nine. I don't all eat him out there yet.
I'm looking right out oh To 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 rushing, 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 show orders. 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 ambulance 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 Edison 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 thanked Otis 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. He 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.
ODIs 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 only 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. Johnna 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 had told her 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.
ODIs 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
him. 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 looks similar to something 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 had 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
murray, 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? Murray 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 wouldn't 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 I can
stay near the cave where the Bigfoot 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 scurrying 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 stayed 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 a 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 and 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 big foot sound
as if they're still positioned near the old cave. Is that why you always
set nearest the first creek? Henry, because the big Foot 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 big Foot know about what you did?
Henry? I asked him. You know, with the spell you said that
the big Foot were here first. Do you think they were able to sense
what was happening? I absolutely do. 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 Bigfoot 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 eye shot wasn't rogue. The one eye 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. And stay tuned for more Sasquatch Odyssey will be right back.
After these messages, 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 fleer,
but it wasn't showing any heat signatures, which was very bizarre. Here
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, fear 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 too. If you 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 footsteps of the smaller animals. On the forest floor.
After about an hour had passed, I called Connie on the walkee. 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 campfire 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 a big foot. 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 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 yell 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
nowhere to go. They say, you don't gotta go home, but you
can stay. I don't want to feel we're all out that try to try
and chime everything color back, bride by my Joy for me to to stay
right. Do you call it right away? Says side Stout time don't come
back. I'll try for me. Call its assasssisssss.