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Speaker 1: Hello, I'm welcomed stories all the time. Glad you are here.

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Let's get into it. A couple years ago, in early spring,

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my cousin Cal invited me on a camping trip with

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her and two of her friends, Des and Mirror. Just

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a quick we kent out in the Appalachian footholes, nearer

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the edge of Kentucky where it borders West Virginia. I'd

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been out that way before, but never diss deep. We

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were way past the usual trails, up near the old

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ridge lines, where everything feels older and quieter. Karl had

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found the spot for someone she worked with. It apparently

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some half forgotten clearing with an old fire ring left

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over from the days when forest crews used to be

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of woke out there. We packed light tents, a couple coolers,

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a speaker, and whatever gimme or her borer from her

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dad's basement. It was all mismatched and smelled faintly of

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motor oil, but it worked. We hiked in late Friday morning,

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picking our way up a faded trail, passed an abandoned

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feeder road that was more ditch than path. By then

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took us around four iOS to reach the spot. Nothing dramatic,

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just a flat clearing scattered with pine needles, mossy stones,

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and a collapsed or two. But it had that feeling

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like we were standing somewhere nobody had touched in a

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long time. You could tell the trees hadn't been cut

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in decades. The air felt still in a way that

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made your voice sound louder than it should. That first

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night was exactly what we wanted. Hale got a fire going,

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We cooked acken of chili and passed round this horrendous

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apple moonshine, she deliberated from her uncle's pantry. We all

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pretended it didn't taste like regret on lighter fluid. Stupid jokes,

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dumb stories. One of those nights where the firelight makes

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you feel safe without really knowing why. I crawled into

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my tent just after midnight, cold but manageable. I remember

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thinking how love the crickets were, constant, like static on

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an tuned TV. What woke me up was the silence,

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not just quite dead still, no wind, no bugs, no

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crunch of settling branches. It was like the whole forest

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hit mute. I kept my eyes shut for a second,

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thinking maybe it was just my brain readisting after sleep.

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Then I heard it, a dragging sound, long and slow,

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something scraping across her. No rhythm, just this irregular polet

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then stop, then pull again, stop right outside my tent.

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I didn't move, not even a breath. I just lay there,

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heart panding so hot I thought it might give me away.

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I didn't undepth the flap. I didn't call up. I

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just waited listening. But the sound never came back. Eventually

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I must have passed out, because the next thing I

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remember is morning light leaking through the tent moles. I

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did mention it at breakfast, just figured it was an animal,

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or maybe one of the others had gotten up and

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accidentally kicked something. When we were packing up later though,

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I saw the mark in the dirt, just one, a long,

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shallow gouge, like something had been pulled through the clearing.

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They started by the old fir ring and ended maybe

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four feet from where my tent had been. No boot prints,

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no tracks, just a single broken line in the dirt.

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The second night felt different. Before it even got dark,

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Kaile kept saying she felt weird, kind of light headed.

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Mirror was shivering, even though it wasn't cold like the

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night before. We didn't drink that night, didn't really joke

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around much either, just sat round the fire, talking low,

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like we were trying not to wake something. At some

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point around ten, the speaker started acting up, not just

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cutting in and out, skipping like someone was hitting plate

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and palls over and over. It sat and touched on

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the ground, blinking. We all just stared at it until

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Kle reached over and shut it off without saying anything.

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Miro went a bit early, and Kle followed not long after.

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I stayed up, poking at the coals and trying to

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talk myself out of being on edge. The crickets were back,

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but they didn't sound right. Too many sudden pauses, and

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then these weird synchronized stops, like someone was flipping switch

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off and on. I stood up, stretched and had just

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turned toward my tent when I heard it ark off.

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It came from just past the tree line, maybe fifteen

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feet beyond the edge of the fire's glow. Not deep,

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more like someone clearing their throat. It wasn't loud, but

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it was sharp. Heu men. Then I called out hello,

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no response. I goro out the flashlight, stepped up to

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the edge of the clearing and scanned the trees. The

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beam hit nothing but bark in empty branches. I didn't

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go past the perimeter, just stood there a bit, then

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turned and sipped myself into the tent like a kid

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hiding under the blankets. Next morning, I casually asked Cale

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if she'd heard anything weird during the night. She gave

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me this look and said she thought she'd heard low voices,

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like a muffled conversation somewhere near by. Figured it was

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me and Mere talking, but Mires wore she'd been asleep

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the whole time. We all just kind of sat there

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after that quiet. No one said what we were thinking,

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but it was clear none of us were comfortable staying

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another night. We decided to hike out that evening. Yeah

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it'd be rough in the dark, but nobody wanted to

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wake up there again. We packed everything, dashed the fire,

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and waited for the last coals to cope before scattering

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the ring. Cale went to grab her last bag from

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near the trees. That's when it happened again. The draging,

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not behind us this time, but across the clearing from

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the far side. Loud, deliberate scrape. Post scrape, we all

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turned toward the sound. Instantly, there was nothing to see,

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just the usual trees and dirt. What the sound was real?

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They felt too close and too slow to mistake. Mira

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grabbed her pack without a word and started walking Fastkle

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and I fell in behind her, not bothering to scatter

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the fire stones or double check the sight. We didn't stop.

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We were maybe half way back to the feeder road

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like sore and boots covered in mud when we saw it,

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something up ahead, just off the trail. At first, it

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looked like a person standing there with their back to us,

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but as we got closer we realized it wasn't upwet

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at all. It was something long, kind of folded up

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in a brush stretch between two trees, and this weird

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slumped angle, like it had been dragged and left there.

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Hale lifted her phone and flicked on the flashlight. The

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beam caught something pale and smooth. It was a top, old,

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stained and bunched up like some one had tried to

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pull it further but gave up. The end of it

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was tangled in low branches for a second. None of

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us said anything, None of us touched it. We gave

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it a wide berth, staying in each other's line of

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sight the whole way back, no more talking until we

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hit the truck. Once the gravel wroard came into view,

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I felt my jaw unclenched for the first time, and

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I was. It wasn't until we were half free back

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to town that mir finally said what we'd all been thinking.

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I don't think we were supposed to be there. A

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week later, Kle sent me a screenshot someone in a

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local missing person's group had posted a photo of something

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a hunter found near the same stretch of woods. It

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looked like a mix of campsite, probably used in the

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last few days. There were scraps of food wrappers, a hoodie,

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and this ole portable radio sitting in the dirt. But

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behind it, almost out of frame, was a blurry blue tint.

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It looked just like the one Mirry used. That was it.

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We swear we never talked about it any more. My

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cousin Nate had been bugging me for years to join

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him on one of his real backpacking trips. I'd spent

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too many weekends sinking into the same old online rabbit holes,

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crawling through dead message boards, half reading weeds of vival

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stories and so cold true encounters with things people couldn't explain.

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Nate picked the spot, said it was one of his favorites.

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Deep in the Appalachian back country, not even on most maps.

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We had to drive about three hours past anything resembling

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a town, then another iro down a dirt road. They

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got steadily more suspicious the farther we went. We loaded

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up our packs and started hiking around mid day. The trail,

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if you could call it that was barely visible, just

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a narrow impression, weaving through brush and roots, mostly climbing.

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Nate was in his element, moving confidently like he knew

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every bend, while I trailed behind, trying not to tiss

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my ankle. We passed a couple of those old metal

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trail markers nailed trees, but most were rusted or barely visible,

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covered and moss was split by bark. After about five

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miles we came to a clearing, a decent spot, quiet,

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ringed with tall hemlocks that blocked some of the wind.

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There was a black and fire ring in the center

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and a small rotting pile of firewood nearby. Some one

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had definitely camped there recently. You could see where pine

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needles had been brushed aside, and bits of burn foil

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were still caught in the ashes, but there was no

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sign of whoever it was. We sat up under the

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trees and got a small fire going, net cooked beans

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and rice on his camp stove while I tried to

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get warm. It dropped fast once the Sunday behind the

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ridge line. That first night was uneventful. A couple all calls,

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maybe a foxy upen somewhere out in the dark, but

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nothing that set off in alarms. I think we were

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both asleep by ten. I woke up before dawn, probably

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five in the morning, to the sound of movement outside.

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At first I thought it was Nate getting up to pee,

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but then I realized the sound wasn't close. It wasn't

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a person shuffling around near the tent. It was more

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like something pacing, not heavy, not crashing around, just slow

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measure crunching. I sat up and listened. Nate was still

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slipped into his sleeping bag next to me, breathing slow

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and steady, definitely asleep. And sipped the tent just enough

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to peek out. It was still doric and I couldn't

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see anything, but the sound stopped like it knew I

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was listening, and then I heard something else, A dragging sound, slow, steady,

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like something heavy was being pulled through the leaves. It

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moved in a wide, dark just one big leop around

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the camp, and then silence. No wrestling, no footsteps, just

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dead quiet. I lay back down and stayed still. I

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don't know why I didn't wake Nay. Maybe it was pride,

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or maybe it was that word part of your brain

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that tells you not to overreact, specially when you're out

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in the woods and you're supposed to act like everything's normal.

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I just told myself it was a deer or something.

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I tried to believe that. Later that morning, we packed

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up our bags and hiked up to a nearby rage.

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Nate wanted to show me the views, great tree covertails

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rolling out in every direction like waves, But the whole

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time I kept thinking about the dragging. I didn't bring

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it up. It felt dumb to say out loud. On

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the way back to camp, I spotted something maybe thirty

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feet off the trail, an old trail marker, half buried

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and bark the paint almost gone faded red, not like

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the ones we'd passed earlier. It looked older, forgotten. I

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pointed it out, thinking maybe Nate would find it interesting.

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He just glanced at it and said, yeah, there are

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a thousand dead trails out here. People used to log

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all through this range. That was it. No curiosity, no hesitation.

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Back at camp, something was off. Our fruit bags had

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been taken down from the bell line and placed in

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the ground. Not torn open, not rummaged through, just moved

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said there carefully. They were still tight closed, no missing items,

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no teeth marks, were scratches, just sitting there like some

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one had looked inside and decided to leave it all.

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Nate assumed they had hummed them wrong and they fell,

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but I know they didn't. I double checked the knots.

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That's not something a screw up. That night, the temperature

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dropped again and we built the fire high. We sat close,

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not talking much. Around ten, I saw something flicker out

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in the trees, like a flashlight beam, just a quick

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flash between two trunks, maybe twenty yards out. I looked

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at Nate. He'd seen it too. Think someone's out there,

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I asked. He didn't answer, just kept looking into the trees.

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A few minutes passed then we heard a voice. It

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was sopped, almost too quiet to catch, just a few

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syllables at a time, repeating over and over. Female maybe,

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but the tone was strange, flat, no emotion, no urgency,

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like someone practicing a word they didn't understand. Nate stood

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up and shouted hullo. No response. Then the dragging sound again,

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much closer this time I could feel the weight of it,

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like whatever it was, it wasn't in a hurry. We

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didn't wait. We threw dirt over the fire and crawled

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into the tent. No lights, no talking, just both of

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us sitting there, not even bothering with the sleeping bags.

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We each had a knife out and a kin of

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bare spray. I held mine so tight my hand when numb.

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The dragon came right behind the tent. I could hear

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the individual leave shifting, the slow scrape of weight moving

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through the brush. Then footsteps, clear human like footsteps, one, two, three,

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all the way around us, in a wide circle, and

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then it stopped. We didn't sleep at all, every small

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noise outside of me holding my breath. The air in

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the tent felt heavy, like we were waiting for something

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to come through the wall. At first light, we tore

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everything down in minutes, no breakfast, no coffee, just packed

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and left. About a mile down the trail, Nate stopped suddenly, shit,

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he said, my hatchet. I told him to leave it.

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He wouldn't, so he dropped his pack and jogged back.

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I ten minutes, then twenty. I started walking back toward camp,

243
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calling his name. Nothing. Then I saw him. He was

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walking fast, eyes wide, no pack, no hatchet, just him

245
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breathing hard. When I asked what happened, he didn't say

246
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a word, just walked past me like I was even there.

247
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It was until we were almost back to the car

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that he finally spoke. We don't talk about this, he said.

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I asked him again, what he saw, what happened? He hesitated,

250
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then said the camp look the same as we'd left it,

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except for two things. The fire pit had been misstacked

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perfectly freshwood, dry kindling, like some one had prepared it

253
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to light again. And inside the tent carved into the

254
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nile on wall was his full name underneath it, One

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Word's Day. We got in the car and drove in silence.

256
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We didn't talk until we hit pavement. That was three

257
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years ago. Nate hasn't been camping since he sold all

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his gear the following week, tent, stove, boots, everything won't

259
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even go near the woods. Last month I stumbled across

260
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a thread on a backwards hiking forum. People were talking

261
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about strange encounters and the Apalachians. One post mentioned a

262
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,000
dead z owe near a ridge. Sadgear gets reorganized campus

263
00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,679
here movement at night, someone circling their tent a voice

264
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repeating itself in the dark. No one had replied the

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person who posted it there. We used a nameless tapewenty tree.

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I was nineteen when it happened. That summer, three of

267
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my friends and I decided to go off gray for

268
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,919
a while. We planned out five days of backpacking in

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this barely documented patch of forest near Ashbourne, Virginia. Lyle

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was the gear guy. He brought the tent, the stove,

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and most of the tools. Marcus had this old printed

272
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topo map and handled the rut planning. Niko, the last

273
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in our group, packed the med kit, an emergency gear.

274
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I was in charge of the food. It worked. We

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liked to joke that we were a disaster waiting to happen,

276
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but somehow a group dynamics balanced out. We parked at

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the end of this dirt road that of more grass

278
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and gravel, locked our phones in the glove box, and

279
00:14:00,879 --> 00:14:03,840
double checked everything before heading out. It felt good, in

280
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,320
a weirdly pure way, walking into the woods with everything

281
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,519
we needed strap to our backs, no service, no schedule,

282
00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,039
just trees and thyme. First couple of days were honestly

283
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,879
kind of perfect. The weather held up one in the day,

284
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cool at night. The forest was thick but not hard

285
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to move through. We followed the stream most of the way,

286
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making it easy to refill our bottles and stay on course.

287
00:14:26,039 --> 00:14:27,960
No one taught much about it, but I think we

288
00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,600
were all relieved. It didn't feel like a survival show episode.

289
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It felt almost easy. On the second day, late afternoon,

290
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we stumbled across a stretch that looked like something out

291
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of a postcard. The land dipped into this little slope

292
00:14:39,919 --> 00:14:42,639
clearing with big mossy rocks and flat patches of pine needles.

293
00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,279
A narrow creek ran through it, just deep enough to

294
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soak your feet. It fell untouched, like no one had

295
00:14:48,279 --> 00:14:51,200
walked through in years. Lyle took one look and said

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we should stay there two nights, rest up abe fish.

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Everyone agreed. We got camps set up, cooked dinner, and

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sat around the fire until it got dark matter At

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00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:03,399
some point, I grabbed the pot and headed down to

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00:15:03,399 --> 00:15:05,519
the creek to wash off the last bits of our postomes.

301
00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,600
It was maybe thirty odds from camp, just far enough

302
00:15:08,639 --> 00:15:11,360
to feel alone. I was croched by the water, scrubbing

303
00:15:11,399 --> 00:15:13,879
at the edges when I heard something behind me, just

304
00:15:13,919 --> 00:15:16,720
a small crunch, like a foot pressing lightly into dry leaves.

305
00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,000
I turned fast, thinking Nico had followed me down, but

306
00:15:20,039 --> 00:15:23,399
there was no one there, just trees and shadows. I

307
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:28,039
stood still for a bit, listening nothing, no footsteps, no breeding,

308
00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,279
not even birds. It was like the forest had paused.

309
00:15:31,879 --> 00:15:34,320
When I turned back to the creek, the pot was gone.

310
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Fun I blinked a few times, trying to convince myself

311
00:15:37,679 --> 00:15:39,440
I was just tired and looking in the wrong spot.

312
00:15:40,039 --> 00:15:42,159
I even patted the ground around me, like it had

313
00:15:42,159 --> 00:15:44,960
fallen into a weird crack between the rocks. But it

314
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,200
hadn't clattered, hadn't rolled. It was just not there any more.

315
00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:50,919
I climbed back up to camp, trying to stay calm,

316
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,799
figuring I probably left it further up the slope without realizing.

317
00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,679
Lyle and Marcus were still by the fire roasting the

318
00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,600
lost marshmallows. I asked if feeder of them had come

319
00:15:59,639 --> 00:16:02,080
down to the creek. They both looked at me like

320
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:06,320
I was nuts, you see, as Lyle l asked, why

321
00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:10,120
would we I told them the pot was gone, not misplaced,

322
00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:15,279
not lost, just disappeared. It laughed at first, then stop

323
00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,039
when I didn't laugh back. Nico came out of the tent,

324
00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:21,039
rubbing his eyes and joined the search. We spent maybe

325
00:16:21,039 --> 00:16:24,480
forty minutes looking. We checked every spot, under logs, around

326
00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:26,799
the rocks, even in the trees in case some animal

327
00:16:26,799 --> 00:16:31,639
had dragged it. Nothing. Eventually we gave up. I was frustrated,

328
00:16:31,679 --> 00:16:34,080
but it was late and the fire was dying. We

329
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,480
figured we'd deal with it in the morning, maybe fashion

330
00:16:36,559 --> 00:16:39,120
something out of foiliff. We had to. That night, I

331
00:16:39,159 --> 00:16:42,320
woke up cold, not the usual slipped off the sleeping

332
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,240
pat kind of cold, but boned deep freezing. My bag

333
00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:47,440
was zipped all the way up, but I was still shaking.

334
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,279
I sat up slowly, thinking maybe the tent had torn

335
00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,919
or shifted. Something felt wrong. The tent didn't feel like

336
00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,440
it was in the same position. That was the first thing.

337
00:16:57,120 --> 00:16:59,639
I unzipped the flap and stuck my head out. It

338
00:16:59,639 --> 00:17:03,480
was dark, pitch black, no firelight, no moon, just the

339
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:06,480
thick kind of darkness wallows your depth perception. But I

340
00:17:06,559 --> 00:17:09,319
knew immediately the tent had turned. We'd set it up

341
00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,839
facing the creek. Now the flap opened toward the opposite direction,

342
00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:15,480
toward the woods, and it hadn't just ben in place,

343
00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,160
everything around it had shifted. My boots were sitting a

344
00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:21,640
few feet away from where I had left them. Lyle's

345
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:24,119
backpack had been flipped upside down, one of the straps

346
00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,319
torn loose. The bare back, the one we'd hung between

347
00:17:27,319 --> 00:17:30,680
two trees ten feet off the ground, was missing, just gone.

348
00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:33,200
The rope was still hanging that like nothing had touched it.

349
00:17:33,839 --> 00:17:37,400
I woke the others. Lyle came out first, groggy and annoyed,

350
00:17:38,039 --> 00:17:41,400
but once he looked around, his mood changed. Niko looked

351
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,559
at the gear, then at us, and didn't say anything.

352
00:17:44,079 --> 00:17:49,039
We talked through the possibilities a person maybe, but none

353
00:17:49,079 --> 00:17:53,599
of us had heard anything. No voices, no lights, no

354
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,799
breaking branches, just silence. We packed up at first light

355
00:17:57,839 --> 00:18:00,519
and hiked out fast. No one said much, but you

356
00:18:00,519 --> 00:18:03,160
could feel the tension. We moved until we found a

357
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,160
rocky ridge that opened up a bit less streek cover,

358
00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:08,960
more sky. It felt safer in a way. That night

359
00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:11,559
it started to rain. We cooked on a flat stone

360
00:18:11,599 --> 00:18:13,920
under the top, trying to get back to normal. The

361
00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,279
moon lightened for a bit until Marcus looked up and said,

362
00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:20,039
didn't we hang four bags? They were omni tree. Mine

363
00:18:20,079 --> 00:18:23,000
was gone as time weiss trill mixed jerky, all of it.

364
00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,599
Marcus tried to play it off, said, I probably left

365
00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:28,920
as at the last camp in the rush. I knew

366
00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:32,400
I hadn't. I remember clipping it in myself. No one

367
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,759
wanted to argue, but we all knew what it meant.

368
00:18:35,279 --> 00:18:38,519
That night I barely slept. Every time a branch creaked

369
00:18:38,559 --> 00:18:40,519
or the top shifted in the wind, I found myself

370
00:18:40,559 --> 00:18:43,960
holding my breath. At one point I heard something circling

371
00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,200
the edge of our camp. Not fast, just slow, deliberate

372
00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,319
steps through the brush. By the fourth night, Lyle suggested

373
00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:54,720
with start keeping watch one iro shifts. Marcus took first.

374
00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,079
I had second. He woke me up around one, his

375
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:00,599
face pale and drawn. He said he'd heard a voice

376
00:19:00,599 --> 00:19:03,000
somewhere down the slope, which just out of sight. It

377
00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:06,880
only said one word, whispered real slow closer. He didn't joke.

378
00:19:07,599 --> 00:19:10,480
He didn't smile. He just handed me the flashlight and

379
00:19:10,519 --> 00:19:13,559
went straight into his sleeping back. I sat there, back

380
00:19:13,559 --> 00:19:18,160
against a rock, watching the woods. Everything was quiet again still.

381
00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:20,480
At some point I caught a shape out of the

382
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,680
corner of my eye, standing between two trees, tall, still

383
00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:29,319
still not moving. I blinked and it was gone. I

384
00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:31,799
didn't say anything in the morning, just told them the

385
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,799
night was quiet. We broke camp early and decided to

386
00:19:34,839 --> 00:19:37,759
head back a day ahead of schedule. No one protested.

387
00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,119
About two eyos from the trail, ed Lyles stopped suddenly

388
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,799
as for frozen midstep. He was staring off to the

389
00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:46,079
right where a narrow tree stood just off the path.

390
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,000
There was something nail to it. The pot hung yet

391
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:55,240
eye level, dead center, polished plain, not a speck of

392
00:19:55,319 --> 00:19:58,319
souit like it had been scrubbed with steel wall. No

393
00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,960
one walked closer, no one touched it. We just kept

394
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,440
walking Back At the car, all four doors were unlocked,

395
00:20:06,079 --> 00:20:09,799
but nothing was missing, not the phones, not the walllet's

396
00:20:09,839 --> 00:20:11,599
not even the loose change in a cup holder. And

397
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,519
that was the last time I ever went camping. We

398
00:20:13,599 --> 00:20:15,640
picked spot down near a narrow bend of deep hollow

399
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:17,839
Creek out past the gravel service roads in the Shale

400
00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,119
Creek Beserve. We were a good twelve or thirty miles

401
00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:23,359
from the nearest ranger station, way beyond Cell Range. There

402
00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,599
were three of us, me, my cousin Bailey and her fiance, Matt.

403
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,359
Bailey and I grew up hiking those mountains. We done

404
00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:32,960
this stretch before, different loops over the years, but always

405
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,599
the same general Earlier wee bush rocks, slept in how

406
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,440
extering thunderstorms got and turned around and figured it out.

407
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,000
This stuff never rattled us. Matt, though this was his

408
00:20:42,039 --> 00:20:44,839
first time out in real back country. No amenities, no

409
00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,920
camp ground. He dunde hikes, sure, and I think he

410
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,720
stayed in a cabin once with his friends, but nothing

411
00:20:50,799 --> 00:20:55,200
like this. No trail markers beyond the entry, no bathrooms,

412
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,480
chess rocks, trees, and the sound of whatever was nearby.

413
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,240
He asked a lot of uestions, made jokes about bears,

414
00:21:01,319 --> 00:21:03,640
kept triple checking his gear, even though Bailey had packed

415
00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,440
half the stuff. The first night felt normal. Honestly, it

416
00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,640
was one of the smoother set ups we've done. We

417
00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:11,640
paced tents close to a flat patch just above the

418
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,039
creek's bend, maybe twenty yards from the water line. The

419
00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:17,319
trees around there grow close but not dense, so you

420
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,119
get decent visibility without feeling exposed. We made a good fire,

421
00:21:21,279 --> 00:21:23,680
cook some instant noodles, pass around a flask, and just

422
00:21:23,759 --> 00:21:26,799
let the night settle. Matt kept remarking how quiet it was,

423
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,440
not in a scared way, just kind of impressed. It's weird,

424
00:21:30,519 --> 00:21:32,640
he said, how once the fire dies down, it's like

425
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,680
the whole place exhils. That stuck with me, not in

426
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,599
a dramatic way, just the phrasing. By the second night,

427
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:40,559
I noticed he kept bringing it up, the quiet, but

428
00:21:40,599 --> 00:21:42,880
this time he didn't sound impressed anymore. At more puzzle.

429
00:21:43,079 --> 00:21:46,680
Still no bugs, he said, looking up from the fire. Seriously,

430
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,960
I haven't heard a single buzz, No mosquitoes, no moss

431
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,200
hitting the tent. Nothing. Bailey rolled her eyes and said,

432
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,920
complain when you do get bit. But I got what

433
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,960
he meant. The quiet wasn't peaceful any more. It was flat, hollow.

434
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,200
Even out there, you should hear something, especially by water

435
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:07,119
frogs Croquett's owls, but there was nothing, not even the wind.

436
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:09,400
We laughed it off again, but there was a sunder

437
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,440
current now, like a thin wire pulling tider at night.

438
00:22:12,519 --> 00:22:14,839
Something woke me up. I don't know what time. It

439
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:19,160
was late, definitely after midnight. I didn't hear anything, didn't

440
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,440
dream anything weird. I just came awake, like a switch flipped.

441
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,240
I lay there a while, eyes opened in the dark,

442
00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:27,119
waiting for something to tell me why I was up.

443
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,400
That's when I noticed the sound water, not the creek,

444
00:22:31,519 --> 00:22:34,559
not the low gurgle would fallen asleep to. This was different,

445
00:22:34,599 --> 00:22:37,480
sharper or closer. It sounded like a trickle at first,

446
00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,000
then steadier, like some one had turned on a falset,

447
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,599
not a loud gush, just this controlled, clean stream, way

448
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,279
too close. It had a rhythm to it, too exact

449
00:22:46,319 --> 00:22:48,640
to be part of the landscape. I sat up and

450
00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,240
peeked through the tent flap. The vire had burned down

451
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:54,279
to the dull red ash ring bailey, and Matt's tent

452
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,759
was zipped up. His boots were still up by the

453
00:22:56,759 --> 00:23:00,200
fire pit. Nothing looked off, but the water noise was louder, now,

454
00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,160
almost deliberate, like it was being poured just behind me.

455
00:23:03,319 --> 00:23:06,119
I stepped out, didn't see anything. The creek was still

456
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,960
twenty yards down. Now I crouched near the tent and

457
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,559
held my breath. The sound didn't stop, it didn't change.

458
00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,000
It was like it didn't care I was listening. Eventually

459
00:23:16,039 --> 00:23:18,559
I gave up trying to find it. I crawled back

460
00:23:18,599 --> 00:23:21,599
in and pulled the sleeping bag tighter. The noise followed

461
00:23:21,599 --> 00:23:24,160
me for a while into sleep. I think I stayed

462
00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,160
in my head like tinnatus, just sleeping. The next morning,

463
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:31,319
nobody said much. I didn't bring it up, neddo did Matt.

464
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,839
But around lunch, while we were boiling water, he casually

465
00:23:34,839 --> 00:23:37,640
said I think I saw something last night, like out

466
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,039
in the trees. He didn't push it, didn't make it

467
00:23:40,079 --> 00:23:43,359
a big moment, just said it, then stared at the

468
00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:46,680
steam coming off the pot. Bailey just rolled her eyes again,

469
00:23:47,279 --> 00:23:50,279
probably a dear were one of your imaginary owls. His

470
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,720
smiled sort of. But that was it. No more jokes

471
00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:58,559
about the quiet, no more observations patience. That night, he

472
00:23:58,599 --> 00:24:01,599
built the far higher than we usually did, kept feeding it.

473
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,119
I told him we didn't need that much heat, and

474
00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,680
he just said, yeah, but I want the light. He

475
00:24:06,759 --> 00:24:09,279
kept glancing down toward the creek like something might be

476
00:24:09,319 --> 00:24:11,920
walking back up. It was after midnight when I heard

477
00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:16,519
the first sipper his tent. I figured bathroom breck, but

478
00:24:16,599 --> 00:24:19,079
a few seconds later I heard another zipper of mine

479
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,759
from outside. A froze. My hands were under the blanket,

480
00:24:22,799 --> 00:24:26,200
but I could feel my palm sweating. I whispered, Mat, nothing.

481
00:24:26,839 --> 00:24:29,200
I sat up and looked out through the mesh. He

482
00:24:29,279 --> 00:24:31,640
was near my tent, not anywhere in the camp circle.

483
00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:34,240
But then I saw him standing about ten feet away,

484
00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,440
right at the edge of the clearing, facing the trees,

485
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,720
buck straight, arms at his sides, just staring. I unzipped

486
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,440
a little more and whispered again, Mat, what are you doing.

487
00:24:44,079 --> 00:24:47,519
He didn't move, just lifted one hand slowly, like he

488
00:24:47,599 --> 00:24:49,720
was motioning me to stop. Not in a friendly way,

489
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,559
just a slow, firm signal like I wasn't supposed to follow.

490
00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:56,119
Then he took a step forward. DayLA's voice cracked, threw

491
00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,559
the sands behind me. Matt, what the hell? She came out, barefoot,

492
00:25:00,599 --> 00:25:04,160
hay messy, clearly half asleep and paste. He didn't react,

493
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,640
just kept walking one foot a time, like he wasn't

494
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,480
the one moving, like something was walking through him. She

495
00:25:09,559 --> 00:25:11,920
ran to him and groubd his arm. That's when he

496
00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:17,559
turned fast, too fast, too fast. I still don't know

497
00:25:17,559 --> 00:25:21,240
how to describe his face. It was his, but it was.

498
00:25:22,079 --> 00:25:26,839
His mouth was hanging open, not surprised, just slack, like

499
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,759
his jaw didn't belong there. His eyes were wide, too wide,

500
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:35,200
and they didn't focus, not on her, not on anything.

501
00:25:35,759 --> 00:25:41,079
He mumbled something, a low white syllable, no words, just noise.

502
00:25:41,759 --> 00:25:44,440
Bailey shook him hard for a second. He blinked, and

503
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,440
then he dropped, like a puppet with the strings cut.

504
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,359
We dragged him back into the tent. He didn't resist,

505
00:25:50,599 --> 00:25:53,599
He just sort of melted into the sleeping bag, didn't

506
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:58,079
say anything, didn't move how cold. He slept through the

507
00:25:58,079 --> 00:26:00,559
rest of the night. In the morning, he acted light,

508
00:26:00,599 --> 00:26:04,160
nothing had happened, thought we were joking, said we must

509
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:08,240
have dreamed it or misunderstood. Bailey didn't argue. She just

510
00:26:08,319 --> 00:26:11,000
handed him her phone. She had taken few pictures trying

511
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:12,559
to light the way with her screen when she'd run

512
00:26:12,599 --> 00:26:15,920
after him. One of them showed him Clearer's Day from behind,

513
00:26:16,039 --> 00:26:18,720
and just over his shoulder, half invisible behind the trees.

514
00:26:18,839 --> 00:26:22,559
There was something else. It looked like skin, human shape,

515
00:26:22,599 --> 00:26:25,640
but all wrong, stretched between two trunks, thin and vain,

516
00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,599
like it had been peeled off and hunt dry, no head,

517
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,400
no face, just folds like it had collapsed in on

518
00:26:32,519 --> 00:26:35,359
itself and was trying to whole form. We didn't pack slowly,

519
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:39,599
no breakfast, no idle talk. By ten, we were hiking out,

520
00:26:39,799 --> 00:26:42,640
but something was wrong with the trail. Landmarks were out

521
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,400
of order. First we passed that split boulder we saw

522
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,119
on the first day, Then the crooked birch with the

523
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,880
rope's wing, which we should have hit hours ago. Bailly

524
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,000
checked the tope on Matt three times before saying, this

525
00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:56,480
doesn't make sense. We've been here already. We weren't just lost.

526
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,599
We were looping on a mark trail. Matt stopped walking,

527
00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,039
didn't say anything at first. Then he looked up the

528
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,279
hill and whispered, I think we're being followed. I asked

529
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:08,240
him why he thought that, but he just kept staring

530
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,920
toward the tree line. We sit still listening. That's when

531
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:16,079
I saw it. A hand, a hand, just the fingers

532
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:18,720
slowly cuting round a tree trunk, maybe thirty feet up

533
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:23,680
the slope. Not normal fingers too long, too many joints.

534
00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,799
Each one moved like it had his own weight, like

535
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,759
it wasn't using bones. Matt didn't even look at me.

536
00:27:30,559 --> 00:27:34,480
Just said it's copying us. We didn't speak again, just ran.

537
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:37,799
We cut straight through the trees, pushing past limbs, climbing

538
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,079
over rocks, smashing through undergrowth. I don't remember how long

539
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:45,839
we ran. It felt endless. Then suddenly gravel the sound

540
00:27:45,839 --> 00:27:49,920
of a car. We burst out of the woods like animals, breathless,

541
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,559
covered in burrows and mud. Bailey flagged down the first

542
00:27:53,599 --> 00:27:56,640
pick of that passed. The guide. Didn't ask many questions,

543
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,559
just drove. They moved out of state within the month.

544
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,720
Matt barely slept for weeks. Told Bailey he kept hearing

545
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,480
water dripping in the walls. As for me, I went

546
00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:10,759
back once, only to the edge, just a look. The

547
00:28:10,839 --> 00:28:16,240
creek was there, same bend, same moss covered rocks, same trees,

548
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,319
But the trail done. My fern Jaise came up with

549
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:22,279
this plan for we can't hike a lawn the stretch

550
00:28:22,319 --> 00:28:25,200
of the Appalachian Trail. His uncle on some property way

551
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:27,119
out in the woods, three rows from where we lived

552
00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:29,359
in Tennessee, and the line back right up to the forest.

553
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:31,839
We could park the truck on his uncle's land and

554
00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,440
hike in from there. It sounded like a decent way

555
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:35,759
to get out of town in a plover for a

556
00:28:35,799 --> 00:28:39,000
couple days. I'd done my fair share of camping. My

557
00:28:39,079 --> 00:28:41,519
dad hunts, so I grew up tagging along on drips.

558
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:44,839
I was new to tents, fire starting, or hearing cowdies

559
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,400
in the distance. That this would be my first time

560
00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:50,119
at that far with the other people nearby, no camp ground,

561
00:28:50,119 --> 00:28:53,720
bathrooms or mark plots, just us in the trail. There

562
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,519
were three of us going, me, Jase, and our friendly

563
00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,960
We packed like just enough to get by, sleeping back

564
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,799
x trail, food, water filters, a campstove. Jase had an

565
00:29:03,799 --> 00:29:05,880
old map his uncle gave him, with some hand drawn

566
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:09,480
trails and landmarks. We left Dully Friday morning, aiming to

567
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,680
cover about six miles before nightfall. Nothing too intense. The

568
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,200
weather looked good, and while cells service dropped in and out,

569
00:29:16,319 --> 00:29:18,319
we had backup battery packs and a compass if we

570
00:29:18,359 --> 00:29:22,400
really needed it. That first day was fine, lawn sweaty,

571
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:25,599
full blisters, and swatting at bugs, but overall fine. We

572
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,920
made decent time. Around three in the afternoon, we hit

573
00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:30,960
the five mile marker and started looking for a place

574
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,480
to set up. Jace remembered a spot from a hike

575
00:29:33,519 --> 00:29:36,039
he did once with his uncle a clearing with an

576
00:29:36,039 --> 00:29:39,440
old stone chimney standing by itself, no house or anything,

577
00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,680
just the chimney left behind. It sounded cool, and he

578
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,440
said it was much further. We found it after another

579
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,640
half ire. There it was this hole, crumbling stone chimney,

580
00:29:49,839 --> 00:29:51,759
just sitting alone in a clearing, like it was waiting

581
00:29:51,759 --> 00:29:54,319
for someone to finish building the house around it. It

582
00:29:54,359 --> 00:29:57,240
looked like it had been there forever. Moss along the side,

583
00:29:57,319 --> 00:29:59,640
cracks running through the stone, nothing around it but trees

584
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:03,680
and wheat. The strangest part was how intact it was else,

585
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:07,160
the structure, the foundation completely gone. We pitched our tents

586
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:09,079
a little ways back and got a fire going before

587
00:30:09,119 --> 00:30:11,799
it got too dark. It was quiet out there, not

588
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,000
in the spooky way, just in that deep woods kind

589
00:30:14,039 --> 00:30:17,000
of way. No cows, no people, just birds and the

590
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,519
occasional square rustling around. By eight we were sitting around

591
00:30:20,559 --> 00:30:22,759
the fire, passing a bag of trail mix and talking

592
00:30:22,799 --> 00:30:25,640
about school in summer plans. We weren't even trying to

593
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,000
be tough guys, just felt relaxed, like the kind of

594
00:30:28,079 --> 00:30:30,759
night where nothing could go wrong. Then we heard something

595
00:30:30,799 --> 00:30:33,759
in the woods, crunching leaves. Maybe twenty minutes thirty feet

596
00:30:33,799 --> 00:30:36,440
off to the side, Lily went quiet and sentence and

597
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,960
turned his head. We all sat still. The sun stopped

598
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:44,119
almost immediately. We kind of laughed it off, dear. Maybe

599
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,960
could have been a raccoon or something bigger normal four suns,

600
00:30:48,079 --> 00:30:50,119
but we were all just a little more aware after that.

601
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,279
An hour or so later, we heard it again, this

602
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,519
time from behind us. Some type of sound, slow, steady

603
00:30:57,519 --> 00:31:00,839
footsteps crunching the underbrush, not the quick cops of a

604
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,680
rabbit or the skittering of a raccoon, just deliberate, careful steps.

605
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,759
Just stood up and called out, hey, we're camping here

606
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,279
not Then we listened for a while. The forests stayed quiet.

607
00:31:12,759 --> 00:31:14,960
After a bit, we all pretended it didn't bother us

608
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:18,319
and climbed into our tents. Nobody said anything about it,

609
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,480
but I think we were all running through the same thoughts.

610
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:24,000
Maybe a hack nearby, some kind of animal just passing through.

611
00:31:24,559 --> 00:31:26,440
I woke up some time around three in the morning.

612
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,200
My bladder was screaming at me, but I really didn't

613
00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,519
want to leave the tent. I lay there for a

614
00:31:31,519 --> 00:31:33,680
while trying to pull myself back to sleep, but it

615
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,039
wasn't happening. Eventually, I unzipped the tent as quietly as

616
00:31:37,079 --> 00:31:39,880
I could and stepped outside. The fire had burned out,

617
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,319
the clearing was pitch black. I didn't bother with the

618
00:31:43,319 --> 00:31:45,480
head on, just tearned on my phone light and shuffled

619
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:49,000
about ten feet away. That's when I heard it, this soft,

620
00:31:49,079 --> 00:31:51,759
rhythmic scraping sound coming from over by the chimney. I

621
00:31:51,839 --> 00:31:55,359
froze midstream. It was faint, but steady, like something being

622
00:31:55,400 --> 00:32:00,319
dragged across the stone. Not fast, not loud, just as slow,

623
00:32:00,359 --> 00:32:04,279
repetitive scrape over and over. I aimed my light toward it,

624
00:32:04,319 --> 00:32:07,119
but couldn't see much, just the outline of the chimney

625
00:32:07,119 --> 00:32:10,000
and a few twisted branches in the way. The sound stopped,

626
00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,400
and then there was something else, A whisper, not words exactly,

627
00:32:15,039 --> 00:32:17,839
more like someone exhaling, trying to get my attention, just

628
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,680
one lawn drawn out breath, coming from just beyond the chimney,

629
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,720
where the trees grew thick. My body reacted before my

630
00:32:23,759 --> 00:32:26,920
brain caught up. I turned around, sipped back into my tent,

631
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,160
and laid it, staring at the fabric inches from my face.

632
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,079
I didn't sleep again that night. In the morning, nobody

633
00:32:33,079 --> 00:32:36,799
said anything she senly acted normal. I didn't bring it

634
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,519
up eater. We just had our breakfast bars, packed our

635
00:32:39,559 --> 00:32:42,119
gear and started up the ridge trail. We didn't see

636
00:32:42,119 --> 00:32:45,880
a single other person all day, just trees stirred in silence.

637
00:32:46,519 --> 00:32:49,039
By early evening we were back near the sand clearing.

638
00:32:49,599 --> 00:32:52,160
It made sense to camp there again. We knew it.

639
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,720
We had food dashed. I didn't like the idea, but

640
00:32:55,759 --> 00:32:58,599
I kept my mouth shut. That second night was worse.

641
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:02,119
Sometime after one in the morning, I heard someone whispering

642
00:33:02,119 --> 00:33:05,480
my name through the tent wall. Hey, you're wake. It

643
00:33:05,599 --> 00:33:10,240
was Ullie. Yeah, I whispered back, something's out there. I

644
00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:14,799
sat up where no response. I unslipped the flap and

645
00:33:14,839 --> 00:33:17,839
poked my head out. His tent was five feet away empty.

646
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,160
I scanned the clearing with my head lamp found him

647
00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,279
standing near the chimney, just standing there facing the trees.

648
00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,000
Still's a statue. When the light hit him, he turned

649
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,400
his head. Thought I heard someone talking, he said. I

650
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,920
told him to come back to the tents. He did

651
00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:38,119
it slowly. Neither of us really slept after that. Next morning,

652
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:41,000
Jase looked terrible. He said he'd spent the entire night

653
00:33:41,079 --> 00:33:44,640
dreaming about walking not even walking anywhere, just the sensation

654
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,839
of walking endlessly. Said his legs were sore, like he'd

655
00:33:47,839 --> 00:33:50,519
be moving the whole time. We joked he was sleep hicking,

656
00:33:50,559 --> 00:33:52,279
but the look on his face didn't match the joke.

657
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,039
He looked like someone who hadn't rested it at all.

658
00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,200
We packed up and decided to head back early. No

659
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,119
one argued. About half a mile down the trail, I

660
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:03,880
realized I didn't have my pocket knife. Thought I must

661
00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:06,240
have dropped it near the fire pit. Told them I

662
00:34:06,319 --> 00:34:09,039
jogged back and grabbed it real quick. They didn't love

663
00:34:09,079 --> 00:34:11,880
the idea, but I said, ten minutes stops. I cut

664
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,119
back through the trail, slipped into the clearing, and walked

665
00:34:14,119 --> 00:34:17,599
toward the fire pit. No knife. I turned toward the

666
00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:21,679
chimney and froze. There were footprints around it there, long

667
00:34:22,119 --> 00:34:24,960
narrow way, too long for any of us, and they

668
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,480
didn't go anywhere, just circled the chimney in a perfect ring,

669
00:34:27,519 --> 00:34:30,840
over and over. Then I saw the knife. It was

670
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,000
stuck into the chimney wall half way out, blade first

671
00:34:33,079 --> 00:34:35,320
wedged right between two stones, like someone had driven it

672
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,079
in there. I hadn't been near the chimney the night before.

673
00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:41,519
I hadn't touched it. I backed away slowly and walked

674
00:34:41,519 --> 00:34:43,880
out of the clearing. I scanning the trees the hallway,

675
00:34:44,039 --> 00:34:47,599
called up to jasonily, didn't say anything. We made it

676
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:49,599
back to the truck by early afternoon and drove home

677
00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:52,719
without stopping. That night, I had a dream I was

678
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:55,239
back in the woods walking, but I wasn't choosing to.

679
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,119
My legs were just moving on their own, pulling me

680
00:34:58,159 --> 00:35:01,000
toward the chimney. When I woke up, my cowsak to,

681
00:35:01,039 --> 00:35:04,599
my boots were muddy. I haven't gone camping since I

682
00:35:04,639 --> 00:35:06,559
was twenty one when we decided to hike the Raccoon

683
00:35:06,639 --> 00:35:09,679
Ridge Trails, six days out in the Appellations, in a

684
00:35:09,679 --> 00:35:12,239
patch of wilderness people mostly forget about unless they grew

685
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:16,519
up near it. No resorts, no overlooks, no casual Sunday hikers,

686
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,960
just trees, creeks, and a whole lot of quiet. There

687
00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,920
were five of us, me, my older brother Lee, his

688
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:25,519
girlfriend Brenna, and two of his college but his Webs

689
00:35:25,519 --> 00:35:28,760
and Jonah. We'd done smaller trips together before, but this

690
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,199
one was supposed to be our real backpacking experience, test

691
00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:37,440
all limits, get away from everything. We had decent gear, tents, food,

692
00:35:37,519 --> 00:35:41,519
solar chargers, GPS units. We weren't exactly surviving on moss

693
00:35:41,599 --> 00:35:44,000
and bugs, but once we crossed the first ridge into

694
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:46,519
Old Jack's Fall, that's what the locals called that stretched.

695
00:35:46,559 --> 00:35:51,679
Phones died completely, no signal, no stray bars, just a

696
00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,360
map a compass, and was swearing. He remembered the wrap

697
00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,280
from a camping blog. By the third day, we've covered

698
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:01,599
about fourteen miles. We were tired, but not jointstaff feet

699
00:36:01,599 --> 00:36:04,960
blistered in spots, everyone moving slower, but still joking around.

700
00:36:05,639 --> 00:36:07,639
That night we started looking for a place to camp

701
00:36:07,679 --> 00:36:10,639
earlier than usual. Jonah wandered off the main path for

702
00:36:10,639 --> 00:36:12,639
a bit and came back saying he'd found a good

703
00:36:12,639 --> 00:36:15,039
spot near a bend in a creek. Said it looked

704
00:36:15,039 --> 00:36:18,719
flat and dry, plus it was quiet. That pot stuck

705
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:23,360
with me. How quiet it was. No buzzing, no frogs,

706
00:36:24,039 --> 00:36:26,400
not even the usual russell from squares or birds hopping

707
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,960
through underbrush. The water moved, but even thus sounded off muted,

708
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:34,840
like the whole place was wrapped in insulation. They'll laughed

709
00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:36,639
and said it was like someone had hit mute in

710
00:36:36,679 --> 00:36:39,719
the woods. We all chuckled, but no one really followed

711
00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:41,840
upon it. We set up our tents in a little

712
00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:43,880
horses shape with the fire pit in the center, ate

713
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,480
some salty trail fruit, boiled water for tea, and sat

714
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,960
around the fire talking. Every one but Jona. He sat

715
00:36:50,039 --> 00:36:52,519
hunched a little forward, hands on his knees, just staring

716
00:36:52,559 --> 00:36:56,119
into the flames. He hadn't been himself all day, slow

717
00:36:56,199 --> 00:36:59,360
to answer, barely touched his foot, But now he just

718
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,559
looked blackt loight. The fire had taken him somewhere and

719
00:37:01,639 --> 00:37:04,119
he hadn't come back yet. Brennoline over and asked, kind

720
00:37:04,159 --> 00:37:05,679
of gently you good luck to your wordin you the

721
00:37:05,679 --> 00:37:07,760
adidjournal didn't look at her, just said just thinking in

722
00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:09,719
this strange under what a kind of voice. It sounded

723
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:11,519
like him technically, but if you closed your eyes you

724
00:37:11,599 --> 00:37:13,719
might have thought someone was doing a slow motion impression

725
00:37:13,719 --> 00:37:15,159
of him. It wasn't just what he said, it was

726
00:37:15,199 --> 00:37:17,119
how he said it, like each word was being selected,

727
00:37:17,119 --> 00:37:19,480
one at a time from a list, like he didn't

728
00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,320
trust the sound of his own voice. We figured maybe

729
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,960
he was dehydrated or just fried from hiking. They offered

730
00:37:26,039 --> 00:37:28,480
him water, but he weaved off. He went to his

731
00:37:28,519 --> 00:37:31,360
tandorily didn't even say good night. The rest of us

732
00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:34,840
stayed up a little longer, talking about college stories, old

733
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,920
inside jokes, stuff like that. But I kept glancing over

734
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:42,760
at Jonah's tent. Something about it made me uneasy, the silence, maybe,

735
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,840
or how quickly he gone Still Round midnight, we heard something.

736
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:49,159
It wasn't a crunch or a snap or any of

737
00:37:49,159 --> 00:37:52,760
the usual nighttime noises. It was movement, smooth, slow, like

738
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:56,119
something big was sliding along the brush, not crashing through it, gliding.

739
00:37:56,679 --> 00:37:59,280
Lee turned on his head lamp, did a slow sweep nothing,

740
00:37:59,559 --> 00:38:01,719
just free his shadows and the white blur of his

741
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,719
beam bouncing off leaves. Then came the smell, dick, sire,

742
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:08,360
like rotting leaves and meat left out in the rain.

743
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:10,800
It rolled in, low and heavy like fog. You couldn't

744
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:14,159
see was Groud's flashlight circled around back where we thought

745
00:38:14,159 --> 00:38:17,079
the noise came from. He was gone for maty three minutes.

746
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,519
When he came back, he looked pale Joe in his tent.

747
00:38:20,639 --> 00:38:24,679
He said, it's open. We all stood up, fast, walked over.

748
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:27,719
Flap was unzipped all the way and pinned back neatly,

749
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:29,519
like some one had tied it at way on purpose.

750
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:33,920
Inside his sleeping bag was empty, his pack was still there,

751
00:38:34,559 --> 00:38:38,920
head lump, water bottle, even his coat. The only thing

752
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:43,360
missing were his boots. We called his name, nothing, walked

753
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,440
to the edge of the creek, checked the nearby game trail.

754
00:38:46,159 --> 00:38:51,079
No sign of him, no footprints, no splashes. If he'd

755
00:38:51,119 --> 00:38:53,519
gone out to pee, we would have heard something, seen something,

756
00:38:53,599 --> 00:38:56,960
but there was nothing. We didn't want panic, told ourselves

757
00:38:57,039 --> 00:38:58,840
maybe he wandered off to clear his head and got

758
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,159
turned round. We left a lantern on. Wait it slept

759
00:39:02,159 --> 00:39:05,159
in shifts, if you could call it that. Just before dawn,

760
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:07,679
I heard something crunch. Real footsteps, this time from the

761
00:39:07,679 --> 00:39:11,119
wrong direction, not the trail, not the creek, from the

762
00:39:11,199 --> 00:39:14,159
victories behind us, the direction no one had gone. It

763
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:17,239
was Jonah. He walked straight into camp, shirt torn down

764
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:19,599
one side, arm scratched up like he'd called for bramble.

765
00:39:20,159 --> 00:39:22,679
His face was smudged with dirt, but his expression was calm,

766
00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:26,039
too calm. He didn't say a word. He rushed over

767
00:39:26,119 --> 00:39:29,440
and said, where the hell did you go? Jonah didn't answer.

768
00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:31,960
He walked past all of us and sat back down

769
00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,159
by the dead fire pit like we were still mid conversation,

770
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:38,480
was crouched beside him and said, man, what happened? Trying

771
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,079
not to sound scared. Joonah blink once, then said flat

772
00:39:41,119 --> 00:39:43,679
his paper. I wasn't supposed to come back. None of

773
00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:46,159
us knew what to say. The us come back from

774
00:39:46,159 --> 00:39:48,719
where Joe looked up at him real slow and said,

775
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,800
she's still out there. That was it. He lay down

776
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:56,199
right there on the dirt, didn't explain, didn't move, didn't

777
00:39:56,239 --> 00:39:59,119
even pull his coat. On the next morning, he acted

778
00:39:59,159 --> 00:40:02,159
like nothing had happened, No memory of leaving the tent,

779
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:06,639
no memory of the scratches. Laughed when we asked, thought

780
00:40:06,639 --> 00:40:08,960
we were messing with him. But I checked his boots

781
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:11,519
while he was eating. Caked and dried mud, dark and

782
00:40:11,599 --> 00:40:16,119
packed and deep, but the insides brah. No signs he'd

783
00:40:16,159 --> 00:40:19,239
been near the creek or stepped in anything wet. That night,

784
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,239
we camped two miles east, closer to the trailhead, still

785
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,960
in the woods, but somewhere that felt a little less watched.

786
00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:30,079
Just after sunset, we heard the voice, a woman, not yelling,

787
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:36,960
not whispering, just calling Jonah's name, slow, measured over and over.

788
00:40:37,599 --> 00:40:41,320
It didn't echo, it didn't move around. It was just there,

789
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:45,840
hanging in the trees every direction. At once Brenna started crying.

790
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:49,760
They shouted back, thinking maybe someone was injured, but the

791
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,280
voice didn't answer, just kept saying Jonah's name. Sim were

792
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,119
them same tone. Jomiferro's didn't blink, didn't turn his head

793
00:40:57,239 --> 00:40:59,000
like his body was still, but his ears were tuned

794
00:40:59,039 --> 00:41:02,119
to every syllable. After ten minutes, the voice stopped, like

795
00:41:02,159 --> 00:41:05,280
a record being lifted off the turntable. We packed everything

796
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:08,880
in silence, didn't even argue. Jes started moving. We hiked

797
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:11,119
through the dock, made it five miles before our legs

798
00:41:11,159 --> 00:41:13,599
gave out. Sat in a cold circle, packs against trees.

799
00:41:14,280 --> 00:41:17,519
No one slept. By mid morning, we ran into a

800
00:41:17,519 --> 00:41:21,880
park ranger name Taxad Maddock's first thing he asked was

801
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,320
if we were the group camp down river. Said some

802
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:27,079
one report a distant yelling the night before. We gave

803
00:41:27,159 --> 00:41:31,679
him the bissocks. Didn't dramatize, just facts. He didn't look surprised,

804
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,039
just nodded slowly and said, you camp near Old Bend.

805
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,840
We nodded. He sighed and said that trail used to

806
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,800
run through burial land stores, go back a long way,

807
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:46,440
folks hearing voices coming back rom Then he said they

808
00:41:46,480 --> 00:41:49,320
call her the Crooked Eye woman. He didn't say much more,

809
00:41:50,159 --> 00:41:53,000
just told us to stay on mark trails, avoid enlisted bends,

810
00:41:53,159 --> 00:41:55,440
and don't follow game past no matter how flat they look.

811
00:41:56,119 --> 00:41:58,480
We ended the trip earily, packed up and drove home

812
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,559
without a word. Jonah let the entire drive mumbling in

813
00:42:01,599 --> 00:42:04,119
his sleep. We were four days into this week long

814
00:42:04,199 --> 00:42:06,079
hiking loop for a quiet, out of the way patch

815
00:42:06,079 --> 00:42:08,920
of forest, down in northern Halward County. There were six

816
00:42:08,960 --> 00:42:11,000
of us, all in our mid twenties, give or take

817
00:42:11,039 --> 00:42:14,559
a year. None of us were pros or wilderness survival experts.

818
00:42:15,199 --> 00:42:18,360
We just liked camping, hiking, getting out of Down. This time,

819
00:42:18,559 --> 00:42:23,280
we wanted something different, off gride, real isolation. The trail

820
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:25,480
we picked run through a patch of land technically listed

821
00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:27,360
as a preserve, though I don't think it had been

822
00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,599
maintained in decades. The ranger who signed off our permit

823
00:42:30,599 --> 00:42:32,719
didn't even look up from her desk, just asked if

824
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:35,079
we had our own gear, and a beacon told us

825
00:42:35,119 --> 00:42:38,039
we wouldn't get sel service past a second mile, said

826
00:42:38,039 --> 00:42:40,880
we'd likely be the only ones out there. That sounded

827
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,559
good at the time. The trail loop for Pine Forest

828
00:42:43,679 --> 00:42:46,039
all dirt roads, that were probably used for mining fifty

829
00:42:46,119 --> 00:42:48,760
years ago, and two fire towers so restied you couldn't

830
00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:50,840
get more than three steps up before the metal screened

831
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:53,679
under your weight. I felt like stepping back in time.

832
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:57,239
There weren't markers or signage passed the first day, just

833
00:42:57,239 --> 00:43:01,000
a warren path barely visible through ferns and underg We

834
00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,719
were tired about a fifth day, mussels, sore feet, blistered, clothed,

835
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:06,880
and crusted with dried sweat and trail dust. But we

836
00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:09,559
were still in it, the kind of tired that feels earned.

837
00:43:10,119 --> 00:43:12,079
That night, we made camp down by a narrow creek,

838
00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:15,719
just under a low rich The water barely moved. You

839
00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:18,320
could hear it trickle if he stood still. The air

840
00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:20,079
had a strange weight to it, like the silence was

841
00:43:20,079 --> 00:43:23,239
thicker than it should have been. No birds, no rustling,

842
00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:27,039
just stillness. I remember standing there brushing my teeth and

843
00:43:27,119 --> 00:43:29,599
realizing I hadn't seen a single animal all day, not

844
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:32,519
even a square. After we ate, we sat around a

845
00:43:32,559 --> 00:43:35,719
small fire. Every one was too drained for real conversation.

846
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:38,079
It was just the flick of flames and the occasional

847
00:43:38,079 --> 00:43:40,920
clink of metal cups. Then Will decided to tell one

848
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:44,000
of his appollation. Ghost stories, as he called them, stuff

849
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:46,119
his grandfather used to tell him when he was a kid.

850
00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:48,599
He told us a few before half folk or half

851
00:43:48,679 --> 00:43:51,599
camp oire, nonsense, But that night they hid different. He

852
00:43:51,679 --> 00:43:54,599
talked about these old warnings from the area, not just

853
00:43:54,639 --> 00:43:58,360
ghostal monsters, things that went supposed to have names, creatures

854
00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:01,440
that mimic forces, Places had shifted if you walked through

855
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:04,400
them twice. He said names had power out here, and

856
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:06,079
that if he said the rum one out loud, it

857
00:44:06,079 --> 00:44:08,679
would find you. We all kind of laughed, but not

858
00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:11,280
too hard. There was a weird tension in the air

859
00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:14,039
that made everything stick a little harder than usual. He

860
00:44:14,119 --> 00:44:16,079
must have noticed, because then he said we should each

861
00:44:16,079 --> 00:44:18,800
make up our own scary story. Said it would confuse

862
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:23,280
the spirits like a joke, spell a reverse curse. Typical world,

863
00:44:23,320 --> 00:44:26,400
joking around but half believing it. So we went around

864
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:29,599
the circle one by one, making stuff up. Stories about

865
00:44:29,679 --> 00:44:32,920
hikers who vanished, shrells that looped back to the beginning

866
00:44:32,960 --> 00:44:36,239
no matter how far you walked. Weird backwards speaking people,

867
00:44:36,920 --> 00:44:39,239
ye know the type. When it got to me, I

868
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:41,519
was already in my sleeping back, kind of drifting off

869
00:44:41,559 --> 00:44:44,639
near the fire. I heard someone say your turn, Riven,

870
00:44:45,199 --> 00:44:47,880
and I sat up just enough to talk. I remember

871
00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:50,079
starting something about a guy who finds a cabin deep

872
00:44:50,119 --> 00:44:54,559
in the woods, one that shouldn't exist. That's it. That's

873
00:44:54,599 --> 00:44:57,639
the last thing I remember clearly. Next thing I knew,

874
00:44:57,760 --> 00:44:59,559
I was on my back, staring through the mesh of

875
00:44:59,599 --> 00:45:03,159
my tent a stars. I was still mid sentence, my

876
00:45:03,280 --> 00:45:06,719
mouth was open. The fire had burned low. I could

877
00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:09,000
hear myself talking, but I didn't know what I was saying.

878
00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:12,760
The words sounded like mine, but they didn't feel like mine. Then,

879
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,199
without thinking, I said, they all died. That's the end,

880
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:22,119
and everything just stopped. Nobody moved, nobody reacted. They were

881
00:45:22,119 --> 00:45:25,320
all just sitting there, completely still, like statues caught mid blink.

882
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,760
I sat up all the way. Jamie had tears silently

883
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,320
running down her face, not crying, just leaking. Her hands

884
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,239
were shaking a little. Noah was curled and on herself,

885
00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:38,400
this clutched in her lap, knuckles like truck. Even Will

886
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:40,119
look sick like he was about to throw up or

887
00:45:40,159 --> 00:45:44,679
pass up. I asked what was wrong? Nobody answered. Later,

888
00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:47,039
after we'd all gone to our tents, I whispered to Jamie.

889
00:45:47,599 --> 00:45:50,039
She was sharing with me that night. I told her

890
00:45:50,079 --> 00:45:52,760
I didn't remember what I'd said. She looked at me

891
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:55,119
for a long time, then said, very quietly, he never

892
00:45:55,159 --> 00:45:58,360
opened your eyes. I asked again what I said. She

893
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:02,480
didn't answer, just turned her back. In the morning, Nora

894
00:46:02,519 --> 00:46:04,760
and Elly were gone. They left a note on the

895
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:07,559
back of a torn trail map. It said, heading back,

896
00:46:07,719 --> 00:46:12,000
don't follow, That's all. They didn't take food, they didn't

897
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:15,000
take the radio, just their packs and barely enough water

898
00:46:15,079 --> 00:46:17,239
for a day. We stood around that note like it

899
00:46:17,320 --> 00:46:20,400
might explain something else if we stared long enough. Nobody

900
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,679
had a good idea what to do. It was two

901
00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:24,920
full days back to the trail head, no matter which

902
00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:28,480
direction you walked. We decided to keep going forward. We

903
00:46:28,559 --> 00:46:30,199
figured they'd stick to the trail and make it out

904
00:46:30,199 --> 00:46:33,119
ahead of us, or some one would find them. We

905
00:46:33,199 --> 00:46:36,880
hit the emergency beacon once, just in case no signal.

906
00:46:37,440 --> 00:46:41,400
The next two days felt wrong, not scary, not dangerous,

907
00:46:42,159 --> 00:46:46,079
just from No one said much, No one joked any more.

908
00:46:46,719 --> 00:46:49,800
We'll barely looked at anyone. At night, we didn't build

909
00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:52,639
another fire. We just ate cold food in the dark

910
00:46:52,679 --> 00:46:55,000
and went to bed early, like we were afraid of

911
00:46:55,039 --> 00:46:57,960
drawing attention. When we finally got back to the lot,

912
00:46:58,119 --> 00:47:00,840
Nora and Ellie's cars were still there. Dad kicked off

913
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:07,719
the real search rangers, helicopters, dogs, dogs. They found the

914
00:47:07,719 --> 00:47:11,039
girl six days later, twenty miles southeast of where they

915
00:47:11,039 --> 00:47:16,440
should have been, way off trail, no shoes, dehydrated, cut

916
00:47:16,519 --> 00:47:21,199
all over their legs, silent. They didn't talk, not to

917
00:47:21,239 --> 00:47:24,960
the rangers, not to their parents, not to each other.

918
00:47:25,519 --> 00:47:28,440
We waited weeks. I half expected some one to send

919
00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:30,760
a group text to try to piece it together, but

920
00:47:30,800 --> 00:47:33,599
nothing happened until Jamie ran into Ellie through a mutual friend.

921
00:47:34,159 --> 00:47:37,239
She asked her what happened out there. Ellie didn't say much,

922
00:47:37,519 --> 00:47:40,639
just one thing. She said, when I told that story

923
00:47:40,639 --> 00:47:42,599
by the fire, it wasn't random, it was like it

924
00:47:42,679 --> 00:47:45,519
knew her, like I was describing things only she would

925
00:47:45,519 --> 00:47:48,679
have known, childhood, nightmares, places from her pass things. She

926
00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:51,639
never told any one, specific names, and she said the

927
00:47:51,639 --> 00:47:54,360
worst part wasn't the details, it was the feeling that

928
00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:56,679
I wasn't telling the story, that the story was telling me.

929
00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,159
I never remembered a word of it. We tried to

930
00:47:59,159 --> 00:48:03,159
get together once to talk. Jamie left early well didn't

931
00:48:03,159 --> 00:48:05,599
show it all. I think we were all hoping someone

932
00:48:05,599 --> 00:48:07,239
else would be brave enough to say what we were

933
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:09,840
all thinking. I was twenty seven when I decided to

934
00:48:09,880 --> 00:48:12,800
go camping alone for the first time, not car camping,

935
00:48:13,039 --> 00:48:14,800
not a short hike from a trail had really out

936
00:48:14,840 --> 00:48:18,400
there deep woods. I just quit a job I couldn't stand,

937
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:21,079
and I hadn't lined up anything new yet, so I

938
00:48:21,119 --> 00:48:23,239
figured I'd try to shake it off in the mountains.

939
00:48:23,559 --> 00:48:26,599
I'd hiked in the sudden appellations before. Usually we ken stuff,

940
00:48:26,760 --> 00:48:29,519
nothing serious, But this time I picked a spot i'd

941
00:48:29,519 --> 00:48:31,440
marked a few weeks all lay using my guy app

942
00:48:32,199 --> 00:48:35,079
No trail near by, just a clearing i'd found on

943
00:48:35,159 --> 00:48:37,679
satellite view about eight miles from the road northwest of

944
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:41,920
Otan cold Elbridge, middle of nowhere, basically a tackle light

945
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:44,559
but small tent, compact sleeping back at, small stove, water

946
00:48:44,639 --> 00:48:47,280
filter or head lamp, knife, book, and a few meals.

947
00:48:47,639 --> 00:48:49,519
I knew there wouldn't be any cell service once I

948
00:48:49,559 --> 00:48:52,079
got a few miles in. That was part of the point.

949
00:48:52,519 --> 00:48:54,719
It took me most of the afternoon to reach the spot.

950
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:57,840
The hike in was tough in parts, some downtrees, faint

951
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:01,960
game trails, nothing marked, but I felt good to move quiet.

952
00:49:02,639 --> 00:49:06,679
I didn't see anyone else the hallway, no footprints, no voices, nothing,

953
00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:09,800
just leaves and the occasional square crashing through brush like

954
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:13,199
it owed somebody money. The clearing itself was almost too perfect.

955
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:16,760
Flat ground, soft pine beds, small firing some one must

956
00:49:16,760 --> 00:49:19,400
have built a long time ago. Most cover brocks in

957
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,400
a half circle round the edge. It felt like nobody

958
00:49:22,400 --> 00:49:25,280
had touched it in years. That first night was easy.

959
00:49:25,800 --> 00:49:27,880
I built a tiny fire, heated up one of those

960
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:30,239
foiled dinners, and watched the sky get darker between the

961
00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:34,800
tree branches. No word sounds, no animals, creeping clothes. I

962
00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:36,760
turned in early, lay in my tent, listening to the

963
00:49:36,800 --> 00:49:39,440
wind pushed through the trees. I think I was asleep

964
00:49:39,519 --> 00:49:42,119
before nine. I woke with the sun and nzet the

965
00:49:42,119 --> 00:49:44,800
tent of the soft golden spilling through the trees. It

966
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:47,480
was dead quite except for the occasional woodpecker hammering somewhere

967
00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:49,880
off to the left. My legs were a little sore

968
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:52,239
from the hike, but in a good way. I made

969
00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:54,400
coffee with the little camp stove, stretched out on a

970
00:49:54,519 --> 00:49:57,199
rock and watched steam rise from the mug, But around

971
00:49:57,239 --> 00:49:59,119
mid morning I decided to hike out to a ridge

972
00:49:59,119 --> 00:50:01,719
I had noticed on the tope. It was another couple

973
00:50:01,719 --> 00:50:04,159
of miles from Camp, steep at rain, but I faged

974
00:50:04,199 --> 00:50:06,920
I had time. It ended up being worth it. Narrow trail,

975
00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:08,559
but it opened up to a view straight down to

976
00:50:08,599 --> 00:50:13,000
the river below. No houses, no boats, no roads, just

977
00:50:13,079 --> 00:50:15,880
trees and water and sky. I stayed there for maybe

978
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:19,840
two hours, read a little road in my journal, mostly

979
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:22,960
dumb stuff. I remember thinking I hadn't seen a single

980
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:26,079
person since leaving the car, not even far off. Not

981
00:50:26,199 --> 00:50:29,760
a voice, not a distant echo. It felt like the

982
00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:32,800
whole forest was holding its breath. It was mid afternoon

983
00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:35,679
when I headed back, and that's when things started feeling off.

984
00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:39,119
When I stepped into the clearing, I stopped. My tent.

985
00:50:39,199 --> 00:50:42,119
Flap was open, not all the way, just halfway, like

986
00:50:42,159 --> 00:50:44,599
some one had started to unzip it, then decided against it.

987
00:50:45,119 --> 00:50:47,559
The fop was rolled slightly, like some one had touched it.

988
00:50:48,119 --> 00:50:50,320
I stood there for a long second, just looking at it,

989
00:50:50,360 --> 00:50:52,360
trying to remember if I'd left it that way, but

990
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:55,039
I know I didn't. I'm not careless with that stuff,

991
00:50:55,119 --> 00:50:58,039
especially not in tick country, and it hadn't been windy.

992
00:50:58,679 --> 00:51:02,519
I checked the inside, nothing was missing, My gear was

993
00:51:02,559 --> 00:51:05,960
exactly how I'd left it. My sleeping bag was still zipped,

994
00:51:06,679 --> 00:51:09,880
my food was sealed. But it didn't feel right. It

995
00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:12,519
felt like someone had been there. I didn't start a

996
00:51:12,559 --> 00:51:16,159
fire that night, didn't want the light. Instead, I got

997
00:51:16,199 --> 00:51:19,000
into the tentorily and read by head lamp, my knife

998
00:51:19,039 --> 00:51:22,960
within reach. I kept pausing to listen. Every little shift

999
00:51:22,960 --> 00:51:26,840
outside made my chest tighten. But there was nothing, no animals,

1000
00:51:27,559 --> 00:51:32,000
no wind, just stillness. Then around nine I heard something

1001
00:51:32,639 --> 00:51:37,039
one footstep, just one. It wasn't an animal. I've heard

1002
00:51:37,079 --> 00:51:41,320
plenty of deer and roccoans crashing around in the woods there, loud, erratic.

1003
00:51:42,039 --> 00:51:45,199
This was clean. One deliberate step on hind needles, maybe

1004
00:51:45,199 --> 00:51:49,280
fifteen feet from the tent. That's soft crunch, I'm mistakable.

1005
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:54,440
And then nothing. I didn't move. I barely breathed, just

1006
00:51:54,559 --> 00:51:58,039
lay the straining to hear something else. A second step,

1007
00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:03,280
a cough, and then but there was only silence. Eventually

1008
00:52:03,360 --> 00:52:05,440
I convinced myself it could have been a branch falling

1009
00:52:06,119 --> 00:52:08,679
or my own mind. I must have stayed awake another

1010
00:52:08,719 --> 00:52:12,000
hour before I finally fell asleep. Next morning, I opened

1011
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:14,480
the tent and there was a stone, flat, smooth like gray,

1012
00:52:14,519 --> 00:52:16,480
placed right at the entrance where I would have stepped

1013
00:52:16,480 --> 00:52:20,079
on it getting out. It hadn't been there before. It

1014
00:52:20,119 --> 00:52:22,559
was two centered, too clean. I stared at it for

1015
00:52:22,599 --> 00:52:24,760
a long time. Then I picked it up and threw

1016
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:26,880
it as far as I could into the woods. I

1017
00:52:26,920 --> 00:52:30,440
packed up fasts, no breakfast, no second thoughts. I was

1018
00:52:30,480 --> 00:52:33,199
supposed to stay another night, but my gut had already decided.

1019
00:52:33,679 --> 00:52:36,400
I wandered out of those woods. About a mile into

1020
00:52:36,440 --> 00:52:39,199
the hike back, I saw something I couldn't explain. Off

1021
00:52:39,239 --> 00:52:41,119
to the side of the trail, maybe thirty feet in

1022
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:45,000
was the structure, just a lean to made of thin branches, leaves,

1023
00:52:45,039 --> 00:52:48,079
bark slaps, built low against a bull dough, like a

1024
00:52:48,079 --> 00:52:50,880
crude little hut, not large enough to stand in. And

1025
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:53,480
here's what shook me. It hadn't been there on my

1026
00:52:53,559 --> 00:52:56,599
way in. I was certain of that a trail passed

1027
00:52:56,639 --> 00:52:58,679
close enough that I would have seen it. Thisis no

1028
00:52:58,800 --> 00:53:01,239
way I missed it. I stepped off the path and

1029
00:53:01,239 --> 00:53:03,639
crept closer. Right in front of the lean to you,

1030
00:53:03,760 --> 00:53:06,199
on a square of moss was a pattern made of bones,

1031
00:53:06,840 --> 00:53:09,920
tiny ones maybe rabbit or square, clean arranged in careful

1032
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:13,519
lines and angles, some kind of symbol or maybe just decoration.

1033
00:53:14,199 --> 00:53:17,119
I don't know, but they weren't scattered, they were placed.

1034
00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:21,599
My stomach dropped. I didn't get any closer, just turn

1035
00:53:21,719 --> 00:53:24,000
and walked fast back to the trail, my pulse tacking up.

1036
00:53:24,480 --> 00:53:27,880
The rest of the hike was dead quiet, no birds, now, breeze,

1037
00:53:27,920 --> 00:53:31,119
nothing moving. When I finally reached the car, I practically

1038
00:53:31,159 --> 00:53:33,079
threw my gear into the trunk and slammed it shut.

1039
00:53:33,679 --> 00:53:36,239
I stood there for a second, scanning the woods, expecting

1040
00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:38,480
some one to step out. No one did, but I

1041
00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:40,480
couldn't shake the feeling that some one had been watching

1042
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:43,239
me walk away back home. I tried to brush it off.

1043
00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:46,159
I told myself some one else had been camping nearby,

1044
00:53:46,360 --> 00:53:49,320
maybe a hunter or someone doing weird survivalist stuff. The

1045
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:52,000
bones could have been a prank. My cousin Adam had

1046
00:53:52,000 --> 00:53:53,800
been trying to get me into back country camping for

1047
00:53:53,840 --> 00:53:56,599
a while. I'd always dodged it. Said I was too

1048
00:53:56,639 --> 00:53:59,639
busy or didn't have the right gear, which was partly true.

1049
00:53:59,679 --> 00:54:01,239
But mo moly, it was just that the idea of

1050
00:54:01,239 --> 00:54:03,480
being miles away from everything never really appealed to me

1051
00:54:03,519 --> 00:54:05,519
the way it did to him. I liked the idea

1052
00:54:05,559 --> 00:54:07,320
of nature more than I like the reality of it.

1053
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:09,599
But that year, I don't know. I guess I just

1054
00:54:09,639 --> 00:54:13,880
gave in. Life was alloud, work was draining. I figured

1055
00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:15,679
a few quiet days off grid might help be set

1056
00:54:15,719 --> 00:54:18,480
my head. We picked a weekend in early October, right

1057
00:54:18,519 --> 00:54:20,639
after the last wave of leaf peepers and before the

1058
00:54:20,679 --> 00:54:23,599
hunters really started showing up. Adam knew a place out

1059
00:54:23,599 --> 00:54:27,039
in Shova Hollow, deep in George, Washington National Forest. No

1060
00:54:27,239 --> 00:54:30,239
mark trails, no shelters, just pure off the map wilderness.

1061
00:54:30,840 --> 00:54:33,000
He'd been out there once before, years ago, but only

1062
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:35,519
for a day hike. The plan this time was two nights,

1063
00:54:35,559 --> 00:54:38,199
three days, totally off trail. We popped at the end

1064
00:54:38,199 --> 00:54:40,599
of the road that barely counted as drivable and set

1065
00:54:40,639 --> 00:54:42,679
off with our packs, boots, and a print out of

1066
00:54:42,679 --> 00:54:46,400
the topographic map. The first day was mostly hiking. We

1067
00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:49,199
moved slow, cutting through the brush, stopping every hour or

1068
00:54:49,199 --> 00:54:51,639
so to a just gear or drink water. We passed

1069
00:54:51,639 --> 00:54:54,039
over two ridges, one stream, and what looked like an

1070
00:54:54,079 --> 00:54:57,119
over rock wall, maybe from some long abandoned property line.

1071
00:54:57,519 --> 00:55:00,320
Around late afternoon we found a decent clear near a

1072
00:55:00,320 --> 00:55:03,719
shallow creek. It was maybe twenty feet across, mostly flat,

1073
00:55:03,719 --> 00:55:06,480
with enough space between the trees for our tents. No

1074
00:55:06,599 --> 00:55:10,679
sign anyone else had camped there recently, no trash, no firing,

1075
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:14,280
no mockings, just a clean, empty spot tucked out of sight.

1076
00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:17,639
That first night was inventful in a good way. The

1077
00:55:17,679 --> 00:55:20,480
sound of the creek made it easy to relax. I

1078
00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:23,719
fell asleep eerily. Actually didn't even stay up for the stars.

1079
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:27,280
The next morning, after breakfast, Adam decided he wanted to

1080
00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:29,719
try fishing up the stream. I wasn't in the mood

1081
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:31,800
to sit still, so I figured i'd explore a bit.

1082
00:55:32,480 --> 00:55:34,119
There was a ridge line to the west that looked

1083
00:55:34,159 --> 00:55:35,880
like it might offer a view, so I grabbed my

1084
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:38,639
water bottle and headed out solo, just to stretch my legs.

1085
00:55:39,159 --> 00:55:41,800
It took maybe an hour to reach the top. Nothing

1086
00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:44,360
too strenuous, but the terrain got messy, thick under brush

1087
00:55:44,480 --> 00:55:46,559
and even rock spots where it felt like the ground

1088
00:55:46,559 --> 00:55:49,480
it without warning. I followed a deer trail for a while,

1089
00:55:49,559 --> 00:55:52,760
but even that vanish eventually just trees and more trees.

1090
00:55:53,360 --> 00:55:56,159
That's when I saw the first cairn, just off the path,

1091
00:55:56,320 --> 00:55:58,599
if you could call it that, Right in the middle

1092
00:55:58,599 --> 00:56:02,119
of a half clear patch, six stones stacked with real care,

1093
00:56:02,719 --> 00:56:06,159
allance perfectly too. At first I didn't think much of it.

1094
00:56:06,679 --> 00:56:09,360
Hiker's leave though, sometimes to mark the way. But this

1095
00:56:09,440 --> 00:56:12,000
one was odd. The rocks were wrong for the area,

1096
00:56:12,719 --> 00:56:16,599
hail gray, almost white, worn, smooth like river stones. We

1097
00:56:16,599 --> 00:56:18,480
were on a slope, far from any water that would

1098
00:56:18,480 --> 00:56:22,079
have shaped them like that. They didn't belong. Still, I

1099
00:56:22,119 --> 00:56:25,519
didn't touch it, just noted it and moved on. Then

1100
00:56:25,639 --> 00:56:29,199
ten minutes later I saw another one, small, aert leaning slightly,

1101
00:56:29,239 --> 00:56:31,960
but the same type of stones. This one was sitting

1102
00:56:31,960 --> 00:56:34,440
in a little hollow, surrounded by pine needles and half

1103
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:38,880
rotted locks. I started feeling uneasy. I told myself maybe

1104
00:56:38,880 --> 00:56:41,679
Adam had built them on his last trip, just messing around,

1105
00:56:42,239 --> 00:56:44,880
but he would have said something, And even if he had,

1106
00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:46,920
what were the odds I'd find them that easily that

1107
00:56:47,079 --> 00:56:50,719
far apart, I kept going for another few minutes found

1108
00:56:50,719 --> 00:56:53,320
a third one, This one collapsed, with two of the

1109
00:56:53,320 --> 00:56:55,400
stones cracked, a moss covered tuck beside a tree that

1110
00:56:55,440 --> 00:56:57,440
looked like it had been struck by lightning years ago.

1111
00:56:57,960 --> 00:57:00,639
Its trunk had split in this jagged, unatural away, like

1112
00:57:00,679 --> 00:57:03,199
something had forced it apart. I stood there for a

1113
00:57:03,239 --> 00:57:06,280
long time, not really thinking about anything, just staring at it.

1114
00:57:06,880 --> 00:57:08,840
That's when I realized how quiet the woods had gotten.

1115
00:57:09,280 --> 00:57:11,760
No birds, no wind, not even the distant trickle of

1116
00:57:11,800 --> 00:57:14,960
the creek. I hadn't even noticed it fade out. It

1117
00:57:15,079 --> 00:57:17,280
just wasn't there any more. It was like the whole

1118
00:57:17,320 --> 00:57:20,400
forest was holding its breath. I turned around and started

1119
00:57:20,400 --> 00:57:23,039
heading back. When I got back to camp, Adam was

1120
00:57:23,039 --> 00:57:25,239
crouched by the fire pit, poking at it with a stick.

1121
00:57:25,880 --> 00:57:27,559
He asked how the ridge was, and I said it

1122
00:57:27,599 --> 00:57:30,960
was fine. I didn't bring up the cairns. I don't

1123
00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:34,000
know why. Maybe I didn't want to spook him, or

1124
00:57:34,039 --> 00:57:36,840
maybe I just wanted to believe it wasn't weird. We

1125
00:57:36,920 --> 00:57:39,559
made dinner and settled in for the evening. That's when

1126
00:57:39,599 --> 00:57:42,239
we noticed things weren't the same. The fire ring we

1127
00:57:42,320 --> 00:57:44,840
built with slightly off stones, shifted like someone had taken

1128
00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:47,639
it apart and rebuilt it without really understanding the layout.

1129
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:50,639
Adam's fishing rod, which he left leaned against a tree,

1130
00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:52,960
was lying on the fast side of camp, facing downhill

1131
00:57:53,159 --> 00:57:55,400
and may top one of those lightweight nilon covers. I

1132
00:57:55,440 --> 00:57:58,159
tied between trees for rain, had along ragged teared down

1133
00:57:58,159 --> 00:58:01,199
the middle. It wasn't clean. It looked like it had

1134
00:58:01,199 --> 00:58:04,119
caught on something sharp and been pulled. We both stood

1135
00:58:04,280 --> 00:58:07,119
staring at it. Adam asked if maybe it was a bear.

1136
00:58:07,840 --> 00:58:10,360
I said maybe, but we both knew it didn't make sense.

1137
00:58:11,039 --> 00:58:14,800
Bears don't move their round, they don't stack stones, and

1138
00:58:14,840 --> 00:58:17,559
they don't do it all without leaving Prince. We talked

1139
00:58:17,559 --> 00:58:20,519
about hiking out, but it was already getting dark. We

1140
00:58:20,599 --> 00:58:23,119
decided to stay one more night, stick together, keep our

1141
00:58:23,159 --> 00:58:26,800
knave's clothes. We had a flare gun. We figured whoever

1142
00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:29,800
or whatever was out there probably wasn't coming back. We

1143
00:58:29,800 --> 00:58:32,599
were wrong. I crawled into my ten round nine, lay

1144
00:58:32,679 --> 00:58:35,840
there for a while, listening not then I must have

1145
00:58:35,920 --> 00:58:38,000
dozed off, because the next thing I remember is waking

1146
00:58:38,079 --> 00:58:40,760
up with the strange awareness that something was off. I

1147
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:43,519
wasn't sure or why at first. Then I heard it,

1148
00:58:44,239 --> 00:58:51,440
leaves cronching slowly, one step, pause, another step. They were

1149
00:58:51,480 --> 00:58:54,480
moving in a wide ock around our camp. Not fast,

1150
00:58:55,239 --> 00:58:59,440
not quiet either, just casual, like some one walking deliberately,

1151
00:58:59,519 --> 00:59:02,480
not caring if they were heard. My heart started panting

1152
00:59:03,320 --> 00:59:06,679
I didn't move, just lay there, eyes wide open, hand

1153
00:59:06,719 --> 00:59:09,239
gripping the handle of my knife inside the bag. I

1154
00:59:09,320 --> 00:59:13,800
kept waiting for a flask, light beam, uk off voice

1155
00:59:13,800 --> 00:59:17,000
not then. Then something touched my tent right near my head,

1156
00:59:17,760 --> 00:59:20,119
just a light pressure, like a hand pressing gently against

1157
00:59:20,119 --> 00:59:23,920
the nhalon, not pushing in, just resting there fingers maybe.

1158
00:59:24,400 --> 00:59:27,679
I stopped breeding, stayed like that for what felt like forever.

1159
00:59:28,320 --> 00:59:30,679
Then the pressure moved, slid downward across the wall of

1160
00:59:30,719 --> 00:59:33,920
the tent. Then it was gone. I didn't sleep the

1161
00:59:33,920 --> 00:59:36,440
rest of the night. I just laid the frozen until

1162
00:59:36,480 --> 00:59:39,360
the sky started getting light. When I finally and slipped

1163
00:59:39,400 --> 00:59:42,679
my tent, Adam was already up. He looked pale. He

1164
00:59:42,880 --> 00:59:46,280
was talking, just rolling up his sleeping bag, stuffing things

1165
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:48,639
into his pack like it was a fire drill. His

1166
00:59:48,719 --> 00:59:51,679
tent had a long slash down one side, some kind

1167
00:59:51,719 --> 00:59:53,880
of tear mine had, but lower, nearer where his torsa

1168
00:59:53,880 --> 00:59:56,760
would have been while sleeping. He said he hadn't heard anything.

1169
00:59:57,320 --> 01:00:01,159
We didn't eat, didn't even boil water. We just packed

1170
01:00:01,199 --> 01:00:03,559
up and left. But and I were into the hike

1171
01:00:03,719 --> 01:00:05,800
we saw something hanging from a branch over the trail.

1172
01:00:06,360 --> 01:00:08,320
It was my boot lace when I used to secure

1173
01:00:08,400 --> 01:00:11,000
my top. Some one had taken it and braided it

1174
01:00:11,039 --> 01:00:14,320
into this strange little knot three loops, one lawn tail,

1175
01:00:14,440 --> 01:00:17,360
all pultite and left dangling like a charm. It wasn't

1176
01:00:17,360 --> 01:00:21,360
just weird, it felt deliberate, like a message. Adam saw

1177
01:00:21,360 --> 01:00:24,639
it too. We didn't stop, didn't touch it. We just

1178
01:00:24,719 --> 01:00:27,360
kept walking. By the time we got to the gravel

1179
01:00:27,440 --> 01:00:30,440
axis road, my legs felt like rubber. We sat in

1180
01:00:30,480 --> 01:00:33,199
the car for a few minutes, not saying anything. Then

1181
01:00:33,280 --> 01:00:35,440
Adam started the engine and we drove back to his

1182
01:00:35,480 --> 01:00:38,239
place in total silence. I didn't sleep well for the

1183
01:00:38,280 --> 01:00:41,880
next couple nights. That was three years ago. I haven't

1184
01:00:41,920 --> 01:00:44,639
camped since I was twenty two, when I went camping

1185
01:00:44,639 --> 01:00:46,840
with my cousin Mitchell in the eastern part of the Appalachians.

1186
01:00:47,440 --> 01:00:49,760
He was twenty three, lived a couple counties over and

1187
01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:52,039
had grown up with these hills practically in his back yard,

1188
01:00:52,599 --> 01:00:55,199
out of nowhere. He texted me one evening with this idea,

1189
01:00:55,280 --> 01:00:57,199
but getting away for a few days so back and

1190
01:00:57,239 --> 01:00:59,079
try camping had helped him when things got heavy in

1191
01:00:59,119 --> 01:01:01,480
his own life. Told me the solitude might clear my head.

1192
01:01:02,039 --> 01:01:03,960
I didn't have a better plan, so I said yes.

1193
01:01:04,639 --> 01:01:06,800
We met up just after sunrise through our gear into

1194
01:01:06,800 --> 01:01:08,840
his beat up a CV and drove for I was

1195
01:01:08,880 --> 01:01:12,320
on back roads. Eventually we ditched pavement for gravel, and

1196
01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:15,880
then gravel for dirt. He kept saying things like almost there,

1197
01:01:16,000 --> 01:01:17,760
and you're going to love the spot. But I noticed

1198
01:01:17,760 --> 01:01:19,440
there wasn't a trail head a parking lot in sight.

1199
01:01:20,119 --> 01:01:21,880
We left the car behind a row of trees and

1200
01:01:21,920 --> 01:01:24,920
started hiking. Mitchell led the way, cutting through brush and

1201
01:01:24,960 --> 01:01:26,400
docking and a branch is like he done it a

1202
01:01:26,480 --> 01:01:29,920
hundred times. I just followed, hoping I wouldn't twist an ankle.

1203
01:01:30,440 --> 01:01:32,280
He said the place we were going wasn't marked on

1204
01:01:32,320 --> 01:01:34,800
any park maps. He and a buddy had found it

1205
01:01:34,880 --> 01:01:37,440
ears back while trying to escape some crowded trail. AADs

1206
01:01:38,039 --> 01:01:40,000
you had to go past a dryed creek bed, then

1207
01:01:40,079 --> 01:01:42,920
keep left after a collapsed section of logging road. It

1208
01:01:42,960 --> 01:01:45,280
felt less like a hiking route and more like following

1209
01:01:45,320 --> 01:01:48,079
some one's memory. But I didn't question it. The way

1210
01:01:48,119 --> 01:01:49,719
he talked about the place, like it was a secret

1211
01:01:49,760 --> 01:01:52,480
he only shared with people he trusted. It felt wrong

1212
01:01:52,559 --> 01:01:55,800
to interrupt. By late afternoon, we set up camp at

1213
01:01:55,840 --> 01:01:58,079
the edge of this stone rage, surrounded by dense trees

1214
01:01:58,119 --> 01:02:01,320
and an even forest floor. Was beautiful in that wild,

1215
01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:04,960
untouched kind of way. No old campfire rings, no beer cans,

1216
01:02:05,000 --> 01:02:08,079
no bootprints. If anyone had stayed there before, it had

1217
01:02:08,119 --> 01:02:11,039
been a long time ago. Mitchell got fire going well

1218
01:02:11,159 --> 01:02:14,519
and packed. I remember sitting on a log, looking around

1219
01:02:14,599 --> 01:02:17,920
and realizing how quiet it was. No distant traffic, no

1220
01:02:18,039 --> 01:02:21,800
planes overhead, even the birds weren't making much noise. It

1221
01:02:21,800 --> 01:02:24,920
should have felt peaceful. Instead, something about it made my

1222
01:02:24,960 --> 01:02:28,559
skin growl. That night, I couldn't sleep. Mitchell was out

1223
01:02:28,559 --> 01:02:30,719
called as soon as he hid his sleeping bag, but

1224
01:02:30,760 --> 01:02:33,159
I laid a staring at the roof of the tent, listening.

1225
01:02:33,760 --> 01:02:36,280
Around two or three in the morning, I heard of footsteps,

1226
01:02:36,920 --> 01:02:38,639
not the random noises he get in the woods, like

1227
01:02:38,639 --> 01:02:41,320
branches settling or leaves shifting, actual steps, slow, measured circling

1228
01:02:41,360 --> 01:02:43,000
out a tent in a deliberate pat and I held

1229
01:02:43,039 --> 01:02:45,000
my breath and listened. How or whatever it was wasn't

1230
01:02:45,000 --> 01:02:47,079
heavy like a bearer, It wasn't stumping around. The steps

1231
01:02:47,079 --> 01:02:49,199
were light, but careful, like someone trying to stay quiet

1232
01:02:49,199 --> 01:02:51,079
and just failing. By a little. Mitchell didn't stirre. I

1233
01:02:51,159 --> 01:02:54,599
remember glancing over and seeing his silhouette motionless, breathing steady.

1234
01:02:55,119 --> 01:02:57,480
I didn't move eitherough it didn't even reach for the flashlight.

1235
01:02:58,039 --> 01:03:01,280
I just lay there, listening every muscle log I kept

1236
01:03:01,280 --> 01:03:03,880
waiting for the sand to start again or to stop completely.

1237
01:03:04,480 --> 01:03:07,280
Eventually it faded and the forest went quiet again. I

1238
01:03:07,360 --> 01:03:09,559
must have dozed off after that, because the next thing

1239
01:03:09,599 --> 01:03:11,679
I remember, it was morning and a tent was glowing

1240
01:03:11,719 --> 01:03:15,199
the sunlight. Mitchell was already up, boiling water over the fire,

1241
01:03:15,280 --> 01:03:17,840
like nothing had happened. I thought about telling him what

1242
01:03:17,880 --> 01:03:21,679
I'd heard, but stop myself. Maybe I'd imagined it. Maybe

1243
01:03:21,679 --> 01:03:23,880
it had just been a tear or when shifting something around.

1244
01:03:24,480 --> 01:03:26,760
I didn't want to sound paranoid, so I kept quiet.

1245
01:03:27,199 --> 01:03:29,480
That day, we went deeper into the forest, following a

1246
01:03:29,559 --> 01:03:32,559
rage that dipped into this overgrown basin. The trail was

1247
01:03:32,559 --> 01:03:34,559
barely there, and most of the time we were just

1248
01:03:34,639 --> 01:03:37,800
moving through thick brush. There were these weird ferns everywhere,

1249
01:03:38,440 --> 01:03:41,800
darker than normal, almost black in the shadows. The trees

1250
01:03:41,800 --> 01:03:43,760
were tall and gnaulled, and nothing looked like it had

1251
01:03:43,760 --> 01:03:46,480
grown in the right direction. It was dead quiet again.

1252
01:03:47,079 --> 01:03:50,519
No birds, no rustling, not even bugs. Then we found

1253
01:03:50,559 --> 01:03:53,679
the structure. It was this short, rounded stone building tucked

1254
01:03:53,679 --> 01:03:56,800
against the slope, about ten feet tall, partially collapsed, completely

1255
01:03:56,800 --> 01:04:01,119
overgrown with moss. Definitely man made. She's small to live in,

1256
01:04:01,840 --> 01:04:04,880
maybe a root seller or an old smoke house. Mitchell's

1257
01:04:04,880 --> 01:04:07,079
eyes lit up when he saw it. He wanted to

1258
01:04:07,159 --> 01:04:10,719
check it out right away. I said, no, Something about

1259
01:04:10,760 --> 01:04:13,400
it just felt wrong. The air around it was colder,

1260
01:04:13,480 --> 01:04:15,960
like we walked into a refrigerator, and there was this

1261
01:04:16,039 --> 01:04:18,840
smell shop and metallic like wire coin's mix with rot,

1262
01:04:19,440 --> 01:04:21,400
not the kind of rot you get from a dead animal.

1263
01:04:22,000 --> 01:04:25,280
Something else. He went in any way, told me to

1264
01:04:25,280 --> 01:04:27,079
stay put, which I was more than happy to do.

1265
01:04:27,639 --> 01:04:30,599
I stood back and watched the doorway, counting the seconds

1266
01:04:30,960 --> 01:04:33,840
he was inside for maybe twenty. When he came out,

1267
01:04:33,920 --> 01:04:37,239
he looked pale, shaken, like he'd seen something he couldn't explain.

1268
01:04:37,800 --> 01:04:39,599
I asked, what was ne'er and at first he just

1269
01:04:39,639 --> 01:04:43,079
said bones. I thought he meant animal bones, but then

1270
01:04:43,119 --> 01:04:44,880
he added they were big, too big to be deer,

1271
01:04:45,039 --> 01:04:48,000
flat teeth, and one of the skulls some one board

1272
01:04:48,000 --> 01:04:50,519
a hole right through the center. We didn't talk much

1273
01:04:50,559 --> 01:04:53,880
after that hight back to camp, mostly in silence. Mitchell

1274
01:04:53,920 --> 01:04:56,599
wasn't joking around like her Laier. He didn't poke at

1275
01:04:56,599 --> 01:04:58,719
the fire a mess with his gale like he usually did.

1276
01:04:59,360 --> 01:05:02,039
That night, he he barely touched his food. I asked

1277
01:05:02,119 --> 01:05:04,039
him again what else he saw in the stone hut.

1278
01:05:04,559 --> 01:05:06,639
He looked at me for a long second, then just said,

1279
01:05:06,679 --> 01:05:09,119
I don't think we should have come out here. That night,

1280
01:05:09,159 --> 01:05:12,360
I heard footsteps again. This time they didn't just circle

1281
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:16,079
the tent, they stopped right outside. Then the zipper started

1282
01:05:16,119 --> 01:05:19,880
to move slowly, eat just a few inches, not enough

1283
01:05:19,880 --> 01:05:21,639
to open the flap fully, but enough that I could

1284
01:05:21,639 --> 01:05:24,639
hear the nylon shifting. I reached out toward my flashlight,

1285
01:05:24,679 --> 01:05:27,679
and that's when Mitchell grabbed my wrist hard. He was awake,

1286
01:05:27,760 --> 01:05:32,480
breeding fast, shallow. We didn't speak, We didn't move, We

1287
01:05:32,679 --> 01:05:36,239
just listened. The zipper closed again, and then everything went quiet.

1288
01:05:36,760 --> 01:05:39,119
We didn't wait for some light. As soon as it

1289
01:05:39,159 --> 01:05:42,320
was bright enough to see, we started packing. No fire,

1290
01:05:42,480 --> 01:05:46,480
no breakfast. We left behind anything that wasn't absolutely necessary.

1291
01:05:47,079 --> 01:05:49,480
Mitchell didn't speak the whole time, just kept looking over

1292
01:05:49,519 --> 01:05:51,840
his shoulder, like he expected something to be standing there.

1293
01:05:52,480 --> 01:05:54,320
On the way out, I asked him again what he

1294
01:05:54,320 --> 01:05:57,079
saw in that stone building. He said there were carvings,

1295
01:05:57,239 --> 01:05:59,960
cymbals burned into the wooden beams, letters or shapes he

1296
01:06:00,079 --> 01:06:03,960
didn't recognize. In something on the wall a photo water damaged,

1297
01:06:04,079 --> 01:06:07,400
curling from moisture, but still visible faces, and one of them,

1298
01:06:07,480 --> 01:06:09,639
he swore, looked like our grandmother when she was young.

1299
01:06:10,239 --> 01:06:12,400
We kept walking, hoping to make it out before dark,

1300
01:06:13,039 --> 01:06:15,760
but something was wrong. The trail didn't line up the

1301
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:19,639
way it should have. The dry creek bait come or

1302
01:06:19,639 --> 01:06:21,920
maybe we passed another one that looked exactly like it.

1303
01:06:22,440 --> 01:06:25,360
Landmarks started to blur together. It didn't feel like we

1304
01:06:25,360 --> 01:06:28,840
were tracing our steps. It felt like the forest was shifting.

1305
01:06:29,360 --> 01:06:31,599
We had to stop and set up camp again. That

1306
01:06:31,760 --> 01:06:34,840
night was worse. Sometime around midnight I woke up to

1307
01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:37,639
this sound, low rhythmic chanting, coming from deep in the trees,

1308
01:06:38,280 --> 01:06:41,199
A voice steady and fast, saying something I couldn't understand.

1309
01:06:41,960 --> 01:06:45,320
It wasn't English, it wasn't any language I'd ever heard,

1310
01:06:46,039 --> 01:06:48,440
just syllables looping over and over, too fast a process.

1311
01:06:49,199 --> 01:06:54,079
Mitchell sat Bouldepright, we're leaving, he whispered, Now we didn't argue,

1312
01:06:54,519 --> 01:06:58,119
didn't plan, just grabbed our packs, flipped on the head lamps,

1313
01:06:58,199 --> 01:07:01,400
and started walking for errors. We moved through the dark.

1314
01:07:02,119 --> 01:07:04,400
The chanting got quieter, but it didn't stop until we

1315
01:07:04,400 --> 01:07:06,840
were almost back to the logging road. By the time

1316
01:07:06,880 --> 01:07:09,159
we hit the highway, the sun was coming up. That

1317
01:07:09,320 --> 01:07:11,840
was the last time I saw Mitchell. Three days later,

1318
01:07:11,920 --> 01:07:14,199
he drove his truck off a ravine a long route seventeen.

1319
01:07:14,760 --> 01:07:17,480
The official report said he'd been drinking and fell asleep

1320
01:07:17,480 --> 01:07:20,280
at the wheel, but Mitchell didn't drink, not even at

1321
01:07:20,280 --> 01:07:23,360
family parties, and he wasn't heading Hume. He was miles

1322
01:07:23,360 --> 01:07:26,639
off his usual route, heading back toward the forest. After

1323
01:07:26,679 --> 01:07:30,119
the funeral, I started getting calls from his number. No voice,

1324
01:07:30,360 --> 01:07:33,760
just silence. Sometimes there was a sound, soft shuffling, like

1325
01:07:33,800 --> 01:07:36,840
someone adjusting in a tight space. I blocked the number.

1326
01:07:37,400 --> 01:07:41,239
Then the voicemail started, three in total. The first two

1327
01:07:41,280 --> 01:07:46,159
were just empty. The third had breathing, slow, deep, right

1328
01:07:46,239 --> 01:07:49,599
up against him, Mike. I changed my number, I tacked

1329
01:07:49,639 --> 01:07:51,920
a back and left town. I'm writing this from a

1330
01:07:51,920 --> 01:07:55,119
motel two states over. I'm not sure where I'm going next,

1331
01:07:55,159 --> 01:07:56,960
but it won't be anywhere with walls that close me

1332
01:07:57,000 --> 01:08:01,199
in and I haven't camped since, and that is the end.

1333
01:08:01,760 --> 01:08:03,480
Thank you for listening, and I will see you in

1334
01:08:03,480 --> 01:08:07,840
the next one.