>>624046
>we got to the trail, got our lights on and started to walk through the woods
>it was a narrow trail, but nothing too narrow
>still, seeing a couple yards in any direction was kinda hard even with a bright sky because of how dense the woods were around the trail
>the first red flag that night was how fucking quiet the whole trail was
>not a single peep from any animal
>not a single shuffle in the leaves on the ground or above
>I started to get shivers and the hairs on my back were standing with every step down that damn trail
>I didn't want to say anything because we didn't usually made noises or talked in the woods to avoid scaring off whatever we were hunting
>but I kinda knew just by looking back on my cousins that they were really rethinking our whole night out in that moment
>we where in line, I was in the back with the shotgun low in hand and a couple shells between my fingers
>R and A where ahead of me, shining lights around trying to see through the trees and light our way ahead
>the silence was deafening
>when we finally reached our spot near a source of water we tried to lay low and wait
>it usually worked out
>but that night nothing came
>a couple hours later and with the silence not going away, we finally agreed to head back home for the night
>after several yards back in the trail, I started to hear a sound
>sounded like walking but something heavy walking in an odd pace in the woods
>I heard a tree branch cracking under the steps, and you could tell it was fucking thick
>it was kinda far away enough from us for my cousins to ignore it or not even hear
>we kept walking
>in the last quarter of a mile of the trail the sound started to get closer
>whatever it was, was stalking us basically the whole trail but now it wasn't afraid to close in
>my cousins where swinging their lights around trying to see where the sound was coming from
>it was close
>leaves started to make noise near us
>whatever it was, it was a few feet away from us making noise and shaking bushes
>I pointed my shotgun in the direction I thought the sound was coming from and shot my single slug in the dark
>I heard the most visceral, guttural and inhuman scream I ever heard
>no animal I ever seen could ever make that kind of sound
>my blood was running cold and I couldn't breath
>my hands were shaking and my cousins where yelling, half frozen in place and half dragging one another to the end of the trail
>the scream started to run away from us, but still making so much noise
>I finally got to reload the fucking shotgun and was trying to put my cousins on their feet and start running when we heard the thing making noises and approaching us again from the back of the trail
>it was still screaming
>we were running
>I was behind in the line
>at some point, a couple yards from the end of the trail I felt it close to me
>I only had time to turn around, point my shotgun from the hip and let out a single shot
>between the moon light, the muzzle flash, my shitty flashlight and the adrenaline flooding my system I saw it a mere couple feet behind in the open of the trail
>it was taller than me, all contorted and hunched over
>pale as the moon
>it had long legs and the head of a anteater but it's mouth was all wrong
>and it was screaming that guttural sound as loud as the shotgun
>definitely wasn't an anteater
>my legs were almost giving up on me but I managed to exit the trail and make my run though the grazing fields
>I could see my faggots cousins almost half a mile ahead of me
>I ran until almost passing out
>when I finally reached home, my cousins were already ready to lock everything and didn't want to walk to their own house a quarter of a mile from my house
We were shaking and there wasn't a single second of sleep in that house that night. By dawn we were wrecked and with the light of the day we finally went outside and told the story to my uncle and his friends.
They said we weren't the only ones to ever tell such story, but the old folks told us that last they heard it was decades ago.
They didn't know what it was and to this day, neither do I.
I didn't stick around for long after that because I got a job in the city a couple weeks after and my cousins refuse to talk about that night.
They never went to those woods at night again.
Pic related, it's the shitty shotgun. A Boito Reuna.