SCARY STORY #2: The Isolated Town Part 1

My boyfriend Ivan and our friends went to province for a vacation. Our plan is to stay for a week at one of our friend’s houses, named Nathan. I cannot describe the excitement we had on that day, until our adventure turned into a nightmare.

It was the month of summer. I couldn’t remember how many times we took rides just to arrive at our destination. The place is really far from the city, where time passes by so fast. Unlike in this town, it is slow. Everyone can smell the grass field through the car’s open windows while listening to Matisyahu’s One Day song. The sun was bright enough to see the beauty of the surroundings. The heat as it reaches the earth doesn’t burn our skin. It was perfect. When we got out of the car, we still needed to take a 40 minute walk.

While walking in the deep mossy loam path, I noticed a small bridge over a creek. You can clearly see the mountains in the distance. But on the other side is an old wooden sculpture covered by withered leaves, wrapped twigs and dried roots. There are also peculiar things around it —- used candles, a glass with chipped edges that has dark red stains and an unfamiliar symbol (which I later found out it was one of a demon’s sigil). As we keep going, the pathway starts to get narrow, a bunch of trees are becoming bigger and the tree's bark looks so unusual. I don’t know how to describe it, it is as if something was trapped inside. It creeps me out a bit but I’m starting to get tired and Ivan was right beside me so I just ignored. Until we finally arrive late afternoon.

It was our first time meeting Mr. Bennet, Nathan’s dad. He welcomed us with a warm smile. Since it was a long day, we were all hungry. He prepared a meal for us, a mixed vegetable dish sautéed with fish sauce. To end the day, good thing we bought liquors beforehand. The store is not near, we have to pass by the small bridge I saw earlier. We started to drink and share stories. Mr. Bennet left the house early at 6pm and didn’t say a word to us. Nathan told me that his dad didn’t want to sleep in their own home. When I asked why, he didn’t answer and just drank more liquor. Hilaree, one of our friends suggested that we should set a bonfire, so we did and enjoyed the evening. Afterwards, we slept literally outside. We still have a roof in our heads but the window is really huge and there was no cover. It is a 1-storey house built with thin wood. All of us sleep together since we are scared. We’re like kids thinking a monster will suddenly appear.

Around 2am, I couldn’t sleep, the dark night… the sound of crickets… the trees sway as the wind blows strong… It feels like I’m experiencing what I just watched in horror movies. I decided to get up from the bed thinking I should just smoke for a few minutes until my mind calmed down but, instead of doing that, I saw Nathan sitting outside while staring at the sky, in the middle of their lawn, carrying a very thick, long bamboo. Like what I’ve mentioned, the window is huge enough for you to see everything outside. Wondering what he is doing, I came closer to him and asked. He didn’t say a word and went back to the storage, as if I’m not there. The storage cabin is located at the opposite side of where we sleep. I thought — maybe he had the worst hangover.

The next day, everyone felt refreshed except for me who didn’t get enough sleep. While my friends were making breakfast I went outside to take some pictures in the woods until out of the blue, Tim, a 7-year old boy approached me. I was friendly and extroverted so I decided to strike up a conversation with him. We sat under a huge tree not far from Nathan’s house. I asked his name, where he lives, you know, typical questions. But when I told him that this town is nice, he frowned. All of a sudden, I heard my friends calling my name from a distance. I told him, “Tim, I need to go back, my friends are calling me”. He responded, “Be careful”. I thanked him for being nice and hoped to meet him again. There was silence — I thought it was my cue to leave. As I’m about to head back, my left shoulder became heavy. He then whispered close to my left ear, “This town is not safe, leave while you can”. I got chills and immediately turned around, but he already went deep into the woods and disappeared. For just a few seconds, I thought he was near me.

When I went back to my friends, Ivan was worried sick. He held my hand and asked, “Kate, where have you been? We were looking for you. It’s been 3 hours! We thought you got lost”. I told them about the boy I met and showed them the direction of where he lives. What’s odd is what I heard next. Nathan said that there are no people living in that area except Mr. Bennet because that direction was a cliff.

It was 1pm when we decided to buy liquor. Of course it’ll be Mason’s treat, Hilaree’s boyfriend. Our plan: Buy liquor, drink again and start exploring because we have nothing to do. Yep! Nothing to do. When we started walking through the path on the way to the store, a huge lizard fell from the tree that panicked everyone. (When I say huge, it is like the size of a Komodo dragon, and no, it was not an alligator). And suddenly, a man riding a bicycle passed by which added to our tension because we didn’t notice him. Mason laughed and shakingly said, “It’s too early to be frightened. Hurry up!”

As we keep going, we finally see the small bridge. Which means we are near the store. But things started to get creepy. It is almost half an hour and we still haven’t passed by the small bridge. The man who was riding the bicycle was no longer in sight. We are horribly scared because every time we think we have arrived we immediately go back to the spot where the huge lizard fell off. Nathan told us with a quavering voice to turn our clothes over and walk as fast as we could to escape. I don’t know why but he said it’ll work, so we followed without hesitation and we finally arrived at the small bridge. Hilaree asked Nathan what had happened and told us that someone was tricking us. Hilaree and I looked at each other with disbelief.

On our second night, I woke Ivan to have him see what Nathan is doing. Nathan was standing in the corner, still carrying a very thick long bamboo, hitting the fence. He turned his head right… and then left… and hit the fence many times. Ivan told me to wake up everyone, while he immediately got up, cautiously walked towards Nathan. Ivan asked, “Mate, is everything okay?” Nathan was mumbling words Ivan could not understand. Ivan plucked up his courage to reach Nathan’s arm but when Nathan’s head moved with a cracking sound. He looked him dead in the eye and smiled maliciously then ran back into the tiny storage. My friends witnessed what we saw and that night, we never slept. Ivan told me that tomorrow morning he will talk to Nathan.

Some parts of this story are fiction but some were real. (TO BE CONTINUED...)