I found a creepy shack in the middle of the woods off of Frenchtown Rd (Part 2)
A lot has happened since we last talked, reddit. But here I am, so I obviously didn’t die. I did end up meeting with u/pixielolz, and she’d like you to know her name is Penny. If you have any questions for her, she said she’d be around later to answer. Also, I really appreciate the other offers to come with us. I know work schedules got in the way for the few of you I messaged, but I’m grateful nonetheless. I’ll try to transcribe exactly what happened chronologically, but I’m sure I’ll get some dialogue wrong. Now let’s get to it.
As some of you pointed out, Frenchtown Rd. has a few rather interesting urban legends attached to it. In one I found, a witch threw a baby off the railroad bridge as some sort of sacrifice. In another, escaped mental facility patients would wander the area as hitchhikers. There are several about Ku Klux Klan member meetings, meth labs, or swamp monsters resembling the yeti. But the most interesting, and most fitting, seems to be the one about--you guessed it-- devil worshippers. They supposedly cursed the bridge, making any car that stopped under it die for several seconds. Long enough to be overtaken by the cultists, witches, or whatever you want to call them.
In short, this whole area of Greenwell Springs is a cesspool of weird, supernatural elements. Or possibly just Klan members who don’t want outsiders stumbling upon their racist agenda. Who knows? Regardless, I wanted to go back. Just a lot more prepared. I packed a serrated hunting knife, pepper spray, a brand new machete, and a leash in case I needed to direct Charlie away from danger. Thanks for the suggestions, nosleep. I would have brought a gun, but I didn’t have the funds to buy one, and I don’t run with the kind of people who acquire them illegally anymore.
Another thing I wanted to address is the possibility of some sort of “binding” with the candles around my car. Thanks to user u/TheIncarnated for shedding some light. I didn’t find any totems in or around my car, nor did I notice anything missing. Except… my wallet. I noticed it Tuesday after waking up and searching my discarded pants. I was hoping to find it before alerting you guys. Unfortunately, I must have dropped it while running or getting into my car.
Also, thanks to users u/BradManThompson and u/EyeSweaterGod for brightening the picture of the woods from the last post. There was obviously at least one cloaked figure very, very close to where I was standing. I’ll link it again here for those that don’t feel like going back to look. You can see the person (thing?) towards the far left.
Anyway, I met Penny at the nearest McDonald’s. Many of you had pointed out the possible consequences of meeting someone off of the internet for something like this, but I felt from our PMs she was honest enough. The last thing I wanted was to crew up with the cast from Deliverance, or someone who’s parents would shoot me if they knew what their kid was up to.
But I worried for nothing. Penny is probably the tiniest twenty-something girl with pink hair I’ve ever met. She seemed smart enough and had spunk. The only problem was that she couldn't necessarily defend herself from a squatter or Klan member gone awry. However, she did bring her own gear and seemed well prepared. A bit of conversation later and we were on the road to find out the truth and deliver some pictures for you guys. She sat in the back with Charlie the whole way, petting and cuddling him. He can be a ham with women, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me relax seeing him approve of her.
Pulling under the bridge once more was a strange feeling, in the sense that the atmosphere was exactly as heavy as before. Maybe even more so. Glancing at Penny told me she could feel it too. But unlike me, she seemed more excited the closer we got. It was hard not to smile at her enthusiasm. It’s been awhile since I’ve had company on my trips that could talk back. And we were on to something big. It was obvious.
Once past the railroad, I noted that the dead cats were gone. I guess whatever park management there was around here took care of it. We drove on, me taking care to park in between two other vehicles in the gravel lot: a blue SUV and a muddy pickup. It afforded some concealment, and I wasn’t planning on taking any extra chances. It was now or never.
Our first stop was the strange looking statue/stump next to the bridge you guys had pointed out. Only, it wasn’t there. Just some dead grass and unearthed ground where it had been. There were footprints all around the area, but that wasn’t unusual considering hikers do come here. They also didn’t lead anywhere but the usual trail taken by the park guides and certainly not the path I had found. Whatever it was, I don’t think we were supposed to see it.
“So, doesn’t it bother you that your name was spraypainted on the bridge?” Penny asked. Her eyes darted above my head to stare at the railroad overpass.
I didn’t mention it before, simply because I didn’t think anything of it. I have a pretty common name: Dylan. And there it was, messily painted on the side of the overpass. You can check my comment history. I’m sure I’ve said it before. Even after everything, I don’t know if it’s significant or not.
“Not really. That bridge is old. And I’m sure I’m not the first Dylan to be exploring out here. Come on, the trail I started off on is this way,” I replied.
“Thanks again for agreeing to me coming with you. I live for this kind of stuff. It’s too bad that no one else could come with us, though. Isn’t that right, Charlie?” Penny bent down to let Charlie lick her face. It didn’t make much of a difference, however. Charlie is huge, even for a rott. He probably could have stood on his hind legs and been taller. I briefly worried again about her size compared to an attacker, but felt better seeing her wooden baseball bat.
“It’s no problem,” I said. “I normally like being alone, but not when I’m being targeted for some prank or satanic sacrifice. Might as well find out which one.” She smiled at me then, brandishing her weapon like it was the bottom of the ninth.
I led Penny down one of the main trails. Luckily, she was sensibly dressed in jeans and some old combat boots. It wouldn’t totally protect her from a snake or spider bite, but it would help.
“Hey, Dylan?”
“Hmm?”
“What are we going to do if there’s some Heisenberg type guy cooking up a big batch of meth? Or that Klan leader who used to live in Denham? I bet it’s a witch who’s trying to lure us to the shack, but instead of candy, it’s weird little gifts.” I couldn’t help but laugh. The air was thick with tension, yet the image of a green and warty witch leaving candles and rose petals lightened the mood.
“I think we--,” I paused. A branch cracked somewhere in front of us. Charlie’s ears stiffened, obviously alerted to the same sound I was. In a split second, he tore off to the right, leaving the trail behind.
We ran after him. I used the machete I bought to clear some of the underbrush and spider webs out of the way, but it was still hard. After a full minute of running, I caught up to Charlie lying down in another small clearing. Penny lagged behind me, but my body had taken out the last of the stray branches in the way.
“Charlie, what is it?”
I crept closer and saw that he was gnawing on a large bone. And I’m not exactly a bone expert, but this was big. It had to be from another big dog or a horse or something.
“Uhh, Dylan?” Penny trudged up from behind, sounding worried. I tried snatching the bone away, but Charlie let out a low growl and turned the other way.
“Dylan, you really need to move. Look around you.”
I was still preoccupied with getting that bone out of my dog’s mouth. There were small bits of meat or ligament on the sides, and I was terrified that it had been poisoned.
“Dylan!” Penny finally yelled. I looked back, exasperatedly.
“What?”
“Look…”
I glanced at my surroundings. Nothing really out of the ordinary. It was a very small circular clearing. The underbrush had been cut down to nearly nothing.
But that was when I noticed the candles. The whole clearing was lined with the same white candles as the last time, making a perfect circle around both Charlie and me. In a panic, I kicked the candles away, breaking the circle. The aftermath is pictured here.
My heart raced as I tried to make sense of everything. Charlie, chewing away at his mysterious bone. Penny, gripping the handle of her bat so tightly that her knuckles were white. And me. Standing in the broken circle of candles. That someone had set there. Seemingly for me to find.
I didn’t feel like I had broken any spells, nor was there anything in particular holding me to the spot... besides my own nerves. At least, I felt that way until I glanced Penny’s direction and saw her frozen expression.
“D...Dylan…” she stammered.
Around us, circled at the edges of the clearing were six or seven figures.They were all dressed in black robes and had no distinguishable features, aside from what was under the hoods. Each wore a mask made of the skull of some dog-like animal, fangs still attached. The skin and fur weren’t fully stripped from the bone either; grisly bits of muscle and blood clung to more than one face.
I don’t know how long we stood there, frozen. They didn’t advance, didn’t make any sound whatsoever. Just watched us as we shuddered in fear. Charlie had long abandoned his bone, and was growling fiercely at my side. It took all my strength to hold him back by the collar. After what felt like an eternity, the figures began to part at one side, creating an opening in their ranks. I didn’t stop to think. I let Charlie go, commanding him to come and grabbed Penny by the arm to make our escape.
We sprinted past, plowing deep into the woods without stopping. My breath grew haggard, but we crashed on. I couldn’t get the image of those freaks out of my head. The skulls, and the all-too-human eyes underneath. Why did they let us go?
Eventually, the trees grew slightly less dense. Alarms were going off in my head like crazy. I knew where we were. Looming up ahead was the open-doored murder shack, ominous as ever. Penny skidded to a halt once she saw where we were headed.
“Holy shit. That’s it, isn’t it? Please tell me you know how to get back to the car,” she whispered.
“Penny, you stay here. The cultists are all out in the woods still. Even if they ran after us, we definitely had a huge lead. I’m going in. I need to see what’s inside.”
“No way, I’m coming with you! That’s the whole reason I wanted to come along.”
I sighed. I didn’t like the thought of putting her in more danger, but also not liking the odds of someone grabbing her outside without me knowing. I reluctantly agreed.
“Okay, but leash Charlie and hold on to him. There might be more inside.”
She did, and together we entered the devil’s mouth.
The inside of the shack was dark and dusty. If the air outside was heavy, this place was downright suffocating. A stench instantly filled my nose. Something nearby was rotting. Penny switched on her flashlight and pointed to the nearest wall. Long tendrils of candle wax clung to the metal, like pale fingers itching to touch the ground. Rusty tools hung on a rack above a makeshift plywood table. At least I hoped that was rust.
We crept down the small hallway to the right, then entered a much larger area, Charlie in the lead. Black sheets hung down over most of the walls, affixed with old, bent nails. This effectively kept all light from the windows from pouring in, though it also made it impossible to see without both Penny’s flashlight, and the flashlight app on my phone. The same wax from the entranceway covered the sheets.
“Hey, is that your wallet?” Penny questioned. I followed the beam of her flashlight to a pile of chopped wood in a corner of the room. Sure enough, it was. My wallet lay closed and flat on top of the wood. They had found it. I set my phone down and opened the wallet to examine the contents. Nothing was taken, but I still planned to cancel my current card.
By my side, Charlie let out a low whine. He was getting antsy. How long had we been inside? One minute? Five? I wasn’t sure. But every second longer was risking our lives.
I turned to Penny and whispered, “Take Charlie and stand by the door. Yell if you see any of the black cloaks.” She nodded and lead my dog back to the open front door. His black fur was standing on end, yet he dutifully followed.
With Penny on the lookout, I felt more confident to explore. I traipsed deeper into the shack, using my cell phone flashlight as guidance. The floor was stained concrete, but it was too dark to see the color. In the middle of the room was another plywood table, though much bigger than the one near the entrance. And like the floors, it was stained a dark brown. I ran my finger over the wood. Not wet. So at least it wasn’t fresh. On the table was a binding of rope that appeared to have been cut on one end. Next to it was an iron fireplace poker with something stuck on the end. I didn’t examine it close enough to find out exactly what, however.
Penny sneezed from the other side of the room.
“You okay?” I whisper-yelled into the darkness.
“Yes, but we should probably hurry,” she returned. Charlie whined almost as if in agreement. For such a fierce looking dog, he could be a baby sometimes. I continued on.
At the farthest corner of the room, a small storage closet was partially open. I used my foot to push it the rest of the way, revealing a shovel, a dirty axe, and a dozen long poles with hooks on the end. I shuddered, guessing what they could possibly be for. I backed up quickly, nearly tripping over a lump on the ground. I directed my flashlight downward, only to see the decaying body of a racoon, crawling with thick white maggots. It was strategically placed exactly in the middle of a pentagram made with candle wax. At least we found the source of the smell. I had had enough. I turned to finally leave, and that’s when I saw it.
In the opposite corner stood a seven foot tall cross. Only it wasn’t a cross. It was badly constructed of two-by-fours, thick tree branches, and cinderblocks. And nailed to the center was a picture of me. The picture was a year old, from right before I went to rehab. I stood in my driveway, smiling while holding a much smaller Charlie. I had gotten him as a puppy when I decided to quit drugs (the first time). This picture was impossible. No one was with me that day. Literally no one.
“Penny. Come hold your flashlight while I get some pic--”
“Dylan! They’re coming!” Fuck.
I ripped the picture from the nail that held it in place, but dropped my phone in the process. Reaching down, I grabbed it, but also felt something else. I didn’t have time to look, but I took it anyway.
I tore down the hallway to the door where Penny and Charlie were waiting. I could see two cloaked cultists emerging from the tree line at the far end of the shack. I grabbed the leash from Penny and ran, helping her along the way. Glancing back, I saw that they were slowly following us. Like Jason in Friday the 13th or something.
Passing by the bamboo thicket, I saw a figure standing behind the tall stalks. It made no move to follow us, but I didn’t stop the pace.
“Dylan!” Penny panted. She was getting winded. We both were.
I took her hand and slowed slightly. I could see the trail in the distance. We would make it if we found the trail, I just knew it.
A whelp sounded from Charlie as his leash got caught on a low hanging branch. Cracks and crunches were sounding from right behind us. I didn’t have time to do anything else, so I grabbed my hunting knife and started slicing through his red leash. I had lost the machete somewhere while running or in the shack.
“Hurry, they’re coming! Dylan, I think--”
“Got it!” I cut her off, taking her hand again and running for the trail.
We didn’t stop the whole way. Charlie ran ahead of us, and seeing his black fur in the distance comforted me. If he was going to make it, so were we. And we did.
My car was alone in the parking lot. My hands were shaking so bad that I had a hard time getting the key into the lock.
“Oh my god... Dylan, look at your car.” I ignored her, finally getting the doors unlocked.
“Get in,” I ordered.
“It’s blood. Your car is covered in blood!”
She was right. All along the bottom of my car was smeared blood. Bloody handprints were reaching up like the flames of hell. But we didn’t have time to stop. I wrenched the door open and ushered Charlie in. Penny climbed in last, appearing to be in shock.
We didn’t talk until I pulled into the McDonald’s where her car was waiting.
“Dylan, I-- Wait. What is that?”
“What’s what?” I followed her gaze down to where I had hastily thrown my phone and the object I had grabbed from the shack.
It was an old journal. And if I had any doubts about satanic cults or witchcraft, they’re all gone now. See for yourselves, nosleep.
It’s not in a language I know, but if anyone can figure out what it says, you guys can. Please help me. And why would there be hair tied to a branch? I don’t know anymore. The whole thing looked like it had been through a rainstorm and then dried. It’s hidden in my house now, just in case.
In short, I dropped Penny off and drove home. I don’t think we’ll be going back anytime soon. I’m sorry for the lack of pictures. I got a few, but the shack was so dark that I couldn’t see without using my phone flashlight. And by the time I thought to use Penny’s, it was too late. My phone was even dead by the time we got to my car. I feel like I failed you guys, but that’s what happened.
Oh yeah. Once I got home, I took my hose and rinsed the blood off of my car. I’m lucky that it’s black, or I for sure would have gotten pulled over while driving. Here is a picture of the back bumper I took before I finished washing it.
Posting this Thursday when I wake up. I’m so exhausted. Time to pass out.
***Update (12:31): They took him. They fucking took him. I let Charlie into my backyard before passing out on the couch last night. After I woke up and submit the post, I opened the door to let him inside. I thought maybe I was sleepwalking again and had let him in earlier, but I couldn’t find him. I tore through my house and ripped open my front door. I was going to get in my car and cruise the neighborhood. But that’s when I stepped on it. His collar. There’s fucking blood and wax on it… I swear to god if they hurt him, I’m going to rip their throats out.
I’m going back. Right now.
******Update (8:35 PM): I'm alive. I'll update when I can. Conserving phone battery.
Posted Sep 10, 2015, 5:09 PM UTC · edited